FILA Vic-6

                          http://www.fila-belgium.com/

The Belgian Committee of Associated Wrestling Styles, national governing body for Grappling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Pankration and Mixed Martial Arts, as recognised by the Royal Belgian Wrestling Federation and the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles, welcomes you to its brand new platform.
Through our affiliation to FILA, we abide by the Olympic Charter and promote a vision of sport based on legality, democracy, fairplay, and equal chances. Enjoy the visit!

My teammate competed in Belgium this past weekend at FILA Vic 6.  The competition invites grapplers from all over the world to compete against each other and represent their country.  Actually, this was the first time I'd ever heard of this association, and I think it's pretty cool.

          
           FILA Vic 6-Jeon Doo-gwang

Imanari Seminar

 Yesterday I attended the Masakazu Imanari seminar here in Busan.  The seminar focused heavily on heel hooks.   Even though one of my favorite techniques is the leg lock, I'm not a big heel hook guy.  I learned some good things.  Particularly a little detail when controlling the leg and a pretty nasty guillotine choke.  

Imanari was a really nice guy, and I couldn't believe how small he is.  He's tiny.  He said that he was on a special diet, because he is dropping down to flyweight. 

I was really surprised when he said that he never teaches any of his students leg locks!  He said that he doesn't teach them, because he wants his students to have strong fundamentals.  Personally, I think that it is definitely possible to learn leg locks and have strong fundamentals.  I found his view very interesting considering the fact that he is such a famous leg lock guy.  Imanari is actually a black belt under Marcos Barbosa (the same instructor who gave my instructors their black belts), and he said that he like to train in the gi sometimes.  I got to spar with him.  I wanted to go for a leg lock, and I had the opportunity, but I was too nervous to try!

  Rolling Heel Hook 


Heel Hook Counter


Heel Hook From Back


Guillotine

                     %#*!@ You!

Calligraphy/서ㅖ

                     Several different kinds of calligraphy in Hanja (Chinese characters)

I've been living in the same neighborhood now for four years.  I live in Oncheonjang.  Ocheon means "hot spring" and jang means "flatland or area".  My neighborhood is famous for bathhouses, mountain hiking, and the multitude of love motels that pepper the area.  People here in Korea live with their parents until they get married, so if you want to get down, a love motel is your only option.  I love my neighborhood, and it's the only place I would want to live here in Busan.

Anyway, there's a little shop I've been wanting to go in for a long time now.  I've probably passed it at least a hundred times over the years.  I finally stopped by this weekend, and it turns out that it is actually a little school that teaches calligraphy.  The school has been there for thirty years, and the owner has been studying and practicing calligraphy for fifty years.

The owner was really nice.  He and one of his students talked to my wife and I for awhile about calligraphy, and they did some demonstrations for us.  They were even nice enough to give us one of the pieces they made.  I am going to go back soon to buy one of his pieces. 

                                          하나

                                                    둘          

                                                   셋

                                                   넷

I talked about Hanja and the development of Hangul in one of my previous posts:  http://iloveleglocks.blogspot.kr/2012/12/isami-belt.html

                                           Soil in Hanja

Korea used Hanja before Hangul (Korean) was created.  During that time, being an elite member of Korean society meant you had to be literate in Chinese.  Even after Hangul was created, the upper echelon of the country opposed its use, because the Confucian elite wanted to keep government exams as hard as possible (Hangul is very easy to learn to read and write).   The privileged few wanted only aristocratic, wealthy children to be able to pass the exams and Hangul was actually banned shortly after its invention.  The effects of this were dramatic and long standing.  South Korea used a Sino-Korean script requiring the mastery of thousands of Chinese characters until the 1990's. 

Another thing I love about my neighborhood is that fact that I can walk about ten minutes and be in the mountains!  And this is in the second largest city in Korea.  I spent the later half of the day relaxing and enjoying some fresh mountain air.

    Hangul and Hanja

Buddha's Birthday-Sam Gwang Temple 삼광 사

   This dragon was breathing actual smoke and spewing real fire!

This past Friday was a national holiday here in Korea, Buddha's birthday!  I'm not religious, but I can get behind any spiritual belief that gets me the day off from work.  My wife took these beautiful pictures at Samgwang Temple here in Busan.  They are breathtaking. 

    Stairs leading up to the temple

   Lanterns

I Love Leg Locks (CHOKE) loves Tetsu "Hadairo" Suzuki

Who's the guy who likes to wear weird flesh colored outfits and bite other grapplers?  Tetsu Suzuki of course!  A poster I know on Sherdog (GoForkYourself) made this awesome highlight video of one of my favorite grapplers. 

                                         

                        

Frederic Rabert- Ceinture Marron (brown belt)

                     My instructor in France-Frederic Rabert brown belt

My teacher in France recently just received his brown belt after recently placing second in the purple belt division at the IBJJF Euros at rooster weight.  Fred has always been an inspiration for me.  His BJJ skills are incredible, and even though he is only a rooster weight he's never scared to do absolute divisions.  I've also always admired his level of maturity and dedication to BJJ.  Not to mention his generous nature.  He's the kind of instructor that will help you whenever he can and asks nothing in return.  

                               Fred avec Michael Langhi and Cobrinha

He would make a thirty minute drive two times a week (three if a competition was coming up) to teach us in Chaumont.  The club's annual fee was very low and Fred was teaching us BJJ practically for free and paying for things like gas out of his own pocket.  He would also arrange things like competitions trips and visits to other academies without asking anything from anyone.

           Championnat de France CFJJB-FFST 2013 gi et no gi ceinture marron (brown belt)

I can't think of anyone who deserves it more.

-2013 Championnat de France CFJJB-FFST  gi et no gi vice champion ceinture marron (brown)
-2013 IBJJF Euros vice champion d Europe rooster ceinture violette (purple)
-2013 France Coupe de Zone sud 2 eme place absolude ceinture violette (purple)

 

                               Fred's wife Alex and his son Rickson avec Andre Galvao

BJJ LAB-Noh Young-ahm: Xande style butterfly sweep

                     BJJ LAB

Today's technique is a Xande style butterfly sweep.  The same one he used against Braulio at the recent Copa Podio.  Here it is:


          

Killer Bee custom gi

Jesse from Killer Bee Kimonos http://www.killerbeegi.com/ just e-mailed me a couple of pictures of my new custom gi.  It looks like it turned out awesome, and I can't wait to get it.  Also, he posted pictures of it on his Facebook page and said it was one of his favorite from this batch.

    East Heaven White Mountain (DCBS) logo with white Killer Bee embroidery on the arms with grey contrast stitching and pink inseams

    East Heaven White Mountain in Hanja (Chinese characters) on chest with pink accents on the bottom of the gi skirt and on the inseams of the pants

PK Styles (giveaway)/PK Styles 경쟁!

PK Styles is a new company based out of Busan, Korea selling grappling gear and accessories at great prices.  Also, the owner, Patrick Keating, speaks fluent English and is from America, so placing an order is very simple and hassle free.  Patrick's phone number is located at the bottom of the website for orders in English 010-5542-83420.  Here is the website:  http://pkstyles.co.kr

    PK Styles at DCBS competition in Busan

Giveaway
PK Styles is giving away a free Clinch Gear, Contract Killer, or Manto t-shirt.  Here's how to win:

1.  Go to PK Styles on Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pkstyles.co.kr?ref=hl
2.  "Like" PK Styles

A winner will be announced June 1, good luck.

경쟁
무료 T-셔츠 (커린치 기어, 콘트락트 킬러,만토)
1. 페이스 북에서 PK 스타일로 이동 https://www.facebook.com/pkstyles.co.kr?ref=hl
2.  "Like" 선택 PK Styles

우승자는 6월 1일 발표

Mind C (마인드 C)

                                            My teammate Min-goo in comic book form

I've been posting my teammate's comic strips for awhile now on my blog.  They are in Korean, but now there's a website in English where you can keep up with all the wackiness:
http://tapastic.com/series/276.com

Okay, so for those that read my blog and don't live in Korea, there is a thing called "fan death" that Koreans believe in.  Basically, they think that if you leave a fan on in an enclosed room with no ventilation (closed door and closed windows), you will....DIE! 

I'm serious.  Almost everyone believes this:  Grown ups, young people, old people, teachers, doctors, you name it.  Growing up in Texas half my life where it's extremely hot (my father lives on the border of Mexico where you basically can't leave the house in the middle of the day), I've relayed to some Koreans the times where I'd close the door to my room with the windows shut and sleep with multiple fans on to stay cool at night. 

My story is always followed  by an inevitable  series of responses:  "No, that's impossible", "You got lucky", or "There must have been a crack or a window or a door open and you didn't know". 

Anyway, now that you know a little background information, this is hilarious.