Archive for November, 2008

Fedor Emelianenko Instructional Manual

The Fighting System of the World’s Undisputed King of MMA
by Fedor Emelianenko
with Glen Cordoza & Erich Krauss
presented by Victory Belt
© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com

The beauty of our modern age for anyone interested in combat sport or self-defense is that ultimate fighting has revealed which are the world’s best fighting systems and which disciplines and techniques are impractical.

This high-tech age also enables MMA enthusiasts to be personally coached in their own homes by the best competitors and instructors on the planet – all for the price of a book or DVD.

Fedor is a classic example: Here readers have access to Fedor Emelianenko, the “Undisputed King of MMA”.  And his book definitely delivers the goods – without being pretentious or flowery.  “Many of the techniques might not seem as fancy as the ones demonstrated in other books, but I guarantee that the ones on the following pages have all been tried and tested in battle,” says Fedor.

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Title Shot: Into the Shark Tank of Mixed Martial Arts

by Kelly Crigger (Victory Belt)
© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com

Title Shot is to mixed martial arts what Jack Kerouac’s On the Road was to bebop, with author Kelly Crigger taking readers on an up-close tour of some of America’s most successful MMA gyms, where they encounter very colorful coaches and competitors.

Crigger is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army, and served in the 1^st Special Forces Group and the 3^rd Infantry Division as well as completing the Army’s Ranger School.  His military career has included trips to the holiday destination of Afghanistan.  Knowing firsthand about action, Crigger takes a trek across the US on a quest to see what makes mixed martial artists tick.

Title Shot opens with a visit from BJ Penn who “wants to do something for the troops” before he hooks up with Crigger.  Of BJ, the author says, “He was gracious, humble, and genuinely happy to spend time with soldiers of Fort Lewis, Washington.”

Like Kerouac’s Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady), Kelly Crigger then commences his yearlong journey across America, starting at Matt Lindland’s Team Quest in Portland, Oregon, then travels to Cesar Gracie’s, David Terrell’s and Ivan Salaverry’s gyms in Northern California, before cruising down to spend time with Greg Jackson in Albuquerque.  Kelly leap-frogs up to Somerville, Massachusetts, to take in Mark DellaGrotte and his Sityodtong Muay Thai Academy, where Crigger plays some very amusing mind games with Mark using a stone dragon ornament that adds a lot of humor to the book.

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Couture

Randy Couture, UFC's Heavyweight Champion

Why We’ve a Lot Riding on Randy

© Marc Wickert www.knucklepit.com
All photos copyright 2004 Zuffa LLC
Photography by Joshua Hedges

   On October 14, 1947, test pilot Chuck Yeager sent the world into an aeronautical spin when he strapped himself and his two broken ribs into the cockpit of the ‘Glamorous Glennis’ Bell X-1 aircraft and became the first man to break the speed of sound.

On July 21, 1969, former test pilot Neil Armstrong took a monumental flight in Apollo 11 and became the first man to walk on the moon, stating at the time, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

On November 15, 2008, 45-year-old Randy Couture will be stepping into the Octagon and putting his UFC Heavyweight Title on the line when he defends his belt against Brock Lesnar.

Now on the surface (Earth’s – not the moon’s), this might at first glance be of less significance to mankind than Yeager’s or Armstrong’s efforts, but in reality Randy’s appointment in the Octagon is probably of far more significance to the majority of us.

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