NYT Article on Women's Judo Champ Celita Schutz

This one slipped by me - an article on Celita Schutz, judo Olympian. Apparently she got divorced a few years back and was so broken up about it she temporarily quit judo. But once a judoka, always a judoka...

"Sure, I shed a tear," she said recently in her narrow one-bedroom apartment on Manhattan's West Side. "It hurt so much - I went into the marriage for the long term. But I knew I had to get on with my life."

Click here for the full story - free registration at NYTimes.com required.

Pankration called "a model of dirty fighting"

Another article from the New York Times, this one about an exhibition of sculpture and vase paintings which depict the ancient Olympics. It opens with this:

If boxing and wrestling today seem a tad on the brutal side, consider pankration, an ancient Olympic sport that was a model of dirty fighting. A no-holds-barred combination of the two, it allowed choking, scratching, slapping, kicking, punching the genitals, leg tripping, finger bending and flipping an opponent overhead. A judge watched over the two opponents, ready with a stick to strike the perpetrator of fouls like biting and eye-gouging. The sport, if such it can be called, was added to the Olympic program about 75 years after the Games began, according to historians, in 776 B.C.

Click here to read the full article - free registration at NYTimes.com required.

Super Fights #1

This article comes to us courtesy of King of Sanda USA. This is a featured bout at the upcoming mother-of-all-tournaments in Elizabeth, NJ.

Super Fight #1

Rahsaan Kimbrow (Baltimore San Shou)

vs.

Duncan Duffin (Michigan San Shou)

San Da is rapidly growing as a sport in the US and these two athletes are members of the new wave. Each represents a new team making waves in rings around the country.

Rahsaan Kimbrow was born and raised in Baltimore, MD and is a graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. He is a member of former US amateur champion and now professional San Da fighter Julio Trujillo's Baltimore San Shou Team. Last year, at the King of San Da North American Championships, Rahsaan showed he has with it takes to be a top athlete in this sport.

Duncan Duffin started training in Jow Ga and Wing Chun under Sam (Hing Fi) Chan in 1992. He has also studied Judo under Hing Kong Chan. However, a transforming moment in his life was when he attended the USA WKF nationals in Baltimore and watched San Da for the first time. Duncan has gained valuable experience since that time, even fighting in China in 2003.

This is a re-match and both fighters expect it to be non-stop action. Rahsaan compliments Duncan, "He is a tough dude. He made me dig deep and forced me to fight at a high level." Duncan credits both Rahsaan and his coach Julio Trujillo for making him a better fighter. What will be the result? Again, Rahsaan had insightful comments, "It should make for a great show. The rest of the card is going to have a
tough act to follow."

SUPERSHOW SUPERINTERVIEW - ASK RHADI FERGUSON

The American Sambo Association has scheduled a unique opportunity to interact with Olympic Judo Medal Contender RHADI FERGUSON. Rhadi will be part of the September 4th Saturday Night SUPERSHOW at the 2004 USKBA ACTION SPORTS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS Amateur Tournaments at RexPlex Sports Complex in New Jersey USA. He will also be competing for Olympic Gold this year in Greece.

In a Freestyle Sambo Super Heavyweight bout, RHADI FERGUSON will be taking on LANCE CAMPBELL. A partial biography of Rhadi includes; "Mr. Ferguson's career spans twenty long prestigious years including Judo, JuJitsu, and Wrestling.  His competitive career has spanned the globe including Korea, Czech Republic, Hungary, Mexico, Italy, Brazil, Venezuela, and Sydney, Australia with the 2000 United States Olympic Judo team. Some of his accomplishments include: Silver Medal - 2004 United States Judo Nationals / Gold Medal - 2003 United States Judo Nationals / Bronze Medal - 2002 United States Judo Nationals / Gold Medal - 2001 United States Judo Open / Bronze Medal - 2001 Brazilian JuJitsu World Championships / Gold Medal - 2001 UnitedStates Judo Nationals.

We will be conducting an interview with Rhadi. This is your time to ask an Olympiananything you'd like. Selected questions will be posed to Rhadi and printed in ourinterview. Even if you don't have any questions, but would like to wish Rhadi wellat the Olympics, drop him a line. To ask Rhadi questions, or to wish him well, sendyour e-mail to: rhadi@uskba.com We hope to conduct this interview within a few days.The complete interview should be posted on our website next week. Get your questions and comments in as soon as possible.

Support Olympic Judo Television Coverage

Ed. Note: This comes to Martial Arts NY courtesy of Nanka, the Southern California division of the United States Judo Federation.

Hi All:

I am starting an email campaign to help support TV coverage of Judo events.

Recently OLN (Outdoor Life Network) broadcast the Titan Games and gave - what I would say is - significant air-time to the Judo portion of the competition. While the coverage was not perfect, it was far and away more than we normally get, with a backstory piece on NANKA's Olympian Ronda Rousey as well as on-screen time with Jimmy Pedro.

Sure, it would have been great to have seen more matches, but at least it was SOMETHING (and not even at 4 AM). I suggest all on the NANKA list take a moment write a brief note to OLN to express our appreciation of the coverage. Hopefully, with enough email activity the OLN folks will begin to see Judo as a viable venture for future coverage. I know this is terribly naive and a lot to expect, but we've got to start somewhere!

So write a note! Open the floodgates! Email is cheap! The address is: feedback@olntv.com

BTW, even if you didn't watch the coverage your comments in support can be helpful to let them know that there is a community out here that is waiting to be served. Best regards,

Jeff Bruner

From the American Sambo Association's July newsletter, a message from Stephen Koepfer, president of the ASA:

"Summer is in full force which means muggy, sticky and hot training sessions (at
least for us here in NYC!). It is important to remember that your best friend
during humid summer training is WATER. Quite possibly the most important aspect to
your training is keeping yourself hydrated. Without water your body will stiffen
up, lose it's fluidity, function at sub-peak level, and begin to break down like a
car without oil. Sip water continually as you train. I often watch students take
an entire class without water only to gulp an entire bottle (or two) of water once
it is over. This may taste great and feel refreshing, but you are simply giving
yourself a great opportunity to urinate later. Large gulps pass quickly through
your system as waste before much of the water can be absorbed by the areas of your
body that need it. What is essential is that you pace your dehydration throughout
your class. Sip as you go for a more powerful throw!"


Ed. note: Not an endorsement - it's refreshing, but it's still basically sugar water.

And from David Ross, Sanda tournament organizer for the USKBA:

"I was informed that the United Kingdom (UK) branch of the international
Shaolin Kung Fu Federation has the intention of sending a team of fighting monks to
compete in the A division of the 2004 World San Da Championships. This is yet
another international team added to an ever growing list of participants. While
paperwork, visas, etc are still in the process, the current list of those with
intention to compete is over 45 teams from 39 different nations."

Check out all the new schools we've added - six since the last update. Also remember coming up is the super-ultra-mega-mother-of-all-tournaments, the 2004 USKBA Action Sports Championships. With three different kinds of kickboxing and sambo being contested across the river in Elizabeth, New Jersey, there's something for everyone.

Also, remember the event calendar is now open-access. Click here for details. Tournament promoters, take a minute to learn the system and post your tournaments! Also feel free to post seminars and demonstrations you want to publicize.