Archive for January, 2010

It’s a shame that Billy Robinson is a name that most MMA fans don’t even know.

In fact, Pro wrestling fans are more likely to have heard of the British-born grappler, probably best known for his great success in Japanese pro wrestling circuits of the 1970’s and his role in creating “shoot-style” and “shoot” organizations in the 1990’s. Those very acomplishments are probably enough to get many of us in MMA and jiu-jitsu to close our minds to this man. It’s our loss. He now resides in Arkansas — toiling in relative obscurity for the last several years as he instructing pupils in Catch-as-Catch-Can wrestling, a wrestling style hundreds of years old, with takedowns and submissions to boot.

Credited with helping train MMA legends Kazushi Sakuraba and Josh Barnett, Robinson is one of the world’s last living links to a long and rich wrestling history. While he became famous in typical scripted pro wrestling matches (some a bit more realistic than others), his Catch-As-Catch-Can wrestling is a legitimate style which developed long before Maeda crossed the Pacific Ocean to teach Carlos Gracie in Brazil, or Jigoro Kano founded the Kodokan Dojo in Tokyo. CACC has a heritage which several of our best fighters in the MMA world are looking to rediscover today.

In fact, earlier this month, Josh Barnett dedicated his win at a grappling tournament (somewhat ironically, a no-gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament) to Robinson. But it was a couple of videos that surfaced recently that got really caught my attention and offer that the movement to incorporate CACC into MMA may be finally getting a little momentum.

Read the rest of this entry »

We all know the horrible tragedy that struck Haiti on Tuesday has claimed thousands of lives and left many more in a state of emergency.

It’s good to also know that at least one member of the MMA community is “coming out swinging” in support of the survivors.

MMAWarehouse.com is one online retailer among many which has popped up in recent years. (In fact, I’ve never purchased from them, but have only heard good reviews of their service.) But they have released a statement which really sets them apart, as they team with Mercy Corp to send aid to Haiti:

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck near Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince Tuesday afternoon, collapsing buildings, including at least one hospital. The quake affected roughly one in three Haitians: about 3 million people. Anywhere between 30,000 and 100,000 are feared dead and even more are injured in the largest quake to strike the impoverished Caribbean nation in 200 years. Power is out, telecommunications are spotty and food and water are reportedly growing scarce.

MMAWarehouse.com is pledging a dollar for dollar match up to the first $5,000 donated here and additionally will donate a portion of our sales now through Thursday, January 21st.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to suddenly lose your home and all your possessions, or worse yet, your friends and family members. I know that everyone’s economic situation these days is far from perfect, but I encourage you to count your blessings in life and give what you can to your fellow brothers and sisters across the globe who are truly in dire need.

You can click here to read the Better Business Bureau’s review of Mercy Corp. There are other great organizations out there, too. Catholic Relief Services and Americares are both noted for having more than 92% of their donations go directly to those in need and keeping minimal administrative costs. WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, who represented Haiti in the 2004 Olympic games, gave an emotional interview to ESPN this week, where he mentioned that he would be offering information about how to help on his website soon, as well.

What more needs to be said? Dig deep, and please give what you can.

Pictured: Manny Pacquiao carries the flag of the Philippines at the 2008 Olympic Games.

It’s tough to look at the above picture: Manny Pacquiao leading a group of athletes, who unlike himself, were willing to submit to Olympic-style drug testing.

Last week, talks finally appeared to break down for good for Manny Pacquiao’s proposed bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr., with the “sticking point” of Olympic-style blood testing finally leaving the two parties unable to reach an agreement. It’s a bad blow for the sport, which seemed to finally accumulating momentum for the first time in ages, to lose the climactic bout which we had been leading up towards.

It’s particularly a blow to a guy like me.

I’m really gutted — because as much as I’m not fan of Floyd Jr, his classless interviews and unprofessional antics — I have to sadly place blame at the feet of Manny Pacquiao for this “bloody mess.” Read the rest of this entry »