Get into the best shape of your life while learning one of the coolest martial art techniques in the world. The art of Muay Thai fighting can make you a fit and formidable fighter, the envy of your training partners and feared by your opponents!
Are you frustrated because you are out of shape? Are traditional forms of exercise boring for you? Do you think you could protect yourself and your loved ones from a brutal attacker?
Get confident and get fit using martial arts workouts designed to teach you Muay Thai. Not only will you get stronger, leaner and more confident -but you will be learning the martial art techniques that will enable you to easily handle yourself in any self-defense situation.
Muay Thai fighters have always been respected and even feared by many of the more familiar fighting disciplines. Modern fighters like Wanderlei Silva, Mirko “Cro Cop”, Anderson Silva, BJ Penn, Rich Franklin and many others have dominated their opponents using their superior Muay Thai fighting skills.
Muay Thai training is one of the best martial arts workout you can do for cardiovascular fitness. It is physically demanding, athletically challenging and will build your conditioning to MMA fighting standards.
You can develop fantastic fitness, supreme confidence, deadly striking power and you will gain the security and respect that comes from practicing the dominant martial art of Muay Thai.
Through the power of Muay Thai training, you will learn how to overcome your fears, smash through personal barriers and take charge of your life.
Imagine how happy you will feel when you tell your friends that you have lost 3 inches from your waist and developed a bone shattering Thai kick in the process! Now that is something to be proud of.
Muay Thai training will give you a leaner, more muscular body and some fantastic self-defense skills too.
Best of all, this kind of MMA workout doesn’t take years of practice before seeing any improvements. You can begin making positive changes to your body and your self-defense skills right away.
*Learn excellent self-defense skills
*Get fantastic MMA conditioning
*Become more flexible, coordinated and disciplined
*Get leaner while building muscle
*Improve your health and look younger
*Build your self-confidence
*Earn respect from opponents and sparring partners
Muay Thai Training Has The Power To Change Your Life!
For more information about how you can get fit enough to fight, visit our website at Thai-Clinch.com. Watch FREE MMA conditioning videos and martial arts workouts.
About the Author Paul D’Arcy, NSCA, CPT is a Poliquin certified BioSignature practitioner and is the owner of Sport Fitness & Physique, LLC
After hundreds of movies, thousands of eye-popping fight scenes and millions of punches thrown…which ones are the best? Which ones have I been missing out on my whole life? Which ones must I have in my collection in order to not bring shame upon my family name?
We’ve scoured the internet. Reviews. Forums. Amazon. Postings. Bulletins. And this list is what we’ve come up with as the greatest Kung-Fu movies of all time and why you should watch each one. Pay attention to movies involving Yuen Wo-Ping as either director or action director, there’s a reason why half this list is movies where he was involved!
If you want to watch trailers of these movies, go to: http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/articles/movies.html
(you can also get directly to these movies in http://Amazon.com from this website)
#1 – Way of the Dragon (1979)
This is the only finished film to be written and directed by Bruce Lee. (Game of Death is the other one but is unfinished) We could write a lot about the plot, characters or fight scenes…but all you really care about is watching Bruce Lee fight Chuck Norris in the final battle.
Martial Artists: Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris
Director: Bruce Lee
#2 – Shaolin Temple (1982)
Depicts the amazing history of the Shaolin Temple, the focal point for Chinese Martial Arts. Think of the Shaolin Monks as Jedi Knights (an elite group of fighters) and the rest of China as the messed-up universe that Star Wars takes place in (people who are afraid of the elite fighters and want to take them out of power). Much work to do, you have, young Jet Li. *picture Yoda’s accent on that one* Define Irony: A movie shot at the site of the Shaolin Temple, telling a story about the fall of the Shaolin Temple, sparks so much public interest that the temple was re-opened shortly after the movie released.
Martial Artist: Jet Li (His debut movie)
Director: Chang Hsin-Yen
#3 – Ong Bak (2003)
Raw action without wires, Tony Jaa brings a new martial arts style to the big screen and does so in style. Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) is stronger and more direct than the Chinese styles you’re used to seeing with Bruce Lee and Jackie Chan, giving a new look to how a martial arts movie can be done. You’ll be seeing more of him…guaranteed.
Martial Artist: Tony Jaa
Director: Prachya Pinkaew
#4 – Iron Monkey (1993)
Doctor by day, thief by night…Iron Monkey is your classic Robin-hood meets Kung Fu. It’s an action packed flick that can’t go 5 minutes without an excellent fight scene. It all comes down to a battle between Iron Monkey (ie Robin Hood) and an ex Shaolin Monk (remember, these guys are like the Jedi Knights of Chinese martial arts…they’re elite). Remember that guy Yuen Wo-Ping I mentioned? Well he’s the director in this one, so you know it’s good!
Martial Artists: Yu Rong-Guang, Donnie Yen
Director: Yuen Wo-Ping
Action Directors: Yuen Cheung-yan, Yuen Shun-yi
#5 – 5 Deadly Venoms (1978)
No room form “martial arts beauties” in this one, there’s so much blood and action that they only cast male actors. Exit the traditional elaborate costumes and enter the muscular, skin-bearing, bloody martial arts style that would become a trademark for director Chang Cheh. Each cast member is trained in an art resembling one of 5 venemous creatures (Scorpion, Snake, Centipede, Gecko, Toad) with the 6th cast member being trained in all 5. Six main martial arts actors = LOTS O’ ACTION
Martial Artists: 6 Martial Artists (yes, 6 main characters)
Director: Chang Cheh
#6 – The Seven Samurai (1954)
One of the greatest classic kung-fu movies of all time and arguable Kurosawa’s best work. Some Samurai of the time were down on their luck (homeless) and willing to do anything for a meal. A village under attack by bandits recruits a group of seven such Samurai warriors and asks them to help defend their village. The movie is about the Samurai teaching the village how to fight and culminates in a massive battle between a village and almost 50 attacking bandits. The acting is superb, the emotions run high and Kurosawa keeps you hooked from beginning to end.
Martial Artists: 7 Martial Artists (all names you won’t know since this movie is so old)
Director: Akira Kurosawa
#7 – Legend of Drunken Master (1994)
Some will say this is the greatest martial arts movie of all time because of it’s balance between plot-line, comedy, drama and amazing kung fu sequences. Probably Jackie Chan’s best martial arts performance. You’re going to love the final scene where you learn what Drunken Master really means. We’re talking box-splitting, fire-spitting craziness!
Martial Artist: Jackie Chan
Director: Lau Kar-leung
#8 – Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (2000)
Based on a Pentalogy (yes, that’s 5 books) written by Wang Dulu, this movie covers mostly the 4th book. Critically acclaimed to cross international borders with it’s amazing character development, intricate plot, martial arts ideals, stunning special effects and quicker-than-the-eye fighting scenes, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon set a new standard for martial arts movies. Telling Zhang Ziyi (the lead female character and an amazing martial artist) to get back in the kitchen would likely cost you 50 punches to the bags. Be ready for subtitles, cuz turning on the English track is like watching…uh…like watching a kung fu movie in English.
Main Martial Artist: Chow Yun-fat
Other Martial Artists: Zhang Ziyi, Michelle Yeoh, Chang Chen, Cheng Pei-pei
Director: Ang Lee
Action Director: Yuen Wo-Ping
#9 – Kill Bill vol. 1 (2003)
You’re going to want your home theatre room for this one. It’s tough to beat beautiful women beating the crap out of each other in fast-paced, action-packed, make you cringe, bloody, gory, cut-’em-up (more buzz words go here) movie jam packed with as much martial arts death as possible. Tarantino expertly uses every camera angle and a plethora of special effects to deliver a better-than-real visual experience that gives this blood-and-guts thriller an artistic feel you’ll appreciate at the end. Did I mention is has Uma Thurman in it?
(Kill bill vol. 2 brings closure to the set, but hey…we had to choose one movie. Say Five-Point-Palm Exploding Heart Technique 5 times fast.)
Actors: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Action Director: Yuen Wo-ping
#10 – Fist of Legend (1994)
A classic story of Chinese vs. Japanese martial arts, Fist of Legend is actually a remake of the original Bruce Lee movie, Fist of Fury. If Bruce Lee is like the original James Bond, Jet Li is the Pierce Brosnan. He’ll never be the original, but the modern film-making and larger budget bring the entertainment value just a hair above the original Fist of Fury. (The ghost of Bruce Lee is probably going to strike me down for writing that) The Yuen Brothers are known for amazing action choreography, and they totally deliver on this one. (Casting Jet Li may have helped them a little too.)
Martial Artist: Jet Li
Director: Gordon Chan
Action Directors: The Yuen Brothers
The fun doesn’t stop there.
We tried to stop at only 10…really, we did. But we just couldn’t control ourselves.
“Once it hits your lips, it’s so good!” – Will Ferrell in “Old School”
To see the movies that deserve “Honorable Mention”, go to http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/articles/movies.html
Whether you enjoyed this list or think we snuffed your favorite movie, we’d love to hear what you think. Post your comments at: http://www.experiencemartialarts.com/blog/archives/16
From the beginning, there was going to be some establishment resistance to mixed martial arts. The sport, with its absence of structured rules, did not fit into the regulations that were laid out by the athletic commissions across the country. In fact, most of the regulatory people didnt understand it, and therefore had no idea how to classify it. It certainly wasnt boxing, which used hands only, or kick boxing, which allowed for kicks and which was sanctioned in some states. And it most definitely was not a “worked” sport like professional wrestling, which also fell under the jurisdiction of some of the athletic commissions.
Plus, there was not really enough mixed martial arts activity going on for the states to take the time out to draft rules and regulations for it. If there was the possibility of only a couple of events per year, why would they go through the process of engaging commission attorneys to draw up a new set of rules, or approach the state legislature with a bill to be passed, in order to accommodate it?
Besides, there was a growing – and influential – constituency of people who looked upon mixed martial arts as “barbarism” and “bloodsport.” Many of these people used an expression that became a standard for cheap shots as time progressed – “human cock fighting.”
When you have pervading mainstream attitudes like this, the atmosphere is ripe for political opportunity. And sure enough, out of the rubble emerged one of the great political opportunists of recent years.
John McCain, a United States Senator from Arizona, had gotten a lot of mileage out of his five-year internment in a Vietnamese prisoner of war (POW) camp; rather than the more realistic portrayal of him as a pure victim, the slick public relations machine he had cultivated was able to spin him into a full-blown hero. More often than not, McCain was successful in co-opting the press in what was a somewhat blind pursuit of political glory. His critics opined that he never met a camera he didnt like or headline-grabbing issue he was not willing to sell himself out to. But he had a following, particularly among the media, that was willing to ignore the fact that despite his public stance for campaign finance reform, McCain was one of the great abusers of the process; in fact, he was one of the disgraced members of the “Keating Five,” which doled out political influence in exchange for hefty contributions and financial favors.
Though he had been labeled a “maverick” by most of the press corps, McCain was hardly that; rather, he was he was a very calculating political animal who often saw which way the wind was blowing and hurled himself – with sycophantic media grasping on to his boots – in that direction.
McCain purported to be a lifelong boxing fan, and claimed to be a boxer of some note at the Naval Academy, where he gained admission as a “legacy” (his father was an alumnus) and graduated near the bottom of his class. He favored legislation to bring about some federal control of boxing and would later spearhead efforts to pass more extensive bills in that quest. He was quite fond of accepting free tickets from the very promoters his legislation would have regulatory authority over. Coincidentally, these gifts and gratuities often landed him ringside, right in camera view, during an HBO or Showtime telecast.
The children nowadays are prone to various attitude problems. This is why parents enroll their kids in after school pick up programs to hone skills and develop their kids’ personality.
One of the most popular after school pick up programs are martial arts classes. Martial arts are known to help kids handle conflicts inside themselves, as well as conflicts that they may face when they are outside their homes. Various martial arts techniques such as Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Mixed Martial Arts, Karate, Judo, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, and Wrestling also teach kids respect for others by first teaching them to respect themselves. It also teaches self-control, self-discipline, teamwork, and a sense of responsibility.
It is notable to stress that one of the most important benefit children get from martial arts training is that they generally become more disciplined from the unique formalities of martial arts classes. This is one difference that this type of lesson offer compared with types of sports. No matter what their social economic backgrounds are, children with problematic attitudes behave well as a result of taking classes a few times per week.
Parents are very happy to see how their seemingly problematic children come out of pick up programs smiling and positively interacting with other kids. Some children even show rising grades after continuous martial arts session.
How do all of these happen? Choosing a martial arts school is of course a very important factor. The environment in which your child will learn new things certainly affect how his outlook in life changes. There are a lot of dojos and school around Tampa and Carrollwood but be wary on making your choices. Choose a school that offers many forms of martial arts techniques. It has a positive effect on the kids if they are made to decide what pick up program to enroll in, whether it is MMA, Karate, Taekwondo, etc.
Instructors also play an important role in molding students. Instructors who care enough to sit and talk beyond the kickboxing or wrestling sessions reach the mind, heart, and soul of their students. Some trainors also include accomplishing schoolwork requirements in their pick up programs. This strengthens the bonding of the martial arts students and make them more active when training for Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai.
Indeed, martial arts has so many benefits in the physical, mental, emotional, and social aspect of one’s life. It is not hard to understand why it has become a popular activity for the children, youth, and adults. Just keep in mind though that not all programs will produce all of the benefits mentioned in this article. As we have said, it all depends on the teacher and the school. Martial arts programs that are limited to teaching combat fighting techniques may not result in the desired mental, emotional, and social transformation we hope for. Give yourself enough time when searching for a school. Choose one that will give your kids the most number of benefits at the least possible price.
Evolution Martial Arts
14436 N Dale Mabry Hwy
Tampa, FL 33618
(813) 961-5245
www.graciebarraevolution.com
The Louvre is generally regarded as the premiere art museum in France. With a collection of about 35,000 items contained in 652,300 square feet, it’s not hard to understand why. Why would you go anywhere else when every piece of art and antiquity you could ever want to see are contained in one place? But the Louvre is obviously not the only art museum in France. Several decidedly smaller art museums in France house collections comprehensive enough to rival the Louvre.
These lesser known but equally compelling museums include the Muse de l’Orangerie, the Muse d’Art Moderne de la Vile de Paris, even a geographically confused Palais de Tokyo – the list goes on. One particularly successful museum is the Muse d’Orsay. The Muse’s collection’s scope is admirable and covers several centuries of European visual and decorative art.
The history of this particular museum is long and illustrious. The Muse d’Orsay used to be a railway station, Gare d’Orsay. This railway station was built specifically for the glorious 1900 Exposition Universelle. This exposition was a World’s Fair held in Paris, and featured the rededication of the Eiffel Tower, which had been created for the previous World’s Fair. The Gare (“gare” means railway station in French) was elaborately constructed in the fashionable Art Nouveau style.
The design was the pride of the three architects who created it; Lucien Magne, Victor Laloux, and mile Bnard were top designers at the time. The vaulted ceilings of the Gare were made of tiny interlocking panes of glass, and intricate stone carvings paneled the walls. The sizable Gare, carefully crafted out of innumerable tan stones, overlooked the glistening Seine River.
For the time of the World’s Fair and up until WWII, the Gare . The Nazis appropriated the now-dingy railway station for transporting munitions, soldiers, and even looted possessions from European citizens. After the fall of the Third Reich, the Gare fell into further disrepair. The unstable economy of France prevented the Gare from getting the restoration it needed until the early 1970s. By that time, the station wasn’t large enough to adequately support a large amount of train commuter traffic. For a few years it was used as a hotel until in 1977. Because of faltering profits and public pressure, it was decided to convert the Gare into a museum. The conversion was complete in 1986 and was dedicated by then-president Franois Mitterrand.
Today, the Muse is home to an impressive collection of mainly French art. It is now well known for its broad selection of Impressionist and Post-Impressionist paintings, of which it has the largest collection in the world, and is no longer a railway station. These include renowned artists such as Paul Czanne, Gustave Caillebotte, Mary Cassatt, Gustave Courbet, Paul Gaugin, and Vincent van Gogh, The list is endless.
There are even eighty-six Monet paintings in the Muse’s catalog. It also holds decent architecture and photography exhibits. While there are several larger Muses in France, the Muse D’Orsay should definitely be a priority for anyone going on vacation in France.