It’s already been up for a few months now, but I thought it would be worth mentioning. BJ Penn is posting daily video of his classes on his website in what essentially amounts to free instruction from one of the best fighters in the world. Granted it’s difficult to learn without doing, but for those of you who have a rudimentary knowledge of MMA this is a great place to pick up additional grappling knowledge and bring it to wherever you train.

bjpenn.com

This is pretty much unprecendented in the world of martial arts. BJ is a dude who just really loves the science and art of fighting, so much so that he’s willing to basically give away his knowledge to everyone whose got internet access just so the collective fighting community can be better as a whole. Of course he’s probably making some good money off ad impressions but heck, the guy’s got bills to pay.

It seems like BJ isn’t the type who is afraid of finding the truth about his techniques. If it doesn’t work, forget it, if it works, use it. Straight up Bruce Lee JKD style. Seriously, this transcends MMA, BJJ, UFC, all of it. I know it sounds super cheesy, but this is BJ Penn opening the floodgates of best-of-breed fighting knowledge onto the world.

Anyone who has gone through sports competition will agree that when physically all things are equal, the deciding factor that brings a dubya is mental. I’ve been reading a book called Competitive Fire by Michael Clarkson. In it, Clarkson shares his research on the mental/physical connection that elite athletes have mastered. He talks about the different mind/body states that athletes can achieve. Most of these are caused by different chemicals that the mind triggers to enter the bloodstream consequently giving the athlete boosted speed, strength, and mental focus. This isn’t the first blog entry I’ve posted on this subject, but I find it completely fascinating and worth further investigation.

60 Minutes did a special on MMA on Sunday. Among their sources were the UFC, Dana White, Pat Miletich, and Renzo Gracie. I thought they did an outstanding job doing fair coverage of the sport. I had expected the normal mainstream approach of focusing largely on the violent and bloody aspect of the sport rather than what it’s really about. Big ups to 60 Minutes reporter Scott Pelley for being receptive enough to actually learn some grappling with Renzo. Hopefully it will help to get more people interested in the sport.

60 Minutes on Yahoo! (Video will work for about half of you)
60 Minutes’ CBS page

Whenever mainstreamers start investigating what MMA is, most of them can’t get past the violence. However, looking at the kind of growth patterns we’re seeing with the UFC and Pride, I think it’s safe to say that people are warming up to it.

My favorite cuts in this piece were the ones with Renzo. He was passionate, intelligent, and well-spoken. I think he dispelled a lot of myths surrounding practitioners of MMA. I take a lot of shots at MMA fighters and their mental capacity, but honestly I believe that the majority of you out there are very intelligent people…college degrees, professionals. We just happen to love fighting too.

HONG KONG Nov 27, 2006 (AP)— A theme park with a statue and memorial hall will be built at Bruce Lee’s southern Chinese ancestral home of Shunde, the president of his fan club said Monday.

Here’s the rest of the article.

I have no idea where Shunde is, but now I’d like to check it out. In a related vein, I’ve forgotten how amazing Bruce was as a martial artist and a philosopher. Here’s some interview footage with him.

Stumbled across this writeup called “The Anatomy of Fear and How it Relates to Survival Skills Training”. It’s an in-depth look at the physiological responses to high-stress situations. I’m thinking that some of this information may prove useful in competition situations where stress may trigger Survival Stress Reaction (SSR) and affect physical performance.

The author Canadian police officer Darren Laur, who is an expert on applied combat and it’s application in law enforcement.