WHITE BEAR LAKE, MINNESOTA—Suzie Seever is a 41-year-old wife and mother and the proud wearer of a new Black Belt in Taekwondo, despite multiple organ transplants during the past eight years that were required because of her cystic fibrosis.
The anti-rejection medication that Seever had to take for her double-lung transplant in 2000 damaged her kidneys, […]
NEW YORK, NEW YORK—The Donald wouldn’t be The Donald, and his son, Donald Jr., wouldn’t have an opportunity to be a chip off the old block, if Trump Sr. didn’t stick his entrepreneurial finger in the mixed martial arts pie. According to recent reports, Trump has invested in Affliction, a new mixed-martial-arts league, which will […]
FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS—Proving the old adage, be careful what you wish for, Sacha Baron Cohen, comedian, satirist and creator of the characters Borat and Ali G, almost experienced more realism than he wanted when he and another man stripped to their underwear, kissed and rubbed against each other at two cage-fighting events, which Cohen may […]
HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA—RZA, best known as a member of the rap group, Wu-Tang Clan, is working with Hollywood director Eli Roth (Cabin Fever and Hostel) to write and direct a martial arts action movie, The Man with the Iron Fist.
According to the industry buzz, director Quentin Taratino may also want to be involved in the project. […]
SHANGHAI, CHINA-The number of museums may or may not be an accurate measure of a martial arts legend/film star’s popularity and celebrity status, but the current score is Bruce Lee 2, Jackie Chan 1.
As reported in the previous story, Bruce Lee’s family is planning a museum in Seattle and his Chinese fans want to convert […]
With the July 20th commemoration of the death of Bruce Lee 35 years ago, the interest in and respect for one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential persons of the 20th century has never waned, and is experiencing a resurgence, with plans for multiple tributes and projects.As reported in last month’s Industry Insider, the musical, […]
ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI—Ken Sills and Charlie Walton, St. Louis area martial arts instructors and Black Belts, have put their shared vision to bring the benefits of martial arts to the disabled into action, with “Fighters With Courage and Power,” the only known martial arts program specifically adapted for children with cerebral palsy.
Sills and Walton combined […]
LIVORNO, ITALY—In an ironic twist of fate, 77-year-old Keiko Wakabayshi, nicknamed the “Samurai Granny”, has been hired by the Italian military to train its recruits in martial arts, which is a term that is based on Mars, the ancient Roman god of war.
That irony is probably the farthest thought on the minds of the young, […]
BEIJING, CHINA—During its first three weeks in China, Dream-works’ Kung Fu Panda, became the first animated movie to gen-erate more than 100 million yuan in box office revenues, totally 135 million yuan (approximately $20 million USD). A movie with $15 million in revenues is typically considered a big hit in China.
With the movie’s success also […]
Wojciech Chomicki, 71, a pensioner living in Plock in northern Poland, may have appeared to be a easy mark for a would-be car thief, but he picked the wrong man because Chomicki, a Black Belt in Karate, has more than 50 years of training and has been a qualified teacher in Shotokan Karate for more […]
SHANGHAI, CHINA—At a recent press conference in Shanghai, Jet Li joined with other fitness professionals to lead several hun-dred bodybuilders through his new system of exercise called Wuji, which combines martial arts moves with yoga positions.
Li claims a healthy balance of body and mind exercises has made an important contribution to his success. Wuji is […]
DILI, EAST TIMOR—Thousands of cheering East Timorese greeted Jackie Chan during a recent UN goodwill visit at a local stadium, where the film star asked the country’s youth to avoid drugs and violence.Martial arts are extremely popular in East Timor, which has one of the youngest populations in Asia, but an unemployment rate of approximately […]
Westminster, Colorado…Amanda Christensen, branch manager/owner of the Mile High Karate location, in Westminster, Colorado, reported that no injuries occurred when a driver ran his Ford pick-up truck into the side of the school, Saturday May 3, between 5:30 and 6:00 pm.
Christensen filed a report with local police, and the driver stated, at the scene, […]
