Did You Know (or Care): Al can make you tap

c/o Michael Pomerleau

Sometimes people think they know an actor by a role that he/she plays on television or in a movie.  Here's an example of how wrong than perception can be.

Ed O'Neill, perhaps best known for playing the perpetually demoralized "Al Bundy" on Married... with Children for 11 seasons, is, in real life, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt under the direct tutelage of original UFC founder Rorion Gracie. (Here's a brief clip showing his promotion from brown to black belt in 2007.)

BJJ is different from most other martial arts, as it often requires no less than eight years of hardcore training before one is considered proficient enough to meet the requirements necessary for advancement.  In fact, O'Neill himself needed more than a decade to rise from the white, blue, purple and brown belt ranks before he achieved the coveted black belt status.  And that's pretty much par for the course.

Just remember y'all – it isn't usually wise to judge a book by its cover.  That sad looking couch potato is possibly capable of making you squirm. 

Just Thinking Out Loud: A true master

c/o Judo Club of Conegliano, Italy; August 7, 2009

My return to the world of martial arts has been further stimulated by the woman pictured in the center above, as Sensei Keiko Fukuda recently became just the 16th person in history to earn Judo's highest possible rank.  At 98-years-young, she is also the first woman.

For more about this exceptional ichidai (diligent practitioner of the art), and if you want to know what it is to be composed of a certain fudoshin (immovable spirit), have a look at this story from '03 that is sure to inspire.

Did You Know (or Care): Martial Arts

The belt system used in most martial arts is relatively new.  For centuries, students were only given a white belt.  Through years of training the white belt would become soiled with dirt, grime and blood, becoming darker in the process, eventually becoming a black belt.

Although considered a racially insensitive term here in America, Sambo is an abbreviation of the Russian term Samozaschita Bez Oruzhiya, which means "self-defense without a weapon."  Developed for the Russian military, Sambo was heavily influenced by Judo and indigenous Russian wrestling.  It also features a military-inspired uniform, including belt loops on the fighting jacket.

Its most well-known practitioner is Fedor Emelianenko, a mixed martial artist nicknamed "The Last Emperor" who did not suffer a legimate loss for nearly 10 years.

Source: Taekwondo-Network.com