Sunday, February 28, 2016

Shownotes Episode XXXIX-Crouching Tiger, Hidden Podcast II


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Intro Music: Theme from "Enter the Dragon" by Lalo Schifri

Introduction
  Recorded On: 2/27/2016
  Hiyaa Podcast
  Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon II
  Beggin for iTunes reviews
   Martial Arts Lineage Podcast
  
Interlude Music: Wisco Disco by 20 Watt Tombstone
Random Thoughts: Seven Martial Arts Sins
  Episode XXVII-Once Upon A Podcast
  
Interlude Music: Goddamn by 20 Watt Tombstobe

Interview with Dianne Wickles
    Hong Kong Treasure

  Contacts
    Pinterest: Diane T. Wickles
    Facebook: Diane Wickles
    Author website: Diane T. Wickles
    Books website: Romance by D. Dominik Wickles

Interlude Music: Ghosteye by The Sword

This Week in Martial Arts: February 26th, 1988 Bloodsport's Limited Release in the US
  Frank Dux
  Directed by Newt Arnold
  Jean-Claude Van Damme
  Bolo Yeung
  Donald Gib
  Forest Witaker
  Roy Chiao


Contact Information
Twitter Account: @martialthoughts
Email: martialthoughts@gmail.com
Atemicast Youtube Channel
www.thinkingmartial.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/martialthoughts

Outro Music: Voodoo Chile-Jimi Hendrix / Gayageum ver. by Luna

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Review for The Fighter Within by Christopher Olech

4.5/5 Ninja Stars for The Fighter Within by Christopher Olech

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from the publisher for review purposes

Title: The Fighter Within: Everyone has a Fight, Insight into the minds and souls of true champions
Written By: Christopher Olech
Publisher: Tuttle
Format: Softcover
Cover Price: $15.95 $11.17(US)

  For a while now, there seems to be an ideological war of sorts between MMA fighters and traditional martial artists with both sides believing their methodology is superior to the other.  MMA proponents claim that they get to test it in the ring in live conditions, while TMA acolytes say that the ring isn't a self-defense situation.  To be honest they're both right, and their both wrong, but that's a post for a different day.  The reason I bring the argument up, is that even though it has been shown over and over to me to not be true, I have this mental stereotype of MMA fighters as...well... big, dumb, clumsy brutes.  I know its not an accurate description by any means, but its still stuck in my head.  Most likely as character assassination from other traditional martial artists.  If you have anywhere near that idea, then I would highly recommend this book, as it blows those unfair expectations out of the water by describing the drive, commitment, and yet intellect required to be top contenders in the world of Mixed Martial Arts.

Content

    The author, Christopher Olech mixes in anecdotal stories, interviews, and personal experience in the world of MMA to bring you a picture of what type of a person reaches the top of the sport.  He starts off with a little biographical information which share threads through out the book with the other fighters and coaches that he talks to.  He interviews many of the sport's champion fighters, and the coaches that gave them the edge to become champions.  He does this in a very storytelling, conversational way which lends itself to being a good reading book.

Pros

    Christopher Olech is a definite fan of MMA.  It bleeds through into his writing.  You can't help but get excited with him as he's telling the story of driving 10 hours straight to interview his MMA idols.  However, unlike being a superfan of some other sport, like football (American style, not futbol) being a fan of MMA allows you to participate in the sport at a competition level, which Mr. Olech does.  In fact, I think being able to go onto the mat with these top athletes simultaneously brings them closer to us mortals, and allows us to appreciate their physical genius.
    I think the most important part of this book is how it shows the intellectual side of the top fighters in the world.  It shows just how much dedication and spirit they've dedicated to this endeavor.  I, at least, now put much more stock into the preparation of MMA competition than I did before.

Cons

    The only criticism I could give for this book, and I know I'm being nit picky here, is that the interviews ended up being a little out of my range of interest when the author would ask about their food intakes.  Which I'm sure if you're an up and coming fighter is really interesting, and important.  However, I'm not the intended audience for that portion of the interview.


Conclusion

    Because of this book, I've changed many of my views on MMA, and MMA fighters.  In fact, I've actually gone on Youtube, and watched some of the fights he talked about in the book, and am starting to see more of the artistry and skill of the martial art, rather than the raw fighting skills I could see before.  So on that note, I say thanks for broadening my understanding.  I'm going to give this book 4.5 out of 5 Ninja Stars.  I don't know what a 5 out of 5 book would look like, but I think this book is a little to specialized in its audience to garner such an honor.  However, Mr. Olech's enthusiasm carries the reader into the book, and his knowledge and storytelling carry you the rest of the way through to a deeper understanding of the sport and its champions.  If you've got even a passing interest in MMA, or MMA athletes, or even sport motivation, then this is a great book to pick up.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Episode XXXVIII-And I'll Form the Podcast


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Intro Music: Theme from "Enter the Dragon" by Lalo Schifri

Introduction
  Recorded On: 2/11/2016
  Beggin for iTunes reviews
  Ideas for interviews or
  Martial Thoughts: Fighting Words

  
Interlude Music: Tarot Woman by Rainbow
  
Interview: Andrea Harkins

    Martial Arts Woman Blog
    World Martial Arts Magazine
    MA Success Magazine
    Dana Hee
    Karen Eden
   

  Contacts
    @aharkins1
    Google +
    Facebook
    Martial Arts Woman Blog

Interlude Music: Seven Sisters by The Sword

This Week in Martial Arts:February 12th, 1983 Birthday of Iko Uwais
  The Raid
  The Raid 2
  Star Wars the Force Awakens
  Gareth Evens 

Contact Information
Twitter Account: @martialthoughts
Email: martialthoughts@gmail.com
Atemicast Youtube Channel
www.thinkingmartial.blogspot.com
www.facebook.com/martialthoughts

Outro Music: Voodoo Chile-Jimi Hendrix / Gayageum ver. by Luna

Saturday, February 6, 2016

4.5 out of 5 Ninja Stars for "The Golden Cane Warrior"

The Golden Can Warrior (Trailer)
The Golden Cane Warrior (IMDB)

  I just finished watching The Golden Cane Warrior on Netflix.  It impressed me enough that I wanted to immediately go online and write a review.  The movie was released in 2014, and it was made in Indonesia, which I didn't know when I decided to watch it.  I have to say, that the quality of martial arts movies that are coming out of Indonesia recently is really high.  They're putting American, and most Chinese/Hong Kong movies to shame.  Unlike the Raid and The Raid 2, this is a period piece.  I'm not familiar enough with Indonesian history to say how it fits into their countries narative.

Actors

      Again, I'm not familiar with Indonesian cinema to say, but Christine Hakim is considered a big name star.  She plays the mentor Chempaka.  The acting is one of the strong points of the movie.  All the parts are played well, and are believable in a kung fu movie kind of way.

Story

  This was the one part of the movie that seemed a little weak.  It was a typical revenge plot, but, in its own way, it added to the flavor of the old school kung fu movie feel.  Except for the language, and dress, it felt like a movie somewhere between an old Shaw Brother film, and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.  It did have a bit of an epic feel as there were plenty of shots showing off the beautiful natural scenery that is Indonesia.  If they just edited those pieces together it could have been a travel ad.

Filmography

  This is where the film really shines.  This was a definite high quality film, which epic vistas, and interesting locations.  It was filmed with an epic feel, and you really get the sense of weight and the larger world through the movie.

Martial Arts

    This was an interesting point for me.  I'm more familiar with the Indonesian martial art of Silat, and this movie displayed none of the feel of Silat.  I'm going to make the assumption that the people trained in the movie were trained in Kuntao, which is a more Chinese art that immigrated, and took root in Indonesia.  The Kuntao again added to Kung Fu feeling of the movie.
    Most of the martial arts were based on staff work, with very little empty hand stuff at all.  Which is fine, its just a little unusual for there not to be any real empty hand martial arts in a movie.  There was very little wire-work, and what there was, fit into the movie purposefully.  It wasn't flying for flying's sake as some other movies are in the habit of doing.

Overall

    Overall, I have to give this movie 4.5 out of 5 Ninja Stars for its old school kung fu movie feel, which I really enjoyed.  The acting and filmography were well done, and gave the whole movie a grandiose, and larger than life feel.  I really enjoyed the movie, and would easily recommend it to anyone who loves Chinese/Hong Kong movies.  The fact that its from Indonesia gives the movie a new fuel to the same revenge drama that we've all seen.  It makes me want to invest more time in searching out Indonesian martial arts movies, that's for sure.

3.5 Ninja Stars for the Martial Arts Romance Novel "Hong Kong Treasure"

Review of "Hong Kong Treasure"

In the interest of full disclosure, I received this book from the author for review purposes

Hong Kong Treasure on Amazon

  This is a bit of a departure from my normal reading list.  I was contacted by the author and asked if I wanted to do a review of her romance novel.  I was a little confused by this, but I figured I'd give it a shot.  I've never read a romance novel before, so I figured I'd give it a shot.  Why not?

Story

  The story's two main protagonists are Annie, a young American woman who has no memory of her past, and Deshi, a Hong Kong martial arts action star.  As one would imagine, the story is about Annie's past catching up with her, and her growing future with Deshi.  Which is trying to be sabotaged by someone close to them both.  Since there is the mystery of her past, I don't want to describe the storyline in great detail, as I hate spoilers.

Pros

  I have to say, I did end up wanting the characters to hook up, so in that sense, the book did get the emotion right.  The characters were full people, and I loved the side characters.  Deshi, the protagonist and love interest is based on a couple Hong Kong/Chinese actors, and you start to be able to pull apart the influences.  There is a mystery about Annie's past, and I actually found that the most compelling part of the story, as it seemed destined that the characters would hook up.  One of the things I really like the most about the book was the descriptions about the city of Hong Kong (and other parts of China).  You get the feeling that Mrs. Wickles actually was in Hong Kong, or at least had traveled there.  For example,the traffic is described as being utterly crazy and a constant near death experience, but the locals all take it in stride.  That seems to be someone's personal observation.

Cons

  There was one thing that struck me as a little weird was the way the Chinese characters spoke English.  It was almost a stereotypical/comical way.  It was a "You go now!  You be here four hour!" type of thing.  I was taken aback at first, thinking that it might be slightly racist, but I've recently learned something that does explain it.  The way it was explained to me, in the Chinese language they don't have many differences in their words.  There is no "I go, I went, I will go."  There are no plural words.  You get all of those type of things from context clues.  So If you literally translate the language it would sound like the stereotype.  (Please correct me if I'm wrong for anyone that actually speaks or is studying Chinese)

Conclusion

  I'm going to rate this not as a martial arts book, but more as a fictional piece.  As I have no experience with romance novels, I don't really even have anything to compare it to.  Somehow, in going through my schooling, I never even have to read Pride and Prejudice (and Zombies?).  That being said, I did actually enjoy the book, I felt for the characters, I especially enjoyed the side characters.  The story moved well, and there was the background mystery to keep you reading.  Overall not bad.  So I'm going to give it 3.5 Ninja Stars.  I don't know if its a martial arts book, as it was more martial arts adjacent, but it was a good read, and I'm thankful for Mrs. Wickles for allowing me to read and review her book.