Boxing

Traditionally, red, black white, blue, silver and gold are the boxer's first choices in colors.

Muhammed Ali

For one, boxing matches weren't slippery affairs from all the blood in the ring. In the bare knuckle era, boxing was extremely brutal, sometimes men fell on their rears from slipping and sliding on the blood, if they happened to be boxing on a relatively smooth surface. The prefered surface was either porous wood, or just outright soil, anything that would sponge up blood to prevent people slipping and falling. Additionally there were no referees, meaning, you could get elbowed, head butted, groin shotted, kneed or kicked even, often in the shins. Where boxing was especially brutal was in France; in France, they practice a style of boxing known as "Savate," so named after the shoes French sailors wore. Like the English, early Savateurs fought with no gloves. The French simply refer to Savate as "boxing," and the boxing that is known in the west, the one you watch on ESPN? They call it "English Boxing." A lot of the techniques are identical, except that Savate uses kicks too. So, how come Savate never made it onto the world stage until recently? The sport was considered too brutal, and because kicks are involved fatalities were more common. Even by the more brutal standards of the bare knuckle era people found ring deaths distateful. The introduction of the Queensbury rules lessened the amount of fatalities, as well as injuries, pretty soon so many safety measures were introduced, that boxing became a sport. Another word of note, because there were no gloves, the punching speed was much greater, even among the heavies. Jack Johnson for example, was a big man, I believe he weighed 230 lbs and although apparently fat, most of that was muscle. Despite his size, his fists were allegedly almost as fast as Sugar Ray Robinson's, Johnson's punching speed, was in fact greater than Ali's. How the hell is that possible? When a fight goes for 40 rounds or more you better train hard; even a big guy will develop lightning hands if he trains hard enough. Although personally I think the man was a coward, John L. Sullivan had pretty quick hands too. The reason Sullivan fell out of favor with the boxing crowd, was that even racists thought he was a coward for ducking black fighters. For avoiding fights with black dudes, Sullivan became unpopular really fast, and he was no longer a money making fight card. Ultimately though be thankful boxing isn't as serious as it used to be; in "olden times" it was grotesquely brutal, the only real value of the sport, is that it reached its peack during the reigns of Joe Louis, Jersey Joe Walcott, Rocky Marciano, Sugar Ray Robinson and Jake Lamotta. "Golden age" boxing, was "somewhere in the middle" in between the bare knuckle era, and boxing as we know it today. Not quite modern, not quite bare knuckle, but drawing on the best elements of both. Golden age boxing had the speed, craftiness, cunning, and seriousness of the bare knuckle era, with the sports conditioning and scientific approach of the modern era. The skill level was so much higher, that, in Louis' and other old timer's time at least, THAT form of boxing, the style of boxing where the stance is held sideways, can be considered a martial art. However no one uses that style of boxing anymore. The reason I am good at the Fight Night franchise (a boxing video game series), is because I don't think like a modern fighter when I play; I do my best to try to think the way the old timers used to think. I don't use ANY modern approaches with my tactics, they just don't work. When I create boxers in the more recent fight night game, I keep everything standard and textbook; I'm a very "by the book" player. One more thing; I HATE showboaters. When Muhamad Ali did it, that was fine, there was tactics involved and he never show boated to the point of making gross miscalculations. Guys like Zab Judah and Jones Jr. though I think are an insult to the sport. Were I a pro boxer myself, I would go head hunting after those guys they tick me off so much. No respect at all for their opponents, zero. I mean, there is a very fine line between entertaining the crowd the way Muhamad Ali did, and being a comedian, and having the uncommon skills and hand speed to back it up, but TRYING to be Muhamad Ali, that's something else. Just my humble opinion; I'd love to seriously learn boxing if I can find a 90 year old coach who teaches the sideways stance version.

The unwritten rule of all combat sports, even with "athletically gifted" people, is the late 20's. Marciano even, only barely managed to get promoters and trainers because he started at 26. He DID have some prior ring experience, but, it was "common" Boxing work. In Marciano's time all males did "some" boxing at some point in their lives, but nothing really serious. Its sort of how someone gets you take a sport in High School you don't like, and only last a season as opposed to sticking with it; it was not uncommon for people to last only a "season" where Boxing was concerned in short, Marciano's prior ring experience was not considered "real."

The age range to start a martial art, combat sport of any kind, or martial arts sports competition of any kind is between 6 and 14, make it, 5 and 16, that 10 year window is the prime time, the best time to get started. For children with only average parents, whoever the trainer is needs to get them started as soon as possible, preferably by age 6. If the parents are athletically gifted, more importantly the father, if the father is athletically gifted, then training can begin as late as 25 or 26. Marciano though, he was just very strong; he had no real athleticism to speak of.

If you are an average person, or rather, have average parents, the age to start lessons is 6, if your father, or both your parents have an athletic background and hence you have genes for anything athletic you can begin as late as the mid 20's, although, it is best to begin in the mid teens. Additionally, part of the reason its best to start in childhood, is because high pressure competition, competition that will decide whether or not you will turn pro takes place during the teens. In the same way High School determines what college you will go to when you grow up, in Boxing, your amateur performance determines whether or not people will pay for you. Getting knocked down during the amateur days looks very bad; if you can't take a hit with all that padding on, then, unless you do Shaolin iron shirt for the next 10 years, you won't have a chance in the pros.

If you want an edge in Boxing, go to the Shaolin temple, and train in iron shirt. It will turn you into every prize fighter's worst nightmare, unstopable in the ring.

Roberto Duran. Terry Norris and Hector Camacho.

4:00 am uk time.

8:00 pm pacific

11:00 eastern

uk time less 8 hours.

The Cinnamon-Tree

its called a mouth gaurd

Jack Dempsey died of natural causes in 1983 at the age of 87.

Hi do you have a photograph of the autograph as the clarity of the autograph and some sort of authenticity all add to the value as does what is actually signed

Temple and side of the jaw

get a machine gun to do both

Middleweight boxers would usually come in at a height of 5 feet 10 inches in proportion to their weight. But there are boxers in this division that are shorter than 5 feet 8 inches. They are Dwight Muhammad Qawi 5'7", Carmen Basilio 5'6", Sam Langford 5'6", and Laszlo Papp 5'5".

Lyoto Machida is the best Karate expert, holding UFC light heavyweight belt and undefeated.

In Hirokazu Kanazawa's opinion, one of the few 10th dans in Karate left assuming he's still alive as he's really old now, and the Japan Karate Federation, that man is Mikio Yahara. Yahara was the pride and joy of the JKA, and the most controversial Karateka the organization produced. He was infamous for severely injuring his opponents in tournaments, and because of his reputation, in recent years he has hired himself out as a bodyguard, I think Yahara runs a Karate dojo with a special emphasis on bodyguard work, and all told he is EXTREMELY tough. Even as an "old man" now, I think approaching or in his 60's, few Karateka anywhere in Japan or the world want to fight him.

True enough Yahara is not currently the world champion, those days were way back in the 1980's, but given the nature of the martial art, he is likely more dangerous now than ever. Since I am assuming you practice Karate, then you probably know that Karate is all about throwing your entire body weight in whatever it is you do, be it defensive or offensive technique. Karate's main weakness is that if the practitioner is unfocused, and does not know how to aim, its pretty useless because the martial art is almost completely reliant on Kime. Its an effective "perfect punch," but you only get one chance, hence the need for makiwara board drilling according to just about any instructor who bothered to write a book on the subject. Without makiwara board drills, Karate training just isn't complete, as it trains the eyes to focus on a single spot, not unlike the focus mitts in boxing really. See, what is different about a makiwara, is that it combines the resistance of a punching bag, but the small size of a focus mitt. A Karateka will get more out of their training from pounding away at a makiwara for hours, than they will from a sparring session. The reason Okinawan traditionalists are averse to sparring, is precisely because of the injuries inflicted by Yahara.

Yahara was among the last generation of Karateka trained in the traditional manner by the JKA; that is, focusing on basic drills first, hundreds upon hundreds a day, followed by doing Kata 100 times each ever day for a month befor emoving on to the next one, and after that, makiwara board work in addition to pre-arranged sparring. When he earned his black belt, Yahara obsessively spent time behind a makiwara, reportedly doing it so much, he fractured his knuckles. When the time came to actually fight, he became infamous for not only ending fights with a single blow, but for often breaking his opponent's ribs, sometimes even their arms as they attempted to block the oncomming strike. You asked, best Karate fighter, someone who participated in tourneys, that man would be Yahara, however as to the best Karateka period, its probably some obscure Okinawan master; well known, public persona Karate 7th through 10th dans have said, that the best martial artists aren't always famous you know. Before he died, Hidetaka Nishiyama, at least from what I read in an interview, admitted that from among his class, that is the people who trained under Funakoshi, he wasn't the best. Certainly he won the all Japan Karate championship but Nishiyama did say in interviews he was not the best. The dude who was the best died a long time ago I think, and he never participated in tournaments.

If I had to name someone based on the opinion of an actual expert, far as Karate FIGHTER, not Karateka period, it would probably be Mikio Yahara. In terms of skill in many ways he's a second Oyama, a Karateka so skilled, I don't think even MMA fighters could beat him. Consider the accurate punching of boxers and Muay Thai fighters have from practicing with focus mitts; the main reason Muay Thai boxers, and even MMA fighters will often times outslug Karateka, is because the training just isn't complete. What good does solid hand eye coordination and focus do, when you can't aim worth a damn? See that is where the Makiwara comes in; its a sort of "focus mitt" on steroids. A fully trained, old school Karateka, has laser beam accuracy, such tremendous accuracy and power, from constantly pounding away on a makiwara board, that any skills other pugilists or grapplers may have ultimately become a moot point see, that is why I don't like that martial art. At its heart Karate is not a sport dude, it is exceedingly ruthless and extremely cold blooded in its approach to self defense.

Ignorant Americans, among other westerners often say "its all the same thing." They look at a Shaolin form, and then they look at Karate's Gankaku Kata and think "ah, its all the same crap; punching and kicking!" Not so; different forms are meant to emphasize different things. Some forms are to develop power, other forms are to develop speed, while others, are to develop mobility and agility. Karate's forms emphasize three things; focus, power, and speed, and it blends those three elements, so that they are ultimately combined into a single blow. The only way to acquire that kind of focus though, is by repeatedly hitting a target, that target in question being a Makiwara. Hey, when you think about it, a fist, a bullet, and an arrow, have something in common; they have to be well aimed for them to hit their target. American Karateka, or Karateka who practice as if though the martial art was a sport, and don't use traditional training methods WILL get eaten alive because they are not practicing in accordance to the way the martial art was designed for example, boxing focus mitts work well for boxers, or Muay Thai fighters because the strikes are similar, but they won't work for a Karateka because the whole "body weight into the blow" thing requires a target of greater resistance, namely, a makiwara. What I'm trying to say is that the forms were simply not designed for boxing training methods, that is like using Navy SEAL training, training a bunch of Navy SEALS and then telling them "okay, I need you to perform open heart surgery now." Yeah the SEALS are well trained but, open heart surgery is not what they were trained for is it? The same problem exists, when you use focus mitts in Karate; when you do the Karate katas, you are training, in fact, to hit a single target with everything you've got, you are not training to throw combos like in boxing or muay thai. A boxer or muay thai fighter, the two most commonly chosen striking arts in MMA, specifically trains to throw combiantions so focus mitts work well for that purpose. A Karateka though, trains to throw a single, powerful blow, so, focus mitts won't work.

How can I put this another way? So you spent a year doing basics, Kata, and pre-arranged drills, training to throw a single, powerful blow. You start training in focus mitts, guess what? You don't have the combination training background of a boxer. Whereas a boxer has had a whole year to prepare for focus mitt work, if that is the training approach, or at least a whole month, a Karateka has not had any training at all because again, that is not what the forms are for. You do not train with a revolver, if the weapon you will use in a war is an M-16. You do not train with an M-16 if you are a federal agent who will use a semi automatic pistol. True enough tere are similarities but the way you aim and handle those things is totally different. Its the same with karate, and use of focus mitts; its better to stick with tradition because in adding to the training you are in fact not only not completing your training, you are ensuring that it won't work. I don't care if you have sparred countless times, if you do Kyokshin; if you sparr without ever doing makiwara work, what ends up happening is that you spar with crappy aim throughout your Karate career. The reason I do not consider myself a trained Karateka, nor would I have considered myself one even if I had earned my so called black belt here in the U.S., is because without makiwara target practice training just isn't complete. Think of the makiwara as Karate's equivalent of a shooting range; the more you do it, the better your aim gets. A Karateka with extremely good aim, this aim combined with the coordination and power the forms bring, and combined with meditation, is more than a match for any grappler or MMA fighter that is why I rank Karate as number 4 on my list of top 10 martial arts.

Shaolin Kung Fu beats Karate, because they train in both aim, as well as high speed; the reason you do not want to pick a fight with a shaolin monk, or threaten his life (or her if its a nun), is because if you do, you will be victim to, literally, a storm of fists. From your perspective, it will seem as if it is raining fists, when you fight a shaolin monk, that is how fast they are. Ultimately though, I over answered; unless you're a sick sociopath who likes to hurt people, abandon Karate. Karate is a martial art you only want to practice if you are the member of a minority whose life is constantly threatened, or, if you are Jewish. Anywhere there are Muslim communities, Jew's lives are in danger, regardless of shade. That is why the divisive, arrogant racism of the ashkenazi needs to stop, why they need to be stopped; they continue mistreating the rest of us, and soon we will outnumber them, they will only make things worse for us in the long run.

Karate is an exceedingly cold blooded martial art that you only use when your life is threatened, the life of someone else, or, in Sokkon Matsumura's case, defending the honor of a woman. In many cultures, virginity is still highly valued, and believe it or not, the law says its okay to kill a potential rapist, in the name of protecting a woman's virginity. Sokkon Matsumura witnessed a Samurai attempting to rape an okinawan girl; he used his Karate against him, and he so crippled him he could never wield a sword again but he did not kill him. The reason Matsumura could do that, is because he had practiced for so many years, spent so much time pounding away on a makiwara, that he acquired laser precise aim. Again, traditionally trained Okinawan Karateka have the accuracy of a laser beam, because whereas a boxer hits two focus mitts, a Karateka hits only one target, over, and over, and over, in time, aiming, choosing a target, becomes second nature. The Shaolin are even deadlier when it comes to accurate punching, because they take the whole makiwara board drill to a different level; instead of one board, they have an exercise where they surround themselves with targets, and they hit each of them hundreds of times. Again, fundamentally, punching and shooting share the same principle, the principle of a projectile flying towards a target. When a punch is thrown, it is in fact the fist all by itself flying towards a target; once the muscles "snap" to throw a punch, their role is over, the fist is in fact flying on its own. Because of this, you have to learn to aim dude. You don't have to hit a makiwara; find a small hoop, something roughly twice the diameter of your fist for starters, then something just barely larger, hang it somewhere and punch through it over and over. If you want to get fancy, throw a couple of punches, the idea being, learn how to aim dude.

In fact I've been thinking about doing that myself.....

later

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I guess these dudes never heard of... CHUCK NORRIS!

Without writing all that info, that's not needed, I would predict Bruce Lee as the best ever over all in Martial Arts itself, with no doubt!

no and no.

you must give me more info about yourself than that. i am about 5'9", and i fight at 141 lbs up to 152 lbs (more at 141 though). But when I'm not in training, I weigh anywhere from 155 to 165 lbs. So height isn't in any way, a sign for what weight class he or she should fight. Usually either a GOOD manager (in caps b/c all of them say that they are great, but you must find the right one), and the doc decide this. Many times the fighter feels it out himself also. They look at your strengths, body shape, your metabolism, plus many more factors and capitalize on them. So choosing a weight class is more strategic than it seems.

In 1954 in Louisville, Kentucky, 12-year-old Cassius Marcellus Clay's bike was stolen while he and a friend were at the Columbia Auditorium. Young Cassius found a cop in a gym, Joe Martin, and boiling with youthful rage, told Martin he was going to "whup" whoever stole his bike. Martin admonished, "You better learn to box first." Within weeks, 89-pound Cassius had his first bout-his first win. For the next 27 years, Cassius would be in that ring. Even in his youth, he had dreams of being heavyweight champion of the world. But his life would take turns that no seer could've predicted.

Actually his bicycle was stolen as repercussion from a "rock fight" on the railroad tracks at 30th and Hale, between Cassius, his younger brother Rudy on one side and Barry Kane and Jim Money on the other side. Either Cassius or Rudy, it is unclear which one, hit Money in the head with one of the thrown rocks. As retaliation, Money stole Cassius bike and stomped the spokes out of the wheels. Later, Cassius and Money confronted each other at the Parkland Ice Plant at 31st and Woodland and had a short street fight over the stolen bike and the rock fight.

Police Sgt Joe Martin ordered Clay, Money and Kane to the Columbia Gym for boxing training. Clay, Money or Kane, never faced each other in the ring due to weight class differences. Clay and Kane remained in the program while Money left to Join the Marine Corps.

Cassius went on the win the Olympic Gold Medal in Rome in 1960, Barry R. Kane, was the 7 time Golden Gloves Champion for Kentucky and later followed Money into the Marines where Kane holds the 1st round knock out record for boxing smokers at the MCRRD at Parris Island. It has often been said that Kane, pound for pound, was the best boxer ever produced from the State of Kentucky, including Clay.

Barry Kane remained very close friends with Cassius until Malcolm X and the Black Muslims recruited Clay to change his name to Muhammad Ali and refuse to accept the draft into the service due to the fact that the Black Muslims considered Clay to be a minister. Clay and Kane remained somewhat friendly toward each other in the later years, however, Money never had much to do with Clay after that, other than an occasional accidental meeting when both were visiting their hometown at the same time.

Enough to fill 100 glasses

It was during the filming of guy Richie's "lock stock and two smoking barrels that McLean was struck ill by what was believed to be the flu. However, upon examination it was found he was suffering from lung cancer which had spread to his brain. He died shortly afterward, in July '88 in London just weeks prior to the release of the film. Richie dedicated the film to him and had billboards for the film changed to feature McLean in tribute.

roll with the punch= step back while being hit. this would increase the contact time of fist and face and therefore will decrease the force. however, if the person being hit steps forward into the punch this will be a fast jab with a decrease in contact time and therefore a huge force hence "knockouts" in boxing.

cpaletti

Force summation is the order in which you do an action. With boxing, the biggest muscles come first, so that is the thigh's, then the abs and so on, to the biceps which is the last power behind the fist.

"Larry Duncan" The name rings a bell in my memory.

There was a heavyweight named Larry Duncan. From Winston-Salem N.C. and fought the circuit from 1972 to 1979. He would of been "nice" pairing with John L. Gardner at the time but, Duncan may have had a tad bit too much class for Gardner to handle him. He ended up with six losses being KO'd 3 times.

See related links for his stats

Vitali Klitschko of the Ukraine has been the World Boxing Council heavyweight champion since October 2008.

He has being WBC Heavyweight Champion. I don't know if that is the british heavyweight title.