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You've seen the Kindles, right? Well it's time to go get your own!
Please enjoy this very logical, insightful article by Lorraine Cortes-Vazquez, the New York Secretary of State. In it she discusses the pro's and con's of legalizing MMA in New York. It's nice to hear what "other" NY State officials are thinking and to get a sense of their reasoning, without feeling the need to defend the sport of mixed martial arts at the end! No accusations, no innuendos -- just clear, logical, well-articulated thinking. As follows:
"Gov. David Paterson has proposed legalizing and regulating mixed martial arts. Some New Yorkers, including some who have concerns about the safety aspects in this sport, disagree with that plan.
While I respect that position, I believe that legalizing these competitions presents an opportunity for regulating the sport while allowing the state to realize the economic benefits of hosting MMA competitions.
I believe this is a reasoned middle ground between retaining the ban on MMA and other "combative sports" -- which is economically detrimental to us but beneficial to Connecticut, New Jersey and the other 40 states that have already legalized them -- and abandoning that ban. That would open the door to unregulated fights that flout the existence of athletic commissions and the health and safety rules they enforce.
ELITE MMA Referees was honored to have Grand Master Ron Van Clief as one of our students. He recently completed the ELITE MMA Referee Workshop course and obtained his Certificate of Completion. Here's what he had to say about his experience and the training:
"Katrina, Thanks again for everything... ELITE MMA REFEREE WORKSHOP IS A MUST FOR ANYONE WANTING TO REFEREE MMA MATCHES. Thoughful presentation of must-know data in an online format. I learned what a referee should be. ELITE MMA REFEREE WORKSHOP sets the standard for 2010 and beyond. Thank you Katrina for all your effort and dedication to MMA...I feel you! Ron"
Wow - high praise from Master Ron Van Clief indeed! For the two of you who have not heard of Ron Van Clief, per his website: "Grand Master Ron Van Clief has trained and taught Martial Arts well over 40 years. He has appeared internationally on television and radio demonstrating his art, as well as at many colleges and universities lecturing and presenting the Ron Van Clief 101 curriculum. He holds a black belt or the equivalent in Karate, Ju-Jitsu, Aiki-Jitsu, Kung-Fu, Arnis de Mano and Zen Jutsu. Further he is a master of the Sword, Sai, Nunchaku and other martial arts weapons."
If that wasn't enough, "In 1994 he fought in the Ultimate Fighting Championship IV, at the age of 51, against the undefeated Champion Joyce Gracie. Grandmaster Ron Van Clief competed in many brutal full contact matches in Asia to prove his systems effectiveness to the world of Martial Arts." To date, he has been the only person to fight at the age of 51 years. Incredible. Take a look - this gentlemen has always been ahead of his time:
His accomplishments are numerous; to read more, please go here. You'll see that Master Van Clief is still highly involved in martial arts and MMA. Here he is sparring at 60...and you don't need to ask who wins, right? ;-D
We are thrilled to have Master Van Clief as a graduating student and honored ELITE MMA Referee. If you're ready to get started on your own MMA referee career, Please Go Here!
Dana White Stuffs "The 'Stache" again!
Steve Mazagatti just can't seem to make Dana White happy. He stops a fight too soon; he stops a fight too late - and most of the time, at least according to Dana, it looks like he's just going over his grocery shopping list in his mind instead of paying attention to the fight. Is this guy ever going to give Steve a break?
Witness Dana's current Vlog:
In spite of the fact that Dana's doing everything in his power to rip Steve's referee job and income out from under his feet using a WWE-like body slam, at least he thinks Steve's a really, really nice guy. I'm sure that makes The Stache feel really, really good.
Fans of Japanese MMA will recognize the face and name of Nobuaki Kakuda - the "Big John McCarthy" of Japan.
In addition to being a K-1 fighter, Kakuda danced in the Japanese version of Dancing with the Stars, has starred in movies and television shows, he narrated and sang the ending theme for a movie, Kinnikuman Nisei, and in addition to being one of the most recognizable Japanese MMA ref's out there, he is known for his famous "first punch knockout win" over German 4-time cage combat World Champion Mavrick at 0:56 seconds in the K-1 Fields Europe GP 2005.
He is now also famous for being one of the first MMA referees to be suspended for endangering a fighter's life.
In October, Kakuda refereed the Kozo Takeda vs. Albert Kraus fight in Tokyo, Japan. If you've already seen the fight, you'll most likely agree that Kakuda's ref'ing at this K1 WORLD MAX 2009 event in October was less than stellar. And while it makes sense he was probably trying to give his fellow Japanese fighter the benefit of the doubt, it just wasn't pretty.
If you haven't seen the fight - check out the video above. Extremely painful to watch as Takeda was repeatedly knocked down, kneed, punched, and rocked silly - yet he continued to fight, because Kakuda did nothing to stop the onslaught. In fact, when the fight was stopped, Takeda had been wandering around the ring so slap-happy, I'm not sure he knew where he was.
The question here is: should Kakuda have been held totally responsible? Takeda could have taken action and, when asked numerous times by the ref if he was alright, said "NO"! Not saying Kakuda should be excused completely, but it's a thought. Takeda might not have taken that route because in Japanese society, such action may have been considered dishonorable.
In fact, for all we know, Takeda told Kakuda ahead of time to keep the fight going, no matter what. Kind of like Josh Koscheck did here: "As for next time, my message to all the ref’s would be to, please let the fight go until I’m put out to sleep."
This type of fiasco makes one wonder if perhaps a fighter's corner should be allowed to throw in the towel. New Jersey's new Amateur and Professional MMA Rules of Conduct are already allowing it and it just makes sense.
As you watch the video, you'll see Albert Kraus, the Dutch kickboxer and Takeda's opponent, show a tremendous amount of class. Good guy.
As a result of his (in)action, Kakuda was suspended for 90 days. I think MMA referees over here in the United States had better take notice.
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Charles "Mask" Lewis - "Do greatness -- leave average to the lazy.”
“I just want to mean something someday. Be more than someone who could have been, hopefully more than meets the eye, more than face paint, someone that will honestly make you proud.”
Referee Marc Wasem - "Touch gloves, go back to your gloves. Uh, corners." – (giving the final instructions to Torres and Mizugaki)
Listen to Carson's Corner!
Scroll down to #11 and listen to Bob Carson interview Katrina Belcher, MMA Ref School.org's facilitator!
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"Gov. David Paterson has proposed legalizing and regulating mixed martial arts. Some New Yorkers, including some who have concerns about the safety aspects in this sport, disagree with that plan.
