Close to the Earth

Mexicali, Mexico

2010-03-22T18:55:00.000-07:00

Mexicali is a desert city of over a million and is located two hours away from San Diego and Tijuana. It is a harsh and rugged place, as are the lives of many of the people living in Mexicali.

Below are images I photographed when I traveled with members of Los Ninos International, a community development organization operating on both sides of the border.

A boy sells hand-made bracelets at his village for $1. Minimum wage is $5 a day.

Some women in Mexicali promote nutrition, employment and education among underserved communities. Below, Los Ninos volunteers see a bee farm created to improve nutrition habits.

Metals and plastics are melted down for their scraps at a cacti farm.

A family of cacti farmers burn metals to sell the scraps next to their vegetable garden, with no way of filtering run-off.

A girl helps Los Ninos volunteers build a cement section for her school.

The owner of a tortilla factory grinds kernels into corn meal.

Jason Vu: 14 Years Old and Missing For Over A Month

2010-02-03T20:22:00.000-08:00

Watch the video here

Dinner at the Vu residence in Point Breeze is served in traditional Vietnamese style. Plate after plate of rice, fried fish, chicken stew and tripe are placed on newspapers spread over the cherry-stained wood floor. Praying before each meal has gained a painful new meaning for the Vu family. There has been one less member joining them for dinner since Christmas Eve.

Jason Vu, 14, evaporated from sight on the morning of December 24.. His family members describe Jason as a quiet, introverted boy who spent most of his time locked in his room on his computer. He made honor roll at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic School and stayed out trouble, but his family said Jason had also shown signs of disturbing behavior since last summer.

“His whole computer screen would be taken up by the Ouija board, Satanism, things about finding new religion,” said Anthony Vu, 16, brother of Jason. “He relates to the occult and thinks he believes in this new religion.”

His family had to remind Jason to break away from his computer to eat meals. Jason refused to eat meat when he joined them, claiming it was poisoned.

“He closed his eyes all the time and said he was psychic, said he could read people’s minds,” said Kim Le, Jason’s mother.

Then Jason expressed his desire to drop out of school, believing everybody would die in 2012 anyway.
“I told him ‘if you die, you'll die a smart boy',” Le said. “Don’t worry about who dies, that’s God’s job.”

His father, Thuan Vu, recalls telling Jason to limit his computer time and socialize with other kids. His son always answered yes to and seemed to listen, Vu said, but it was hard to read such a quiet boy.

Jason’s last meal with his family on December 23 seemed happy enough to his mother. He ate fried chicken with carrots for dinner. It had been one of Jason’s favorites. Then he ran upstairs and fell asleep early, Le said. The next morning he waved good bye to his four-year-old sister, Diamond, and walked out the front door.

“I want Jason to come back,” said Diamond Vu. “I want Jason here now.”

Of the numbers of missing children reported each year in the United States, only seven percent remain missing for over a month, according to a 1999 study by the National Incidence Studies of Missing, Abducted, Runaway and Thrownaway Children. But the faith of Kim Le and her family remain unshaken in the face of such odds. They still attend the Vietnamese Mass at Saint Thomas Aquinas Church every Sunday, where a prayer is said for Jason each week.

The Vu family is offering a $10,000 reward to the Citizens Crime Commission for information leading to the Jason Vu’s whereabouts. He is 5-foot-4 inches tall and weighs around 120 pounds. He normally wears glasses and has spiky black hair. People with information on Jason Vu may call 215-456-TIPS. Anonymous sources are protected.

Rebuilding the Monster: An Interview with UFC Champion Kevin Randleman

2010-01-02T14:41:00.000-08:00

Kevin Randleman addresses the media after his loss to Stanislav Nedkov at Sengoku 11 0n November 7th in Tokyo.

Despite a 3-7 record of mostly first-round submission and knockout losses over the last five years, Kevin Randleman’s most recent fight against Stanislav Nedkov at Sengoku 11 last November was supposed to be a return to the dangerous wrestler who rightfully earned the nickname “the Monster”. Fans still recall Randleman’s his memorable wars against Randy Couture and Bas Rutten in the UFC, and his highlight-reel displays of overwhelming brute strength fighting in the now-defunct PRIDE FC. Randleman's possessed the cordite-loaded fists to incapacitated dreaded kickboxer Mirko CroCop with a brain-rattling jab-cross combination and the raw power to lift up and flip undefeated heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko facedown in midair and slam him neck-first on the canvas.

Now training training full-time at the Tapout Gym in Las Vegas, and having recently married his girlfriend of six years, Randleman believed he had the discipline, experience, and consistent training partners needed to take out his opponent, Nedkov. Instead, the fight a misdirected grappling session. Randleman briefly showed an improved arsenal—he threw a few low kicks and reversed his opponent's position twice—but his unwillingness to trade strikes and aggressively engage his opponent cost him the judge’s after three rounds. Randleman, however, maintains his optimism and hopes to be in fighting shape by March, and he sees many of entertaining battles in the future as he was acquired by Strikeforce last year.

How has training been since your last fight in November?
I broke my foot. I had some minor injuries. My ribs are a little torn up. I cracked my foot kicking. But I’m plugging away at the Tapout Gym. Bottom line is you can’t take too much time off in this business because your opponent could always be training when you are not.

How did you get involved with your current training spot the Tapout Gym?
I moved out of Ohio six years ago. I started training with Marc Laimon, Joe “Daddy” Stevenson, John Lewis, so I bounced around a little bit. Then injuries would happen and I’d have to take a step back to focus and be healthy. The owner of Tapout Gym owned a gym called Fightclub at the time. It was small, like 17,000 square feet, but it was nice because I got personal time. I had 24 four-minute rounds. Then they got down with Tapout people and it’s a really nice atmosphere. It’s very family-oriented. You have three year-olds come in who try to kick your shins.

Those three years-olds will be a dangerous breed if they stick to training.
Oh yeah. You talk about crazy jiu-jitsu like flying arm bars. Those kids will be so skilled in the future its going to be stupid. The Tapout Gym—4400 Hacienda Street, Las Vegas.

In losing a judge’s decision, why did your last fight again Stanislav go differently than you had planned?
I always think I’m ready [to fight]. The doctors made jokes a long time ago. They said it would be a long time before I was 100-percent ready. I looked like it like I was the monster and I thought I was going to be okay, but I needed more time to rest.

You hardly threw any punches in your last fight? Why was that?
I was apprehensive to throw punches because I didn’t want to rip my shoulders again. A shoulder injury means you’re out 18 months. I’ve had both of my shoulders injured so that is 18 times two. Now I’m to the point where I can finally do military presses over head without pain. It’s the first time in five or six years without pain. In my last fight I was feeling worried and nervous about my shoulders. But I like fighting. We’re going to train, train, train. End of February or March I will be 100-percent ready.

You seemed more comfortable fighting off your back in your last fight. Have you been working on more Jiu-Jitsu?
I got my blue belt [in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu] right before that fight. Blue belt is the hardest belt to get. Everything else comes with it. For me it was exciting. I concentrated more on BJJ and wrestling for that fight. I didn’t spar that much. Now I spar three times a week. My hands are better than everyone elses, anyone whose fought me will tell you how I hit the hardest, but I get apprehensive sometimes and don’t throw them.

Your friend and former Hammerhouse training partner Mark Coleman is fighting Randy Couture at UFC 109 in February. What is your prediction?
If Mark Coleman is in shape, Randy doesn’t make it past first round. Mark has got heavy hands. He’s got country boy strength. He’s got generations of strong country motherfuckers on his side. He’s excited. He’s going to surprise everyone.

If you could fight anyone right now who would it be?
I want to fight Stanislav again so I can knock him out. It really doesn’t matter. I know the organization I am now in [Strikeforce] has Mousasi. Babulu, Mo Lawal, and those are all exciting fighters.

What are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned from fighting?
The biggest thing I’ve learned has been patience and calm. Calmness is like a balance. Calmness is not sweating the small stuff. I’ve been knocked down and knocked out in practices and have had my ass whooped. But no one in your fight whoop your ass like in practice.

You said the Japanese fans have made you a better person and a better father in your post-fight press conference at Sengoku 11. What differences do you see between American and Japanese MMA fans?
American MMA fans boo and make you want to cuss them out sometime if a fight is boring. I understand that. We want more for our money. In Japan they understand that there are two guys who have agreed to fight for them. They don’t boo. They clap and they’re quiet. They know submissions can end a fight in a second. They are very aware and very knowledgeable of the sport.

It’s a difference of people. It has everything to do with their culture. And they’re just nice people. Everyone at the conbini stores are just nice and ready to help you. I go to a 7/11 back in the states and this woman at the counter is giving my wife attitude. I said "If you don’t your job you should quit." Bitch, you don’t want me to get an attitude. I got no problem waiting for the police to come. My son is 21-years old and he is studying Japanese to do business over there. I would say that the Japanese have taught me to be patience. I want to sit down and talk things out where as before I had no problems spitting or slapping you in the face.

Who have been the most influential people in your MMA career?
All those young fighters I am watching right now and my wife [influence me]. One young fighter I train with to look out for is Eric Smith. He’s 24-year old who is a big 240-pound kid can get down to 205. He whoops my ass every in practice.

Which fight do you think you learned the most from?
I really didn’t apply myself then [to my old losses]. Now that I’ve been applying myself I’m a dangerous 205 pounder but I just haven’t been pulling the trigger. I’m writing a book right now and I don’t want to get into my past too much but let me just say this--I loved women. If I had two girls in my bed I was not willing to work out. I’m not giving up the two in the bed for the one that might be hiding in the bush. But then I met my wife six years ago and I realized I could have something nice to work for.

Which fight was your hardest opponent?
I don’t go into fights looking for a knockout. I don’t care. I know I can wear out and beat everyone. And if the knockout comes it comes. The Randy Couture fight was one of my favorites. I did everything in my power to beat him, but then I got tired and he had the upper hand to beat me. Nakamura too, there’s just a lot. I know I may not be undefeated but if I had applied myself a lot more in the past but if I would have I would have 11 or 12 more victories.

Before MMA you were one of Ohio State’s most successful wrestlers. Why did you turn to wrestling initially?
I was poor. I didn’t have money. I had a big family. There were no presents during Christmas. Someone had said hey you can get out of this by going to college, so by eight grade I wanted to go to state wrestling championships and win and go to college.

Did wrestling keep you out of trouble?
There was no balance. I was a crazy fuck. I had a real long rap sheet. I was a militant black guy who grew up poor. The wrestling had people on my side because I was always learning good stuff. I was always in the paper doing volunteer work. I gave my time and whenever I got in trouble there were people to vouch for me who had my back.

When did you clean up?
I just met my girl six years ago. Before that I was partying, fucking girls, I had lesbians living with me. I was just, like, fuck it. I was partying, doing drugs, smoking weed, menagie...Then I met this girl and I said this could be a nice life.

Are there any closing comments you have for your fans?
Just hang in there with me. If I get knocked I’m going to get knocked out because I’m leaving it all in there. I might have lost my last two but I expect a streak. I’m working harder, training longer, running more. I’m doing everything right for the first time and I know I’m going to get my goal and get my title. I got to get my technique real good. Perfect practices makes perfect.

Deco

2009-12-21T16:54:00.001-08:00

Skyscrapers and Bamboo

2009-11-24T06:10:00.000-08:00

A collection of photographs from Hakone, a hot spring resort town outside of Tokyo, the Chichibu trail in Saitama, and the Nishi-Shinjuku skyscrapers.

Bamboo Buddha, Hakone

Buddha and Jizo group, Hakone

Cave Statue, Hakone

Statue of Kannon, Bodhisattva of mercy, Hakone

Leaning Bamboo Forrest, Hakone

Orange-Lit Sky Scrapers, Nishi-Shinjuku

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office Building, Nishi Shinjuku

3 Kannon Statues in Different Poses, Hakone

Infrastructure, Ebisu

Tokyo Metropolitan Government Office, Nishi Shinjuku

Hakone

Wayside Buddhist Statues, Hakone

Exterior of Photography Museum, Ebisu

Windows, Nishi Shinjuku

Night Light, Nishi Shinjuku

Kabuki Restaurant, Ebisu

Tower, Nishi Shinjuku

Metropolitan Government Offices Deco Detail, Nishi Shinjuku

Abandoned Vans, Chichibu Trail

Trees, Chichibu Trail

Clearing, Chichibu Trail

Red Flowers, Chichibu Trail

Caligraphy Monk, Ueno Koen

Cemetery Flower, Azabu Juban

Noon, Chichibu Trail

Burning Gingko Tree, Chichibu Trail

No Entry, Chichibu Trail

Nikko

2009-11-23T04:58:00.001-08:00

Infiltrator

2009-11-05T21:12:00.000-08:00

Asakusa:

Ueno Park:

Cemetery, Azabu Juban

Enoshima, Kojidoji and Tsukiji Fish Market

2009-10-23T05:44:00.000-07:00

If there was space in the sardine can of a subway car, I would have photographed the close quarters. But my nose tickled from rubbing against the girl’s hair in front of me. Raising my arm from my hip to eye level would have meant practically groping people. After more than a month and a half of living in Tokyo, I had my first claustrophobic subway experience as peopled crammed to catch the last train to Shinbashi at midnight. It was so tight the people near the doors almost fell out at each stop. A few stops away from my destination, everybody turned to face me, and I realized the exit doors would open on my side. I grabbed a handrail to steady myself as the rush of people boarding and exiting the subway threatened to pull me out of the car. I smiled because it reminded me I was still in Tokyo.

It seems like I am still a fresh arrival to Nippon, yet I have already finished midterms. Every day I walk the same way to classes, no longer craning my neck in awe at Azabu-Juban’s spiral stairwells and sleek architecture but with my headphones plugged in and my mind wandering elsewhere like everybody else. I buy the same discounted packages of Korean ramen, an economic staple of my daily diet, from the same convenience store near my hotel once a week. Finding the order to build routine amid the madness of Tokyo shows growth, but it also risks curtailing the spontaneity that has fueled some of my most memorable adventures.

So, continuing to push myself outside comfortable territory in my pursuit of curiosity has become paramount. The packed subway car was yet another means to that end. My itinerary included meeting a friend at the Crow Forest bar in Shinbashi, a late night hub for Tokyo’s business class, wait for the subways to re-open around dawn and then visit the world’s largest fish market in Tsukiji to see its tuna auction.

When I got to Crow’s Forest after midnight, many business men and women had already rolled up their sleeves and spastically swung their limbs on the dance floor, as if in acknowledgement of a gospel of salvation they heard in the sounds of Abba and disco-era Kiss.

One patron whispered to me of a silent practice of unpaid overtime several nights a week at some jobs. Beyond the office, employees are encouraged and even expected to imbibe with their superiors regardless of the time and the tally if they hope to advance in a company. I realized the world of 9-to-5 jobs represents much more than employment. Instead, it’s a lifestyle.

When dusk had brightened the twilight sky, I boarded a subway toward Tsukiji, which rests among industrial buildings and skyscrapers on the Sumida river. More than 900 vendors sell everything from the treasures of the ocean to fruits, vegetables and cutlery, but there is no room for the weary. The main tuna auction ends after 6 a.m., and many of the wholesale fish vendors and aromatic soup shops close for the day soon after.

Alleyways teamed with men in smocks competing to carry and unload ice boxes of the day’s catch in the same space as scooter traffic and other shoppers like myself. My camera and outward appearance magnified how out of place I felt, but I kept moving with the flow of people, stopping for a few minutes to shoot an image, circling the market place and re-visiting the same spots for pictures until I was satisfied.

Every inch of the market had more crates packed with slimy textures and briny odors on ice. Vendors conversed while slicing meaty slabs of tuna into filets with 30-inch blades. Needle-shelled crabs and lobsters wrestled in tanks.

It was hardly daylight, and I was exhausted and starving. I bought a bento box of mackerel sashimi so fresh its scales still glistened and I savored its rich, salty coarseness.

Perhaps letting myself feel too much at home in Tokyo would be permitting my heart to be broken in December when I must return to the states, so I resist it. Tsukiji should keep me on guard for some time because it will take many visits for me to see all of the gargantuan fish market’s pearls.

Relocated Reporting: Shibuya, Akihabara and Harajuku

2009-10-13T07:00:00.000-07:00

For Temple News

Visit the link to view the slideshow.

The thousand-person line of Japanese nationalists shouted fierce anti-foreigner diatribes through
megaphones and loudspeaker-mounted black trucks marched as they marched in protest through Akihabara’s electric city district,.

“Chinese, Koreans, go home,” yelled an older man into my camera, fogging the lens.
“We will not let you forget about Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” said another.

There has always existed a contingency of Japanese who remain loyal to the Emperor and shun foreign influence, but the global recession has incensed these right-wing groups to accuse foreigners of stealing their jobs. It reminded me of the rhetoric I would hear on Fox News back in the states. Ignorance must be a universal language.

The nationalists had interrupted what I had hoped to be a good will trip to Akihabara, a neighborhood that is notorious for being a Mecca for geeks and technology aficionados. If it is related in any way to a video game, anime series, or an electronic device built within the last 30 years, it can be found in excess at Akihabara. Tokyo’s electric city is also a hive for the most dedicated of otaku who dress up as their favorite video characters in a phenomenon known as cos-play.

So, as I have always sought the most authentic Japanese experience in my travels abroad, it seemed logical that I too should don a cape and create my own American superhero persona to befriend the army of costumed nerds who I presumed would be littering Akihabara’s streets.

Instead I found the nationalist anti-foreigner demonstration. Still the protestors showed a strange politeness towards myself, the foreigner, crouched inches away from their parade of rising sun flags and agitated bodies, despite my American flag cape and rainbow bell bottoms. Many even smiled at the camera and flashed peace signs.

If Akihabara is the motherboard of Tokyo’s technology fetish, Shibuya is the glittering disco ball for entertainment, shopping and nightlife. An estimated one to three million people scramble from the four subway lines of Shibuya station and then flood the ward’s main intersection in clockwork waves. A short walk from Shibuya is Harajuku, the fashion capital of Tokyo, where almost every young Tokyoite looks like they strutted from the pages of a fashion catalogue. Shibuya offers both international themed cuisine and traditional sushi bars and noodle shops. And there are enough swanky bars, multi-level video game and entertainment complexes, love hotels and dance clubs to keep one busy all night, every night. Incredibly, all of Shibuya is stacked within 5.8 square miles.

For my next column I dive into the early morning auction at the world’s largest fish market in Tsukiji, and travel somewhere outside of Tokyo again. That I have no idea where I will visit yet shows the wealth of options the country offers.

2009-10-08T22:29:00.000-07:00

An ice-breaking half time show at the national Kyokushin open karate tournament

Sunset near the Meijijingumae shrine in Yoyogi park.

A traditional wedding ceremony at the Meijijingumae shrine. Many people were taking photographs, so perhaps the couple is famous.

Shibuya crossing on a Saturday afternoon.

The Audi Tokyo Forum Building in Shibuya.

Docomo Building seen from Shibuya station.

Sleeping man urinating on the steps of Akasaka Business Tower.

Relocated Reporting: Kamakura, Yoyogi and Ueno.

2009-09-28T00:39:00.000-07:00

For Temple News

I never thought it possible to fight the urge to fall asleep while standing in a crowded subway car, but after partying from dusk to dawn in Shinjuku, I found a way. My body twitched and jolted to reel my brain back into consciousness when I came dangerously close to dozing off and missing my stop on the subway.

It was 10 a.m., and I had seized the opportunity of a five day weekend — the government mandates a few national holidays a year because Japanese people work so hard they never take a day off — to travel an hour south of Tokyo to Kamakura, a coastal city rooted in Buddhism that the shogun Minamoto Yorimoto named capital of Japan’s military government in 1192.

Windsurfers dot the water off the coast of Kamakura during the five-day weekend.

Several thousand Japanese people had the same idea. I gave up on reading city maps and followed the throngs of visitors crowding suburban Kamakura’s cozy sidewalks. They led me to Hasedera temple.

Jizo, pictured above at the Hasederae Temple, is a Buddhist deity who protects women in childbirth, stillborn children and travelers is popular among the Japanese. He is often adorned with a dead child's clothing to protect them in the afterlife.

Zochoten, one of four Shintenno who protect Buddhism, stands guard with a halberd (hooked spear) at the Hasedera temple in Kamakura.

Built on the slope of a mountain trail, Hasedera is a compound of innumerable Buddhist temples, scattered among candy-colored pedals and fluttering velvet purple butterflies. The highest point of Hasedera overlooks the coastline, and the sight of tiny parasails gliding on crystalline waves drew me to the beach, where I made friends with some Japanese kids my age who were celebrating the holiday with yaketori, Asahi beer and jet skiing.

The round trip to Kamakura only cost a little more than $25. Tokyo is the world’s most expensive city to live in, so it is imperative to look for bargains. For example, Yoyogi Park hosts free international themed festivals every Sunday. Last Sunday was Vietnamese-themed, and I enjoyed a hip-hop performance straight out of Ho Chi Minh city on the stage at Yoyogi and ate curry chicken kabob and pad Thai noodles for less than $10.

Vietnamese hip hop artist DJ Samurai invites the crowd on stage for his free performance at Yoyogi park's weekly international festival.

Then again, Yoyogi Park is a festive place regardless of the occasion. I once saw a drum circle, several dozen teens dressed up as video game characters practicing for a choreographed dancing video and public saxophone lessons all within a half hour span there.

But my favorite fixture at Yoyogi is the Tokyo Rockabilly Club. Each Sunday these smooth cats roll into Yoyogi in their pink Cadillac wearing black leather tights and grease-slicked hair to dance to the tunes of Chuck Berry and his Japanese counterparts. They only rest from their jumping high kicks and full front splits to re-comb their hair and pour more beer down each other’s throats.

The Tokyo Rockabilly Club show off their full splits and dance moves every week at Yoyogi park.

Near Ueno Kōen, another free public park sprinkled with Buddhist Temples and shrines, is the Yanaka cemetery for infants. Yanaka is adorned with 84,000 statues and representations of the Buddhist deity Jizō, guardian of stillborn infants, women in child birth and travelers. He must be watching over me on my Japanese journey because I seem to uncover yet another treasure whenever I lose myself.

Yokota Kazunori of Nakano's Grabaka gym pauses between training to field questions from the Japanese press on the eve of his fight against Ryan Schultz at Sengoku: Eleventh Battle on September 23. Yokota won by knockout in the first round.

The locals celebrate the silver week national holiday with shrine parade in Akasaka.

Electronics store in Akihibara, Tokyo's electric city.

Japanese nationalists protest against foreigners in Akihibara.

Millions of people cross the main intersections in Shibuya.

Water lillies, Ueno.

Indian festival, Yoyogi Park.

Tokyo Battle Sport

2009-09-24T21:03:00.000-07:00

9.23.09: Sengoku Tenth Battle

Saitama Super Arena

Billed as USA Vs. USA, Indiana's Dan Hornbuckle continued winning streak with a blistering second-round knockout of Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts Academy's Nick Thompson.

UFC veteran Joe Doerksen gets some air time in an awkward exchange against Takenori Sato. Doerkson won by knockout in the second round.

Yoshida Dojo's Maximo Blanco ducks under a high kick thrown by Tetsuya Yamada. Blanco won by TKO in the second round.

Six-foot-four, 300-pound Antonio "Bigfoot" Silva of American Top Team made easy work out of Jim York with a submission via arm triangle choke.

In the only fight to reach a judge's decision on the main card, Yoshida Dojo's Makoto Takimoto outlasted durable South Korean Jae Sun Lee.

Grabaka's Yokota Kazunori knocked out Team Quest's Ryan Schultz with fluid movement and crisp striking in the first round.

Olympic Judo silver medalist Hiroshi Izumi surprised many, including his opponent Antz Nansen, by straying from his grappling roots to stand and strike against kickboxing champion Antz Nansen. Both men made their MMA debut in Sengoku's main event.

9.19.09 Makuuchi Division Sumo Tournament
Kokugikan, Tokyo

The yokozuna celebrates his victory with the bow dance at closing ceremony.

City Lights

2009-09-18T07:25:00.000-07:00

For Temple News

Thin vapors of breath escaped in heaves from the furnace of my lungs, dissipating into the jeweled midnight sky. The glow of the full moon illuminated the Martian landscape and its red and black volcanic chunks. Looming above me at 12,388 feet sat the seemingly insurmountable Mount Fuji. Seven grueling hours of climbing later, I collapsed at Fuji’s summit to witness Japan’s rising sun emerge from a bed of clouds – and it was only my first weekend in Japan.

Tokyo can easily be a sensory bombardment, disorienting and overwhelming to an outsider. Familiar land marks by day morph into nearly unrecognizable neon-lit creatures by night. People sprint down the streets at all hours. The flashing lights and allure of the Tokyo nightlife attracts swarms of people like moths flying around a lamp post.

People hurry around the Kabichiko red light district in Shinjuku prefecture, seen above. Below, a man sleeps between a subway stop on a corner of Shinjuku.

The Shinjuku prefecture is the main artery to Tokyo’s throbbing pulse. Shinjuku houses the world’s busiest subway station. More than 3 million people cross through the Shinjuku station each day. Hidden in the shadows of Shinjuku’s skyscrapers, behind the kaleidoscopic blur of red light district, is a maze of alleys known as Golden Gai, crammed with bars no bigger than walk-in closets. Locals, seeking an escape from the city’s dizzying size and tempo, flock to these intimate dives to relax after work.

I wandered into Golden Gai by chance. There is no such thing as being lost in Tokyo. Everything has its own place and time, somewhere, waiting to be discovered. From ramen shops, Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples to international nightclubs, sushi restaurants and karaoke bars – Tokyo’s golden goose has laid her precious eggs at every corner of the sprawling metropolis for urban explorers to feast upon. One semester in Tokyo may only be enough to grasp a basket's worth of Japan's treasures, but I hope to at least capture through my words and images what can only be experienced.

Ancient tradition merges with modernity in Tokyo. Above, a Shinto shrine overlooks the Akasaka financial district of Minato-Ku, Tokyo.

A view of the Tokyo Tower from a public stairwell.

View of the skyscrapers in Shinjuku from the Tokyo Tower, the tallest building in Japan.

How to eat cheap in Tokyo: make friends with Ramen.

Night Light

2009-09-16T19:39:00.000-07:00

A lens blinks
and captures a moment forever. At night
I return to the streets of Tokyo
alone with my camera, drawn
to the city’s electric tension and its glowing fluorescent windows aligned in checkerboards,
neon lit stars shining in a galaxy of steel and concrete computer chips, bodies crisscrossing
like moths flying around a lamppost.
Sometimes the light hits a person
at such an angle
or I catch a certain mannerism that reminds me of those I have left behind.

I hunt for the celluloid and Kashmir-coated panther
camouflaged in the back alley shadows and poised in the sharp angles of skyscrapers,
the monuments and nooks waiting at every step.
Aperture depth and focus aimed with a sniper’s precision at the ancient particles of light
reflected from the atoms, to my retina, through my lens, gleaning a new perspective
like molten gold to bypass laws of physics and circumvent the nervous system.
I want to sear my images into your soul
with thunderous reverberations.
Media, I suppose
is a form of telepathy. Since brutish men people scribbled on stone walls there has been
a yearning to transfer thoughts and words and that which can only be experienced, to be
seen, heard, felt, and understood long after our time has passed.
These thoughts bleed into my periphery as I see another row of cascaded bicycles,
their unchained, stainless chrome fenders bare and tempting like burlesque dancers high-
kicking in unison, frenzied human whirlwinds racing from subway cars and across parking-lot
sized intersections, the man sleeping between a bus stop in the loudest, brightest corner of the red
light district, a river lined with tugboats beneath a highway overpass.
A lens blinks again.
Another scene is frozen.
And I rub from the weariness from my eyes and swallow my hunger pangs and venture
deeper into the night, because once again
I am just a boy looking for salamanders beneath rocks.

Climbing Fuji and scouring Shinjuku

2009-09-11T19:51:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I accomplished one of the few goals I had set during my stay in Japan--climbing the mighty mountain spirit known as Fujisan by the locals and watch the sun rise. Timing was critical. The climbing season ends after August so the conditions would only worsen if I waited any longer. Some of the deaths reported in the off season, which I found while researching Fuji, include falling on rocks, slipping on ice, and my favorite--"blown away".

It took a three hour train ride just to arrive in Fujinomiya, the town at the base of the mountain trail by the same name, and then a half hour taxi ride to the fifth climbing station some 7,874 feet high, to begin our ascent.

The road meandered around tight bends through a forest of Asian pine trees with bare trunks stuck out from the ground like toothpicks. Above shined the stars and full moon in the sapphire night sky, against the sharp black visage of the volcanic monolith we steadily crawled upward toward--Fuji.

The eight-hour climb was the most exhausting effort of my life. Every few minutes I had to rest and catch my breath from the high-altitude while the season local veterans, many twice my age and with evidently a much denser concentration of red blood cells, breezed past me. Hallucinatory images skirted in outskirts of my head, seducing me into the state of sleep my body craved so desperately.

Between four and five in the morning the hundreds of climbers convened in a single-file procession, marked by the glowing blue specks of their helmet lights, to climb the final of the journey to the 12,338 foot summit. I found the strength to get up and followed them. Once I set foot on the flat earth, I fell against the side of the Shinto temple at the top and slept. I woke up with a few minutes to spare before the sun rise.

Majestic, breath-taking, awe-inspiring? Sure. But truthfully, having been awake since 9:30 in the morning the previous day I could have witnessed the birth of a new universe and still would have been indifferent in the face of such extreme sleep deprivation. Luckily, my camera captured what my eyes were too weary to appreciate at the moment.

View from Tokyo Tower

View of the Skyline for the 52nd floor of the Mori Tower

Back on Earth, Tokyo by night is a galaxy of lights and concrete high-rises. With so much of the
city stacked up in multi-level buildings, some of the best views are accessible by simply climbing stair wells and fire escapes. There are also a observation decks in some of the famous land marks like the Tokyo Tower--the city's tallest structure--and the Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills.

The Mori Tower in Roppongi Hills.

Sleeping off a night of partying on the steps of Akasaka Business Tower.

View of Minato-Ku from a stairwell.

A popular love hotel seen from a rooftop in Akasaka.

Another Shinto shrine tucked in a corner of Akasaka.

Reflection of Tokyo Tower.

Cold Soba noodles with an egg.

The stairwells of office buildings have some of the best views in the city.

View of Tokyo Tower from stairwell.

Another hectic night in Shinjuku.

Shinjuku station, rush hour.

The intimate-sized Milk Bar in Golden Gai.

One of my favorite spots I have uncovered is the Golden Gai section of Shinjuku, a series of back alley bars frequented by the locals after work. I visited one with my camera and the patrons, who spoke better English than my pitiful Japanese, seemed amused that a 22-year-old had even heard of the neighborhood. Some of the guys were thirty-year-old newly weds. One candidly described their state of mind in marriage as "a tiny bit happy." It reminded me of a quote from my poetry professor earlier in the day--"marriage is Thunderdome." The guys brought army ration food with them to the bar, so we appeased our beer munchies with canned radishes and hamburger meat. They asked me what the English word for army meals was. I told them, "dog food." Then I reprimanded them for wasting the rations that we should be saving for battling the Mongolians and they bellowed with high-pitched giggles.

Next week is a baseball game, a Sumo tournament, a media workout at the Grabaka gym as Kazuniro Yokota prepares to fight in the Sengoku MMA card on 9/23, and on next Sunday, my birthday. More adventures to follow.

Today I failed a lot.

2009-09-02T07:43:00.001-07:00

Shrine to the traffic goddess in the backstreets of Akasaka

View from Roppongi Hills

Fountains in a park between Akasaka and Roppongi

Dining in a stand-up sushi bar in Shibuya

Today I failed a lot.

I had set out to photograph the changing of officer shifts at a police sentry set up near a construction site in Minato City, where Temple University Japan is located. One officer stands guard, and is replaced by another at 3:40 in the afternoon. They salute each other and bow with the characteristic Japanese formality. I witnessed it yesterday walking back from lunch, and it was so peculiar a scene I checked my watch and vowed to return the next day to capture it on film for my Temple News column. So I revisited the site today at 3:30 in the afternoon, stood behind the officer on the street corner, and waited. There were people weaving past me as they cross the street. Construction workers walked back and forth carrying signs, hoses and steel drums from their trucks. Then a bus full of police officers backed up behind the sentry point, requiring several officers just to waive it, and a few more to alert pedestrians of the loud, several-ton vehicle, lest it somehow elude their sight.

The replacement arrived at 3:40. The picture came out blurry.

Another failure: I went to the Shinjuku district to buy a tripod for my camera after classes and stupidly forget to bring a map, or even print out the address of the store I planned to visit. I didn't find the store. Shinjuku holds the largest subway station in the world and it reminded me of Tokyo's version of wall street. Every building was tall and shiny. Every person was Japanese and dressed in business attire. Tired and frustrated at myself as I was for aimlessly wondering around, it reminded me of Burt Reynold's line in Deliverance--"Sometimes you have to get lost before you find anything." (Forget about his character later being hopelessly marooned in the Mississippi backwoods and sexually molested by inbred mountain people.)

I fell short on capturing photos and buying a tripod today. Tomorrow I will wait at the corner with the police sentry in Minato City at 3:40 with my camera. Then I will return to Shinjuku, this time with a map and the address of the camera store.

On Monday I visited the Minato City hall office with some friends after class to apply for the mandatory alien identification card and national health insurance. It had been raining since I walked to school that morning. By the time we left the city hall office in the early evening it had been updated to a typhoon.

Down the street from the Minato city hall is the Zojoji Buddhist temple, just one of countless centuries-old relics of Yamato to be found in every corner of Tokyo's metropolitan sprawl.

The Tokyo Tower can be seen behind the Zojoji Buddhist temple.

The rain fell at a slant like arrows. A monk in blue rubber boots ran up to us and gave my two friends umbrellas. I managed to snap a few shots with the help of my friends, who held my umbrella over my camera, but the lens fogged up. I will have to return for more when I pick up my alien registration card from Minato City Hall next week.

Another spot I will be frequenting more is the Shibuya neighborhood. Shibuya is like the Times Square of Tokyo, with millions of people crossing its main intersections every day. It is exciting enough during the day, but it transforms into a neon lit monster of a place by night. Unfortunately the rain cut my last visit short. Until then I will be doing a lot of writing, learning Japanese, photographing and playing online chess.

The Journey Begins

2009-08-29T17:01:00.000-07:00

Imagine a mummer's parade of excessive proportions and with better behaved drunks, and it will resemble the August drum and dance festival in Koenji, a neighborhood near the famous Shinjuku train station in Tokyo. Nobody seemed to know what or why they were having the festival. Apparently, these events are such long-held traditions that even the locals forget their origins sometimes.

The streets were packed on both sides and the spectators retained their trademark Japanese politeness as they silently pushed their way through the clusters of bodies to get a better view of the action. The most effective infiltration techniques came from the older Japanese women, who, in their wizened years of experience with foreign "gaijin" must have realized that we claustrophobic Americans have much different personal space, and would walk into foreigners like me, knowing we would move to accommodate them rather than feel awkward.

It would be just a taste of the madness to come. As my group of friends and I left midway and headed for the subway, the rest of Japan was still arriving in unrelenting thousand-person waves from the station. Police and subway workers cordoned off most of the station to accommodate the masses as they exited the subway and entered the streets of Koenji. There was a smaller but still dense crowd packed like gumballs all vying to pass through three or four ticket entry points. Boarding the subway took a while.

I arrived in Tokyo on Thursday afternoon, excited but delirious from a restless thirteen-hour plane ride. Our living quarters is in the financial district of Minato city known as Akasaka, a strip of bright lights, with tight streets shared by people in business attire and Mercedes'. A big hobby for Japanese business men and women visiting Akasaka video games known as Kochinko. They are a mix of pinball and electronic slots, and the massive arcades that house the machines, said to be ran by the Korean mob, are filled with locals staring intently into the flashing colors and jarring noises.

The best way to eat cheap in Tokyo, the world's most expensive city, is to become quick friends with ramen. Even ritzy places like Akasaka have noodles restaurants that sell succulent, filling meals for a reasonable $3-$6. One such bar caught my attention because the prices were cheap and all of its patrons were locals, so I knew it had to be a bargain. I ate beef broth with a raw egg and soba (buckwheat) noodles. Microwavable noodle meals sold at convenience stores are also palatable and a better alternative than some of their attempts at fusing Asian cuisine with staples of the west, like the Lo Mein sandwich.

Roppongi is a ten minute walk from Akasaka and is packed with hundreds of bars, night clubs, and the probably the highest concentration of foreigners in the country. Thus, it also has a reputation for all kinds of Russian, Chinese, Nigerian and Japanese mob activities. Many new arrivals in Tokyo who hang out in Roppongi without researching legitimate establishments are prey for being lured by promises of free drinks and happy endings into seedy clubs and bars only to wake up a few hours with a traces of dissociative drugs in their system and empty wallets and bank accounts. But Roppongi's negative connotations have not dissuaded the locals from parking their bikes on the sidewalks without locks.

I did my homework on Roppongi and spent my first full night out on the town in a dive known as the Mistral Bar. It is also called the train bar because it is styled after a subway car, but the interior is truthfully more like a crawlspace. Crammed inside were foreigners and a few local girls rocking out to the AC/DC, Iron Maiden and Megadeth songs playing on the sound system. Everyone was quick to laugh at the space constraints at the with one another and tip their glass, so there was an air of closeness and camaraderie. The bar really showed how Tokyoites make the most out of minimal space. Every inch wall space save for the bar counter and the liquor shelf lining was scrawled in tipsy signatures and pictures of patrons from over years.

Across the street from the Mistral Bar was Gaspanic, a dance club with a ton of local girls and enough fog machines and strobe lights to induce an epileptic fit. Japanese youth are into American hip hop, even the outdated kind. It was an unexpected flashback to the frat parties of my freshman year of college to hear disposable rap anthems like "Ballin'!" once again booming from the speakers of the DJ booth.

By midnight I was quite worn from representing USA boogie woogie on the dance floor and the jet lag so I left the club and walked home with a friend. It is a fifteen minute walk from Roppongi to my hotel room. It took us over an hour to make it back, and we were sober. Tokyo can be extremely confusing for those unfamiliar with the language and the land marks. Along the way we spoke to a convenient store attendant, a tipsy business man, two police officers, a parking attendant at the Ritz Carlton whose property we somehow stumbled through and an old drunk enjoying a Heinekin in one of the many shrines dotting the city.

Being lost is one of my biggest fears, but in Tokyo it is an exercise in Zen.

Molten Minds

2009-08-28T22:56:00.000-07:00

Fighting at the Front Street Gym

2009-08-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

Here is an article that is supposedly printed in the Fishtown Star.

Youngsters are finding refuge from the rough streets and stifling summer heat at the Front Street Gym.

During summer afternoons in Kensington the sun is reflects so brightly off the concrete that one could squint his or her eyes at the beige and pink colored cement and see the blurry illusion of a sand on a beach, one that has been smashed by wave upon wave of crime and poverty that have hit the area hard over the years.

“Before, it was a poor neighborhood with good people. Now it’s becoming worse than a ghetto,” said Frank Kubach, 68, director of the Front Street. One of the largest and oldest gyms, with the most speed bags in the city, Kubach has ran the gym for over twenty years at its current location on east Clearfield street off of Frankford avenue. Before that, the gym ran under a five or six different owners dating back over fifty years ago.

“We try to look out for the good people in the neighborhood,” Kubach said. “We keep people who do drugs off the street. It keeps the good kids off the street.”

The walls of Kubach’s office are covered with posters and artwork of famous boxers like Jake Lamotta and Mike Tyson, as well as fight flyers spanning the careers of the many pro boxers who have fought and won world titles out of Kubach’s gym, like Monty Sherrick and Anthony Boyle. The influence of the Front Street Gym bridges sports as well. Eddie Alvarez, a Kensington native and top-ranked lightweight mixed martial arts who fights out of the Philadelphia Fight Factory, got his start at Front Street Gym. He still visits the gym every week to hone his boxing technique.

The reputation Kubach’s gym has gained in its twenty-year tenure at Kensington has proven a better recruitment tool than any advertising or website. The Front Street Gym has 15 professional fighters, around 75 kids and eight trainers. A summer day in the front street gym almost looks like an after-school program. Nine year-old students laugh as they practice their foot work.

But Kubach, a former pro-boxer, doesn’t run the business for personal recognition. He simply wishes more people applauded the young students who train every day, and in that, forgo a life of crime on the streets.

Those who make a commitment to train quickly learn a disciple never taught in the streets never taught. From the disciple comes respect. Young students duck into the Frank’s office to shake hands with their trainers and bid farewell for the day, only to return the next.
“At first boxing is boring,” Kubach said. Street brawlers who step into the Front Street Gym hoping for a quick scrap are disappointed when they are first drilled on jumping rope and forming their hooks, sometimes up to a year before they ever step in the ring to spar. But patience is a key to the science of boxing, for fighters and trainers.

“I’ve got more patience than Job, and you know how much patience he needed to deal with what the good lord put him through,” said Sonny McCord, 78, the eldest member of the gym who trains the trainers. McCord took up boxing in the 1940’s. He used to work in Kensington with the department of sanitation, when Kensington’s population consisted of mostly Polish immigrants and horses and buggies were used to collect trash instead of garbage trucks

Not everyone stays, of course. Boxing is a transient sport by nature, said Joe Black, 59, a former retired professional boxer who has been a trainer at Front Street Gym for eight years.

“It happens to a lot of fighters,” said Joe Black, 59, a trainer. “Very few can come in and stay and stick with it like a job. They have work, families, and it puts a strain on training and fights.”

Black grew up in north Philly. He learned to fight a necessity to ward off the petty crime gangs in the neighborhood that conscripted other kids.

“You didn’t want to be a chump,” he said. “Those gangs would enlist you if you wanted to join or not, but I could stand up to a gang and ask for their toughest guy and beat them.” Back then, the extent of gang activities was stealing and petty crime. Not even the trouble makers wanted to be locked away in jail or turn to drugs. But things have changed now.

Eric Gonzalez, 18 lives down the street from the Front Street Gym in Kensington, where has trained since he was nine. As a child, he punched his father’s hands for practice until his knuckles bled. Now he is looking to turn professional in the 119-pound weight class in a year. Most of his friends in the neighborhood are in prison or into drugs.

“I used to hang with the wrong people,” Gonzalez said. “When I saw them going to prison I knew something was going to happen to me sooner or later.”

Adam Bassal, 17, of Northeast Philadelphia, was planning on embarking on a career in music, having studied violin at the Creative High School for Performing Arts in city, but resolved to learn boxing after watching Rocky.

“My neighborhood is pretty much the opposite of dangerous,” Bassal said. Born of Irish and Egyptian descent, Bassal looks like an olive-skinned James Franco with his a smile that his hardly containable and a deceptively lean-looking 195-pound frame.
More kids flock to the gym during summer, when school is out. The gym hosts boxing events beginning in the fall. Kubach hosts the Turkey Bowl every year. The event pits former professional boxers who have fought at Kubach’s gym against each other in exhibitions to raise money for public school students in need. The gym also puts on amateur boxing shows in the winter sanctioned by USA Boxing in the winter. Come spring, Kubach said he hopes to be approved as a host for the diamond belt and golden gloves competitions.
“I wasn’t a great boxer,” Kubach said. “I took up training to help out the kids.”

UFC 101 Predictions

2009-08-06T22:41:00.000-07:00

Josh Neer (25-7-1) versus Kurt Pellegrino(13-4)
Nicknamed “the dentist” for his penchant of rearranging the teeth of his opponents, Josh Neer is a hulking lightweight who with all the trademark ruggedness, durability and conditioning of Militech Fighting Systems products. He is the bigger and more versatile fighter over Pellegrino, a grappling virtuoso. Neer’s most recent victory over Mac Danzig was one of his most technical performances to date, as he showcased his striking, wrestling, and finally his guard control from the bottom by submitting Danzig with a triangle choke. Considering that Neer came in an underdog and put away guys like Melvin Guillard and Joe Stevenson as a welterweight, he should have no problem shutting down Pellegrino’s submission attempts with his strength. Neer takes the win via TKO in a bloody and fast-paced battle.

Ricardo Almeida (10-3) Versus Kendall Grove (10-5)
In a battle of two jiu-jitsu aces, striking and conditioning will dictate the victor. Almeida is a better jiu-jitsu tactician, but Grove demonstrated against Evan Tanner and Chris Price he can bombard his opponents with fist, feet, knees and elbows standing up just as easily as he can choke them unconscious out on the ground. At six-foot-six, Grove also has a reach advantage and will use his lanky frame to smother and tire out Almeida from the clinch. Grove win by unanimous decision.

Amir Sadollah (1-0) Versus Johny Hendricks (5-0)
Injuries have plagued Sadollah since he won the Ultimate Fighter season seven last June. He finally makes his return against Johny Hendricks, an accomplished wrestler coming off a two-fight winning spree in the UFC’s blue canvas colored counterpart, the WEC. Hendricks has more experience and his wrestling core can dictate whether the fight stays standing up or on the ground. It will be a harsh welcoming committee for Sadollah. Hendricks wins by decision.

Forrest Griffin (16-5)Versus Anderson Silva (24-4)
Like the alpha male in a pack of lions drunk on his superiority, Silva is dangerously close to letting his winning streak slip away to hungrier challengers. His performances against Patrick Cote and Thales Leites were uninspired, as if he was unwilling to expend the energy to finish off a harmless opponent. It is as if Silva rises to meet and destroy his opposition only when they pose a legitimate threat to his reign, as he did with by the pulverizing of Dan Henderson, Rich Franklin (twice) and Nate Marquardt. Forrest Griffin, who the short-lived merit as the first Ultimate Fighter winner and former light heavyweight champion, falls into the latter category. He’s fought his share of wars, and he seems to excel as an underdog. Silva may be the better striker, but Griffin has no qualms about sacrificing his good looks to secure a win. Rather, he smiles every time he is hit like he enjoys the pain.

Griffin wore down and choked out Mauricio Rua in what was supposed to be the Brazilian’s coming out party. Against Quinton Jackson, he won a relentless stand-up battle over five rounds. Griffin has the edge in enduring grueling wars, and as a fighter who normally walks around at over 220 pounds, holds a significant weight advantage over Silva. Unlike the Brazilian, Forrest has proven that he can go the distance, whether it be three or five rounds, without getting lazy.

To win, Griffin must bring the fight to Silva head on, but also play it smart, lest his sometimes reckless striking leave him victim to Silva’s pinpoint counter-punches. Griffin will be smart in forgoing his low kicks at Silva’s legs. While they worked against Quinton Jackson, Anderson Silva proved against James Irvin that he can catch a kick in mid-air and follow up with a knockout punch to the chin.
Both Silva and Griffin have jiu-jitsu that is under rated, but has also shown flaws. In Silva, he was taken down easily by Travis Lutter and Dan Henderson, and although he reversed positions and won both fights by submission, Forrest is a heavier fighter and his training with Randy Couture has taught him a thing or two about top control, but while his defense from the guard is solid, his loss to Rashad Evans was a remainder that it only takes one punch to break through from the top to end a fight.

As Forrest always seems to win as an underdog, I see him taking the fight to Silva and finding away to grind down the middleweight champion for the win.

B.J. Penn (13-5-1) versus Kenny Florian
Sometimes natural talent can only take one so far. For Penn, his prodigal jiu-jitsu skills can be the stuff of nightmares. His striking has almost knocked out Matt Hughes and reduced George St. Pierre’s face to a swollen red mess. But in Florian he will face an opponent with the same submission skills and killer instinct, more fluid foot work and muay Thai. Since losing his first title fight to Sean Sherk in 2006, Florian has tore through the 155-pound division in a six fight winning-spree, and laid waste to promising lightweights like Joe Stevenson, Joe Lauzon and Roger Huerta. If he avoids being taken down by Penn, he will have the stamina advantage and hurt Penn standing up with his elusive movement and crisp striking. I predict Florian winning the lightweight championship by knockout.

Kenny Florian Interview for City Paper

2009-08-03T11:19:00.000-07:00

From City Paper

Ultimate Fighting Championship Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu specialist Kenny "Kenflo" Florian will be tested against current lightweight champ B.J. Penn at UFC 101 next Saturday, Aug. 8, at the Wachovia Center. It marks the UFC's first event in Philadelphia, and Florian's second run for the lightweight title. The 33-year old, who was thrust into the spotlight as a finalist on the first season of Spike TV’s The Ultimate Fighter, failed to capture lightweight gold in 2006, when lost a five-round decision to Sean Sherk. Florian emerged a wiser fighter and rebounded with a six-fight winning spree. With one week left until his title bout, City Paper spoke with Florian about the art of fighting.

What inspired you to become a professional fighter full-time?

I think it was when I had my fall in Brazil [in 2002]. I was in Brazil and I fell off the cliffs, and that was my near-death experience. After, I said to myself, "Here I am working full-time doing something else, when I love Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. I'm going to dedicate my life to it. I'm not sure what it's going to lead to, but I'm going to teach and train and see what happens." I never thought I would be a mixed martial arts fighter in the UFC, but this is what happened.

How did the accident happen?

I was working for a full-time translation company. I was [in Brazil] on a training trip in 2002. I was with some friends of mine, and we kind of did a climbing and running workout. We were descending down from a waterfall area. My buddy slipped in front of me and sort of took me with him. I ended up slipping down the mountain feet-first and my buddy grabbed me, turned me around, lost his grip and then I was falling headfirst. I fell 20 feet onto a rock. But if I didn’t fall on that rock, I would have fallen 100 feet after that.

Who are your favorite fighters to watch at the moment?

Anderson Silva, Georges St. Pierre, Fedor Emelianenko, Lyoto Machida . I see them all as martial artists and guys who are super well-rounded, super-technical and great human beings, as well.

How do you think Fedor Emelianenko would measure up against new UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar?

It's tough to see anyone beating Brock Lesnar right now but Fedor. Lesnar’s size would be an obstacle to overcome and also his wrestling skills and his speed and power. Plus, wrestling has always given Fedor some trouble. He's had problems with wrestlers in the past. He's beaten them, but you see the weakness in his game, and having a huge guy like Lesnar who is getting more and more skilled all the time would definitely make him an underdog.

Middleweight champion Anderson Silva is stepping up to the light heavyweight class to fight Forrest Griffin at UFC 101. Who do see winning?

You have got to have Silva as the top dog. Forrest Griffin is a friend of mine. I think he is the underdog, but he always performs very well as an underdog. When he is performing with no pressure is when Forrest is the most dangerous fighter ever. He trains as hard as anyone else out there, so he'll be very prepared. Anderson Silva’s skills are probably at a higher level right now, but never count out Forrest.

Since your loss to Sherk, you mentioned that you now train consistently. How do you balance training every day without taking too much of a toll on your body?

I take a Saturday off and sometimes I'll take a few days off. I train five to six days a week year-round. That way, I can definitely build my new skills and get better. Besides training, I really don't do much. For the last three years I haven’t really done anything but things that are MMA-related. I’m always doing something work-related. I have a job that I do for ESPN, or I'll go into a seminar where I’m teaching or training. Everything revolves around the sport, which is what I enjoy.

What sort of books do you read?

I just finished a book by Josh Waitzkin, The Art of Learning. I like reading Krishnamurti's stuff. He's an Indian philosopher. I like reading about the current real world in military books, things that are happening right now in Afghanistan and Iraq. I'm not a big fiction guy.

What does your daily training regimen consist of?

I'm in the final stages right now. As I get closer to a fight, there is more intensity and there's definitely more sparring, whereas when I'm training year-round and I have a big gap between my next fight, I'm not going crazy full-time. My strength and conditioning routines are more strength-based and not too intense. I train every week, six times a week, two times a day, sometimes three. Morning and afternoon will be either a technical training session or sparring. Night will be for strength and conditioning and another technical session.

You've mentioned before that you consider yourself a martial artist and not a fighter. Why is it important to make that distinction?

I really don't do it for the rush. I don't love to fight. I don't want to go out there and just brawl. Some guys are just brawlers. I have no interest in that. I just want to have the best technique in the world. I want to out-think the other guy. I see the beauty in the mixed martial arts. I'm trying to seek for that perfection in the technical sense, [which] is more important than anything else. The belt is for coaches, family and friends. The challenge of B.J. Penn is going technique-to-technique and seeing who is better.

How do you evaluate your performance after each fight?

The Sherk loss was a wake-up call for me. I had to be honest with myself and re-evaluate my strengths and weaknesses as a fighter. I hired a full-time strength and conditioning coach. Now I'm on a six-fight winning streak. I'm the worst coach you can have. I'll look at fights and see what I did wrong and be disgusted by my performance. I've done that and I have never been satisfied with the wins. The win or loss is irrelevant — it's about the technique. That's why I'm never satisfied. I think the key is really being honest.

Can you recall any crazy happenings backstage at a UFC card?

[Laughs] Well, this is sort of making fun of me. Before [my fight with Roger Huerta], I was pretty sick. I had something wrong with my stomach. I had to run to the bathroom a few times before my fight in between warm-ups. That was pretty scary and nerve-racking before a fight. I've never been in that position before. I had to do my best to control myself. The first two rounds, it felt like I had to save my energy and not exert myself or I would lose control of my stomach. Then in the third round, I started to relax and it was my strongest round.

People still joke about Tim Sylvia admitting to soiling himself when he fought Assuerio Silva.

[Laughs] Yeah. I definitely did not want that to happen.

Philly Fight Factory's Eddie Alvarez is considered to the top lightweights outside of the UFC. How does he measure up?

He's a little guy with a big heart. I think skill-wise he has weaknesses to expose like all of us, but he has heart and the work ethic to be one of the top fighters in the world. And I want to fight all the top fighters.

Barnett out of Fedor fight

2009-07-22T10:19:00.000-07:00

Say it ain't so, Tom Atencio.

Just weeks before his showdown with the Fedor Emelianenko, the man widely recognized as the number one heavyweight in mixed martial arts, Josh Barnett was denied a license to fight for allegedly testing positive for a banned substance.

Now Affliction is scrambling to find a sacrificial lamb to be slaughtered on the alter of Emelianko.

Vitor Belfort and Bobby Lashley are rumored to have agreed to fight the Russian in principle. But neither come close to the talent, hype or danger that surrounded Josh Barnett.

So Fedor loses a chance to validate his number status in the ever-waning pool of talent outside of the UFC. And fans will miss out on seeing Emelianenko square up against his most competitive adversary since fighting CroCop in 2005.

And with Affliction's Trilogy card rumored to be their last, Fedor is running out of options if he is to remain a relevant fighter. People may still respect his accolades and pay to see him dismantle opponents, but fighting has-been UFC champions like Tim Sylvia and Andrei Arlovksi will no longer suffice with freaks like Brock Lesnar, Randy Couture, Shane Carwin and Cain Valezquez smashing heads in the octagon.

Metro Article on Kenny Florian

2009-07-21T17:59:00.001-07:00

From July 19

Florian on his way to Philly

UFC. When the bell rings for the first ever UFC event in Philadelphia, Kenny Florian will have the past on his mind.

Florian can still taste the blood from his first UFC title fight. His original bid for the 155-pound title was spoiled in a bloody, five-round contest against then-champion Sean Sherk in 2006. He’s determined not to let history repeat itself.

“Since the loss to Sherk I haven’t had any off season,” said Florian, who hails from Westwood, Mass. “I’ve just been training consistently, year-round. You have to be honest with yourself.”

Florian will headline the “UFC 101: Declaration” card at the Wachovia Center against champion B.J. Penn.

Penn is nicknamed “the prodigy” for his jiu-jitsu wizardry and elastic limbs.

“On fight night I’ll still respect his skills and what’s he’s accomplished, but I’ll disrespect his strategy,” Florian said.

Win or lose, there is no shortage of exciting fights for Florian after August. Many fans are clamoring for a rematch between Florian and Diego Sanchez, who defeated him in the finals of “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show in 2005.

But on August 8, Philly’s martial arts fans can look forward to a headline fight featuring two guys that know the sport well.

“I don’t consider myself a fighter,” Florian said. “I have always considered myself a martial artist.”

Weekend recollections

2009-07-13T20:39:00.000-07:00

Last night I watched a story within a story—“American Splendor”. It is about Harvey Pekar, a filing clerk at a Veteran’s Hospital in Ohio who has recorded his rather ordinary life into an award-winning autobiographical comic series by the same name.

The film reinforced my need to write every day.The brain needs conditioning to perform with order and clarity.

Opposite of contemplative self-reflection on the spectrum of manliness, I watched UFC 100 on Saturday night.

My predictions were pretty spot on. Dan Henderson exposed Michael Bisping’s relative inexperience and knocked him out with a devastating lead cut kick-overhand right combo in the second round. (It was nearly identical to the striking technique Henderson’s former training partner Randy Couture had used to drop Tim Sylvia in the opening moments of their fight.) Georges Saint Pierre dominated a resilient Thiago Alves, despite pulling his groin in the third round. And Brock Lesnar smothered Frank Mir with his superior strength and wrestling. Then he rearranged Mir’s face with his fists.

Lesnar’s victory also confirmed some suspicions that have lingered in my mind ever since he made the transition into MMA.

Brock Lesnar is very easy to dislike.

Nearly pounding Mir’s skull through the links of the octagon cage like a human cheese grater was just the beginning of a frenzied testosterone and adrenaline-induced victory celebration for the former WWE star. Lesnar saluted the crowd with his middle fingers. He got in Mir’s face and taunted him as he recovered. Then Lesnar spit out his mouth piece and screamed something primitive into a camera man, slobbering from the mouth like a feral dog incensed by a fresh kill. During his post fight interview he encouraged the crowd to boo him more, and joked that he would drink a Coors Light because Budweiser, UFC’s biggest sponsor, refused to directly sponsor him.

“Hell, I may even get on top of my wife tonight,” Lesnar said. His wording seemed to imply that the act of “Sable-bombing” his wife, Rena Mero, is something of a rarity. It would seem that Lesnar’s true love is reserved for pushing his body to the limit in the gym, and then getting paid lots of money for it.

Perhaps Lesnar’s most charming remarks concerned his steamrolling of Frank Mir.

“Frank Mir had a horseshoe up his ass,” he said. “I pulled that sum’bitch out,”—the excitement in voice intensifying—“and I hit him over the head with it! Woo!”

The now-unified UFC champion, to which awards the spoils one of the most visible representatives in the largest weight class of the UFC, possesses not a not a single charismatic follicle of platinum hair on his head. Lesnar is like nightmarish embodiment of every bully archetype to ever torment small children. Stylized tattoos of skulls and a painfully conspicuous phallic-shaped sword (complete with brass knuckle hilt) adorn his hyperbolic physique. His arrogance and menacing looks are the stuff of Rocky movie villains. Lesnar will totally disrespect whoever stands across the cage from him and be the first to admit it. And it has reaped great rewards for him so far.

He reminds me of a younger Tito Ortiz, who in his prime, could back up his controversial antics with explosive performances in the cage. People will pay money to watch a man they hate get knocked senseless. And if villain like Lesnar can violently dispatch whatever heroes are sent his ways, people will grow to love him. Until they bring on Fedor…

UFC 100 Predictions

2009-07-08T05:08:00.000-07:00

UFC 100
This is my first blog post, and my first Ultimate Fighting Championship prediction. In conversation it has always been easy for me to opine on a subject like UFC fights, but translating my calls into logical written arguments, like all strong writing, is perplexing. Just like anything else, I will improve with time and practice.

In other MMA news, I interviewed Kenny Florian last week. Florian is fighting B.J. Penn for the lightweight titleat UFC 101 in Philadelphia on August 8. We spoke about training, a possible rematch with Diego Sanchez, his thoughts on Philly Fight Factory’s Eddie Alvarez, and of course, his thoughts on his second title fight in August. It should be in the Metro sometime next week, and I’ll be sure to post the unedited interview on here afterward, so keep checking.

Frank Mir (12-3) vs. Brock Lesnar (3-1)

The rematch, once again, will be a classic battle of Mir’s technique against Lesnar’s brute force to unify the UFC heavyweight title. Their first fight over a year ago ended with Mir submitting Lesnar with a knee bar in the first round of the former WWE star's UFC debut. Lesnar rebounded by manhandling Heath Herring for three rounds to a unanimous decision. Then he knocked out Randy Couture in November to seize the heavyweight title. Brock Lesnar’s MMA skills in whole are still raw, but he is such a genetic freak that he has made improvement in just three fights that would take lesser fighters years to accomplish. He will not make the same mistakes in the rematch with Mir as he did in their first fight.

Mir’s striking game seems to have jumped to a new level. In Mir's most recent bout at UFC 92 in December, he became the first man to knock out former UFC and PRIDE heavyweight champion Antonio Minotaruo Nogueira. Mir pressed the pace, used his footwork to penetrate and evade his opponent, and looked fresh the whole two rounds. But, unlike Nogueira, Mir will not be afforded an overly passive opponent to pick apart standing up in Lesnar. Brock will meet Mir with dangerous and determined intensity, look to dictate the pace and impose his hulking specimen. Should Mir take Lesnar outside of his comfort zone with superior boxing, Lesnar has core as an NCAA wrestler to take the fight downstairs. Mir will exhuast himself defending takedowns for five rounds, and given his base in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, it seems inevitable that the fight will see Mir on his back against Lesnar, the wrestler.

If Mir cannot catch Lesnar in a bone-breaking submission or sinking in a choke early in the fight, it is unlikely to happen at all. So Mir will have to meet Brock head on and refused to be bullied around the cage, even if it means swinging for the knockout and giving up a take down. Off his back, Mir must control his opponent's posture and stay offensive with sweeps, submission attempts and elbows from the bottom, or else the fight will be over as soon as Lesnar rains down a volley of his bludgeoning, machete-like hammer fists.

Experience could win the fight for Mir if he stays smart, calm, and opportunistic to capitalize on Lesnar’s technical mistakes that he is bound to make as the fight wears on, even into the later rounds against the larger, stronger fresher Lesnar, who may be ahead on the judges score card for his top control.

Still, Brock's improvement in just a few fights is frightening. I pick him to win via (t)ko.

Georges St. Pierre (18-2) vs. Thiago Alves (16-3)

Canada’s golden boy engages the Brazilian pit bull (by way of American Top Team in Florida) for the welterweight battle. The wrestling advantage, as usual, belongs to GSP. He has tossed heralded grapplers Matt Hughes, B.J. Penn and Jon Fitch to the floor and made it seem easy in the past. Alves is no different.

GSP’s greatest weapon, perhaps, is his power to bewilder and drain the energy of his adversaries with his dizzying, punishing and relentless pace. (His “riddim”) World class in his wrestling and conditioning, and well rounded in his striking, jiu-jitsu, submission defense and clinch, GSP will overwhelm Thiago Alves, who has struggled against the clinch and takedown control of other wrestlers in the division like Jon Fitch’. GSP’s takedown prowess and unpredictable offense will be a nightmare for the Brazilian.

But his opponent is not to be discredited as a push over, either. Alves hits hard, appears the physical equal in size and strength. He’ll need to neutralize GSP’s top control if he is taken down by the champion. And he will need to let his hands and feet fly with careful timing and total disregard if he has any hopes of winning. He has some of the meanest leg kicks in the UFC—it will pay dividends if he can throw them unpredictably to wear down GSP’s sciatic nerve without, of course, leaving himself over to be taken down. Matt Serra proved that GSP can be knocked out. If Alves hits him with a power punch or a flying knee, like the one that tore Matt Hughes knee joint under the weight of his crumbling body, it will be lights out for the Canadian champ.

Still, I see GSP outclassing Alves in a hard-earned stoppage or decision.

Paulo Thiago (11-0) vs. Jon Fitch (18-3)
In his sophomore appearance in the octagon following a first round knock-out of Josh Koscheck, Paulo Thiago takes on another talented wrestler and durable Jon Fitch. Thiago’s unbeaten 11-fight winning streak is impressive, but only one of those wins is in the UFC. While Fitch's UFC record alone boasts of an eight-fight winning streak against foes like Thiago Alves, Diego Sanchez and Chris Wilson. He should be able to absorb whatever Thiago throws at him and grind his opponent down for the victory.

Michael Bisping (17-1) vs. Dan Henderson (24-7)
Quite simply, Bisping has performed adequately in the UFC and should have a promising future, but he has never faced an opponent of Henderson’s caliber. Hendo’s heavy hitting and Olympian-level wrestling will expose Bisping’s faults in a dominating show. Bisping got lucky by winning a controversial split decision against Matt Hamill, another Olympic wrestler with far less versatility and experience than Henderson. He was defeated by Rashad Evan’s takedown ability. Henderson also hits harder than anyone Bisping has faced before, having been in some memorable slug fests with Wanderlei Silva, Mirko “Crocop” and Quinton Jackson. Henderson wins by knockout, I predict.

Yoshihiro Akiyama Versus Alan Belcher
With a few exceptions--specifically, Lyoto Machida—imports fight from the Japanese brand MMA organizations like PRIDE and K-1 have fallen pitifully short in the octagon. By that logic, Akiyama is in for an unforgiving welcome to the octagon against the scrappy Alan Belcher. If Belcher is smart he will capitalize on Akiyama’s inexperience fighting in a cage, bully him to the fence, clinch and dirty box, and throw elbows to slice him open for a stoppage.

Akiyama's judo experience will frustrate Belcher, who has been prone to fall victim to submissions in the past. Additionally, the former K-1 champion has honed his striking skills against some formidable kickboxing adversaries like Jerome LeBanner and Melvin Manhoef in the past. It may be the recipe to stop a gatekeeper like Belcher, but not enough for Akiyama to make a title run anytime soon.