Melissa Haley Rocks!

Melissa Haley was one of the stars of Warriors Collide 6. Arguably, she was the star.

I posted a link to her videos last week. Then, her mom (who is a photographer) emailed me with an offer for some better photos.

Here they are. And congratulation to Mom Halley. As a parent, can you share your parenting secrets with me. Melissa rocks!

On a personal note, I'm back with ice packs and pain killers. Durn back. Had another good week and then on Tuesday night of this week, in class, the back went again. Not as bad this time but I'm skipping class tonight and have not been able to stretch. Maybe I shouldn't have agreed to play an hour of pickup soccer last weekend (I just can't resist a nice day, a grassy field, a bunch of foreigners speaking different languages, and an invitation to make the sides even.)

And on Wednesday testing, my daughter earned her purple belt with her friend Nina (pictures to follow). From now on, my daughter is in the same class with me! How weird will that be?


PS - Haley has only one L (i was just corrected by Jennifer - thanks)

Melissa Halley Warriors Collide 6

I found the videos on YouTube of Melissa Halley's muy thai debut at Warriors Collide 6 from last month. WOW! On video, it's really clear how much she dominated Savannah.

Weight class 135: Melissa Haley USABBC beat. Savannah Cavin Inferno MMA (previously 1-2) in an unanimous decision.

PreFight Montage of Melissa

PS - At the end of the montage, notice the really cool timing of the drum beats on Melissa's two jabs followed by te, te, te timed to a jab, cross, hook. Very cool.

Round 1



Round 2


Round 3



thanks to egoose2000 for posting them (who is egoose2000?)

I'd really like to see the videos of Daniel Walsh's fight (he is also from Lavallees USABBC dojo on Commercial Blvd. I did find on Youtube, from the same night, the video of Brandon Akers VS Dario Camuzzi.

Warriors Collide 6 - this weekend!

Click for the latest on Warriors Collide 6.

Good luck Melissa and Dan. I'll be there rooting for you. It's almost game day. In front of everyone. While I've never been in the ring, I think the rules for preparing for the big game in sports is pretty much the same from sport to sport.

1. Be thoroughly trained and focused. This is a multiyear process culminating on game day. Saturday in this case. I've seen you train and you should be confident that you've done it.

2. Channel your energy and nervousness into alertness and intensity.

Then, there are the really hard questions.
- Do you start by being careful and feeling the other person out?
- Do you come out swinging?

Me, I'd listen to Kyoshi and try to do exactly what he says.

Coop sent out a video from the Sun Sentinel site with Larry Borden of Left Hook Productions giving the highlights. And here are some last minute pictures from Coop of previous Warriors Collides. I'll see you all Saturday night.

Here's what I know about the Card:

ISKA Florida State Cruiser Weight Title Match
Joe Ray 5-0 FFA vs Andrew Johnson 5-1 Elite Muay Thai

The last title holder was WCL/UFC fighter Crafton "Blaze" Wallace

ISKA Florida Light Welter Weight Title Match
Reigning Champion Carlos Garcia (5-1) defends vs.
ATT Deerfield Caleb Archer (5-2)
Carlos Garcia (article by Sharon Robb on Carlos Garcia)

LaVallee's USABBC Daniel Walsh vs Juan Hernandez Bears Den

Eli Gorlik 1-0 Shihan Moti MMA vs Alan Arzeno 1-0 SFMMA


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If you take any decent pictures or post the videos, put a comment on this blog and I'll list it for everyone. Pictures you can email to me: BBat50@gmail.com

Living the dream.....

Tonight, the sparring went great. I had five rounds, two minutes each, and I was fully "in the game". In short, it's time to admit that I've been exaggerating about how much I had slacked off. I was scared that I had lapsed in the vacation and that I was way off track. I'm now thinking that I was just jet-lagged the first night back when I whined about the hard class. Since then, I've had a great week of workign out. Conclusion, I did work out enough on my vacation which I took with the kids and my fiancee. I'll go further, I am managing to hit a balance that really works for me. I'm more than just pleased. I feel it's time for me to admit (not in any particular order): I'm staying in shape and moving forward in the dojo, I've got a great family life, I'm happily engaged, and I have a most interesting/satisfying job. I'm living the dream....

Moving on....Thursday (today) was bugo kumite. This translates as fighting with armor. A good description in that we wear foot guards, shin pads, cup, chest protector, 16 oz gloves, mouth guard, and head guard. As I said, five rounds and not fully exhausted.

Also Thursday night in class, it was announced that two of our classmates, Melissa and Mr. Dan, are training to go into the amateur MMA ring for the Warriors Collide 6 in Ft Lauderdale's War Memorial Stadium on September 13. Very exciting. Of course, I worry for them but then, that goes with me being 50 and they being in their 20s. And you can be sure that I'm going to attend.

Some news for you blog techie types. I've wondered how many people read this blog and how they find it. I have long had this blog hooked up with a service called Feedburner which is supposed to provide statistics (and subscription services). But, the stats haven't ever worked. Today, after months of intermittent fiddling with it, I finally got it to register some visitors. So far, since I got it working at 10 am this morning, there are 7 visitors (6 from google, 1 who typed in the site URL), I'm pleased that it's working. Next techie project: try to get the blogcatalog widget working so that it stops showing that my most recent post was March 2008.

Heh visitors, leave a comment.




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Warriors Collide 5

Left Hook Productions has another big evening this Memorial Day Weekend. It's amateur MMA right here in Ft Lauderdale at the War Memorial. Coop, who is about one third of Left Hand Productions, was back in class at the dojo this week. She's really making a go of these productions.
I love these evenings. Highly recommended. Buy your tickets through ticketmaster 305-358-5885.



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Warriors Collide

Post by BlackBeltat50.

It's that time again, another set of Ft Lauderdale amateur fights. Saturday night, March 22nd, 2008 at the War Memorial Auditorium. As background, look at my descriptions of Warriors Collide 2, & 3 . Also, here are the ISKA Rules, including the Oriental Rules which are used for most of the Warriors Collide bouts.

Here is what I want to know:

1. Who is fighting? Last time, I knew three people from our schools who were fighting. All were pretty high level: Stephanie (4th degree), Sensei Hewitt (5th degree) and Trish Cicero (not sure what belt, maybe 2nd dan). This time Damien Scott is going into the ring. He's a first degree black belt.

2. Any women? I think most people agree that the girls fights are the most popular. The Answer from Coop's email shows a Vanessa & Aliana on the ticket.

3. Is Steve Lavallee's school going to buy and resell a big block of tickets? Last time, we had a great time sitting as a group. This time, I might go with a block of people who buy tickets through my honey's hairdresser (All About Choo - I'm not kidding, they have a friend who fights and they go as a group. Looking fabulous!)

4. Is this age appropriate entertainment for kids? I have my kids next weekend (I don't have them every weekend). They're ages 9,11, & 14. The 9 & 14 year old both take karate. Is this an appropriate show for them? Last time, I noticed maybe a dozen kids in the audience. Tough question which I've been wrestling with.

5. Question: How do I find out who is fighting in advance?
Answer: Send an email to coop and she emails back the line-up. Here it is (plus the questions below, some of which have been answered)

Not in order of lineup - card subject to change
Eric Loscalz (American Top Team CC) Debut vs Juan Hernandez (Bears Den MMA) Debut OR 153
Al Brown (Hammer) 1-0 vs Corey Hanzow (Trian's Kyokushin) Debut OR 235
Ross Yabut (Zentao Martial Arts) Debut vs Manoel Cespedes (Champions Factory) Debut OR 165
Leondro Matos (US1 Fitness) Debut vs Eric Garnif (Carroll's MMA) Debut OR 175
John DeSiena (American Legacy) Debut vs Vitor Delgado (American Top Team Ft.L) Debut OR 170
Steven Chin (South Florida Boxing) 1-1 vs Damien Scott (USA Black Belt Champions) Debut OR 155
Peter Thomas (Inosanto/Hammer) Debut vs Mike Kaiser(Inferno MMA) 0-1 OR 156
Mark Trillas ( American TKA)1-2 vs Alberto Rojas (Hammer) 7-10 OR 155
Rob Rodriguez( Freestyle Fighting Academy)debut vs Mike Delapava (Carroll's MMA) debut OR 205
Joe Ray (Freestyle Fighting Academy)3-0 vs Darren Malyan (Fizogen Xtreme Couture) Debut OR 191
Carlos Garcia (Young Tigers) 3-1 vs Aca Tempow (Zentao Martial Arts) 4-0 OR 144
Mike Ozuna (US1 Fitness) 2-0-1 vs Mike Newman (American Top Team FtL) Debut OR 168
Vanessa Jaramillo (Jp's Team Martial Arts) Debut vs Aliana Morris (Inferno MMA) 0-1 OR 130
Co-Main Event: David Okenka (Inferno MMA) 2-0 vs Anthony Longsworth (American Top Team CC) 2-0 OR 169
Main Event: ISKA Heavy Weight Champion Eric Rivera (American TKA) 4-1-1 Vs Challenger Alan Yvones (Bears Den MMA) 3-2 OR 212

I've looked at the URL listed on the promotional flyer (LeftHookPro.com) which gives not-much information other than this link to buy tickets. I've also searched around on myspace and found one of Heather's pages which has some cool graphics, but no more info. There is also Left Hook Productions page on Myspace, not updated since Oct 2006. Then I found another Myspace heather page which is active but still, no info that I could find on the upcoming event. And while I'm sure there will be last minute changes, it would still be cool to know who is planning to fight.

In searching, I just found an old video promoting Warriors Collide 2.




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Warriors Collide III

Warriors Collide 3 was a total blast. While Warriors Collide 2 was my intro to attending live fights, Warriors Collide 3 was a much bigger deal for me...it was the first time I saw people that I know step into the ring.

First of all, there was the anticipation. In my classes at the dojo, we were all checking with our 19 year old instructor (Stephanie) to see if she felt ready for her debut in the ring. She seemed really excited and a little nervous. I was terribly nervous (anxious, terrified etc) for her and also excited. Check out the Sun Sentinel's interview of the Hammer Gym crowd which does a good job of showing the excitement of training for a fight. ."Warriors Collide" Sun Sentinal Story on HAMMER GYM'S FIGHTERS!*

Secondly, as I said, I knew some people fighting. One of my instructors...Stephanie was in the ring. My next article will cover her and sensei Hewitt (also from Lavallees USA).

There were two fights that particularly interested me which I've found on YouTube. Both were girls fighting. Somehow, they were cooler than the guys fighting. That's not just my personal evaluation, the noise-o-meter in the auditorium showed that they were the crowd's favorite.

Nicole D'Aiguillion of Hammer Gym vs Jenn Goodall of Ghost Fighter



Trish Cicero of Lavallees vs Tara Moore of Griffonrawl

Warriors Collide - My World Shifts

I had never before been to see a fight. In fact, other than some friends taking me as a lark to see some "professional wrestling" in 1985, I had never even considered going to see a fight. I had a brother who, when travelling in Thailand (also in the early 80s), went to see some kickboxing for "local color". In short, seeing a live boxing match seemed something that I was destined to never do.

But two women that I train with (Heather & Laura) launched themselves in 2007 into organizing local amateur fights. So on a Saturday afternoon, I decided to go to "the fights". I got online to Ticketron, picked best seats available, and gave it my credit card. It was Sept 8th, 2007.

At 7pm, we (my honey and I) arrived at the War Memorial Auditorium in Ft Lauderdale for Left Hook Productions: Warriors Collide 2.

First thing, I knew some people. As I entered, there was Ed & Jennifer working a merchandise desk out front. As we found our seats, I greated another half dozen people that I knew from the dojo. Cool. I seemed to know more people here than I do anywhere else in Ft Lauderdale.

Second thing, our seats. We were ringside! I looked at my tickets and it turns out, I had paid $50/seat (or something) and we could see every detail. When they started to fight, we could see the sweat pouring off them and sometimes, we got sprinkled.

Third thing, it was really really cool to watch the fights. There were about 14 fights on the card that night. All amateur. Fighters from Miami, the West Coast of Florida, and Orlando. The matches were mostly "oriental rules" (which I can't find a copy of online and which were NOT explained n the Program) which seems to mean:

• Hitting and kicking are OK including kicks to the legs
• Knees to the body are OK but no knee strikes to the head or groin
• The fighters wear headgear, gloves, and shinpads (and cups presumably)
• They can grapple standing up
• They get points for take-downs but the ref immediately stands them back up
• Most fights were scheduled for three fights, three minute rounds. There was one championship match which was scheduled to go five rounds

The fights were mostly great matches with someone from Left Hook Productions (Larry Borden?) having done a great job of matching people not just by weight but so that the fights were pretty even matches. In some cases, the fighters got exhausted by the end but they both seemed to slow down evenly. Some of the matches were stopped (TKO - technical knock out) by the referree. None were boring.

Fourth thing - I knew really alot of people. My fiance's hairdresser had a friend who was fighting that night so there were ten people that she knew from the the salon crowd. There were alot of parents of friends of my kids. I probably knew about 30 people from where I train. To top if off, I took a look at the guy that they had for security and I knew him too (his name is Steve and he's a body builder with a day job in my building).

Last thing - I had a great time. For me, it was a bit of a world shift. For the first 49 years of my life , I had not liked watching fights, not even on TV. But this night was a shift for me. Maybe because it was amateur and not too violent. Maybe because I had trained in MMA and had a sense for the sport. Maybe it was just weird to show up and find that I knew dozens of people there.

For whatever reason, I'm now really into watching the fight. I left looking forward to the next Warriors Collide. Kyoshi (Steve Lavallee - the head of my school) had shown up apparently to assess whether this was something that he would encourage his students and staff to participate in. I think he will so I'm looking forward (with some trepidation) to seeing some people that I know in the ring.

The fighters were from the Bears Den, American TKA, Atemy Ru Jujitsu, Team Mumfort, US1 Fitness, Ameican Top Team, Freestyle Fighting Academy, Xtreme Marshall arts, FFA, Round 2 Kickboxing, Hammer Gym, ATT, Inferno, American Top Team, and Team Popovich. The Headline Fight was the ISKA Heavy Weight Championship fight (Chris Decaro vs Eric Rivera)

Fights found online from Warriors Collide 2

Joe Ray Part 1

Joe Ray Part 1


Warriors Collide 1 - Video Collage

A Black Belt - It's Only the Beginning...

I have long heard what I always took to be a joke: "The Black Belt, it's only the beginning". And I use to laugh.

Well, excooooose me. Rembering that:

When a door closes, look for the window that opens. - anonymous

Life is about setting goals that are personally meaningful to you. And then achieving them. - Dad (mine)

S.M.A.R.T Goals - Goals we set are goals we Get - Kyoshi

There has to be a morning after... - Some Barbara Streisand Song

Yes, I got my black belt. I think I look good in my new red gi with my new belt. Don't you agree?

But now that a month has past and I've taken a lot of high fives and congrats and even a few hugs and I've hosted a party for all the new black belts and I've caught up on my personal and professional life (in short, I've been a busy bee), I'm turning to the questions of:

• how does the martial arts fit into my life?


• what are my goals going forward?


• can I really balance a training schedule, increasingly demanding professional life, and rich personal life?


• and most importantly, what am I going to do about this blog? It started as a way to keep track of the katas (as my memory in my very late 40s isn't what it used to be. Or at least, my memory isn't what I think my memory used to be). And now, this blog actually has some readers and some potential....

As it turns out, I have answers emerging for all these questions. And alot more. So stay tuned. (some hints on my direction. I'm writing this before going for a Sunday morning run. And last night, I went the local amateur fights - Warriors Collide 3 - and watched one of my teachers show everyone, including herself, just how good she is).

Lastly, notice that I'm ending my post with questions to be answered......

This is an effort to create a storyline and to end this episode with a cliff-hanger.... As I mentioned, stay tuned....

PS - In response to requests this week, I added a video of Long One, Short Three, and White Belt Appreciation Form. I corrected some glaring omissions in bookset and I'm actively looking for a good video of the bookset kata.