Currently browsing Posts Tagged “Personal Journal”

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News Paper Clipping from the Time I Went to Switzerland

Posted by Sam Kressin in Karate, Martial Arts, Personal Journal

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The U.S. Tang Soo Do Nationals were held in San Diego in 1994 I won the Adult Light Weight Black Belt Division in sparring and went to Zurich Switzerland afterwards to participate in the International Youth Goodwill Tournament. I won my same division again the next year in Orlando Florida. Internationals News Clip

Play Vs Work

Posted by Sam Kressin in Martial Arts, Opinion, Personal Journal

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“Play not work is the end of life. To participate in the rites of play is to dwell in the Kingdom of Ends. To participate in work, career and the making of history is to labor in the Kingdom of Means. The modern age, the age of history, nourishes illusions. Work is serious, important, adult. It’s essential insignificance is overlooked. Work of course must be done. But we should be wise enough to distinguish necessity from reality. Play is reality work is diversion and escape.” – Michael Novak The Joy of Sports

Kickstarter Success! Strength Monsters is Funded!

Posted by Sam Kressin in Comic Books, Strength Monsters, Uncategorized

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THIS IS UNBELIEVABLE! There are literally only 3 days left I was seriously worried! I was thinking, “man this is going to come down to the last minute,” and then… This morning I get up check my email and find out. It made it! IT MADE IT! I’m jumping off the walls right not. Thank you everyone who’s back this project, liked or shared any of my posts and believed in this! I won’t let you guys down! There are still 3 days left if anyone else wants to jump in and pick up one of the rewards heres the link; http://kck.st/1O4Ersu

Showing My 92 Year Old Grandmother The News Paper Article She Clipped For Me

Posted by Sam Kressin in Personal Journal

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Earlier this week I moved my 92 year old Grandmother from Pacific Beach to a new care facility in Bakersfield where she will be living next to my Aunt / her daughter for her remaining years. This was me showing her the news paper article she clipped out and sent to me 21 years ago about a cartoonist from Modesto California, where she was living at the time, who had just gotten a deal for his character Earth Worm Jim. My Grandmother has sever memory loss and cannot remember anything including me but her personality is still there. Right now my current comic book / cartoon project is on Kickstarter please check it out it is really cool like Earth Worm Jim and needs a lot more supporters to make it’s goal here is the link; http://kck.st/1O4Ersu

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Perry’s Eye Ball Monster

Posted by Sam Kressin in Personal Journal

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I was at San Diego Comic Con in 1993 and there was this guy there named Perry. He looked to be in his mid 30s and said he was a punk rocker. He had never been published but sat at a table and did these Monster Sketches. He would take his paper crumple it up then lay it out flat. After that he’d throw down his illustration with a brush and ink. I bought this one from him for $3.00. It’s still in my collection today.

Two Illustrations From When I Was Around 17yrs Old

Posted by Sam Kressin in Personal Journal

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A couple of days ago I posted some photos of my friend Kyle and myself illustrating when I was around 17-18 yrs old. Fortunately I have archived most of my work over the years and am able to post two of the illustrations that can be seen in those photos.

This first one is the illustration I did it. It can be seen in the photograph sitting on the table off towards your left (my right hand side).

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This is the illustration Kyle was working on.

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What’s On My White Board

Posted by Sam Kressin in Billy Robinson, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Catch Wrestling, Martial Arts, Opinion, Personal Journal, San Diego Martial Arts Seminars

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Sams_White_Board

Not too long ago I posted here about how useless and annoying white boards are when it comes to martial arts coaching. Since I am also guilty of having a white board in my private studio I thought I might as well post a current picture of what it looks like. Below is a brief and somewhat incomplete transcription of everything on it. What you’ll notice is I made a lot of lists. This is because the brain is attracted to organization and order and people have been trying to organize techniques for training purposes since the dawn of martial arts. In reality nothing in fighting is organized and response needs to be based on real internalized skill and application not just a theoretical list.

  1. UPCOMING EVENTS that have not been updated in nearly 2 years! Yes at one time I would write upcoming events such as seminars, workshops, we use to even set up training sessions with other gyms whose owners  / coaches I’m friends with. Nowadays if something’s coming up I’ll just email everyone or tell them in person.
  2. Below UPCOMING EVENTS is BILLY’S SADDLE RIDE This is a list of techniques Billy taught me and wanted me to have down all pertaining to the Saddle Ride. I wrote them up there nearly 2 years ago as a reminder. Maybe I should practice that stuff.
  3. Next to UPCOMING EVENTS is Sparring Rounds. I have two younger kids training with me 17 / 18 yrs old who I required to do 50 rounds of sparring before I would teach them anything more in boxing. As you can see I checked off about 10 or 11 rounds before I just stopped keeping track. Today they’ve done hundreds of rounds and have learned a lot of new stuff.
  4. Next to SPARRING ROUNDS is Triangle Finishes. This is a list of about 7-8 ways to finish a triangle choke once you’ve captured your opponent in the position. Triangle chokes are one of the most difficult submissions to get really good at and also one of the easiest submissions to get caught in so I like everyone to have a real thorough knowledge base of it.
  5. Below TRIANGLE FINISHES is a list of fundamental boxing techniques I required those two young kids to learn first before doing their 50 rounds of sparring. It would be a good idea to make everyone do all that stuff again.
  6. RIGAN WORKSHOP Is a list of techniques we learned while attending a Seminar with Rigan Machado nearly two-years ago.
  7. Below RIGAN WORKSHOP is Submissions. This is a list of 6 submissions you can do from a triangle position in the event that you cannot finish the triangle. This was required knowledge and I’m pretty sure everyone who trains with me has forgotten all of it.
  8. Below SUBMISSIONS is the number 185. I have a client that trains with me privately once a week. He trains regularly at another gym chalked full of triangle masters. One of his goals is to be able to hit the triangle more often in sparring and get caught in the triangle less often. So I’m making him rep out a very specific triangle set up and finish one thousand times! So far he’s gotten to 185 yes we are still keeping track of this I’ll let you know what happens when he gets to a thousand.

Double Dragon

Posted by Sam Kressin in Martial Arts, Opinion, Personal Journal

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I remember when this game was in every 7-11 and Arcade across the nation. There’s nothing cooler than two guys with blue and pink jeans some vests walking through the streets taking out a Gang with the side kicks, hair grabs and knees to get the girl friend back from the Big Boss.

Fortune Red

Posted by Sam Kressin in Personal Journal

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Fortune_Red_DisneylandFortune Red was originally apart of a Pirate themed Arcade Museum in Disneyland circa 1967. Today the still functioning animatronic fortune-telling machine sits outside near the exit of the Pirates of the Caribbean Disneyland ride. Red dispenses 24 different  cards featuring a cartoon and fortune on one side and the history of the Jolly Roger on the other side. Here is the card I got the last time I visited Disneyland approximately 2 years ago.

Transcript:

Fortune Red has this to say:

Shiver me timbers, ye be the joy o’ me heart. ‘Tis fair weather and pleasant pass I sees in yer future. Witty ye be gay and attractive. Shipmates by the score and foc’s’le hands standin’ by to carry out yer slightest wish. yer charm and humor be matched only by the enchantment o’ The Magic Kingdom. And why not, sez I? ye live and let live and fair play be yer watchword. Ah but mark well me words, matey: The reward o’love be jealousy.

“Fortune Red,” Photo Credit: Photo by Loren Javier  used under Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 2.0 Generic.

Star Wars Land?

Posted by Sam Kressin in Opinion, Personal Journal

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Ramones_Brain_DrainI’m honestly considering forsaking Star Wars completely and no longer being a fan of it. It’s ruined and I’ll never be able to enjoy it again. I will sell off all my Star Wars T-Shirts and toys and other stuff then move on with my life. Star Wars Land within Disneyland? Does an entire land of Star Wars really have a place within the original Disneyland? I always thought Star Tours was cool but it was only one ride and it fit within the theming of Tomorrow Land.  Disney is for the most part an IP farm now that doesn’t even animate the majority of their own cartoons. Watch park tickets rise towards $200 a day once this thing goes in and crowds sore to record numbers. I came across this Ramones album titled, “Brain Drain” when I was in highschool. I found it while thumbing through a bunch of CDs in some used records shop. I thought the cover art and album title were cool. I use to listen to this song from the album posted below over and over again it’s about not looking back. Star Wars has reached that time.

Speed Chess and the Martial Arts

Posted by Sam Kressin in Personal Journal

Speed ChessI’m 21 years old. I had had been working out a boxing center off of Santa Fe Road in San Diego that no longer exists the head coach in there he tells me if I play lots of chess specifically speed chess it will make my boxing better. He explains speed chess will train my brain to work faster and more decisively. Immediately I begin searching for someone to play chess against and this nerdy kid at the college accepts my challenge. We meet in the quad by his dormitory. He pulls out this really nice pocket chess set that fits into a leather pouch with his name engraved across it. As he takes out the pieces and proceeds to set them up I tell him I want to play speed chess. I explain the rules; we can only take 1-2 seconds before making a move. He does NOT like that idea at all and wants to play regulation but agrees to my request. We start playing I’m making my moves in under a second. He’s taking FOREVER. I keep telling him to hurry up. He proceeds to obliterated me.

I tell him, “look you have to move faster this is speed chess.”

“Okay,” he says.

We play a bunch of games and he destroys me every single game. While he did play faster he still took enough time make sure he wins every-time. Then I realize I may never be able to beat this kid in a game of chess but I will always be able to kick his ass in a boxing match.

Photo Credits: Photo by Jason Brown used under Creative Commons License Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic.

Comic Book P.E.

Posted by Sam Kressin in Personal Journal

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Amazing_Spider-Man_309Starting the 7th grade I was hit by a car on my bike in a head on collision. After being in the hospital for 3 days and out of school for a month I returned to the 7th grade unable to attend P.E. I presented my doctors note excusing me from the class to the P.E. teacher. The teacher told me for each day I missed class I was to go to the library and write a one page report on anything related to exercise or health. I got to the library and pulled Amazing Spider-Man # 309 out of my back pack. I bought it the day before off the spinner rack at 7-11 the issue was drawn by Todd McFarlane and it was the first time I’d ever seen his art. He drew Spider-Man with these huge eyes, he made Spidey’s webbing very detailed I’ve never seen the character drawn this way before. His anatomy was weird, Spidey’s feet were pointy, everyones faces cartoony but McFarlane made it work and everything looked really cool, different and interesting. I pulled out a piece of paper and began tracing the pictures. For the next two months when I went to the library each day during P.E. period I practiced drawing most of the time just tracing over my favorite Spider-Man comics. After my doctors note expired I had to go back to P.E. and my teacher asked me where my reports were I told her I didn’t do them. She said I had to stay after school running 4 laps = 1 mile for every report not turned in. I spent the rest of the year staying after school for an hour walking around the P.E. field. 

Martial Arts Style Without Styles

Posted by Sam Kressin in Personal Journal

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The_Tao_of_Jeet_Kune_DoTrue story; in 2008 when I was coaching out of my Carlsbad gym I had a guy call up and ask if he could sublease space for his martial arts group.

I asked, “what style of martial arts will you guys be practicing?”

The guy replied, “We have no style.”

Me, “Ok so what martial art is this?”

Him, “We we are a style without styles we don’t fall under a specific martial art.”

Me, “Well what are you going to be doing; punches, kicks, wrist locks, throws, grappling, self-defense, weapons?”

Him, “We do everything and nothing I can’t say we do this or that or it will only place limitations on an art without limitation.”

Me, “If you can’t tell me what you’re going to be doing in here then I can’t sublease to you.”

Him, “We are all members of a meditation temple so you don’t have to worry.”

Megadeth is the Greatest of All Time!

Posted by Sam Kressin in Personal Journal

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Megadeth-RustInPeaceRead Part 1 Here… Shortly after discovering Metallica it didn’t take me long to learn that Dave Mustaine wrote most of the songs on those early Metallica albums. Nearly all of “Kill ‘Em All” and a large part of the album “Ride the Lightning” were written by him.  Mustaine had been kick off of Metallica for from what I read looked to be a lot of drinking and drugs and had formed his own band Megadeth. Immediately upon acquiring this information my mission was to listen to it. The first Megadeth Album I ever heard was, “Rust in Peace” it was the first album the band recored with Friedman on the lead guitar and for the 5th time up to that point in my life my mind was completely blown. To this day Rust In Peacestands as one of my all time favorite albums ever.

 

Once Upon A Time When Metallica Was Cool!

Posted by Sam Kressin in Personal Journal

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Metallica_-_Master_of_Puppets_coverI was in the 8th grade. Up until that point in my life all I’d ever really heard or listened to as far as music goes was was Bon Jovi , Van Halen’s “Jump” and the Cult’s “Sonic Temple.” Then one of my best friends Martin de Pedro gave me a dubbed audio cassette tape. Written across the front it said, “Master of Puppets.” I popped it into my yellow “Walk Man” cassette player and hit the play button. I remember hearing what sort of reminded me of spanish style flamenco guitars playing during beginning of the first song. It starts out strumming then, kind of, goes into this beautiful melody that quickly transitions into a really hard rock type of thing from there the song progress in to an aggressive sound I had never heard the likes of before and all hell breaks loose. It was unlike any sound I had ever experienced in my entire life. My mind was completely blown and I was immediately hooked and from that point on things would never be the same. At this point in time there were only four Metallica albums in existence Kill Em All, Ride the Lighting, Master of Puppets, And Justice For All. The “Black Album” had not been made yet and the rumor was that Metallica would never record another album again. Continues in Part II here…