Some thoughts about grappling vs. swordfighting

I have recently been attending the sessions at the Twin Towers Wrestling Club at the Hamilton Fish Rec Center here in NYC. Is part of the Parks Department activities, and there's usually about a 60-40 split between what I call "pin" wrestling and submission grappling/jiu jitsu. On a recent week I spent most of the session just going and going and going with a guy with unlimited energy and good skills. Then that weekend I put my armor back on and went to the local SCA armored swordfighting practice at the Brooklyn Army Terminal (first time in months).

On the grappling mat the other guy pretty much had the advantage on me all the way through. He was stronger and had better skills, and got me to tap out after hard matches almost every time. At the SCA practice, one of the better fighters there asked me if I had been training elsewhere because I was fighting very well. He said my shot selection was better, my targeting better, and basically I was fighting better than ever in the 3 or 4 years he has known me.

I can credit that to a few things. First off, I cannot discount that the particular fighters I faced happened to be of sizes, styles, and experience levels that were a good fit for me.

Also, I picked up Miyamoto Musashi's "Book of 5 Rings" for the first time in a long time recently, and after 23 years of armored swordfighting and three years of grappling, I actually started to understand it. Passages about "treading down the enemy" and not thinking to just let him attack and look for an opening made sense in the grappling arena. I then figured out how to apply it to swordfighting.

Grappling takes a lot of endurance, a different kind of endurance from swordfighting. In armor, when you are down to your last ergs of energy, you can focus everything you've got left into one last blow or combination, and if it fails, you can cover up and get out and wait out of range until you are ready to go again. In grappling you don't have that option. If you are tired, your enemy is already all over you and you get gradually worn out until you tap out.

I have seen many, many successful swordfighters that hardly look like athletes, but very few grapplers that aren't extremely fit.

Another key difference between the two sports is that swordfighting can end with one hard percussive shot. Boom. Done. Grappling by its definition is a progression of moves leading to a gradual sinking into a submissive position. But even with the differences in the game, there ares till similar principles and concepts. Aggression, taking the initiative, defending while looking for an opening, and training specific moves all are part of the ingredients of a successful fighter in either game.

Happy Holidays! Big media week for Captain Zorikh!

Hi Friends! Happy Chanukah, Merry Christmas, Happy Kwanzaa, happy Solstice, Saturnalia, and everything else that goes with the season! I hope that this time of year brings to you the joy and festivity that is traditionally associated with mid-winter festivals, especially that you can look back on a year of growth and forward to a year of success!

Thank you to those of you who made the Movie Madness at Café Nijasol a success!

I just got through a remarkable shooting day for the latest film I am directing, “The Duel.” We shot a scene with samurai on the beach, and fights involving boxers, king fu fighters, and pro wrestlers, all in one day! Pictures will be forthcoming!

It’s another big week for Captain Zorikh in the media!

The Science Channel continues to shot the program “Sci-Fi Science.” It seems that almost every episode includes a bit of the lengthy and extensive interviews shot of me at I-Con and NY Comic Con earlier this year. The different episodes of the half-hour show are being broadcast several times a day and friends tell me that the episodes about blowing up a planet and building a lightsaber include some footage of me being interviewed at I-Con this year!

You can see the schedule of the broadcasts at
http://science.discovery.com/tv-schedules/series.html?paid=48.15730.127643.38766.6



The episode of Toni On New York that shows me at Big Apple Comic-Con and my cartoons of the team on the show is now on YouTube:



The issue of Alter Ego magazine containing my article about the female Captain Marvels is now in better newsstands and comic shops all over the country, and can be ordered directly from the publisher, for a discount on the printed version, and a deep discount for the Digital Edition, at http://new.twomorrows.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=98_55&products_id=849

Finally, not too long ago I was part of the production of the music video “Constantinople 1453” by the Greek-American heavy metal band Phoenix Reign. It was in the finals for the IndieMusicTV.com top videos competition. If it wins, I may be able to show it at my next Movie Madness screening at Otto’s Shrunken Head January 17th! You can see the part of the video that I am here (I’m in my steel armor and gray cloak with long black hair and mustache).



I apologize for not getting this message out before the voting ended. A Facebook invite I got said voting ended at 7 tonight, but it ended at noon today.

Finally, Watch This Space Enterprises has some great last-minute stocking-stuffers for you. Just go to the products catalog at http://www.captainzorikh.com/wts/catalogue.html, including videos, music CD’s, and comics produced by yours truly, Captain Zorikh.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Captain Zorikh
Zorikh@juno.com
http://www.captainzorikh.com
http://www.youtube.com/captainzorikh
http://www.youtube.com/czredemption
http://www.myspace.com/captainzorikhmusic
http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?ref=name&id=598551661#/profile.php?ref=name&id=598551661
http://zorikh.blogspot.com/
http://captainzorikhmedia.blogspot.com/
http://www.captainmarvelculture.com

Bob Sheppard, Voice of Yankee Stadium, retires.

When I was younger, I used to love going to games at Yankee Stadium. There I would see my baseball heroes win games, I would almost always go on a giveaway day, and it was a big thrill. There was a distinct feeling in the air at Yankee Stadium. People cheering, filling out the scorecard, the hot dogs and mustard, the tension of the game, the grandeur of the architecture, I just loved it. It was a part of my youth that was most defining and enjoyable.

Now, as I grow up, I find pieces of my youth slipping away with the inevitable march of time. The latest is Bob Sheppard. Mr. Sheppard was the public address announcer of Yankee Stadium. He started in 1951 and just announced that he does not plan to return to Yankee Stadium (he had taken the past couple of years off for health reasons, only doing pre-recorded stuff). He has announced the names of all the greats, from Joe DiMaggio through Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford, Phil Rizzutto, Mickey Mantle, Billy Martin, Elston Howard, Roger Maris, Roy White, Sparky Lyle, Graig Nettles, Chris Chambliss, Thurman Munson, Reggie Jackson, Ron Guidry, Catfish Hunter, Goose Gossage, Dave Rhigetti, Dave Winfield, Don Mattingly, Steve Sax, Derek Jeter, Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neil, David Cone, Andy Pettit, El Duque, Mariano Rivera, and countless more.

A professor of speech, his steady, mannered tones, announcing the number, position, and name of every player was as much a part of the Yankee Stadium Experience as the sunset over the upper deck, the echo of the cheering fans, and the playing of "New York, New York" after every game.

When Jerry Seinfeld was the guest announcer for a game, he did his best to imitate Mr. Sheppard. Legend has it that Bob would get very upset a Phil Rizzutto for such mangling of the English language as "he slud into second base."

He is 99 years old and was working at a job he obviously loved. how can you beat that?

Here is the news announcement on Major League Baseball's website.

Halloween, Movie Madness, New videos!

Hi Everybody! How was your Halloween? Someone told me that they loved Halloween because they don’t have to be the person they are. That made me realize that for some, the reason to love Halloween is that it gives you the license to be who you really are.

I had a good one, swordfighting on the rooftop of a private Steampunk party in Brooklyn Heights. But now it’s back to the “real world” (or as real as it ever gets with me)

This weekend I will be hosting yet another Captain Zorikh’s Movie Madness at Otto’s Shrunken Head. at 538 E. 14th St. in Manhattan. We have got perhaps the strongest program yet this time around. The films we have scheduled so far include:

The Phoenix Reign music video “Constantinople 1453 – On the Eve of the Fall”
“Ben Pickle – the Sweet Gherkin Cut” by Nic Beery
An episode of "Losers" by Zack Abramowitz.
A scene from "Redemption" by Captain Zorikh
A trailer for "The Resurrectionists" by Scott Teel

…with special surprises as well!

So come on down and enjoy free movies and fancy drinks with paer umbrellas, from 4 – 6 PM at the delightfully tacky yet unbrefined tiki bar/lounge, Otto’s Shrunken Head, 538 E. 14th ST, just a block and a half from the 1st avenue stop on the L train!

And finally…

I have posted up two new videos.

First, I have edited together a portion of my “Captain Marvel Culture” lecture at I-Con this past March, dressed it up with some rare Golden-Age comic book covers and historical photographs, and put it up on my Captain Marvel Culture YouTube channel http://www.youtube.com/user/CaptainMarvelCulture

In this clip I explain the lawsuit the killed the original big Red Cheese in 1953. Please take a look and let me know what you think!

Next, I have a brief, new scene from “Redemption.” You can see it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1bZs3itI6BQ It’s all about the elbows!

So watch the vids, and I will see you this Sunday at Otto’s

Captain Zorikh
Zorikh@juno.com
917-865-1214
http://www.captainzorikh.com
http://captainzorikhmedia.blogspot.com/
http://captainmarvelculture.blogspot.com/
http://czredemption.blogspot.com/
http://zorikh.blogspot.com/

But...

...just to reaffirm my own ego, it is the ex-girlfriend story to beat them all!

BACK TO LIFE!

THE END

Strange. Funny. Depressing. Weird. A chapter in my life just got the final, official nail in its coffin for me about an hour ago, and I really thought that it had already happened months, if not years ago, and I was over it, and I was wrong.

Emotions are funny things. They defy logic. They defy intelligence. They take things that should make perfect sense and confuse them entirely.

Sometimes we cling to things that are dead because we have seen them come back to life before and we think they will do so again. We may have been willing to give them up the first time, or even the second, but after they keep on coming back we begin to count on them, never realizing that each comeback really means there is one fewer comeback till the end. If we had the courage, the strength, the willpower, the pride, the lack of sensitivity, to let it go the first time, it would not hurt so much now.

To give more detail, to talk about who is to blame and what could have been done, even to talk about the inevitability of it all, would lessen the importance of the impact here.

My Birthday Plans!

Hi Friends. It’s hard for me to believe it’s been a whole year since my last birthday, but here I am again, 39 and holding, and realizing that I have been so busy with my movie and job and other bits and pieces of my life that I have not though much about September 6 as special day. But I have a plan anyway!

I will be having three “Events” to celebrate my birthday, two involving music, two involving movies. One will be a personal, just-cause-I-want-to thing, the other a big, fantabulous, blow-out that will be shot for inclusion in my movie “Redemption,” and the other other the latest edition of a bi-monthly blast!

The first will be on Sunday, September 6. I have sort of made it a habit to invade an open mike on my birthday for the past few years, so I figure I will keep up the tradition. I will head down to Pete’s Candy Store, 709 Lorimer St. in Williamsburg (directions below), where the open mike starts at 5 PM. I will get there around 4 and will be leaving around 7:00, and I invite all of you to come, hang out with me and help me celebrate this milestone year for me.

Then on Saturday, September 12, I will be playing a gig at Otto’s Shrunken Head, 538 E. 14th Street in Manhattan (directions below) from 6-7 PM. Two songs in this set will be backed up by a band composed of some members of the cast of “Redemption” and will be shot as part of a scene in the movie. Anyone who wants to be in the movie, and wants to help me celebrate my birthday again, is invited to come on down and be a part of what is sure to be an amazing event!

Afterwards we will hang out, get something to eat, and enjoy all the warm and fuzziness that comes from the magic of motion picture-making!

And finally, on Sunday, September 13, Captain Zorikh’s Bi-Monthly Movie Madness will occur, also at Otto’s Shrunken Head. This time around we will be showing an all-new episode of Zombie Hunters by Patrick Devaney, the short film “Loss of Hope” by Scott Goldberg, and of course, more new footage from “Redemption!” It’s going to be an amazing afternoon of zombies, wrestling, and nuclear terrorism! The excitement is scheduled to begin at 4 PM (but usually starts a little later) and will probably run to about 5:30. There will be much hanging out afterwards, though.

Here’s all the vitals:

Pete’s Candy Store: 709 Lorimer St. Take the L to Lorimer or the G to Grand/Metropolitan. Walk down Lorimer under the BQE, then go 1 ½ blocks and there you are, between Frost St. and Richardson. You can see a map at http://www.petescandystore.com/petes_map.html

Otto’s Shrunken Head: 538 E. 14th Street. Take the L train to 1st Ave, walk 1 ½ blocks east and there you are, between Ave’s A & B

Captain Zorikh
zorikh@juno.com
917-865-1214
http://www.captainzorikh.com




DISCLAIMER: You are getting this message because I want you to help me celebrate my birthday.