Interesting article over at TheRoot.Com, which talks about the Afro American response (or lack of ) to the events in North Africa's Egypt and Tunisia.

Life After Hate: Part 1

A couple of weeks ago Arno Michaels a ex skinhead, founder of the website Lifeafterhate.org, and author of the book “My Life After Hate”, explained how he abandoned his old life, and talked about how skin heads thought about targeting homosexuals, Jews, Blacks etc, etc . Originally published in the Wisconsin Gazette, parts of it where excerpted on the website Queerty. Needless to say it got a response.

My experience with ex skinheads has been limited to watching American History X, and a brief conversation a long time ago, at a house party in Florida, with one who after getting a SS tattoo decided it was stupid and time to get out. Reading the responses to Arno Michaels interview bought up all types of issues of forgiveness, gay skinheads, skepticism, etc etc. So many issues were bought up that I struggle writing this , cause I don't even know where to begin in covering these issues. The best place to start I figure would be with Arno Michaels the catalyst and cause of conversation.

After reading his autobiography “My Life After Hate”, to describe Arno Michaels when he was a young skinhead as a feral drunk would not be adequate enough. For someone whose dissent into hate is a harrowing experience, he comes across a bit like the Lord Byron of Skinheads, mad, bad, and dangerous to know.

Quite a few passages describe violent encounters, from facing off against angry protesters at a rally where he knocks out some one's teeth with a metal shield. to an encounter at a party where he brutally beats a hippie party goer unconscious after a unsuccessful attempt to stand up to his crew of skinheads. The subsequent visit to the hospital to obtain stitches for a head injury that left his skull exposed is also detailed. But what makes this more than a record of gladiatorial combat in the name of saving the white race is the many unexpected aspects of his life.

No one expects a tattooed racist thug, to also be a big Dungeon and Dragon fan, or that somebody who used to be a break-dancer and big time Beastie Boys fan would eventually become a member of Centurion one of the biggest Racist bands from the 1990's. Having to think about a very hostile possible violent presence in a very human way is not something new to anyone who is a minority, but as a reminder that people who you struggle with are human too. This fact haunts Arno Michaels in certain encounters such as when skinhead compatriots of his, sliced up the face of a homeless black man, and eventually helps change his racist ways, such as seeing his young daughter around classmates of different races.

Not highlighted, but most likely self evident to the author in retrospect, and very apparent to readers is some of the ridiculous behavior that was expected of him and his fellow skinheads. Swearing off watching Seinfeld, because of the shows many notable Jewish characters and actors was one of them.This and many other behaviors separated him and other skinheads into a insular close minded society.

A important part of this environment , was the rampant encouraged drinking, which aided Arno Michael's alcohol abuse.

Violence and alcoholism kept him and others in as frenzied, drunk, and violent state as possible, in the name of keeping white folks pure and prepared, for a grand race war that Arno and other skinheads, imagined themselves the Frontline for.

I've never known any environment like this (even minus the racist ideologies and motivations) to not have tragic consequences and Arno's story isn't an exception. One of his tragedies was a young friend of his who he introduced to the skin head life style being shoot and killed in a drive bye.

Arno Michaels has a clear eye in retrospect in describing many aspects of his former life. One aspect he describes is the motivation of racial superiority, how despite his low social status, poverty, and alcohol abuse he was able to hold on to the “better than thou” attitude towards non-whites:

If you're going on a

premise that the white race is something special and that it

needs to be saved from “non-whites”, you need to be able to

justify the hows and whys of that—namely the whys. Why

your people are superior to their people. Never mind that your

way of life is almost indistinguishable from theirs. Never mind

that you're a raging alcoholic and that you work a shitty

minimum-wage job and that you go around and start fights

with honest people on the street. That's all really beside the

point, because you are “fighting for your race”, and your race

is something worth saving because pretty much anything

worth anything was, according to us, invented by white people.

Now there is no such thing as a unchallenged premise and “My Life after Hate.” is no exception. Quite a few contentious commenter's on Queerty who were skeptical of Arno Michaels transformation and refutation of his old life, and I doubt his former compatriots from the white power movement would be happy with his decisions, I being morbidly curious, checked out the reaction on Stormfront.org, The most popular White Supremacy site on the Internet, for their enlightened reaction.

Some of the Folks you would encounter on Stormfront

Being the enlightened and tolerant types, some of their reactions to Arno Michael's rejection of a shared racist ideal with them include:

Accusations of being a “Secret Jew”:

This guy probably found out he had Jewish heritage, because I have observed quite a number of Jews with the surname 'Michaels' or 'Michael.'

And false equivalence:

You know what's funny, even if his story is true and he saw his kid playing with a non-white in pre school, how come we never hear stories about how the black kid now thinks differently about skinheads after playing with one of their kids?

It's always the same, "Blah blah blah I got trapped in an elevator with a black guy for 10 minutes and realized I didn't want to kill him anymore..."

If meeting a nice, well educated black person is supposed to "change my thinking" about all black people, how come meeting a nice, well educated racist doesn't change black peoples' thinking about us? (Where to even begin to reply to this one.......)

Now Since the place I first encountered this post on was on Queerty a news site dedicated to gay news since he was discussing skin heads attitudes towards gays. The reaction to his article was interesting to say the least. But one of the most interesting things I encountered was finding out on the very first comment about Nicky Crane, a figure in Britain's far right White Power movement who was also gay.

Broke Romantic's Anthem

The Song "The Way I Are"; theme song for all broke ass romantics out there, as performed by the Kingdom Arts Gang.




And a famous parody by the World of Warcraft folks.

MARTIAL LIFE

When it comes to Martial Arts movies, as fans, we get used to seeing a lot of spinning kicks, kimura locks, Dim Mak pressure point hits, roundhouse punches and various etc. But when it comes to Martial Arts Culture, the motivations, behaviors, and factors, behind perfecting kicks upside people's head rarely gets shown.

The question of how practicing Martial Arts makes way too many people think pony tails are cool, or how it affects personal relationships, when you spend more at your Martial Arts School than with your loved ones doesn't get much screen time. Perhaps you are, or know of, people who gets a certain type of spirituality that develops when exposed to Buddhist philosophy with a warriors edge, or how being involved in Martial Arts can affect your social or political views.

Here is a list of a few movies that not only do this but do it well.

FOOT FIST WAY

Foot Fist Way (which is the literal English translation of the Korean word Tae Kwon Do) is about Fred Simmons, ( aka the asshole you'll get to know if you hang around a Dojo or Martial Arts school long enough) a Tae Kwon Do instructor, whose marital, and home life problems result in very unhealthy and hilarious relationship with those around him. Danny Mcbride from Eastbound and Down and his cohorts show a truly dysfunctional bunch in a wonderfully comedic way. This portrait may a bit too familiar to martial artist. As a friend I know put it “It's funny cause its true.”

NUMB: A MIXED MARTIAL ARTS FILM

A short film, about a fighter training for an important fight while dealing with a not very ideal life. He is angry at his father who left him, now on his deathbed, making a reappearance in his life and trying to make amends. His son who's a bully who uses the techniques picked up from his dad to bully other kids. Constant arguing with his ex wife over child rearing and alimony all add to this mix, and threaten to derail his momentum going into the fight.

BUDDHA'S LOST CHILDREN

This Documentary has its main focus, Phra Khru Bah Neua Chai Kositto, a Buddhist Monk and former Muay Thai Boxer, with more Tattoos than Little Wayne. This Monk operates a Monastery/Orphanage in Thailand's Golden Triangle (the Opium producing Mountain Region that overlaps Thailand, Laos and other Southeast Asian countries.) The Ex Muay Thai Boxer turned Buddhist Monk is not Mary Poppins in his child care methods but the portrait of him and the children that emerges in this documentary is amazing.

THE SENSEI

Homophobia, Sexism in the Dojo, and Aids are topics that do not come up in your usual Martial Arts movie. However The Sensei does a good job of covering the distance between subjects that seem as far away from each other, as the distance between Philadelphia and Manila.

Though the movie has parts I found cheesy it more than makes up for it with Diane Lee Inosanto (director, chief creative force, also daughter of Dan Inosanto, a co-founder of Jeet Kune Do along with Bruce Lee) and the rest of the cast doing a overall great job.

Interesting touches (It's one of the few American movies I've seen with a interracial Asian family, in this case Filipino/Japanese) and one of the funniest and awkward pot buying scenes ever make this movie very entertaining and touching.

HONORABLE MENTION: BEST OF THE BEST

Eric Roberts and Philip Rhee have gorgeous Mullets in this movie about an American Tae Kwon Do Team, who do the bonding, and self discovery thing, as they prepare to face off against the Koreans at a Prestigious Tae Kwon Do Tournament.

James Earl Jones makes his appearance as a coach and Eric Roberts cries way too often and inappropriately, and if 80's cheese isn't your favorite type of Fromage youll get many a opportunity to practice eyerolling. But as one of the few that shows the realistic challenges and motivations for Pro Martial Artist its worth watching.

HONORABLE MENTION: TAI CHI MASTER

Tai Chi Master is a excellent Kung Fu Movie. One of the things that makes it stand out is how the main characters martial arts style is changed by him becoming a Taoist. In between the philosophical musings we're treated to some excellent Kung Fu scenes.

DJ Pogo Jam

Experience some of the Sweetness that is DJ Pogo in this song about his trip to South Africa.

Journey Between Cages: Pro Wrestling and MMA

A Few Months ago, Brock Lesnar became a victim of “You Got Knocked the Fuck Out!!!.”Chris Tucker's infamous one-Liner from the movie Friday, in a MMA match against Cain Velasquez.

Before that Brock Lesnar had overcome early skepticism about his Pro wrestling background to become a Heavyweight Champion in UFC and became a notorious characters for his heel/bad guy theatrics Like his post fight interview after defeating Frank Mir at UFC 100

Whether Lesnar will be back to challenge for the Heavyweight Championship is anyone's guess. What is definitely true and much to the chagrin of a certain MMA fans is that the connection between Pro Wrestling and MMA are even more apparent than they ever where.

The skepticism about pro wrestlers competing in the world of MMA seems to stem from a contempt towards wrestlers as not being tough enough and too fake for the world of MMA. The source of the contempt is varied and ranges from wrestling being “fake” to those with MMA skills thinking that wrestlers are poseurs who would quickly fold to anyone with a ounce of Martial Training. As Both a old school wrestling fan and a occasional fan of MMA, I wouldn't be writing this if I thought this was true.

INFLUENCE OF PRO-WRESTLING ON MMA

Wrestling's impact on MMA fighting is visually subtle, underrated and deeper than most give it credit for.

Rampage Jackson's habit of wearing a Padlock chain to the ring is said to be inspired by The Junkyard Dog, one of his favorite wrestlers growing up. Many MMA fighters current and former have gotten their inspiration from pro-wrestling. Former MMA fighter Mark Kerr became interested in fighting through his early aspiration of wanting to be a Professional Wrestler.

A little know facts is that of the 8 inductees into the UFC Hall of Fame, 3 of them also participated in professional wrestling. Dan Severn and Ken Shamrock wrestled for the WWE back in the 1990's. Mark Coleman occasionally wrestled for a Japanese federation known as Hustle.

As far as current fighters we have the beginning career of Daniel Puder who does MMA and also Pro Wrestling, being a part of the WWE Tough Enough program, and also popular MMA fighter Mirko “Cro Crop” Filipović shown here, making this appearance at a Japanese Wrestling Event.

In Japan the snobbish line between Pro wrestling and MMA is mostly ignored. Antonio Inoki, whose popularity in Japan as a public figure matches many professional athletes, has competed in both Professional Wrestling and MMA events.

Kazushi “Gracie Killer” Sakuraba (named for scoring multiple defeats against the Gracie Family) has also competed in professional wrestling and started his career in various Japanese Pro Wrestling federations. He also has some of the most awesome entrances BTW.

To go even further back in time and visit Latin America, Conde Koma aka Mitsuyo Maeda, the founder of Brazilian Jujitsu, was also a early fixture on the Lucha Libre/Mexican Pro Wrestling scene.

Despite all of this Pro Wrestling is still looked down on by many MMA fans who cite wrestling's falseness and lack of genuine toughness in comparison to MMA fighters.

T and A (TECHNIQUE AND AGONIES)

One of the things you quickly learn about wrestling is that manufactured or choreographed is probably a more appropriate word than fake. Despite the fact that the results of match are choreographed, Wrestlers suffer a variety of injuries that can range from bumps and bruises to falling off 30 foot scaffolding.

Every nightly wrestling event as at least one if not more wrestlers getting injured. In some cases they end up being serious injuries like Steve's Austin Compressed Spine, or a infamous accident to wrestler Buff Bagwell that nearly left him crippled.

And as far as Tough Guy and Martial Arts credential goes, Plenty of Wrestlers have enviable Martial Arts backgrounds.

Roddy Piper ( Golden Gloves competitor, Black Belt in Judo,)

Ernest 'The Cat' Miller (3 Time World Karate Champion)

Great Muta (Amateur Wrestling and Judo)

CM Punk (Muay Thai )

Rob Van Dam (Akido, Tae Kwon Do, Kick-Boxing and Karate background)

Batista (Kempo, Muay Thai and Arnis. Unfortunately about to find out, you don't fuck with the S on Superman's chest)

Kurt Angle (Olympic Gold Medalist in Wrestling. Kick boxing and Jujitsu training)

“Bad News” Brown (Bronze medalist for U.S. Judo Team)

The Undertaker (Trained Kick Boxer, Brown Belt in Jujitsu)

And if there is any doubt about whether Wrestlers can hold their own against MMA or other Martial Artist, A infamous incident in England that occurred between WWE Wrestlers and professional Kick boxers should make those doubts a little less stronger.

The biggest difference between Professional MMA Fighters and Professional Wrestlers is not one of martial art skill, toughness, or other tangible or intangible factors that might come up, but a certain mental aspect, that was revealed in a interview with Paul Wight A.K.A. The Big Show.

PULLING PUNCHES

In a interview about his WWE match against Floyd Mayweather, Paul Wight pro moniker “The Big Show” talked about this mentality.

Stating that it would be really easy for somebody his size to toss Floyd Mayweather across the room, and someone wit Floyd's Boxing skill could easily break his ribs and other ways in which they could both seriously injure each other.

He and anyone else wrestling had to take great care not to injure each other since a serious wrestling injury affects the other guys ability to provide food for his family and their health. (Coincidentally not quite used to this philosophy, Floyd Mayweather actually broke The Big Show's nose in his first appearance during this story line.)

MMA Fighters and Pro Wrestlers due to high risk of injuries in their given professions are very unlikely to be covered by traditional health insurance. Quite a few Pro Wrestlers, much like MMA fighters have families to support.

The big difference between the two is that unlike MMA matches, which may take place once a month or every few months, wrestling matches are at least once a week and often more.

Given the increased chance of injuries and the lengthy recovery time that it takes to recover, during which the wrestler and their families are usually without salaries, they take great care not to unduly injure each other.

While a worthwhile mentality for Pro wrestling getting out of that mindset before entering a MMA ring is something that every pro wrestler would need to do not to place themselves at a serious disadvantage. Unfortunately a good example of this is Bam Bam Bigelow's one and only disastrous foray into MMA.

So whether Pro Wrestlers will continue to make the transition to MMA remains to be seen. But the naysaying MMA fans need to know that that this transition is nothing new. the distance between a DDT, and a Guillotine is not as as it would seem.

A Bit of Sappy Happiness for the Holiday Season