Best Time To Perform: As a restorative after any forward spine compression or/ Prior to getting on the mat, if your shoulders and lower spine are tight.
Time Needed To Perform: 1 minute.

I didn’t call Master Banks again until the Michael Depasquale Roast, we wanted to honor Mr. Banks and give him a beautiful pioneer award for his service to the martial arts. When I called and told him what we wanted to do, he said we could honor him, however we would have to pay him $1000 for the privilege of honoring his greatness : ).

Another great story about my involvement with Grand Master Banks is how I met Joe Hess, Heavy weight Champion fighter, and the legendary Master Johnny Kuhl. It was the early 70′s and I was hitchhiking everywhere, chasing karate and adventure, and I ended up in New York City on a greyhound bus, heading toward Wenham, Massachusetts to meet a girl. Out the window of the bus, I saw a huge billboard promoting Aaron Bank’s Oriental World of Self Defense at Madison Square Garden.

I made the bus driver stop so I could get off the bus. I stopped passerby after passerby and asked for directions to Madison Square Garden. I was so raw and uneducated about life, and I wanted to go perform at his event. Heck, I even thought every martial artist did the same karate I learned in Hawaii. I was carrying my Surfboard, sai’s, nunchucks, kama’s and a jo along with my backpack. I finally got a ride to the Garden and by this time it was pouring down rain.

I went to the back of the Garden and knocked on the door. When the door opened there stood two of the biggest men I have ever seen. It was Joe Hess and Johnny Kuhl. They asked me, “What are you doing standing in the rain with all those weapons, and WHY do you have a surfboard here in the city?” I told them, “I’m here for the show bra, to perform! They explained, nicely, that it was a professional show and they closed the door.

I left hurt. I was ignorant, young, and wet, and now I was stuck in the middle of New York City.

Years later I would honor Joe Hess at a Living Legends, but my reunion with Master Kuhl always sticks in my mind. It was 1999 and Grand Master Allen Steen’s 60th birthday party in Dallas, Texas. I was greeting the guests at the door and the guest list was truly a who’s who in the martial arts. One of my friends pointed to a big guy across the room who was asking questions about me. I approached the guy and asked, “Sir, may I help you?” He asked me if I was that scrawny little kid with all those weapons and the surfboard at the Oriental World of Self-Defense. I remembered Johnny Kuhl. He was one of the BIG security guys who answered the back door at Master Bank’s event at Madison Square Garden.

Great Grand Master Banks you were and are one of the reasons I do what I do, record and celebrate Sport Karate History.

Rest in peace Great Grand Master Aaron Banks, and thank you for being “Old School”. Osu.

Air Conditioned – Electronic Scoring – Matted Rings

Sponsored by: Ms. Vera Harrison

Saturday, August 10, 2013
8:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.
First English Lutheran Church
725 E. Forrest Hill Ave., Peoria, Illinois
Arbitrary Official – Vera Harrison

EVENTS:
Tae Kwon Do (or similar style)
Forms
Olympic Sparring
Tag Team

Karate (or similar style)
Forms
Point Sparring
Tag Team

COMBINED EVENTS
Breaking
Weapons

NEW DIVISION THIS YEAR – MASTERS DIVISIONS FOR KARATE AND TAE KWON DO

Special Events Division (formerly Special Olympics)
Grappling: NO GI (Wrestlers are welcome MUST follow grappling rules)

Points will be tabulated for the AJKAI, IOBK and the ALLIANCE

FOR MORE INFORMATION Contact: Vera Harrison at 309-251-8588 (PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE CHURCH)

Tournament PDF Flyer

 A.J.K.A.I.  AND  I.O.B.K. Summer Seminar

A Must For All Who Want To Expand Their Training!!!

Friday Night August 9 – Seminar 6 P.M. – 9 P.M.

First English Lutheran Church
725 E. Forrest Hill Ave., Peoria, Illinois

Cost: $50.00 For the Day. Special pricing for Seminar and Tournament Participation!

Tentative Guest Instructor: World Renowned Martial Artist and Author Shihan Terry Wilson

Instructors:
Hanshi John Chatwood
Hanshi Matt Molineux
Hanshi Vera Harrison
Shihan James Gifford
Shihan Kevin Chatwood

Styles represented:
Shinto Yoshin Ryu Jiu-Jitsu
Shinmei Shorin Ryu Karate
Tae Kwon Do
Hakutsuru White Crane
Chinese, Japanese, Okinawan &
Korean Arts

Subject of Study: Shinto Yoshin Ryu and Shinmei Shorin Ryu
♦ Principles of Jiu-Jitsu
♦ Entering & Controlling Techniques
♦ Chokes Shime-waza
♦ Stop, Shock, Immobilize & Incapacitate
♦ Effortless Takedowns
♦ Hidden Techniques within Jiu-Jitsu
♦ Entering & Blocking Methods
♦ Joint Locking Flow Series
♦ Wrist Locks, Arm Bars & Leg Locks Kansetsu-waza
♦ Hazushis (releases)
♦ Kaeshi/Gaeshi-Waza (transitioning/countering)
♦ Kime-no-Kata (forms of self-defense)

For Information visit www.ajkai.com or contact

Hanshi Vera Harrison
(309) 251-8588

Hanshi John Chatwood
(775) 400-6376

Shihan Kevin Chatwood
(309) 369-1065

A.J.K.A.I. AND I.O.B.K. Summer Seminar PDF Flyer

MMA MIXED UP BREATHING: Remember the rule of always breathing in and out through the nostrils and using good upper body posture when practicing. Breathe in pushing out your abdomen until you feel as if you have almost completed the breath. Hold that for 5 counts. Now, go the extra mile and pull the breath up into the upper lungs while inhaling more. Hold that for 3 counts. Exhale out of the nostrils. Note that this is going to feel very uncomfortable for a few times until you get used to manipulating your breath. The dynamics are kind of like a car I once owned that had 3 carburetors, the two subsequent ones opening at different speeds until the max was reached. This breath works the same way, expanding your lung capacity over time so that it responds to greater need. This breathing technique will also help you to gain control back over your breath if it is erratic.

* Never sit or lay down if you are seriously overheated or out of breath. Slowly walk it off while breathing deeply. As the erratic breath dissipates, you can sit and use this breath to recapture it completely.

Time Needed To Perform: 8-10 minutes
Best Time To Perform: Prior to training; as needed for breath recovery.

I can, however, offer a Breathing technique that should help to get your started and which isn’t so complicated that you can’t learn it right here: Right On Target Deep Breath: For this exercise breathe in and out of the nostrils only. No mouth breathing, no way. Sit up with spine straight but relaxed. Start by placing your tongue on the roof of your mouth (which is where it should be anytime you step into the ring so you don’t bite it off if you take a hit).

Part 1: Breathe in slowly pushing your stomach outward, then exhale and pull it
back in deeply towards the spine. Repeat 2 times.

Part 2. Breathe in as in Part 1, but now continue to expand your rib cage
outward. Exhale as in Part 1. Repeat 2 times.

Part 3. Breathe in as before but after expanding the rib cage, pull the air up to your upper lungs into the Bronchial area so that you feel like an expanded balloon. Exhale completely pulling your stomach into your spine. Repeat 3 times. After you are able to utilize all 3 sections of your lungs with parts 1,2 and 3, practice Part 3 as the complete breath. It is not necessary to perform more than 7 times per day if you perform properly. You will begin to feel as if you have accessed parts of your lungs that have never been fully opened.

When you feel comfortable with the entire technique, you may incorporate holding the breath starting at 5 counts and going up to 12 counts before exhaling. This is what helps you to get the breath back under control. Make sure to practice in a room without stale air. A bonus of this practice is that it will flush toxins from your joints and muscles to alleviate soreness after training.

Best Time to Perform: At the end of any training session.
Time Needed to Perform: 3-5 minutes well worth it.

The UFC Code of Conduct starts out with language familiar to NFL Players because the it was created with Washington D.C. law firm Covington & Burling, who also helped develop the Code of Conduct rules for the NFL and Major League Baseball.

“Fighters shall conduct themselves in accordance with commonly accepted standards of decency, social convention, and morals, and fighters will not commit any act or become involved in any situation or occurrence or make any statement which will reflect negatively upon or bring disrepute, contempt, scandal, ridicule or disdain to the fighter or the UFC.”

UFC Fighter Code of Conduct

So what exactly are the skills you need to know to be a great MMA fighter

1. How to punch like a Boxer, not a karate player
2. How to kick like a Kick Boxer or Tae Boxer, not a tae kwon do player
3. How to do takedowns like a Wrestler
4. How to do ground jiu jitsu with No Gi
5. How to do conditioning for a fight
6. How to eat like a champion
7. How to prepare for a fight mentally and physically
8. How to control your mind and emotions before, during and after the fight
9. How to use the ring
10. How to do physical conditioning

During the next few weeks I will be going over each of these skill sets and how and why you need to know them if you want to be a great MMA fighter.

The 4^th Skill set you need to know to become a Great MMA Fighter is How to do ground jiu jitsu without a GI.

There is nothing that can win an MMA fight easier than using ground Jiu Jitsu techniques. If you are relying upon beating your opponent with stand up alone, you are usually going to be trading a lot of punches and kicks, and that means you usually are going to be hit or kicked a punch of times. Believe me these hurt, and the less of them you take the better.  That brings me to my skill set for today, gtround Jiu Jitsu without a GI.

I have been practicing Jiu Jitsu for 45 years and I know a lot of GI techniques, standing techniques and ground techniques without a GI. I always roll these days without a GI because it is so much more practical than rolling with a GI. I simply have never been in a fight in the streets with someone who was wearing a GI, or even a Coat. If you train in GI Jiu Jisu you will learn many more techniques than you will learn in ground Jiu Jitsu, because the Gi gives you so much more leverage, power and control. A wet sweaty person is much harder to hold and control than a nice thick GI. In your MMA fights you need to learn to control by positions, holding and movement rather than grabbing the GI and using it for security and control.

On the ground without a GI your options are much more limited and your finishes are much more difficult, but it is also much more fun and practical to train without the GI. You will learn how to control your opponent using only your hands and legs and body position. If you watch the MMA fights now the person in the guard is usually the person in trouble, as they struggle to hold their opponent down, and he gets lose and smashes some punches or kicks to their head or body. The facts are that is you really Know ground Jiu Jitsu without a GI, you DO have an advantage. The reason that the people in the fights in the guard are getting beaten up is that they do not have a great ground Jiu Jitsu game.

Watch BJ Penn on his back and you will see someone who knows how to win the ground game from the guard. Watch Anderson Silva and you will see someone who knows how to win on the ground on your back. Watch Royce Gracie when he was in the first 3 UFC’s and you will see total domination of another fighter from the guard. This is what will happen in a real street fight against someone who has no training in Jiu Jitsu, if you know your basics of ground Jiu Jitsu without a GI you will dominate them as easily as Royce Gracie did in the first 3 UFC’s.

I have done this hundreds of times in the dojo and the gym. Anytime I ask someone if they want to roll and they say, they don’t know how, or never had, but would like to try. I always defeat them with ease and speed. They simply have no defense against a good ground game if they have never trained in ground Jiu Jitsu.

If you are currently taking Jiu Jitsu classes and you are wearing a GI in most classes, if not all. Then I strongly suggest you ask your teacher if you can train without the GI in All classes. Most regular Jiu Jitsu classes are 90% with a GI, because the teacher can show so much more and it is a completely organized system of training, just like a karate class. If you want to train only with no GI you will have to have a teacher who will let you and how understands your needs and desires. You should not insist on only no GI training if the teacher doesn’t allow it, and your shouldn’t Only do no GI training. You need to learn to use the GI because it adds so much to your Jiu Jitsu game.  But in a MMA fight it has no practical value.

There are lots of tricks, techniques and finishes that require different hand positions, body positions and control points that you must learn if you want to control and finish a fight with no GI. For example in the basic arm bar lock in GI Jiu Jitsu you wrap the GI with one hand and this prevents his escape, then with the other hand you hold the back of the GI around the neck and then finish with the arm bar. With no GI you control the arm by holding the wrist and elbow of the opponent and then hold the back and side of the head before you do your turn. You also use your feet and legs much more in no GI Jiu Jitsu for controlling your opponent. You can even use your head as another “arm” in NO GI. There are great, powerful, easy to do techniques you can do with no GI that will allow you to defeat your opponent.

I am doing a new DVD that shows The 25 Deadliest No GI Jiu Jitsu Finishes. I will be showing 4 to 5 techniques for each of the 4 major control areas in a Jiu Jitsu fight, the guard, side control, the back, the mount, and North South positions. If you learn and master these techniques you will be able to defeat 85% of all the MMA fighters you will face in the ring.

Everyone knows that the Mixed Martial Arts Craze is taking over America and everyone wants to be a part of the craze. The problem is that 99% of the Martial Arts Schools in America can’t teach you all you need to know to become a great MMA fighter. Why? Because the teachers don’t know all the skills necessary to become a great MMA fighter and so they only teach a little of the skills required and thus they only produce very poor MMA fighters.

So what exactly are the skills you need to know to be a great MMA fighter

11. How to punch like a Boxer, not a karate player
12. How to kick like a Kick Boxer or Tae Boxer, not a tae kwon do player
13. How to do takedowns like a Wrestler
14. How to do ground jiu jitsu with No Gi
15. How to do conditioning for a fight
16. How to eat like a champion
17. How to prepare for a fight mentally and physically
18. How to control your mind and emotions before, during and after the fight
19. How to use the ring
20. How to do physical conditioning

During the next few weeks I will be going over each of these skill sets and how and why you need to know them if you want to be a great MMA fighter.

The 4^th Skill set you need to know to become a Great MMA Fighter is How to do ground jiu jitsu without a GI.

There is nothing that can win an MMA fight easier than using ground Jiu Jitsu techniques. If you are relying upon beating your opponent with stand up alone, you are usually going to be trading a lot of punches and kicks, and that means you usually are going to be hit or kicked a punch of times. Believe me these hurt, and the less of them you take the better.  That brings me to my skill set for today, gtround Jiu Jitsu without a GI.

I have been practicing Jiu Jitsu for 45 years and I know a lot of GI techniques, standing techniques and ground techniques without a GI. I always roll these days without a GI because it is so much more practical than rolling with a GI. I simply have never been in a fight in the streets with someone who was wearing a GI, or even a Coat. If you train in GI Jiu Jisu you will learn many more techniques than you will learn in ground Jiu Jitsu, because the Gi gives you so much more leverage, power and control. A wet sweaty person is much harder to hold and control than a nice thick GI. In your MMA fights you need to learn to control by positions, holding and movement rather than grabbing the GI and using it for security and control.

On the ground without a GI your options are much more limited and your finishes are much more difficult, but it is also much more fun and practical to train without the GI. You will learn how to control your opponent using only your hands and legs and body position. If you watch the MMA fights now the person in the guard is usually the person in trouble, as they struggle to hold their opponent down, and he gets lose and smashes some punches or kicks to their head or body. The facts are that is you really Know ground Jiu Jitsu without a GI, you DO have an advantage. The reason that the people in the fights in the guard are getting beaten up is that they do not have a great ground Jiu Jitsu game.

Watch BJ Penn on his back and you will see someone who knows how to win the ground game from the guard. Watch Anderson Silva and you will see someone who knows how to win on the ground on your back. Watch Royce Gracie when he was in the first 3 UFC’s and you will see total domination of another fighter from the guard. This is what will happen in a real street fight against someone who has no training in Jiu Jitsu, if you know your basics of ground Jiu Jitsu without a GI you will dominate them as easily as Royce Gracie did in the first 3 UFC’s.

I have done this hundreds of times in the dojo and the gym. Anytime I ask someone if they want to roll and they say, they don’t know how, or never had, but would like to try. I always defeat them with ease and speed. They simply have no defense against a good ground game if they have never trained in ground Jiu Jitsu.

If you are currently taking Jiu Jitsu classes and you are wearing a GI in most classes, if not all. Then I strongly suggest you ask your teacher if you can train without the GI in All classes. Most regular Jiu Jitsu classes are 90% with a GI, because the teacher can show so much more and it is a completely organized system of training, just like a karate class. If you want to train only with no GI you will have to have a teacher who will let you and how understands your needs and desires. You should not insist on only no GI training if the teacher doesn’t allow it, and your shouldn’t Only do no GI training. You need to learn to use the GI because it adds so much to your Jiu Jitsu game.  But in a MMA fight it has no practical value.

There are lots of tricks, techniques and finishes that require different hand positions, body positions and control points that you must learn if you want to control and finish a fight with no GI. For example in the basic arm bar lock in GI Jiu Jitsu you wrap the GI with one hand and this prevents his escape, then with the other hand you hold the back of the GI around the neck and then finish with the arm bar. With no GI you control the arm by holding the wrist and elbow of the opponent and then hold the back and side of the head before you do your turn. You also use your feet and legs much more in no GI Jiu Jitsu for controlling your opponent. You can even use your head as another “arm” in NO GI. There are great, powerful, easy to do techniques you can do with no GI that will allow you to defeat your opponent.

I am doing a new DVD that shows The 25 Deadliest No GI Jiu Jitsu Finishes. I will be showing 4 to 5 techniques for each of the 4 major control areas in a Jiu Jitsu fight, the guard, side control, the back, the mount, and North South positions. If you learn and master these techniques you will be able to defeat 85% of all the MMA fighters you will face in the ring.

Part 5 Coming May 1, 2013

By the age of 10, Robin had attained over sixty Karate championships and by 14, was considered one of an elite group of martial art competitors with other well-known martial arts experts such as Chuck Norris. Because she was one of the first female fighting competitors in the United States, Robin faced mostly male opponents, sometimes three times her size. She won over one-hundred Karate Championships total, including Black Belt, State and International Grand Championships. All of the competitions were full contact, bare knuckle with no protective equipment, that being they way it was done years ago. Robin was promoted to a Master 5th Degree Black Belt in what is considered the original MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) by the late Professor Charles Gaylord in May of 2003. The style of MMA is Kajukenbo (K=Karate, A=Aikido, Ju=Judo/Jujitsu, Ken=Kenpo, Bo=Boxing or Kung Fu). Some people are born to do certain things, Robin was born to fight.

As a Professional Security Consultant in 1979 for the San Francisco Bay Area, Robin was known as an extraordinary businesswoman who owned a chain of entertainment establishments. Her continued work as a professional fitness, aerobics, and karate instructor resulted in her obtaining management positions at four top-notch exercise facilities in the San Francisco Bay area. During this timeframe Robin was recognized as a fitness expert, personal trainer, choreographer, training athletes and dancers. Her personal and professional experiences have been related to controlling and securing public and private venues.

In 1986 Robin began her employment with the Richmond Unified School District. Her many accomplishments over ten plus years of employment with the district include, but were not limited to; Gang Intervention Specialist, Conflict Mediator, Human Relations Specialist, Special Programs Creator, Coordinator, and Facilitator. Robin developed and implemented a multi-cultural awareness curriculum that was later adopted by the state of California as its own diversity curriculum. She was also the coordinator of such news worthy events as March Against Violence through the impoverished socio-economically distressed, crime riddled, inter city known as Richmond, California; where Robin grew up as a child.

Robin’s diverse background volunteering her time includes:

• Veterans Administration Department-Yountville Veterans Home
• Humane Society
• American Cancer Society
• Manager/Coach for Little League Baseball
• PTA President

These acquired skills along with her over forty years of martial arts training and instruction have made her a unique and unparalleled defense expert.

Currently Robin is also working on Preventing another 9/11 Tragedy through TIT for TAT – Training International Transporters for Tactics Against Terrorists. (More Info)

Joe Weider is recognized as the man who changed the way the world understands the connection between exercise, nutrition, and good health.  He created the famous fitness magazine empire that was the first to bring information about training, nutrition, and his beloved sport, bodybuilding, to men and women eager to improve their physical lives.  He created, popularized and sold machinery and weights that are seen in gyms and homes everywhere and his belief in nutritional supplements was instrumental in the formation of today’s huge vitamin and supplement industry.   Today the Weider name is synonymous with health and fitness.

A true pioneer in his efforts to bring strength and fitness to the public’s collective consciousness, Joe Weider continues to use his expertise to help people the world over lead healthier, happier lives.  Since 1936 Joe’s message has prompted athletes, coaches and sports scientists the world over to alter forever their approach to training, nutrition and recuperation in accordance with the guidelines established in his training principles.  He has prompted the medical community, once hostile and later merely skeptical toward resistance training, to embrace it as a vital weapon in the war against aging.  He has prompted psychologists, who initially saw little connection between mind and body, to accept exercise as a vital contributor to mental health.  And his passion has given rise to the sport of bodybuilding, which emerged from the shadow of competitive weightlifting and now has untold competitors participating across the globe.

For years Joe oversaw a publishing empire that included the “Bible” of bodybuilding, Muscle & Fitness, Muscle & Fitness Hers, Flex for the hard-core bodybuilder, Men’s Fitness for the active man, Shape for the active woman, and Fit Pregnancy and Natural Health.

Born in 1920, Joe Weider grew up in a tough neighborhood in Montreal, Canada during the hard times of the Great Depression. When young Joe left public school at age 12 to pull a small wagon 10 hours a day delivering fruit and groceries for a market, it was an act of survival for both him and his family.  Standing 5’5” and weighing a mere 115 pounds, Joe became easy prey for teenagers looking to score some quick change, which prompted him to head off to the Montreal YMHA and request a tryout with the wresting team.  The coach turned him down, for fear he would be hurt.

Undaunted, he made his way to a local newsstand and purchased two used magazines for a penny, including a 1930 edition of the Milo Barbell Co.’s Strength magazine.  Those publications inspired him to lift weights, and later to begin his own magazine.  Joe scavenged a local train yard for an old axle and two flywheels, which he cobbled into a makeshift barbell.  He lifted, pumped and pressed this scrap metal endlessly, and his scrawny physique was rewarded with sprouting sinews of muscle.  By the time he turned 15, neighborhood bullies no longer bothered Joe.  A scout from the Verdun Barbell Club in Montreal invited to Joe to join.  Two years later, Joe competed in his first amateur contest, the Montreal District Senior Meet, where he lifted 70 pounds more than competitors in his weight class.  His total surpassed even those of the light-heavyweights and heavyweights and earned him a national ranking.

Joe’s competitive success and his ongoing physical transformation inspired him to enlighten others.  That would be a challenge, because the late 1930’s were indeed a dark age for the iron sport, with gyms deliberately hidden from mainstream society.  Weightlifters communicated primarily through correspondence and magazines, which young Joe felt published incomplete and often erroneous information.  By 1939, Joe had been working full time for five years.  He had traded in his wagon to bus tables and wash dishes at a local restaurant, which had quickly promoted him to sandwich maker and then to short-order cook.

His dream, however, was to publish a magazine committed to sharing accurate, complete training advise with routines with its readers.  So, with $7 in his pocket, he began to work on what would become the first issue of Your Physique, to be published in August 1940.  Orders poured in, and within 18 months Joe had made a $10,000 profit—a small fortune at a time when a loaf of bread cost 4 cents and a gallon of gas 11 cents.  Remembering his own difficulties in tacking down equipment, Joe started the mail-order Weider Barbell Co. in 1942; his magazine now offered weight sets and other equipment as well as some rudimentary vitamin and mineral supplements.

In 1946, Joe and his brother Ben rented Montreal’s Monument National Theater to host the first Mr. Canada contest, and former the International Federation of Bodybuilders that night.  In 1965 he created the Mr. Olympia contest, which is the premier contest in all of bodybuilding.  Among the most famous Mr. Olympia winners is Arnold Schwarzenegger, a seven-time titleholder. In recognition of women’s dedication to the sport, Joe went on to create the Ms. Olympia contest in 1978, and added the Fitness Olympia contest in 1995.  There are presently 170 countries affiliated with the IFBB and it now ranks as one of the top seven international sport federations in the world.

Perhaps Joe’s most indelible addition to the science and sport of bodybuilding is the Weider Principles.  For his magazine, Joe would spend countless hours in various gyms studying and cataloging the movements and techniques that were effective for bodybuilders, weightlifters and power-lifters alike.  By 1950, he had compiled 12 years’ worth of such observations, and he christened them The Weider Training Principles—over 30 theories and techniques that forever changed the means by which someone could build a strong, muscular body.

From those beginnings, the IFBB and the business grew tremendously.  Located in Woodland Hills, California, Weider Health and Fitness is a leader in the sports nutrition industry.

Joe Weider died of heart failure on March 23, 2013, in a Los Angeles, California hospital. He will be sorely missed. RIP Joe Weider.

Source: http://www.joeweider.com

FIGHT NOW TV and TUFF-N-UFF Team-up to deliver broadcast home for ‘Future Stars of MMA!’

HOBOKEN, N.J. (March 23, 2013) – FIGHT NOW TV™ — America’s only 24-hour combat sports and entertainment channel – has teamed with Tuff-N-Uff Fighting Championships to broadcast all of its 2013 events in multiple time-shifted airings.

Formed in 1994 by Martial Arts Master Hall of Fame inductee Barry Meyer, Tuff-N-Uff has grown to become one of the top recognized amateur mixed martial arts organizations in the world.  Based in the “Fight Capital of the World,” Las Vegas, this showcase for the future stars of the sport has been a leader in promoting the first all-female MMA event, mixed-card — combining kickboxing and MMA — and same-day MMA tournament within the state of Nevada.

“Barry’s commitment to growing the sport of MMA by offering a safe and evenly-matched environment for aspiring mixed martial artists is what attracted us to Tuff-N-Uff,” said Mike Garrow, GM and co-founder of FIGHT NOW TV. “We are excited to work with Barry to showcase the talent of these emerging athletes within the professional platform that Tuff-N-Uff delivers in each and every event.”

“We are thrilled to call Fight Now TV the home of Tuff-N-Uff,” Tuff-N-Uff Productions president Barry Meyer added. “This partnership allows us to build the Tuff-N-Uff brand of top-quality MMA competition to a huge and committed fight fan-base.”

“Mayhem in Mesquite II,” at CasaBlanca Resort and Casino on March 23, will feature undefeated Lenon “Zulu” Ford (3-0) defending his Tuff-N-Uff lightweight title against eight-time Tuff-N-Uff veteran Shane Johnson (5-2-1).
“Mayhem in Mesquite II” will also see six female fighters competing in bouts across three different weight classes. Included is 24-year-old prospect Marina Shafir (2-0), the roommate and chief training partner of Tuff-N-Uff veteran and current UFC women’s bantamweight champion, Ronda Rousey, who will corner her friend.

In addition to the night’s featured contests, a full lineup of aspiring amateur fighters from some of the world’s top academies – 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu, Gracie Barra, Kings MMA, Robert Drysdale BJJ, Xtreme Couture, Syndicate MMA, Team Fusion, IMMA, KO MMA – will compete on this stacked Mar. 23 card.

Tickets for the March 23 event are available through Star Tickets by calling (800) 585-3737. Advance purchase tickets range from only $20.00 for general admission to $45.00 for VIP reserved seats.

FIGHT NOW TV is available in the Cablevision Gold Pack! Channel 464

About TUFF-N-NUFF: Formed in 1994 for the purpose of promoting combat sports. Over the years, Tuff-N-Uff has worked with and developed relationships with some of the biggest names in the martial arts industry and made history on several occasions.

Realizing the need for an amateur MMA outlet where students can hone their skills and put them to task in a safe environment has been a challenging task. After lobbying the Nevada State Athletic Commission, Tuff-N-Uff was granted permission to conduct the first amateur MMA event in the state of Nevada.

For more information about Tuff-N-Uff go online at www.tuffnuff.com, or follow on Twitter @tuffnuff, facebook.com/tuffnuff and youtube.com/tuffnuff.

About FIGHT NOW TV:  With offices in New Jersey, Las Vegas and Toronto, FIGHT NOW TV is a cross-platform media company that creates and distributes content through its television, video on demand, and online outlets.

Founded by Channel Zero, Inc and media entrepreneur Mike Garrow and launched last year, FIGHT NOW TV is the first 24-hour-a-day, seven-day-a-week combat sports channel, bringing the best battles, fiercest fights and stunning knockouts to America. FIGHT NOW TV caters to fight fans of every genre, giving them a front row seat to compelling coverage of MMA, boxing, wrestling/grappling, Muay Thai, kickboxing and other combat sports. FIGHT NOW is the place for the best analysis, live and current events, documentaries and news coverage of the biggest PPV events and match-ups from around the globe.

FIGHT NOW TV, It’s ON! Call Your Television Provider To Order!

For more information about FIGHT NOW TV go on line at www.fightnow.com, or follow on Twitter @fightnowtv, Facebook.com/fightnowtv and youtube.com/fightnowtv.

*****

CONTACTS:

Mike Garrow, FIGHT NOW TV General Manager, 888.994.7233  X2478, mike@FightNow.com

Bob Trieger, Full Court Press, 978.664.4482, bobtfcp@hotmail.com