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Trench Tech joins Haiti relief drive

TheTruthOfTommyHilfiger

Let’s find out if Non-whites really play such a small part
in the world. Stop buying any range of their product, perfume, cosmetics,
clothes, bags, etc.,

2) Scene took place on a British Airways flight between Johannesburg and London .

A White woman, about 50 years old, was seated next to a black man.
Obviously disturbed by this, she called the air Hostess. “Madam, what is
the matter,” the hostess asked. “You o! bviously do not see it then?” she
responded. “You placed me next to a black man. I do not agree to sit next to
someone from such a repugnant group. Give me an alternative seat.”
“Be calm please,”
the hostess replied. “Almost all the places on this
Flight is taken.

I will go to see if another place is available.” The Hostess went
away and t hen came back a few minutes later. “Madam, Just as I thought,
there are no other available seats in the economy class. I spoke to the
captain and he informed me that there is a seat in the business class.
All the same, we still have one place in the first class.” Before the woman
could say anything, the hostess continued: “It is not Usual for our
company to permit someone from the economy class to sit in the first
class. However, given the circumstances, the captain feels that it would be
scandalous to make someone sit next to someone so disgusting.” She
turned to the black guy, and said, “Therefore, Sir, if you would like to,
please collect your hand luggage, a seat awaits you in first class.”
At that moment, the other passengers who were shocked by what they had
Just witnessed stood up and applauded.

Both the above are true stories. If You are against racism, please send this message to all your friends;

OCaptainMyCaptain

Sorry for delays.  In Hokkaido for product development for future winter products.

Sherdog’s2009StoryOfTheYear

StrikeForce:TheLifeAndTimesOfFuryMadness

Sherdog’s2009StoryOfTheYear:For the last few years, it has been debatable if any U.S. fight promotion truly had the merit to call itself the No. 2 organization behind the UFC other than by default.

That changed in 2009, as a regional outfit named Strikeforce matured from a four-show-a-year operation to a double-digit, major network-broadcasted promotion.

For its staggering growth, which included cable and network TV deals, as well as the signing of the world’s most coveted fighter, the rise of Strikeforce has been voted Sherdog.com’s 2009 Story of the Year.

It began on Feb. 5, when Strikeforce and the Showtime Network jointly announced that they’d reached a three-year broadcast deal for up to 30 events, with an option for Showtime’s parent company, CBS, to pick up four primetime shows at its discretion.

CBS had been shopping for another MMA partnership since Pro Elite, which promoted 20 EliteXC and ShoXC events, had closed its doors the previous October buried in $55 million dollars of debt. Three EliteXC events had generated enough heat for CBS in 2008 to whet its appetite for similar content. Talks between CBS and Strikeforce began quietly that December, and the promotion is said to have been selected over other established outlets like King of the Cage and the UFC, which had met multiple times with the broadcast network as well.

Owned by Silicon Sports and Entertainment and 20-year-plus kickboxing promoter Scott Coker, Strikeforce had held California’s first regulated MMA event in March 2006 to a record 18,000-plus attendance. By keeping overhead costs low and catering to its sports-hungry San Jose, Calif., market, Strikeforce had a reputation for turning profit, something not easily obtained in the industry.

Terms of the deal included Strikeforce’s $3 million dollar purchase of select assets of Pro Elite Inc. — of which Showtime owned 20 percent — including the company’s fight library and inventories, as well as promotional and marketing materials. Most importantly, Strikeforce was given access to nearly 150 EliteXC fighter contracts.

Strikeforce CEO Coker said he and his staff reviewed the contracts carefully, noting which fighters might complement their existing roster.

“Out of those 140 to 150 contracts on file, I would say 75 to maybe 90 of those guys were from the smaller (ShoXC) league,” said Coker. “We thought it wouldn’t be hard to re-create some of those fights for Showtime and build guys that we wanted to build, so two-thirds of those contracts went away because of that.”

EliteXC champions Jake Shields, Robbie Lawler, standout Nick Diaz and others had their existing deals optioned immediately. Coker scrutinized the remaining contracts.

“[We Asked] Is this somebody that can become a star, a journeyman, a superstar in sport, and how do they currently match up against the fighters that we currently have?” said Coker.

Showtime aired its first Strikeforce event that April anchored by a middleweight tussle between Strikeforce attraction Frank Shamrock and Diaz.

While some questioned if the contracts were legally transferable, Gina Carano, a star on NBC’s “American Gladiators” and a massive draw who’d made no more than $25,000 a fight during her EliteXC tenure, took a seat at the re-negotiation table with Coker. Coker pursued “the Face of Women’s MMA,” who’d also met with the UFC — which doesn’t have a women’s division — just one day before Strikeforce’s Pro Elite asset purchase. Coker signed Carano to a six-figure contract a few months later.

“In 2006, we did the first regulated women’s bout in the state of California between Gina Carano and Elaina Maxwell,” said Coker. “It was an amazing fight, a standing ovation. I’ve always believed in female MMA fights, and it was personal goal for me to get Gina back in the cage with Strikeforce. She’s a star.”

Coker promoted the first female-headlined major U.S. event ever on Aug. 15 in San Jose, Calif., where Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos iced Carano in the first round to take the promotion’s 145-pound title. Coker continues to bolster the promotion’s female ranks and has 135- and 145-pound eight-women tournaments planned for mid 2010. Promoting women’s MMA distinguishes Strikeforce from other top promotions worldwide, though Coker said that’s not the reason he does it.

“I always believed in female martial arts fighting,” said Coker. “To me, there hasn’t been a concentrated effort to say, ‘Well, we should do this because these other companies don’t do it.’”

Of all the A-list candidates at Coker’s disposal in the EliteXC purchase, Internet backyard brawling sensation-turned-fighter Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson was the lone high-profile fighter whose contract wasn’t optioned. Slice had done CBS’s best numbers, but was an MMA novice.

“We had the opportunity to pick him up, and at that point, we looked at our roster of heavyweights who could fight him,” said Coker. “We just didn’t think there was anybody that would match up well with him… Alistair Overeem vs. Kimbo? At the time Paul (Buentello) vs. Kimbo? Antonio Silva vs. Kimbo? Fabricio (Werdum) vs. Kimbo? I just thought all of those fights wouldn’t be competitive and that was the real issue behind it.”

Coker also questioned if Slice’s hefty EliteXC price tag would be worth it.

“Is he a 21-year-old potential who has a tremendous amount of an upside or is he a short-term solution when we’re really in this for the long distance race?” asked Coker. “I saw EliteXC walk on eggshells trying to match Kimbo… did we really want to be in that situation where we were walking on eggshells to match someone? We just didn’t want to do it.”

Slice parted ways with Strikeforce in August and was signed days later to appear on Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter 10.” Slice’s inclusion in a house of UFC hopefuls brought in record-breaking ratings for the cable network, while the 35-year-old fighter’s December victory against Houston Alexander live on Spike banked over 5 million viewers as well.

Still, Coker doesn’t regret his decision.

“For his last fight, I think he’s fighting a guy that’s a weight class underneath him and they’ll always be looking for the right match to make sure he has the best advantage that he can have,” said Coker. “I’m sure we could have done the same thing, but we didn’t want to.”

Sans Slice, Coker made strong in-roads with the Japanese market to secure additional high-wattage talent. In early August, Coker announced a strategic talent-exchange alliance with Dream, one offshoot of the once great Pride Fighting Championships. Dream fighter Mitsuhiro Ishida graced the Strikeforce cage in mid August, and Coker’s flexibility with non-exclusive contracts has allowed the promotion to tap into talent like Jason “Mayhem” Miller and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal, who both compete regularly on the Japanese circuit. Coker has grander plans for the partnership as well.

“The goal is to do a fight in Japan with Dream and have the best Strikeforce fighters fight the best Dream fighters and then maybe do another fight in America where they’re best would come fight our best,” said Coker. “It would be similar to the WBC guys fighting the WBA guys. We have a tremendous roster that’s improving every day and Dream has an amazing roster. To me, these guys need to fight each other. These fights should happen. In boxing, these fights happen all the time, so why can’t they happen in MMA?”

In August, another door opened when struggling promotion Affliction Entertainment cancelled its Aug. 1 event two weeks out, leaving a cast of 20 fighters jobless. The world’s No. 1 heavyweight, Fedor Emelianenko, was among the castaways and he was suddenly a free agent. As closed-door negotiations with the UFC soured, stalled primarily on the UFC’s unwillingness to co-promote with Emelianenko’s M-1 Global management, Coker flew to Los Angeles to meet with the Russian company as well to try and strike a deal.

Coker called the three-day negotiations, held in a hotel lobby and conference room in Irvine, Calif., last August “organic.” Not in the U.S. at the time, Emelianenko was represented at the meetings by M-1 Global’s Vadim Finkelchtein, Joost Raimond, Apy Etcheld and Jerry Millen.

A co-promotional agreement was reached for four Emelianenko-headlined events, with an option for additional shows beyond that.

Six weeks later and not by coincidence, CBS exercised its option to broadcast its first Strikeforce event on Nov. 7 from the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

“At that time, I had no idea how much (signing Emelianenko) would change the landscape of our company,” said Coker. “I’m so happy that we did it because it’s just such a great relationship. I’m so glad we pulled the trigger on that.”

Emelianenko’s tense two-rounder against Rogers netted strong ratings for the network. The bout was seen by nearly 5.5 million viewers, and became the ninth most-watched live bout in U.S. MMA history. CBS will air its second Strikeforce event in April, with Emelianenko likely at the helm again.

In December, Strikeforce scored another coup in the signing of the year’s second high-profile free agent, former UFC contender Dan Henderson, to a four-fight, 16-month deal. At first, Coker didn’t believe he had a shot at the two-time Olympic wrestler and dual-division Pride titleholder.

“I thought Dan was shopping around, but that he was really going to go back and sign with the UFC,” admits Coker. “We had lunch and some informal meetings, but it really wasn’t until I got a call from his manager saying, ‘Yeah, we want to be with Strikeforce. We don’t want to go back to the UFC. We’re ready to make a deal.’”

Henderson, who makes his debut for Strikeforce on CBS in April, is the first top 5-ranked fighter to jump from the UFC to Strikeforce. Coker doesn’t believe Henderson will be the last either.

“It’s a message to the fighters that there’s another alternative out there,” said Coker.

Possibly the promotion’s only black eye in 2009 was its inability to corral its heavyweight champion, Dutch striker Alistair Overeem, into a title defense since winning it in November 2007. Overeem, 29, was twice scheduled to put his crown on the line against Rogers and then Werdum, but withdrew both times with a hand injury. Instead, the former light heavyweight enjoyed a healthy run in Japan, competing in K-1’s year-end tournament and for the Dream promotion. Coker’s patience may come to an end in the new year.

“We always knew the fall was going to be busy with his K-1 schedule because that’s the way his contract was put together, but I want to make it clear that with Alistair we have a direct contract and his team have told me that he’ll be ready to fight in the second quarter (of 2010),” said Coker. “We’re going to hold him to it.
Overeem’s return will be much welcome, as a heavyweight contender’s bout looms between Emelianenko and Werdum, possibly in April on CBS.

In addition, a distribution deal with Shine International, which represents “The Biggest Loser” and other hit programming in over 150 countries, has already yielded soon-to-be-announced deals on Bravo TV in the UK, Latin America and Australia, which will provide a widened revenue stream.

Strikeforce also struck a licensing agreement with video game juggernaut EA Sports in the latter part of 2009 and will be the “premier” fight organization featured in its EA Sports MMA game due out later this year.

With 16 Showtime and four CBS-broadcasted events slated for 2010, on all fronts, Strikeforce’s future looks bright.

TobyImada:Sherdog’sSubmissionOfTheYear

This was academic. We could’ve had the crystal etched eight months ago.

May 1 was a night of tectonic importance. Upstart Bellator Fighting Championships became must-see MMA programming and a factory for viral video moments. The original script for their lightweight tournament was rewritten. Most principally, the previously little-known Toby Imada became synonymous with “inverted triangle choke” and not “journeyman.”

Bellator’s lightweight tournament was the focal point of the promotion’s debut effort in 2009. It featured their biggest star — eventual champ Eddie Alvarez — and the brackets foretold of a thrilling slugfest for a finale, between Alvarez and noted boatyard brawler-turned-serious prospect Jorge Masvidal. In fact, when the preliminary brackets were posted on Bellator’s official Web site weeks out from their April 3 premiere, fans immediately scoffed and spewed about the fact Alvarez and Masvidal were penciled in on the same side of the bracket, potentially fighting in the semifinals.

“But that should be the final!” cried the discontented hardcores (this writer included). Whether by popular demand, common sense or a clairvoyant inkling that an improbable highlight reel may lie ahead, the seeding was shifted to set up an Alvarez-Masvidal finale should they win their first two tournament bouts. Toby Imada was just another name on the bracket.

Though Imada did handle Alonzo Martinez easily, choking him out in the first round of their lightweight quarterfinal in April, he figured to be just a tune-up for “Gamebred” when they met on the first evening in May in Dayton, Ohio. And, for about 13 minutes, he was. The swaggering Masvidal hit him with right hands and lunging knees for the vast majority of the bout and thwarted any attempts by Imada to get the fight on the floor. Imada was game but a step behind the whole bout. When he finally did put Masvidal on the floor early in round three, the Miami native scrambled back up without incident.

With exactly two minutes to spare until he lost a unanimous verdict, Imada initiated the sequence that would culminate in his shocking come-from-behind victory and unanimous Submission of the Year honors. However, understanding what made Imada’s MMA magnum opus so gripping goes beyond the technique and mechanics behind his inverted triangle choke.

The Journeyman Comes ‘Round

“I wasn’t seeing any light, any future in MMA,” Imada reveals of his early career outlook.

The 31-year-old Imada got into MMA strictly to stay active. While in college, friends brought him to see some low-rent MMA bouts in backyards and warehouses in Southern California. With a judo background and a desire to continue competing, he thought it seemed like a worthwhile hobby to stay in shape, but little more than that.

The weekend warrior mentality was evident in his record. When he was free to take fights, Imada took as many as possible, in rapid succession. Other times, his “real” life — employment, and his daughter — were more important, and he went months, and in one case, three years, without fighting. He was a textbook journeyman, with just enough skill and toughness to be a worthwhile opponent for the likes of Joe Stevenson, Jason “Mayhem” Miller, Antonio McKee, Jake Shields and Hermes Franca.

“I just liked the competition,” says Imada. “Honestly, I can’t even say I was a big fan of the sport. When I fought Jake Shields, I didn’t even know who Jake Shields was. I just knew people were acting afraid of him, and I thought, ‘Why?’”

The passage of MMA regulations in California in late 2005 changed that outlook for Imada.

“When it got legalized in California, I thought maybe something can happen out of this. Since then, I started putting a little more attention into my training, who I was fighting and where. It started coming together since then.”

In the past, Imada worked two jobs in addition to school and was lucky to slip in three or four two-hour training sessions during the week. The jobs offered little pay and less consistency, as he bounced from retail to waiting tables to kitchen staff and back again. Now, Imada is able to train like most high-level pro fighters, with two sessions a day every day, with real training partners.

However, his career turnaround wasn’t immediate. In early 2006, he lasted a combined 66 seconds in his role as “the opponent” for Tetsuji Kato and Hermes Franca. Seven months later, he was tapped by Joao Cunha, a BJJ competitor sporadically moonlighting as an MMA fighter. Imada’s belief that he could carve out a bigger niche for himself in the MMA world was strengthened in the gym.

“People I knew started getting recognition, big fights. I had to bite the bullet and give it one last shot,” explains Imada. “I was dominating UFC and WEC guys in the gym. People training with me knew, but I just never had a way to show it.”

With a record just slightly over .500, big shows balked at Imada. He felt slighted, but it may have made all the difference. After the Cunha loss, Imada turned in six straight dominant stoppages and was able to earn a look from Bellator.

“I was dealing with a lot of frustration going into the tournament,” says Imada. “I saw new guys in this sport who weren’t as good as me getting shots in the UFC, WEC. With Bellator, they were interested in me. That was what mattered. I just needed a shot.”

The Anatomy of a Highlight Reel

With two minutes left until defeat, Imada finished a desperate single-leg takedown on Masvidal. Masvidal was able to scramble to his knees and look for a single of his own to take the position away from Imada. This wrestling exchange set submission greatness in motion.

Masvidal attempted to pick Imada up to slam him but couldn’t keep control of his legs. Instead, he ended up standing with Imada holding an upside-down rear waistlock on him. As Masvidal drove forward to pick Imada up, he launched his posting arm, and his head, into Imada’s thighs. Though he couldn’t see behind him, Imada felt the movement from Masvidal and cinched up the figure four with his legs to complete the triangle.

For three seconds, Masvidal seemed fine. Then, in an instant, he was hunched over, struggling to stay conscious while his pallor changed before our eyes. Imada locked over Masvidal’s hip with his hands, arched and squeezed. “Gamebred” didn’t tap, but he toppled over unconscious. The final image of the hold crystallized its place in the grappling annals: Masvidal’s upside down body bent back like a bow-and-arrow ready to fire, his starkly purple face not even remotely matching the color of his body.

“That move was taught to me when I was 15, when I was still training in judo,” Imada says. “It just happened that I was able to lock Jorge up with it while I was still on the feet. I’ve been able to finish bigger, better guys with that in the room. It wasn’t anything that I thought about; it was all instinct. It’s like riding a bike.”

Despite Imada’s familiarity with the technique, to say it caught Masvidal off guard would be an understatement.

“S–t, man … I had a grin on my face,” Masvidal remembers. “I thought I was gonna get the highlight reel. I was gonna slam him.

“When I stood up completely, I thought, ‘Man, my back’s hurting.’ That’s when I leaned forward, but it was too late.”

The Resonance of an Inverted Triangle

In a vacuum, divorced from context and ramifications, Imada’s inverted triangle likely would have won Submission of the Year honors anyhow. But it is the compounding factors in the story — the coming-out party for a journeyman, a submission upset and comeback of the year all in one — that make it even more special.

It is better still that the submission perfectly captures 2009 as a year itself. In a year marked by the ever-growing dominance of viral content, Imada’s inverted triangle choke was MMA’s viral video sensation of the year. The official upload from Bellator’s YouTube channel has over 600,000 views to date, but that overlooks the fact that the video spread all over the internet in .gif form and was reuploaded to a whole slate of viral video sites and portals. Though Imada went on to lose to Eddie Alvarez in the June tournament final, the tournament conclusion was a complete afterthought following his submission victory six weeks earlier.

Imada is thankful his handiwork is so celebrated, but he eschews the superlatives cast upon it.

“I didn’t see it as anything flashy. It just happens that not too many others had seen it,” he says. “I’m flattered and blown away. The fact that everyone is so crazy about it, that’s something to feel good about it, but I have to put it behind me. I don’t want that to be my only claim to fame.”

Imada’s nonchalance belies the even greater significance of the highlight.

“This spectacular moment in our sport was instrumental in building the Bellator brand and creating an MMA viral tsunami,” says Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney. “Toby’s submission speaks directly to the power of the tournament format and how it results in world-class fighters doing whatever is necessary in every fight to just win.”

It sounds like Rebney is pontificating in promoter-speak, but he’s correct. In Bellator’s early existence, even interested diehards were alienated from the product due to the fact that the events could only be seen the day after, and only on ESPN Deportes, which relegated the promotion to the periphery of MMA consciousness. Imada’s moment transformed Bellator. The promotion saw the chance to put more content free on YouTube, reinforced by a subsequent rash of electrifying finishes including Yahir Reyes‘s spinning back fist on Estevan Payan, Nick Pace‘s flying knee on Collin Tebo and others.

Instantly, Bellator was no longer treated as an obscure fly-by-night but instead as must-see MMA content replete with top prospects and highlight-reel finishes. That shift allowed Bellator to ink deals with Fox Sports Net, Telemundo and NBC, a network of alliances that will allow them to produce live weekly fight cards for their forthcoming cycle beginning in April, which already has hardcore fans salivating.

Perfectly enough, come April, the second Bellator lightweight tournament will open up with a rematch between Imada and Masvidal in the quarterfinals.

“Man, I wanted a rematch right away,” says Masvidal. “Bjorn told me, ‘We’ll see what happens after the finals.’ Now, I wanted him right in the first round. No diss to Toby, but he could lose, you know? I want to do it right off the bat and kick his ass.”

“It’s just business,” Imada says laconically. “I might be mad too if everyone saw me getting choked out, squinting, turning purple.”

Even if Imada can’t replicate his May upset, more people will be watching this time around. His highlight-reel heroics deserve all the credit for that.

Borrowed from www.sherdog.com

see FokaiSearchEngine for: ForLife:TobyImada

PeaceOnEarth

ForTheSoul/FromT-Boogie

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WordsOfWisdomandFlashyThreads!

NewStuffs@FokaiShop

New Womens and youth tees have arrived at FokaiFemme.

New WInter Jackets arrived a bit late but step things up for the company for a new level of product development in the unofficial smuggler series.

Capitol F and GrasshopperInc will be going through some revamping to keep up with the pace of FokaiFemme.

TheRastF and FokaiFilled have made a 2010 comeback.

SeasonsGreetings:

Hafa Adai,

It seems that every year we celebrate the birthday of Jesus on December 25th and practice the gift, or is it obligation of gift-giving. It can be tedious deciding for whats proper and sincere for a real gift for those close enough to home to have giving intentions or considerations for. However, in this case more than ever, it is not the gift that should count. It is the sincere effort to give to give and not to receive, and understanding that the celebration of Christ is well-honored by  sharing a conscious light for others. The best way to share this light is to first possess it  and the best way to possess it is to become a part of it.

Though we might not always seem to show it, Fokai is an endless and imperfect–multi-faced yet singleminded– effort in pursuit of this light and enough appreciation for it to to also pursue it for others.

From the bottom of our hearts–truly and sincerely, MerryChristmas!Thank You everybody for all the support. We hope, that even if just for a moment, to join you in Spirit for the celebration of good times for the whole and the sincere investments for more to come.

HappyBirthdayJesusChrist. Thanks for the light.

Respectfully,

Fokai

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