Martial Arts

It's easy to get the impression that martial arts - judo, karate, tae kwan do - come entirely from the Far East. There are, however, exceptions. A demonstration of one, Krav Maga, an Israeli self-defense system, was held recently at the Franklin Mills mall in Northeast Philadelphia. A geographer might point out that Israel technically is in Asia. That's true, but it's still a long way from Bruce Lee's one-time hangouts. Of course, so is Philadelphia.

From the street corners of Philadelphia to the stadiums of Japan, Eddie Alvarez made his name by finishing fights. Born in Kensington, trained in Fishtown, and currently living in Northeast Philadelphia, the 26-year-old is a world champion in mixed martial arts. This hybrid combat sport combines kickboxing, wrestling, and the cage that contains it. Formerly called "cage fighting," it's now better known by its largest promoter, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Since Pennsylvania sanctioned it in 2009, a burgeoning scene has appeared in Philadelphia, which could become the sport's East Coast hub. Mixed martial arts' object is to beat an opponent into defenselessness or force him to submit with a joint lock or choke hold.

They danced their special dances in unison, but it didn't take long to realize that this wasn't Solid Gold. Children, dressed in white robes and no shoes, began high-kicking and chopping their way through inch-thick wooden boards. They were followed by adults who split as many as four boards in one flying kick. Both adults and children demonstrated non-contact and self-defense sparring with hands, feet and weapons. "Please don't try these things at home," cautioned the emcee.

Some physically talented people will be performing to help the physically disabled on Saturday, when the North American Wing Chun Association (NAWCA) presents a martial arts event to benefit the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America. The event will run from 6:30 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. in the Esby Gymnasium at Glassboro State College, Route 322 in Glassboro. Wing chun is a form of martial arts that, like most Oriental forms of self- defense, is based on the art of kung fu, said Philip Holder of Bridgeton.

MANTIS Richard La Plante Tor/$19.95 In the Old West, there was a proverb, "It takes an Apache to catch an Apache. " Richard La Plante has applied that advice to the realm of martial arts. In his novel "Mantis," La Plante depicts the leap of a karate master into the depths of pathalogical murder. The search for the serial murderer is set in Philadelphia. It involves a young Asian-American medical examiner named Josef Tanaka. A martial arts champion, Tanaka assists the police.

Whatever you call it - dance or martial arts - the program presented by DanceBrazil last night at the Painted Bride Arts Center was terrific. Indeed, the distinction between the two forms was fine enough to make the historical explanation in the program note completely convincing. The Africans who were brought to Brazil as slaves created martial-art forms as a way to fight for their freedom. In order to practice openly, they disguised the exercises as dance forms. In "Maculele," one of the martial-art "dances," the men brandish machetes while the women urge them on with song.

Any fan of Stephen Chow's Shaolin Soccer had surely been awaiting his next 'toonish kung fu tale, but even the most knowledgeable follower of the actor/director couldn't have foreseen that Kung Fu Hustle would become the highest-grossing movie ever in Hong Kong. Chow, already an emerging Hong Kong legend, kicked all other action movies (and most comedies) to the curb this year with this masterpiece. As in Shaolin, Chow works on both sides of the camera. In Hustle, he assumes the role of Sing, a hapless wannabe gangster in 1930s China.

Supreme Ultimate Tours. With a name like that, who can say more? Even if somebody did want to say something more, which of course we do, he probably would want to be careful not to say anything bad about Supreme Ultimate Tours. They run trips to the Orient. You want to sightsee? They'll take you. You want language instruction? They'll teach you. You want culture? They'll give it to you. But mostly, they set up training programs in the martial arts. They don't kid around. Each tour provides 30 to 60 hours of intensive study in any of the primary Japanese and Chinese styles.

Martial arts demonstrations and exhibits on health care will be featured in an Aug. 17 program in Almonesson. The program, which will begin at 7 p.m. in Auletto's Ballroom, on Cooper Street, will be highlighted by an appearance by Gin Foon Mark, a teacher of the late martial arts expert and movie star Bruce Lee. Although health care and martial arts may seem unrelated, they are often intertwined, said Martin Eisen, a martial arts instructor who...

Despite Police Department support for a stronger measure, City Council's Public Safety Committee unanimously approved a bill yesterday restricting the sale, possession and use of martial-arts weapons by minors. The proposed law prohibits the sale of many martial-arts weapons, including nunchakus, sap gloves, throwing knives and throwing stars, to anyone under the age of 18 unless the minor is a member of a certified martial-arts school or club. Anyone convicted of illegally selling such weapons to minors would face a maximum penalty of a $300 fine and 90-day prison term for each violation.

Joelle Simms insists she has thick skin. And she has to. But it was hard not to notice a little fire in her eyes when she recalled a recent encounter her mother had had with another parent. "Someone actually came up to my mom and said, 'How can you as a parent let your daughter wrestle like that against guys?' " Simms said. "Both of my parents are completely supportive of it. You just wish other people could be as open-minded. There doesn't seem to be an in-between. Most people either think it's great, or they hate it. " There might come a day - and depending on whom you talk to, that day might come sooner than later - when the two girls competing for starting spots on the Cherry Hill West varsity wrestling team aren't such an oddity.

One rule of thumb in Krav Maga actually does involve the thumb. "When you are attacked, find the cheek," says Don Melnick, who teaches the Israeli self-defense system in Cherry Hill. If you can find your attacker's cheek, he continues, "you can find the eye. " Oh. At this point it dawns on me that Krav Maga ( krahhv muh-GAHH ), Hebrew for "contact combat," probably isn't a good fit for a columnist with gray hair and a torn rotator cuff. Even a columnist who practices yoga with devotion, if not finesse.

Blackthorn Sam Shepard does a beautiful piece of acting - quiet, watchful, and sly - as he portrays a legendary old outlaw hiding out in the exotic hill country of Bolivia. Yes, he's Butch Cassidy, long believed dead, and no, this cinematic western bears little resemblance to the slick '60s fun of the Paul Newman-Robert Redford hit. R Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame Magic, majesty, and martial arts from Hong Kong maestro Tsui Hark, as ancient China's first female emperor recruits a strange sleuth to find out who, or what, is responsible for the fiery demise of palace bigwigs.

FORMER DETROIT Tigers pitcher Denny McLain has been arrested at the Michigan border with Canada on a fugitive fraud warrant issued in Louisiana. Customs agents learned of the warrant Thursday when McLain became disoriented during construction and inadvertently drove onto the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Jeffery Wilson said yesterday. He turned around before entering Canada. "He asked if he could turn around when he realized where he was at," Wilson said.

Six cities from Europe, Asia, and the Middle East are competing to host the 2020 Olympics. Submitting bids to the International Olympic Committee by Friday's deadline were Rome; Madrid; Tokyo; Istanbul; Doha, Qatar; and Baku, Azerbaijan. The IOC will select the host city by secret ballot in Buenos Aires on Sept. 7, 2013. COLLEGES: Star recruit Andre Drummond , a 6-foot-11, 275-pound center has enrolled at Connecticut and been added to the roster of the men's basketball team.

A half-dozen men whom the average Joe wouldn't want to mess with flanked Dana White at the dais Thursday afternoon on the second floor of the Independence Visitors Center. White, president of Ultimate Fighting Championship, was there to promote the bouts of the six combatants and others who are on Saturday night's UFC 133 card at the Wells Fargo Center. He said putting a good fight card together is not as hard as keeping one together and gave matchmaker Joe Silva credit. Frequent injuries in mixed martial arts have a way of changing the docket.

They call him "The Water Boy," and not because he resembles, at least facially, the high school sophomore who helped hydrate the varsity players during timeouts of The Big Game. Rory MacDonald earned that nickname because of the deep and early impression he made upon mixed martial arts, not unlike that made by Bobby Boucher, the character played by Adam Sandler in the 1998 comedy about the water-dispensing nonentity at a backwoods college who somehow morphed into a dominating linebacker who was equal parts Lawrence Taylor and Dick Butkus.

NEWS FLASH: WBC light-heavyweight boxing champion Bernard "The Executioner" Hopkins still is not a fan of former Eagles quarterback Donovan McNabb. No surprise there, huh? News flash No. 2: Hopkins has been converted from sneering critic of mixed martial arts to, well, something approximating a fan of that other combat sport. And that is about as pronounced a turnaround as President Obama suddenly announcing he's switching parties and becoming a Republican. "Not a little.

NAM PHAN should be a doctor or a lawyer or an engineer. According to him, it's just what Asians are bred to do. He shouldn't be a fighter. But he is, and he's never felt more alive. When Phan, 28, takes on fellow featherweight Mike Brown in a UFC 133 undercard bout Saturday at the Wells Fargo Center, he will already be a success story. As the first Vietnamese-American athlete in the UFC, Phan is out to become a fighter whom a new genre of young Asian fight fans will want to emulate.