Welcome To The Flyinghammerfist Blog
Welcome To The Flyinghammerfist Blog!
This site actually began back in 2005. I was a newbie to the extreme-as far as the internet goes. At that time in my life, I had zero knowledge of what it took to market a site. All I knew, was that I was extremely passionate about martial arts/mma. There were a couple of guys advertising in Black Belt magazine, that I really admired and wanted to copy their success. Little did I know, just how hard it would be?
After several years of struggling to get readers and sell a few products, I shut down my site and moved into copywriting. A lot of people, who had read my site, loved my style and felt I could really make my mark as a writer. I learned over the years, that you must create multiple streams of income…if you want to ensure that all your dreams come true. Copywriting has been good to me but clients can be a little difficult sometimes and most have no idea what they really need in terms of marketing materials. I never forgot about Flyinghammerfist.com and finally made the decision in 2010-to convert it to a blog.
Before we get into that, I would like to tell you a little bit about me. I have been passionate about the martial arts since 1973. I was one of those typical skinny teens (169 lbs) who everyone loved to torment. One day, I found an ad in the back of a magazine. It was about martial arts and promised a training course with a poster. I sent in my money and I confess I cannot remember how much it was-then waited for the mail to arrive. (Now you have excellent courses like-“Inner Secrets of Martial Arts Success Multimedia Package.”
When I opened up my package, there was a small training book and a large scale poster. I was immediately struck by the poster because I had never seen anything like it. It showed the human form and all the vital striking points. At the bottom of the poster, there were diagrams of foot positions for you to learn how to move while doing karate kicks.
The only thing I remember about the book was the conditioning techniques. There were finger exercises for making each finger spear like for jabbing. Following the book, I filled three pails with these items, rice, beans and salt. I would spend hours thrusting my hands down to the bottom of each pail, to make each hand strong and knifelike. I could go on for hours and hours about my home dojo.
Over the years, I tried organized martial arts. Two attempts at karate classes. I was working as a security officer and a bouncer…in what I like to call a “kick and punch” hotel. That’s the type of hotel, that when you go to work, you don’t know if you are going to get into a fistfight with a guest or another staff member. Hint: I’m half-way through my e-book on my years on the nightshift; filled with brawls and hookers. The East coast of Canada, is a pretty interesting spot if you are not familiar with it. Fighting or sex makes a Friday night.:)
The organized martial arts did not work out for me at the time. My friend was a karate black belt and had experience in a number of other fighting styles. He agreed to teach me street style fighting in his basement. I would walk out of there after two hours, with more cuts and bruises, than I got in a bar fight. I loved it. We also taught a great course he put together on women’s self-defense. Flash forward to 1999.
I moved from Halifax, up to the big city of Toronto, where I got a job in what I love to call the Two Seasons. Big hotel chain, with big claims they didn’t always back up. The fights were few and far between, however I did a bit of doorman work in the bar and escorts (I like to call it bodyguard work, cause it sounds more exciting) for NBA teams, rock stars and of course movie stars. Met a lot of the top people in the biz and yes, most of them are whacko’s. I had put my son in Taekwondo and his teacher was after me to join. Since I was working a rotating shift and the odd bar duty, I figured maybe it was time for the old man to get a little more training.
I told him the truth. I hate patterns. His answer-no problem cause he also taught a martial arts system that was pretty f**king brutal. No patterns, just what the doctor ordered. Still a belt system though, so no eyes pokes. The system included about 8 different styles of martial arts. Everything was covered. Now here is the kicker. I was 48 years old when I started this. Most people are doing tai chi at that ageJ When I turned 51, I was having a lot of joint pain (even in 2010, the doc’s aren’t sure what’s wrong with the old body) and I was just getting ready to test for my red belt. I told my instructor that when I did my tornado kick for the test… I was likely to break my toes and I was fine with that (crazy east coaster) but could I tape them together so that I could try and avoid the breakage. He was cool with that. Then I got hooked up with one of my training partners for some grappling. He got me in a nice choke and I heard my neck pop and tapped out since he had me dead to rights.
Forward to a couple days later and I am heading down the highway to class. I tried to check my blindside and couldn’t turn my head to the left. My martial arts training was over. Now I knew that I had discs in my lower spine that were in rough shape but I had kept on going. Well a set of x-rays showed the same problem in my neck. I was prime for some major damage if I kept on training. I felt terrible because I was so close to getting a black belt. Plus I loved the guys I trained with and I miss it so much. So these days, I just whack the heavy bag at the YMCA and give dirty looks to the weight lifters, hoping they might want to try out the old man. I know. I’m dreaming, they would probably kick my ass since I am hobbling about at the best of times. But once a brawler, it’s hard to let it go.
So I told you about my training back around 1999. I was really heavy into the UFC at the start-up and I follow it today. Actually, I have the fight network on cable and there is not much else that I watch. I’m not an expert nor am I a black belt…I’m just a guy who is really into traditional martial arts and MMA.
So over in the categories in my blog, you are going to find a mix of posts. I’ll be talking about everything from hapkido strikes to the best of MMA…with a few training tips thrown in.
I really hope you like my blog and want to jump in with some conversation. I have to warn you upfront. I am really blunt. It’s caused me some issues in my copywriting biz-but as my old boss at the Two Seasons used to say, “With Jim, what you see is what you get.” Now when I say blunt, I mean I tell it like I see it. No swearing, I want to save that for the locker roomJ So don’t be surprised when I say that in the UFC, I really see a former wrestling boss’s finger in the pie. I mean come on now, did Frank Mir really just spit out that he wanted to break Brock Lesnar’s neck or did someone write that for him.
What do you think??
Here to fighting!
James
p.s. I wrote this up in about 15 minutes flat. I wanted to write, like I talk, nothing fancy, just me to you. So if you see any errors, forget about it. Real talk to real people, that’s what this blog is about. Besides, when I put my copywriting hat on, I still leave the proof reading to my long distance pal, who is a proof reader. I don’t have the patience for it.
p.p.s. Yes you see some links in this blog. Man’s gotta make a living you know. The link in the body of the letter, is for a product I wish was available 30 years ago. I would have bought it in a snap. I wonder where that poster went to??
Here are the links to my other sites. Copywriting,homebased biz blogging and affiliate sites. Yes I am an affiliate of a number of products. Should you decide to hit any of my links… I may or may not get a commission.
Livewire-copywriter
Copyjames-reviews
Startyourbiz
More to come in the future, check back with me!!
