Free Range Organic Human

MMA, UFC, Chael Sonnen, Jon Jones, Green Anarchy, Taoism

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Finality

I FINALLY DECIDED.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Thoughts on the UFC and the upcoming fight between Jone Jones and Chael Sonnen.

I like MMA because it is so raw and elemental; two guys trying to beat the shit out of each other. But from that elemental base comes an intense competition that really brings out the best in people:self mastery, which is the essence of martial arts. And in the best fights and among the best fighters its not steroid fueled brawn or natural talent that wins the day but mastery.

There are a few fighters I would consider master martial artists. My number one pick in this category is Fedor Emelianenko, now retired. But there are a two martial Arts Masters still in action, long reigning 185 champion Anderson Silva and the more recent Light Heavyweight champion John "Bones" Jones. These guys are, to repeat a cliche' "on another level" I would hesitate to put Georges St. Pierre in that category, but I think he is too cautious. He doesn't put himself in danger. He doesn't take enough risks. He is not the cavalier warrior that Anderson Sliva or Jones is or Fedor Was. He shows more strain. What I mean is, his is very controlled and follows a well crafted game plan. He doesn't appear to improvise in the moment. The masters I refer to are just beautiful to watch. They just get in a flow, when they are completetely at one in the moment. You never know what will happen. They do amazing things, but also put themselves in danger. Like for example, Anderson Silva backing up against the cage to dodge punches from Stephan Bonnar like he was Neo fighting Matrix.

That is some otherworldly shit.

A different category of fighters I admire are a group I call "The Grinders" Most of these guys started out as collegiate wrestlers, but I would also put the Diaz brothers in this category as well. Nate and Nick Diaz are Ju Jitzu specialists who are also excellent strikers. But they are grinders with their striking. Both lack flashy one punch knock out power. So they unleash a barrage of punches at 2/3 power keeping the pressure on. If taken down they can pull amazing submissions off their backs, but what they seem to like most is to trade. Both seem to be able to take super human amounts of punishment. They both have faces seemingly twisted into permanent snarls, with really big jaws and thick brow ridges. They purposely eat punches and continually taunt their opponents. When they win its by submission or through a war of attrition. Some of the other grinders are kind of boring to watch, but an exciting old school member of this type would be Dan Henderson. His fights always have a feeling of tension because of his one punch knock out power than can end the fight instantly any time.

The Next championship fight will Pit a young Martial Arts Master, Jon "Bones" Jones, against a veteran grinder, Chael Sonnen. I couldn't think of two more contrasting people to be fighting each other for the 205 lb. championship. Chael Sonnen has adopted an extremely colorful, brash, self promoting persona, but his style is of a meat and potatoes grinder. He appears to lack knock out power and relies on excellent take downs and wrestling to control the fight. He just keeps coming, seemingly cranking out wins from sheer determination. He has had dozens of fights spread out over a decade, but has been haunted by being submitted in midst of winning fights. He decided he was plagued by inner demons, apparently, and consulted a sports psychologist and was even hypnotized. On season 17 of the ultimate fighter, he used his knowledge of Sports Psychology to give moving pep talks to his team and ended up the winning coach.

Jon Jones appears to be the exact opposite to Chael in nearly every way. He is tall and lanky, where wheras Chael is compact and powerful. He is a flashy striker who pulls off amazing spinning kicks and elbow strikes off his feet. His also adept at submissions, both offensively and defensively. He appears to almost effortlessly walk through opponents, whereas Chael usually only barely grinds out wins after going to war. Earlier in his career Jones was critiqued for never having been "seriously tested" because, I think, he is so highly talented and skilled he just makes it look too easy. The level of his competition has been high. But in a recent fight against Vitor Belfort he shugged off a sunken in armbar refusing to tap, and pulling out a victoy having his elbow dislocated. So, in my book he has clearly demonstrated the intestinal fortitude of a champion.

So what are my predictions for the fight? With Jon Jones there is always the possibility that he will seemingly effortless walk through his opponents, feeling them out for a round or so before putting them away, execution style. He may be quiet and soft spoken, but the man is a killer. Make no mistake about that. He ragdolled a huge strong wrestler, with a similar style as Sonnen, in Ryan Bader. Arguably Sonnen is craftier and more seasoned than Bader, but what does he have to bring to the table that Bader did not? Rashad Evans is every bit as good a wrestler as Sonnen and a far superior striker, yet he was completely shut out by Jones. The most logical conclusion, is that it will be a one way lopsided victory for Jones by TKO or Submission probably in the second round or thereabouts. I think he wants a decisive finish over Chael. Unlike Rashad, Chael lacks knock out power. Jones has no reason to keep him out of striking range, like he did with Rashad. I think he will be hands on. I think he could submit Chael or just as easily knock him out with an elbow, a knee, a kick or a punch. Jones's arsenal is deep. He might suddenly pull guard on his feet and sink in an armbar and tap him out. He might set up a take down with a kick or a knee to the liver, followed by a rnc. He might pick him apart for a few rounds, with elbows, until his face is a bloody mess and then put him away with any of a number of submissions.

What reason do I have to believe that Chael can first, take Jones down, and second, keep him down, to grind out a win? I have his first loss with Anderson Silva, to go on, the one in which Anderson reportedly fought with injured ribs. Chael was fighting a much smaller man, in Anderson Silva. Jones is arguably a much bigger Stronger, younger version of Anderson Silva and a version with, apparently, superior Take down defense. Anderson appears to have, if not a glaring hole, at least, a bit of weakness with strong determined grapplers. He succumbed to Take Downs from an exhausted Travis Luter, earlier in his career. Jones however has taken the best wrestlers, his division has to offer and showed no such weakness. He stuffs take downs, with prejudice. Jones previous opponents all seemed to succumbed at some point, to a kind of mental haze. They can't get in range, because of his superior reach, and yet also have no idea what is coming at them. He could come with a kick, a devastating elbow, a take down, a flying knee, even something that no one has ever seen before, that Jones decided to try out for the first time, live on pay per view.

 The other thing to consider is that, Chael once fought, at 205 before moving down. The reason most fighters do this is because they are not particularly strong or tall compared to other opponents in their natural weight class. For example Uriah Faber, is fast and explosive, but could not handle the sheer strength and leverage advantages, in an opponent like Mike Brown. So if Chael had problems with strength and leverage advantages in larger opponents at 205, such as Forrest Griffin, he is getting in over his head to say the least by Debuting at 205 again, against the fighter with the greatest leverage advantages of any fighter in any division including heavyweight.

 If Chael pulls out a win it will be through sheer audacity. It was only through sheer audacity that he got the fight to begin with. How that translates into an actual strategy, I don't know. There is no logical reason, based on analyses of the past performances of both fighters, for Chael to win. But
There is always the psychological x-factor. Chael has nothing to lose, and everything to gain in winning this fight, which might be his last hurrah before retiring. Jones in contrast has not much to gain (victory oven an aging unranked fighter)and the Championship to Lose.

 There has been the issue of testosterone supplementation. I see it playing out one of two ways. Chael either juices himself silly knowing this is his last fight, i.e. Stephan Bonnar, not caring if he is later disqualified, if he goes out in a blaze of glory -OR- given the recent anti TRT climate, comes in looking soft i.e. Alistair Overeem and gets man handled. I predict the former, with Chael wanting to end his career going out on his sword like a wounded lion.

 My prediction: 99% chance of Victory by John Jones through one sided beat down 1% chance of amazing upset victory by Chael Sonnen through sheer (albeit testosterone supplemented) ballsiness

Friday, March 30, 2012

Big Foot Skeletons found!


Basically I am referring to every hominid skeleton that has ever been found. That's what I consider bigfoot to be a primitive hominid living along side modern humans. More and more hominids are being discovered as having lived contemoraneously with modern humans.

Homo floresiensis

Denisova hominin

Red Deer Cave people

and more famously: Neanderthal

So its accepted my mainstream scientists that archaic hominids existed concurrently with modern humans in the past. So why couldn't they today?

It may seem less likely to people today, with the destruction of wild areas and the high human population. There have been tracks and sightings for many years of the so called "bigfoot" or "sasquatch" in North America, going back hundreds of years to Native American mythology. "Wild men" exist on other continents as well in Native Folklore. Of course that doesn't necessarily prove that these wild men are "only" mythgological. Animals well known to science, such as wolves, ravens, etc. populate indigenous mythologies.

In terms of North America, it may be more likely that a small population of archaic humans would be able to survive, since most people don't spend any considerable amount of time bushwacking through dense woods, away from clearly marked trails. The number of trapping and hunting licenses purchased goes down every year and fewer and fewer people make their livings in the woods. But among people who do, you often hear accounts of bigfoot encounters.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Southern Baptist sides with Atheists on Evolution/Creation debate

Southern Baptist Theological Seminary President Albert Mohler agrees with Atheist that Evolution is inconsistent with belief in God

"Sometimes it takes an atheist to see the truth in a theological argument."



This happens all the time and its really sad to see. Militant Vocal Atheists like Richard Dawkins trumpet their assertion that acceptance of evolution destroys faith in the God of the Bible and Fundamentalists largely agree with them.

Its a really dumb position for a Christian to take. The argument is basically this.

Instead of seeing the atheist as drawing false implications(atheism) from a true set of facts( clear evidence for an ancient earth and common descent) Fundamentalists prefer rather to regard them as drawing a correct inference from a flase set of facts.

Its as if they are saying, "Gee, Mr. Dawkins et al, your logic is so air tight that if I were to accept evolution I would be forced to become an atheist like yourself."

So the response is to vehemently deny evolution in spite of the overwhelming evidence for it.(evidence from diverse fields, like the fossil record, biogeography and DNA that are united under the theory of evolution) and even to concoct evidence and create things like goofy pseudoscientific "Creation" Museums that portray "evidence" that the Earth is 6000 years old and that Dinosaurs and Humans were at one time contemporaries.

In the above article Mohler is is attacking, not atheists or atheism but rather a fellow Christian College professor by the name of Giberson. Giberson is performing the seemingly thankless task of trying to harmonize orthodox Christian theology and evolution.

I say "seemingly" thankless because I am sure many fairly intelligent scientifically semi-literate Christians are very thankful for it. I read one of his books "Saving Darwin" and I was very thankful for it.

He isn't getting any thanks from these self appointed gate keepers of the Christian Faith like Mohler and others that seem to enjoy putting these increasingly bizzare litmus tests out there for the true Christian Faith.

Do I really have to believe Dinosaurs once frolicked around with Adman and Eve in the Garden of Eden, in order for me to be a Christian? When did this happen? I thought the central doctrine of Christianity was redemption through the ressurected Christ?

What ever happened to C.S. Lewis "Mere Christianity"? Does it still exist. I think it does exist. In fact Mere Christianity is alive and well. I recently found out thast Francis Collins head of Human Genome Project converted to Christianity after reading C.S. Lewis' tome. Here is a quote from his interview in Salon.com:

So that one book totally changed your life?

Absolutely. It was as if he was reading my mind. As I read his arguments about the Moral Law -- the knowledge of right and wrong, which makes no sense from the perspective of basic evolution and biology but makes great sense as a signpost to God -- I began to realize the truth of what he was saying. Ultimately, I realized I couldn't go back to where I was. I could never again say atheism is the only logical choice for a scientifically trained person.





As far as harmonizing Christianity and evolution, Giberson admits he is no Theologian. Isn't that usually how it works though? God using ordinary people to do extrordinary tasks? Who else is strepping up to the plate? Are there any Brilliant Theologians out there stepping up to the plate?

Personally, though I think its a serious controversy I don't think its actually as monumental a task as its made out to be. To be a Christian is to be a Creationist by definition. If its true that God used evolution and large stretches of time to create life on Earth in all its diversity, rather than simply *poofing* everything into existence 6000 years ago in six literal 24 hour days-then such was the case when Jesus came to Earth. Such was the case when Paul wrote his epistles. Such was the case when Martin Luther kicked off the protestant Reformation.

Evolution is old news. Its been going on for Billions of years. Atheism is old news too. Psalm 53:1 "The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. "

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

YEC

http://beyondcreationscience.com/index.php?pr=Read_Chapter_6

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

Bigfoot

Bigfoot is actually people, like you and I, only larger and smellier. They have hair not fur. Their bodies are actually covered in dreadlocks. They have really offensive body odor similar to many large fat people, only worse. Actually they may not be all that much smellier than regular people per se, its just that they are magnified in every aspect. Their feet are bigger they bodies are bigger, and so their stench is bigger. They often have algae growing in their dreadlocks.

They keep warm due to being so large. The matted hair doesn't really provide much insulation. They probably have excellent circulation also with many capilaries near the surface of their skin, especially in their feet, which are always bare.

Like I said they are people. They have a language they speak amongst themselves and very advanced brains like humans. One difference is that they are more in tune with their psychic abilities than most modern humans. That is how they stay hidden. Whenever they are spotted by humans it really freaks and stresses them out. They get emotional. They get really scared and send out really strong fear vibes that the humans that are looking at them pick up on and feel really scared too. This also makes them stink more because adrenaline causes a type of body odor. People that have been in combat are familiar with this smell.

They have very powerful auras and a very strong life force. They are stronger than humans in every way. They are stronger than any other animal in the forest also including grizzly bears.

Male Sasquatches can weigh over a thousand lbs. Vety few grizzlies get that large, the ones that do still shy away from them because Sasquatches match them in strengths and size but far surpass them in intelligence.

Sasquatches are people, but also animals. That is they have animal smarts. Humans, especially modern humans usually have really dim animal smarts. So in this regard Sasquatches are superior to humans in intelligence.

Things are looking kind of grim right now for Sasquatches. They live longer than humans (over a hundred years) but are very few in number. The sightings are actually the same few individuals being seen again and a again. In the last hundred years they have suffered massive habitat destruction.

They have a much healthier immune system than modern humans and also a much more powerful digestive system that allows them to eat more wild foods that modern humans would be unable to digest. They also hunt and eat deer and elk, and occasionally even live stock in remote areas, even roadkill.

If anyone is ever able to shoot and kill a bigfoot they will have a murder on their conscience. They are people.

However that is not likely to happen, as such a person stalking around the forest is unlikely to see one as they will be telegraphing themselves by putting out really negative vibes that the Sasquatches will pick up on.

Gentle nature loving hippy type people commonly see Sasquatch in the woods of the Pacific Northwest. Most people that see one don't tell anyone.

Fellow Vagabonds



Christopher McCandless

Leo Tolstoy

Henry David Thoreau

William Hazlitt