MartialArtsNomad.com

Girls and Corpses Magazine published a Karate issue, I had to get it. True to its name, there is page after page of hot babes and dead guys, often really close together. The whole thing reminds me how the school where I train looks after an hour of intensive martial arts training: some chicks and a bunch of dead guys walking around.

Girls and Corpses has a wide appeal to all who dig low brow arts, horror movies, computer games, comedy, and we wont forget the hot chicks, then there is the seriously under-represented demographic of cadavers that they are clearly working to build upon. They have had a golf issue, a firemen’s issue, a boating issue, a religion issue, now a martial arts issue… you get the picture. If death is not a limitation, why have any others? Altogether its a strong dose of formaldehyde with comedy that will slay you whether or not your humors have left you.

This magazine may cause bouts of uncontrollable laughing, nausea, giggling, rickets, munchies, intestinal gas, heavy breathing, priapism, elephantiasis, staring, guffawing, the runs and spontaneous combustion.

Deaditor Robert ‘Corpsy’ Rhine describes it as a combination of ‘Fangoria meets Maxim… a Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of hot girls and dead guys…’ served up together. Yum yum. Now while the web is killing print, Girls and Corpses is thriving. The growth in readers is spreading unchecked, like zombies after the apocalypse. Now I am among them. Corpsy says the intention of the magazine is to ‘get your brain flexing its ways it hasn’t exercised before – kind of like brain pilaties. Kind of sounds like when sensei makes us do the deep splits and his regiment of crazy conditioning.

Killer cover girl is Quina Feldstein, a third degree black belt and Karate sensei. Quina comes from real magazine royalty. Her grandfather is Al Feldstein, Editor of MAD Magazine for 29 years. Flipping right to her center spread article, I was curious to see how serious her martial arts would be. In a two piece bikini gi with black belt, Quina demonstrates moves like the spinning reverse hook kick, arm bars, wood block breaking, katana sword, mat rolls, and rear naked chokes. Quina leaves no doubt who is deadliest in her photo shoot. I see enough to know that most mortals would be struck down pretty quickly if they ever crossed her path. See the guy who tried and look at what happened to him.

You can also judge my reaction by the look on my face. It seems that Sensei Ali had some inspiration of some kind or another, about using his Katana, after looking at the magazine with me.

Girls And Corpses

Someone else knows how to use a Katana

If you are the type that would be mortified at Girls And Corpses (and maybe you should be), then you would be well advised to read the publication’s disclaimer:

Surgeon General Warning:

This magazine may cause bouts of uncontrollable laughing, nausea, giggling, rickets, munchies, intestinal gas, heavy breathing, priapism, elephantiasis, staring, guffawing, the runs and spontaneous combustion. This magazine contains depictions of dead things, actual beautiful women, dark comedy and simulated acts of affection between the living and the dead. If you are offended by any of these things, throw out your television immediately.

…. no corpses were harmed in the making of this magazine, All corpses are 18 years of age or over.

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muay thai chaya

Muay Thai Chaiya is a Thai martial arts movie set in the lives of 3 brothers, Pow, Piek, and Samaw, as they move from their home in a boxing camp in a small village to the big city. We see them grow up and experience life together, move from village to the big city, where they vow to stick together but are pulled apart by the forces of their lives. This is a great fighting movie upon the large scale backdrop of the three brothers’ lives. There is blood, Muay Thai, fighting, living, drama, illegal fights, corruption of the big city, love, betrayal, murder, ugliness, sacrifice, loss, action, tradition and for each of them the pain and challenges they must overcome. In the end, its the fighting spirit of Muay Thai Chaiya that brings them through.

I found other reviews of this film elsewhere, on movieexclusive.com and twitchfilm.net but I dont think the reviewers really understood the film. Stefan Shih of movieexclusive.com called Muay Thai Chaya ‘…a mixed bag approach that couldnt decide what it wants to be…’ and said further, ‘The storyline too is pretty weak…”. Mack at twitchfilm.net said that the movie was “…ripped right out of pages of a Hong Kong filmmaking handbook”. I might not have seen the movie if I had to rely on those reviews. But I am glad I did see it. Sure to some degree these movies are going to be gone over with the same broad brush as an asian martial arts movie, for sure. But I am surprised that neither of those authors picked up on the deeper dramatic backdrop in the story. The story this movie leans upon is that great russian epic, Dostoevsky’s The Brothers Karamazov. In that work, there are brothers with different temperments who traverse lifes experience by different paths, and have everything tested along the way. Maybe to some its a stretch but I can see the connection. And the backdrop for this action movie rests on that premise. If other critics didnt like the balance struck in the movie between fighting and drama, perhaps they didnt consider that this is a Thai movie made for a Thai audience, and that balance of sentimentality works for that kind of audience. Ong Bak and The Protector also have their moments of pure sentimentality. Such moments are usually set ups for action, where we become sympathetic with the main character, and then we are committed to them through their combat. Muay Thai Chaya reaches deeper into the lives of three brothers to show the heart of the Thai fighting spirit.

Muay Thai Chaya (2007),  Cathay-Keris Films,  Starring: Kongkait Komesiri, Akara Amarttayakul, Sonthaya Chitmanee, Don Ferguson, Saengthong Gate-Uthong, Prawit Kittichantheera, (the lovely) Phreeta Kongpetch, Samart Payakarun, and Thawatchai Phanpakdee.

kung fu girl and a duck

The Martial Arts Nomad just had to try a bottle of Kung Fu Girl Riesling 2007 at a recent stop at the local wine boutique. Its a wine made for Charles Smith Wines’ ‘Modernist Project’. Columbia Valley is already well known for making fine wines, and I was sure it was going to be worth trying out, despite the fact that Kung Fu Girl is sold with a simple and wrinkled paper label and twist top cap.

A visit to the Charles Smith website leaves no doubt that he is a maverick among winemakers. But the break from tradition is in truth a return to its roots. Drop the pretence. Everything in the wine is in the bottle. Never mind about silly labels and corks, show your spirit and enjoy the wine. Wine, as it should be made. Open it and drink it.

kung fu girl back label, beside a plate of scrambled eggs with onions and fried dace paste

This Reisling already has some very favourable reviews on the web as well as tasting notes from wine black belts.

While we’ll agree with Ku Fu Girl winemaker Charles Smith that both riesling and girls kick ass, the reason we love this wine actually has much more to do with another aspect of Kung Fu: balance. This comes from a single vineyard comprised of fragmented basalt and caliche soils. Great acidity, minerality and girl-next-door kiss of sweetness. Plus, at this price, you won’t feel like you’re being thrown to the mat. Source: http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1040843

kung fu girl with roast duck stuffed with rice and fruits, and a side dish of sauteed portobello mushrooms

So why the Kung Fu Girl, Charles? “Single vineyard, fragmented basalt, and caliche…classic Riesling, sublime minerality. WHY? BECAUSE, RIESLING AND GIRLS KICK ASS!”

We washed down our Kung Fu Girl with roast duck stuffed with brown rice, plums, figs, raisins, cranberries, and walnuts, and a side dish of Portobello mushrooms sautéed in duck broth.

Tasting notes and links
http://charlessmithwines.com/tasting_notes/07_Kung_Fu_Girl.pdf

http://charlessmithwines.com

wine reviews (links)
2006
http://corkd.com/wine/view/37822-Charles_Smith_Kung_Fu_Girl_Riesling_2006

2007
http://corkd.com/wine/view/58442-Kung_Fu_Girl
http://manoavino.typepad.com/mano_a_vino_montclair/2008/10/kung-fu-girl-riesling.html
http://www.klwines.com/detail.asp?sku=1040843