Come help support the Polk Street Corridor by attending the Polk Street Fair Saturday, September 15th. Running from 12-7pm, the fair promises to be full of fun, including:
* Lots of great food like sushi, ribs, oysters, Thai, Sandwiches and more
* 2 beer gardens
* 2 stages of entertainment, with DJs and live bands
* lots of booths
* a children's play area
* and an Artists Alley with work of local artists.
All proceeds from the fair will go towards keeping the Polk Street Corridor clean and safe.
Want to help out? The fair is also in need of volunteers. Why not put your Krav skills to use by working security for the beer garden? Work a shift, and you get a Security t-shirt, a newly designed Krav Maga t-shirt, free food, and beer. Don't have the time to volunteer? Help defray the set-up costs by donating money to the Fair. If you donate $20 or more, you receive a free t-shirt. And of course, all donations are tax deductible. For more information, please contact John Malloy at (415) 776-9430 or via email. All donations can be sent to John directly at 1115 Polk St. #35, SF, CA 94109.
Peter is one of the original members of KMSF, and also teaches Chinese Boxing. Peter is also the one who normally conducts all the interviews for our newsletter in addition to his column. This month, the interviewer finally becomes the interviewee.
KMSF: You're an instructor at KMSF, and one of the original members that came over from Chinese Boxing. How has your
As some of you know, I recently had surgery to repair a knee injury. I was very pleased to find out it was not damaged nearly as much as I thought at first. There are a lot of things we take for granted in life, and one of them is simple physical mobility. To be without it or to be compromised in that way is a major disruption to anybody who likes to train.
The injury happened during sparring, I was pushed and as I was flying backwards trying to gain my balance, I jammed my left leg straight back to stop my momentum. The two major leg bones clashed together, popping bits of the meniscus up off the surface. These frayed edges of cartilage became an irritant and caused swelling and popping and grinding sensations with certain movements. The stage was set the night before however, as I had taught several classes and taken a hard bag class as well. My legs were overtrained and tired, and I believe I wouldn't have landed so awkwardly if I hadn't been. Obviously, it is crucial to cycle training in such a way that high intensity activities like sparring are done relatively fresh.
Once I had finally forced my insurance to do what we pay them to do, I was able to schedule a surgery for a Friday morning. I arrived at the hospital at 6:30 am, got advice on how to use crutches, and was prepped for surgery. My surgeon, Dr. Jeffrey Halbrecht, came to my waiting area to escort me, announcing that he was "psyched" to do the procedure. I said "Let's DO this!" and walked with him into the operating room. The last time I had knee surgery I was unconscious before going into the OR. This time, they led me in and I got up on the operating table myself before they gave me anesthesia, which is a little disconcerting. I was out before they were done shaving my knee, and I woke up in what seemed like an instant later in a recovery room. As I blinked and looked around, a couple nurses were moving about, with one of them pronouncing my condition as "alert and handsome". Nice way to wake up huh? Made me feel better about closing in on 40 and having my 2nd knee surgery. I was out of there and having a latte in Laurel Heights with my girlfriend by noon. A week and a half later, I can walk without discomfort and I start PT this week.
The best lesson I can impart to you from this experience is this: we need to take care of what we have been given in the form of our physical body and respect limitations. I feel pretty lucky to be done with the hardest part, and looking forward to doing more of what I love to do.
The first annual KMSF Motorcycle Poker Run will be held on October 13, 2007! Get to know your fellow riders on this fun ride. Never done a poker run before? Here's the idea: we ride around, making several stops. You pick a playing card at each stop, and the best poker hand will win the pot. In case of a tie, the pot will be split between the winners. If you have a license but do not own a
Intuition, instinct, sixth sense - these are all the same thing. Learn to listen to it and just react to the feeling. If that means avoiding walking through a crowd or reacting to a physical threat, just do it. You will have time to think about it later. I have never seen this principle better demonstrated than on the Human Weapon Krav Maga episode that just aired on the History Channel. One of the top instructors commented that only a small percentage of what you learn in a martial art is actually useful in real life; all the fancy stuff is for the movies. The training is to react to what ever comes at you, and finish it in the quickest possible way. The best way to defend yourself is to be aware of what is going on around you, and avoid any possible physical confrontation.
The fights were all pretty interesting, no snoozers or ridiculously quick endings either. St. Pierre mostly dominated Koschek but couldn't submit him. George really took it to Kos, stuffed his take down attempts and then took him down repeatedly and controlled from the top position, eventually sitting on his head and almost pulling off an armbar, a kimura and at the last minute almost got
Most violent situations can be avoided by using your sixth sense. Stay aware of who and what is around you. If something feels wrong, it probably is. Walk close to the curb instead of next to the building, and keep your head up instead of looking down. At night walk only on well lit streets. If you see someone or something
Blogs 
