“Mike Swick Talks About 909 Days of Depression Before Octagon Return”

Think MMA fighters are immune from depression? Think again. Matthew Roth has the story at Bleacher Report about Mike Swick’s return from the darkness. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1436142-mike-swick-talks-about-909-days-of-depression-before-octagon-return

My comments? Welcome back, Mike, and thanks for going public with your struggle. It inspires me and I am confident it will inspire a lot of men. Way to go, man!

Note: This is a very rare instance of blogging the same content in two places. Indeed, I think this is the first time I have ever done so; it's not my usual practice. I have also posted this at http://www.maledepression.com/personal-stories/mike-swick-talks-about-909-days-of-depression-before-octagon-return/ . I'm making this unusual deviation from my regular practice because I think the health issue is so important. Thanks for your support.

Men's Health Month: U.S. Army "Men's Health Expo offers MMA demonstration, info" (June 14, 2012)

Here's some men's health news that is more specific than some of the other items I have posted on that topic so far, and (somewhat) germane to this blog. Please note that this blog post is time-sensitive: as explained in the article below, it announces an event planned for June 14, 2012.

The text of the article (without its accompanying photo and caption) appears in the indented block of text below:

FORT RUCKER, Ala. (June 7, 2012) -- While many men may be reluctant to go to the doctor, many of those same men readily visit the gym. 

Because of this, the Directorate of Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation and Lyster Army Health Clinic health promotions and wellness center are taking the medicine to the men by hosting a Men's Health and Fitness Expo, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., June 14 at the Fort Rucker Physical Fitness Facility.

The expo will feature more than 100 door prizes, a variety of health vendors from the Fort Rucker area and demonstrations by Dothan's Wolfpack MMA, a martial arts training center. The event will also include a Ride and Drive event that allows attendees to test drive vehicles from local Hyundai, Mercedes-Benz and Honda dealerships, said Leigh Ann Dukes, MWR sponsorship manager. 

"I think the Wolfpack demonstrations will be fun because MMA and the military just seem to fit together," she said, adding that the door prizes will include solid black sling backpacks. 

"We just try to give the patrons here on post -- civilian, military or retiree -- an opportunity to see some of the options that the Wiregrass offers when it comes to medical facilities," she explained. "A lot of us can't go off post to attend the health fairs that the surrounding communities have."

Lyster representatives will be present to offer information on smoking cessation, weight control, nutrition, self-exams and more, said Jeff Atkins, licensed practical nurse and health promotions tech. They will also offer body mass index screening and blood pressure checks. 

"We want to get awareness out about what men need to look for," he said. "The ladies are talked to constantly. From the time they hit puberty, the doctor is telling them they need this test and this test and this test, but the guys don't get that."

Atkins said he was hoping to help change that mindset so that men are better informed about their health and potential health problems.

"Physical fitness plays into all this," he said. "People today want to pop a pill, but they don't realize that exercise is free. It doesn't have to be that much. It can be a little bit, but that little bit can be the difference between being able to move around and breathe and not being able to." 

"We wanted it to be in a venue that is more conducive to people who are health-conscious or fitness-conscious," Dukes said. "If they're working out on their lunch break, maybe they can walk through the booths. If they see a car they want to test drive, it's there too."

Atkins recommended men of all ages attend the expo, and encouraged fathers to bring their sons along. 

"It's not just the older men. Young guys need to know, too," he said. 

For more information on the health fair, call 598-5311.

---

Article courtesy of the United States Army. Link to original:

http://www.army.mil/article/81311/Men_s_Health_Expo_offers_MMA_demonstration__info/

Good Interview with Rich Franklin

No, this isn't morphing into an MMA blog. I'm just posting about MMA because I am finding some interesting stuff about the sport.

Here's a good interview with the UFC's Rich Franklin. Franklin is an interesting guy. Before he dedicated his career to full-time pro fighting, he was a high school math teacher.

That career change has gotten me thinking. A couple of years ago, a local friend changed jobs, going from being a patent lawyer to being a high school math teacher. I wonder if my buddy will become a cage fighter next?

Gary Wimsett's Interview with L. Jon Wertheim

At SportsAgentBlog, my friend and fellow lawyer, Gary Wimsett, Jr., has published a great interview with L. Jon Wertheim.  Wertheim is the author of Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC.  I enjoyed reading the interview and now I'm eager to read the book.  In my spare time, of course.

Again, while I don't focus on MMA here, I am definitely interested in the sport.  I also intend to learn some of the basics of ground fighting and grappling.  That will help me improve my overall skills as a fighter and allow me to do some cross-training.

Good job, Gary.  I look forward to reading Mr. Wertheim's book and to more of your writing on SportsAgentBlog.  I hope your training is going well.  If you can fight as well as you write, I feel sorry for your opponents!

New Addition to My Blogroll: SportsAgentBlog

Earlier today, a new reader of this blog and fellow lawyer, Gary Wimsett, Jr., told me about an interesting blog: SportsAgentBlog. I have added a link to it in the "Sports Blogs" section of the blogroll.

I haven't yet had a chance to spend a lot of time there, but I already like what I see. SportsAgentBlog provides some great content and a lot of coverage about the business and law of sports. While the blog covers most sports, it contains some entries about boxing, and here's an informative commentary about MMA's Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar.

I hope you'll enjoy SportsAgentBlog as much as I already am. Thanks, Gary, for the fine recommendation and welcome to Lawyer-boxer's Blog!

Come On, Tell Us How You Really Feel!

Whoa!

I was startled to read this article quoting World Boxing Council president José Sulaimán expressing his distaste for mixed martial arts. Here are three choice quotes from Mr. Sulaimán.

• "I oppose 100 percent this ultimate fighting. It has taken boxing to the era of the caveman and the Roman circus."
• "These are not ancient times. This fighting is fed to those fans who like aggression, blood and illegality. They are not boxing fans. Boxing fans have class."
• "There should be more control over these [MMA] fights, they should not be accepted. They are intended crimes accepted by bloody people who love this savage fighting."
  

Yeow. Savage? Aggression? Blood? Illegality? That's some pretty strong language to describe MMA. He could have just said he didn't like it. He didn't have to say it was "savage." On the other hand, at least Sulaimán doensn't leave us guessing about his opinion.

I have mixed feelings about mixed martial arts. I think MMA is fine as long as it's kept safe and the fighters aren't exploited by people out to take advantage of them. It's not my first choice of sport, but I would like to learn some good grappling and ground-fighting techniques to complement my skills as a boxer.

As for taking "boxing to the era of the caveman and the Roman circus," I respectfully disagree. Mr. Sulaimán is certainly entitled to his opinion, an opinion that is based on a hell of a lot more experience and knowledge about the sport than I have. Even so, boxing certainly had its share of problems long before MMA began its ascent as a popular sport. Ironically, Sulaimán himself has been instrumental in resolving some of those problems. Of course, he has his critics and one can certainly debate whether some of the changes he has effected are truly reforms. Nevertheless, the problems existed before and independently of MMA.

Regardless of whether one likes MMA or dislikes it, I don't think it's fair to blame boxing's problems on the newer sport. During the last year, I've read countless articles and debates about how MMA was going to eclipse boxing, while various enthusiastic fans predicted gleefully that boxing would simply fade into oblivion. I haven't seen that happen, and I don't think it will happen. MMA's organizations are experiencing difficulties, just as boxing's organizations have. Each sport needs to clean up its own house and there is no reason for blame; both of them can coexist without a problem, in my not-so-humble opinion.

Law Students Set to Box in Charity Event

First, we have some lawyer-boxers (such as Marc Saggese and yours truly). Then we have a lawyer-boxer-turned-Aikido-practitioner. Then there's Marc, the first law student-boxer I have met online. Also, Brett Trout is a lawyer-cage fighter, also known as Iowa's Toughest Attorney.

Continuing the fine tradition of legal types as fighters, eight law students at the University of New Brunswick's law school will climb into the ring tomorrow to put on a boxing show to raise funds for the charitable group Lawyers Against Landmines. Pretty cool stuff, eh?

Here's the Web site for the event. If you happen to be in the area, check these guys out. They're hosting the event for a good cause and it looks like it will be a blast. New Brunswick's kind of far from me; otherwise, I'd love to attend.

I expect the law students and their audience will have a great time. (I wonder if they would allow lawyers who have already been admitted/called to the bar to participate.) Several years ago, I was privileged to box in a local fundraiser for the DuPage County Legal Assistance Foundation. It was serious fun and I hope to have the chance to participate in similar events again.

That gives me an idea. Wouldn't be neat if we had an organization for lawyers and law students that could periodically hold events like the Knocking Out Landmines event? We could help some worthy organizations, encourage lawyers and law students to maintain higher levels of fitness, and have fun doing it. What do you think? Post any ideas you have here in the comments, or feel free to e-mail me at steve@lawyerboxer.com.

To the New Brunswick law student-boxers: good luck in your event. I hope it will be a great time, a huge success for the fund-raising campaign, and a memorable and fun event for everyone. Let us know how it goes!

Updated on March 25, 2008 at 5:20 p.m.: Here is another news article about the event.

Updated on March 27, 2008 at 12:12 a.m.: I don't have any post-fight coverage of the event, but here's an additional story about it:

http://law.unb.ca/news/2008/03/knocking_out_landmines.html

Randy Couture Resigns from UFC

Kevin Iole at Yahoo! Sports reports the story here. Wow. I wasn't expecting that.

Although this blog is about boxing rather than MMA, I'll comment here on MMA from time to time because I think it's interesting, it's related to boxing, and I may be interested in learning more about it for cross-training purposes.