Redemption of Captain Zorikh Production Blog

Latest training blog

2012-02-08T06:30:00.000-08:00

Report for last three weeks' training.

Forgive me, I have boon so busy with work and other things that I have neglected the blog. But I have been continuing my weekly trainings at East Coast United BJJ. I have also been working out in the gym with G.A. West, wearing a 10 lb armored coat of plates.

For the last three weeks I have been discovering in the free rolling that I do have some knowledge of certain basic principles, and have been using them. the idea of keeping your legs in front of you to prevent side mount; the idea that being in someone's guard is better then being under their mount or having your back taken; the concept of knowing when to relax, because you are just wasting energy; I have been finding submission attempts and escapes where before I would not know what to do and tap out or stall.

I have been paired with people who invariably have at least one of the following: more strength, more endurance, more energy, more training, more skill (all things considered, that is not very difficult to find in a BJJ school). I have ben able to avoid submissions and even score a couple submissions, a lot more than I used to. I guess this is what they mean by "progress."

I have been told that I am now pretty strong and have good energy, entrance, and skill. It's just a matter of putting it all together. As one guy said, "Stop being a spaz."

I am looking at competing in The Good Fight next month http://www.thegoodfight.tv/. We will see how much I have progressed and can avid "spa zing out" there!

Training week, RGL coming...

2011-12-11T21:32:00.000-08:00

I did not get to the gym this week (phone problems, don't ask, but I did train at home a little bit, doing bodyweight exorcizes and jumping jacks, and I got to ECU BJJ on Thursday.

This week our warm-ups were different. Instead of the usual rolls, sprawls, and other movements across the floor, we did hopscotch and what I call "bridge-and-tunnel." The we studied the arm-bar, a way to block it, and a way to counter the block, then we drilled, drilled, drilled. When we were done drilling, we had three rounds of sparring.

My first round was with another white belt, stronger and heavier than me, but will less experience. Though I was not able to submit him, I was able to try an execute several technical moves, including some interesting angles on which to apply a triangle.

In the next round I went up against a much more skilled and experienced fighter. He was able to deny every attempt at passing the guard and submit me a couple of times. At one point I stopped to examine method of passing guard by getting both arms under the opponent's legs. I had been getting caught in guillotines when I had tried that recently, and I learned a few new principles. It seems that it is trouble to leave your head in the guy's stomach when getting a group there. You have to either be buried between his legs, or sit up fast ti pull his legs up and get his hips close to yours.

The last round was with the strong, aggressive white belt I had trained with my first week back. After he got me in a quick guillotine, when we re-set, I was able to deny his speed and aggression by going to my back and getting him in guard. He was strong enough to keep me from executing any submissions at that point, but he never got past my guard in over 5 minutes.

After class, I asked the experienced grappler about the execution of a certain type of sweep from guard. It involves bringing your chest up, and I kept on getting stiff-armed in the chest. we figured out that what I need to do is get the stiff-arm hand blocked away from my chest for the duration of the move. There is a way to do that which involves using my arm to guide the opponent's arm out of the way as I sit up. We'll see how that works.

One of the instructor's said I was getting better, showing good technical work in the rolling today. That makes me feel good. I still feel I am lacking a lot of skill and some aggression, and I certainly have forgotten a lot over the couple of months I missed training this summer. I just hope I can pick it back up soon.

This weekend I have been invited to compete in the Renegade Grappling League tournament at an event in the Bronx. This is the same organization that gave me those epic, three-round matches that you can see on YouTube. We will see how I do this time.

2011-12-02T08:50:00.000-08:00

SO I took a week off from working out, swordfighting, and bjj last week as a result of Thanksgiving schedules, though I did run twice, confirming that I have about 75% of the stamina I had about a year ago, when I started with ECUBJJ. This week, I worked out with G.A. West twice, with a new emphasis on cardio and less on weights. In addition to trying to up my endurance, I am also trying to drop about 5 pound to make 185 lbs since Peter Storm invited me to compete in the 185 lbs division of his Renegade Grappling League tournament on December 11 (will post details as soon as available). So in between sets of bodyweight exercises, I did jumping jacks. Jots of jumping jacks. A total of 1000 for the work out. My right calf, already sore from running, is still feeling it.

So I went to ECU last night. My across-the-floor warm up is beginning to pick up pace. My push-ups are deeper, and my sit-out drill is slowly creeping up in pace.

WE focused on a particular method of gaining the triangle choke from guard., involving swinging the leg like you do in part of standing up in base from a sit-out. This started feeling like the kind of jiu jitsu that is a step above "basic." To me, "basic" involves being pretty much rooted to the ground and doing things that are slow progressions. This particular move feels dynamic and "swoopy." It's actually kind of fun. We drilled the heck out of it, which is very good for me. I noticed that one par of the move, in which the hips are lifted to move the opponent's arm across his face, can flow organically out of the move where the legs are crossed behind his head. By the end of the drills, I felt very confident about the move, and like a more skilled fighter.

Then we rolled. I was first partnered with a fellow who had advanced from white to blue belt some months ago, and whom I had gotten into that "Tarzan" hold two weeks ago. He must have been very fatigues when I fought him then, because he showed be a degree of skill and energy that I had never seen from him before. He was aggressively moving all over and around me, while I felt pretty much rooted to the ground and lacking dynamism in my game. I was able to hold off a few submission attempts and even escape from a few dominant positions he gained on me, bus his techniques and energy were able to deny and escape anything I tried.

Next I fought the skilled, technical guy I had fought the previous class. He was pretty conservative in his game, which didn't matter too much because his strength and skill were greater than mine, but I did manage to escape a pretty tight rear naked choke from him and survive being under full mount and side mount. I tried the side-mount escape in the latest ECUBJJ YouTube video, but he was too strong for me.

Finally I fought a brand new guy, bigger, stronger, and younger than me, but had only started a few months ago. I was able to mount him twice, and he mounted me once, but I failed to gain any submissions.

Jojo is being very encouraging to me, talking to me about what it takes to advance and get better. I will be bringing my camera to some upcoming ECU seminars and new locations soon.

Here's that video of the escape from side mount I referred to...

I have got to figure out a way to get more training into my life.

Return (again) to ECU BJJ!

2011-11-17T21:33:00.000-08:00

Well, after three weeks at East Coast United Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, a new work schedule and an illness kept me away for another three weeks, but I finally got back today (Thursday). This was in a week that I also returned to SCA fighter practice on Sunday and working out with G.A. West on Monday and Wednesday. So my body was pre-fatigued and word when I got there, and I did not slack in the class.

There are certain warm-up exercises moving across the floor that I still can't seem to do as fast as the other guys, and it's a little embarrassing. I hate being the last guy, struggling to get those sit-out's across the floor, as the rest of the class is getting ready to do crunches.

We learned a new way to get out of side mount, of which I will post video soon.

When it came to the free rolling portion of the evening, I was first paired with a fellow with great physical mechanics. He pretty much wiped the floor with me, once he was able to get a hold of me.

Next I fought a member of the competition team who rolled with me when I first started coming to ECU, but not much lately. While he was able to beat me several times, he said that I am getting stronger. Where he used to be able to sub,iot me at will, now he has to work at it. He may be right. I did actually feel like I was able to avoid getting trapped in a submission several time. I specifically found moments where I was saying to myself "guard is better than mount! Guard is better than mount!" (meaning that I should try to get om ny knees with him on his back, rather than letting him sit on my chest)Similarly, I fought hard and maintained half-guard and denied a kimura, and was able to avoid several other submissions.

I sat out one round, and in the final round of training I rolled with someone closer to my skill leve. He tried to pass into side mount right away, but left himself open for me to put my leg in front of his neck while seizing his arm for an attempted arm bar. While he was able to get his head out from my leg, I somehow managed to get his other arm with my legs. I had him in a wrestling hold exactly like one I had seen in a Tarzan comic book!

I didn't really know what to do from there. He was unable to escape, so I tried to twist his arm back, but he escaped. I had him in a few advantageous positions, but I lacked the strength, or technique, or killer instinct, or energy, to finish him off, and he submitted me. In the last minute of the round, I was so beat, that I stole a glance at the clock, When I saw there were 17 seconds to go, I decided to see how little I could do and still avoid being submitted, and succeeded.

When I was done, I felt more beat up than I remember feeling. Hopefully, if I keep my training up, I will be able to fight more before getting that feeling again. some things that bother me: I always seem to get my wrists grabbed by the other guy, and I never seem to be strong enough to get out of it. On m y back, a standing opponent seems to be able to grab my ankles and throw me around at will. I need a more effective escape from guard.

Return to ECU

2011-10-20T21:54:00.000-07:00

After spending a few months away from East Coast United Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, I returned to classes a few weeks ago. They have a new location in White Plains, which will save a little travel time.

Thursdays are kickboxing and no-gi night now, though. I've never done kickboxing before. I am comfortable with the concept of a stand-up striking game, like SCA combat, but the hazard of getting damaged and the punching and kicking techniques will take a little getting used to.

In the grappling, I am finding that the layoff did me no favors. My endurance is down, and my technique is rusty. Training without the gi is no big deal, I hardly noticed that I could not grab my opponent's clothes or that my belt was coming undone. I did notice that one guy I was training with seems to be more aggressive than he used to be, and he was always aggressive. I seemed to have a better handle on the technique we were learning, but his killer instinct put me in deadly positions anyway. I think I am beginning to get his number, though...

Latest news

2011-07-27T18:25:00.000-07:00

Since my win I have had about as many weeks not going to East Coast United Brazilian Jiu Jitsu as weeks that I have. Work opportunities, deadlines, and once simply missing the train kept me away. However when I have gone, interesting things have happened.

There are a few new people in the beginner's and white/blue belt classes. I have been able to use this as an opportunity to try moves that I could never execute against anyone better or stronger than me. At times I have come home thinking I am actually getting better. Then the next class I will spend most of the free rolling time with someone sitting on my chest.

I have learned about opportunities to look for pulling guard. I am getting a little better hip movement from the bottom. My strength training with G.A. West must be helping a little, because after three weeks away, I was able to do a sit-out drill a lot better than I ever had. I even got out of a triangle choke and successfully executed a particular takedown more than once.

My training and grappling competitions are taking a bit of a break, though, as I prepare for the Pennsic War, an event of my other martial art: armored swordfighting. I am shooting a video there.

Captain Zorikh wins!

2011-04-25T09:18:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to posting the video of the first grappling victory I got on camera!

I will be at the Acom Sports Prestige Grappling Tournament this Saturday in Fishkill, NY, competing and promoting "Hit the Mat" and "Redemption." http://www.acom-sports.net

Some thoughts on the workshop for "Hit the Mat"

2011-01-02T21:36:00.000-08:00

So the day of the workshop arrived and what had been looking promising was beginning to look bleak. Two people who had promised to be there (including one with his girlfriend) got called for work, one got sick, several others, it turned out, had decided to go to Santa Con.

Fortunately two friends came through, and I called on another originally to hold the camera, but he wound up participating in the workshop as well. Then, while we were waiting for the workshop to begin, two separate people literally walked in off the street to find out more about East Coast United BJJ. Jojo Guarin, the owner, was not present, so after I gave them what little info I had about it and told them that he would be back later, I decided to tell them about the workshop and invited them to participate. They both agreed. And while Jojo wound up getting called away on family duty, he was good enough to call in Walter, one of the ECU black belts, to lead the BJJ instruction portion of the workshop.

Walter led the six of us, a group diverse in age, size, and experience, in basic instruction in forward and backward rolls, breakfalls to the front, back and side, and the basic positions of BJJ, as well as how to do a rear naked choke. We then took a short break and I asked him to show us the proper way to do a leg-sweep takedown. We adjusted the takedown to allow the “victims” to control their own fall by executing a breakfall.

After the group had gained familiarity with that move, I spoke a few words about what we were doing here. To me, theater is like BJJ in at least one way: it is about “position to submission.” In both you are trying to get your opponent or partner into a position to submit them to your will. Everything in a play is designed to set the audience up for the emotional climax. If they laugh when they are supposed to, cry when you want them to, and give you a standing ovation at the end, you know you have made them tap out.

So we got started. I began with an exercise known as the “grid.” It involves the performers walking in straight lines and right angles as if on a grid. When two people are about to bump into each other, they must make a choice to engage or avoid engagement my moving on the grid. With these directions, the workshoppers seemed to avoid contact. I then told them to make a choice of an attitude. They could be confident, insecure, aggressive, or even a dick, if they wanted to.

With this new direction, they began moving with more purpose, seeking out engagement. Then I said that when two people came in contact, they could choose to engage in a takedown, and that they would have the option of deciding between themselves as to who would be taken down.

Here is where things started getting interesting. The people’s individual personalities began to come out, frequently influenced by their level of skill. Some people were more aggressive, some were more passive. Some avoided contact. One of them made a point of using as many different modes of ambulation as possible. One of the fellows allowed himself to be taken down each time. I told him to take down the next person he saw, which he did. Then he turned around and someone else took him down.

In a later episode, that same guy got trapped against a wall by three others and went down without anyone touching him.

Next I said that everyone who was taken down would stay down. Soon all of those down ganged up on the one person left standing and took him down.

One of the attendees happened to have their grandfather with them. I placed him in the exercise as a “force of nature.” He was allowed to roam in any manner he wanted, while the others had to avoid him. When once again the scenario led to all but one on the ground against one standing, he was quite effective in interfering with the pursuit.

After all this was done and we took a short break, I lined everyone up and explored some very brief, very simple choreography.

This whole workshop helped me blow through some preconceptions. I had been thinking that the grid would be an exercise in exploring the relationships of bodies in time and space like a modern dance or movement study, and that any stories told with it would be silent and subtly dramatic. I discovered that watching people’s personalities, people simply being themselves, is incredibly entertaining and fun. It gave me the idea that the performers should let their individual personalities shine forth in this show far more than I had originally conceived. Exploring the relationships of the personalities may be even more interesting than simply exploring bodies in motion. In fact, the motion of the bodies can be the tool by which we discover the personalities.

And in the category of “well, duh,” having a group of people do unified precision choreography requires a group of people with skill and precision in the movement vocabulary of the choreography.

There have been further developments in the concept of “Hit the Mat” since the workshop. I will elaborate on them in my next post.

Video coming sooon.

Some background to the Grappling as a Theater Art workshop:

2010-12-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

I first got into grappling because I wound up managing a female wrestling team. It started with my girlfriend and I going to fetish clubs and wrestling on the floor. At the time I was also building her up as a model to create action hero for comic books, trading cards, and a website. Soon one or two people had contacted her asking if she did wrestling sessions (where a man pays a woman for an hour or half-hour of wrestling). One of our early clients happened to train in Brazilian jiu jitsu and offered to train us. By this time we had recruited a few other young women we had met at various places into the team to also be characters and do sessions.

We basically made wrestling the “next big thing” in the fetish scene in 2006. We were booked for a few party performance gigs, which I directed. The most notable was something I called “Sadism and Socialism” in which Rudy the Red Rabble-Rousing Radical Reindeer rallied Happy, the Proletarian Worker Elf in rebellion against Mrs. Claus. We even did a skit at the Chinese New Year Celebration at Fighthouse, the martial arts studio where we trained, called “The Perils of Women’s Self Defense.”

The less said about how that wrestling team and I parted ways in this venue the better, but it did lead to me starting to make a short film I would call “The Redemption fo Captain Zorikh.” Before that film was finished, though, two of the featured performers quit the project. So I re-envisioned the work, found a whole new cast and started over. WE trained and rehearsed for 11 weeks, and by the time I was through, the movie now known as “Redemption: Find Out What You’re Worth” was a reality.

One of the things I discovered as a result of that movie was that grappling is a movement vocabulary that, like dance, can be used to tell a story, just like dance. And yet though martial arts have been adapted into dance for decades now, grappling has yet to break though. Also in the stage combat world, grappling is almost unknown (unless you count its uses in Pro Wrestling).

This led me to thinking of putting together a stage show using the grappling arts as a performance medium. We would perform skits using grappling to tell stories or as integral parts of the stories. I thought this might be a good fundraiser for the movie as well as raising the profile of the grappling arts. Life intervened, delaying the completion of “Redemption” and other things. Now however, several things are converging that is making the realization of this dream a possibility.

For over a decade I have been performing with the Faux-Real Theater Company. For the past few years I have been running the wrestling room at the Wicked Faire. I have been working with East Coast United Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, making videos or them and getting training. Putting all this together, I have decided that I am going to have some sort of performance at the Wicked Faire in February, and with that in mind, held a workshop at ECU BJJ last Saturday to explore a few ideas for this show.

To be continued…

And finally, I faced "Superman" in the Open Division

2010-12-14T08:29:00.000-08:00

Here's my final match at the Acom Sports NY State Grappling Championships. I got paired up with a guy wearing a Superman shirt, so I decided to wear my Captain Marvel shirt. For all the good it did me...

In this video, I review my day's performance and say a few final words.

Thank you to all my sponsors for supporting me. Though my score total was lower than I had hoped, it was a learning experience and enabled me to make 5 videos.

The upshot of this is, however, that I have decided that this kind of casual, recreational training is not advancing my skills enough for the months that I have been doing this. If I ever want to be more than a genial goof, I have to get real training from a real academy. Fortunately, East Coast United Brazilian Jiu Jitsu has recruited me to make videos for them, and in exchange, will be training me. Watch this soace for the results!

2010-11-25T09:22:00.000-08:00

So after two no gi matches and one gi match, I tried the Takedown Tournament...

My takedown game sucks.

Fundraiseing matches at Acom Sports NY State Grappling Championships #3

2010-10-05T08:53:00.000-07:00

Here's the third match of the day in Captian Zorikh's "Redemption" fundraising challenge. This was in gi. Sponsors, watch closely...

So we got three points!

Stay tuned for the takedown and absolute matches!

Fundraising mates at Acom Sports NY State Grappling Championships #2

2010-08-27T20:44:00.000-07:00

Here's the second match. Remember, every point scored would earn me $ towards finishing "Redemption."

Total points = 0

My fundraising matches at Acom Sports NY State Grapplng Championships #1

2010-07-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

As promised, here are the matches I fougt in at the Acom Sports NY State GRappling championships.

#1

0 points

"Redemption" Screened at Acom Sports NY State Grappling Championships!

2010-07-19T13:42:00.000-07:00

this past weekend, as you regular followers of this blog know, I competed in the Acom Sports NYC Grappling Chamnpionships to raise funds for the ocmpletion of "Redemption." I will report the ouutcome of that in a different post, but they were also kind enough to let me screen "Redemption" at the end of the tourney.

I had screened this movie twice before, once at the Wicled Faiore and once at a private screening. In both those instances most of the people watching had been involved in the movie at some level or were friends if mine. I had taken feedback from them and made adjustments to the movie as a result.

This time, most of the people watching were folks with little familiarity with the movie at all. Further,mor, the viewing experience was sub-optimal. I was projecting it against a wall, not a screen, the room was very bright, and because this was happening in the same room as the tournament had been, people were milling about, cleaning up, folding up mats, wandering to and fro, sitting down after it started and leaving before it was over. There were many "peanut gallery" comments, and much off-the-cuff, on-the-spot, irreverent, unsolicited critique.

This was exactly what I expected and what this project needed.

I realize now that the movie needs a re-structuring and the pace needs to be picked up. A friendly, supportive audience in a dark theater will patiently sit through some of the slower scenes and try to figure out what's going on, but I need this movie to catch people early on and keep them attached to the main character and his adventures. If a scene is a little confusing, I need to make it more clear. If something as dragging, I need to cut it. And I need to start out the movie with something that will give the audience a stronger clue as to what the climax of the movie will be.

So into the shop it goes. I am targeting a September date for another screening, this time with more original music and with the film completely restructured, and probably shorty, I'm guessing about 50 minutes long.

Captain Zorikh Eats a Cheeseburger

2010-07-19T13:33:00.000-07:00

After all the training and cutting weight and then the competition, I felt I deserved a little comfort food:

Sponsor "Redemption" at the NY State Grappling Championships

2010-07-11T21:49:00.000-07:00

Hey folks, I got an idea that I hope will make sponsoring this movie fun and exciting!

As you should know by now, "Redemption" is being screened at the NY State Grappling Championships this Saturday, July 17th in Fishkill, NY. Well, I've been inspired by walk-a-thons to set up a plan that will encourage me to fight harder than ever before!

All you have to do is decide on an amount of money you would like to pledge for every point I score in the tournament. Then, when the event is over, I will post the video of the matches, and you can see all the points I score. Then you can go to Indiegogo.com and donate your pledge. You will notice that each pledge there comes with a collection of "perks" commensurate with your level of contribution.

Now I have a 2-32-2 record in competition and I don't think I have scored even as many as a dozen points in my entire career, but I have been working out, training, and improving, as you can see by this video...

...so you are taking a gamble by pledging here. Can you handle it?

The minimum pledge is 25 cents a point. And just to put as little more competition in, the person who pledges the most will receive a copy of the preview DVD screener, a copy of the finished movie, and a copy of the all-original soundtrack CD once it is all done!

Here's the way scoring will work at the tournament, according to the rules posted at the Acom Sports website:

Scoring Points: To gain points for any move or position, the competitor (aggressor) must show clear control for a 3 second
count by the referee – this is the key in point scoring for ACOM-SPORTS – TOTAL CONTROL FOR 3 COUNT TO EARN POINTS

1. Takedown or Throw: Land on Top in Guard or Half Guard= 2 points Land on Top in Side Mount or Full Mount= 3 Points
Note: Points will be awarded separately for Full Mount after an additional 3 count of control.

2. Sweep with Legs (from Half Guard or Full Guard) or Arm Drag from Open Guard to Turtle: 2 points (must hold for 3 count to
be awarded). NOTE: Inversions (Power Rolls from Side, Full or North/South are NOT considered Sweeps & will not awarded any
points or advantages

3. Passing the Guard (open or closed) - 3 points (must hold for 3 count to be awarded points) – MUST CLEAR ARMS & LEGS

4. Mounted position (both knees on the ground): 4 points (must hold for 3 count to be awarded)

5. Back Mount with Leg Hooks (or Knees on the Ground with Opponent Flat on his Stomach): 4 points (must hold for 3 count to
be awarded)

In addition, for the purpose of this pledge drive, if I win by points, that's worth 5 points plus points scored in the match.
Should I get so lucky as to win by submission, that will count as 10 points, plus points scored in the match.

Thanks in advance, those of you who will be contributing. I look forward to doing my best and living up to the confidence you have put in me!

Redemption screening at NY State Grappling Championships next weekend!

2010-07-11T06:41:00.000-07:00

Hello friends, I’ve got some big new! I’m on TV again this weekend, my movie is screening next Sautrday, and I ACTUALLY WON A GRAPPLING MATCH! ON CAMERA!

First off, the TV show “Toni On! New York” is rebroadcasting its episode of “Weird New York” in which they visit the Big Apple Comic Con and interview Yours Truly, Captain Zorikh, and display cartoons I drew of the Toni On! Team as superheroes. Tough I did not find out about this until just now, you can tune in (or set your VCR or TiVo) at 11:30 AM tomorrow morning, Sunday, July 11.

Next, that grappling movie I have been working on for the past year is having a big screening at the Acom Sports NY State Grappling Championships next Saturday, July 17th. I will be competing in this tournament, after which we will screen the movie. This will be at the Fishkill Recreation Center at 793 route 52 in Fishkill, NY. Registration begins at 8:00 AM, matches begin at 10:30 AM, and the movie will be shown when the matches are done, probably around 4:30 – 5:00 PM. For more info, go to http://www.acom-sports.net.

I’ve been editing the film down a bit, making it more concise, and also am going into the studio with the brilliant musicians Ash Gray and Jeff Webb to record a whole new soundtrack! You here's a rough demo of one of the new songs:

Finally, what makes next Saturday’s tournament especially exciting for me, is that all my hard work, training, and persistence has been paying off! In addition to being in some of the best shape of my life, I actually won a grappling match at the NY Submission Open two weeks ago! You can see parts of the match in this highlight video of the event:

So now we’ll see if I can pull out another win on the occasion of the screening of my movie!

I hope to see you there!

Help support "Redemption!"

2010-07-03T09:12:00.000-07:00

I need just a few more dollars to make sure this project is everything it can be. We need to go into the studio to rehearse and record the all-new score with Ash Gray and Jeff Webb, We need a new external hard drive for all the files and footage created for this project, and we need to press the DVD's for the movie once it is ready.

Indie Go-Go is a great website that allows anonymous contributions and we have lots of tasty perks for folks who contribute!

New Teaser!

2010-06-10T10:14:00.001-07:00

While putting together promos for the Acom Sports events, I realized I needed a much shorter trailer that got straight to the action, so I created this 41-second teaser:

New Trailer!

2010-06-06T04:13:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking about a new trailer for a while. The old one is pretty long, and I wanted to bring some of the other storylines into it. Beside I needed a new trailer to promote the GRAND SCREENING AT THE ACOM SPORTS NY STATE GRAPPLING CHAMPIONSHIPS on SATURDAY, JUNE 17! So here goes...

Captain Zorikh competes at Renegade GRappling Tournament this weekend!

2010-04-24T09:17:00.000-07:00

Hey friends, if you have been following my Facebook announcements (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=598551661&ref=profile) and YouTube channels (http://www.youtube.com/captainzorikh, http://www.youtube.com/czredemption) you know what’s going on this weekend. For the rest of you, here’s the news.

I have recovered enough from the injury I suffered aat that grappling tournament where I won my first match to consider myself ready to re-enter the ring. I’ll be doing so on Sunday, April 25 (tomorrow) at the Renegade Grappling League even!

This went will take place at John’s boxing gym at 436 Westchester Ave in the Bronx. It’s just one block from the 3rd Ave-149th St. stop on the 2/5 train.

It will be a round-robin, open-skill level tournament (anyone at any skill level may compete with anyone else) divided into 6 weight divisions, with an open weight tournament also.

If you want to compete, it’s only $35 (the cheapest tournament fee around). Spectators are free, just walk right in.

There is an event announcement on Facebook with more details (http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=598551661&ref=profile#!/event.php?eid=116921918318186) and I posted an event announcement on Going.com as well (http://newyork.going.com/event-747845;Renegade_Grappling_League)

I hope to see you there, and if you can’t make it, wish me luck and safety!

Captain Z
Zorikh@juno.com
917-865-1214
http://www.captainzorkh.com

Captain Zorikh GETS HURT!

2010-04-24T08:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the true story behind the injury I suffered at the tournament at which I won my first victory..

Renegade Grappling League promo

2010-04-24T08:18:00.000-07:00

Promo video for a tournament I am competing in this weekend

2010-03-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Here are two promos I did fro the Long Is;land Grappling Challenge I, which I competed in last week:

I'll have video of my performance in the competition soon!

Kick-Ass: the latest movie I wish I'd seen first.

2010-03-18T12:09:00.000-07:00

On Monday night I was fortunate enough to have obtained a pass to the advance premiere of “Kick-Ass,” the new movie based on the comic book written by Mark Millar and drawn by John Romita, Jr. Of all the movies I wish I had seen before making my latest movie, this is the one that fit’s the category best.

The story is a Campbellian hero’s journey that takes the concept of “what if a real person tried to be a superhero” to the dirtiest, most violent, foul-mouthed, and glorious degree.

For those who have no idea what I’m talking about, it goes sorta like this: A high school student comic book geek wonders why no one has ever really tried to be a superhero. Of course this kid and his friends are regularly pushed around and ignored by girls, and muggers don’t even have to threaten them with violence. One day he buys a scuba suit and tries to be a superhero. It doesn’t work out, but he doesn’t give up. His example inspires others, and he winds up in a deadly, violent confrontation with an organized crime boss. People die, and he finds the hero within himself and becomes a man.

“Comic book movies,” that is, movies based on comic books or comic book characters, come in two varieties these days. There are those that are based on a character, usually with a long publishing history, and try to build a movie around the concept (with varying degrees of seriousness and success), ie: Superman, Bat Man, Spider-Man, etc. Then there are those that are based on specific comic book stories or graphic novels; A History of Violence, Sin City, Watchmen, Etc. Those of the latter kind seem to have a higher rate of success, both as movies and as adaptations, and this movie, fortunately, fits that pattern.

The casting of the movie is excellent; combining perfect talent (Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz) and some inspired “gimmick casting” (Nicholas Cage, Christoher Mintz-Plasse). As the hero, Johnson’s face echoes Toby Maguire’s “gee, something good actually happened to me” cockeyed half-smile, combining cultural reference with endearing honesty. Cage, as the ultimate badass superhero, does some of his best work as a mild-mannered father, and hits all the right notes imitating the delivery of a noted 1960’s TV actor. Mintz-Plasse brings a surprising darkness to a role that seems like a development of his character in “Role Models.”

There are differences between the movie and the book. Some of them are simply matters of the necessary structural difference between a movie and an 8-issue comic series. As Mark Millar stated in the Q&A after the screening, the miniseries was an eight-act structure, while a movie has a three-act structure. Some of the differences, though, were blatantly involving the difference between what you can do in a comic book and what you need to do to sell a movie. Millar pointed out that one change (and a very drastic one, I thought) was instituted because they simply needed to have some sex in the movie.

Another change was a bit more of a trade-off than a pander to the masses. There is a moment in the comic book where the hero makes a moment of immense personal sacrifice, paying off a setup from very early in the story and showing the character take control of a situation unlike he had ever done before in his life. That scene was eliminated in the movie, allowing for a touching moment between a father and daughter. This gave more of the movie to another character, and made it less about the titular hero. The hero did get to have his hero moment later, but it was not as strong and significant as the one in the book.

The audience, packed with fans of comics in general and the original comic in particular, ate this movie up with a spoon. They cheered and laughed at all the right moments. I happened to be sitting between two women who were not fans, and they seemed a little shocked at some of the violence, though at they end they admitted it was a good movie. I agree that the gun violence does get a little gratuitous at times, but this is not a movie for the weak of heart. Life and death can be an ugly, unforgiving business, and by not skimping on the blood and violence, they show how far you have to go if you really want to be a hero.

And that’s what heroism is about. It’s about taking your lumps for something you believe in. The hero, Kick-Ass, believes in fighting for decency, protecting the weak, saving lives, and helping people. Even in the face of death, he keeps true to his beliefs, and takes his lumps.

In my movie, “Redemption,” the main character proves that he is willing to take his lumps to be the best that he can be. This movie is the grittiest, gutsiest, most literal expression of that I have ever seen.

My first win!

2010-03-01T14:10:00.000-08:00

I finally scored a victory in a grappling tournament match! And I am not going to feel bad about it! Here’s how it happened…

I had signed up for the Long Island Submission Tournament in Port Jefferson, NY some weeks ago, and had done what I could to train and prepare for it while editing my movie and working for the NY Comic Book Marketplace event. I had been watching instructional videos, drilling moves with the Twin Towers Wrestling Club, and reading up on Musashi’s “Book of 5 Rings. I had also competed in the Renegade Grappling League’s first tournament. I fought well there, but still failed to secure my first victory.

A friend of mine from Twin Towers was supposed to go with me, but when I called him early in the morning to catch the LIRR, he bailed, so I was there on my own. Several people recognized me from other tournaments that I had been at, though, such as NAGA and the NY Submission Shootout.

The event was held in a gymnastics school, and there was a pit filled with foam blocks. I swore that I if won a match, I would do a flip into the foam pit. In fact, I had been envisioning what I would do if I won all week, and this seemed just too outrageously perfect.

I realized once I was there, though, that I had forgotten my protective cup. This tournament did not have any dealrs set up other than the refreshment stand, and the nearest sporting goods store was miles away. There was, however, and Karate/MMA school right across the street, the United Martial Arts Center. Their Shihan, Andrew Stigliano, was kind enough to help me out. They had a small store of martial arts and training supplies, and he gave me a brand new cup.

At this tournament I weighed in at 177.5 lbs, about what I weighed at the last one, and about what I’d expected. Due to the number of competitors and the structure of he tournament I was placed in a division defined as “middleweight, 168 – 177 lbs.” I signed up as a “beginner” (more than a novice, less than intermediate).

My record going in stood at 0-19-2.

There turned out to be four people in this division, and I had the first match. Not surprisingly, my opponent was short and stockier than me. I went into the match with the intention of “treading him down,” like Musashi says. We engaged standing, and I fought to push his head down, looking for a guillotine (something I had worked on). After a few moments of that, all I accomplished was being able to control the rate of descent after he got underhooks, and establish half guard with him on top of me. He passed the half-guard and moved into north-shout, going fo a choke which I blocked with my arm, but he crushed my shoulder into my chest, forcing me to tap.

I lost. My record now stood at 0-20-2

I do believe that is where an injury occurred. As I am typing this there is a pain in my chest that remains after the general soreness of the tournament has gone away. I will look into it later. But at the time my adrenaline was still up, and I was still ready to play.

The way the bracket was set up, they guy who beat me would fight the winner of the next match, and I would fight the loser. The match went on for the full five minutes and into overtime. Of course both competitors were totally gassed, so they held an “exhibition” bout between two teenagers to let them recover. I suggested that I could fight a bye or a gauntlet to match my opponent’s fatigue, but nothing came of it.

So my next match would decide the third-place finisher of the division. I was faced up with a fellow who must have been the smaller person in the bracket, meaning I outweighed him by almost 10 pounds. He was also about a foot shorter than me, but he appeared to have some cauliflowering on his ear and carried himself klike an experienced fighter, so I did not have any reason to expect, going in, that this match would turn out any differently than any other match I had ever been in.

Again I went for pushing down his head, treading him down, and again he achieved the top position in the takedown.

Sadly the guy holding my camera only got the first two seconds of the match, and a lot happened, so I’ll try my best to reconstruct it here.

I found myself on my knees defending the neck from a guillotine choke. I couldn’t feel any slack to get our either side, but he spun around to take my back faster than I could spin with him. I kept a tight hold on at least on of his arms the whole time, and looked to dump him over my shoulder (one of the first tricks I learned, but I recognized that the grip he had on my left arm would put him in a great place for an arm-bar, so I was being very cautious about it. He got leg hooks in. I tried clearing one leg out, and he tried flattening me out. Neither of those things worked. He pulled me back, and was working on the rear naked choke, when the referee called time out.

Apparently there was blood coming out of a cut on my head. While they were getting something to staunch it with, I asked the guys at ringside how it looked, and they said it looked pretty horrendous, so I chanted “ECW! ECW!”

We restarted in the same position. He was able to get his right arm around my neck and was in the process of locking his left arm over my head, when I remembered the defense for that (something they taught at Renzo Gracie’s the month I was there). I pulled his left arm down over my shoulder and attempted to get a submission lock on his elbow.

I didn’t get the lock in, but the distraction gave me a chance to adjust my position in his leg hooks. I forced myself around to face hi, and thought that I would then me in his guard, but he didn’t close his legs around me, allowing me to attack him from something side-mount-ish. I grabbed one arm, his friends warned him to watch out for the arm-bar. I switched to the other side, and as I tried to put knee on belly to take mound, he grabbed my left leg with the intention of an ankle submission.

Something switched on at that moment in my brain. I don’t like leg submissions. They are fast, painful, dangerous, and at my skill level, not used often. From my limited experience with them I knew that I had to get moving, quickly, in order to save my leg, and that’s when I realized, this is a fight. This is not a show, an exhibition, a practice roll, or a cooperative exercise, this person is trying to do things to my that could break me, and the only way to make him stop, is to do it right back to him. Suddenly the time lag between thinking of a move and doing it disappeared, and each move was done with more strength than before.

I extracted my leg and found myself over him as he turtled. I spun to take his back. He semi-blocked me but I was able to get my left arm around his neck. I stuck my right leg into his leg (gaining a hook) and pulled him back. As I fought for the other leg hook, I remembered a training video that showed rear naked choke technique. Rather than grabbing my bicep and swinging my forearm down behind his head (easy to block), I slid my right hand over my left as I snaked it behind his neck until my right bicep reached my left had. That was probably the best rear naked choke I have ever applied.

I realized then that I actually had a chance to with this thing. This was a realization, and a sensation, I had never had before. All I had to do was keep on squeezing tighter…and tighter…and then I felt that gentle tapping on my left shoulder.

I won! My record now stands at 1-20-2! The streak is over!

I jumped up, raised my hands in the air and shouted “First win ever!” I turned to give my opponent a hug, and he had turned away. I felt kind of bad about that, but the ref turned him around and I hugged him and shook his had.

Then, as I promised, I ran to the foam pit and did a Geronimo flip in. High-fives and congratulations all around. I recorded a little piece for my YouTube channel and looked for the guy I defeated so I could shake his had again and tell him how much this victory, first after 22 tries, meant to me. I couldn’t find him. I kind of felt bad about that.

But wait a minute here. Yes, I was a foot taller than him. I outweighed him by almost ten pounds. I’d had a short match and a long rest; he’d had a long match and a short rest. These were all advantages for me.

But I am certain that he trains more often than me, fights more often than me, and has less bodyfat. The order and matching of the bouts was essentially random. Having the endurance to do multiple matches in short order against different sized opponents is part of the game.

So dammit, I am not going to feel bad about winning!

One final thought: Earlier in the day there were kids’ matches, and some of the kids took losing pretty hard. I was speaking with the fellow next to me and he said there is no reason to get upset about losing, because you always learn something from losing, you never learn anything from winning. I told him I’d have to get back to him on that. Well, here’s what I say: I did learn some things from winning. I learned that I knew how to execute a rear naked choke. I learned that I have a fighter’s mentality when I want to. I learned what it felt like to win, and that is what a successful redemption is about. You take everything that you have, that you are, that is inside of you, and you cash it in and find out what you are worth. It feels good to know that you have what it takes to get what you want.

Now I have another tournament next week, the Long Island Grappling Challenge. Let’s see if I can get that second win, and get it on camera this time!

Report from the Wicked Faire

2010-02-23T03:56:00.000-08:00

As part of the promotions for my grappling movie, "Redemption," in the interest in spreading the fun of submission grappling, and for the sheer fun of it, I hosted a "Warriors of Doom Wrestling Room" and a local quasi-fetish ren faire/fantasy/steampunk convention in New Jersey, the Wicked Faire, this past weekend.

This is something I have done before when I worked with a team of female wrestlers who did wrestling sessions with men for pay. The idea is that there are people who, for whatever reason (some reasons I don't care, some you wouldn't want to know) there are people who love to wrestle and grapple, especially with people of their preferred gender. Providing a safe, structured, and entertaining venue for this is an appreciated thing at events like these.

We held a few brief demonstrations of basic BJJ moves with the emphasis on safety and fun. We talked about the importance of tapping out before you get hurt, the progression from position to submission, and then had some exhibitions between our "warriors." Afterwards we "took on all challengers" in 10-minute matches.

The challengers were a mixed back of types, styles, and skill levels. There was one guy who was highly skilled at BJJ, and our man June found it was all he could do to avoid being tapped out. There was one guy who wore a black gi and jeans (evoking the style of Patrick Swayze in "Roadhouse") who claimed ninja training, on whom I was able to get the submission several times, and who never made me tap. There was a girl who fought June to a standstill. Our female fighter, Jasmine, got in a pretty good match against a fellow with more enthusiasm than skill. The best action of the weekend, though, was a big girl we called "Thunder Bunny" against June. Though he was able to take her back on the ground a couple of times, for the most part the match involved her denying every attempt at takedown and simply falling on top of June.

Personally, I found it useful to fight guys who were not as skilled in grappling as I for a change (in addition to the ninja, I also fought a guy about my size who had very little training). Most of the time, in tournaments and at Twin Towers Wrestling Club, I find myself up against guys stronger, faster, more skilled, more experienced, better conditioned, and more aggressive than me. This means much of my game is about defending, protecting, and denying the other guy's attempts at submitting me. This time I was able to actually try out moves that I had been training, and finding what parts of them worked and what didn't. It also helped increase my confidence in terms of "oh yeah, I can do this!" I can't wait 'till Tuesday now to go back to Twin Towers and challenge up, in preparation for the tournaments coming up over the next two weekends!

The screening of "Redemption" was not perfect. There were some delays at the tech was being set up, and with so much else going on at the event, not much of an audience came to see it. From the cast, GE West, Nicole, and Eric were there, along with June, and a few random people came in and out. Towards the end of the movie, two drunken guys wandered in and spent the rest of the movie talking loudly about MMA instead of watching the movie. There were also moments when folks would come in to check on the tech in preparation for other screenings, and be standing in the room, talking in full voice during the movie about the tech, and I had to ask them to talk outside.

In this version, the movie has some very good things in it. The opening is strong, and the use of titles and music worked. However, some of the scenes seem to be dragging, a little self-indulgent. I also need to fix yup the ending a bit, and I would like to re-shoot one or two moments. There is a match int he tournament that I would like to change the ending of, and I need more reaction shots in a couple of scenes.

Next uyp, two grappling tournaments in Long Island in two days!

Sneak Preview of fulll movie this weekend!

2010-02-19T20:23:00.001-08:00

That's right, at the Wicked Faire this weekend, "Redemption" will have it's first screening in full-length form! I am very excited!

I would say more, but I have to get back to editing it together. Go to http://www.wickedfaire.com for more details of the event!

Report from the Renegade Grappling League tournament

2010-02-09T21:40:00.000-08:00

As part of the overall process of this movie, I am training with the Twin Towers Wrestling Club and competing in tournaments. Here is a report on the one I competed in last Sunday:

On Saturday I was not sure that I would go to the Renegade Grappling League tournament the next day, but then I saw Avatar (read my review of Avatar here), and that inspired me to go, and I am glad it did.

Avatar is about a man who finds something he had lost in learning the skills and lifestyle of an alien tribe. Without going into all the details (that’s for another time) let’s just say that his adventure mirrors my own in the world of submission grappling.

Specifically, the joy the hero, Jake, felt when experiencing the physicality of his alien avatar body felt much like the way I feel when experiencing the physicality of a properly executed grappling move, and I knew that the more I practiced and competed, the more I would get to feel that thrill.

Also the more Jake did with the tribe, the more he was accepted by them, and who doesn’t want to feel that acceptance?

So I trekked up to Johns Boxing Gym in the Bronx for the inaugural tournament of the Renegade Grappling League. It was a modestly-sized affair, with about a dozen or so competitors of various weights. It was set us as a round-robin tournament, with fighters getting multiple matches against other fighters in their weight bracket.

It was run by the good folks from Sadistic Athletics, who definitely allowed a sense of fun to pervade the afternoon. Most everyone there was more experienced, stronger, better conditioned, and shorter than me, which is pretty much par for the course wherever I go, but I was determined that no one would have more fun than me!

We fought in a boxing ring, so of course I had to mount the ropes and make like I was going to dive off before my first match. I was paired up against a short, stocky, quick wrestler guy who had fought one or two hard bouts already. He was not very aggressive in the opening, so I got to establish the clinch, but then he got a headlock on me and took me down into side control with an arm triangle. I pushed out of the triangle, and while I was bringing my leg in front of his face to go for the armbar, he stuck my arm between his legs and put pressure on the elbow, forcing me to tap pretty quickly.

Well, I generally get at least one short match like that in every tournament, so I guess it was just as well to get that out of the way quickly, so I would be fresh for my next bout.

I was paired with a guy about my height and about 10 lbs lighter than me for whom this was only his second competition. This match lasted the distance. In this event each match was three rounds of three minutes. Again I mounted the ropes, and by then I was beginning to win over the crowd. I had been chatting with the Sadistic Athletics people earlier about possible work involving my grappling movie “Redemption,” and a fellow who had been involved in the rehearsals of that movie was also there, and they all were shouting advice to me during the match. I followed the advice as best as I could.

In the match, I was able to control the takedowns so that my opponent wound up in a guillotine hold, though I was unable to complete the choke. I avoided several submission attempts, and escaped a rear-naked choke that almost got locked in. I almost got a toe hold/leg lock locked in, but not enough to make him tap. I escaped from under his half guard once or twice. I may have been “saved by the bell” at one moment (and in between rounds I almost spit water on someone accidentally), but when the last round came I laid it all out. I leaped off the second rope, the crowd was cheering, and rather than a handshake, my opponent and I high-fived.

I almost got the guy in an upside-down leg triangle and kimura, but he grabbed my shorts and pulled his head out. I wound up in his guard but stayed on top of him till the end of the fight. He almost arm-triangled me there, but I held out, then fought out, and was working on a kimura when the match ended.

The judges were not scoring by “points,” during the match, but did make decisions when no submission was scored. They said it was close, and in a split decision, gave the victory to the other guy. I have to agree with them, as it felt like he was on top of me, one way or another, through most of the match.

After the regular matches were concluded and the prizes awarded, there was an open-weight tournament. I was paired against the shortest, lightest guy in the tournament, a 135 lb. guy who can’t have been more that 5’3” tall. But he was a strong, , trained, ninjitsu fighter with great endurance and used to fighting folks bigger than him. I made the joke that it would be like Rey Mysterio fighting Kendall Grove. He fought in gi pants with no shirt, so I took my shirt off as well.

The match was scheduled for three minutes. My feet slipped on the mat at the first clinch, and after a brief struggle, he pulled guard. He attempted an armbar on me, which I stacked him out of. He was able to pull back to guard, and eventually went for another armbar. I had it defended, but he fell over and my elbow got pushed painfully sideways, so I tapped out at about 2:30.

So now my grappling competition record stands at 0-17-2. But I had fun, and I definitely won the crowd over. The Sadistic Athletic boys had, in fact, asked me to continue bringing the entertainment, which I did every time I entered the ring by standing on the ropes like a pro wrestler. I was appreciated for who and what I am, an entertainer who is learning skill as a grappler. I was, in fact, complimented on how well I did and how well I was taking instruction during the match. And that was the payoff I was looking for, and why I am glad I went to see Avatar the night before.

Week 11: Final rehearsal and audition, Part 3: Referee audition

2010-01-23T10:45:00.000-08:00

So after we put the auditioners through their paces, we lined up three of the matches we had planned for the movie and assigned the auditioners to improvise refereeing them.

The matches were:
Willis vs. Bundy, the heavyweights!

Dan vs. Kirkland, Wushu vs wrestling

G.A. vs. Big Vince, an Underground party match

So what do you think? Who were your favorites? Post yoru thoughts in the comments section!

Week 11: Final rehearsal and audition, Part 2

2010-01-14T10:55:00.000-08:00

So we got the auditioners squared away, busy working with each other or regular cast members. Then Lou Nogueira of The Dojo, Wolcott, Ct, showed them a three-move routine, which they practiced with cast members, while I and the cast kept our collective eyes on them to decide who would take which open role...

The camera for this episode was held by Jeremy Salig, and the music is by Dr. Bronko Von Johnstein. The Sprawl fight clothes Lou and I are wearing was provided by the Sprawl Fight Shorts company

Week 11: Final rehearsal and audition, Part 1

2010-01-03T07:34:00.000-08:00

I was able to steal a few minutes to put together another video. This is of the last rehearsal day, where we auditioned a few new cast members.

The music is a new composition by Dr. Bronko Von Johnstein, the guy who created the music in the trailer.

New Video: All About the Elbows

2009-11-06T09:21:00.000-08:00

Here's a short scene I just edited together. It's got something to do with elbows.

New scene - Captain Zorikh Runs the Gauntlet

2009-10-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

The "running of the gauntlet" that I did in the rehearsal inspired me to create this scene in the movie. It is a pivotal moment in the story. I believe that sometimes there is not just one pivotal moment, an experience has to be reinforced by successive events to truly make a long-lasting impact. This scene occurs immediately afte another pivotal experience.

NYC Submission Shootout 9/20/09, part 2

2009-10-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here's the rest of the NYC Submission Shootout for me, oncew again, my presence was sponsored by the Big Apple Comic-Con.

NYC Submission Shootout Sept. 2009 part 1

2009-10-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I went back to the NYC Submission shootout and competed again. I did about the same as last time, although I fought four matches instead of three. Here's the first one...

The rest of the day will be coming soon!

My participation in this event was sponsored by the Big Apple Comic-Con which explains the graphic at the beginning and end of the video, and the large green t-shirt that I am wearing.

About a certain grappling party

2009-09-17T23:37:00.000-07:00

For various reasons it looks like I will not be going back to that monthly grappling party for the foreseeable future. This is a shame, because I have had a lot of fun there, and cast part of my movie with my friends from there and people I have met there.

I am proud to have been a part of this party and the activities surrounding it since before the beginning, and have enjoyed much of it. I love each and every person I have met there and worked with regarding it.

I hope to keep in touch with you all, and hope to see you and have you as part of my future endeavors.

Heck of a weekend!

2009-09-14T18:37:00.000-07:00

We shot the "Captain Zorikh plays a gig" scene at an actual gig at Otto's Shrunken Head. Then we showed the Tag-Team match at the bi-monthly Movie Madness Sunday at the same place.

The gig was a glorious trainwreck. I had wanted to form a band entirely of fighters from the movie, but some of them were not available, and some of those that were had a hard time getting to rehearsals. I needed to have a good gender ratio to match the theme of the movie, but it seems to be difficult to find rockabilly keyboardists and drummers in this town.

Finally, between people I have worked with, people I knew, people from the movie, and some last-minute networking with Frank Wood outside Otto's Shrunken Head, I wound up with a band, using the "Death Star Repairmen" name, consisting of myself on vocals, guitar, and harmonica, Eli Maniscalco on bass, Avery Man and Nicole Giunta on Saxophone, Isaac Everett and Amanda Tree on keyboards, Grace on drums, and Becca Hasselbrook on cajon. The entire band got a grand total of about 15 minutes of rehearsal as a unit before hitting the stage at Otto's.

Everything was late. We were the first band for the night. The house keyboard was locked up, the mikes were not out, the gig booker was late, the house manager was not present, and there was no one there to see us yet. Fortunately the camea people were there.

We got everything set up. The cameras were ready, audience arrived, more audience were hooked in from the other room, the band got on stage, and we blasted away, almost fully unencumbered by excessive preparation. The crowd was into it, the cameras were rolling, and we got through the two songs twice.

The camera crew consisted of Evelyn, M. Green, Matt Rosen, and Fred Smith.

After the set I hung out with Patrick Devaney of "Zombie Hunters" and several others, including Lou Nogueira, the "Guru" of the Underground Team in the movie. We had a rip-roaring time discussing making movies,and more, until we all crawled home.

After having avoided alcohol for two weeks to prep my voice for the gig, it was good to drink again.

Then on Sunday we screened the Tag Team match in two parts as well as "Zombie Hunters, Episode 6."

Though the turnout was lighter than in previous screenings, it was enthusiastic. We even drew in a few people from the bar who were not aware of the screening at first. It went very well. The Tag Team match got the desired reaction from the crowd. They were with the action all the way through. When Kristi-Lynn spun Doug on her shoulders, they cheered. When Big Vince proposed, the laughed with the hones guffaw of the recognition of the absurdity of the situation. When Captain Zorikh hit the mat, they cheered. And the applause at the end felt like genuine enthusiasm.

the screening was sponsored in part by the Big Apple Comic-Con, October 16-18 in NYC.

This all inspires me the keep on working, keep on digging, and get this movie done!

Tag Team Match part 2

2009-08-29T06:59:00.000-07:00

When last we left our heroes, Vince was struggling with commitment issues, both on the mat and in his relationship with Kristi. Lady Lee had dominated her two matches in the tournament, GA and Derek were still seeking their first victories of the day, and Captain Zorikh was facing his first tag-team match. And will the guru of the Underground team and the Trainer of the Legit team ever meet on the mat?

I have been experimenting with the London Bus Stop version of "Get it On, Bang a Gong" and the Ry Cooder soundtrack music. Please comment and let me know what you think.

Help this project! Buy my posters!

2009-08-20T08:27:00.000-07:00

I am raising more funds to finish off this movie by selling off some things that I no longer need, some pieces of my life that I am leaving behind. I used to collect posters. At every comic convention, every free giveaway, every movie premiere, if they were giving away posters, I would take some. Some had been given to me as gifts, some I even sought out and bought. But now they are just taking up space, cluttering up my room, and not doing me any good. I don't have the wall space for them, and besides, I'm not a kid anymore.

So who wants about 300 posters from the 1980's up to today? Mostly they are movie posters, sci-fi and fantasy, although some of them are for comics, books, games, sports, art, music, and I even have a few that have the World Trade Center in them. I don't have the time to put them all up on E-Bay, so I will accept any reasonable offer, so long as you either come to pick them up or pay for shipping.

You can see photos of them all at My Photobucket Site

Below is the list of what's available:

Movies & TV
300 DVD (3)
Alien Raiders (small) (3)
Alien Raiders (4)
Apollo 13 (2)
Babylon II (2)
Beowulf (2)
Black Dahlia
Blade Runner- National College Preview (2)
Blade Trinity 1
Blade Trinity 2
Boogeyman (2)
Braveheart weapons
China O'Brien 2
Cloverfield
The Core
Cutthroat Island
Daredevil – Ben Afleck
Daredevil – Bullseye (2)
Daredevil - Elektra (2)
Daredevil – Kingpin (2)
Darkman (3)
Dead Presidents
Deadly Spawn (6)
Death Prof & Planet Terror/Death Proof (2)
Death Proof & Planet Terror/Machete (2)
Doomsday (2)
Dragons – Animal Planet (William Stout)
Eight Legged Freaks (3)
El Cantante
Escape From L.A.
E.T. 20th Anniversary (5)
The Exorcist (remake)
Face/Off
Fanboys (6)
Fido
Final Destination 2 (2)
Flyboys
The Fourth Protocol (3)
Ghost Ship
Golden Compass
Grant Morrison's MBX (online animated)
Harry Potter Soundtrack
Hellboy (small) (2)
Hellboy (big)
Hellboy II
Hell's Beacon (signed)
Highlander/The Cutoff (Karate International) (2 sided)
House of the Dead (2)
The hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney)
Indiana Jones (4)
Into the West – TNT (2 sides) (2)
Iron Man (launching) (2)
Iron Man (4)
Iron Man (2)
Jackass 2
The Jacket (2)
James Scott (audio play)
Jurassic Park – The Lost World (2)
Kill Bill (3)
Kull the Conqueror (3)
LifeForce (9)
Lord of the Rings – Two Towers (small) (2)
Lord of the Rings – Two Towers (big)
Lord of the Rings – Return of the King – Gandalf
Lord of the Rings – Return of the King - Frodo
Master and Commander (2)
Master & Commande (2 sided) (2)
McHale's Navy (4)
Millenium Actress (2)
Mongol (59)
Mr. Ed Salad Bar – Nick at Night
Ninja Babes from Space (2)
One Piece (2)
Pathfinder (2)
Perfect Creature (2)
Punisher 2004 (Skull) (2)
Punisher 2004 (Thomas Jane) (3)
Punisher War Zone
Red Planet
Remo Williams: The Adventure Begins (2)
Remo Williams: The First Adventure (6)
Return of the Aliens: The Deadly Spawn
Robin Hood: Men in Tights (7)
The Rock
Rollerball (remake) (3)
Sci-fi Channel (2)
Scorpion King (8)
Seeing Red
Silence of the Lambs
The Sixth Day (3)
Slacker Cats
Slayer (3)
Stardust (2)
Stargate - Ark of Truth
Star Trek Nemesis (4)
Star Trek 2008
Star Wars – Revenge of the Brick
Star Wars – The Phantom Menace – Taco Bell 1 of 4 (with coupons)
Star Wars – The Phantom Menace – Taco Bell 2 of 4 (with coupons)
Star Wars – The Phantom Menace – Taco Bell 3 of 4 (with coupons)
Sweeny Todd – Depp (2)
Sweeny Todd – Depp & Carter (2)
Tales of the Broken Moon
Timeline (3)
To the Devil – A Daughter (2)
Tomb Raider soundtrack
Tomorrow Never Dies
The Tune (singed & personalized by Bill Plympton)
Transformers (2)
Twilight (2)
Underdog
Underworld (2)
Urban Legends - Final Cut
War of the Wizards (11)
War of the Worlds
Watchmen - Silk Specter (5)
Watchmen – Comedian (2)
What About Bob
X-Men (2)
X-2 (3)

America Film Market 1989
America Film Market 1990
New York International Independent Film and Video Festival 2005 (2)

Theater
It Ain't Nothin' but the Blues

Books
Hatter: The Looking Glass Wars - (2)
Star Wars – Legacy of the Force
Tigerheart (Peter David) (2)
Waldenbooks Other Worlds Club

Comics
100% - Vertigo
2001 Nights (3)
Arrowsmith
Batman Adventures
Big Daddy Danger - DC
Black Dragon
Black Tiger
Chronicles of Sara
DK2
Feather
The Filth – Grant Morrison – Vertigo (2)
Fables
Galtow
Helix Comics
Human Target - DC
JLA: Obsidian Age
Magnus Robot Fighter – Aklaim
A Man Called Ax – DC (3)
Marvel in Previews
More Than Mortal Sagas
Ninjak – Aklaim
The Pummeler
Replacements
Savage Swod of Conan
Sin City
Spiral/Black God
Troublemakers - Aklaim
Turok - Aklaim
The Warrior's Way
Wonder Woman: The Hiketeia – Original Universe
Warrior's Way
Will Eisner Tribute
WS: Eye of the Storm - Wildstorm
Zombie Loan/Alice on Deadlines

Big Apple Convention September 2005 10th Anniversary (Arthur Suydam) (3)
Big Apple Convention November 2007 (Brian Kong)
Big Apple Convention June 2008 (Michael Golden - Iron Man) (16)
Creation Convention National Tour 1983
MoCCA Art Fest 2005 (2)
Whitney Comic Art Show 1983

Computer Games
Asheron's Call (2 sides)
Dragon Age Origins (2 sides) (24)
Lair (3)
Lord of the Rings: Return of the King
Middle Earth – The White Hand
Tenchu
Warhammer Online Age of Reckoning (2 sides)

Non-Computer Games
Andromeda 2500
Dragon Quest
Kult – Illusion #1, 1994
Shadowstar Games
Sorcerer's Crusade
Who's Who Among Vampires – Children of the Inquisition

Toys
Batmobile 1950's
Justice League
JLA – Starro
Superman #14
Watchmen

Art
Architecture calendar posters (2 different)
Architecture in Congrass 2000 - 1985
Cheshire Cat
Dragan Ilic
Dragan Ilic signed & numbered (1 of 100)
Excedrin 1
Excedrin 2
Wavertree ship in South Street Seaport
Heavy Metal (Royo)
Red Grooms Grand Central Terminal (signed & personalized)
Salute to Brasil 1979
Sagres – Portuguese ship
Sci-fi – Columbia House
Space

Sports
Boxing - John Duddy vs. Dupre Strickland 5/18/2007
Boxing - Tyson - Holyfield 11/9/1996
Dr. J – Converse
Football Cards, uncut sheet
International Fight League
NASCAR Sprint Cup 2008
New Jersey Red Dogs Arena Football 1999
New York Knights Arena Football 1988 (3)
Pepsi-Gatorade (2 sided)
Tommy Moe-signed
USA Basketball “America's Team” 1992
Super Bowl XV – New Orleans

Music
The Beatles First US Visit
Hudson River Revival 1986
Apocalygma Berzerk
Battery Cage
Bella Morte
Imperative
KMFDM
Psyclon 9
Retrosic
Seabound
System Syn

Other
Cindy Crawford in fantasy armor - Pocari Sweat (Japan)
D-Day 50th Anniversary (3)
Famous Grouse “Henge” scroll
Famous Grouse map of Scottish whiskey distilleries
Head of Charles Regatta
“Marihuana” Warning
School of Visual Arts – Churchill & Eiffel Tower
School of Visual Arts – Imagination Birds
Stuyvesant Scroll
Taco Bell “80's, what a Decade” 1990 calendar
Timespell (Multi-media show in Watkins Glen, NY)
Tower Records book covers (2)
Tower Records calendar 1987 (3)
Tower Records calendar 1989

Most of the posters are in great shape, though some are a little battered from having been up on a wall or in transit.

If you are interested, contact me at zorikh@juno.com or 917-865-1214

The Tag Team Match - Part 1

2009-08-13T21:25:00.000-07:00

The tag team match was probably the most magical moment of the whole production process. Some of the matches had been carefully choreographed, some we pretty much "wung" on the fly, but everyone knew the order in which the matches were supposed to be, and the significance of each match. When it came time to shoot, and the performers began, there was no stopping them. They threw themselves into the scene with passion, energy, and commitment, and we just let it happen! Most of the footage you see here was from that one, 12-minute take (with three cameras). We did do some close-ups and pickups later, but in that one shot,I saw what can happen when preparation, passion, and enthusiasm all come together.

Tournament Round 4 - The Climax

2009-07-29T03:02:00.001-07:00

I have finally gotten to the climactic showdown between Captain Zorikh and his adversary, Lady Lee. I am very glad that I did as much editing on the other matches as I did before getting to this.

I took it in a slightly different direction this time. I wanted a different feel for this round, especially for the Big Showdown. I used flashbacks to help heighten the drama. I also used some Ry Cooder music from Streets of Fire (loved that movie!).

Yes, I have edited the end of the match, but you don't really think I'm going to give it all away right here,do you?

Some more movies I should have watched before starting this project.

2009-07-26T15:04:00.000-07:00

Bull Durham - Really good film technique, very good handling of the sports movie genre, its characters and tropes.

Run Fatboy Run - An excellent sports comedy about redemption that avoids the corny, unrealistic ending that Simon Peg's previous redemption movie, Sean of the Dead, fell into.

Never Back Down - Really not as bad as some folks have made it out to be. I especially liked the use of internet, video, and instant communication technology to advance the story.

Latest screening of "Redemption" footage a success!

2009-07-17T04:39:00.001-07:00

Although the attendance of the "Redemption" cast was sparse, "Zombie Hunters" brought nearly 20 people to the "Movie Madness Hour" at Otto's Shrunken Head on Sunday.

This was the most satisfying film screening experience I have had so far. A bunch of people with no foreknowledge of the movie, and who may or may not have been fans of wrestling, grappling, or martial arts, gave all the right reactions at all the right points in the footage. They expressed amusement at Avery's identification with cartoon characters, laughed heartily at Vince's fear of commitment, gave a satisfying "ooh!" when Avery slammed Doug on the mat, appreciated the comedy of Kristi-Lynn's disqualification, and the resultant stop and restart of the tournament, and applauded entousiastically at the end of the tournament matches. Even the epilogue, the scene in the hallway between Vince and Kristi-Lynn, got the laughs and gasps in all the right places.

After a the decidedly mixed reactions that "Combat Twister" has been getting, this was very encouraging.

And in a completely unrelated note, there is a small bird clinging to the screen on my window.

Kimbo becomes a Role Model

2009-07-17T04:11:00.000-07:00

So it seems that the second-biggest gimmick in mixed martial arts last year, Kimbo Slice, has joined the cast of "The Ultimate Fighter". In a report by Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, it is reported that Kimbo said "There might have been a little more money elsewhere in the short run, but I’m looking at the big picture, and this is the right move for me at the right time."

Here's a guy who got 10 million views on YouTube and was the face of a major national network's MMA show, until he got beat by a last-minute replacement fighter in 14 seconds. He had beaten Tank Abbot, had won his first few legit MMA fights, and could apparently played his notoriety up by continuing to tour the top-level MMA circuit, fighting carefully-picked, past-their-prime fighters, maybe even done some pro wrestling like Tank, Ken Shamrock, and Dan Severn did. But no, he puts him in with a class of young up-and-comers, essentially admitting he has a lot to learn.

This is a role model. Someone who has a dream, a goal, and follows it. Also it is a very shrewd move. By being this kind of role model, he makes himself a more appealing figure, which may also make him more marketable. A big, mean, scary guy who is a good example to youth (Mr. T anyone?).

I want to be that kind of role model. But do I have what it takes to do it?

Screening today at Otto's Shrunken Head

2009-07-12T03:37:00.000-07:00

I edited down the "Getting to Know the Cast" video to a manageable 5+ minutes, added some music to Round 2, and will be screening those videos and Round 3 at "Captain Zorikh's Movie Madness" today at Otto's Shrunken Head.

Tournament Round 3

2009-07-07T06:44:00.000-07:00

Round three has proven to be the easiest round to edit. The fight choreography and footage available lent itself very easily to chapter breaks and cutaways.

In this round we have the "heavyweight match" between Bundy and Willis, Joe finding it tough going against Kamakaze, and Lady Lee taking on the tattooed Derek, with Captain Zorikh watching intently.

Big Apple Con Report

2009-06-28T04:39:00.001-07:00

On Sunday, June 13, Redemption made its first major public appearance at the Big Apple Convention. Lee, Douglas, Kirkland, Avery, and Eric came to help, and they succeeded in selling 4 DVD's. Brimstone was also there and he took some disks to sell as well.

Thanks to all you of you for coming. Here's a picture of the crew. That's Diana with us also.

Romantic Comedy Soap Opera

2009-06-28T04:25:00.000-07:00

This is the first "acting" scene without me that I have edited for the project. Kristi-Lynn was a very-last-minute replacement for a cast member who had not shown up for the last rehearsal and whom we thought we had lost forever. It turned out she had been called on an emergency trip for work to California without her cell phone or any way to contact me, which was a shame because she had created this character and had really great chemistry with Vince. I went through a mad emergency casting process and got very lucky in being able to confirm Kristi at 2:30 PM the afternoon before this shoot.

Kristi turned out to be a great addition to the cast. She is a boxer, wrestler, and stunt person who threw herself into the role. We gave her a crash course in grappling basics and immersed her in what the scene was supposed to be. I think she did a great job!

Round 2 is up!

2009-06-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

Here's the rough cut of Round 2 of the tournament scene. No music this time, I'm hoping to get some new music from certain local musicians.

This is the video that was banned from the Grappler's Quest Facebook page!

The matches here are between Kirkland Campbell and Derrek Bolster, Vincent Gottschal and Kristi-Lynn, and Douglas Ahammer and Avery Man.

Week 7 - Meet the Cast video

2009-05-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

Here is the second part of the Week 7 video, in which Captain Zorikh talks with the cast and gets to know them better. There is footage from various rehearsals, the movie itself, and other sources to illustrate what the various cast members are talking about.

Grappling = Dance?

2009-05-25T03:41:00.000-07:00

I just saw a program on Channel 13 (PBS) about Black Grace, a predominantly male dance troupe from New Zealand. The founder and leader of the troupe is a brilliant choreographer and in the program he was preparing the troupe for its appearance at the Jacob's Pillow dance festival.

I recognized the same passion I have for this movie project as he had for his dance project. He really wanted to say something with his dance. He really demanded dedication from the dancers.he really believed in the power and ability of dance to communicate feelings and ideas.

Watching this confirmed for me something that I had been thinking and feeling all along: grappling as a performance medium is dance. Through movement, two grapplers can cooperatively tell a story. The moves that they do, the choices that they make, the manner in which they do them, can all combine to make the audience read the relationship between the two of them. The match or scene can be one of comedy or drama or anger or pathos and pretty much anything else, if you just make the choice that that's what it's going to be.

I now have an idea of how to make a stage show using grappling as the performance medium. It would be similar to a pro wrestling shown in that every scene is a "fight scene," but I believe the stories that we can tell can be so much subtler that the typical WWE show.

Preview DVD available at Gladiator Martial Arts Awakening this Saturday!

2009-05-15T21:06:00.000-07:00

Once again we step out of the production blog continuity to bring you an urgent update.

The "Martial Arts Madness" boys are holding another tournament at Kid Kelly's Gym in Brookly, I have been madly pulling together a "Preview DVD" to sell at the tournament. It's all ready now, 37 minutes and 18 seconds of video including the trailer, the Brimstone promo, Round 1 of the tournament scene, and a couple of chapters of the video production report. Hopefully I can sell a few of them to start making money on this project, which will them be plowed into further production and promotion.

You can see a description of the tournament at The Facebook Event Announcement

Week 11 Report

2009-05-15T20:38:00.000-07:00

On Week # 11, everything came out in the wash.

The cast member who had problems with two other cast members had written himself into an agreement that prevented him from working with those cast members, and since I would lose four other cast members if I lost those two, and losing those particular cast members would disrupt the storylines that I had been building and fight routines that had been established, I decided that I would lot get rid of those two members. So he dropped out, and one other cast member went with him. The first of those two cast members who left was not so difficult to replace. In fact, I had pretty much already replaced him. He had been absent a lot lately, and Lou Nogueira had stepped in and been present on those days that he was out. Even when he was in, he had deferred to Lou a lot. The other cast member was tougher, as she was part of the "Romeo & Juliette" sub-plot I was writing in. But Nicole Giunta joined the cast in time for Week #11 and took over that role.

I also put out some casting notices and got a surprising level of response. I got experience competition grapplers and MMA fighters, Jerry Mendez had referred a few of his grappling and MMA friends, and I even got contacted by the former Israeli Pro Wrestling champion and the agent of Brimstone, a well-known indie pro wrestler.

I had invited these people to come to a particular "underground wrestling party" in Manhattan as well as the rest of the cast, and got a great turnout! the cast members were able to get a sense of the scene that I was coming from with this movie, and I was able to see these potential new cast members in action.

So on Saturday I had 6 potential new cast members lined up (including Nicole). Lou and I put them through some paces with the cast, and then I conferred with the cast as to who would get which role. In the end we were able to use each and every one of them to fill a hole in the cast.

Specifically, we needed to cast a new Tybalt. Stephen showed in his wrestling the kind of desperate fury that I thought such a character would have. We needed a new trainer for the "Legit" team. Bret showed the legit credibility such a role required. We needed three referees and someone to fill a hole in the "Legit" team. WE had the auditioners improv refereeing three different matches (this also gave three pairs of wrestlers the opportunity to practice their routines under performance conditions). After this we were able to select a head referee. Looking at the cast, I decided that the other referees would be supplied by the two teams, and that they would start off the tag team match.

Together with Willis, Oscar, and Yusif, the three of us some days earlier had set all the matches for the tournament and the tag-team match that we were to shoot on the 25th. I told everyone in the cast what those final matchups were and the order in which their fights would go, and set them to working on their routines.

When that work was done, we gathered up the mats, the "Underground" team, the cameraman, and the PA's, and headed up to Tagine, where we shot the "Underground Fight Party" scene. The three preliminary fights there (Vincent vs. GA, Bundy vs. Kamikaze, and Sandra vs. Lee) were all well prepared, with only my match with Yousif someone improvised (I have found myself so busy doing everything else it takes to make a movie that I have had precious little time to actually work on my own fights. Note to self: don;t let that happen in the future). Lou proved invaluable, giving us good grappling advice. He also was able to do his trick whereby he caught an orange thrown at him while blindfolded. Jeremy Salig manned the camera, and Debra PA'd with great dexterity and sensitivity.

Tomorrow we shoot the scenes where Captain Zorikh first comes to train with the "Legit" team.

THE TRAILER IS UP!

2009-05-08T06:26:00.001-07:00

...on YouTube.

Screening today!

2009-05-03T05:20:00.000-07:00

Confession: This blog is several weeks behind. I had intended to report on all the work as it happened, but working on the projectgot in the way of reporting on it. As did my new job.

So today I will depart from the regular chronology and announce WE ARE HAVING A SCREENING TODAY!

At Otto's Shrunken Head, I will be screening an advance sneak preview trailer/short video of the movie. Be there! htt://www.ottosshrunkenhead.com, along with a cupcake tasting from Red Velvet Heaven http://www.mrfwood.com/events/2009/05/090503.html

Week 10 Report

2009-04-28T03:11:00.001-07:00

When I originally conceived this project, I had envisioned that I would have been done shooting in March. Then I looked at how many weekend there were things I wanted to do with the cast to help and promote the project, including going to grappling tournaments and comic book conventions. I also had the idea that we would need a few extra weeks to really work and hone the routines. So I thought that this week, April 11 would be a good day to shoot. A closer inspection of the date revealed that this was the week after I-Con, and I had too much going on at I-Con to miss it, and we would definitely need a week after I-Con for a "dress rehearsal."

However, some drama occurred that meant that this was not to be. A large and significant portion of the cast participated in a martial arts tournament on week #7. This was cool, I thought, as it would give the cast martial arts cred and be a great promotional opportunity. The following week, however, not a single member of that portion of the cast showed up at rehearsal.

It turns out that there was a bit of internal dissension in the group, and some members no longer wanted to work with other members, and my project was stuck in the middle. I had to have lengthy phone conversations and in-person meetings to find out what was going on. In the end I had to make the very difficult choice of who to let go and who to keep, because I was not going to be able to have everyone in that group work together.

So in week 10 six cast members I would have lost if I had followed the woitshes of one other cast member returned to the production. I had a talk with them, along with one other cast member who was close to the one. When I reported the results of the meeting to the one member later, he decided to withdraw, and the one other member went with him.

But in the meantime we had to continue working on the movie.

I focused on continuing to build routines, and I am very pleased with some of the results we are getting. Kirkland and Dan have built a "wrestling vs. kung fu grappling" routine that is quite interesting. Kat and Vince have built a wonderful romantic comedy storyline. And Bundy and I have a spectacular routine for the tag-tam match. I am getting concerned, though, because I am having to spend so much time directing and producing and writing that I am not having any time to train.

Oh yeah, I was able to distribute the Sprawl shorts and shirts to the cast members who needed them.

Brimstone supports "Redemption"

2009-04-22T21:03:00.000-07:00

Last week I posted a casting call to fill a few openings in the cast that the course of attrition and a few minor dramas over an 11 week rehearsal process had left. Also, I needed to cast a few referees.

The response to this was astounding. Where were all these people three months ago when I started? I got calls from real hardcore MMA guys, ten year competition veterans, high-ranking martial artists, and an Israeli pro wrestling champion. I also got a call from Brimstone, an indie pro wrestler of some renown who offered to do a celebrity cameo.

We shot the cameo on Sunday, It was the scene where Captain Zorikh gets the contact information for the legit martial arts team that he will join. It was shot outside Otto's Shrunken Head with Frank Wood. Brimstone was also kind enough to shoot the following promo:

Cool, huh?

Some thoughts about sports, martial arts, and gender

2009-04-20T00:38:00.000-07:00

The origins of this movie lie in the activities I used to do with a female wrestling team that made videos, competed in legit tournaments, performed in night clubs and fetish parties, and did wrestling sessions. I loved the diversity of activity we were able to do with the same skill set: submission grappling. As a long-time supporter of Equal Rights, I also was pleased that we happened to be demonstrating that women could be every bit as hard-working, aggressive, and competitive as men when it came to sports.

By the time I started this project as it is now, however, I was no longer working with that group, so I had to hold an open casting call. Through this casting call, and other casting calls I have made for female martial artists, wrestlers, and grapplers, I have found that most female martial artists who are also actors are more into the kicking and punching and "cardio" martial arts than the grappling arts. Upon reflection, whenever I have gone to grappling trainings or tournaments, there have always been very few women, and very few of those had any interest in show biz.

I recently recalled how when I was trying to help start a legit women's grappling school, research showed that while female participation in sports and martial arts has been skyrocketing lately, the slowest-growing field is wrestling.

Since I started making this movie, and even back when I was making "Combat Twister," I have run up against the perception that what I am making is a "catfight" or fetish video.

Yes, I have made wrestling fetish videos, both as a producer and a performer. No, I am not a wrestling fetishist. While I can tell how someone would find two women wrestling sexy, it's not what gets me aroused. I am more interested in the drama and skill of the fight, and I appreciate it when comedy is well integrated into the match.

The original version of this movie was going to be for the fetish market, but as I thought more about the movie, and the dramatic and comedic potential of the story, the more I thought it did not have to be strictly a fetish movie. And when I realized that I was not going to be making it with the original people that I had been working with, any pretense that it would be served to that market went away for me.

The whole premise of the movie is about how a man learns how to actually stick with an activity until he develops a skill he can be proud of, and the gains the courage to face his adversaries regardless of the potential outcome. It just so happened that the activity that inspired this movie was submission grappling, and the adversary in question was a fetish wrestling goddess. So in order to make this story work, I had to create a world in which men and women have the opportunity to compete on the same level in submission grappling. This, inadvertently, allowed me to express the idea that when you are training and competing to be the best you can be at what you do, you should not limit yourself to competing against only one gender.

I like this idea very much. I have lived with this idea as a part of my life. And now, as a writer, producer and director, I have a chance to make it come to life. But the realities of the grappling world and show biz are making it a challenge to realize that vision.

Week 9 Report

2009-04-19T21:49:00.000-07:00

Several of the cast members who had been absent the past two weeks returned, but several key members did not. Tony, who had been with us the first two weeks, returned, and brought with him Manuela, a new addition to the cast.

We worked on routines through the entire rehearsal. We figured out how Kat would spin and throw Yousif. Kirkland and Dan fount the completion of their match. GA and Vince figured out how they would do a move I had wanted GE at do since I saw his "Osirus" videos: a flying triangle. Bundy and I worked on our routine, which will have some spectacular stuff in it. And Sam and Lou continued to provide good advice and training.

A few key people were not there, though. I am starting to get concerned about the attrition rate among the cast. I expected a few people to drop out for various reasons. One woman dropped out early because she was concerned about injury. Another dropped out because she was concerned that too many people would think this was a fetish video and she had to think about her career. Another woman dropped out because she thought the "darkness" in this movie would affect her. And yet another female cast member had a pretty horrible family tragedy strike. And now a few cast members are saying the don't want to work with each other. I am certainly going to have to get to the bottom of this.

Hopefully I won't have to have another casting call. I love this cast. Their unique personality and chemistry has informed and inspired my vision for this movie so much, I can't imagine what I would do if I had to replace too many of them.

Week 8 Report

2009-04-16T15:18:00.001-07:00

For some strange reason, all the people from Martial Arts Madness failed to show up today, so I was not able to do all of what I wanted. Instead we learned a new sequence of guard pass, submission attempt, and counter, divided up the group available into the two teams, and discussed costuming.

Then we set up another improv scene, in which we rehashed "Captain Zorikh challenging the Adversary" that we had done two weeks before. This time I had Joseph Jordan stand in for CZ, and GA West and John B. Thierse played the "mentor" character. Lee Boria played the Adversary again. I had the cast run through the scene twice, and make different choices each time.

It was amazing how uncomfortable I felt watching someone play myself and watching myself be abused and made fun of. When I heard Bundy and Kamikaze shout "Captain Dork," and saw Joe stutter and stammer his way through his challenge, I was taken back to some of my less pleasurable moments in school and summer camp. That's when I knew that this movie has potential. We are not just punk kids half-assing grappling technique and fooling around, we are making a movie that people will be able to relate to, that they will respond to.

And that's what this is all about, isn't it?

Week 7 video Part 1

2009-04-10T17:38:00.000-07:00

Here is some video from week 7. This was the week that Sam and his team of Martial Arts Madness fighters were competing at a mixed martial arts tournament. So with a smaller cast of attendees, and with Lou Nogueira leading the training, we learned a new sequence and continued working routines.

Stay tuned, because in the next video, we will finally learn a little bit about the cast members themselves.

Location, location, location...

2009-03-31T13:05:00.000-07:00

So it looks like we have almost all the locations we need for the movie in the works, if not locked down.

I just spent a few minutes chatting with Sensei Louis A. Ruiz of Goshin Ryu Traditional Shotokan Karate-Do. He has said that we could use his dojo for shooting the scenes of the "legit" grappling team.

A friend of mine who works in a warehouse in Brooklyn has agreed to let me use that space for the big tournament scene, and Lou Nogueira has said we could use his mats. However, bringing those mats down here would be a task so...

Lou has offered that we use his dojo in Connecticut to shoot the tournament scene. I will be visiting it soon to check it out.

Tagine has agreed to let us use its basement for the "Underground party," I just have to come up with a certain amount of money to pay for food for the cast and crew that they would provide.

The "wrestling room" in the LGBT Center is available for a very affordable rate, and we can use that for one or two important scenes.

I still need to nail down a weightlifting gym for a couple of shots and I would like to use a bar around the corner for one scene, but I can adapt with both of those locations.

Videos from Week 6, talk and improvs

2009-03-30T18:50:00.000-07:00

Here is the talk I gave to the cast when I handed out the story breakdown. I explained the story and why it is important to have a believable Adversary for the Hero.

So I divided up the cast into two teams and gave them instruction that would lead them to enact a composite scene combining several elements of the story.

Here was the first team to preform their improv, made up mostly of pro wrestlers with Lee Boria as the Adversary, Jonathan Rodriguez standing in for Captain Zorikh, and GA West as the Mentor-to-be.

And then the second team went on, made up mostly of Sammy's team of mixed martial artists and the kung fu class I had recruited on Week 2. Elizabeth Vergara plays the Adversary, Douglas Ahammer stands in for Captain Zorikh, and Sam plays the Mentor-to-be.

These performances allowed me to see new aspects of the story that I had not considered, and showed me what aspects do not work. It was also instrumental in helping me cast the role of the adversary, and decide that the final tournament would be a match between two teams, not three.

Week # 7 Report

2009-03-27T21:34:00.000-07:00

Well, Sammy and his crew were off competing in their mixed martial arts tournament in Brooklyn, and for some reason, all but one of the New Epic Wrestlers were also absent, so turnout was a little light. This gave us a chance to give more personal attention to the folks who were there, and for Lou to put his expertise to work.

We learned a new grappling sequence, then set those who were there into their pairs to practice their routines. We ran the routines and Lou and I critiqued them.

While the routines were being practiced I spoke with Vince about his subplot with Kat. I think this has the potential to be a great piece of romantic comic relief for the movie.

Then I sat the cast down and had them talk, one by one, about why they were involved in the movie, what it, and grappling, meant to them, and what kind of a grappler, and character, they saw themselves in the movie. This was very, very enlightening. It gave me a quantum leap in my view of what this movie could be.

Then some of us went down to Kid Kelly's gym where the tournament was taking place. It ran a lot longer than we had expected, so some of the haste we took in getting there was wasted haste in getting there, in which a couple of cast members did not make it.

But once there, we saw an enthusiastic display of amateur martial arts prowess. You can see the video of Sammy winning his main event bout in an earlier post.

Video from Week # 6: Zorikh Talks to the Cast

2009-03-19T01:14:00.000-07:00

In this video, I speak to the cast about what the movie is about, how you need to have a real downer to make the uplifting believable, and the need for the right person to play the Adversary. In the end I set up the cast into two groups to improv a very important scene.

Video from Week #5: grappling routines

2009-03-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

Here's the video of the routines that we began choreographing, complete with a little thematically appropriate music to give it that extra "something"...

Sammy Wins!

2009-03-15T00:01:00.000-07:00

Sammy Vergara, trainer of the cast of "The Redemption of Captain Zorikh," along with a half-dozen of his crew that are also in the cast of the movie, competed in a mixed martial arts tournament yesterday.

Harol Coronado lost his match by a guillotine choke in the first round. Doug Ahammer and Jonathan Rodriguez fought each other, with Jonathan coming out the winner in a decision. Robert Rampersand lost his match by ground & pound. Edwin Echevarria and Stephen Plummer fought for three rounds to a draw. They were allowed one more round, which Stephen dominated for the win. Willi Cruz Jr. was forced to submit in the second round of his match.

But the highlight of the day was Sammy Vergara's match, the main event. In it he demolished his opponent, who stood a good head and shoulders above him and outweighed him by several dozen pounds, in less than 45 seconds of the first round. He knocked him out with a kick to the head, a difficult feat with the headgear all the fighters were wearing. It was easily the fastest, most exciting, and most emotional match of the day.

Week #6 Report

2009-03-14T21:39:00.000-07:00

This week we moved ahead. After learning a new takedown/submission/escape sequence, and having the cast members work on their competition routines, we did some group improvs.

I divided everyone, including the instructors, into two groups. I assigned each group a "Captain Zorikh" stand-in, an "adversary" and a "gatekeeper." I told them that the scene was set at an underground wrestling party where Captain Zorikh challenges the adversary. She accepts the challenge ad wipes the floor with him. Then the gatekeeper invites CZ to come train, if he wants to be taken seriously. in group A, a had all of the New Era wrestlers and several other cast members, as the party attendees, Lee Boria as the Adversary, G.A. West as the Gatekeeper, and Jonathan Rodriguez as the CZ stand-in. In group B, everyone else (mostly Sammy's crew, the Kung Fu kids, casting respondents, and the individuals I had personally invited) was the party attendees, Elizabeth Vergara played the Adversary, Sam as the Gatekeeper, and Douglas Ahammer as the CZ stand-in.

After a few questions, the cast took the ball and ran with it. They took the story and the action further than I had expected, and though they did misunderstand a direction or two (perhaps I was not clear enough in explaining myself) but by doing so, showed me stuff that I had not thought of.

I also handed out the story treatment of the movie to everyone, and explained to them a little bit more about where the movie came from, and what we were looking for as an Adversary for CZ.

This week also welcomes Lou Nogueira to the family. He will be acting in the film and assisting Sam with the training. Lou is a Judo, karate, and BJJ black belt, member of the Martial Arts Hall of Fame, and multi-time champion of several martial arts and grappling disciplines. You can see more about him at http://www.thedojoonline.com/ablou.htm

Week #5 Report

2009-03-13T22:44:00.000-07:00

Thsi week we began rehearsals in earnest. We divided the cast into pairs and had each pair work on choreographing a short routine. Then we sent each pair up "on stage" to perfrom their routine infront of all of us. After each routine the pairs were critiqued, and advised as to how to continue their work.

It was a great experience for everyone. I must say that with the help of Sammy and Willis we were able to put together some very interesting matches that were able to display the strengths of each individual as grapplers, and every team showed a great willingness and abiulity to work together. Some of the highlights included a lovely judo throw executed by Kirkland on Jonathan before a good technical match with several quality changes in momentum, Liz Vergara's openning fall before she skillfully won her bout against Yousif, a magnificent battle of leg-holds between Louis and Willis, Mitsuru's kung fu pose that was countered by Liz Hara's double-leg takedown, Sean and Robert's lengthy see-saw battle, and Kat and Vincent's romantic comedy match!

Next week we wil begin some acting improv work to help cast some of the more specific roles.

Week #4 Report

2009-03-10T07:36:00.001-07:00

This week we introduced a bunch of wrestlers from New Epic Wrestling in the Bronx to the cast. I had met them at the last Grapple Den party and rolled with all of them in a handicap match. They have brought a wonderful spirit, energy, and willingness to perform to the production.

We added falls and takedowns to the curriculum. It has been interesting to see how the people with different physical backgrounds approach the rolls and falls. Some of the more acrobatic types really "hot dog" it, while the beginners welcome the step-by-step instruction it takes to get it right.

I find myself torn between the need of a director/producer to watch the cast work and the need of a performer to work with the cast. I must admit I am also easily seduced by the role of observer/director. I am going to have to take more training with Sammy outside these rehearsals to build my skills for the picture.

Week #4 - Captain Zorikh Runs the Gauntlet

2009-03-04T15:57:00.001-08:00

After three weeks of making everyone else do work, I let the cast have a crack at me...

Sponsorships!

2009-02-28T19:11:00.000-08:00

The Long Island Meadery has agreed to supply us with a few bottles of their mead for a scene or two. It's great stuff! You can find out more about them at http://www.limeadery.com/

Sprawl has also been kind enough to agree to supply us with a few sorts and shirts. Watch for them in our future videos. http://www.sprawl.tv/

Talking About Week #4

2009-02-28T19:02:00.000-08:00

Captain Zorikh, Sammy Vergara, Lee Boria, and Willis Cruz Jr. talk about the project after the workshop on week #4.

NYC Submission Shootout - Matches #2 and #3

2009-02-28T18:40:00.000-08:00

Here are the second and third matches that I fought at the NYC Submission Shootout. Though I did not win either one of them, I had fun adding music to the video...and competing as well ;)

Week #3 Video: Part 3 - Tag Team Match

2009-02-28T18:09:00.000-08:00

At the end of the workshop in week #3, we lined up the attendees and held a tag-team match.

Week # 3 video, part 2

2009-02-19T06:39:00.000-08:00

Some more video from week # 3, where we started to build routines.

Camera by Phil Fiumano of NY Rocks TV
Editing by Captain Zorikh

Video from Week #3

2009-02-15T22:19:00.000-08:00

Camera by Phil Fiumano of NY Rock TV
Editing by Captain Zorikh

Wrokshop/rehearsal report, Week #4

2009-02-14T23:34:00.000-08:00

We had a great workshop today. We worked on falls and takedowns, and then we did more cooperative choreography work.

We had a bunch of new wrestlers from New Era Wrestling join us,a nd they proved to be very good, able to pick up techniques fast and having some great physical skills of their own. The beginners in the cast made great strides and show real potential. There were a couple of folks from the auditions we were not too sure of to start with, but they have all shown marked improvement

At the end of the rehearsal, thanked everyone for all the hard work they had done for the past four weeks. I had the cast applaud themselves, and I was actually surprised by the length and passion of the applause. I really think that they are beliving in this project. Then I pointed out that they had been working hard but I hadn;t done much but watch them. Then I aske dwho was wondering when I would get into the action, and who wanted a piece of the Captain.

Then I ran a gauntlet, wrestling each and every member of the cast for 30 seconds or to submission or tag out. It was good to finally get some action after spending 4 weeks simply watching everybody (as a director must do). I realized after that that I need some more moves in my vocabulary, more physical strength, and better conditioning.

But it felt great to do it, and the entire cast was into it. At the end everybody was cheering and chanting my name. I shouted "Who wants to be in my movie!" and everybody enthusiastically replied in the affirmative. It is moment like these that truly make me believe that this can be done.

Also this week, I had a new person hold the camera, A. Afendi. I will be posting his footage soon.

After the workshop, I met with Sammy, Lee, and Willis Cruz, Jr. We discussed how pleased we were with how things were going, and we proposed a few potential matches for the movie. As soon as they are confirmed, I will be posting them here.

Grappling Instruction Video #2 - Passing the guard

2009-02-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

Grappling Instruction Video #1: Basic Guard

2009-02-13T09:02:00.000-08:00

I have started editing the instruction portions of our workshops and posting them up here. Today, the basic guard position.

Video from Submission Shootout

2009-02-09T20:33:00.000-08:00

This match ended in a draw, because no submissions occurred. If this were a points-scored match, I would have lost.

I will have video of the other two matches up soon.

NYC Submission Shootout Report

2009-02-08T18:38:00.000-08:00

SO I got there good and early with my friend StapleDuck to hold the camera. Unfortunately, no one else from the Redemption project was able to make it to compete, although Kat had expressed an interest (but finances prevented it). She did cheer me on, however, as did GA, Sandra, and Vincent.

This was a submission-or-nothing, round-robin tournament, in which each competitor got to face three different fighters. If there was no submission, the match was ruled a draw.

In my first bout, I managed to hold my own, denying a couple of submission attempts, sweeping out of mount a couple of times and gaining mount myself once, to achieve the draw. Although if we were scoring points I would have lost, I consider the draw a victory considering my record and recent limited training.

My next two bouts were not so successful. The first one was a pretty efficient takedown and progression to submission (although I did make sure he had to progress through several steps to get the submission).

My final bout was an interesting one in which I found myself denying a leg submission by having my left ankle crossed over my right thigh. This effectively prevented him from either straightening my leg or bending it further, due to the entanglements our legs were in. However, I literally found myself scratching my head wondering what to do because I could not reach him with my arms to do anything. He finally submitted me with a knee bar after the entanglement came free.

After watching the footage, and other bouts in the tournament I have come to a few conclusions:

1. I like the fact that at my weight, I tower over almost everyone else.
2. I need to learn a few more techniques, and how to properly execute a few techniques that I already know about.
I really, really need to improve my stand-up and takedown game.
3. Increasing my strength and stamina would be a good thing, especially my back.
4. I simply like to talk during matches. It's how I roll.

Video from week #2

2009-02-03T16:19:00.000-08:00

Here are myself, Sammy Vergara, Edwin Echevarria, and Lee Boria talking about casting and other things regarding "The Redemption of Captain Zorikh."

Workshop Report #3

2009-02-01T13:17:00.000-08:00

We did things a little differently yeasterday. In the instructional period, we focused oin positions and transitions, escaping side mount, escaping mouont, sweep from butterfly guard, armbar from guard. Instead of free rolling, we hjad the auditioners work cooperatively, building mini-routines through trading move for move, counter for counter. Then when we hat the tag-match, we divided the group into two teams to see how well they would work together. It also hel;ped me see particular matchups that I had been curious about. Also my friend Phil Fiuymano of NY Rocks TV held the camera, so I could pay more attention to what was going on, and take a more critical eye at the participants.

I am proud to say that the people who concerned us last week all showed the improvement we needed, and everyone else that we were comfortable with gave us what we wanted.

After sending out the invites, I will post the official cast list. Video will be up soon.

RIP Helio Gracie

2009-01-29T10:00:00.000-08:00

Helio Gracie is the man who founded the Gracie Jiu Jitsu (Brazilian Jiu Jitsu) school of fighting. It was his family that gave us the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which proved that grappling and groundfighting can be effective against striking martial arts. From this, submission grappling is now one of the fastest-growing martial arts/combat sports today.

His passing away marks the ending of an era. No longer will we have that experience and authority with us. However, he has left us a great legacy and a large family, from which we will continue to learn and grow.

Helio Gracie on Wikipedia
Helio Gracie on the Gracie Academy website

2nd Worskhop Report

2009-01-27T09:43:00.000-08:00

As anticipated, there was some attrition from the previous week.
However, we also got four new female auditioners and a whole bunch of new guys (in addition to the two returning females, and half-dozen returning males), most of whom had been in a kung fu class earlier. I found them changing in the bathroom and asked them if they would be interested in trying out for the movie, and most of them said yes. I think we may have a few keepers in the bunch.

Ron Gastelu of http://www.steelwars.com was kind enough to donate his time to shoot the video for this week's training, to add to what I shot. I should be able to edit it and post it up soon.

We learned some basics (guard, passing guard, mount, arm bar, rear naked choke, and triangle) and then went into some free rolling. We finished with a Royal Rumble Tag Match.

I am beginning to see some of the auditioners as specific characters. This is good, because it will give greater depth to the story, and greater potential for the audience to identify with it.

This Saturday is the last "open" workshop. After that, potential new cast membmers will be allowed in on a case-by-case basis. One thing that is disappointing me is the lack of trained female grapplers showing up. All the women so far have had some form of martial arts training, and several of them are showing great energy and dedication to learning the techniques, but I want to have a couple more cast members with more experience on the mat and in tournaments.

Sammy Vergara inducted into Hall of Honors.

2009-01-25T17:41:00.001-08:00

Sammy Vergara, the grappling trainer for "The Redemption of Captain Zorikh," has just been inducted into the Action Martial Art's Hall of Honors in 2009. He was also awarded for "Outstanding Achievements in the Martial Arts" and as an official ambassador for the martial arts.

I am insufferably pleased that this talented young man is working with this production. It gives me very high confidence that we will have an impressive levvel of grappling to display in the movie.

Report from United Filmakers & Actors meetup

2009-01-24T15:44:00.000-08:00

Just got back from a "meetup Group" of United Filmakers & Actors, to find that my phone service was out, so I couldn't post a report.so here it is now.

I was on FIRE that night. When it came time to give my pitch, I had the audience laughing and cheering. Afterward, folks came at me from all sides saying that they were interested in getting involved in this project. I wish I had recorded the evening, because it felt really good.

We will see how many of these contacts pan out. About a half-dozen people said they would come to this Saturday's audition/workshop, including fur or five women and a couple of skilled and experienced martial artists. This would be great for the production. I also talked with two music people, a location scout, a couple of producers, and a guy who says he wants to cast me as the lead in a comedy feature he has written.

It's all very exciting!

First workshop report

2009-01-21T02:16:00.000-08:00

It was a very productive first day. After Yours Truly gave a short speech outlining the background and objectives of the project, Sammy Vergara let a brief training session in some basics of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. We then did some free rolling and had a tag-in royal round.

Attendees present were:

Samuel Vergara
Edwin Echevarria
Anthony Batchelor
Willis Cruz, Jr.
Kirkland Campbell
Lady MacDeath
Natasha Missick
Vallen Pilgrim
Eric Ramey
Yousif Sarya
Katrina Segers
G.A. West
Devin Zhang

It was a small but spirited group, having fought through the snow to get there. Afterwards I conferred with Sammy, Edwin, and Lady MacDeath regarding the attendees and casting. I am confident that I will be able to find a role for each of them in the tournament scene.

Interestingly, all the men had at least some form of wrestling or grappling background, be it BJJ, collegiate, or pro, but only one of the women had done grappling before, though all had done some form of martial arts or combat sport. We still need more women, though. If this film is to have a scene at a non-gender-divided grappling tournament, we need a more equitable ballance of males and females.

Captain Zorikh's introduction to the first workshop attendees

2009-01-21T02:00:00.000-08:00

The Purpose of This Project

2009-01-20T10:47:00.000-08:00

Greetings, and welcome to the production blog of "The Redemption of Captain Zorikh." The picture of that handsome fellow you see is yours truly (about a year, 10 pounds, and two haircuts ago), Captain Zorikh. I am the writer/director/producer/lead actor/subject of "The Redemption of Captain Zorikh. Is this a vanity project? Heck yes, I won't deny it. But I would not feel right if that's all it was.

This movie is about athletic competition and the meaning of redemption.

Athletic training and competition is about working hard, having fun, and being the best there is at what you do. Redemption is about taking everything you are, have been, have done, have thought, have experienced, cashing it in, and finding out what you are worth.

We (the cast and crew of this motion picture) are in the entertainment business. We have the opportunity, nay the responsibility, to move and inspire people. It is the stated intention of this project to move and inspire people to work hard, have fun, and be the best they can be at what they do.

It Begins!

2009-01-20T10:44:00.001-08:00

Welcome to the official production blog for the video project titled "The Redemption of Captain Zorikh. Here you will see updates on the production, view photos and videos, and hear the latest news.

You can see more about the project at http://www.captainzorik.com/redemption and see the videos at http://www.youtube.com/user/CZRedemption