Lets discuss a fairly common example: meeting a stranger in unfamiliar surroundings. Imagine that during your normal daily routine you meet a new person, who suggests that you get together later that day at this really nice place they know…

The reality of the modern life is such that this type of situation arises time and time again, yet surprisingly few people think about the potential danger of this seemingly innocent scenario. The standard advise of “don’t talk to strangers” is impractical and unrealistic. So, what do we do?

The answer is surprisingly simple, if we can’t avoid the situation, then we should plan for the potential danger, and take steps to safeguard against it. In the above scenario, we can see that the main danger lies in the fact that we are going to an unfamiliar place to meet an unfamiliar person. Effectively, we do not know who will be there and no one knows where we’ve gone. Thus, we can not expect help should anything happen while we are away, be it a simple accident or something a bit more sinister.

One of the ways to safeguard from this potential danger, is to adopt a well known wilderness survival technique. Used by many campers and hikers on a regular basis, it is an effective yet simple solution: firstly, safety in numbers and secondly, let others know where you are.

Most attacks we face in modern society are opportunistic. They happen because an aggressor simply decides that you are the easiest target around. It is also true that most aggressors do not wish to be caught and will go to a great length to avoid any reprimand for their actions.

Based on all of the above, we can design a number of strategies aimed at improving our chances in the above scenario. Bear in mind that this is not a “fool proof” solution and that this advice should not be taken literally, but adjusted and incorporated into the specifics of your particular situation.

Bring a friend

The age old wisdom “safety in numbers” holds as true now as it was when it was first used. Not only are two (or more) people less likely to be attacked but they would also be able to help each other out in case of an accident or emergency.

Phone a friend

If bringing a friend to a meeting is not an option then you can always bring a phone. Finding an excuse to call a friend to tell them what a great time you are having, while describing where you are and who you’re with, can have a very cooling effect on a potential attacker.

Leave a trail

If you are unable to bring a friend and not sure if you’ll be able to use a phone (remote location, no reception, etc) then make sure that people know where to look for you, should anything go wrong.

For example: writing down in a diary where you went, with whom and who you are meeting, and leaving it in an obvious place would ensure your privacy, while at the same time improve your chances of being rescued should anything prevent you from returning home.

Finally, remember that it is always best to anticipate and be prepared for the potential trouble then react to an escalating situation. In the words of common wisdom, it’s better to have a stick and not need it than need a stick and not have it. Therefore, think, weigh your options and pre-empt!

This past weekend, I caught Vitali Klitschko vs Tomasz Adamek fight. It feels like lazy punditry to say that it was a repeat of the Wladimir Klitschko vs David Haye fight, but it wouldn’t be far from the truth. The similarities were everywhere: A large Klitschko takes on a big cruiserweight in a title bout. The latter fails to get within range of the former, despite his best efforts. The large Klitschko uses his stalking, heavy jab upwards to attack and downwards to throw his opponent off balance. In both fights, different tactics were used to minimise the Klitschko reach advantage, to poor effect: David Haye tried to goad Wladimir Klitschko into closing the distance, while Tomasz Adamek tried to strike his way through.

Despite the obvious similarities, were there any differences between the two fights? Not many. Vitali won his bout by way of technical knockout, while Wladimir won his by decision. More subtle differences? Vitali seemed a lot more confident in his fight, had better upper-body movement, and threw more combinations (probably more noticeable in later rounds in his fight with Adamek). While both Klitschko brothers used their lead jab to good effect, Wladimir alternated with both high and low lead hand positions, while Vitali kept his low throughout. I would consider Wladimir to be the more strategic of the two, picking his punches more carefully than his brother. However, that could be a matter of opinion – some might say he just plays safe. Wladimir also seemed to be quicker on his feet, but maybe Haye’s speed gave him more cause for concern than Adamek’s did Vitali.

All in all, what does this mean for the future of the heavyweight boxing division? Some analysts are concerned that the Klitschko brothers‘ dominance of the weight category will lead to more boring fights. However, I think these analysts have missed the mark. If the Klitschkos were boring and predictable, someone would have come up with a decent gameplan against them by now. I suspect that the Klitschkos will force new entrants into the division to be fighting fit, in addition to being technically proficient. Future aspirants to the championship(s) will have to be quicker, control the ring better, and land more accurately, rather than just being big fighters with heavy hands (a la Valuev). Surely, this can only do good things for the promotion of boxing as a technically challenging sport?

First of all, let me reassure you that Bath is a very safe city. However, as common wisdom says: better safe then sorry! The following advise is applicable to everyone, male or female, and applies to a variety of life situations, just use your common sense and adjust as per your circumstances.

Awareness is your first and foremost tool in keeping yourself safe. It is a skill which requires no specialized equipment and which you can utilize in any situation throughout your entire life. Think of awareness as your proactive defence against a potential attacker, if you spot them first then you can avoid them! Ignoring this skill could lead you to fall victim to a multitude of crimes, ranging from a common theft, to assault, to kidnapping… and the list just keeps on going.

One of the fundamental characteristics of awareness is that everyone possesses the foundation required to use this skill! And like any skill, the more you use it, the more honed in it becomes. To fast track through basics and greatly improve your awareness, there is a number of basic exercises that could be used:

Try a little game of remembering the colour (or brand, or type) of a single piece of clothing for the last two people who have just past you. Once you get comfortable with remembering two people, increase that number to three, four, five. Then start increasing the number of clothing items you make a note of. If practised regularly, in no time at all you should be able to describe in fairly accurate details the last three people that you have passed.

You can play a similar game while driving, except that instead of remembering people you can start by trying to memorise a make, model and colour of a car behind you. Once you are comfortable with remembering a single car, expand your observations to 2, then 3 cars following you.

Also, bear in mind that there are a number of actions that should be avoided when relying on your awareness to keep you out of potential trouble. This is not because they are “bad” but simply because they can easily interfere with, and reduce your state of awareness. For example, when out and about, and especially when out and about in a new or unfamiliar surrounding:

•  avoid listening to music at such a volume that you can’t hear anything around you, as this leaves you open to be approached from behind, without being forewarned by your hearing.
• avoid getting engrossed in looking at your phone, playing games or using any other app that takes your mind off where you are, where you’re going and who is around you.
• avoid taking any short cuts to your destination if it means you leave the relative safety of a well lit public street. This is especially true if you are “under the influence”.

We live in relatively safe society where most attacks are not predatory, ie: a potential attacker does not set out targeting specifically you. Most criminals are opportunists and will pick the easiest target available. Thus, by being “switched on” and recognizing a potential danger before it escalates you will already move a step closer to being safe.

Never believe the hype. If it was for hype alone, British heavyweight David Haye would be undisputed world champion. Hype was in order to raise, if nothing else, the expectation that this fight would be the most important of 2011. We at Nemesis were never fooled… easy to say in hindsight but true nonetheless.

David Haye made his name as an exciting cruiserweight (90.7kg limit) with no shortage of ability, peaking as he unified WBA, WBC, WBO and Ring Magazine champion. In 2008, Haye turned his attention to the top division, beating the Russian Nikolai Valuev for the WBO belt in 2009. At the same time,  both Haye’s opponent Wladimir Klitschko and his brother Vitali spent the last decade dominating boxing heavyweight division and collecting an impressive array of belts: WBC (Vitali), WBA, IBF, WBO Super, IBO and Ring Magazine (Wladimir). The only criticism against them has been the supposed lack of quality opponents to truly establish them as all time greats.

By mid summer 2011 both David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko have been unbeaten for 7 years and the rollercoaster ‘will they-won’t they’ ride towards the July bout was in full swing. The backstory and Haye’s showmanship was a chance for the media agencies and pundits to build the fight into the calendar highlight the heavyweight division had been crying out for. Nothing wrong with that at all. We were excited too, pondering if the undeniable speed and power boasted by Haye was enough to make at least a classic bout bringing out the tenacity and class of Klitschko. Lets not forget that Haye’s pre-fight antics were not just for ‘bums on seats’, he knew that winding up Klitschko, however remote the chance may be, could foster one of few opportunities to break past Klitschko’s ‘granite jab’ and icy control in order to stand any sort of chance.

A rain-swept night at Imtech Arena in Hamburg soon dowsed the fiery build up and round one saw Haye pushed to the deck for the first of seven occasions. Klitschko’s physical dominance told from the off. That said, Haye was bright, landing an overhand right as an answer to Klitschko’s jabs. The early rounds of the fight saw a pattern emerge: Haye attempting to disrupt the incoming jab and throw hooks and overhand rights to the opponents head. At this stage, he managed to avoid a number of his opponent’s combinations through good use of the slip and slick head movement.

Mid-rounds saw a gradual build up of Klitschko’s aggression.  The Ukrainian was showing signs that this was not going to be an easy ride, landing good combinations and hard right hands. Don’t take me wrong, Haye still moved and landed the odd effective single shot but he has began to show signs of fatigue and damage. The manhandling of Haye continued throughout the seventh round, which led to a warning and the point deduction from Klitschko, giving a glimmer of hope for Haye.

Both fighters exchanged blows though rounds 9 to 10 and it looked increasingly like David Haye would need a knockout to win the fight. As Nemesis predicted, a win on points for Haye in Germany was never really on the cards. The final rounds repeatedly highlighted Haye’s inability to break through, or cope with, the distance of Klitschko’s jab, allowing the Ukrainian to control the ring and to land combinations which staved off the Englishman for the full 12 rounds.

Watch this fight to review the quick movement and good work that Haye displayed in avoiding Klitschko’s everpresent jab. However, it is good to remember that slips and slides alone will not win you a fight. Behind Klitschko’s jab was an ever present and calculated danger, which seemed near impossible to breakdown. Despite Haye’s attempts to outwit his opponent, Klitschko reminds us why he includes PhD amongst his now increased set of suffixes.

It was a fight surrounded by controversy. Throughout the 12 rounds long battle Jamie Cox survived  a cut over his left eye from a clash of heads, and a cut to his right eye from an illegal elbow. But he gave as much as he took, coming close to disqualification for repeated low blows. This conduct led to a number of warnings from the referee and eventually two points were deducted from the boxer’s final score but it did not affect the outcome of the fight. At the end, the Swindon battler simply outmuscled his opponent, winning the fight 115-113, 114-112 and 114-113.

In an interview after the fight John Costello, who is now training Jamie Cox, said:  “Jamie is on a learning curve and has learned a lot from this fight… We would have done some things differently but at the end of the day he is the new Commonwealth champion having beaten a very tough opponent.”

As for Jamie Cox himself, after winning the Commonwealth title he already has his eyes set on his next goal: the British title. ”It’s the belt I’ve always wanted, since I was a kid” he told BBC Wiltshire after the fight. However, it is doubtful that we will see the new champion in the ring before Christmas, not after the ten stitches required to patch up his cuts following the brawl with Obodai Sai.

Unlike many tutorials available online, they do not focus on a single technique, neither do they provide an extended coverage of any of the techniques they demonstrate. Instead, these two legends concentrate on covering some of the more fundamental wrestling techniques, working their way through basic match scenarios, pointing out common mistakes, and demonstrating a variety of ways to defend against common attacks.

This video is a definite “must watch” for everyone interested in wrestling. It doesn’t matter if you are only just starting or if you are an advanced level wrestler, everyone will find something to take away from this wrestling clinic. Yes, the sound is rather low quality but once you get through that you will discover an unrivalled wealth of wrestling information presented in a fairly high paced but light-hearted way, with great attention to details, by some of the sport’s greatest athletes.

With the rise of such MMA fighters as Igor Vovchanchyn and Fedor Emelianenko, plus a recent win of Wladimir Klitschko over David Haye, we see a lot of renewed interest in Russian style of boxing. However, there seem to be a lot of confusion as to what exectly is a “Russian style”. Some people claim that “Russian style” is characterised by long looping punches, others insist that it can be recognised by upright posture and heavy footwork movement. So, the question is, who is right?

When talking about “Russian style”, one of the most important things to note is that the above two descriptions are not mutually exclusive. It is possible to use both long looping punches and a lot of footwork movement at the same time. And yes, to do that you would have to be an exceptionally gifted individual in an incredible physical shape… but it is possible.

However, more often then not, phrase “Russian style boxing” is used to describe one of two very distinct punching styles popular with fighters of the former Soviet block. Bear in mind that this is a sweeping generalisation, and as such there are bound to be some exceptions to the rules, however long looping, whip-like punches are commonly attributed to Sambo and Systema combat arts, while upright posture and a lot of footwork movement is a well established characteristic of Russian school of boxing.

The two videos included on this page are a very good example of that boxing style. The videos are of Anastasia Toktaulova, 2000 Russian flyweight Boxing Champion and 2001 WIBF European Flyweight Champion, who’s manner of boxing as well as training is very characteristic of the discussed boxing style.

Those attending our boxing class will easily recognise not only many of the combinations thrown, but also Islan‘s manner of movement and holding pads. The well grounded stance, quick in-and-out attacks, constant presence of the jab plus shouts of: “confidence!” and “balance!”, will quickly become your ever-present partner in training.

In 1998, while on holiday in Sweden, Bas Rutten was involved in a confrontation with a number of door staff at the trendy Spy Bar in Stockholm. By all accounts, UFC Heavyweight Champion and a three time King of Pancrase world champion was attacked by a group of local bouncers hell bent on having something to prove. The confrontation ended with a number of the attackers hospitalised and Bas Rutten jailed.

This is Bas’ account of that evening: he talks about the events as they unfolded, his reactions, and the consequences of his decisions. Was the fight worth it? Could he have done anything different? These are all common question faced by anyone involved in a violent confrontation.

For those unfamiliar with the event, the following is a brief account of the original encounter at the Spy Bar, some of it is in Bas’ own words: “I was going to the Spy Bar in Sweden. When I walked in, the bouncers called me by my first name and then I knew that something was going to happen” Bas relates. No stranger to recognition, Bas decided to stay at the Stockholm hotspot and dance. After all, he had arrived with friends and was looking to have a good time.

After dancing “Bas Rutten style”, which is basically jumping and dancing to the music, two bouncers approached Bas and asked him to follow them to the fire escape room. Once there, “one of them tells me that I have to leave. I said: OK, can you guys get my friend and tell him that I am out because he is also from Holland and doesn’t know where to go here.”

Apparently looking for trouble, but not seeming to elicit the desired response from Bas’ compliant tone, they resorted to more brutal tactics in order to bait Bas Rutten into fight. “That’s where one of the two put a finger in my eye. I told him to stop, and that there was no reason to be aggressive. Then he put his finger in my other eye. That’s where I KO’d the guy.”

To begin with, Bas was merely fighting to get away from his attacker. However, the fight took a serious down turn once Bas has reached a set of locked fire doors at the end of the corridor and discovered that his only route of escape has been cut of. Fortunately, this was the point at which Swedish police appeared on the scene, stopping the fight from escalating.

As an athlete, he is famous for having only lost one match in his entire Iowa State University career. His combined collegiate record stands at 182-1 and includes 117 consecutive wins, 2 NCAA and 3 All-American titles. He has won gold at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich, Germany without so much as giving up a single point in all of his six matches.

As a coach he has led Hawkeyes to the record 15 NCAA titles in 21 seasons, including a record nine consecutive wins from 1978 to 1986. Under his supervision Iowa won 21 Big Ten titles in each of Dan Gable’s 21 seasons and went undefeated seven times. On three separate occasions he has also coached freestyle wrestling to the US Olympic team, in 1980, 1984 & 2000.

This documentary shown on ESPN SportsCentury follows the entire life of Dan Gable, covering his wrestling careers, his motivation, exploring what drove him on… often through the eyes of the fellow wrestlers and people he has coached: John Smith, Dale Anderson, Ben Peterson, Terry Brands, and many more.

Speaking after the medals ceremony, the 23-year old said: “I’ve got to be happy, it’s my first Commonwealth Games and I came away with a medal, but it was hard to sit back and watch the gold medal play-off and not be in it. I think if I was in it, anything would’ve been possible because you have more motivation in a final.”

Rattigan showed his steel when forced to qualify for the bronze-medal match through the repechage, where he pinned Northern Ireland’s Mark Montgomery inside the first minute to claim the bout. The British champion was also the only wrestler to beat an Indian opponent when he downed Anil Maan in front of a boisterous crowd at the Indira Gandhi Stadium. His efforts earned him plenty of support during his bout against Pakistan’s Muhammad Umur for the bronze.

Leon was introduced to freestyle wrestling at the age of 11 through an Olympic Wrestling Club based in Old Market area of Bristol. His potential was spotted by coach Asmir Esmaeli, Saeed Esmaeli‘s late father, who helped develop the precocious talent prior to his sudden death in 2005.

“He was a really good coach and a great man. I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for his help and guidance. There were times when I couldn’t afford to compete in some competitions and Amir would pay for me out of his own pocket. He was a massive inspiration on my career.” said Rattigan.

Since then, Leon has graduated to join the Great Britain Academy for aspiring young wrestlers and has been training full-time at an elite centre in Manchester for the last three-and-a-half-years. His main ambition remains to represent Britain at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.