Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Does disapproving of this photo of Ronda make me look old?

We got the proof copy of our book on Monday. Jim and I got our edits to the editor today. There was not much to change. The editor says it will be available by March 29th at the latest. Maybe we'll luck out and it will be available as an ebook sooner.

It was interesting to me to see the photo they chose for the first page of the book. I didn't include it myself because even for my extremely low bar it seems not quite ladylike enough.

I guess I was bothered by the fact that she had a triangle choke and was sitting on Travis' neck. Not for the first time, though, it was pointed out that I am old and overly conservative when it comes to my daughters.

Ronda's comment was that for God's sake, she wasn't wearing a thong and that's how you do a triangle choke. I can vouch for that because poor Travis kept almost passing out when we were taking the photos. She kept having to - literally - let him up for air.

My husband thought the picture was really cool because she was choking, arm barring him and punching him all at the same time. Since he was the one who threw away her Eminem CD for being too obscene, I guess it is established then. I AM an old lady.

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12 comments:

  1. NoahDecember 13, 2012 at 5:34 AM

    To be fair, I would say that photo is a pretty good example of "winning on the ground"

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  2. BrianDecember 13, 2012 at 6:15 AM

    I know what you mean. I don't mind sparring women, either winning or losing, because I know its good for both sides to go against someone bigger and stronger or smaller and quicker and more flexible. But its just the potential awkwardness of certain positions that gives me hesitation.

    So I know what you mean. Is it silly? Maybe. Should I get over it? Probably.

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  3. Patrick ParkerDecember 13, 2012 at 9:30 AM

    Prude! ;-)

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  4. Dr. AnnMariaDecember 13, 2012 at 12:27 PM

    It's funny because when I am working out myself I never think about it and I guarantee you all that guy is thinking is ""Air! I need air!"

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  5. Sara RDecember 13, 2012 at 1:53 PM

    Ground stuff is full of obscene looking positions but they can be effective. You are allowed to cringe a bit at some of them.

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  6. dsimon3387December 13, 2012 at 4:09 PM

    It has become an epoche in martial arts photography. All those photos where you have someone in an insane position look silly to me because they belie the fact that the work is done in the transition (sound familiar...your words last post) and not at the point where most people would be finished...capute.

    These epoches are interesting commentaries in how we see ourselves. In the 1800's fighters took a dignified nonplussed look through the other guy. Hence even though Jack Johnson (the famous Back HeavyWeight) was detested by his opponent and vice versa, both gentlemen posed in this nonplussed fashion. Black Belt started a tradition of showing great passion during the execution of technique, eventually we have the Brazilian guys and their somewhat obscene looking (to the untrained eye) photo ops...

    True story! My wife upon seeing a martial arts mag cover with a shocked look in her eyes thought I had gone a cruising! I had to convince her to look at the issue of Black Belt and it was still hard for her to believe that martial arts was the subject at hand...

    Ann Marie I am with you for what it is worth.

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  7. Dr. AnnMariaDecember 13, 2012 at 11:29 PM

    Have you seen http://www.matbattle.com ? I think it is funny but some people find it very offensive.

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  8. SylverDecember 14, 2012 at 1:19 AM

    The first thing that came through my mind is "Gee, that's staged, there is no way she would waste time punching when she has a perfectly good armbar available".

    Ain't calling you old as long as you don't call me a nerd. :)

    Besides try as I may, I can't really come up with a ladylike way of punching a downed and helpless opponent, so if she is going to do that, she might has well do it in style.

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  9. Dr. AnnMariaDecember 14, 2012 at 12:45 PM

    I think she just WANTED to punch him at that moment. Nothing he did. She was just in a punching mood.

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  10. SylverDecember 15, 2012 at 7:33 AM

    Ah, I hope she carries a mood warning of some sort then:

    "Mood of the day: Punching, with chances of cursing and strangulation"

    I had a look at the matbattle.com site, and ... Hikes!

    As a fantasy, sure, whatever.

    But this is crossing the line: First, they are running a porn website where some of the "stars" are just regular Judokas/BJJers competing. Somehow, I doubt all the athletes featured have been asked for permission.

    And advertizing Judo and BJJ as "gay sports"... Last thing I want on the mat is a bunch of gays joining the classes for a chance to cope a feel or satisfy their S&M tendencies.

    There are places for these kinds of things, but a dojo isn't one.

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  11. MissyWombatDecember 15, 2012 at 10:17 AM

    Wait a minute, I thought the book is primarily judo techniques/drills etc. That's the reason I will be buying it. Just seems odd to include a photo of Ronda striking someone.

    So would the editor include the photo if Ronda was the person on the bottom? I think they are taking advantage of her attractiveness rather than her technical skills.

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  12. Dr. AnnMariaDecember 18, 2012 at 12:39 AM

    It is primarily judo. One of the points we make though is how easily judo adapts to MMA. From the same position you can transition to an arm bar, as shown, or striking. As far as Ronda on the bottom - she is the most competitive person ever. We tried some techniques where she was letting the partner escape and she just couldn't . It was funny to watch. Actually this choke is REALLY effective and legal in judo

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