K.J. Noons
Karl James "K.J." Noons (born December 7, 1982) is a retired American professional mixed martial artist, as well as a former professional boxer and kickboxer. Noons competed for UFC, Strikeforce, DREAM and EliteXC. He is the former EliteXC Lightweight Champion. Background KJ Noons is hapa kanaka, hapa haole—mixed ethnicity of native Hawaiian (from his mother's side) and European-American (from his father's side). Born and raised in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, Noons comes from a family history of fighting. His father Karl was a professional kickboxer and was a top contender during the time he fought. Karl's passion for fighting and competing in combat sports influenced him to introduce his son to martial arts at a young age. At the age of five, Noons started training in Kenpō Karate. Often getting disqualified for fighting too hard in karate tournaments, Noons eventually started training in boxing and Muay Thai at the age of eight out of interest for full contact fighti ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kailua-Kona
Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with a community located on the windward side of Oahu), as Kona (a name it shares with the district to which it belongs) and as Kona Town. Kailua-Kona is the second-largest settlement on the island of Hawaii (after Hilo) and the largest settlement on the west side of the island, where it is the center of commerce and the tourist industry. Kailua-Kona is served by Kona International Airport, located just to the north in the adjacent CDP of Kalaoa. The population was 19,713 at the 2020 census, up from 11,975 at the 2010 census. Kailua-Kona was the closest major settlement to the epicenter of the 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake. Kailua-Kona's boundaries were altered significantly for the 2020 census. The eastern portion of Kailua-Kona became part of the neighboring Holualoa CDP, while the western portion of Holualoa b ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Ultimate Fighting Championship
The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is an American mixed martial arts (MMA) promotion company based in Las Vegas, Nevada. It is owned and operated by Zuffa, a wholly owned subsidiary of Endeavor Group Holdings. It is the largest MMA promotion company in the world as of 2011. It produces events worldwide that showcase 12 weight divisions (eight men's and four women's) and abides by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. , it had held over 600 events. Dana White has been its president since 2001. Under White's stewardship, it has grown into a global multi-billion-dollar enterprise. The UFC was founded by businessman Art Davie and Brazilian martial artist Rorion Gracie, and the first event was held in 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions was to identify the most effective martial art in a contest with minimal rules and no weight classes between competitors of different fighting d ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Sanshou
Sanda (), formerly Sanshou (), also known as Chinese boxing or Chinese kickboxing, is the official Chinese kickboxing full-contact combat sport. Sanda is a fighting system which was originally developed by the Chinese military based upon the study and practices of traditional kung fu and modern combat fighting techniques; it combines boxing and full-contact kickboxing, which includes close range and rapid successive punches and kicks, with wrestling, takedowns, throws, sweeps, kick catches, and in some competitions, even elbow and knee strikes. As part of the development of sport wushu by the Chinese government, a standard curriculum for Sanda was developed. It is to this standard curriculum that the term ''Wushu Sanda'' is usually applied. Sanda may also involve techniques from any other fighting style depending on the teacher's mode of instruction. History Sanda's competitive history is rooted in barehanded ''elevated arena'' or Lei Tai fights in which no rules we ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Houston, Texas
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in 2020. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the seat and largest city of Harris County and the principal city of the Greater Houston metropolitan area, which is the fifth-most populous metropolitan statistical area in the United States and the second-most populous in Texas after Dallas–Fort Worth. Houston is the southeast anchor of the greater megaregion known as the Texas Triangle. Comprising a land area of , Houston is the ninth-most expansive city in the United States (including consolidated city-counties). It is the largest city in the United States by total area whose government is not consolidated with a county, parish, or borough. Though primarily in Harris County, small portions of ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Muay Thai
Muay Thai ( th, มวยไทย, , ), sometimes referred to as Thai boxing, is a combat sport that uses stand-up striking along with various clinching techniques. This discipline is known as the "art of eight limbs", as it is characterised by the combined use of fists, elbows, knees and shins. Muay Thai became widespread internationally in the late 20th to 21st century, when Westernised practitioners from Thailand began competing in kickboxing and mixed-rules matches as well as matches under muay Thai rules around the world. The professional league is governed by The Professional Boxing Association of Thailand (P.A.T), sanctioned by The Sports Authority of Thailand (S.A.T.). Muay Thai is related to other martial art styles such as musti-yuddha, Adimurai, muay Chaiya, muay boran, muay Lao, lethwei, pradal serey and tomoi. Muay Thai developed from the traditional muay boran. A practitioner of muay Thai is known as a ''nak muay''. Western practitioners in Thailand ar ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Boxing
Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermined amount of time in a boxing ring. Although the term "boxing" is commonly attributed to "western boxing", in which only the fists are involved, boxing has developed in various ways in different geographical areas and cultures. In global terms, boxing is a set of combat sports focused on striking, in which two opponents face each other in a fight using at least their fists, and possibly involving other actions such as kicks, elbow strikes, knee strikes, and headbutts, depending on the rules. Some of the forms of the modern sport are western boxing, bare knuckle boxing, kickboxing, muay-thai, lethwei, savate, and sanda. Boxing techniques have been incorporated into many martial arts, military systems, and other combat sports. Whil ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Karate
(; ; Okinawan pronunciation: ) is a martial art developed in the Ryukyu Kingdom. It developed from the indigenous Ryukyuan martial arts (called , "hand"; ''tii'' in Okinawan) under the influence of Chinese martial arts, particularly Fujian White Crane. Karate is now predominantly a striking art using punching, kicking, knee strikes, elbow strikes and open-hand techniques such as knife-hands, spear-hands and palm-heel strikes. Historically, and in some modern styles, grappling, throws, joint locks, restraints and vital-point strikes are also taught. A karate practitioner is called a . The Empire of Japan annexed the Ryukyu Kingdom in 1879. Karate came to mainland Japan in the early 20th century during a time of migration as Ryukyuans, especially from Okinawa, looked for work in the main islands of Japan. It was systematically taught in Japan after the Taishō era of 1912–1926. In 1922, the Japanese Ministry of Education invited Gichin Funakoshi to Tokyo to give ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Martial Arts
Martial arts are codified systems and traditions of combat practiced for a number of reasons such as self-defense; military and law enforcement applications; competition; physical, mental, and spiritual development; entertainment; and the preservation of a nation's intangible cultural heritage. Etymology According to Paul Bowman, the term ''martial arts'' was popularized by mainstream popular culture during the 1960s to 1970s, notably by Hong Kong martial arts films (most famously those of Bruce Lee) during the so-called " chopsocky" wave of the early 1970s. According to John Clements, the term '' martial arts'' itself is derived from an older Latin term meaning "arts of Mars", the Roman god of war, and was used to refer to the combat systems of Europe ( European martial arts) as early as the 1550s. The term martial science, or martial sciences, was commonly used to refer to the fighting arts of East Asia ( Asian martial arts) up until the 1970s, while the term ''Chinese box ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Combat Sports
A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the opponent (''knockout'', KO), or attacking the opponent in a specific or designated technique. Combat sports share a long pedigree with the martial arts. Some combat sports (and their national origin) include Boxing (British), Brazilian jiu-jitsu (Brazilian), Jiu-jitsu (Japanese), Judo (Japanese), Karate (Chinese/Okinawan/Japanese), Kickboxing (numerous origins), Lethwei (Burmese), Mixed martial arts (numerous origins), Muay Thai (Thai), Sambo (Soviet/Russian), Sanda (Chinese), Savate (French), Tae Kwon Do (Korean), Vale tudo (Brazilian), Pankration (Ancient Greek), Luta Livre (Brazilian), Wrestling (Numerous Origins) and Pro-Wrestling (British/American). History Traditional styles of wrestling exist in most cultures; wrestl ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kailua-Kona, Hawaii
Kailua-Kona is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Hawaii County, Hawaii, United States. It is also known as Kailua (a name it shares with a community located on the windward side of Oahu), as Kona (a name it shares with the district to which it belongs) and as Kona Town. Kailua-Kona is the second-largest settlement on the island of Hawaii (after Hilo) and the largest settlement on the west side of the island, where it is the center of commerce and the tourist industry. Kailua-Kona is served by Kona International Airport, located just to the north in the adjacent CDP of Kalaoa. The population was 19,713 at the 2020 census, up from 11,975 at the 2010 census. Kailua-Kona was the closest major settlement to the epicenter of the 2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake. Kailua-Kona's boundaries were altered significantly for the 2020 census. The eastern portion of Kailua-Kona became part of the neighboring Holualoa CDP, while the western portion of Holualo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Hapa
Hapa is a Hawaiian word for someone of multiracial ancestry. In Hawaii, the word refers to any person of mixed ethnic heritage, regardless of the specific mixture.: "Thus, for locals in Hawai’i, both hapa or hapa haole are used to depict people of mixed-race heritage.": "Currently, Hawaiian locals use 'hapa' to refer to any individual who is racially mixed." The term is used for any multiracial person of partial East Asian, Southeast Asian, or Pacific Islander mixture in California. In what can be characterized as trans-cultural diffusion or the wave model, this latter usage has also spread to Massachusetts, Ohio, and Oregon. Both uses are concurrent. Historical and Hawaiian usage The word "hapa" entered the Hawaiian language in the early 1800s, with the arrival of Christian missionaries who instituted a Hawaiian alphabet and developed curriculum for schools. It is a transliteration of the English word "half," but quickly came to mean "part," which could be combined wit ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Elite Xtreme Combat
Elite Xtreme Combat, also known as EliteXC, was a United States-based mixed martial arts (MMA) organization owned and operated by ProElite. It was founded as a partnership between Showtime Networks and ProElite and officially announced on December 14, 2006. It was headquartered in Los Angeles. The partnership to form EliteXC was announced on November 13, 2006. SHOWTIME to Televise MMA, Sherdog.com. [Last retrieved January 7, 2007/ref> The first major event occurred February 10, 2007 at the DeSoto Civic Center">ast retrieved January 7, 2007"> SHOWTIME to Televise MMA, Sherdog.com. [Last retrieved January 7, 2007/ref> The first major event occurred February 10, 2007 at the DeSoto Civic Center in Southaven, Mississippi. Fighters Frank Shamrock and Renzo Gracie fought in the main event. Also debuting on this card was Charles Bennett (fighter), Charles Bennett, K. J. Noons, Mike Pyle (fighter), Mike Pyle and Antônio Silva (fighter), Antônio Silva. In early 2008, EliteXC had reach ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |