Hi, everyone! Over here at Threatpoet a lot of new ideas are being thrown around about what type of topics to cover on this blog. It used to be just news concerning the world of hip-hop music and artist but it’s about to get a little bigger. I’m hoping to post some stories on here pretty soon and may do a new overhaul that just may attract some more readers. Stay tuned because it’s going to be one hot summer. Please believe…
– TrG. – Founder of ThreatPoet
The fitness center on the Paradise Valley Community College is a busy day for some students, to a few who have to endure 5 hours of martial arts training, it just comes with a price of having a Saturday off. Two martial arts classes are taught on Saturday, one is Aikido-Jujitsu and the other is Kickboxing. Heading up both of these classes is none other than Sensai Raul Moreno, a 35 plus year veteran of martial arts. He also teaches classes on Thursdays as well, but in the year and a half that I’ve known him, Saturday has always been the day that we would meet.
Moreno, a soft-spoken, stocky guy is a native of Corpus Christi, Texas. Moreno has come a long way on his journey to teach martial arts to students who show an interest in learning. He began teaching at PVCC around five years ago, the former teacher that taught on campus passed away, it was Raul’s turn to step up and fill in the role. He has studied a variety of martial arts from Tae Kwon Do, Shotokan Karate, Aikido, Brazilian Jujitsu, Kenpo, Jeet Kune Do, and Wushu among other styles that total up to 15 altogether. All those skills compiled together make Raul Moreno more than qualified to teach.
His road to becoming a martial artist wasn’t an easy one. He grew up in the barrios of where he lived and ran with the wrong crowd for a bit until one day he met a character who would change his life for the better. That person was Benny “The Jet” Urquidez, a renown world kickboxing champion who held six world titles in five different weight divisions and has also shared screen time with actors like Jackie Chan and John Cusack. “He asked me if I would give up what I was doing then he would guide me and be more of my mentor” says Moreno.
Turnarounds like this only happen in life very few times and with that said, Raul Moreno went on to better his life through the world of martial arts and has some memorable moments to share as well. Back in the 1980’s he had the opportunity to teach celebrities like David Lee Roth the former lead singer of Van Halen, Dave Mustaine from the band Megadeth, and an assortment of actors of soap operas from “Falcon Crest” and “One Life To Live”. When I asked him the question of which time period he would like to be an artist he responded by saying “In the 1600’s because back in those days, you could see more of the Budo system and it was more spiritual.”
Back in the PVCC fitness center, Moreno’s students always pay full attention to the man that teaches them life-saving defense skills as well as an art. The room that’s used doubles as a dance studio and is sometimes full of practice mats that fill up the floor space. In Aikido-Jujitsu class, it concentrates more on technique through a variety or grabs, painful wristlocks, and throws that teach the students to be more on their guard. The class is taught in a “teach one, each one” capacity where everybody, even the teacher all learn from one another. At the beginning meditation begins the class and serene Japanese music is played through the speaker system. The same is done when the class concludes, it’s all designed to bring the students to their systems of breathing.
Kickboxing class on the other hand is a lot more energetic. It’s not an aerobic kickboxing class that is mostly taught at fitness centers around the city, this one is unique in that it encourages the students to spar with one another through the use of proper protection in the forms of mouth guards, boxing gloves, hand wraps and shin guards. The music is changed to an energetic pace filled with rap and old school R&B. The pace is exhausting but very well worth it and Moreno delights his students with words of encouragement, sometimes acting as a referee when sparring really begins to take place. It’s a very great couple of classes that Raul Moreno teaches and very excellent way to work off the frustration that builds up during the week.
I’ve been gone for a minute with the news and everything else this blog has to offer. I went on hiatus in the summertime and for a bit until now. But my time off has come to an end. I will be returning with more news and more updates to Threatpoet. So…until then, keep your eyes on the prize and keep on keepin’ on…ONE LOVE, PEACE!!
Just like the motto is lives by...
The media website I’ve selected to cover in this class is www. xxlmag.com. It is an offshoot of XXL magazine which is a major music magazine that covers hip-hop/rap music and culture. If you are familiar with the magazine, it is a website that is a basic extension of that medium. It covers music, lifestyle, reviews, and editorials. The focus of XXL.com is to inform its intended audience of all the news going on within the world of hip-hop music and culture. That’s basically the website’s main goal. The kinds of stories it provides are mostly music based. It covers new albums that are going to be released in the future, which artists are collaborating with each other on special projects, profiles of artists, and general news that are relevant to the average hip-hop music fan. The website’s intended audience is mainly the 18 to 35-year-old hip-hop music fan. Gender is non-specific and open to anyone who loves this type of music. It also provides links to new music from artists that are either new or established. If major news events were to take place within the hip-hop community, XXL would be the first to cover it. Other media websites that contain this type of focus such as “Allhiphop.com” or “Sohh.com” contain the same thing but are heavily biased, more so the latter, which makes remarks based on the individual author’s thoughts. XXLmag.com is the media website I’ve selected for this semester.
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Trav Trippa
threatpoet 