A lot can change in 2 White Sox Jose Abreu Jersey ,650 years. Apparently, though, when it comes to sports, everything old is new again. At least when it comes to the sport that boasts the fastest-growing popularity in the U.S. today: Mixed Martial Arts.

But whether you call it Mixed Martial Arts or Ultimate Fighting, this sport is far from modern. Combining Greco-Roman wrestling with a variety of martial arts techniques White Sox Joe Crede Jersey , the sport closely resembles the free-form ancient Greek competitive sport of pankration.

Dating back to 648 B.C., when it was introduced into the Olympics, the sport of pankration was bound by two rules: no eye gouging and no biting. Sounds like the rules my Kindergarten teacher established. Beyond that, though, anything was fair game in this competition White Sox Jeff Keppinger Jersey , whose name comes from two Greek words: pan, meaning "all"; and kratos, meaning "powers."

With individual matches often lasting hours (and sometimes resulting in the death of one or both combatants), the game quickly became the most popular Olympic sport.

Its popularity declined at the time of the rise of the Roman Empire, when other combat sports began taking precedence. In the modern Western World White Sox James Shields Jersey , boxing and wrestling grew in popularity while in the East, traditional martial arts flourished.

Flash forward to the 1900s. Twenty-one-year-old Brazilian Carlos Gracie, who was trained in judo by renowned Japanese champion Mitsuyo Maeda, began teaching his four brothers the art as it was taught to him. In 1925, Carlos and younger brother Helio moved to Rio de Janeiro White Sox Harold Baines Jersey , where they opened a jiu-jitsu studio and instituted the "Gracie Challenge," taking on all who wished to compete against them. Begun as a means of drawing attention to their newly opened academy, the Gracie Challenge drew fighters in disciplines ranging from karate and other martial arts to boxing, capoeira (an Afro-Brazilian fighting form) and even wrestling.

Prospective fighters ? and hordes of spectators ? began to flock to these matches; before long, they were drawing such enormous crowds White Sox Frank Thomas Jersey , the matches had to be held in the largest Brazilian soccer arenas. Eventually, the sport (known as vale-tudo, the Portuguese term for "anything goes") had grown to become the second most popular sport in Brazil, right behind soccer (a status that is still maintained today).

From 1935 to 1951, 135-pound Helio Gracie fought and defeated in excess of 1 White Sox Early Wynn Jersey ,000 competitors in this unarmed combat form; many of his opponents outweighed him by more than 100 pounds.

In 1993, MMA took on a new dimension with the institution of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, based on Brazilian vale-tudo (which California salesman Art Davie learned from Helio's son Rorito in the Gracie Jiu-Jitsu school two years earlier).

Derided as "human cockfighting," the no-holds-barred fighting style was often said to be more brutality than sporting competition. Today, MMA and UFC are growing in popularity White Sox Chris Beck Jersey , with UFC expanding beyond its early pay-per-view audiences and gaining greater exposure on regular U.S. and Canadian cable television.

For additional information about MMA, visit http:www.MMASportsNutrition, your online source for superior nutritional supplements for MMA athletes.


In real terms the first quarter 2010 for the real estate in Iceland has seen some of the worst performances ever. The reason for this horrible performance by the Iceland real estate even going by the international real estate listings all across is that the GDP has come down drastically in the year 2010 quarter 1 by almost 6.5% as compared to the previous year.


The problem with the Iceland real estate for sale started when the Central Bank of Iceland, raised the key policy rates by as much as 18% or 500 basis points. This was done so that the International Monetary fund would give the US$2.1 billion loan, when three of the major banks of Iceland collapsed in a manner of one week. By then White Sox Carlton Fisk Jersey , the external loan of Iceland had become really huge and was up by 93%, which was a huge debt. At that point of time, the external debt for Iceland was US$118.7 billion. The Iceland real estate listings were further affected in 2009, when the external loan situation worsened for Iceland and became US$ 120.4 billion.


Recovery of the economy is not seen even in the year 2010. This also includes non recovery for the Iceland real estate as a whole. To infuse momentum in the real estate in Iceland, the policy interest rates have been lowered to 8.5% in June this year. Currently the prices for all Iceland real estate listings estimate that fresh investments won’t be made. In fact the investments in the Iceland real estate as compared with International real estate will see a drop of 27%.


As compared with international rentals tax White Sox Carlos Rodon Jersey , Iceland rentals tax is quite low and this is one of the best advantages of buying Iceland real estate. Those that are non residents are only taxed a flat rate of 10% on the rental income that they derive from their investments in Iceland real estate. Since the economy is set to recover in early 2011, this is really to buy the Iceland real estate for sale. Even the transaction costs for buying or selling property in Iceland is extremely low. Even though the buyer pays for all costs in regard to the transfer of the property, the transaction costs are a bare minimum at 1.92% – 2.52%.


Currently the average square meter cost for newer flats and condos across the country hover at US$1765 as of the first Quarter in 2010. But the capital city of Reykjavik has taken the worst brunt of the Iceland real estate situation and the prices were hovering at US$ 1780 in March this year. This was even lower than last year.


Taylor White is an international real estate investor and leading the charge at International Real Estate Listings the worldwide leader in Iceland real estate for sale . Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Authentic Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys China Free Shipping Wholesale College Baseball Jerseys Cheap New NBA Jerseys Wholesale College Jerseys Cheap Authentic Jerseys