My name is Ronald Mann, and in 1995 I lost my left leg below the knee in a motorcycle accident. For rehabilitation, I returned to the martial arts and began training as a full contact fighter. With the help of my teammates, coaches and friends I have been able to push farther than anyone thought could happen, and have competed multiple times in kickboxing and mma events. On Jan 28th, I will be traveling to Walter Reid medical hospital in order to speak to and perform a martial arts demonstration for the soldiers that are coming back from Iraq and Afghanistan. I am searching for a local individual to engage in light sparring and pad holding with me to show the troops what an amputee can accomplish with the right attitude. If you are or know of anyone who would be willing to assist in this endeavor, please contact me at rmann35@hotmail.com or on my cell: 408-608-9370. This show will be televised locally, and as my training partner you will be compensated for your time and effort. Thanks in advance for anyone who can help make this worthy cause go down!
walter reed address:
a. Walter Reed Army Medical Center is located in northern Washington, D.C., at 7100 Georgia Ave. N.W., between Rock Creek Park and Georgia Avenue near the Maryland - District of Columbia boundary.
Sounds great that you're looking at the glass half full and sharing you're knowledge and great outlook with others. Good luck and keep up the good work. If you're ever in Orlando, give me a buzz: (407)340-7879. You sound like someone I'd like to meet if you have the time.
Where is Walter Reid Medical Hospital? I'm sure if that do-gooder Charles McCarthy is within a few hours away he'd do it. I sure would like to help, but 408 area code doesn't sound like it's anywhere near Orlando and working at DCF doesn't afford me too much time off.
On a side note, the Florida Athletic Commission has been dancing around letting Ron fight in Florida. He has prior MMA experience and is fully functional and willing to fight.
He has a background in Muay Thai and jiujitsu. I trained him in submission in Tampa for a year and a half. Now he is at the AKA in San Jose California. Very capable person, anyone who has wrestled with him knows he has one leg that works better than most people with two.
Yeah, Ron got screwed in New Orleans. He went up there to help the event, add a little bit of skill and caliber to beef up the show (there were mostly C level competitors on the card), drove 10+ hours and got nothing. Ron is always doing charity work though!
thanks for the support guys. this is a great opportunity for me as an amputee as well as a fighter. i hope to be able to put on a great show and realy show what we can accomplish as athletes.
my phone listed is in san jose, ca. and i have just modified the post to include the hospital address. if anyone is able to help, we would need you for a couple of hours in the afternoon, but you would be more than welcome to stay for the entire event.
That was sad Ron was not able to fight in New Orleans! He did help us out the next night at our show. Ron is a good guy. The biggest problem he is going to have is finding opponets that will fight him.
I've seen Ron compete and met him briefly. He is a great guy and a phenominal athlete. Best of luck to you Ron and hope to see you fighting in FL real soon.
You should contact the Disabled Veterans. I sat on a plane next to a guy a couple of years ago whose job was promoting sports activities for disabled vets. We ended up talking about judo, and he was saying that was something they had going.
FYI, this past weekend the California State Games took place, and there was a judo competitor who also had a leg amputation.