Saturday, April 30, 2011

Headhunters, literally

That's my newest scetch of indians, or barbarians, if you like, drying heads of their enemies on the bamboo trees. I did it few days ago after watching thay movie Apocalypto, only my indians are more like a bunch of dolts, that was the idea anyway. I think it's quite funny (being an author, I of course couldn't think otherwise), and could make a snappy gift for somebody employed in a recruitment sector. It is therefore available on a variaty of handy stuff, like mugs, thermoses, calendars and of course T-shirts in the Cafepress, which anyone is very welcome to check out. 
Here's how the finished  drawing looks like:  

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Hungry Fish

A couple of new piranha illustrations in some screaming bright colors here. Piranha as you might already know is a creature of grumpy nature, poor looks, few taste buds and low morals at a dining table. I drew her face a bit like a scull and because of sticking out gills it's also cross shaped, so ultimately the message is that if you go swim in Amazon, don't say we didn't warn you...




Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Hi and thanks for reading this page
I found myself in this world in 16.11.1968, in a beautiful historical city of Skalica, in the western part of Slovakia and my parents decided to call me after my father Milan.
Quite early they recognized my talent drawing, and at 5 years of age I was put in a fine arts school. Of course, that wasn’t quite in line with my plans: sitting in front of a piece of paper or messing around with friends – if I was asked, I would have chosen the latter. Then I also didn’t like to draw what I was told, I loved to draw what I liked. This however didn’t stop me from finishing this art school with the best marks.
I’ve always loved animals, so I would draw mostly animals and people, especially my teacher, used to say I did that well. My parents wanted me to be an artist, but I was dreaming become a zoologist (inspired by popular movies of the time, especially TV series DAKTARI). I even went to agricultural school to do my leaving cert.
Reality however proved slightly different from my dreams. Africa remained far away, no more Daktari, and in 1989 I would get a call to serve in Czechoslovakian army and to protect our land against “Western imperialists” as these communists pigs were trying to teach. Army service lasted 2 years and was obligatory in Slovakia. During this time in army I was captivated by martial arts. I started practising kickboxing and thai boxing, because from my point of view these are most realistic and effective martial arts. My interest was not on competition, but rather on self-defence, so I would start incorporate some dirty street techniques, even strong heavy slaps, which are very popular among street brawlers in my country!
Somehow other guys liked my style of kickboxing and started asking me to train them. So we put together a group or call it a team, if you like, of kick and thai boxers which actually came out quite successful: 3rd in Open European Championship in kickboxing, 1st in Open German Championship in Muay-Thai, to name a few. By then I was already working as a municipal policeman in my town, Dubnica nad Vahom. My repertoire of techniques for self-defence grew richer, since now I would have also learned police tricks how to fix and handcuff people, how to fight a person with a knife and some handgun disarming techniques. Later on I got my kickboxing trainer certificate from Charles University of Prague thanks to Czech Full Contact Union.
I married and got beautiful daughter Kristina. Unfortunately, we split and divorced. That was the hardest time of my life and if not some of my friends I don’t know where I would be today. In short time I found myself in Ireland in order “to clear my mind” and start new chapter of my life. There I met Akvile, a sporty girl whom I started teaching kickboxing, soon afterwards she would go to win European title. We fell in love and got nice present for Christmas Eve 2010, a baby Petra.
At this moment my life is about taking care of my both daughters and Akvile, doing my best to support them, which is not always so easy, because you would be doing a job that is not exactly what you would like to do!
I’m posting some of my latest sketches and complete drawings here. Some of them are available on merchandise in http://www.cafepress.com . All drawings and designs have some story behind them, or they reflect my view on society, martial arts, politics, or they are just a joke :)

Random moments with some important persons
with my elder daughter
the younger one


crazy drawing on T-shirt idea
that's my darling

hairy king


another piece "direct on garmet"


Sunday, April 17, 2011

Dutch Power: Spiderbas & Heinverine


Bas Rutten, a famous MMA fighter, I noticed him long time ago when I still lived in Slovakia, that was in some Budo Gala in Paris Bercy, there was Bas Rutten doing exhibition with Marco Ruas and I was immediately intrigued by his style. Then later on I saw this funny exhibition where he was making jokes from classical karate, I found few videos from his fights and that was my first contact with MMA. Later on, of course, came Royce Gracie and Ultimate Fighting Championship, but somehow Bas Rutten style, and his way of fighting has this character that is exciting and appealing, and makes sence from the first look, so I did like it really a lot.
I was not alone who became Bas’s fan in Slovakia. Lots of my friends and other people I knew noticed him because of his slaps. And slaps are still considered a good weapon in my country, not those bitch slaps, but a good, powerful slap.
When I had opportunity I read everything about him and I found out that when he was a small boy he wanted to be a Spiderman.
The later through Facebook I came in contact with his cousin Hein, we became kind of FB friends, and he told me that his favorite hero was Wolverine. Hein is very proud of his cousin Bas (of course, who could blame him for that?!), and this is my present to him. By the way, I have all Bas’s books and DVDs as well as his workout CDs. With my girlfriend soon wife-to-be we’re practicing this stuff. Of course, we’re open-minded and we’re doing a lot of things we find good, mixing new things with our previous experience in sport.

Now if you still don't know what I'm talking about here is video of Bas's "karate exhibition"

And here's the best Bas Rutten knockouts. I could't find Paris Bercy one, maybe I'll get it later

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

I love Thai boxing

Some Thai-boxing specific injuries :)


I'm not training now as much as I should (shame on me, but I'll be back!). However when I did train, it felt pretty much like the guy above: never a morning without pain, after a good workout your muscules are shattered, sore, pushed to the limit, but you feel happy coz you went through it, you've done it, and you know you'll have guts to go through it again this evening, and again tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow until you've learned something, you made step forward, you improved further, so you can push yourself even harder. Then eventually what seemed like impossible a month ago, becomes easy, the moves that felt awkward suddenly start to smoothen out, and everything seems to kind of fall into their own places. The pain is never gone as long as you train, but as long as you train you love this pain, it is rewarded by a sence of achievement, by a boost of energy and self-satisfaction after each training. Never give up, train hard damnit!

As all other designs this one is available on T-shirts, hoodies, vests, adorable ladies wear, kids clothing, mugs and much more at Cafepress.
Come visit my store on CafePress!

Sunday, April 3, 2011

Catch as catch can




Thanks for coming back. Hope you like these catch as catch can wrestlers and worn down American flag in the background. Catch as catch can wrestling is one of the sports that have had impact on modern MMA. It all started from working class guys challenging each other for the bet fights where "the winner takes it all" and quickly spread from UK and Europe to America. Those fighters amassed their skills from all the different sources and schools, mixed everything, added their own tricks and popularity of these shows quickly grew. Add travelling carnivals which actually played a big role in preserving these old fighting secrets, since when the fight shows picked up speed and became more popular, coruption didn't take long to creep in, fighters started to loose their skill. However in carnivals guys were fighting members of public and had to be prepared for anything, so there was practically no room for fixing fights.
Well, I'm not gonna go into details since wikipedia anyway has much more detailed info on the origins of catch wrestling. Just would like to emphasize that catch as catch can is only ONE of the styles that have affected modern MMA, so did kickboxing, thai boxing, judo, etc. And if to go back in time, the very first ever recorded mixed martial art is Acient Greece pankration.

As aways you can check out T-shirts, hoodies, pajamas, kids wear, mugs and much crazier stuff at cafepress if you click the link below

Come visit my store on CafePress!


That much for now. Keep up a good work, and good night

United Kingdom of MMA design featuring English bulldog



Hi, and thanks for visiting byMilan blog. Here is one of my MMA related designs. As all others it's hand-drawn with only text added and colours slightly adjusted with Photoshop. At the moment even though mixed martial arts are becoming increasingly popular accross all Europe, UK is still the leader in the region, hence Kingdom of MMA and English bulldog.

I am a big fan of mixed martial arts and keep training as much as time allows, although it's not always easy, as you probably know yourself :) If you like this drawing, you can easily stick it on your T-shirt, hoody or pajama, mug or wherever because it's available in www.cafepress.com, see the link below.
Thanks for your time and please come back to check more pictures of BJJ, kickboxing, thai boxing, catch as catch can and other sports coming very soon. Take care and keep going!

Come visit my store on CafePress!