Your friends at IMAC, USA welcome everyone who will be joining us for the 2nd Annual Martial Arts Olympics East-West Open. We look forward to sharing this extraordinary experience with you in April 2008; and, wish you the best of success at the East-West Open. In addition to organizing a once-in-lifetime trip for the competitors and spectators, IMAC USA was challenged to select a team to compete in the Olympic 'Battle of the Continents' which will feature fighting teams representing Asia, Europe, North America; and, the host country Russia. As a result, IMAC's scouting team set-out on a nationwide search to find the most outstanding American martial artists. With so much exceptional talent here in the United States, this mission proved to be demanding, but also extremely rewarding. We'd like to share with you a few great stories; and, martial artists we've had the pleasure to meet along the way. Athletes, that you can call teammates. Together, we will show the world the talent, heart and soul that America has to offer. In addition, we?d like to introduce to you the United States team.

“And there were giants in the earth in those days”
Genesis 6:4

NXB TEAM presents
Dr. Dan Netherland, 10th degree black belt.

Undisputed World Power Breaking Champion
Guinness World Record Attraction
World Record Federation Inductee
Ripley’s Believe It or Not Feature

Dr. Dan Netherland has been called “Hands of Thunder” and “King of Breaking”. At 5’6”, weighing over 300 solid pounds, he was once described as a ‘bank vault’. Regardless of his titles, Dan Netherland is without a doubt one of the most powerful breakers in martial arts history. He holds black belt ranks in Aiki-Jujitsu, Jujutsu, Judo, Kempo, Karate and Kobojutsu; and, has been in the martial arts for over half a century.

He is the Guinness Breaking Champion, featured in the 2004 Guinness Book of World Records. Dr. Netherland also holds two separate Guinness World Records to date; and, will attempt yet another at the Martial Arts Olympics East West Open during the Opening Ceremonies on Friday, April 18, 2008. Today at 61, Netherland still smashes world records with apparent ease. He smashes records not by one or two blocks or bricks, rather by ten or more. He dominates the field of power breaking!

Few are the people in history who have completely dominated their field, those few became legends. In 2003, Dan Netherland was inducted into “The United States Martial Arts Hall of Fame”, as a “Living Legend”. His life follows the precarious way of those legends gone before. The sheer physical evidence of his power is truly staggering.

According to Dr. Netherland; impossible, never and can’t are all catch phrases used by those unwilling to dedicate themselves to persevere through the pain and fire to achieve victory. He understands this mind set all too clearly, knowing first hand what it takes to drive forward through life’s challenges.

POWER BREAKING

In the realm of breaking, Netherland broke “One ton with a single strike”, a feat that has never been done before in history. The actual weight came to 2,210 pounds of poured cement, 1000 PSI, broken with a single strike.

• He broke 262 pounds of standing concrete through a Class 3A S.W.A.T., issued bulletproof vest with a steel trauma plate insert…with a single strike. (Impossible? A Law-Enforcement Nightmare!)
• He broke 10 stacks of cement, weighing 3,014 pounds in 17 seconds
• He broke three Yale pad locks, at the same time, with a single strike.
• Netherland has broken cast iron wrenches, chains, files, stones, river rocks and other seemingly impossible objects. He has smashed through brick pillars and walls. His breaking is truly mythical.

PHYSICAL STRENGTH

In the realm of physical strength, despite a list of physical ailments including heart disease and post polio, Dan Netherland has distinguished himself as a true strong man.

• He has preformed a full, close-grip incline bench press, from the dead bottom position, without a bounce, with 650 pounds. This was accomplished without the aid of a bench press suit or shirt while himself, weighing 264 pounds
  
• He executed a full heel up triceps’ dip with 1,200 pounds, then 10 repetitions with 1,000 pounds in the same exercise.
• He completed 50, one hand triceps’ press downs, using 100 pounds, in under 60 seconds. This was done right hand then left. He has also preformed thumb up hammer curls, or ‘thor’ curls, using two 135 dumbbells.

KI POWER

In the realm of internal power, ki or Chi, his demonstrated feats set him alone.

Netherland has allowed 18 large men, the opportunity to bend one outstretched arm while projecting ki upward. This was to no avail.

• 20 men attempted to pull two interlocked fingers apart as he created a ki circle, again, no avail!
• 18 men unsuccessfully attempted to push him over as he stood in a rooted ki stance.
• Three men attempted to lift him from the ground while he projected his ki earthward.
• Netherland has placed his hand upon an assistant’s chest, focused ki and drove the assistant through a wall, causing the ceiling to collapse. On another instance, he drove large man 12-feet back into the waiting arms of a catcher. Both hit the floor from the force.
• On another instance, Netherland placed his palm on a law-enforcement officer, who volunteered to wear a bulletproof vest with a steel trauma plate insert. Exploding forth with ki, the 250-pound officer was blown completely off his feet. The officer was injured, needing medical attention for both ribs and sternum.
• The exploits of Dan Netherland read like something from an action comic book or from ancient mythology. When you consider the story of his life, with past and present disabling illnesses, you can but only stand in awe and admiration at this over-coming life. This then is the epic story of Dan Netherland.

PRESENTED BY THE NXB TEAM

ARRIVED IN A STORM

When Dan Netherland was born, November 10, 1946, he was given little chance to live. Born into poverty he could be held in a single hand. It was often told by the old folks in his family, how when he was born, a great storm wreaked havoc in The Delta. Screaming high winds, heavy plummeting rain and great balls of hail fell amidst the most dreadful thundering and blinding lightning. In the center of elemental chaos, a tiny baby arrived.

Two weeks after birth, Dan Netherland contracted pneumonia. He lingered between life and death for weeks. When he was ten months old, pneumonia returned. By the age of two, he had battled croup, whooping cough, throat and breathing infections and pneumonia again.

In some ancient societies, such a weak and sickly child would have been left in the wild to die. It was concluded no good thing could come out of life, so sickly and weak. In a warrior society in which only strength was respected, “The Baby Netherland” would have been completely rejected. They would have, in truth, rejected one of their prime herds.

It appeared death was the lot for Dan Netherland. His grandmother said, “Death stood at the foot of his bed, waiting”. Years later in a training manual on Martial Arts Philosophy and psychology, entitled, “Last of the great dragonfly hunters”, Netherland wrote:

They faced each other, “Old comrade, I call you friend”.
Reliving battles by the embers of the fire, smiling,
death lingered…listening.
Dan Netherland

In 1949, the three-year-old child was having great difficulty with basic body movements. Upon examination, it was discovered that Netherland had the dreaded disease, Polio. Polio was greatly feared in the 40’s and 50’s when thousands of people contracted the disease. Many died while others were crippled for life. Polio attacks the governing muscles in the limbs. Respiratory difficulty sometimes lead to death; and, the virus could shut down any and all muscle function in the body. Though the acute illness could last only weeks, the resulting damage to the nerves could last a lifetime. In his later years, the damage done to the nerves by polio, brought about an acceleration of nerve degeneration. Netherland had to deal with the post polio syndrome some forty years after it went away in his teens.

Storms, poverty, sickness, snakes, polio, each form a picture of Dan Netherlands’ life.* It would seem the fate of Dan Netherland was marked for failure. Heaven, on the other hand, held an all-together different picture of his future.

Netherland would enter the armed forces during the Vietnam era, receiving all honorable discharge. He then entered the field of law enforcement, ultimately obtaining the position of Police Patrol Division Captain, Juvenile Division Captain, S.W.A.T. Team Commander, and Tactical trainer teaching armed and unarmed tactical combat, police urban street survival and arrest methods against armed/unarmed, sing and multiple assailants. Later in his career, he became a Diplomatic; Executive protector (bodyguard); and, Director of Protection and Security for The World Arab/U.S.A. Trade Association. A man of constant evolution, he than became a minister, author and educator. He received a ministerial degree from “Bereau Bible College”; Masters and Doctorate of Divinity from “Columbus Bible College”; and, a PhD from “The Alabama Oriental Studies Institute”.

He has traveled the world bringing inspiration, courage, motivation and hope to people of all national backgrounds. He specifically likes to encourage the disabled and disadvantaged, believing anything is possible with the correct mindset. He would do all this while raising a family of five. He would also do battle with heart disease; decreased lung capacity; diabetes; arthritis; and, his age old nemesis - polio.

"What this power is, I cannot say. All I know is that it exists...and it becomes available only when you are in that state of mind in which you know exactly what you want...and are fully determined not to quit until you get it."
~ Alexander Graham Bell

"There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul."
~ Ella Wheeler Wilcox

"A champion is someone who gets up, even when he can't."
~ Jack Dempsey

"What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog."
~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

"The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is dedication."
~ Cecil B. De Mille

"Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so."
~ Charles De Gaulle

Netherland holds the World Records for:

“Most Concrete blocks broken by hand in a single strike” -30 blocks
“Most Concrete Blocks broken by hand in 60 seconds” -55 blocks
“Most Concrete weight broken in a single strike” -2,100 lbs
“Fastest time to break 55 blocks of concrete by hand” -17.45 seconds
“Most bricks broken by hand in a single strike” -18 bricks
“Most bricks broken by hand in 60 seconds” -76 bricks
“Fastest time to break 75 bricks by hand” -21.3 seconds
“Most people resisted from lifting someone from a position” -4 men
“Most Concrete broken through a class 3a bullet proof vest
with a steel trauma plate” -8 Slabs 24 inches
“Most people resisted from bending 1 out stretched arm” 20 men
“Unbendable circle” 20 men

www.nxbteam.com
www.DanNetherland.com

(*click here to read more on The Life of Dan Netherland)

IMAC, USA would like to join with Dr. Daniel Netherland in thanking the following sponsors: