Steve Irwin RIP

MaeveD

Sad news.....The Crocodile Hunter passed away after bring stung in the chest by a stingray off the Great Barrier Reef while filming.

Steve was a Gaidojutsu practicioner, bjj purple belt and a huge MMA fan.

pma-ire

MaeveD wrote:

Sad news.....The Crocodile Hunter passed away after bring stung in the chest by a stingray off the Great Barrier Reef while filming.

Steve was a Gaidojutsu practicioner, bjj purple belt and a huge MMA fan.

I guess it had to catch up with him sometime!!

Dragan

mirwillbeback wrote:

Post Deleted

Hardly appropriate, to be honest. Dying from the sting of any sting ray is a pretty ****ing excruciating way to go....not something i would wish on anyone at all.

Condolences to his wife and kids.

Didn't know he was an MMA head.

FiannaGym.com

Apperently he was killed instantly. What crappy news.



Peace

kodute

RIP Steve, he really was a legend among men. Will miss his crazy sense of humour.

Didn't know about his MA background either, so when he was wrestling crocs he was using bjj techniques?!

Baggio...

That sucks...:(

paxo

RIP steve. I met the guy and his wife Terry at His Australian zoo once, its about 1 hour north of where I live. Very nice very genuine guy. Big MMA fan apparently
Paxo

MaeveD

kodute wrote:

so when he was wrestling crocs he was using bjj techniques?!

Yep, he was interviewed by one of the grappling mags last year and as far as I remember said all his croc fighting skills were mostly bjj with a bit of judo.

If I can find the article I'll post it later.

Morse

mirwillbeback wrote:

Post Deleted

Not funny.


Meave I'd appricate that info on his background for another MA forum I use.

Mola.mola

I remember watching one of this shows and saying he has a great sprawl and was surprisinly good at putting his weight down on the crocodiles efficiently very unlike the po-lice. I was reading up about Diego Sanchez last month and found out Irwin was also a practioneer.

He was a great bloke. Being a BJJ and Zoology person I had a huge amount of love for him and I'm very saddened by his untimely death. MAssive sympathy for his 2 kids and wife.

Miles Long

... seriously... He was a genuine legend and an amazing man. He'll be sorely missed.

MaeveD

I couldn't find the article I was looking for, but here's one from Grappling magazine Nov 04....


Editor's Note - Todd Hester

Steve "Croc Hunter" Irwin - The Greatest Fight Ever

There are many grappling matches that deserve recognition. In the early days of vale tudo (anything goes) the original Gracie brother Carlos, Oswaldo, Gastao Jr, George and Helio - put their reputations on the line and fought men who outweighed them by over 100 pounds. Later generations followed in their footsteps including Carlson, Rolls, Rorion, Rickson, Royce, Royler and others. Although now uncommon in the States, you'll sometimes still see David vs Goliath matches overseas. The most significant recent recent contest was when Aussie Firebrand Tony "Gun" Bonello at 185lbs choked out legendary Dam "The Beast" Severn, at 275 lbs., in less than two minutes at XFC IV in Brisbane. Any of those matches deserve serious consideration for the greatest fight ever. But if weight difference and putting everythin on the line defines the importance of a fight, then my vote for the greatest battle goes out to Steve Irwin the world famous "Croc Hunter", for his match against a foe who weighed 1500 lbs. and was 15 feet long! What was on the line in this match? Only his best friend's life.

For those who don't know, Steve Irwin, owner of the top tourist attraction Down Under, the Australia Zoo on Sunshine Coast, is an avid submission grappler who trains several times a week with bodyguard Danny Higgins, a no-holds-barred fighter and submission grappler who has competed in Australia and in KOTC in America. "Steve's a natural grappler" says Danny. "Strong well-balanced, and very determined. Once he gets a grip on you he won't let go - a lot like a croc." Not only does Steve train but also wife Teri, an Americal from Oregon, and all his children. If you happen to bump into Steve or Teri at their amazing Australia Zoo, they will likely talk your ear off about grappling. "I love training without the gi" Steve says. "From wrestling crocs all my life, I got used to doing ubnderhooks, back mounts and leveraging my weight to keep 'em down. So when Danny introduced me to submission grappling it was an instant hit with me."

Several years ago, according to Danny, Steve was stalking a large croc with a crew which included his best friend. As they approached it, the monster suddenly burst out of the water, grabbed his friend's leg, nearly biting it in two, and dragged him into the water. "It all happened so fast I was in a state of shock," Steve's friend said afterwards. "My last thoughts were about my family, because I knoew they would soon be making my funeral plans." Steve Irwin however, had other plans.

As everyone froze in horror, Steve grabbed a paddle, smashed the blood-mad croc over the head making it temporarily release it's prey, and then leaped into the water, onto the back of the croc, and started grappling it! The croc began flipping and turning in a engraged feeding frenzy, trying to crush the mosquito on it's back who had dared challange the king of the swamp. But Steve held on. "Get him out! Get him out!" Steve screamed, putting in the leg hooks and wrapping his arms around the monster's neck. Only when the crew pulled the injured man out of the water did Steve release the monster and clamber to safety. The croc, not wanting any more of this crazy foe, swam off quickly. "Crikey!" Steve said, reaching down to tend to his friend's wounds. "That was a close one!" And just like that it was over.

Happily, the victim made a full recovery and a picture of his wound is on display outside of Steve and Teri's office. Steve, when pressed about Danny's descripyion of the incredible fight, is typically self-effacing. "Oh, I don't know it wa ssuch a big deal" says Steve. "When I'm wrestlin' crocs I don't really think about how big and poerful they are or how many teeth they got, I just think about how I'm going to enter, tie-up with 'em, and neutralize 'em. It's more instinct than anything else."
If you're in Australia make a special point of visiting the Australia Zoo on Sunshine Coast. It's worth a special trip Down Under all by itself. It's the cleanest, most well run zoo you'll ever see, the employees are friendlyto a fault, and it's owned by Steve and Teri, two grappling fanatics! And if you're lucky enought to run into Steve between expeditions, as he rides around the zoo on his moped with Teri on back, chatting with the visitors, you might just be lucky enough to here THE STORY firsthand. If you do, I'm sure you'll say the same thing I did when I first heard it - Crikey!

For more information on Steve and Teri Irwin, or on the Australia Zoo, visit www.crocodilehunter.com/australia_zoo/welcome/.

kodute

Excellent stuff Maeve, he will be sorely missed, the world needs more people who will jump in when the odds are so heavily against them.

Colm_OReilly

He gave a lot to the world in terms of entertainment, education, and most of all, he had a spirit of courage and adventure that was inspirational.

He was always a pleasure to watch. If people took even 0.001% of the risks he took we'd have a much better world.

Take some risks,
Colm

pma-ire

Not rain in the obituary!

But when I was on a break in Kilarney this summer with the Mrs. I over heard a conversation between an American lady and an Austrailian lady.

The Yank asked the Auzie what they thought of Steve Irwin in Oz? To which the Auz lady replied "We all think he's a nut and an embarrassment!!"

This seemed to come from the fact that he brought a child into a croc enclosure (it may well have been his own?) and it nearly got bitten by the croc!!

It seems that the Auz nation turned against his messing around with wild animals and him?

But this may have been just this womans POV??

MaeveD

pma-ire wrote:

Not rain in the obituary!

But when I was on a break in Kilarney this summer with the Mrs. I over heard a conversation between an American lady and an Austrailian lady.

The Yank asked the Auzie what they thought of Steve Irwin in Oz? To which the Auz lady replied "We all think he's a nut and an embarrassment!!"

This seemed to come from the fact that he brought a child into a croc enclosure (it may well have been his own?) and it nearly got bitten by the croc!!

It seems that the Auz nation turned against his messing around with wild animals and him?

But this may have been just this womans POV??

She was exagerating about it nearly getting bitten. He was feeding the croc with one hand and had his kid in his other arm.... it was all over the telly & papers, how could you not have seen it media hipe to sell papers and telly time.....just like Jacko dangling his baby...as if you'd drop your own kid!
Steve had been around crocs his whole life... and the one he was feeding was one in his zoo, he had it for years..so I'd say he knew it inside out and knew the kid was in no danger. My only problem with it would be that some idiot watching him might think he/she could do the same thing!
I worked with horses for years and have seen loads of people stick small babies and kids up on their horse backs.... much more dangerous chance to take imo!

Everyones entitled to theirs but for instance my boyfriend lived in Oz for 10 years and he liked Steve, a few other aussies I know said he was the best thing that ever happened to Australia, he put Oz on the map, and helped with an upsurge in tourism.
Me, I've always been an animal nut... his voice annoyed me when I first saw him on the telly, but I saw past that pretty quickly. I think Colm summed it up perfectly....

One funny bit of trivia about him.... no problem for him to take on a croc without a thought but he was petrified of parrots... apparently they just didn't like him.

Of course he was a nut... but he was a good nut

pma-ire

MaeveD wrote:

She was exagerating about it nearly getting bitten.

I had thought she sounded like she liked the sound of her own voice

MaeveD wrote:

it was all over the telly & papers, how could you not have seen it

I live a sheltered life

MaeveD wrote:

Me, I've always been an animal nut... his voice annoyed me when I first saw him on the telly, but I saw past that pretty quickly.

The best thing I've seen done on him was the time they done him on South Park!! "I'm gonna p!ss this animal off and stick my finger right up his jacksy!!"

The world is a little quieter since he's gone!! RIP Stevo!!

paxo

pma-ire wrote:

Not rain in the obituary!

But when I was on a break in Kilarney this summer with the Mrs. I over heard a conversation between an American lady and an Austrailian lady.

The Yank asked the Auzie what they thought of Steve Irwin in Oz? To which the Auz lady replied "We all think he's a nut and an embarrassment!!"

This seemed to come from the fact that he brought a child into a croc enclosure (it may well have been his own?) and it nearly got bitten by the croc!!

It seems that the Auz nation turned against his messing around with wild animals and him?

But this may have been just this womans POV??

Good example of the tall poppy syndrome. The majority of Aussies loved the guy but he was larger than life and some found him a bit over the top.

"STEVE Irwin will get a state funeral if that's what his family wants, Queensland Premier Peter Beattie says."

He brought his baby son Bob into the croc enclosure with him a couple of years ago. The man was an expert on croc behaviour and his son was never at risk, however it did sell a lot of paper. Steves view was that his children would grow up in a reptile park and this was part of their learning process.
He was definitely one of a kind
Paxo

yomchi

sad day indeed.

SexeeAussie

A very sad time here in Australia. I haven't heard one person here say that he was crazy or insane or anything. He definitely was a character....a genuine bloke...loved his family and animals with a passion. He was a great conservationist and environmentalist.

He was the kind of guy that you felt you knew when you had never actually met him.

My heart goes out to Teri, Bindi and Bob.

He did wonders for Australian tourism by just being himself!

RIP Steve.

pearsquasher

I happened to be in the Blue Mountains National Park outside Sydney when I heard the news. That morning my buddies were calling me "Steve Irwin" because I chased a brown snake that a Kiwi we were with nearly stood on! It was only when we got back to the hostel that the staff were talking about what happened. Everyone here in Oz is well saddened and the premier of Queensland is calling for astate funeral if his family agrees to it.

Interesting to hear about his grappling schooling too.. makes lots of sense.

Gambatte. ("Keep going" in Japanese)