E N T E R T A I N M E N T M A R T I A L A R T S H E A L T H
Marcus Salgado earned his bachelors degree in Media Studies at the City University Of New York at Hunter College. He is the editor of Screenfighter.com and head master instructor for Screenfighter Academy. Mr. Salgado is an Entertainment Professional, Martial Artist, and Health Consultant.
Muhammad Ali's Training Camp was nestled in the hills of Deer Lake, Pennsylvania, in the middle of nowhere, miles away from any large city or metropolitan area, over looking a valley with a population of just 600 people! The training camp consisted of a full size boxing gym, living quarters, a miniture Mosque (a muslim house of worship), with grounds surrounded by large boulders with the names of Ali's favorite boxers. Among the names were Jack Johnson, Joe Lewis, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Rocky Marciano to name a few. During the time we visited Ali's training camp, Ali was preparing for his fight with former sparring partner and Heavy Weight Champion Larry Holmes. Although Ali would lose the Heavy Weight Title to Larry Holmes, Ali's training camp, created in 1972, among Ali's many achievements, would stand as a monument and testament to Ali's commitment to excellence in boxing, further making him the greatest of all time! RIP Champ!
In 1980, I had been training in the martial arts for close to ten years and earned a second degree black belt in Shotokan Karate from Grand Master Lamarr Thornton, who was teaching at the Harlem YMCA. One of GM Thornton's students named Talib, was Muhammad Ali's barber. Mr. Talib would cut Ali's hair eveytime he visited the Harlem YMCA. Ali, like many African Americans before the civil rights struggle and during, roomed at the Harlem YMCA. Due to the racism of the time, African Americans and other people of color were prohibited from staying at hotels and other rooming houses in the city reserved for whites only. Ali never forgot the love he recieved from the community and the Harlem YMCA during those times and made it his business to visit the "Y" every chance he got when he was in NYC. One such time, when Ali was in town, Mr. Talib arranged for GM Thornton and some of his students to visit and demonstrate karate at Muhammad Ali's Training Camp in Deer Lake, Pennsylvania.
Muhammad Ali
"The Day I Met The G.O.A.T."
Back in the day as a child growing up in New York City, one of the first times I remember admiring an idol, or someone in the media I could really look up to, was Muhammad Ali. I got to meet my idol Muhammad Ali in the summer of 1980.