Kicking Out Bullies

This week I’m kicking it with another friend of mine Sensei Joseph “Big Joe” DeFilippi.  Big Joe was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan.  He is married and a proud parent of 3 boys. In his free time you can find Joe breaking bricks, lifting weights, and hunting. Big Joe is massive at six foot two inches tall and three hundred pounds. He has appeared on many television shows including FOX 2 News in Detroit, America's Got Talent, and an Italian TV show called "Guinness Book of Records", and the German show called "The Autumn Festival of Folk Music". He has a full-length movie coming out this spring/summer called “Brotherhood.” Big Joe has also participated in Speed Brick Breaking demonstrations for fundraisers, charities, various venues, as well as opening shows for concerts. His true passion is the protection of our children. Big Joe achieves this by teaching children martial arts at NAAMA Karate and currently he is in the process of creating a non-profit organization called Stop The Bullying. He has a great partner on this non-profit, his name is John D. Green.

The non-profit organization called Stop The Bullying is something Big Joe and his partner John wanted to do for years. The purpose behind the campaign is to of course stop bulling. What Joe plans to do with the organization is bring awareness to bullying by going to schools and talking to the kids about all aspects of bullying. These aspects could include teasing, name-calling, hitting, cyber-bullying, and so on. To get his idea across Big Joe may use martial arts demonstrations, he may talk about who the kids can talk to if these situations are occurring, he may teach some basic self-defense, as well as get the parents involved so they can watch for signs that their son/daughter may be bullied.  

If you would like to learn more about Sensei Joseph “Big Joe” DeFilippi or his Stop the Bullying campaign please go to one of the links below to contact him.   

Links:

Website:

Big Joe DeFilippi - NAAMA Karate - Brotherhood Movie

Facebook:

Big Joe DeFilippi -  NAAMA Karate - BROTHERHOOD Movie

Twitter:

@DeFilippiJ -

Videos:

Autumn Festival in Germany - Big Joe Guinness World Record Tv Show - Brotherhood Movie Trailer

Kicking A$$ for Cash

This week I’m kicking it with another friend of mine Korey Kuppe. Korey was born and raised in Clinton twp. Mi. He is currently 25 years old; he stands six foot five inches tall and weighs 185lbs. Korey started training in martial arts at age 6. He currently holds the rank of 3rd degree black belt in Tang Soo Do. He also has a 1st degree black belt in NAAMA Karate. Korey has been competing in karate his entire life winning multiple state and national championships in sport karate. In 2004 Korey was The World Sport Karate Federation World Champion. He was also a four-time Junior Olympic medalist in Taekwondo. After all of those accomplishments you would think its time to sit back and relax, NOPE not Korey. He is now not only head coach and owner of Jacked n Tan fight team; he is also their top fighter.

On November 16^th of 2013 Korey had his first professional MMA (mixed martial arts) fight.  In this fight Korey faced off against Tyler Edington. The fight was promoted by TWC (Total Warrior Combat). TWC is a professional MMA promotion based out of Lansing, Michigan. The fight card was named TWC Pro Series: Final Cut. Korey was cut early in the fight but finished off Tyler very quickly (one minute thirty-six seconds) via triangle choke.

This week Korey embarks on his second professional fight. He will be facing a guy named Tony Smith. This fight is promoted by TXC (Triple X Cagefighting). The fight card is called “Legends III.” This event will be held on Saturday, February 22nd at 5:30pm at the Macomb Music Theatre. The Macomb Music Theatre is located at 31 N. Walnut Street Mt. Clemens, MI 48043. On fight night, doors will open at 5:00 pm and Pro fights will start at 8:00. Tickets are still available if your interested contact Korey on Facebook or Twitter.

Korey’s fighting style is a unique blend of karate and Jiu jitsu. This mix has helped him never go to a decision by beating his opponents with an even mix of Knockouts and Tap-outs. The last thing Korey wanted me to mention was His brother Konnor Kuppe. Konnor will have his first professional MMA fight on April 26^th in Lansing, Mi. Follow the Kuppe brothers on social media to hear about all of their upcoming fights.

Links:

Websites:

TXC - Macomb Music Theatre - NAAMA Karate

Facebook:

Macomb Music Theatre -   NAAMA Karate  – Korey Kuppe  –Konnor Kuppe

Twitter:

Macomb Music Theatre - @KoreyKuppe - @KonnorKuppe

Kicking Through Vines

This week I’m kicking it with Ryan Figlioli. I wanted to sit down with Ryan because reached over 240,000 followers on Vine. Vine is a social media site that allows users to create and share six-second videos. Ryan is twenty-eight years old and currently works as a certified nurses aid. He is in the processes of receiving his degree as a RN (registered nurse). Ryan said and I quote “I love to help people and make them happy.” He told me over the years he has found laughter to be the best way to make people happy, he said “if you make them laugh, their happy.” Ryan found by making funny videos he could make the laughs live on a lot longer. In six grade Ryan got his hands on his first camera and the legend was born.

Ryan continued his video making through high school and in to college.  While in college Ryan begun posting some of his videos to Facebook. He received a ton of positive feedback that was shown through likes and shares. In June of 2013 Ryan was introduced to Vine. His first major video was posted on July 4^th of that year. The video depicted Ryan holding an American Flag and his grandmother wearing a 49ers hat turned to the side and throwing the piece sign. In the back ground the rap song by ASAP Rocky (feat. Drake, 2 Chainz, Kendrick Lamar) called “Fuckin’ Problems” was playing. This video received 10,000 likes in the first day, Ryan knew he had something. One of Ryan’s best videos to date depicts him dressed up as Dorothy  from the Wizard of Oz dancing and singing the rap song by Nicki Minaj called “Boss Ass Bitch.” This video received over  300,000 likes and over 340,000 re-vines. A re-vine is when someone reposts your video on his or her Vine Page.

After the success of his Dorothy video Ryan watched his followers grow by 100 a day, then 200 a day, then 300 a day, and now his followers are growing at a rate of about 2000 a day. His total followers are now over 240,000 and he receives at least two emails a day from companies offering him to advertise for them. These companies have included the likes of Vitamin Water and Hot Pockets. Ryan has now signed a contract with Collab Creators out of Los Angeles, California. Collab Creators is a YouTube Creator Development company founded by James, Tyler, and Will McFadden.

Ryan told me he is amazed everyday that something he has does just to make people smile has turned in to such a big thing.

Links:

Grandma Video - Dorothy Video

Websites:

Collab Creators- Vine

Facebook:

Ryan Figlioli

Twitter:

Ryan Figlioli

Kicking It For 25 Years

This week I’m kicking it with one of Metro Detroit’s smartest businessmen Joseph P. Vicari. Joe serves as the Chief Executive Officer and President of Andiamo, Inc. He has built his restaurant empire on three simple Italian principles – great food, great family, and great zest for life. He also prides himself on being a Michigan Company and employing so many Michiganders. The heart and soul of Mr. Vicari’s Restaurant Group are the nine Andiamo restaurants located throughout Metro Detroit. This year Andiamo will be proudly celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary. Not only is Mr. Vicari a superb businessman he is also huge philanthropist. He is constantly giving back to the community, supporting numerous charitable organizations including the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, Henry Ford Hospital, Hermelin Brain Tumor Center, and St. John’s Hospital.

As I said earlier Andiamo will be celebrating its twenty-fifth year of operations. Wow, what an achievement. After being in business for twenty-five years Joe realized that he is now potentially serving the grandkids of some of his original customers. With this idea in mind Joe enlisted the help of the Sussman Agency (one of Metro Detroit’s premier marketing agencies). Together they came up with a phenomenal marketing plan built around Andiamo’s twenty-fifth year of operation. To get this great message out there they will be partnering up with The Detroit Free Press, The Detroit Free Press online (freep), WDIV Channel 4, and Channel 4 online (Click on Detroit). Finally as Joe said, he will now be potentially serving those grandkids or as they are know in the marketing world the Millennial Generation.   

This shift to the “Millennial Generation” will give Andiamo its first strong push in to the world of social media. With the push toward social media and Millennials, they have created a new anchor statement “Keep the Party Going” and a hash tag #Andiamo25. I’m very excited to see what the coming year has in store for Joe Vicari and his Restaurant Group.  

Links:

Website:

Andiamo - Sussman Agency - The Detroit Free Press - WDIV Channel 4

Facebook:

Andiamo - The Sussman Agency – Detroit Free Press - WDIV Channel 4

Twitter:

Andiamo: @andiamoItalia - The Sussan Agency: @sussmanagency – Detroit Free Press: @freep – WDIV Channel 4: @Local4News

Michigan Made: Video

Kick up the Bass

This week I’m kicking it with another friend of mine Kenny Spear. Mr. Spear is a local recording artist that comes from my hometown of Detroit. He is multi-talented with the ability to play piano and acoustic guitar while singing, rapping, and beat boxing.  This born prodigy has been composing music since he was six years old. You can currently find Kenny either at Wayne State’s School of Preforming Arts or preforming at 526 Piano Bar in Royal Oak, Michigan. He has a huge event coming  at Macomb Music Theatre with a crazy story that brought it all together.

Before I tell you that crazy story let me tell you about the event. The event is called The Detroit Super Vine, its going to be held this coming Friday, January 31, 2014 at The Macomb Music Theatre, Doors open at 6:30pm. The Macomb Music Theatre is located at 31 N. Walnut Street Mt. Clemens, MI 48043. Kenny Spear, Ryan Figlioli, and Andre Drummond will host this event. Yes , that’s right I said the Detroit Pistons own  Andre Drummond.

About two months ago Kenny started a Vine. Vine is a social media app where people can create and share six second looping videos. In the last two months he has acquired over 12,000 followers. In that time Kenny came across what Vine calls Freestyle-Friday where he seen a video posted by Andre Drummond. Kenny then made his own Freestyle-Friday video and tagged Andre Drummond in it.  After a little back and forth the two begun following each other on both Vine And Twitter. This friendship gave Kenny the idea to start a campaign to get Andre voted in to the NBA All-Star Game. His plan was to create a music video/rap song that would highlight all of Andre’s talents on the basketball court. The video then lead to multiple Vines asking for everyone’s vote. This friendship, the video, and all the Vines also gave Andre an idea, his idea was Detroit Super Vine.  

Links:

Video that started it all: Andre Drummond 2014 All-Star

Facebook: Kenny Spear - Ryan Figlioli - Andre Drummond - Macomb Music Theatre - 526 - Wayne State University

Twitter: Kenny Spear  - Ryan Figlioli - Andre Drummond - Macomb Music Theatre -

Wayne State University

Website: Detroit Super Vine - Macomb Music Theatre - 526 Piano Bar-

Wayne State University's  School of Preforming Arts - Vine