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27 Articles

LEARNING UNDER LOCKDOWN

We martial artists like to think we’re tough, able to take a punch and keep on fighting. And most of the time, we are. With COVID-19, however, the situation is radically different. We can’t just soldier on in our collective battle against it and pretend we won’t be affected — because we already have been. Our schools are closed. Our travels are restricted. Our home workouts are hampered. Our gear purchases are shifting from in person to online. The staff of Black Belt is not going to offer advice on what you should or shouldn’t do to fight the coronavirus on a personal level. We’ll leave that to the experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What we will do is focus on our mission: dispensing information about…

LEARNING UNDER LOCKDOWN

THE LADY SENSEI IS TAKING HER MESSAGE TO THE MASSES

Most people who get into the martial arts for self-defense reasons do so out of some vague concern that one day they might be the victim of a random crime and therefore should probably have a method of protecting themselves. But for some, the need to learn self-defense is a much more pressing matter, one that can require a whole different mindset on the part of both the student and the instructor. “For women — or men — who’ve experienced some kind of trauma or violation, there’s a difference in training because they’ve already had that experience and they don’t want to experience it again,” Gerry Chisolm said. “They remember the feeling of powerlessness. Trauma gives us a different mindset.” Known in martial arts circles as “Lady Sensei,” Chisolm speaks…

THE LADY SENSEI IS TAKING HER MESSAGE TO THE MASSES

RICH FRANKLIN RECRUITS FIGHTERS FOR ONE

In 2015, mixed-martial arts pioneer Rich Franklin retired from his role inside the cage, but he couldn’t quite get the cage out of his life. He now serves as vice president for ONE Championship. Among the talents he’s cultivated with the Singapore-based organization is the ability to scout up-and-coming stars, and one of the ways he does that is via ONE Warrior Series. Along with director and co-host Jonathan Fong, Franklin travels the globe in search of the best martial arts talent. The series began as a reality documentary in 2018, and it’s grown into ONE’s premier method for discovering new athletes. On multiple occasions, Franklin has managed to find a diamond in the rough. “The ONE Warrior Series program has proven to be one of the most effective in…

RICH FRANKLIN RECRUITS FIGHTERS FOR ONE

TANG SOO DO MASTER PASSES

The World Tang Soo Do Association recently lost its beloved leader when Robert Beaudoin, Ph.D., succumbed to a sudden illness. Beaudoin assumed leadership of the organization in 2012 when Jae Chul Shin died. He immediately set about making sure that Shin’s dream of perpetuating a pure martial arts organization continued. Consequently, the WTSDA flourished under Beaudoin, and it now includes more than 205,000 members in 34 countries. He worked tirelessly to promote and spread tang soo do. In 2019 alone, he spent 15 weeks on the road, visiting member studios around the globe. Hundreds of tang soo do black belts and masters attended Beaudoin’s memorial services. Tearful testimonials evidenced the love and respect that members felt for him and his work. He was renowned for his technical knowledge, as well…

TANG SOO DO MASTER PASSES

California Blain Cort’s Total Self-Defense 2955 McMurry Drive Anderson, CA 96007 blaincort@gmail.com Golden Tiger Karate 9501 Flushing Quail Bakersfeild, CA 93312 (661) 345-4371 goldentigerkarate@yahoo.com Kuk Sool Won-Rohnert Park Martial Arts 311 Professional Center Drive Rohert Park, CA 94928 (707) 494-1151 Kuksoolwonrp@yahoo.com Red Dragon Championship Martial Arts 1603 Garnet Ave. San Diego, CA 92109 (858) 263-4212 reddragonpb@live.com Connecticut New England Rendokan 1845 Silas Deane Highway Rocky Hill, CT 06067 (860) 628-1022 Info@ner1.net Florida All American Martial Arts & Krav Maga Academy 4255 US Highway 1 South, Suite 4 St. Augustine, FL 32086 (904) 797-2262 lessons@staugustinetaekwondo.com Georgia Kombative Academy of Traditional Martial Arts Savannah Mall, 1st Floor 14045 Abercorn St., Suite 1512 Savannah, GA 31419 (912) 459-8693 katmadefense@gmail.com Massachusetts Aikido of Bristol County 985 Monmouth St. New Bedford, MA 02745 (508) 542-9437 hatch121@aol.com Massachusetts Borges Martial…

On Our April/May 2020 Fightbook Column BLACK BELT incorrectly implied that Rodrigo Antunes coached Gokor Chivichyan before Chivichyan won a gold medal at the World Master IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship in August 2020. In actuality, Antunes is a student of Chivichyan’s whose role was to make sure his teacher understood the rules of the IBJJF event. Rodrigo Antunes: I explained the BJJ rules extensively when I found out that sensei Gokor was going to compete in the BJJ championship. I have been training in BJJ for over 25 years [and] have won many world championships in gi competition. My no-gi grappling was good but not great. I have known sensei Gokor for many years, and I know how great he is in grappling. I always wanted to train with him and…

Should a Martial Artist Ever Retire?

In old Japan, warriors, nobles and the wealthy often retired from their careers as well as from the hustle of the everyday world. They devoted themselves to the arts, to their hobbies or to their studies. AQUICK CLARIFICATION: No serious martial artist “retires” in the sense that the person ceases to train, study and explore life by traveling along a martial way. There’s an expression in Japanese that one should live one’s life as a kara kyohi, a dry husk, one that’s used up completely. In other words, one should leave nothing left undone. There is no retirement from any martial art; they all represent a lifelong path. There is a moment, however, if a budo teacher lives long enough, when he or she must contemplate retiring from a position…

Should a Martial Artist Ever Retire?

Farewell, Hirokazu Kanazawa

STORIES OF HIROKAZU KANAZAWA are a soundtrack of post-training bull sessions. Kanazawa, who won the first All Japan Karate Championship in 1957 — with a broken wrist. (When his mother heard he was dropping out of the competition because of the injury, incurred only days before the event, she asked him why he couldn’t win with the other hand and with his kicks, compelling him to stay in. Moms then, and Japanese moms in particular, were a little different.) Kanazawa who, along with his roommate Takayuki Mikami, was one of the first graduates of the Japan Karate Association’s instructor-training program, where his skills were polished by Masatoshi Nakayama, Hidetaka Nishiyama, Teruyuki Okazaki and other members of the JKA whose names are still spoken with reverence. Kanazawa, who established the United…

Farewell, Hirokazu Kanazawa

Hanging in Hanoi With the San Da Team! Part 2

WHEN WE WERE IN CHINA, he came to watch my training and fighting on a number of occasions. Each time, he implored me to accompany him to Vietnam, where he’d connect me with the best fighters and teachers. I always take such offers lightly because people tend to exaggerate the strength of their own connections. The minute we walked into the national training center, however, everyone stopped and ran over to welcome him. Later, I found out that he’d been a national and a Southeast Asian Games champion and now served as a director of the san da federation. He hadn’t exaggerated. VU INTRODUCED me to the head coach at the san da center, a man named Trinh Kin Dao. The chairman of the Hanoi Wushu Federation and director of…

Hanging in Hanoi With the San Da Team! Part 2

Counter-Grappling and Specious Advice

“What do I do if the guy has me in this hold?” “What do I do if the guy knows jujitsu?” “What do I do if the guy is a good wrestler?” THOSE OF US WHO TEACH the combat arts field such questions all the time. The inquiry usually has a simple formulation with the interrogator not quite aware that because of inexperience, he or she has made a vast openended query. Of course, the questioner is not at fault. The problem doesn’t begin until the person replying opens with, “Well, all you have to do is.…” The implication that there’s an easy answer to such a complicated physical question shows a good deal of shortsightedness — or a staggering amount of hubris. INTERESTINGLY, we never succumb to the temptation…

Counter-Grappling and Specious Advice

Take Action to Alleviate Angst

I LEARNED a long time ago in the military during survival and resistance training that one of the things that upset a person’s equilibrium the most is simply “not knowing.” In Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School, as well as Survival and Resistance Training, every effort is made to keep trainees in the dark about what’s coming next. In the higher levels of SERE, even the trainees’ circadian rhythms — a human being’s “body clock” — are disrupted to destabilize them, taking away important physiological touchstones. To combat this, trainees are taught to maintain any rituals and routines they can control, such as shaving and hygiene, physical exercise and visualization drills conducted at particular times during the day. It occurred to me that if people have become troubled to the…

Take Action to Alleviate Angst

Daredevil’s Brewster: Badass, Intelligent and Upright

IN SCIENCE, a brewster is a unit used to measure something called “the susceptibility of a material to photoelasticity.” In regard to cultural/philosophical charges, a brewster is a person who reflects the capacity of one’s spirit to remain flexible under the spot-light, who can stretch under duress to overcome challenges to benefit those around him or her. In Britain, Brewer is a family name for the mellow Southern Englanders who made lagers, while Brewster is the rustic alias for the tough Northern English and badass clans of Scotland who distilled robust ales. After interviewing Chris Brewster, I came to the conclusion he’s the Brewster of the stunt world: a badass stuntman, intelligent fight choreo-grapher and upright stunt coordinator. BORN IN NYACK, New York, Chris Brewster embarked on the martial path…

Daredevil’s Brewster: Badass, Intelligent and Upright

Fitness Training Station

THIS IS THE PERFECT COMPLEMENT to any home gym, as well as an amazing stand-alone tool. The Fitness Training Station from Century Martial Arts is a bag hanger that refuses to be only that. Its durable steel frame features dip bars, pull-up handles and push-up handles, plus pegs for hanging plate weights to boost the unit’s stability. It gives you everything you need for an upper-body workout that hits the chest, biceps and triceps. And that’s not even mentioning the main function of the Fitness Training Station — to hold a heavy bag for your martial arts training! The Station will handle a bag that weighs up to a 100 pounds and can easily be set up anywhere: in your home office, garage or bedroom, anywhere you have the space.…

Fitness Training Station

Cris “Cyborg” Justino bears a nickname that’s become synonymous with the mixed martial arts — mostly because of her impressive 22-2 record, with 18 of those victories having come by way of TKO. Her last dominating win, over muay Thai expert and former Bellator champion Julia Budd, led the Brazilian to an MMA milestone the likes of which no fighter, male or female, has ever achieved: Justino has been a featherweight champion in not one, not two, not three but four of the largest MMA promotions in the world. For the record, those promotions are Strikeforce, Invicta, the UFC and Bellator MMA. While the pinnacle of her fame comes from her time in the cage, she was eager to talk to Black Belt about the lesser-known facets of her career.…

PINK BELT CHARITY

In 2015 Cris “Cyborg” Justino created a program that offers a glimpse of the passionate side of the MMA phenom: fighting for those who don’t have a voice of their own. Since its inception, her nonprofit Pink Belt organization has supported women who are facing personal, domestic and health-oriented challenges. Its mission is to help them overcome their obstacles, no matter how daunting they might seem. Justino conceived of Pink Belt as a way to aid women who have never had the opportunity to train in martial arts. It exposes them to the fundamentals of the arts, and it provides mentorship and support from Justino and what she’s dubbed her Pink Belt Army. Cyborg’s Pink Belt training camps typically see 150 women participate, with many of them returning year after…

PINK BELT CHARITY

MARTIAL ARTWORK AND CYBORG’S SAGA

In her hometown of Curitiba, Brazil, a mural was painted in the Afonso Botelho square in 2016. The intention was to honor Cris “Cyborg” Justino, MMA legend. The mural was commissioned just outside Athletico Paranaense Stadium before Justino’s UFC 198 bout with Leslie Smith, in which Cyborg triumphed before a capacity crowd of 45,000. Sadly, the mural was removed in 2017 by Curitiba Mayor Rafael Greca, who believed it didn’t belong there anymore. The silver lining is that Justino had the mural recreated in her private gym in Huntington Beach, California. She did it to ensure that a part of her past that’s no longer visible in Curitiba will never be missing from the story of her life as a fighter.…

MARTIAL ARTWORK AND CYBORG’S SAGA

By now, you’ve heard all about 52 Blocks—especially because we featured the art and its most visible proponent Professor Mo, aka Mahaliel Bethea, on the cover of our June/July 2019 issue. The New York City–based instructor is back in Black Belt, this time to teach seven of his system’s trademark techniques. Roll the Dice The hand motion of “roll the dice” is similar to pedaling a bike with your arms. When your opponent reaches out to strike or grab, you cycle so the leading edge of the circle formed by your moving fists goes downward. That brings your fists or forearms into hard contact with his limb, Professor Mo says. “You break down the arm byhitting him near his wrist and farther up the arm. Then you hit his face…

UNDERSTANDING SABAKI

In the martial arts, we voluntarily subject ourselves to conflict in a training environment so we can transcend conflict in the real world. After all, we wouldn’t knowingly train in a style that makes us weaker or worsens our position. The irony of all this is that we don’t want to fight our opponent. We prefer to work with what an opponent gives us to turn the tide in our favor, to resolve the situation effectively and efficiently. The Japanese have a word for this: sabaki. It means to work with energy efficiently. When we train with the sabaki mindset, we receive our opponent’s attack, almost as a gift. Doing so requires less physical effort and frees up our mental operating system so it can determine the most efficient solution…

UNDERSTANDING SABAKI

Any veteran of the martial arts will tell you that the 1960s were known as the “blood and guts” era of American karate. Chances are that person also will tell you that one of the pioneers of this period — not to mention, one of the toughest fighters ever — was Jim Harrison. Born on December 30, 1936, the man they called “Ronin” built an impeccable reputation in the combat arts, one that persisted until he passed away on February 23, 2020. Harrison earned the respect and admiration of countless martial artists, and he crafted a career that was as noteworthy as he was. In part, he did that by competing in, coaching and refereeing judo, point-karate and full-contact tournaments. Later, he promoted the first professional tournament in karate…

The King of Cool may have died in 1980, but even four decades later, Steve McQueen’s tough-guy persona continues to loom large over Hollywood. Example: Chase scenes are a staple in today’s action flicks, and inevitably every chase is rated against either McQueen’s 1968 Mustang chase in the crime drama Bullitt or his motorcycle jump in The Great Escape. In addition to the lasting impression he left with vehicles, his presence still resounds in Tinseltown in other ways. In the 2016 remake of the 1960 classic Western The Magnificent Seven (which featured McQueen), Chris Pratt’s character Faraday wields a cutdown Winchester rifle in homage to the one McQueen carried for three years in his 1950s bounty-hunter TV series Wanted: Dead or Alive. Younger movie viewers may be interested to know…

A Martial Artist’s Guide to Coping With COVID

As the world reels in response to COVID-19 and scrambles to take action to curb further spread of the coronavirus, it’s never been more apparent that we live in dangerous times. Interestingly, if we look to ancient warrior wisdom, we can find some of the answers we need to battle the hidden enemy of today. One such key comes from a well-known Chinese principle that was famously repeated by Sun Tzu: “If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the results of 100 battles.” Sun Tzu’s message was that we will never be in danger if we possess knowledge. The concept applies as much to martial arts students and school owners as it does to me, a health-care provider. It’s particularly applicable in the effort to…

A Martial Artist’s Guide to Coping With COVID

TEACHING WITHOUT CONTACT

For those instructors whose schools are temporarily closed — which is likely most of you — 10th-degree black-belt Floyd Burk offers the following teaching tips: • Talk to your online students like they are right there with you. Try to make them laugh so they enjoy your virtual classes. • Think about the space in which they might be training. Remind them to be careful of siblings, pets, lamps and so on. • Be creative in helping online students find training props like pillows to use as kicking pads, pool noodles to use as bokken and so on. • Know that kata practice is perfect for training during the quarantine because there’s no need for a partner. Have your online students drill their kata at least twice a week. Mix…

With the coronavirus ravaging communities and shutting down martial arts–related businesses all over the planet, some are fighting back against the outbreak the best way they know how. Century Martial Arts, one of the world’s largest manufacturers of martial arts equipment and uniforms, has turned a portion of its production facility in Oklahoma City over to making medical masks. “We actually saw this coming a little earlier than others because we have partners over in China,” said Michael Dillard, Century’s vice president of special projects. “So we knew from them how serious the situation was and how it completely shut down their infrastructure.” The company began testing whether its employees could manufacture surgical masks in early February. The process required a certain type of sewing machine, and fortunately, they still…

Innovate or Stagnate!

ANSWER:By bringing the Filipino martial art of kali into your world and offering it to your students. If you’re thinking that’s easier said than done, you should know that Apolo Ladra, Black Belt Hall of Famer and renowned master of pekiti tirsia kali, knows precisely how to introduce an art into any school in a way that’s fun and rewarding. You may be wondering why you’d want to do that. In fact, why should you make any changes to your school? A better question is, Why not? Change is inevitable, and innovation is the proactive approach to dealing with the human drive to change things. If you don’t make changes designed to keep your curriculum up to date, you’re going to lose ground. It might not happen right away, but it…

Innovate or Stagnate!

Psychic Self-Defense

WHEN INTUITION GRABS our attention to warn us of danger in our surroundings, it often feels like an alarm going off in our body. When danger is present, the sensation we feel, in the words of some people, is like an electric current that starts in the gut and radiates outward. Others have described the feeling as a chill running up the spine or a generalized lack of comfort. The commonality is a definite sense of unease, a nagging feeling that won’t go away. There also might be a flash of insight or a sensation that comes to us, one that we never sought out. All this is indisputable evidence that our body is picking up information, much like radar does, and that this information needs to be examined by…

Psychic Self-Defense

5 WAYS TO BUILD YOUR INTUITION

1. Get in tune with your body. Practice mind/body exercises that synchronize the breath with repetitive movement. These physical actions can calm the cognitive mind and open you up to your intuition. 2. Dedicate time every day to listening and focusing on awareness. Make an effort to listen to your gut instinct throughout the day so you can begin to recognize your intuitive guidance. 3. Practice “reading” people when you meet them. See what you can glean from them by sensing their energy and observing the subtleties of their behavior. 4. Meditate. Doing this regularly will help you recognize impulses that come from within. Know that intuition can speak through words, images or physical sensations. 5. Release your resistance. Don’t rationalize your way out of an intuitive hunch. Using your…

From the Archives

Vol. 18, No. 6, $1.50 • “To the ninja, deception is but one more weapon and is only a part of the greatest weapon of all — the mind.” So says Stephen K. Hayes, ninjutsu master. • “By presenting falsehood as truth, the ninja gets his adversary to think in one way, then approaches him from another,” Hayes continues. “If we are in a close-in fighting situation, we may grab our assailant and pull him forward if our true intention is to knock him backward.” • In Sumatra, Indonesia, two silat practitioners, one 58 and the other 62, are attacked by a tiger. The men manage to kill the cat but later die from injuries sustained. Recall the Chinese proverb: “When two tigers fight, one will die, but the other…

From the Archives

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