Innholdsfortegnelse for February - March 2017 i Black Belt Magazine

Over the years, my martial-arts-passion-turned-vocation has brought me into contact with thousands of members of this community. By far, the majority are wonderful, upstanding people who represent the arts in stellar fashion. A few, however … well, let’s say they have a ways to go to reach that level. Listed below are the top eight behavioral quirks of this minority. Now, I’m confident that no Black Belt readers would exhibit any of these, but if you know someone who does, consider saying something. Chances are they seem as odd to everybody else as they do to you and me. • Slow-talking like you’re Kwai Chang Caine. Slow-talking by itself is fine, but when it’s combined with Kung Fu–esque pauses and gestures, along with occasional feigned ignorance (“What is this ……

Tough question. The Confucian- based sense of order that pervades the budo makes it hard for a student to correct or even advise a teacher. We’re in the dojo to learn karate. We’re under a teacher’s control. It’s very awkward for us to give advice, particularly when it’s not sought, to a sensei. We risk his disapproval or anger. I sure don’t have the answer. It’s a very delicate matter. However, I’d like to pass along this historical note that offers a worthwhile perspective. IN THE MID-1580S, the great warlord Hideyoshi Toyotomi was eager to make a decisive move that might win him control of all Japan. His lord Oda No- bunaga had been in the same position a short time before when he was betrayed by an ally, trapped…

A FORMER MMA FIGHTER WEIGHS IN For another take on this topic, see “Self-Taught MMA Thugs, Part 1: Bart Vale Says They’re Becoming More Common — and He Knows the Best Way to Defend Yourself Against These Homegrown Cage Fighters!” in this issue. With the popularity of mixed-martial arts competition continuing to climb on television and online, martial artists of all stripes are becoming more well-rounded in their approach to fighting. The bad news is criminals are learning, too. Police officers report that it’s now common for suspects to challenge arresting officers physically using MMA moves. That means the good guys and gals — people like you — must be prepared to fend off an attacker who may be skilled in kickboxing range, in the clinch and on the ground.…

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Through the research I conducted in country, I learned that vo co truyen contains elements derived from three “religious” disciplines — Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism — but because Vietnam is a communist country, being overtly religious can be problematic. Perhaps that’s why, when I asked my friend Linh Le Trung, an instructor in Hanoi, he said, “I think vo co truyen is not related to religions. Some masters can use the knowledge of religion in the martial arts because they believe it, but most masters of vo co truyen do not.” Within vo co truyen exist numerous schools called mon phai, and one of them, according to Trung, is vovinam, the Vietnamese art most Westerners know. (He also said, “In China, Shaolin is a mon phai, and wing chun is…

AS A OF ARNIS — PRACTITIONER or any other stick-based martial art — you devote a ton of time to training, especially to fine-tuning your offense. It’s totally understandable because after all, who doesn’t want to be the first to land a clean, precise stick strike in a selfdefense encounter that could turn deadly at any time? But what happens when your opponent does something that takes you by surprise? When he shoots in for a takedown before you have a chance to strike? When he grabs your stick before you can even start swinging it? When he makes you drop your weapon? When he deploys his own weapon and brings it into the conflict before you can start using yours? Worst of all, what happens when any of these…

The opponent, perhaps inspired by MMA on the Internet, attempts a low roundhouse kick (1). Bart Vales answers with a leg block, an option that’s best for martial artists who have conditioned their shins (2). The opponent follows up with a punch, which Vale neutralizes by moving and blocking (3). The shootfighter/kenpo stylist immediately seizes the extended arm (4) and leverages it to effect a takedown (5). The move leaves him in position to secure an armbar that can easily damage the shoulder (6). There was a time when the haymaker was the most advanced technique you were likely to encounter in a typical sidewalk scrap. Sadly, those salad days of classical fisticuffs are over. Now, thanks to an abundance of cage-fighting videos that are available for viewing on any…

There are a couple of issues going on here, and while I don’t mean to criticize unfairly, there are some observations that should be made. The first is that merely owning a defensive tool doesn’t protect you; you have to put in the requisite time to be able to get the tool into use (your draw) and then use it to its full capability. That’s where the military term “operator” came from; it means simply that the Marine or soldier operates his equipment — and exceptionally well. When it comes to combatives, there’s no replacement for training and time spent learning about what you have in your hand, how best to employ it, how to get it out in a hurry when you’re under duress, how to keep it in…

The first documented martial sport to mix striking and grappling was ancient pankration. As such, the art possessed a diverse array of techniques for stand-up and ground fighting. Modern pankration preserves this “all powers” legacy — and takes it a step further by adding countless permutations of the techniques and applying its proven strategies to them. Among them are feints, combinations, counters, escapes and reversals. Ensuring these will work under pressure requires you to be proficient in transitioning. The term refers to flowing from one phase of combat to another. It includes going from moving about freely to clinching with your opponent, from clinching with him to fighting on the ground, from fighting on the ground to battling stand-up, and so on. It’s all about synchronizing your body mechanics with…