Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2018 i Black Belt Magazine

On May 1, 2018, the Karate Club at Radford University (Virginia) celebrated 45 years of active instruction. It was founded by Black Belt Hall of Famer Dr. Jerry Beasley in 1973 while he was a senior majoring in philosophy at nearby Virginia Tech. Beasley earned a Master of Science and a doctorate from Virginia Tech in part by writing and defending both a thesis and a dissertation on martial arts education. Having earned the necessary academic credentials, Beasley became a professor of health and human performance at Radford University, where he supervised the Karate Club and headed the Asian martial arts minor. The Karate Club was first certified by the American Taekwondo Association but quickly converted to full-contact karate when the Jhoon Rhee Safe-T gear became available in 1974. In…

• In late May/early June, Black Belt embarked on a California road trip that included interviews and photo shoots with shotokan karate instructor Kyle Funakoshi in Milpitas, bak mei kung fu master Eddie Chong in Sacramento and taekwondo teacher/American Ninja Warrior competitor Shannen Park in Roseville. • On June 21, two-time Olympic judo gold-medalist Kayla Harrison made a successful MMA debut in the Professional Fighters League. • Fox News reported that a security guard armed with a nunchaku took down and restrained a man with a knife in Oklahoma City. • Dragonfest 2018 is scheduled to take place in Burbank, California, on August 25. Proceeds will go to the Martial Arts History Museum. • The new YouTube Red series Cobra Kai is enjoying stellar ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, as well…

The rear choke used to be a key component of an officer’s arsenal, but it’s no longer employed by many departments because of safety concerns that have recently come to light. Regardless of which side of the debate you fall on, you’ll agree that attempts should be made to limit these kinds of incidents. But is this possible? What measures can be taken to reduce the use of excessive force while at the same time keeping police officers safe? “THERE ARE SOME common-sense things that can be done, but no one wants to pay for them,” Albert Gotay said. “In the long run, it might be better for cities to just invest more money in police training — including self-defense training — rather than pay the cost of lawsuits.” When…

That image reveals the current connotation of the word: a synonym for boxing or an archaic word for fistfight. Originally, however, there was a bit more to it than that. To get to what that “more to it” was‚ we will have to digress into a short history of fashion. TAKE A GANDER at woodcuts, paintings, lithographs or whatever medium from the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries that happens to move you. Don’t look for depictions of royals and courtiers lounging and feasting and dallying. Look for images of soldiers, of the working class. I want you to look at — surprise — men’s cuffs. With the middle class and the aristocracy, you’ll find frilled cuffs, lace cuffs and loose, billowy cuffs. If you look hard enough at the lower…

“There are, more or less, three kinds of people in the world. There are those who make things happen, there are people who watch things happen and there are those folks who so often say, ‘What happened?’” Although Jhoon Goo Rhee spoke those words to me nearly 30 years ago, they might just as well have been said yesterday because they’re set in stone in my mind. Rhee was most certainly the kind of man who made things happen. In his 86 years, he made so many things happen — important things, things that have affected millions of people — that it puts him firmly in the company of the greatest masters in martial arts history. Rhee passed away on April 30, 2018. He died, according to his daughter Dr.…

“The thing about martial arts is, once you stop caring about her, she’ll treat you the same way. Do you want the techniques to be instinctive and work under pressure? Then you have to give her the attention she deserves.” For self-defense, are there any tools or weapons you recommend people carry? Let’s exclude guns because of all the laws that need to be followed. I recommend all the usual weapons — a knife, a kubotan, pepper spray, a tactical flashlight — but you have to get training. Basically, carry anything that’s legal and that you can get training with. All tools are decent when you have the opportunity to use them at the right moment. It can go bad when you pull out a tool you haven’t trained with…

Allen Joe wore many hats in his adult life: World War II veteran, bodybuilding champion and martial artist are a few of them. That last one was especially important because Joe was not only a student of Bruce Lee’s but also a close friend. Sadly, he passed away on April 2, 2018, at age 94. Allen Joe played a pivotal role in the jeet kune do community. He was a founding member of the Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Nucleus, a board member of the Bruce Lee Educational Foundation and a member of the board of directors for the current Bruce Lee Foundation. He held his friendship with Lee so dear to his heart that he always carried a photo of Lee in his wallet. Joe, who lived in the…

History was made recently when the first American Judo Alliance Agreement was signed by representatives of the United States Judo Association, the United States Judo Federation and United States Judo Inc. The agreement paves the way for the three organizations to work together to grow the sport of judo in the United States. In addition to updating agreements that were put in place over the years, the American Judo Alliance Agreement focuses on the following initiatives: • Revising the reciprocal participation agreement so that members of the USJA, USJF and USA Judo can continue to take part in each other’s local and regional events. • Adding safeguards and requirements for insurance coverage to protect members and participants. • Providing reciprocal recognition of coach certifications, assuming that insurance, background screenings and…

The Professional Fighters League announced that the format of its MMA competitions will have individual fighters competing in regular-season matches for win-and-advance playoffs before engaging in season-ending championship bouts. At the same time, the organization unveiled its roster of 72 fighters from 13 countries and the schedule for its next 11 events. The first regular event was held on June 7 in New York City. “PFL is the new league for the new era of MMA, the fastest-growing sport in the world,” said Peter Murray, CEO of PFL. “We are confident that our innovative win-and-advance format will excite MMA fans and draw new fans to the sport. We are honored to provide these incredibly skilled athletes the opportunity to compete on a major global stage. Fans will be able to…

On a Link to “Revisit the First Two Karate Kid Movies to Better Enjoy the New Cobra Kai Series, Part 1” Kenneth Baillie: 1 & 2 are great. Really entertaining. Jeremy Nichalous Dooley: I love Cobra Kai! I’m watching it a second time! Steve Torres: It’s brilliant! It’s basically everything good about Karate Kid but told from Johnny’s perspective. I love it! On a Photo From 2005 BLACK BELT: Three martial arts legends for the price of one! Pat Johnson, Bill Wallace and Gene LeBell. Ethan Naylor: True legends in the martial arts world. Richard Salazar: Any one of these old guys would kick my ass. Steve Tonkin: Richard Salazar, one of those guys did to me. Still have ultimate respect for him as a martial artist. On Bears and…

Everything seemed to take more time than it did elsewhere, which taught me that the trick to coping was to make as few plans as possible and just accept that things will happen when they happen. Example: Traffic in Delhi was like nothing I’d ever seen, and that greatly reduced the number of activities I could expect to complete in a single day. The roads were clogged with cars, bikes, pedestrians and cows. Holy and revered, cows are allowed to roam everywhere, and it would be unthinkable to interfere with them. While driving, I found that it’s normal to have repeated fender benders during the course of a single day. Driving to the park for morning training, only a few kilometers from the place I was staying, took nearly an…

BLACK PANTHER Although this movie wowed at the box office, it wasn’t because of its fights, which tended to be stylized and subpar. Its popularity stemmed from the fact that it borrowed a page from Bruce Lee’s playbook. In the vein of Lee’s Fist of Fury (1972) — which, because of the star’s courage to make an anti-Japanese film, gave pride and a sense of national identity to Chinese people while encouraging Asian-American youth to be proud to be Asian — Black Panther matters because it gives a stronger sense of African-American pride to African-American youth. It’s not an origin story but a tale of how the current Black Panther — T’Challa, played by Chadwick Boseman — ascended to the throne of the advanced African kingdom of Wakanda by defeating…

• In the cover story, Ed Parker talks about the state of American kenpo: “A lot of kenpo instructors are searching. I’m not saying I have all the answers, but I haven’t stuck to tradition. When you stick to tradition, you’re bound. You’re bound to see only what is in that realm of knowledge.” Greg Jackson (see Page 46) would approve. • A pessimistic piece discusses the efforts that taekwondo and karate leaders are making to fight their way into the Olympics. Little could the author have known that 1988 would mark the debut of Olympic taekwondo and 2020 Olympic karate. We’ve come a long way. • “If the martial arts become a game, there would be no necessity for dan or gup promotion testing or spirit and character building…

Thomas LeBrun has been promoted to ninth dan and LeBrun’s American Combatives has been certified as a “21st century modern martial art” by Ron Van Clief, Glenn Perry and Kevin McGrath. LeBrun describes his system as a hybrid composed of concepts that will help practitioners learn real-world applications of techniques derived from a number of fighting disciplines. The goal, he says, is to bridge the gap between prearranged practice and real combat. LeBrun notes that street fighting differs greatly from simulated attacks in a controlled environment, and he’s confident that his creation is a proven way to make the transition. To that end, LeBrun’s American Combatives also teaches fear management and forces students to demonstrate proficiency in unchoreographed self-defense interactions. The martial arts journey that brought LeBrun to this point…

• Revisit the First Two Karate Kid Movies to Better Enjoy the New Cobra Kai Series, Part 1 In 1984 The Karate Kid became a box-office hit. In 1986 the sequel proved just as satisfying to audiences. In 2018 two of the main characters were resurrected in Cobra Kai. Here’s their back story! • Learn Effective Judo Strategies for Competition and Self-Defense From Olympic Medalist Mike Swain, Part 1 Olympic judo bronze medalist and Black Belt Hall of Famer Mike Swain reveals how you can improve your grappling techniques for the mat or the street. • Learn Effective Judo Strategies for Competition and Self-Defense From Olympic Medalist Mike Swain, Part 2 More essential judo, grappling and self-defense advice from Olympian Mike Swain — plus “best of” judo training and fighting…

There are blogs devoted to the way of the peaceful warrior and the depiction of enlightened samurai following a path of peace. One even has a pair of sparrows resting quietly on the hilt of a katana. It seems the internet is overflowing with inspirational aphorisms and insights about overcoming conflict. Sometimes this can make it sound as though the samurai were New Age “pathseekers” on a quest for inner harmony and cosmic consciousness. It’s lovely to think so. And it’s flattering to imagine ourselves as inheritors of a tradition of seeking a noble, spiritual truth, of pursuing the path of self-perfection, of dedicating ourselves to becoming pure. It’s like Gandalf meets Mr. Miyagi. We can almost convince ourselves that the instrument that was on the samurai’s hip was a…

Nobody wants to talk about the use of force in incidents that arise out of use of force. Unfortunately, if you’re unlucky enough to be confronted by one of these horrific situations, you may have to rely on force to end the attack — and save yourself and countless others. IN NOVEMBER 2015, Cathy Lanier, then chief of police for Washington, D.C., made national news when she said on 60 Minutes that ordinary citizens will likely have to intervene in active shooter attacks. (This should be broadened to include mass edged-weapon attacks and the aftermath of vehicular attacks.) At the time, her statement was controversial to some, but her pragmatism was appreciated by many when she pointed out that most attacks are over within five to 10 minutes and police…