Innholdsfortegnelse for October/November 2019 i Black Belt Magazine

It’s been said that there are two kinds of people in the world: astronomers and astronauts. In the past, at least, astronomers would sit quietly at the eyepiece of their telescope and study the universe, while astronauts would hop onto the business end of a rocket and explore the universe. A similar thing could be said about martial arts publishing. In this industry, there are two kinds of people: writer/editors and the masters they profile. As a writer/editor, I am most definitely a behind-the-scenes sort of guy, one who is perfectly happy to shine a spotlight on the skilled martial artists who are the stars of our world. That said, it’s nice when something you do gets noticed by someone outside the martial arts industry, when you taste what it…

▸ Highlights From the 2019 Martial Arts SuperShow in Las Vegas Enjoy these behind-the-scenes cellphone photos the editor of Black Belt took at the 2019 Martial Arts SuperShow, the event organized annually by the Martial Arts Industry Association. ▸ Kenpo Legend Ed Parker on the Secrets of Speed Ed Parker writes, “To understand karate techniques and how they function, you must have knowledge of physics. You must study the body and learn how the senses — through the principles of mass, speed, body alignment, angles, momentum, gravitational marriage, torque, focus, stability, power and penetration — can make the body function intuitively. An in-depth study of these principles of physics will also reveal the sophistication contained within basic techniques.” ▸ How Isshin-Ryu Karate Leader Gary Alexander Updated an Old Art for…

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AS HE TELLS HIS FAVORITE STUDENT Johnny Lawrence in Cobra Kai, the YouTube series that continues the Karate Kid saga, “Someone’s got to step in and stop the ass kissing and start the ass kicking. That’s why we’re here. The world needs Cobra Kai.” IT’S A SENTIMENT Martin Kove, the Brooklyn-born actor who made the psychopathic Kreese a cinematic icon, agrees with — at least partially. “I’m the kind of guy who cries at supermarket openings,” Kove said. “But at the same time, there’s no question the world does need some of that Cobra Kai attitude. Right now, too many people are getting trophies just for participation. “As Martin Kove, part of me feels you deserve some sort of commendation just for trying. But the John Kreese part of me…

CRIMINALS ARE APPREHENSIVE. They don’t want to be seen by eyewitnesses or be caught. These things manifest in demeanor and movement that can be identified once you know what to look for and once you develop sound situational awareness. It’s even true in the case of an RPG. On the battlefield, a situationally aware soldier looks for anomalous movements at or around tactically sound firing positions. He scans for furtive actions made by people who know they’re going to be shot dead if they’re seen shouldering and aiming an RPG. That kind of apprehension and fear results in erratic movement. Soldiers are more watchful at choke points where it would make sense for any weapon to be deployed against them. Situational awareness doesn’t negate the possibility of attack, but it…

The school bully confronted Jimmy. The boy stepped back into a casual posture and started to chat. As the bully’s actions intensified, Jimmy just talked. The bigger boy pressed up against him, and Jimmy casually pushed back. When the aggressor approached again, Jimmy off-balanced him. Afterward, the bully left his “victim” alone. No one got hurt. No one but the two of them even knew there had been a fight. What really happened? Jimmy stepped back into a fighting stance. He used his arms to block the bully’s advance. Then he used a simple pressure-point push to make the other kid back up. Next, a step-and-drop technique was used to off-balance the bully, who managed to regain his footing. Then he wisely chose to leave Jimmy alone. It could have…

Martial artists from all over Japan recently assembled in Tokyo for a series of lectures on the life and legacy of Donn F. Draeger. The American martial arts researcher and writer is best-known for his book Comprehensive Asian Fighting Arts, co-written with Robert W. Smith and published in 1969. The text was the first serious primer on the subject to reach a mass audience. Draeger’s most influential work, however, was his threevolume set on the martial arts and ways of Japan: Classical Bujutsu, Classical Budo, and Modern Bujutsu & Budo. Those books inspired a generation of martial artists and still define the Western world’s understanding of the Japanese fighting arts. In addition to writing, Draeger revived the dormant field of hoplology, the study of human combative behavior and performance. The…

Stephen K. Hayes and I were talking about lessons that would help people live an honest and successful life. He said it all begins with selfimprovement and the ability to make good choices. The advice he gave revolves around carefully examining three key points. Think positively and believe in yourself. “The first step is to look for evidence that you are doing something right. A lot of times, people are looking for the evidence of what they do wrong. ‘I screwed that up. I’m a lousy cook.’ ‘I’m bad at talking to girls.’ People are always finding that kind of evidence. They look past the positive: ‘I’m a comfortable person to be with.’ ‘I’m reliable.’ It doesn’t sound look like much, but it’s a really big deal in changing people’s…

On Our 52 Blocks Cover Story Malachi Mutakabbir: I am reaching out to you about the June/July cover of Black Belt. I want to express how happy I am to see that you guys recognize 52 Hand Blocks as a true martial art. I have been training in it most of my life. Sensei Mo is like an uncle to me. I am the son of Abdul Mutakabbir, an undefeated kickboxing champion. I have several black belts in various martial arts. However, I always revert to 52 Blocks when things go bad. This art connects to the streets. It is legendary because a lot of the older cats practiced the art back in the day and would pass it on to the youngsters — such as it was passed to…

ZHENGTONG’S girlfriend and baby came to the sports school to watch us train. I made several jokes about his 2-year-old being almost ready to start grappling. The first few times, Zhengtong laughed, but later he said with uncharacteristic seriousness, “I think it’s good if my son wants to wrestle as a hobby, but I don’t want him to be a full-time wrestler like I was because when it’s over, he won’t be able to do anything.” His mother worked as an administrator in the city sports department. Consequently, he and I were offered a city-owned martial arts school, rent-free, in which we could open an MMA gym. The Chinese government hopes to start promoting MMA so the nation can excel in international competition. Consequently, opportunities like this exist — but…

FOR THE MATRIX, the Wachowski brothers wanted frenetic-paced, over-the-top, Hong Kong–style martial arts action, and they wanted to shoot it in a way that no one had shot martial arts action before. They needed two things: cutting-edge special effects and a Hong Kong fight director. Their first choice, a man named Ching Siu-tung, wasn’t interested. Their second choice, Yuen Kwei, was busy. Yuen Woo-ping, their third choice, was reluctant. Not wishing to make the brothers feel bad and thereby cause the Hong Kong film community to lose face, Yuen assumed that requesting an exorbitant fee would cause them to move on to their fourth choice. But they didn’t. Yuen then assumed that if he asked for control of the fights and insisted that the main actors train in martial arts…

By chance, Ueshiba noticed that the champ was blinking in the sunlight. “What luck!” he uttered to himself, whereupon he conceived a plan. One morning in the early 1900s, a village located on the outskirts of Tokyo was filled with commotion. Not since the era of the roaming samurai had this village been in such a frenzy. Sporadic shouts rang throughout the community. “What’s his name?” “Is he the mighty Wakayama fencer?” “Is he challenging our hero?” As the sun rose over the mountains, not a soul was working in the rice paddies. This was unusual. Normally, the village was quiet and deserted, with only cats and dogs occupying the dusty roads. The men, women and children tended their rice paddies from dawn to dusk. But today, the villagers rallied…

William Christopher Ford, a shorin-ryu karate black belt and actor — coincidentally, his filmography includes Karate Kid Part III — has made his directorial debut with a short documentary titled The Last Dojo. The subject of the film is Black Belt Hall of Famer Fumio Demura, whose landmark karate dojo stood for more than four decades before it lost its battle with eminent domain. Filmed in the final days before the school’s demise, The Last Dojo is a love letter from Ford to the karate icon, and it’s dedicated to Demura’s students and to anyone who’s ever trained in a traditional martial art. The film is intended to help viewers experience the insights and emotions of one of karate’s great masters as he shares the deeper meaning of the martial…

• Dimitri Logothetis, who helmed the three Kickboxer remakes with Alain Moussi, has scored big time. His next film Jiu Jitsu, in addition to starring Moussi, will feature Nicolas Cage, Tony Jaa and Frank Grillo (host of Fightworld on Netflix). • Justin Bieber used Twitter to challenge Tom Cruise to an MMA fight. Afterward, Bieber said he was kidding. • At a convention, Sean Kanan was reunited with Randee Heller and Ron Thomas. Respectively, they played Mike Barnes, Mrs. LaRusso and Bobby in the Karate Kid movies. • People.com featured a popular post titled “Watch Celebrities Try (and Hilariously Fail) at the #BottleCapChallenge.” • Black Belt released a new jeet kune do course starring Harinder Singh Sabharwal. Its 97 videos span eight hours. • When Bill Wallace appeared on the…

OF COURSE, we all know how outlandish many of the scenes and plots in martial arts films can be. If most of the fight scenes in them were performed in real time, for instance, the participants would need oxygen to keep them from collapsing due to sheer exhaustion. There are other elements of these movies, though, that are not quite so theatrically implausible and misleading, and it’s possible some viewers might actually internalize them and expect the real world to work that way. One such meme that seems to occur in nearly every martial arts movie revolves around the young disciple’s initial encounter with the old master. These scenes are quite predictable. The master faces the disciple. The disciple attacks clumsily. The master responds, effortlessly nullifying the attack and usually…

THERE IS A POSSIBILITY that your lungs puffed a wee bit and that your heart rate rose, but I’ll wager that the low number of repetitions did not make any fatiguing demands on your legs. They’re probably good to go for another 10. Since what you’re feeling is not leg fatigue but more likely related to elevated heart and respiration rates, do 10 more — but this time, I want you to time them a little differently. Rather than 10 hard and fast Hindu squats, go leisurely. Drop down for the first repetition and stay there for one minute before you return to standing. Repeat for a total of 10 squats. I’ll wager the majority who submit to this experiment will do the first set of fast squats with no…

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• “I became good at judo because of a fear factor, because I had to overcome my smallness and lack of self-confidence,” says shotokan practitioner Emil Farkas, who grew up in the middle of the Hungarian Revolution. • A show called Way of Action features the talents of Linda Lutes and Nelson Howe. The karateka are touring the nation to demonstrate martial arts–related feats. • After the passing of Han Kim, Black Belt gets a new publisher: Robert Matheney. • Jhoon Rhee Sports begins marketing its line of Bionic Chop sparring gear. • “I simply cannot understand why there is so much rivalry between the many styles of the martial arts,” writes Jay Vanston of Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania. “Are we not all striving through our respective styles to develop ourselves…