Innholdsfortegnelse for August/September 2020 i Black Belt Magazine

It’s 1993. You’ve just seen an advertisement in Black Belt for a competition called the Ultimate Fighting Championship, scheduled to take place in Denver on November 12. It promises to pit one martial art against another in an eight-man tournament. You sign up for the pay-per-view show and can’t wait to watch As the fighting unfolds, one martial artist, a man named Royce Gracie, defeats three bigger martial artists using an art called Gracie jiu-jitsu. You’ve never heard of it, but that’s OK — you’re used to keeping an open mind when it comes to what works and what doesn’t. The style revolves around ground fighting, a skill set you’ve never really investigated. Gracie defeats three opponents in a single evening and goes home with $50,000. The following week, you…

GET EXPOSURE to thousands of potential students by being featured in Black Belt magazine. Limited memberships available, so ACT NOW! To register or get more info, go to BlackBeltMag.com/distributor. REGISTERED MARTIAL ARTIST MEMBERSHIP BENEFITS INCLUDE: • 8 copies of each issue of Black Belt magazine for retail in your school • Retail countertop display • Official “Registered Martial Artist” metal membership card • Name, lineage and bio on the new BlackBeltMag.com • Your school will be included in Black Belt’s Dojo Listings • Special product and tournament discounts…

WELL, THE TIME HAS COME, Okamura informs us, for the “Hard Master” to have his say. Okamura figures that if a whippersnapper like Lew can dazzle Black Belt’s readers with eight things they presumably didn’t know about him, he can certainly do the same. Actually, Okamura bets there are nine things you didn’t know about him. So brace yourselves, gentle readers. The road gets bumpy from here. KUNG FU COWBOY: Although he has more than 91 film and television credits to his name, having appeared in everything from the original Kung Fu series (1972) to Blade (1998) to G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (2009), Okamura’s most iconic role — the one he gets recognized for most often — is as the pistol-packing Wing Kong tong hatchet man in 1986’s…

THERE’S NO SUBSTITUTE FOR TRAINING Hordes of “masters” line up outside the gates of military bases, claiming to know the magical fighting system and ninja death touch that the Special Forces need. Their sales pitch usually goes something like this: “My techniques are so effective that anyone who knows them can defeat an enemy easily and with very little practice, no matter what shape he’s in.” It’s a great story, but it’s not true. Long ago, the military discovered that the secret to combat effectiveness is training. While there are some little jewels of knowledge that will help you triumph in combat, it all comes down to training — and mostly training in the basics. The difference between a good fighter and a beginner is how well each one knows…

When you talk martial arts, the first thing that pops into anyone’s mind — anyone anywhere on the planet — is the name Bruce Lee. Action filmmakers still look to his movies for inspiration for their fight scenes. Martial arts instructors still evaluate what they teach lest their students get mired in a “classical mess.” Many of us remember where we were and what we were doing when we first heard the news of his death. No doubt we all fervently hoped that the news was wrong. Even writing these words sparks memories, transporting me back to when I was 10 — watching Lee portray Kato in The Green Hornet, kicking and chopping his way through all sorts of bad guys. Although it’s been close to 50 years since he…

Ellis Amdur has a lot to say about the martial arts. The author of numerous internet essays, books, novels and even a dozen psychology manuals on how to deal with violence, he isn’t shy about sharing his opinions, either. But unlike the majority of people who pontificate on martial arts, Amdur is someone you should definitely listen to. A mental-health professional specializing in crisis intervention and a consultant for law-enforcement agencies, Amdur is one of the few Westerners who hold certificates of full mastery from two Japanese koryu systems. He’s also one of the most iconoclastic martial artists you’ll find, as comfortable banging away in a boxing gym as he is practicing traditional sword forms in a classical dojo or working on Chinese internal-strength exercises. Amdur, 68, began practicing kung…

Teruyuki Okazaki was a bully. That may not be the most flattering way to remember one of the principal leaders of karate in the West, a student of Gichin Funakoshi and a protégé of Masatoshi Nakayama — not to mention one of the art’s most incredible technicians and talented teachers — but he admitted to the bullying himself. Okazaki sensei told the story — as was often the case when he became excited or particularly involved in one — while slipping sometimes into the Hakata accent of his childhood in Fukuoka. So the word “sensei” came out like “shenshei.” He said he received his shodan from Funakoshi in the late 1950s, after failing the test a couple of times. It was not for lack of technique, he said, but because…

On a New Bruce Lee Documentary by ESPN Jon Gutierrez: I appreciated the sharing of his private & personal life. Ex: His actual funeral leading to seeing his face in his casket. That’s private & something I’ve never seen. I am honored to see my childhood hero’s final service w/his family, movie stars & public in attendance. My eyes were swimming. Aaron Rumsey: And about how Bruce had his back injury and over-came that. Little mentioned of his martial arts background but more focus on his culture barriers he broke and film career. Paul Ling: It was good and beautifully made but no new footage or new information was revealed for the diehard fan. He was heavily influenced by J. Krishnamurti and also Taoism, etc. No real mention of his…

JUNIORS SPEND ALL THEIR TIME in Vietnam training, not really fighting,” Jerry Nguyen said. “If they have to fight, it’s like a test.” This was similar to what I’d seen in China, where the approach is to have an athlete train for years to refine his skills before competing. Then, when he finally fights, he should win. On the wrestling team I trained with in China, members said they competed a maximum of four times a year. In contrast, the American method revolves around viewing competition as part of training. Within months of beginning wrestling, you’re competing. Win or lose, you accumulate experience and, it is hoped, improve. Unfortunately, though, because of a lack of a highly developed feeder system composed of wushu academies and sports schools, qualified candidates for…

IN DECEMBER 1979, I found myself meeting with a film director named Ding Shan-xi. He had thick-rimmed glasses, combed-back hair and a stature that commanded respect. We were at an abandoned American military base in Taipei for my first audition for a kung fu film. Ding introduced me to Yang, who asked me to show him some kung fu that he’d never seen. Minutes later, Yang said in Chinese, “American Bruce Lee.” I didn’t know if it was a compliment or a dismissal. Looking back, it must have been positive because my first fight-choreography lesson came next. Back then, films and fights were shot with one camera, so Yang needed to know how fast I could learn new skills and how many techniques I could execute before messing up. After…

You’ve come across martial artists called Funakoshi often enough in the pages of Black Belt. The first such person bearing that surname was Gichin Funakoshi, founder of shotokan karate. The second person was Kenneth Funakoshi, a fourth cousin of the creator and a 10th-degree master. Now it’s Kyle Funakoshi, a ninth-degree black belt and chief instructor for the Funakoshi Shotokan Karate Association. Kyle appeared on the cover of our January 2010 issue, and more recently, he was in the February/March 2019 issue. This time, he discusses the supreme strategy of faking while fighting. — Editor On Learning the Basics Before You Learn How to Fake “In shotokan, we start off the beginners just standing up and making sure their feet are in the correct position so they get the proper…

OK, BASHING OPPONENTS when you have Street Fighter V running on your gaming console may not keep you quite as sharp as sparring in the gym, but for Demetrious Johnson, gaming is almost as big a passion as fighting. Stuck in lockdown purgatory in his home state of Washington, Johnson hasn’t been able to train with partners for three months, and he’s faced ongoing uncertainty over his upcoming title fight for the ONE Championship flyweight crown with the bout twice scheduled and postponed now. In addition to home-schooling his three children, the Black Belt Hall of Famer has managed to stay in shape by piling up the miles running, doing hundreds of push-ups, sit-ups and chin-ups … and logging the online gaming hours. “I’ve probably put in more miles running…

a OPEN FRONT WEIGHTED VEST & b WEIGHTED VEST The first step to improving yourself through training is to start training. After that, it’s just about making progress. But what happens when you stop progressing? Hitting a plateau can be frustrating to be sure, but sometimes the answer is pretty simple: Make the workout harder — bit by bit. The easiest way to do that is by adding weight. Throw on a weighted vest to level up any exercise without having to create a whole new program. Leveling up your workout is as easy as putting on a weighted vest and fastening it with a couple of clicks. Simple enough, right? Well it is, but there’s one more step. After you’ve figured that out, all you need is the right…

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 Lozo Karate 6395 Spalding Drive, Suite C Peachtree Corners, GA 30092 (404)…

NOW, SUPPOSE someone, particularly someone for whom English is not a native language, hears me say, “Ehh, howzit?” to a friend and decides it is the way a reasonably well-educated, upper-middle-class person greets others. After all, they heard me say it, and I make my living using words. Therefore, it must be correct. So they see their minister at the grocery store, meet their girlfriend’s grandmother for the first time or are introduced to the boss of a company where they’ve applied for a job. “Ehh, howzit?” may not be the best way to say hello to any of them. OSU IS A TERM familiar to most karateka. The way it is often bellowed in some dojo makes me want to spell it “OSSSSU!” The term gets plenty of usage.…

SEEKING AMBIDEXTERITY is a worthy goal — but one that has “opportunity costs.” That is, the time we must put into developing the offhand (or off-foot for kicking or offside for grappling) means less time can be invested in moving the competency needle closer to mastery on our good side. We should always make that cost-to-benefit analysis in our training because there are only so many hours in the day and precious few hours per week we can dedicate to training itself. With actual training time at a premium, do we want so-so returns or better-than-average returns? By no means is this an argument against empty-hand ambidexterity. Rather, it’s a matter of time utility and, well, a jaded eye toward reality. IF WE ARE TO MAKE the empty-hand attempt, it…

HARD WORK REQUIRES TOUGH GEAR, and a tough bag that can handle the wear and tear incurred from the rigors of hard work can make all the difference. The Tactical Trainer Backpack from Century Martial Arts may be just a backpack, but it’s tougher than any other backpack you’ll find. As a smart martial artist, you don’t need to waste your time or money acquiring a pack that will fall apart at the first sign of hard work like an intern making that first coffee run. In short, you need a well-made pack with useful features and components. Durable canvas, D-ring supports, reinforced handle — you get the idea. You also need a gear bag that will handle tough work and make things a little easier — if not less…

• Vestal, New York–based Hidy Ochiai, 40, competes in a challenge match against boxer and full-contact fighter Greg Bleir, 23. The karate master wins after a fifth-round TKO. “I do not think I did anything great, and I have no feeling of triumph — I don’t see it that way,” Ochiai says. “Anybody who calls himself master, they should have that kind of courage. I think you should be able to do it upon demand.” • Kung fu phenom Eric Lee weighs in on the secret of his success: “Your state of mind has everything to do with the total performance. I usually start preparing mentally a week before a meet. I sit down and meditate and go through all my movements — I make it a reality. I’m out…