Innholdsfortegnelse for December 2016 - January 2017 i Black Belt Magazine

After the International Olympic Committee announced on August 3, 2016, that karate is one of five new “sports” that will be included in the 2020 Tokyo Games, the staff of Black Belt posted the news several times on our social media pages. We figured the martial arts community would be ecstatic. Many were, but much of the reaction we witnessed w as negative, even hostile. We noticed more than a few comments like this: “I’ll only watch if they use kyokushin full-contact rules.” “It will only be interesting if there are no pads.” “They need to allow punches to the face or I won’t watch.” “The y had better allow takedowns.” Now, people are free to make as many demands as they want with the ostensible aim of getting exactly…

The Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics (formerly the American Dietetic Association) has a position statement on performance-based nutrition attesting to this very concept: “Energy and macronutrient needs, especially carbohydrates and protein, must be met during times of high physical activity to maintain bodyweight, replenish glycogen stores, and provide adequate protein to build and repair tissue. Fat intake should be sufficient to provide the essential fatty acids and fat-soluble vitamins, as well as contribute energy for weight maintenance.” But over the past several years, some experts have thumbed their noses at this tradition. They recommend shifting from a focus on carbs for energy to a focus on fats, even during long workouts and competitions. “The fat-adapted athlete has the ability to preferentially tap into fatty acids as a primary source of…

The great Joe Frazier was referring to both boxing and life, and his lesson is mighty powerful — perhaps more powerful than he ever realized. I’m going to drive home just how powerful his advice is with an example from some horrifically evil people, but first let’s take a sojourn through some Paleolithic anthropology and then a 16thcentury observation on warfare before we bring it back to the 21st century. You are the weakest human being who’s ever walked the planet since our species’ inception. Don’t take that personally. I’m weak, too, and so is your neighbor and your CrossFit coach down the road. The 21st-century human is a pale copy of better versions of ourselves who colonized this planet until about 10,000 years ago. The estimation I just…

If you've ever had a conversation with someone who actually has taken the life of another person, even when it's morally and legally justified, you probably know this isn't exactly the way it works. VIOLENCE, especially when it's up close and personal and even when it's not mortal in consequence, tends to affect people in a very dramatic fashion. A thief or attacker is confronted by a potential victim or an alert bystander, and the lawbreaker ends up injured, incapacitated or dead. We hear about incidents like this in the news all the time. What we generally don't hear about is how the good guy reacts once the incident is over. People who've participated in a violent encounter often experience problems, sometimes mild and sometimes severe. Sleeplessness, anxiety, nausea,…

DAN INOSANTO’S Advice for Staying Active and Effective in the Martial Arts Throughout the Golden Years Dan Inosanto has been a martial arts icon for decades — witness his four Black Belt Hall of Fame inductions. You may know of him from his early days when he was one of the first kenpo black belts under Ed Parker, from the years he stood at Bruce Lee’s side in the jeet kune do world, from the decades he spent researching the martial arts of Southeast Asia or from his ongoing study of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, in which he holds a third-degree black belt under the Machados. Inosanto truly has been there and done that — several times over. Yet even though he recently turned 80, Inosanto maintains a schedule chock-full of international…

CENTURY’S TACTICAL AND SELFDEFENSE LINE This selection of gear from Century Martial Arts, dubbed the Tactical and Self-Defense line, includes items from names like Sabre Red, 5.11, ASP and Keen Edge. If you need equipment for anything — from intense krav maga training to apartment security — these products will have you covered. SEE WEBSITE FOR PRICING CENTURYMARTIALARTS.COM PROFORCE OPEN FACE HEADGEAR What makes this piece of protective gear special? A heavygauge, reinforced vinyl shell. Lightweight molded-foam padding. Multiple openings for maximum air circulation. Plus, the open-face design is lightweight and visibilityfriendly. The integrated strapping closure makes it fully adjustable. $60 AWMA.COM SPYDERCO NIRVANA KNIFE This top-of-the-line folder from Spyderco came from the mind of Peter Rassenti, who created a design that uses a solid piece of titanium to form…

LET’S FACE IT: AS MARTIAL ARTISTS, WE EMBRACE ACTIVITIES THAT ASK A LOT FROM OUR BODIES. Chances are, you know someone who’s asked a little too much from his or her hips and, consequently, is suffering hip pain. Maybe you know someone who’s already undergone surgery to deal with the problem. It’s for martial artists like you that Black Belt assigned me this article. It explores the hip stories of some prominent practitioners and explores the options for preserving and, if necessary, restoring your hip functionality. WARNING SIGNS For many martial artists, it starts like this: You’re full of vigor. You rock the bags and own the mats. You live for your next chance to train. And then something new sneaks up on you. One day, you’re forced to acknowledge…

Long before he became a choreographer, a stuntman and an actor, Alain Moussi was an accomplished martial artist. Then he landed the action-movie role of a lifetime: He was selected to portray Kurt Sloan in the reboot of Kickboxer. Released in 1989, the original Kickboxer was part of the late-1980s wave of martial arts movies that endeared themselves to practitioners around the world as much for their kitsch as their fight scenes. In the eyes of Hollywood execs, that made the franchise prime material for a relaunch. Enter Alain Moussi, the actor selected to lead the cast. Supporting him is an impressive list of martial arts talent, including ex-MMA star Gina Carano, former UFC champ Georges St-Pierre, former WWE wrestler Dave Bautista and, as most people now know, Jean-Claude Van…

Let’s face the facts: Not every self-defense situation calls for a response that’s designed to separate a criminal from his life in less than a second. The oftencited example is the tipsy uncle who clamps a meat hook around your wrist at a family reunion and starts getting obnoxious. Tom Patire recognized the need for less-lethal self-defense when he developed CDT — an initialism for Compliance, Direction, Takedown — in the early 1990s. But let’s not look at the world through rose-colored glasses, either. There are tens of thousands of bad guys out there whose only mission in life is to do us harm. And while ordinary citizens don’t cross paths with them all that often, it does happen. It happens a lot more often for men and women in…