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DISCIPLINE, RESPECT AND THE DOJO
Discipline is a weighty part of the martial arts experience. That's because discipline figures into so many of the features and details the arts offer. While these can vary from one system to the next, there are key components that affect every training hall.
FAREWELL, GENE LEBEL
Martial Arts Community Loses a Grappling Legend
HOW KAREEM ABDUL-JABBAR MET BRUCE LEE
AND DISCOVERED JEET KUNE DO He ducked his head as he walked through the door. When he stood up straight, his head almost touched the ceiling. Everyone in the office paused as the well-known figure nonchalantly strolled into the display room to browse through our books. \"He's tall!\" I murmured.
FOOT SWEEPS TO PUT YOUR OPPONENT DOWN AND OUT!
What if I told you that you could learn a technique that will send your opponent crashing to the ground, regardless of that person's size or strength?
SHANNON LEE REVEALS THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BRUCE LEE UNIVERSE
Black Belt started working with Bruce Lee before he was a star witness our October 1967 issue, which featured him on the cover at a time when his name was deemed less attention-getting than the phrase Green Hornet's Kato’ Does he really practice kung fu?” Since he passed away, the magazine has continued to work with the Lee family to keep readers up to date on all the projects that are inthe works. In that vein, we present our annual interview with his daughter Shannon Lee, who has her hand in so many projects that it’s hard to imagine her ever resting.
THE RISE OF ATA NATION
HOW THE WORLD'S MOST POPULAR MARTIAL ART SPAWNED ONE OF THE WORLD'S LARGEST MARTIAL ARTS ORGANIZATIONS!
IS JEET KUNE DO AN ENDANGERED SPECIES?
BRUCE LEE IS ALMOST UNIVERSALLY CITED AS THE BEST MARTIAL ARTIST EVER, SO WHY ISN'T JKD MORE POPULAR?
LEGEND OF BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU
RIGAN MACHADO WAS INTERVIEWED FOR AN EPISODE OF THE COMBAT SHOW ON THE BLACK BELT MAGAZINE CHANNEL ON JUNGO PLUS. AS YOU MAY KNOW, HE'S PART OF THE RENOWNED MACHADO FAMILY OF BRAZILIAN JIU-JITSU MASTERS. (HIS BROTHERS INCLUDE JOHN, JEAN JACQUES, ROGER AND CARLOS.) PRESENTED BELOW ARE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE Q&A, BUT BEFORE WE GET TO THEM, HERE ARE THREE FILMS WITH THE BEST TITLES EVER THAT YOU'LL FIND ON OUR CHANNEL.
BEST PRE-EMPTIVE STRIKES AND PALMS VS. FISTS, PART 1
In the June/July, August/September and October/November 2022 issues, I presented an overview of pre-emptive attacks as the lastresort option of proactive self-defense. In this issue, I will cover the two best strikes to use in that context and follow up with my thoughts on using palms versus fists.
MISTAKES OF THE VASTLY EXPERIENCED
\"But in all my experience, I have never been in any accident of any sort worth speaking about. I have seen but one vessel in distress in all my years at sea. I never saw a wreck and never had been wrecked nor was I ever in any predicament that threatened to end in disaster of any sort.\"
BULLETPROOF! MEET HALEY GLASS, NEWEST ADDITION TO TEAM PAUL MITCHELL KARATE
Glass was born on June 3, 2003, and raised in Orlando, Florida. She started karate at age 5 while her mom Giomayra Walker worked late every night to make a better life for them.
FIRST FAMILY OF NINJUTSU
THIS TALE STARTS WITH TWO PEOPLE WHOSE STORY COULD HAVE BEEN A TWILIGHT ZONE EPISODE. IT’S ABOUT A TIMELESS FORCE THAT BOUND A MAN AND A WOMAN FROM DIFFERENT WORLDS AND DIRECTED THEM TO BECOME ONE WITH THE PAST SO THEY COULD MOVE INTO THE FUTURE.
OLD SCHOOL
TRAINING IN A REAL MARTIAL ART REQUIRES AND BUILDS PERSEVERANCE AND FIGHTING SPIRIT. YOU ENJOY THE BENEFITS NOT ONLY ON THE MAT BUT ALSO IN DAILY LIFE WHICH 1S WHY THE ARTS REMAIN SO POPULAR CENTURIES OR EVEN MILLENNIA AFTER THEY WERE DEVELOPED FOR COMBAT. KNOW THIS BECAUSE I'VE SPENT THE PAST 60 VEARS FOLLOWING THE MARTIAL PATH.
A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE ON RANK
NON-PRACTITIONERS OFTEN ASSUME THAT RANK IN KARATE AND OTHER MARTIAL ARTS IS A STANDARDIZED AFFAIR, CONTROLLED PERHAPS BY AN OFFICIAL BODY LOCATED SOMEWHERE IN JAPAN. THOSE WHO TRAIN, OF COURSE, KNOW THAT THERE'S NO SUCH THING AND THAT A SIXTH-DEGREE BLACK BELT IN ONE DOJO MIGHT NOT EVEN BE CONSIDERED A FIRST DAN N ANOTHER SCHOOL
Hit the Road
Fit to fight
3 Real Black Belts Who Appeared in
One has already resurfaced in "Cobra Kai"! Will the other two?
A CHIP OFF THE OLD (KARATE) BLOCK
IT'S NOT EASY BEING THE SON OF A FAMOUS SPORTS FATHER. FOR EVERY PEYTON AND ELI MANNING, THE SONS OF NFL QUARTERBACK ARCHIE MANNING WHO FOUND MASSIVE SUCCESS IN THE SAME SPORT AS THEIR DAD, THERE'S A JEFFREY OR MARCUS JORDAN, THE SONS OF BASKETBALL LEGEND MICHAEL JORDAN WHO DID NOT. RICHARD AVERY PLOWDEN IS DECIDEDLY IN THE FORMER CATEGORY.
NEW FRONTIERS
WITH THE RISE OF SOCIAL MEDIA, WOMEN ARE LEVERAGING NEW POWER, AUTONOMY AND IDENTITY IN THE MARTIAL ARTS. WITH THOSE, THEY'RE CREATING MORE PLATFORMS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR THEMSELVES THAN EVER EXISTED EVEN A GENERATION AGO. TODAY'S WOMEN ARE EXPLORING NEW TERRITORIES AND BREAKING THROUGH OLD GLASS CEILINGS TO DEFINE THEIR OWN REALITIES. LISTED BELOW ARE A FEW EXAMPLES.
FIGHTING WITH ROPES AND SASHES
THE WORD "THUG" CAN BE FOUND IN ANY DICTIONARY OF MODERN ENGLISH, BUT FEW PEOPLE KNOW THAT IT ACTUALLY ORIGINATED IN ANCIENT INDIA. THERE, MEMBERS OF CRIMINAL GANGS BORE THAT NAME, AND THEIR ACTIVITIES WERE KNOWN AS THUGGEE IN THE LOCAL DIALECT.
A THOUGHT FROM "SENSEI LOWRY"
IN JAPANESE, TITLES GO AFTER ONE'S NAME. IN ENGLISH, IT'S JUST THE OPPOSITE. SO MR. SUZUKI WOULD BE ADDRESSED IN JAPANESE AS SUZUKI-SAN, AND PROFESSOR SMITH WOULD BE SMITH SENSEI.
THE LAST RESORT OF PROACTIVE SELF-DEFENSE, PART 3
Returning once again to the scenario I described in the June/ July 2022 issue: You've done everything possible to de-escalate the volatile confrontation, all to no avail. It's crystal clear that the aggressor is about to attack at any moment. After doing everything you can to de-escalate the situation, you make the decision to get physical.
HOW BRUCE LEE INSPIRED THE EVOLUTION OF COMBAT SPORTS
IN A NEW EPISODE OF THE COMBAT SHOW ON THE FREE BLACK BELT MAGAZINE CHANNEL ON JUNGO PLUS, GEORGE CHUNG INTERVIEWS SCOTT COKER, FOUNDER OF STRIKEFORCE AND CURRENT PRESIDENT OF BELLATOR MMA. COKER HAS BEEN A MARTIAL ARTIST FOR MOST OF HIS LIFE. THAT, COUPLED WITH INSIDER ACCESS AT HIS FIGHT SHOWS, HAS GIVEN HIM A UNIQUE PERSPECTIVE ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COMBAT SPORTS. BEFORE WE BEGIN, HERE ARE A FEW OF THE CHANNEL'S HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE COMING MONTHS.
BENEFITS OF LONG-TERM STUDENT CONTRACTS, PART 2
In the August/September 2022 issue of Black Belt, Floyd Burk began his examination of the value of student contracts for martial arts schools. Here, he concludes his interview with Marcia D. Watters, Esq., who operates Mr. Jimmy's White Tiger Martial Arts in Hagerstown, Maryland, with her husband Jimmy Smith.
HOW HE BEAT BULLYING AND BECAME A WRESTLING AND MMA CHAMPION and How He's Giving Back!
Justin Wren began making a name for himself in our world when he embarked on his MMA career in 2006. He went on to build a respectable record of 13-2 in the UFC, Bellator and other orgs. But he really started to shine when he dedicated his life to helping the Pygmies in Africa improve their lot in life by building water wells and eventually a school and a hospital. Now the 35-year-old Wren, whose ring name is "The Big Pygmy," is taking aim at a problem that's plagued society forever: bullying.
STREET CRED
TOP 7 STYLES THAT WILL SUPERCHARGE YOUR SELF-DEFENSE QUOTIENT!
HIDETAKA NISHIYAMA
STUDENT OF GICHIN FUNAKOSHI EXPLAINS KARATE'S REAL GOAL - NOT TO BASK IN THE GLORY OF ACHIEVEMENT BUT TO PUSH FORWARD TO THE LIMIT OF YOUR CAPABILITY! -
PUT UP YOUR DUKES
SHOULD YOU SUPPLEMENT YOUR MARTIAL ARTS SKILLS WITH BOXING? HERE ARE THE PROS AND CONS!
THE MANJI SAI
HOW TO HANDLE THE LESSER-KNOWN COUSIN OF THE UBIQUITOUS SAI
“Made In Chinatown” Finding Love, Culture And Heritage
Question: What’s crazier than sending your horse to audition for The Godfather, wackier than two parrots saying, “Are you talking to me?” and wilder than the Scarecrow introducing Toto to the Wizard of Oz by stating, “Say hello to my little friend,” and thereafter referring to himself as the Scar-crow?
MISTAKES CAN BE EMBARRASSING
THAT A DIRECTOR OF MY CITY’S OPERA COMPANY WOULD CALL ME SEEMED A LITTLE ODD. THERE ARE PROBABLY SOME MONKEYS WHO KNOW MORE ABOUT OPERA THAN I DO. BUT THE DIRECTOR WAS INVITING ME TO LUNCH, SO OF COURSE, I WENT.