Black Belt Magazine

1 week ago | blackbeltmag.com | Dave Lowry

Here’s one for you to kick around with your dojo mates the next time you’re relaxing after training. It was back in the 1960s, a time when the Japanese dominated – almost laughably so – the international karate competition scene. For years, they had toyed with Western competitors, scoring on them almost at will. Much of their dominance was of a psychological nature.

2 weeks ago | blackbeltmag.com | Mark Jacobs

Most of us would love to be in movies. Unfortunately, no matter how good we are, most will never get a chance to perform on film. The next best thing to appearing on the silver screen is appearing onstage. Fortunately, that's an area where many martial artists are getting an opportunity to show their abilities, pick up some new skills, and even earn a decent paycheck.

3 weeks ago | blackbeltmag.com | Dave Lowry

Dave Lowry 14 minutes ago4 min readImagine a political leader going to Duluth to tell Minnesotans this: “You are the descendants of Vikings. You have the blood of warriors in you. Your ancestors were feared over much of the known world. It’s only reasonable that you are invincible, that you control the lands your ancestors ruled, that you have the rewards they enjoyed, that no other people can match you for courage and daring.”It’s hard to imagine any Minnesotan believing such nonsense.

1 month ago | blackbeltmag.com | Mark Jacobs

In the martial arts, few individuals honestly can be said to have changed history. Among the handful who have, perhaps none generates a wider range of emotions than Rorion Gracie. Opinions about him vary. Some admire him, while others view him as the type of evil mastermind one typically sees in a Bond film. But no one can deny that he’s exerted as big an influence on the contemporary martial arts scene as anyone alive.

1 month ago | blackbeltmag.com | Dave Lowry

Using a serrated bread knife, can you cut a baguette, a loaf of French bread, in a single stroke? If you can't, you have work to do in the dojo. In our neighborhood, several families come to our house regularly for dinner. Some of them have children, and when the kids see me working in the kitchen, they want to help. TV shows and celebrity chefs have made cooking an attractive activity, making them eager to learn. I’ve introduced several young people to basic kitchen skills.