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You know how the coronavirus is disrupting your life, just as we know how it is disrupting ours. Well, we did some brainstorming and came up with an offer that will make your life and ours a little bit brighter.

Get a Free Issue of Black Belt Mag!
Because most bookstores and newsstands are temporarily closed, we're pleased to announce that you can download the April/May 2020 issue of Black Belt for free! Just fill out the form at the link, and you will be given a code to download a free PDF of the entire issue. We hope our magazine brings some joy to you while you're sheltering in place.

Don't forget to tell all your martial arts friends so they can get their copy. Better yet, forward this newsletter to them so all they have to do is click. Download here.

How Martial Arts Can Combat Autism
Tyler Weaver Jr. started entering tournaments as an amateur two years earlier, at an age when most kids are home playing video games. He crisscrossed the country, showcasing a skill set that grew stronger with each passing year. Meanwhile, his passion for karate blossomed, as did his status in the martial arts community.

Performance after performance, Tyler's flawless execution of weapons techniques and kata left spectators - and judges - in awe. However, few knew that each kick and punch he threw was part of an internal battle the youth was fighting with an affliction that attacks one in 59 children in the United States: autism. Read more.

Black Belt First Edition T-Shirt
In April 1961, Black Belt, priced at 50 cents, hit newsstands in Southern California. In the years that followed, it grew into a cornerstone of martial arts news and knowledge. This T-shirt features the hand-drawn image from the cover of the first issue. It features a high-quality cotton-poly blend with sublimation printing for exceptional softness and comfortable fit. Click here now to shop.

Vintage Black Belt: Chinese Martial Arts
China has always been the traditional home of the Asian martial arts. For 2,000 years, its people have experimented with and developed self-defense systems that have only recently become known in other countries as karate, judo, jujitsu and sumo.

Yet curiously, little is known of the Chinese martial arts outside of China. The country has always been a mystery to the non-Chinese, and so it is today with the martial arts. And the Chinese have done little to make knowledge of its self-defense systems available to people abroad. Click to read this Black Belt classic from 1968.

Bruce Lee's Enter the Dragon officially united Hong Kong and Hollywood under the parasol of kung fu. In this $500,000-budgeted gasp of fresh air in Tinseltown, Bruce Lee plays secret agent Lee. He's sent by the British to break up a suspected drug ring organized by the inscrutable Han, who uses martial arts tournaments to recruit bodyguards and lackeys.

Enter the Dragon Seen Through the Eyes of a Martial Arts Movie Expert
When the film came out, Westerners had no idea about the pedigree of the Hong Kong cast. Shih Kien had done more than 400 films, and most of them were martial arts movies that featured him as the villain. And with 18 films under her hapkido black belt, Angela Mao Ying was attaining cult status as a kung fu heroine, so the fights she did in Enter the Dragon were a walk in the park for her and her Vietnamese karate-champion co-star Bolo Yeung, a veteran of 28 kung fu films. By 1973, Sammo Hung had fought in 42 films and had been the head martial arts instructor for 17 of them. Click here to read the whole story.

For School Owners! Download the COVID-19 Financial Self-Defense Checklist
With the coronavirus now having a global effect on the world's population, there has never been a stranger and more troublesome time for small businesses. Fear is widespread, and people are being told to stay home. That's why we want you to be prepared in case you are asked or required to close your school. Download this quick checklist to help you in the event you have to shut down. Get the checklist here.

Big Cats of Kung Fu
Anyone who's had to fend off an angry animal - even one as small as a house cat - knows the fury they can bring to a fight. It's apparent to us now, and it was apparent to Chinese martial artists a thousand years ago. No doubt those astute observers were enthralled by the speed, power, evasive ability and often total abandon that certain denizens of the wild kingdom brought to their battles.

Chinese warriors - and Shaolin monks, in particular - analyzed the offensive and defensive moves of any creature they deemed capable in a fight. "There are a lot of Shaolin animals - including lesser-known ones like the dog, the scorpion and the elephant," says Steve DeMasco, a Black Belt Hall of Famer who's spent his career assimilating the Chinese interpretation of critter combat.

Read "Big Cats of Kung Fu: The Tiger, Black Tiger, Leopard and Snow Leopard Are the Real Kings of the Jungle!" in our April/May 2020 issue, available now in the Black Belt Store.

How CBD Is Helping the BJJ Warrior Who Once Ruled the MMA World
You don't have to know the history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship to know Royce Gracie's claim to fame - but it certainly helps. Schooled in Brazilian jiu-jitsu by his father Helio Gracie, Royce was groomed to be a grappling star. When his brother Rorion Gracie teamed up with Art Davie in the early 1990s to create the UFC, Royce got his chance to shine.

And shine he did, winning three of the first four events. Note that the UFC followed a tournament format back then, which meant the man who won had to prevail in three bouts in the same evening (four bouts in the case of the second show). With the aforementioned being just a fraction of his fight record, it comes as no surprise that Royce paid a price for dominance, a price that's been demanding repayment for years. Now, however, the BJJ practitioner has found a way to avoid the bill collector colloquially known as pain. Read more.

Thomas LaPuppet began his journey down the martial path as a jujitsu stylist in 1959. Soon afterward, he started training in shotokan under George Cofield at the Tong Dojo in Brooklyn. LaPuppet earned his black belt in karate in 1965.

Remembering a Pioneer of American Karate and Fighter From the Legendary Tong Dojo
At a time when martial arts greats such as Joe Lewis and Mike Stone were making a name for themselves, Thomas LaPuppet was busy winning tournaments, helping to create curiosity and raise interest in the New York martial arts community. One of his most impressive victories came in 1965 when he was named the undisputed winner of the All-American Championship at Madison Square Garden. Read more.

How a Traditional Martial Arts Mindset Can Fail You in Combat
If you're a traditional martial artist, I know I got your attention with the title. Now, let me pose a question: Who wins in a street fight with hand-to-hand combat? Answer: The guy whose buddy shows up first with a gun.

Yes, I know some of you will say that's a trick question. Everybody thinks their style is enough to handle any conflict they encounter on the street, but that's not reality. Now, before you start thinking I'm anti-traditional martial arts and start warming up your fingers for any angry response, let me tell you something about myself: I've been the guy who won only because his buddy was the first to show up. And no, it's not because I didn't have enough training. Read more.

The "Uncool" Kick Every Good Martial Artist Needs to Know
Check out the crowd reaction when a full-contact fighter successfully lands a fancy spinning kick. The deafening cheers are enough to inspire any kid to make a midnight bedroom-window escape and camp out in front of the local dojo's front door. Admit it: When you started training, you dreamed of these flashy kicks.

The problem is that these kicks, although impressive, aren't very practical. Even at a high skill level, there's only a small likelihood of them succeeding. But effective kicks are boring. What martial arts teacher worth the salt in Bruce Lee's sweat wants to teach boring stuff? And what student wants to spend his or her training time learning boring kicks? Read more.

Our No. 1 Martial Arts Goal
One question martial artists hear all the time is, "Do you think you can beat them up?" It's usually followed by the asker pointing to the biggest, baddest-looking person in the room.

There's also, "Could you break that tree/board/desk/etc. with a chop?" And of course, there's the question that commonly follows the demonstration of a self-defense technique: "But what if (insert some random occurrence that's less likely to happen than winning the lottery while being struck by lightning) happens?" Read more.

Black Belt magazine and Combat Go, in association with Bellator MMA, have announced Fight Back, a virtual martial arts training event featuring the world's biggest martial artists. It will raise funds for the American Red Cross relief efforts, directly providing support for medical professionals on the front lines of the pandemic.

Black Belt and Combat Go Host Virtual Martial Arts Seminar
The weeklong event will take place on Black Belt's Facebook page on May 4-8. Each day will have more than eight hours of instruction from an A-list lineup of world champions, trainers and legends. They include Billy Blanks, Bill Wallace, Demian Maia, Chael Sonnen, Lyoto Machida, Tim Kennedy and Rickson Gracie. The event also will include the Facebook premiere of exclusive interviews featuring Dan Inosanto, Michael Jai White, Carlos Machado, Demetrious Johnson and more.

The seminars will replay the following week on Black Belt's YouTube channel and Combat Go, a free digital-TV channel that's available in the United States on Roku Channel, Xumo, Jungo SBS and Stirr. Read more.

7 Qualities of a Martial Arts Champion According to Jhoon Rhee
Over the years, taekwondo pioneer and Black Belt Hall of Fame member Jhoon Rhee has taken a hard look at who succeeds in the martial arts community and who doesn't, and he's come up with a list of the seven qualities of a champion. As you study the attributes, you'll find that they apply as much to life in general as they do to the martial arts.

First up is patience. It keeps you out of trouble, Rhee says. "And it helps you maintain consistency in business and avoid overreacting to rumors and unsound ideas. Patience is needed to persevere until you reach your goals." As such, it's vital for success in competition. The patient fighter doesn't just charge his opponent, attacking at random and exposing himself to a counter. Rather, he waits until his opponent makes a mistake and engages when victory can be ensured. Read the rest here.

Sneak Peek - Jujitsu: Toward One Technique
Perhaps the most difficult part of learning a martial art (or anything else) is evaluating progress objectively. Does a particular technique or its modifications work well? Are the modifications realistic and effective? Do they really work, or do they merely look good? Can other practitioners make the same modifications work for them, too? Is a particular modification simple and effective, or is it a 27-step monster that has no real applicability except that it's "artsy"?

Evaluating the acquisition of knowledge requires honesty. It requires admitting mistakes. It's the willingness and patience to take a step back and start over again, if necessary. Read more in Jujitsu: Toward One Technique, the latest book by Black Belt Hall of Famer George Kirby. Get it in the Black Belt Store!

Joe Lewis Takes Aim at the Myth of the Street Fighter
People who attach this label to themselves lack the dedication and confidence needed to become a champion in the ring. Yet they constantly claim they are legitimate fighters - even better than the ones who wear a championship belt. They call themselves the "deadliest man alive" or "king of the street fighters," but seldom is such a lofty status earned. Read more of this opinion piece by Joe Lewis.

Benny Urquidez was kickboxing's most fearless gladiator. With his incredible speed, power and energy, he could go to any country on earth, fight anybody he was paired up with according to their rules - and beat the living daylights out of them. In front of sellout crowds, Urquidez, in true terminator fashion, would blast opponent after opponent into oblivion. What is so amazing is that he did this 58 times without losing. It's not surprising that he was named Black Belt's 1978 Competitor of the Year.

Learn How to Fight Different-Size Opponents From Benny Urquidez!
Benny "The Jet" Urquidez's arsenal of techniques was something to write home about, and his physical conditioning was second to none. His regimen included working all his techniques in addition to a host of back-breaking drills. For example, he would do 15 three-minute rounds of offensive and defensive moves, going full speed with only 30-second rest periods. Read more.

Top 20 Martial Arts Films of All Time
Twenty-first century kung fu film fans are more aware and appreciative of good movies than their ancestors ever were. There are three main reasons for this: the mainstream success of Chinese-language martial arts films such as Ang Lee's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Zhang Yimou's Hero and House of Flying Daggers in the West; the use of stylized Hong Kong action in Hollywood blockbusters; and the international success of Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michelle Yeoh and their cohorts.

Because of their current status in the American martial arts community, Black Belt asked me to devise a list of the top 20 martial arts movies of all time. The result is this article. Movies were included based on their impact on martial arts cinema, as well as their choreography. Check out the movies here.

Why Evasion Is the Best Defense and How to Make It Work for You
Bill Wallace writes: "As a professional athlete, I made a living poking holes in other people's defenses. When I was the one doing the defending, I preferred to use evasive techniques. I didn't sidestep or block much; I leaned back or took a step back. No matter what my opponent threw at me or how hard, if I was out of range, he couldn't hit me.

"If I'd tried to block a technique, it would have hurt, and I didn't want to go through the pain. On the other hand, I thought, if my opponent attacked and missed because he couldn't get close enough, he'd become frustrated and lose his cool. That was my favorite thing about evasion and why my rule of thumb was simply to get out of the way." Click to read more.

5 Kung Fu Animal Styles of the Chinese Martial Arts

To longtime readers of Black Belt, Steve DeMasco needs no introduction. A student of the martial arts since 1968, he's been a fixture in the magazine since his debut in the February 1998 issue. Over the ensuing years, he's espoused his views on the physical and philosophical sides of the Shaolin fighting arts - specifically, Shaolin kempo. At the end of 1998, he was inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame as Instructor of the Year.

In this article, the New Hampshire-based master, who serves as Shaolin Temple's cultural ambassador to the United States, continues the topic he started in Black Belt by describing and demonstrating the self-defense techniques of the five animals of the Chinese arts. Click to read.

To her fans around the world, she's a near-invincible fighter called "Cyborg." To her friends and family, she's known as Cris Justino. Either way, she's an MMA killing machine with a professional record of 22-2.

Cris Cyborg: Early Days of an MMA Champion
Even while growing up in Curitiba, Brazil, she exhibited a love of competition. In high school, she built herself into a nationally ranked handball player. During a 2004 championship, she earned the attention of another competitor's parent - that man turned out to be Rudimar Fedrigo, head instructor at the Chute Boxe Academy.

Chute Boxe is a renowned MMA gym in Brazil that started life as a muay Thai school. It's cranked out some fearsome fighters, including Wanderlei Silva, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, Thiago Silva, Gabriel Gonzaga and Anderson Silva. Scoring an invite to train there, especially from the head instructor, was an honor Cyborg didn't fully appreciate at the time. Click here to read the whole story.

Self-Defense, Superfoot Style
When a subject is near and dear to him, Bill "Superfoot" Wallace has never been shy about speaking his mind. Case in point: the relationship between martial arts and self-defense.

"There are a lot of combinations you learn in point tournaments, regular sparring and full contact that will work in a real fight, and there's a whole bunch of techniques [you learn] in self-defense [class] that won't work in a real fight," Wallace says. "Why? Things are just too choreographed. There are too many of them to remember, and you end up using what comes natural to you anyway.

"In a real fight, you have no idea when, where or what the bad guy's going to do. He's definitely not going to take a shot at you and leave his hand out there for you to grab."

Read "Bill Wallace Sounds Off on the Side Kick and How It Fits Into His Favorite Fighting Strategies!" in our April/May 2020 issue, available now in the Black Belt Store.

Joe Lewis: Fix the 40 Most Common Kickboxing Training Mistakes!
In any sport from football to fighting, when two opponents are practically equal, usually the one who makes the fewest mistakes becomes victorious. With that in mind, presented below is my list of the 40 most common errors martial artists make in the ring.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #1: Trying to counter when you should be leading the attack.

Counterattacking, like faking, is an advanced art. It requires knowing three things: the lead of the opponent, your method of avoiding his lead and the exact way of executing the proper counter-shot. Unless you know them all, initiate.

Kickboxing Training Mistake #2: Failing to step in when you punch.

Whether jabbing or kicking, you always need to put your weight behind your executions for maximum power. Stepping in also increases your energy when you use the pivot-shifting and waist-pivoting (hinging) principles for punching power. Read the rest of Joe Lewis' advice here.

Big Sale in the Black Belt Store!
If you're unwilling - or unable - to drive to the bookstore right now to pick up some new reading material to tide you over until your dojo reopens, surf to the Black Belt Store and check out the incredible sale. Some of our titles are marked down 75 percent! Click here now to shop.

Most martial artists know that the ring and the street are very different. "The main difference is prior knowledge," jeet kune do expert Tim Tackett says. "If you're [about to go] in the ring, you're looking at a video of the guy you're fighting before you fight. You know that if you do a fake here, he's going to move there. Or that maybe he's a runner or a blocker. You can study him and try to come up with tactics and a strategy."

9 More Prime Principles! A Second JKD Private Lesson With Tim Tackett
"On the street, however, you don't know what is going on. Everything you know about the ring goes out the window. You have to clear your mind of it all. It's true that in a street fight, there are no rules, but more important is that you have no prior knowledge, no clue at all."

Read more in our December 2020/January 2021 issue. Order directly from the Black Belt Store.

Breaking News in the Martial Arts
The news website Axios is reporting that renowned MMA trainer Greg Jackson (shown) is thinking about a run for Congress. The co-owner of the Jackson Wink MMA gym in Albuquerque is considering running as an independent for the seat being vacated by New Mexico Rep. Deb Haaland. . The International Judo Federation recently named its award winners for 2019-2020. Among the honorees were Chkhvimiani Lukhumi of Georgia as male judoka of the year and Daria Bilodid of Ukraine as female judoka of the year.

The recipients of the World MMA Awards have been named. The big winner was Israel Adesanya, who took home the fighter of the year award and the international fighter of the year award. Jorge Masvidal won the breakthrough fighter of the year award and the knockout of the year for his flying-knee KO of Ben Askren. Read all the martial arts news as it happens!

Why Martial Artists Should Not Follow "Fad Diets"
This post comes from Sammy Smith, a world-champion sport-karate competitor for Team Paul Mitchell and a certified nutritionist. She writes: "A misconception in the dieting world is that all it takes is one simple regimen to follow and you'll get the results you wanted in little time.

"The truth is that everyone's body composition is different. Some foods that work for some won't work for all to provide optimal sustainability. There isn't one simple formula to follow, especially for martial arts instructors who can be on the [studio] floor teaching for hours without a break or for martial arts athletes who are training sunup to sundown." Read more.

Ninja History 101: Spies and Assassins
As Heichichiro Okuse says, it was cunning and deception that gave the ninja the edge over their enemies. These traits were emphasized and sharpened during ninjutsu training. The ninja raised espionage to a highly developed art centuries before such training was given to cloak-and-dagger agents in Western countries.

There were three main categories of ninjutsu training for espionage: the tactics of sneaking into an enemy's camp, the tactics of infiltrating enemy lines after the outbreak of hostilities and the ruses of escape. Read more.

Have You Ever Given Up Too Soon?
"I am an outdoor enthusiast," writes Dave Kovar, recipient of the 2010 Lifetime Achievement Award given by the Martial Arts Industry Association. "Hiking, biking, climbing, training - it doesn't matter. If it takes place outside, I love it. Some time ago, I went on an intense mountain-bike ride with two friends. We picked a challenging course near Forest Hill, California. I do a decent bit of cycling on the road, but it had been years since I pushed myself on a mountain bike on a hard trail.

"Both my friends had better bikes and a lot more trail experience than I, but I did my best to keep up, and we had a great time. The ride illustrated to me one of the wonderful things about martial arts training: The attributes of balance, timing, strength, flexibility and focus carry over to other activities. (Another bonus became evident that day: I had only one crash but managed to avoid injury.)" Read more.