Donnie Yen once again will portray Ip Man, the wing chun kung fu icon who lived from 1893 to 1972 and the martial arts master who trained a young Bruce Lee when he lived in Hong Kong (and, obviously, before he founded jeet kune do), in the feature film Ip Man 3.

The new movie is scheduled to hit theaters in Hong Kong on December 24, 2015, and in the United States on January 22, 2016.

Danny Chan as young Bruce Lee

Yen, 52, is a veteran of numerous films, including Ip Man (2008) and Ip Man 2 (2010), both of which were well-received by the martial arts community. He also has parts in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon 2: Sword of Destiny (The Green Legend). He’s the son of Bow Sim Mark, who was named Black Belt’s 1995 Kung Fu Artist of the Year because of her involvement in tai chi and other Chinese martial arts. Following in his mother’s footsteps, Yen became Black Belt’s 2009 Kung Fu Artist of the Year.

Donnie Yen as Ip Man

Ip Man 3 is the third installment of Donnie Yen’s popular martial arts film series. In it, gangsters under the command of a dishonest property developer vie for control of Hong Kong. The film is directed by Wilson Yip, who also directed the first two movies, and written by Lai-yin Leung, Chan Tai-Li and Edmond Wong. Yuen Woo-Ping (Man of Tai Chi, Kill Bill, The Matrix, Iron Monkey, Drunken Master) is the action director.

Mike Tyson as Frank

Former boxing champ Mike Tyson plays Frank, the property developer. Tyson — and the movie — inadvertently garnered media attention in May 2015 when, during the filming of one of his scenes with Yen, Tyson’s punch brought his fist into contact with Yen’s elbow and resulted in a finger fracture.

Lynn Xiong as Cheung Wing-Sing

The publicity campaign for Ip Man 3 included the release of six posters, shown here.

Patrick Tam as Ma King-Sang (left), Jin Zhang as Sum Nung (right)

Watch the Ip Man 3 trailer here.

(Artwork courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment)

In “Jim Kelly: Martial Artist and Co-Star of the Bruce Lee Movie Enter the Dragon — A Vintage Interview,” Black Belt resurrects a cover story originally published in Fighting Stars magazine that catches Jim Kelly on the cusp of Hollywood stardom! Get this free guide today.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

Punch No. 3: Lead Hook

The boxing lead hook is a more or less rounded punch made with the leading hand. It whips around to the side of the opponent’s face or midsection, then snaps back.

The hook draws power from translation, but this takes place in a manner unlike the jab or cross. Because the punch hits sideways, translation in the hook occurs when the bodyweight shifts from the side of the leading leg to the side of the rear leg. Power is added as the hips and shoulders rotate in the direction of the blow.

Lead hook to the chin

Extension in the hook mainly involves the flexion of the shoulder, with a quick snap to finish the sequence. The arm and wrist straighten only enough to contact the target, adding little power but whipping out from the shoulder loosely and quickly, and tensing only at the moment of impact to provide a solid connection between the fist and the entire weight of the body. It lands with the palm facing you.

Punch No. 4: Rear Uppercut

Boxing’s rear uppercut is a rounded punch made with the rear hand. It drives forward and upward at the opponent’s face or midsection, then snaps back.

In the uppercut, translation is forward — as with the jab and cross — but to this is added a shifting of the bodyweight to the leading leg. This is the opposite of what takes place with the hook.

Rear uppercut

The uppercut also involves an upward shifting of the bodyweight, driven by a short, quick straightening of the knees. This is a lot of weight shifting; it accounts for at least some of the power of the uppercut — less when the target is closer and more when it’s farther away. Most of the power comes from the rotation of the hips and shoulders in the direction of the punch. Then extension tops off the sequence.

The arm and wrist straighten only enough to contact the target, adding little power but whipping out from the shoulder loosely and quickly, and then tensing at the moment of impact to provide a solid connection between the fist and the body. It lands with the palm facing you.

Punch Training

These four punches of boxing are best learned with the help of a partner or trainer with focus gloves. The partner holds the gloves at head height but just outside your range. You take a short step forward to deliver the jab to the glove opposite the hand you’re using. For example, hit the left glove if you’re jabbing with your left hand.

The partner checks your form, making sure that you don’t “telegraph” the punch, that you don’t drop your other hand from the guarding position, and that you return your jabbing hand to its guarding position and slide your rear foot forward to catch up with your body as soon as the punch is completed. Then he takes a small step backward, and the exercise is repeated, with you and your partner moving back and forth across the floor.

In the same fashion, the cross can be learned on the focus gloves. Again, you punch to the glove opposite the hand you’re using, and your partner checks your form. Then he takes a small step backward.

Hook training on a heavy bag

When learning the hook, your partner turns the glove inward so your punch lands while moving sideways. When learning the uppercut, he turns it downward so the punch lands while moving upward.

For boxers training for competition, learning to deliver punches only from the right or left stance may be sufficient, but a martial artist must be able to deliver them from both stances. As soon as you learn each punch on your strong side, change to your weak side and practice. Eventually, you’ll be able to deliver powerful punches with either hand.

All boxing gyms have mirrors. Use them to get feedback as you work to perfect your timing and form.

Getting Serious

When it comes to developing solid punches, there is no substitute for working on the heavy bag. Practice with the bag held stationary and with it swinging freely. Practice delivering the punches from a stationary position and while moving in, out, to the left, to the right, and up and down.

In all exercises, concentrate on breathing correctly. The sports maxim “breathe out on the power stroke” applies no less to boxing, and a sharp exhalation as you deliver each punch will put dynamite into it and make you less vulnerable to being hit in the midsection as you attack.

In all exercises, concentrate on focus. This is really more of an attitude than a technique. Cultivate the habit of hitting not just with your fist but with your body, mind and spirit; of hitting with confidence and commitment; and of hitting not just at the target but through it. Focus is the key to delivering effective punches; it is the very essence of a fighting spirit.

Click here to download a free guide titled “Bruce Lee Training Research: How Boxing Influenced His Jeet Kune Do Techniques.”

Once these four basic punches have been learned, it’s a good idea to practice them in the sequence they’ve been discussed: jab, cross, hook and uppercut. This combination, often used by trainers, is called the “one-two-three-four.” It teaches proper translation, rotation and extension because it makes use of an important principle of all fighting arts: Each blow, if properly delivered, should leave you in a perfect position to deliver the next one in the sequence. The one-two-three-four combination should be practiced with the individual punches alternating from head level to midsection level. In this way, dozens of variations can be developed and perfected.

Learning just these four basic boxing punches and how to deliver them in combinations will go a long way toward making you a knockout puncher. Incorporating them into your martial art by combining them gracefully with your other strikes, kicks and throws will be a lifelong challenge. But as with most things in life, the journey is its own reward.

Read Part One of this post here.

(Photos by Rick Hustead)

Source: Black Belt Magazine

These days, everywhere you look, martial artists are incorporating basic Western-boxing techniques into their fighting repertoire. Although some traditional stylists have resisted this trend, there are many good reasons why it continues and why you should jump on board.

Having evolved in the laboratory of combat, boxing techniques are practical and effective. They’re deceptively powerful and rival even the powerhouse punches of classical karate in the force of their impact. They’re adaptable and combine gracefully with the strikes and kicks of the martial arts. Finally, they’re relatively easy to learn and apply even under the stress of competition or self-defense.

Lead jab

In boxing, the ability to hit hard doesn’t correlate to any particular body type. Knockout punchers come in all sizes and shapes. Although a few fighters seem to be naturals, for most people, boxing is a skill that must be learned. This means understanding and applying biomechanics, learning about how the body moves and generates power, and, of course, investing in plenty of practice.

Types of Movement

In studying how the body generates power, you’ll discover the importance of three types of movement. The first is the movement of the bodyweight as it shifts from one leg to the other in the direction of the action. This is essentially the movement we use to bump a heavy door open with our arm and shoulder. It’s called translation.

The second is the movement of the body as it twists around an imaginary line passing through the top of the head and down to the body’s center. This twisting is driven by the rear leg turning the hips and by the muscles of the trunk turning the shoulders. It’s called rotation.

The third is the movement of the wrist and elbow as they straighten, which is coupled with the flexion of the shoulder. It’s called extension.

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Effective punches must combine all three movements at the proper time. This requires that translation — inherently, the slowest movement — begin the sequence. Rotation, being faster, joins in a split second later. Extension, being the fastest, joins in last.

When all three movements take place quickly, with correct timing and with a solid connection of the fist to the bodyweight (what trainers call leverage), the punch has knockout power. Correct timing can be felt more easily than it can be seen. When everything comes together correctly, all three movements will reach their peak power at the moment of impact. Everything feels right.

Punch No. 1: Lead Jab

The first punch a boxer learns is the lead jab. It’s a good place to begin applying the principles of biomechanics discussed above.

The jab is a straight punch made with the lead hand. It fires directly out to the opponent’s face or midsection, then snaps directly back.

Most of the jab’s power comes from translation. It’s created by a small step forward with the front foot as the rear leg drives the body. This is why trainers say, “The jab comes from the rear foot.” The arm, relaxed at first, whips out from the shoulder and tightens for a split second at the moment of impact. By that time, the fist should face palm-down. It then snaps back to the starting position.

Power is added by rotation, a small but rapid twist of the hips and shoulders in the direction of the punch. To maximize it, the torso leans slightly to the side of the rear leg.

Rear cross

More power is added by extension, the rapid straightening of the arm and wrist and the flexion of the shoulder. The key to making this action effective is keeping the shoulder loose so it hangs back for an instant as the torso turns. Contrary to logic, the shoulder actually moves backward in relation to the body for an instant, effectively cocking the shoulder joint. Then, at the last moment, it flexes sharply, and the arm and wrist straighten to fire the jab out to the target. This snap of the shoulder is too quick to be seen, but it can be felt.

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A good jab is loose, well-timed and quick. The key lies in practicing until you get the feel of the punch, then practicing a lot more until it becomes second nature.

Punch No. 2: Rear Cross

The next punch is the rear cross. It’s a straight blow effected with the rear hand. Using the principles of biomechanics in the fullest possible manner, the cross fires directly out to the opponent’s face or midsection, than snaps back.

The cross draws some power from translation — much like the jab does — but most of its power comes from the rotation of the hips and shoulders. This is the key to a good cross. Extension of the arm and wrist and flexion of the shoulder, coupled with a loose, quick snap, top off the sequence. The cross lands with the fist facing palm-down.

(To be continued.)

Photos by Rick Hustead

Source: Black Belt Magazine

We all love martial arts movies. Right now, let’s test your knowledge of one part of this vibrant genre: kung fu films. Your first task is to name the Five Venoms. For extra credit, tell me how many films the actors who played them made together.

Forgive me if I’m wrong, but I bet most of you didn’t get the answers right. If that’s the result of a lack of interest in Chinese martial arts movies, all I can say is you don’t know what you’re missing.

If it’s the result of the confusion that was created by the way the movies were marketed in the United States, you have a valid excuse. But let’s continue.

It all started in 1978 when cameras rolled to make a Shaw Brothers kung fu film titled The Five Venoms. It also would be known as The Five Deadly Venoms and Five Poisons, the latter being a direct translation of the movie’s Chinese title. Now here’s the rub: Five Venoms actually featured eight venoms. So if there really were eight venoms, why are only five reflected in the title? The answer is complicated — and confusing.

The five venoms and the actors who played them were Scorpion Gai Ji (Sun Chien), Toad Liang Shen (Lo Meng), Centipede Zhang Yiao-tian (Lu Feng), Snake Qi Dong (Wei Bai) and Gecko Meng Tian-xia (Kuo Chue). The other three venoms didn’t have associated animals. They were Yang De (Chiang Sheng), the head of Venom House (Dick Wei) and the bookkeeper (Ku Feng).

The actors who portrayed the five venoms appeared together in only three other films: The Kid With the Golden Arm (1979), Invincible Shaolin (1978) and The Brave Archer II (1978), the last of which was shot before Five Venoms. Yet an additional 16 movies were released in America under the banner of “films that featured the five venoms.”

Keep reading to find out how that came to be.

Read all about the Five Venoms and the other films mentioned in this article in Dr. Craig D. Reid’s book The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970s: 500+ Films Loaded With Action, Weapons and Warriors. Order it now on Amazon.com!

In the late 1970s, kung fu films were on the decline. After all, the king of martial arts cinema — Bruce Lee — had died in 1973, and no one had been able to fill his shoes. Furthermore, drive-ins — the outdoor theaters where kung fu films ruled — were waning. Then out of nowhere, cable TV appeared. Scores of just-launched channels began searching for programs to attract audiences, and they were willing to accept movies that network-TV execs would never deem acceptable.

Cable distributors decided the solution to this problem lay with the studio that started the kung fu craze in the USA: Shaw Brothers. They immediately began asking which English-dubbed offerings were available. At the top of the list were Five Venoms, Golden Arm, The Master Killer and Chinatown Kid. Each one wound up getting lots of cable-TV airtime in the afternoon and late at night, but it was Five Venoms that had the biggest impact.

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American video distributors quickly keyed into that popularity and began buying rights for films that featured those kung fu stars. The sixth venom actor, Chiang, became a replacement for one of the original five, Wei Bai. So the first follow-up film that was advertised as featuring the five venoms — Crippled Avengers in 1978 — was conveniently renamed Return of the Five Deadly Venoms.

Wei suffered from Tourette’s syndrome, a disorder that causes uncontrollable motor and vocal tics. It was becoming increasingly difficult for him to control the outbursts on camera. Consequently, his last appearance with the four venoms was in Golden Arm, and even by then, his martial skills were fading.

It was fortuitous that Wei used a sword during his fights in Golden Arm because it minimized the direct body contact he had with the stuntmen. That, in turn, lowered the frequency of tics on the set.

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After Wei left the group, films that were shot after Five Venoms (featuring Chiang and the four original venoms) were initially branded in Asia as Five Weapon Guys movies. In the United States, the preferred marketing tactic entailed designating the productions as Five Venoms films and later as just Venom films. Later on, any movie that featured at least one of the Venom actors ended up being called a Venom film.

Now, are you ready for the quiz?

(Photo of Eric Lee by Rick Hustead)

Go here to order Dr. Craig D. Reid’s book The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970s: 500+ Films Loaded With Action, Weapons and Warriors.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

Question 9: How is fighting a terrorist — a person who’s willing to give his life for a cause — different from fighting a mugger, a gangbanger or a rapist?

Kelly McCann: Fighting a person who has already given up their life to their cause is significantly different from fighting anyone else. Criminals want to live to continue to do what they do or enjoy the reputation they create for themselves. The concept of martyrdom includes the death of the perpetrator, so it is different. There are crossovers — a criminal may not care if he goes to prison or even dies rather than be seen as having lost a fight — but there’s not a religious element [to most criminal acts]. When confronted by a terrorist, it would be unwise to think the incident will end up any other way than someone dying.

Kelly McCann photo by Robert Reiff

Mike Gillette: You just have to play the hand that’s been dealt to you. The idea of being willing to die for a cause is not unique to terrorists. As a cop, I encountered any number of street criminals who wanted to die. They would actually scream things like, “Shoot me, I want to die!” There is a unique element of risk when dealing with anyone who does not care whether they live or die, but a gang member can kill you just as surely as a terrorist can. It is up to you to use your powers of perception to assess what you’re dealing with and to respond accordingly. The idea of developing different strategies for muggers, bikers, skinheads or terrorists takes what is already a difficult task and makes it unmanageable.

So make it simpler. You are a good guy (or girl) and you may one day have to deal with a bad guy (or girl). If that happens, there won’t be time to do anything except respond to whatever threat is presented to you. And only after the fact will there be time to analyze whether your attacker was a gang member, a mugger or a terrorist.

Mike Janich: Criminals look for victims and are generally motivated by personal desires. Terrorists look for body counts and are motivated by a cause that they believe goes far beyond the individual. Because they believe they have a greater purpose and have often accepted their own deaths, they are much harder to stop. It’s possible that you could deter a criminal by fighting back and convincing him that you’re not easy prey. A terrorist will typically be much more determined. Against that type of threat, you only have two choices: You stop him, or you let him.

Mike Janich Photo by Rick Hustead

John Riddle: Having to fight a person willing to give his life for a cause is different than fighting a mugger, gangbanger or rapist. A person who has a cause is usually more motivated to get the mission finished, no matter the circumstances. This person enters into the assignment usually after being recruited and programmed with propaganda and promises of a “good life,” and then is set free into society to do his/her deed for a certain reward. That can make the individual a formidable opponent.

In my [law-enforcement] career, I have taken down many muggers, gangbangers and rapists. Yes, they too have a motivation — money, revenge, sex or the next fix. These types work on opportunity. If the opportunity is there, they will take it. If they feel it is too risky, they will usually wait for another time. They do not want to get caught for fear of incarceration. This group works on a different level than a terrorist.

Question 10: In regard to the lone-wolf threat, does it make sense for martial artists to devote additional time to weapons defense?

Kelly McCann: Training dedicated to weapons defense is critical — not only because of the remote possibility that you will be dealing with a terrorist situation but because of the greater likelihood a weapon will be present during a physical assault or other crime. But remember that mere familiarity with techniques is not enough; intense training under varied circumstances is necessary to pull off a disarm when you’re frightened.

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Mike Gillette: If a person trains in the martial arts and doesn’t train to defend against weapons, I consider them to be either recreational athletes or historical re-enactment enthusiasts. You will never be attacked one-on-one in the daylight, with ample warning and without the potential for weapons to be involved. Statistically, you are far more likely to be confronted by multiple attackers, and they will be armed with something. If you don’t train for those contingencies, that’s fine. But self-protection is unique in that you don’t get to define what it is. It is ultimately defined by whatever is circumstantially thrust upon you.

Photo Courtesy of Mike Gillette

Mike Janich: At the very least, you should explore the potential of adapting your art to modern threats. Shaolin monks never saw an AK-47, but if they had, they would have trained to defend against it. Don’t just “preserve” anachronistic techniques; figure out how to apply them to today’s problems.

John Riddle: If you practice weapons defense, you need to include defense against impact weapons, handguns, long guns and edged weapons. Understand the options you have, such as escalation, de-escalation, movement and use of angles. Train in every range. You need to be able to work in the ambush range and midrange, as well as long range.

Photo Courtesy of John Riddle

Question 11: Realistically, what chance does an unarmed martial artist stand against an armed terrorist?

Mike Janich: Against an armed attacker, committed, effective violence can be a very viable answer. However, if your study of the arts and your personal image as a “martial artist” don’t support that, you will fail. In simpler terms, against a lone-wolf terrorist, nobody — especially the terrorist — will give you any style points for a perfectly executed kick that didn’t actually stop the threat. Conversely, burying a thumb in each of his eyes and bouncing his head off the concrete doesn’t make you much of a “martial artist,” but it’s a more effective way of solving the problem.

John Riddle: It depends on the martial artist and how hard he trains in scenarios involving armed attackers. Everything needs to start with situational awareness. If you have your head stuck in the sand and not on a swivel, you will be caught. If the attack does happen and you are not armed, you need to understand improvised weapons and be able to get to them. Understand the importance of barriers — getting something between you and the bad guy. It is these types of tactics that will keep you alive against an armed attacker.

Mike Gillette: The martial artist will have a chance — which is more than an untrained, unprepared person will ever have. And it is for that reason, for that chance, that we train.

Read Part One of this article here, Part Two here and Part Three here.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

When foreigners travel to Thailand to learn kickboxing, the biggest fear they face is the “knives of muay Thai.” Considered the secret weapons of Thai boxing, they’re the top cause of bloodletting in the ring. In case you haven’t figured it out by now, the knives of muay Thai are the elbows. Over the past few decades, they’ve proved so devastating that Western martial artists in Thailand customarily request that their bouts be conducted without elbow strikes.

One of the most feared full-contact fighting systems in the world, muay Thai is renowned for developing the human body into a collection of weapons. For maximum effectiveness, the art teaches that each weapon should have a specific bone for striking, a specific movement for power and a specific target for destruction. The application of that ideology to elbow strikes is the subject of this post.

Nailing the nose

In muay Thai, two parts of the elbow are used for striking: the terminus of the forearm and the terminus of the upper arm. Note that the tip of the forearm (front tip) is not in the center of your arm; to access it, you must raise your elbow above the target before you strike. And contrary to what many martial artists believe, hitting with the tip of the upper arm (back tip) doesn’t mean hitting with the muscle; for maximum effect, it requires contact with the bone, which is also necessary to avoid injury to your limb.

Elbow techniques are called the “knives of muay Thai” for a reason: Rather than wield them with brute force, you strive to be smooth, relaxed and fast. The goal is to slice at just the right angle and just the right moment.

Described below are the best methods for using your elbows to attack five common targets. It’s safest to practice the techniques on a heavy bag or a Century Martial Arts BOB training dummy, which has realistic facial features on a soft surface. Avoid doing drills with a partner because sooner or later you’ll make accidental contact and learn quickly why the elbows are referred to as knives — they can cut.

Target: Mouth/Nose

Start from a right strong stance (left foot forward if you’re right-handed) and use your left arm to effect a front elbow strike that at first resembles an uppercut done with a bent arm. The technique is powered by body movement and footwork, which unite to move your elbow forward. It’s that forward motion, rather than an upward swing of the arm, that makes the technique work. In fact, the strike can be done with no arm movement at all — by locking the elbow tip in a forward position and charging ahead.

The strike is often used against boxers who rely on powerful hooks and grapplers who shoot in for a takedown while keeping their arms spread wide to grab your torso.

Proper footwork entails pushing with your right leg while stepping forward with your left. The best time to use the technique is when your opponent is aggressively approaching, making the effect not unlike two rams slamming their horns together.

Tagging the temple

Target: Eye/Temple

To attack this body part, use a left diagonal elbow strike, which is a near-horizontal technique that’s often delivered immediately after a left front elbow. The diagonal strike is small, smooth and fast. If it makes contact squarely, a knockout may result, but if your opponent moves his head forward, a laceration will likely occur above his eye. If he happens to raise his head, your elbow will hit him in the jaw and possibly knock him out.

Before you strike, make sure your left foot is slightly in front of your opponent and your right is planted in back, providing a solid foundation for the technique. Stand tall and lean forward to hit the target. The power comes from the sequential twisting of your hips, waist and shoulders, not from moving your arm. Frequently overlooked detail: Your left fist should effect a small movement as though you’re punching your right shoulder.

Target: Chin/Jaw

To attack this region, use a back-tip strike delivered in the form of a short poke that travels straight up and into the bottom of your foe’s chin or jaw. A sneaky and effective strike, it often results in a surprise knockout, especially when your opponent has his mouth open. In muay Thai bouts, however, it’s seldom seen these days because it’s been deemed an old-school technique.

Footwork: Turn to present the back tip of your elbow to your opponent. After hitting him, immediately establish a strong stance in front of him, with your left foot forward and slightly to the right of his body and your right foot slightly back and to the left.

Chipping the chin

Target: Forehead

Start in a right strong stance and use your right elbow to effect a front-tip strike that crashes straight through your opponent’s guard. This is the only all-out power elbow strike in muay Thai. Even if he has his hands up to block, he’ll feel the effect because your whole body is behind it. As mentioned above, the tip of your elbow must be slightly up to fully expose it, after which your body pushes it forward with a small swing. Your right fist should move as though you’re punching your left shoulder.

If your foe knows muay Thai, as soon as he sees this attack coming, he’ll stand strong with his forehead out and braced for impact. If he fails to detect the movement, chances are good he’ll sustain a broken nose.

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Before using this technique, plenty of practice is required because the body movement is somewhat unfamilair. With your right foot in back, push forward with your leg so you move to your opponent’s right side as you slam your elbow through the target. Typically, the technique is performed without a step, just like a right cross, but your body has to move forward to ensure that the elbow cuts effectively.

Target: Nose

When you’re slightly to the right of your opponent, you’re in position to catch him with a swinging elbow. Your weapon is the back tip of your left arm, which is powered by a half turn of your waist. Your left hand pulls up slightly as if you’re starting a lawn mower. Caution: This is not a spinning movement. Knowing that muay Thai is composed of mostly short and direct techniques, you should try to be conservative in your swing because after the strike, you’ll want to turn back around to face your foe in a strong stance.

After the strike, push off on your right foot, then step back into a right strong stance to assess the damage you did. Advisory: If you missed and your opponent knows muay Thai, get ready because now it’s his turn to go on the offensive. All the more reason to be prepared to defend yourself at all times.

Daniel C. Docto is a former boxer, full-contact martial arts champion and California state kickboxing champion. He lives in Thailand, where he trains in and writes about muay Thai.

(Photos Courtesy of Daniel C. Docto)

Source: Black Belt Magazine

Question 7: Do you recommend that people who are concerned about defending themselves in situations like the ones we’re discussing consider lawfully carrying a firearm — assuming they have an interest and have had the proper training?

Mike Gillette: They should consider it, but there are many layers to this issue, everything from what the prevailing laws are that govern the use of force when protecting yourself to how to store the weapon safely in your home. The responsibilities of owning and carrying a firearm are considerable. And once you’ve sorted out the logistical aspects of carrying a firearm, you still have to be able to competently handle that firearm. And that takes the right training — to develop the physical skills and decision-making ability. Although it may sound counterintuitive, self-defense, whether armed or unarmed, is very much a thinking person’s game.

Photo Courtesy of Mike Gillette

Tom Gresham: Whether to carry a gun is an intensely personal decision, and it’s one that should not be made lightly. Without specific training in the defensive use of a firearm, no matter what your experience is with shooting or hunting, it’s likely that everything you “know” is wrong. If you decide to carry a gun, you should make a commitment of time and money to get annual training — at least one day of training, and better if it is three days. You should commit to firing at least 50 rounds a month in practice. You must know the law. You must commit to avoiding areas and situations which could require you to use your firearm. Responsible people understand that it is a major change in lifestyle to carry a firearm.

Photo Courtesy of Tom Gresham

John Riddle: Being a responsible firearm owner does not mean purchasing a firearm, shooting once or twice, and then thinking you know it all. Seek out a professional who will teach you proper defensive firearms training along with the laws of your state. Practice is also important. Shooting paper or steel is nice, but it does not shoot back. You need to find someone who is well-versed in teaching defensive firearms with scenario-based training built in.

Photo Courtesy of John Riddle

Question 8: How useful could a knife be in the hands of a trained martial artist who’s facing a lone-wolf terrorist?

Mike Gillette: The effectiveness of bladed weapons tends to be underestimated, but a single stab wound is statistically more lethal than a single bullet wound. And consider this: A knife never runs out of ammunition; never jams; never misfires; rarely misses its target; can cut tendons, muscles, arteries and veins with one thrust; and has superior concealment capabilities over a firearm.

Mike Janich: A knife — powered by proper training — can be a very effective weapon. Obviously, a knife is a contact-distance tool, so you must be able to physically touch the terrorist to use it effectively. However, in some circumstances, it can be a better choice than a gun because it is selective and does not pose a risk of injury to innocent bystanders. Used properly, a knife can also instantly disable an attacker, while a gunshot may not be immediately incapacitating.

Michael Janich Photo by Rick Hustead

John Riddle: A knife can be as good as any other weapon — or it can be useless. If you do not have a plan or have not trained with a knife, chances are you will freeze under the pressure and fear. There also are some issues you need to take into consideration — such as proximity. Can you spring into action to stop the attacker immediately and without hesitation? Does he have a weapon? Is it a knife, a firearm or an explosive vest wrapped around him? You must ask yourself if you can reach him fast enough to terminate the threat with no other damage being done.

(To be continued.)

Read Part One of this article here and Part Two here.

Black Belt Hall of Famer Kelly McCann on Weapons

Kelly McCann was one of the five self-defense experts consulted for this article, but he didn’t get a chance to weigh in on these weapons questions. For that reason, we’re including his answers to these questions.

Question 9: Should the law have any bearing on what a person trains to do and actually does during a self-defense encounter?

Kelly McCann: The generalized answer is, you’ve got to apply the “reasonable man” test. If you’ve lived your life lawfully and have no history of altercations, and you were avoidant on the day of the incident — if you can say, “These were the steps I took to avoid this; there was nothing else I could do” — you’ll probably be OK.

Kelly McCann Photo by Robert Reiff

But if the police find out that you had an illegal weapon in your possession prior to the assault when there was no risk, you’re in trouble. In other words, if you’ve been carrying around an illegal weapon, stop doing that.

Stream a no-holds-barred seminar by Kelly McCann, Black Belt’s 2008 Self-Defense Instructor of the Year, to your digital device! Click here to watch a teaser for Kelly McCann’s 5-Volume Combatives Self-Defense Course.

If you decide to use pre-emption, it must be based on pre-incident indicators you noticed and reasonably resulted in your decision to use force to protect yourself because you perceived an imminent physical threat. You’ve got to be able to articulate those precise pre-incident indicators and predatory behaviors to a responding police officer or in court.

Question 10: What kind of weapons should martial artists carry for self-defense, and what should they have at home?

Kelly McCann: The legal ones. Make sure you meet all your state’s legal requirements before getting or carrying a weapon. OC gas (pepper spray) is great to carry because it’s a distance weapon. You can use it early in an altercation, before you even make contact with the assailant, and not a lot of technique is required. When it’s legal, an expandable baton is also great because it gives you distance. It’s basically a stick, and everybody can use a stick with some degree of success.

The pocket stick — also known as the yawara or kubotan — is good if you have the skills to use it, but it’s not quite as effective as the expandable baton because you have to close with your attacker. Knives are certainly good — if you’ve got the guts to use one. A sharp instrument is a great weapon; trouble is, its use is generally viewed as felonious. If you ever use a knife in self-defense, you’ll probably get killed in court. The opposing attorneys will undoubtedly say a higher standard applies because you’ve been trained and that you should have tried to … blah, blah, blah. That’s why OC gas and pocket sticks are better weapons for those who know how to use them.

Kelly McCann has created a crash course in empty-hand fighting, as well as defense against the stick, knife and gun. In the past, the only way to get this training was to wait for a McCann seminar to be scheduled in a city near you, but now the instruction is available anytime, anywhere on your digital device. Click here for more information.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

Although numerous renowned directors cumulatively made more than 800 wuxia movies, none had much of an impact on the growth of kung fu films in the West until a Taiwanese film auteur named Ang Lee entered the picture. He’s the man behind the first and only motion picture to take this art form to Small Town, America.

Known for art-house movies such as Sense and Sensibility (1995), The Ice Storm (1997) and Ride With the Devil (1999), Lee left behind all that was familiar to him as he ventured into the production of the high-flying and wildly outrageous Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000). Lee said it was like “having John Wayne speaking Chinese in a Western.”

Based on part of a multivolume, several-thousand-page novel written by Wang Du-lu in the early 1930s, Crouching Tiger is a tale of defiance, duplicity, righteousness and destiny told through the interwoven lives of two women, Yu Shu (Michelle Yeoh) and Jen (Zhang Zi-yi). Along the way, they suffer the torment of undeclared love and are forced to endure the theft of Green Destiny, an ancient and powerful sword.

To Western viewers in 2001, the year the movie received wide release in the USA, the sword lore of Crouching Tiger was terra incognita. In a nutshell: Chinese legend holds that each blade has a spirit that sings after it’s tasted blood. In the movie, this was brought to life in the form of an overemphasized resonating schwing that was heard whenever a sword was drawn. This was just one of the elements Lee chose when he decided to blend Eastern physical grace and action with American performance intensity and the behavioral subtleties and nuances of European cinema.

“Since I grew up with kung fu films, I had to update them in my own fashion,” Lee said. “Martial arts films have gone away from the dramatic because you spend 80 percent of your budget and time on martial arts things. It’s almost impossible to have both drama and martial arts. Even in the martial arts scenes, it’s very difficult and could be dangerous to the actors who have to think about acting while hitting each other in a precise way.”

You can download a free guide titled “10 Wing Chun Kung Fu Training Principles Any Martial Artist Can Use” just by clicking here.

Michelle Yeoh was a victim of that effort to update martial arts cinema. “During the first action sequence of the film, we were working late nights — it was 3:30 a.m., the last day of after 10 days of nonstop fighting,” she said. “One second, you’re on a wire, the next you’re not. The ground was uneven, and I tore my ACL.”

With two screws holding her together, she endured three and a half weeks of pure pain disguised as rehab. Then Yeoh returned to the set. “Doing the physical aspect of the fights after the injury was the biggest challenge,” she said. “It was traumatic, but it also builds character [and] makes you learn perseverance — I wasn’t ready to pack it in.”

Crouching Tiger was also Lee’s homage to King Hu’s classic Come Drink With Me (1966), right down to the proverbial teahouse-in-the-middle-of-the-forest scene with the chopsticks being used as weapons and the pathetic old guy running the place.

Then there was the awesome fight in the treetops of old Cathay involving Li Mu Bai (Chow Yun-fat) and Jen. Suspended 60 feet in the air, the actors were barely hanging onto the flimsy bamboo stalks. The scene was designed to show ching gong, a skill that purportedly enables a person to walk atop reeds, jump over walls and run on water. The action was reminiscent of a scene in Hu’s A Touch of Zen (1971), as well as Ching Siu-tung’s bizarrely beautiful aerial ballet in Butterfly and Sword (1993).

Come Drink With Me was the first 1960s wuxia film to have a swordswoman as a protagonist. She was entrancingly portrayed by the first queen of kung fu cinema: Cheng Pei Pei. Thus, one of the coolest and classiest things about Crouching Tiger was Lee’s casting of Cheng as Jade Fox. Doing her own fights and looking great while doing so, she proved she’s a living legend even when portraying a villain. By the way, she said she totally enjoyed being a baddie.

In 2001 Crouching Tiger was nominated for 10 Academy Awards. It won four. The sad thing about the TV show in which the 2001 Oscars were presented was that during the acceptance speeches, no one thought to thank Yuen Woo-ping for his amazing fight direction, which for many moviegoers was the main reason they saw the film in the first place.

(Photos Courtesy of Sony Pictures Classics)

Go here to order Dr. Craig D. Reid’s book The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies of the 1970s: 500+ Films Loaded With Action, Weapons and Warriors.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

Fitness is one of two essential prerequisites for self-defense performance. The other is mindset. What a shame it would be to develop your fitness and master the techniques necessary to prevail in a violent street attack only to fail because you were mentally unprepared!

It’s important to become intimately familiar with the conditions present in a street fight so you’re not surprised when you experience them firsthand. Too often, people form opinions about what constitutes a violent attack based on anecdotal information or cinematic representations. That’s a dangerous, ill-informed way to develop a self-defense foundation.

There’s no shortage of attack videos online. Repugnant as it may be, sort through the contrived footage and — believe it or not — the recreational street-fight videos, and you’ll discover actual surveillance-camera clips of attacks, as well as fight footage captured by eyewitnesses.

Evaluate a representative sampling to fully understand the speed with which attacks occur, the setups used to initiate assaults (which reveal pre-incident indicators), common striking techniques thugs rely on, patterns of vulnerability you can exploit, and lastly, the raw viciousness and ruthlessness of these animals.

You’ll find yourself growing increasingly pissed off as you watch kids get bullied, innocent people get beaten, and senseless violence, humiliation and injury being unleashed. Even worse, you’ll hear morons laughing at the victims or urging the attackers on.

Now visualize yourself, your spouse, your children or anyone you care for being victimized this way. It just may be that the most important element of a combative mindset is indignation — after all, you should be indignant and angry that these scumbags subject innocent people to serious physical and emotional trauma. It’s these visceral feelings that provide the foundation for your mindset. The emotions enable you to tap into your dark side on demand when you have to fight back against an unprovoked attack.

To sign up for Kelly McCann’s 5-Volume Combatives Self-Defense Course, which you can stream to your digital device anytime or anywhere, click here for early-bird pricing.

The rest of the requirement for viciously, yet lawfully, unloading on an attacker is that you characteristically seek to avoid confrontations, don’t smart-mouth (even when you think you’re justified) and routinely let the small stuff roll off.

Maintaining a demeanor that enables you to virtually disappear into the backdrop of societal “white noise” is an art. This mindset is so passive that it’s actually aggressive. When you’re facing an imminent attack, it will be immediately and exceptionally clear. You’ll be unencumbered by doubt or uncertainty and can resolutely rely on violence of action to defend yourself.

Developing the “switch” that allows you to go from zero to 100 mph is simply a matter of accepting the fact you could be attacked, internalizing the consequences of that and resolving to prevail if it happens. No victim of terrible violence ever wakes up thinking it could happen to him or her, but it can and does — frequently. Once you’ve embraced this, an inevitable sense of resentment follows. That’s a useful sentiment, one that can make you exponentially more dangerous when you fight an attacker.

Being situationally aware for pre-incident indicators reduces your chance of being surprised and rendered unable to flip your switch quickly. But even if you’re caught flat-footed, having spent some time visualizing yourself being attacked and successfully responding prepares you more completely than if the thought never occurred to you.

Learn how to neutralize gun, knife, stick and empty-hand attacks in Kelly McCann’s new 5-Volume Combatives Self-Defense Course.

Couple this mental preparedness with your underlying rage and indignation — aimed squarely at anyone who commits these heinous crimes — and you’ll find you can instantly tap into ferocity, resulting in explosive and effective responses.

You shouldn’t get paranoid and walk around ready to “go off” at any moment or be twitchy. That would make you just plain uncomfortable to be around. There aren’t potential bad guys around every corner. Just live your life guided by rational caution, be situationally aware and take action early to prevent having to deal with trouble. Well, actually you are dealing with it — appropriately.

By the way, don’t ever question what you feel. In other words, don’t talk yourself out of your own attack. Don’t think out loud, expressing your uneasiness over what you feel is happening. It’s likely someone will try to assuage your concerns — don’t let that happen.

If you suddenly find yourself in that sickening “oh shit” moment, blow through the surreal feeling and the denial, and act immediately. The only way to take control of a situation that’s ambiguously threatening (or outright threatening) is to act. Left unchecked, threats evolve into attacks. You have to break the chain of events before the attack fully manifests.

That doesn’t necessarily mean using force. It may mean crossing the street to remove yourself from immediate danger. It may mean verbally warning off a potential attacker. If you’re unable to escape, it could mean assuming a harmless-appearing index position that prepares you to pre-emptively strike. It all depends on what you see during your moment.

Bottom line: You want to achieve an empowering mindset that supports taking action based on a reasonable assessment of the threat and your right of self-defense. Maximize your ferocity by channeling your outrage right back to the attacker. Rage is powerful, so remember to “rage with reason.” Don’t go too far and belly-flop into the gratuitous-violence quagmire. Use only the force necessary to stop the threat; any additional use of force is malicious and criminal. Don’t act tenuously. To the contrary, if you’re attacked, go off like a hand grenade and ruthlessly turn predator into prey.

Honestly, it sucks having to even discuss this stuff, but feeling that way doesn’t diminish the need to be able to protect yourself. Every day, law-abiding people are attacked. Maintaining the physical and mental fitness to deal with that is simply the responsible thing to do.

(Photos by Robert Reiff)

About the author: A former officer in the U.S. Marine Corps and a member of the Black Belt Hall of Fame, Kelly McCann has studied and taught combatives for more than 30 years. In an effort to make his material available to more people, he teamed up with Black Belt magazine to release Kelly McCann’s 5-Volume Combatives Self-Defense Course. Sign up and you can stream the lessons to your smartphone, tablet or computer as many times as you like.

Source: Black Belt Magazine

QUESTION 4: As high-profile targets get extra security, is there an increased likelihood that soft targets — and civilians — will be attacked by lone-wolf terrorists?

John Riddle: Our military and government agencies have beefed up security on installations and embassies around the world, making them harder to attack. Due to this, we have seen a trend of softer targets being hit around the world — hotels, schools and marketplaces, to name a few. This is usually due to the fact that they are frequented by foreign tourists, journalists, military officials, and government and business leaders.

Photo courtesy of John Riddle

Mike Gillette: Soft targets have historically been the target of choice for terrorists and will continue to be. They are easy to get into, get around in and get out of. And they also provide the potential body count that yields the maximum psychological effect. As an example, in 1920 a horse-drawn wagon filled with explosives was detonated in front of the J.P. Morgan Bank on Wall Street. The blast killed 38 and injured 143. Attacking soft targets is nothing new.

Michael Janich: One of the most basic rules of nature is that predators seek prey.

Tom Gresham: Soft targets are always the priority, but what is or isn’t targeted should have no bearing on how individuals prepare. To change your preparedness or your behavior based on news reports means only that you were not paying attention and were not doing what was necessary. The risk of being attacked by terrorists is incredibly small, but it’s not zero. It’s worth a couple of minutes to think about and come up with an action plan to escape should you be caught in a public place when there is an attack. Other than that, your commitment to safety does not change.

Photo courtesy of Tom Gresham

QUESTION 5: In light of all this, what measures can people take to stay safe?

Gresham: First, understand that you cannot “be safe” or “stay safe.” You can only manage risks. Toward that end, be aware. Talk with your family. Have an action word for your family, and when you say that word, everyone does what you tell them — with no questions.

Kelly McCann: The most important thing most people can do is to stay situationally aware in their day-to-day lives. This will protect them against being co-located where a terrorist incident may occur and, more important, significantly reduce their chance of being victimized by crime.

Kelly McCann photo by Robert W. Young

Now you can stream a seminar by Kelly McCann, Black Belt’s 2008 Self-Defense Instructor of the Year, directly to your digital device! Click here to sign up for Kelly McCann’s 5-Volume Combatives Self-Defense Course.

Gillette: You need to understand the threat and that the threat is relative. Densely populated areas carry a certain amount of risk. Areas which bring in large groups of visitors such as the Mall of America, Universal Studios, Times Square or LAX carry a certain amount of risk. Symbolic locations such as the Washington Monument, the Las Vegas Strip or the Mormon Tabernacle in Salt Lake City carry a certain amount of risk. Wherever you go, be mindful of that location’s potential strategic significance and exercise the appropriate level of vigilance.

Janich: You need to realize that if something does happen, you will have to do something to save yourself and your loved ones before help arrives. Don’t be paranoid, but don’t bury your head in the sand, either. Once you treat something as real, you naturally change your behavior in appropriate ways and start learning the skills necessary to fend for yourself.

Michael Janich photo by Rick Hustead

Riddle: Basically, have a plan. If traveling outside the United States, check with the State Department website. Don’t travel alone or go into areas that are unknown to you or on the warning list. Be knowledgeable of the customs and culture of the area you will be visiting. Be careful about whom you speak with and how much information you give about why you are there and where you are staying.

QUESTION 6: Is increasing one’s awareness the most important precaution a person can take?

Janich: The first line of defense is awareness. Although that term is often interpreted as being actively conscious of your immediate surroundings, it goes much deeper. Awareness should also mean developing a clear understanding of the nature of potential threats and the ability of the authorities to protect you from them. You may be aware that a person is behaving suspiciously and see the telltale signs that he is about to draw a gun. However, if you are aware of the difference between cover and concealment and make a habit of referencing available cover — something substantial enough to actually stop bullets — in your environment, you will have a real survival option.

Gillette: While it can sound trite, being aware is your most critical survival skill. It’s as true when you’re scuba diving as it is when you’re walking in downtown Newark. Nobody survives an attack they don’t see coming. You need to adopt the attitude that nothing takes you by surprise. Your life is important, and it’s equally important to pay attention to what’s going on around you. The easiest way to do this is to ask yourself questions that begin with the word “why” — as in “Why is this nervous-looking person walking up to me so quickly?” or “Why would someone leave their backpack next to the bus stop?” Asking the right questions could save your life.

Photo courtesy of Mike Gillette

Gresham: [There are] actions which should be part of everyday behavior. Awareness is key. Look. See. Listen. Think about what you are seeing. Learn to stop in traffic far enough behind the car ahead of you so you can see where that car’s rear tires contact the pavement. This gives you room to drive around that car, if necessary. Know where the exits are in any restaurant you are in. Understand that in a mall, you can exit any store to the rear, which is the preferred way to go if there is an attack in the common area.

(To be continued.)

Read Part One of this article here.

Source: Black Belt Magazine