Toshiro Mifune is one of the greatest actors of all time. An actor who could truly do it all. Making his name in Samurai films, Mifune is the image you think of when you think samurai. Prior to Mifune, Samurai were clean shaven, honourable men in pop culture. Mifune was different. He was gruff, bearded, he has limp in his step and a squint in his eye. Put it simply, there were samurai movies before Mifune, and Samurai movies after Mifune. Mifune had a long and storied career, with a wide variety of roles. He is most famous for his collaborations with Akira Kurosawa, often considered the greatest director of all time. They collaborated on multiple samurai films, including Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, but also crime dramas like The High and Low. Toshiro Mifune was always the leading man. Yojimbo, perhaps his most famous role, saw him playing the samurai Sanjuro. This movie was illegally remade into ‘A Fistful of Dollars’ with Clint Eastwood playing the archetypical man with no name. Even across genre, Mifune’s presence is felt, as the movie attempts to keep the essence of his performance as Sanjuro, with Eastwood channelling the same coarse, rough energy that made his samurai movies a success. Mifune was not only game changer for the depiction of the samurai, but became a huge defining influence on the Western genre, which began to move away from John Wayne style adventures, and started borrowing heavily from Kurosawa and Mifune’s collaborations. What was so impressive about Mifune from an acting standpoint, was that he was adept at two very different types of acting. He could be quiet and methodical, with a grounded realistic performance that you would expect to see from Stanislavskian actors like Marlon Brando, yet was comfortable with large, grandiose performances more akin to Shakespeare. This certainly helped him in Animas Trujano, a now strange seeming Mexican drama, in which Mifune played a Mexican man, was dubbed over and the creative team hoped nobody would notice. Toshiro Mifune, much like Tony Leung, had great control over his eyes in a performance. Many actors will try their hardest to express their emotions in a dynamic, eye-catching way, to prove they are a great actor. They will have twitchy or otherwise generically ‘crazy’ performances. Mifune on the other hand, just had that look in his eye. He would never stare blankly, there was always something behind the eyes. Perhaps part of what made him so good, was that he was just gifted with a rugged, eye-catching face. He had a piercing stare, handsome features, and an intimidating air about him. The truth is that with any performance in a movie or play, the experience of the audience comes down largely to their interpretation. Great actors will use internal monologues, and while I can’t say for sure if Mifune used this method, a standard practise is for actors to constantly be thinking in character, always being in a scene, aware of what your character wants, and what your character feels. An actor on screen may just be looking at someone, but in their mind they are thinking ‘how dare you’ or ‘I love you’ and the hope is that internal monologue finds life beyond the eyes of the actor. Yet the audience will never be able to hear the actors’ internal monologue and can only ever guess as to what the character is thinking and feeling. There is a relationship between the actor and the viewer, and Mifune knew this. He wouldn’t blindly shout, he would just behave in character and trust the audience to find the point he was trying to make. Nowhere is this more evident than his performance in Rashomon. A movie where the whole point, is that there are multiple interpretations of one event. In Rashomon, Toshiro Mifune plays a bandit, this bandit could be a rapist and murderer, he could be innocent of wrongdoing, and it all depends on which characters interpretation of the films events you believe. There is no answer, and Mifune gives you no true answer with his performance. In each character’s version of events, he plays the character as a real man, he portrays the character ‘truthfully’ as many acting teachers will say. There is no clear indicator that he is lying, nor that he is telling the truth. He is just a man. That will forever be Mifune’s greatest skill as an actor. He took Samurais, corrupt businessmen, doctors and many more archetypes and made them squarely, solidly, human.

In Part 1 of Self Defense , I shared that when I was 16, taking 30 pills/day and in the hospital every three months, my doctor told me I'd be dead in five years due the incurable fatal disease cystic fibrosis (CF), a deadly illness that robbed me of my breath and ability to digest food. I noted that today’s ultimate self-defense classes try to improve one’s odds of surviving lethal street attacks. In 1973, my self-defense aim was to increase my odds of surviving the continued life-threatening attacks of CF on my fragile health by embracing a martial arts lifestyle and seeking to learn the best self-defense skill martial artists don’t know; how to breathe. My only chance of survival was to learn the auld Chinese breathing art of Chi Gong to empower my chi . Moving to Taiwan in 1979, after a rigorous test, a chi gong teacher accepted me as his first, last and only student. Five months later, all CF symptoms were gone, and I was off all medication. Many folks ask me, what was it like for me living with CF? Imagine having Covid-19 with wicked diarrhea, 24/7, 365/Days of the year. Enough said. In Chinese, Chi Gong (translation: working of air) can be one or a series of standing, sitting or lying down breathing skills, which can be used to transform a body's chi ( ki ). The intention and way a person practices chi gong dictates if the physical practice can transform the chi into something constructive, in my case, improve my health. I’ll address these things another time. Literally translated as air , on a superfluous level, folks familiar with chi describe it as one’s life force, internal energy, or vital energy. One of the world’s top Chi Healers, the Chi Whisperer, has a fresh and uniquely poignant perspective, “Chi is the quantum of the existence of the universe,” she explained. “Before one can appreciate this definition, one needs to understand that quantum is the smallest distinctive unit of a phenomenon. Thus, chi is the smallest unit of our existence. It’s the foundation of the universe. “The existence of chi is the existence of our universe. Chi is everywhere, in everything, and it doesn’t matter if we can feel it, know it, or believe in it or not; it’s just there. Chi isn’t a religion or a philosophy; chi is . “Why should anyone care about chi? I care about chi because I care about my existence and our existence. When we care about something, we can make a choice if we want to do something about it. One can focus on climate change, earning money, human rights, voting rights, abortion or life rights, self-growth, growth with God, etc.” The last thing my chi gong mentor told me when I left Taiwan in the winter of 1981 was, “Don’t try to save the world with chi gong, because no one will listen.” After five years of chi gong and still off medication, though I understood my mentor’s message, I wanted to at least try save a wee bit of the world with chi gong. To create attention, I decided to do something insanely tough that no one else on the planet in their right mind would attempt. I chose to place my Ph.D. research on hold and put my life on the line by challenging myself to a crucial test that would be a major triumph or a bitter defeat; speed walk 3000 miles across America. My goals were to give hopes of survival to kids and teens with CF, hope for their parents and to show the importance of chi gong, exercise (walking and martial arts) and accentuate the power of a positive mental attitude when it came to combating terminal disease. Personally, I needed to know if my sustained chi gong enhanced body self-defense skills against CF’s mortality onslaughts under extreme unceasing physical, mental and emotional stress were effective, and further prove that chi gong is a potent therapy against CF beyond just feeling good. When word got out, Dr. Warren Warrick, head of the University of Minnesota's renowned CF Center, claimed I was a fake and wanted to prove I didn't have CF. He quickly confirmed my CF diagnosis and showed that 30% of both of my lungs were completely deteriorated because of CF. He tested me then told the Chicago Tribune that chi gong was a useful therapy for CFers and possibly for those afflicted with other lung diseases. He approved the walk. May 18, 1986, weighing 175 pounds and with my wife driving an 8-passenger van (the CF Mobile) filled with medical equipment, a positive attitude, camping gear, food, water and oxygen tanks, I began my epic journey from Cornell University, NY. After doing a marathon/day for 115 days at 4.3 mph and weighing 140 pounds, I ended my 3000.2 mile walk in Seattle, WA, so I could also pay respects to Bruce Lee's grave, the man who influenced me to learn martial arts. Each day was filled with physical, mental, and emotional struggles. Memories of danger, happiness and tears still abound. Throughout the saga, terminally ill children of other diseases promised me that if I completed my walk alive, they'd fight harder. In Pennsylvania, a distraught mum slapped my face, screaming why didn't I walk last year when her daughter with CF was alive and needed inspiration? She cried in my arms and begged me not to fail. In Ohio, a CF kid into baseball couldn't understand what I was doing until his dad said imagine running around the bases a million times. He asked me to score a million homeruns. On Labor Day, near Bismarck, North Dakota (ND), a family whose wheelchair-bound son had muscular dystrophy (MD) and CF heard that I was walking through ND, drove 60+ miles up the interstate looking for me to show their son that I was for real. When the kid struggled to reach out and shake my mind, and made the connection, the mother cried, and the father stifled his tears. Then something happened I was not prepared for. The sobbing mum asked me, “Can you help our son now?” When I gazed into her eyes then saw the son excitingly rock in his chair, as if applauding his mum for saying something he was unable to. I assuredly grinned and gently answered, “I can.” Five minutes later, I had taught him the first chi gong skill I learned six years prior. Due to his lack of muscular coordination, I made quick adjustment to accommodate the chi movement. I urged him to practice as often as he can. With eyes full of hope, he bravely promised he’d do it every day. The family gave me a Kit Kat bar and a need cold cola; I continued walking. Just as they drove by me and the son was struggling to successively wave, I realized the walk wasn’t about me proving my health to others, yet for me to help improve the health of others. Whether being attacked by millions of vicious black flies and mosquitoes, avoiding cars accidentally or purposefully trying to hit me, dog attacks, removing rocks from my face and legs left by speeding-by 18-wheelers, and walking downwind up steep mountain highways for 10 miles toward vile fecal stenches emanating from animal farms, I kept pushing forward. Through heat stroke, sun poisoning, serious muscle injuries, heavy winds, pounding rain, golf ball-sized hail, freezing temps, heat exhaustion and foot blisters having blisters, I refused to walk attached to an oxygen tank, even on-camera, like the supportive TV/press suggested I do for dramatic effect. I'd never cheat myself or the hundreds of thousands cheering me on. When the Minnesota Twins asked me to throw out the first baseball, a 75-mph fast ball down the middle and the team manager excitedly asked how I could do that, I said, “I’m a martial artist.” Folks opened their hearts and homes, giving us a place to sleep, a home-cooked meal, and arranging public appearances for me. In Illinois, a United Nations lawyer had me address a crowd of 3000+ at an outdoor Christian musical fest. Their love was powerful. Though the achievement garnered nationwide and global attention, as I received a M.A.D.D. Humanitarian of the Year Award, addressed Senators and Congressman at the prestigious Washington Press Club, received a letter of bravery from President Ronald Reagan and prior to the walk, a letter of moral support from the Queen of England, the greatest achievement happened a month after the walk. When my wife and I were invited to fly out to Bismarck, North Dakota to mark November 17, 1986, as Craig Reid Day in Bismarck, the respiratory therapist at the hospital stormed into the ceremony and asked, “What did you do the kid?” After I asked, “What kid?”, he teared up and said that the child with CF/MD that I taught chi gong to two months, just had his best pulmonary (lung) function tests of his life. Part 3 of this Self Defense trilogy is more insane than Parts 1 and 2, in a positive way of course.

Mikey Musumeci is a shooting star in the world of martial arts. The talented athlete has captured the imaginations of the grappling world with his ability to innovate new techniques and change the game in the process. It is an ability that has led him to ONE Championship and elevated the entire sport with a new global platform. "Darth Rigatoni" will compete for the inaugural ONE Flyweight Submission Grappling World Championship against a familiar foe on Friday, September 30. Musumeci will meet Cleber Sousa in a trilogy bout at ONE on Prime Video 2: Xiong vs. Lee III to settle their series and establish the first-ever king of the flyweight division in ONE. As part of his training, Musumeci likes to continually push himself to find solutions to problems. It has allowed him to develop creative solutions and new submission techniques. And the 26-year-old is not shy about explaining how he stays on the cutting edge of the sport. "Okay, so basically how I just innovate and discover positions, I like training with very few people. I'll train with like five or six controlled people. Like, I consider it a lab experiment almost. I'll be doing a move, and then I'll slowly keep changing my partner's reaction, like, oh, instead of doing this, do this, this stops what I'm doing. Then I'll have to adjust what I'm doing," explained Musumeci. "I'm constantly changing my partner's reactions and making them able to stop the moves I'm doing, so then I can't just keep doing the same move. And that keeps making me have to improve. And that's how I basically train, I will be doing a position over and over, and then I'll tell my partner, this is how you stop it. And then they'll stop it. And then I have to do another thing. And then I'll tell them, this is how you stop that, then I can do another thing, right?" As Musumeci and his training partners drill these new techniques, Musumeci is acquiring knowledge on how to succeed in any position. He improves his instinctual responses and can anticipate his opponent's reactions. And that is why he has fallen in love with the sport of submission grappling. "Eventually, it gets to a point where one of the reactions really starts messing up what I'm doing, and I have to keep brainstorming how do I do this? How do I do this? So I get into this problem-solving state. Usually, it happens first subconsciously. My body will just instinctively do an answer to a position. And I'm like, what just happened? How did I do that? And then that's where the creativity just happens, you know," said Musumeci. "And that's why Jiu-Jitsu is an art. Because there's so much creativity in problem-solving, in figuring out moves, it's a feeling if that makes sense. And when you have that creative, artistic way, you're able to discover new things. And many positions I made and developed have been in that state of discovery." Musumeci will hope to display his next round of innovations at ONE on Prime Video 2 and electrify the world with another standout performance. Musumeci returns to the ONE Circle at ONE on Prime Video 2 on Friday, September 30. The event airs live at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT. Mikey Musumeci Breaks Down His INSANE Debut | ONE Playback BJJ phenom Mikey Musumeci breaks down his incredible ONE submission grappling debut against Japanese legend Masakazu Imanari at ONE 156 on 22 April 2022! Fol...

This is the fourth article of a five-part series in which I will be sharing my opinion on the five most important steps one must take on their journey to become a successful sport karate competitor. If you haven’t read part three about the importance of leadership, you can find it here. Humility is a tenet of martial arts training across the spectrum of styles, to the extent that most martial arts studios have a poster about humility somewhere along their walls. Not only is it integral to your journey as a martial artist, it is essential for a successful career in sport karate. Although this idea feels as if it doesn’t need to be stated, I selected it as one of the topics of discussion in this article series because a lack of humility will end a sport karate career very quickly. The most common method by which I see this happen is a sense of entitlement. There is an old saying among veterans of this sport: “sometimes you will lose when you should have won, and sometimes you will win when you should have lost”. The first part of this quote is expected, everyone who has ever competed in sport karate knows that you will get “robbed” sometimes. That is the nature of a subjective sport, sometimes the judges will simply get it wrong. However, competitors commonly forget the second half of this quote. If there are times that you lose when you shouldn’t, then the inverse must be true as well. There will be times that you are not the best, and you still win. This very fact is what sometimes causes a sense of entitlement among athletes. I feel this is best explained with an anecdote. A competitor, we will call him “Johnny”, has been traveling the circuit for a couple of years and has progressed to the point that he is winning his division consistently. However, in the runoffs (second round of competition to qualify for the finals), he has never gotten better than 9.97 across the board. There are two competitors in the age group above him that are more experienced, consistently outperform Johnny, and they always split the 9.98’s and 9.99’s. At this tournament though, one of those competitors drops their weapon and the other has a significant stumble coming out of a tricking pass. Johnny takes the win and advances to the night show for the first time in his career. I will interrupt this story here to clarify that this is still a big deal. It is NOT a bad thing to advance to stage for the first time because other competitors made mistakes. Their performance is out of your control and if you still do what is necessary to win, you absolutely deserve to be on stage. Where this story is significant with regard to the humility discussion is what happens next. I have seen various competitors in similar situations handle this in two different ways. They are as follows: The Wrong Way: Johnny leaves this tournament believing that this win means that he is now just as good as the competitors who normally defeat him. He thinks to himself, “Finally! It’s about time the judges recognize how good I am and start giving me the win! I should have been beating those other guys way before now…” Fast forward to the next two tournaments, when Johnny’s competitors each hit their forms and Johnny loses both grand championships. Johnny gets visibly frustrated as the judges show their scores, and he briskly walks out of the ring without acknowledging his competitors. The Right Way: Johnny is grateful for the opportunity to compete on stage, but he is honest with himself when he assesses the skillset of his competitors. He thinks to himself, “Man, that sure was cool getting to be on stage. I know that I got a little lucky with those stumbles by my competitors, but now that I’ve made it to the finals I need to train even harder to make sure I can make it there again!” Fast forward to the next two tournaments, when Johnny’s competitors each hit their forms and Johnny loses both grand championships, except this time Johnny is able to steal a 9.99 from one judge. Johnny shakes the hands of his opponents, then tells his dad at ringside, “That judge gave me a 9.99! He thought I should have won! This means we are doing something right, I can’t wait to get home and train some more.” Yes, these examples are a bit hyperbolic. The main takeaway that I want young competitors to get from this message is how humility set up Johnny for future success. When Johnny was NOT humble and felt that he was entitled to win and make it on stage after getting there one time, he quickly got frustrated by losses. This frustration leads to burnout very quickly, making athletes dissatisfied with their results whether the result was warranted or not. On the other hand, when Johnny was graceful in victory and humble in defeat, the losses he experienced only motivated him further. His mindset following the opportunity to compete in the finals pushed him to work harder, helping him steal a 9.99 in the runoffs at one of the following tournaments. His outlook on his career is more positive overall and this will equip him for longer, more sustainable success. I’ll conclude this discussion of humility by tying this theme back to the previous article, about leadership. Notice that in the version of the story in which Johnny lacked humility, it led to some negative public displays of him storming out of the ring following a loss. As you can imagine, this is going to leave a very poor impression to everyone watching and is unbecoming of a leader in the sport. As someone who is good enough to win a division on the NASKA world tour, you have a responsibility to carry yourself as a professional. Always stay humble, and it will positively impact your career in innumerable ways.

Abraham Lincoln is widely held to be one of the greatest American presidents ever elected. With no short supply of achievements and stories associated with him, one that often goes unknown is his love for wrestling – Lincoln was, in fact, a fierce (nearly undefeated) wrestler in his time. Lincoln was so good at wrestling that he was eventually inducted into the Wrestling Hall of Fame. Despite our 16th president of the United States being thin and lanky and weighing only 180lbs for his towering six-foot-four frame, his manual labor as both a farmer in the backwoods of Kentucky as well as a rail splitter for years helped forge a naturally strong specimen of a man who stood head and shoulders over anyone who dared to challenge him in the sport. Before his shocking and untimely assassination at the age of 56 and before his law career, president Lincoln excelled at his chosen sport, wrestling…. Not only did honest Abe win the American Civil War, but according to several historians, he also won 299 out of 300 wrestling matches in 12 years[1]. This man did not do things halfway and looks more and more like his illustration in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Abraham Lincoln Standing up against a local gang As a 21-year-old, Abraham Lincoln, in 1830, was the wrestling champion of his county in Illinois. And during this time, he ended up facing off against a man named Jack Armstrong… little did Honest Abe know that this confrontation would land him hometown hero status. The president-to-be was working as a clerk at a store in New Salem when the town’s gang, known as the Clary’s Grove Boys, dropped by. The group was openly bragging about how no one, not even Lincoln, could beat their champion wrestler, Jack Armstrong. Their motives were clear, and they were desperately eager to get Lincoln to agree to a match due to his impressive reputation[1]. Lincoln agreed to the spurred-on fight, and the entire town watched the battle unfold. These townsfolk had a clear favorite with Lincoln as they had grown tired of Jack Armstrong, who was also the leader of New Salem’s impish Clary’s Grove Boys. The gang was not exactly quaker, to say the least, and were known for their disruptive and hateful pranks, especially to newcomers. They would often force any newcomer into a wooden barrel, nail it shut, and roll it down a hill[1]. They were bullies, to say the least. Lincoln won the fight decisively after losing his temper due to Armstrong repeatedly fouling him…. he slammed Armstrong to the ground and knocked him out cold. Ironically, the two wrestlers became good friends afterward to the point where Lincoln defended Armstrong in a court case a few years later. Funny how things work out… bitter enemies can become friends as close as brothers, and friends can turn out to be silent enemies. Abraham Lincoln enemies. The Nearly undefeated wrestler “We can only find one recorded defeat of Lincoln in 12 years,” stated Bob Dellinger, director emeritus of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in Stillwater, Oklahoma. “He was undoubtedly the roughest and toughest of all the wrestling presidents[1].” Lincoln was nearly impossible to beat in his time. According to historians, Lincoln has only one confirmed loss in allegedly more than 300 fights throughout an incredible 12-year span. That only blemish came at the hands of Pvt. Lorenzo Dow Thompson, the St. Clair wrestling champion with whom Lincoln first crossed paths when he was a Captain during the Black Hawk War. Upon hearing of Thompson’s wrestling skills and record, he wanted to test his metal against the St. Clair wrestling champion. Lincoln was sure in his wrestling capabilities, and being as confident as ever, he set up a match between himself and the private when both of their regiments had some down time from fighting…. A super fight in the middle of a war. Unfortunately for Honest Abe, much like how Armstrong underestimated Lincoln, Lincoln truly underestimated Thompson. Lincoln was thrown out of the ring for the first time in his career and decisively lost the match. Of course, wrestling exploits back in the 1800s were not anything like the out-of-this-world professional wrestling we think of today, or even for that matter, the organized athletics of high school or college wrestling. Regardless of that, he was a man to be feared back in his day, and if he had the modern training of today would probability hold his own again anyone. Despite this one blemish, his wrestling accomplishments are incredible, to say the least. And to the degree where his abilities were formally recognized by the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, which in 1992 inducted the president as an “Outstanding American” in the sport. A mural of Lincoln engaged in a wrestling match adorns the wall just inside the Hall of Fame Museum’s front doors in Stillwater, Oklahoma[1]. More Wrestling Presidents Abraham Lincoln, as it seems, wasn’t the only president with a respectable wrestling past. He joined the ranks of former American presidents such as George Washington, a master at the British collar and elbow style wrestling, and William Taft – a two-time undergraduate champ at Yale[1]. In fact, Lincoln was neither the first nor last president to taste success in the wrestling arena. Other presidents that chose to pursue wrestling were Andrew Jackson, Chester A. Arthur, Ulysses S. Grant, Zachary Taylor, and Theodore Roosevelt.

It has finally arrived. Netflix recently dropped all 10 episodes of the fifth season of the hit show Cobra Kai . Like many fans of the show, I binged them all over a couple of days. The newest adventures of Daniel LaRusso (Ralph Macchio) and the rest of TheKarate Kid universe definitely did not disappoint. There was plenty of action, comedy, and some interesting and entertaining surprises that have come to be expected from the virtuoso writers and producers of the Netflix juggernaut. One thing stood out though, I couldn't help but notice that the roster of villains has grown sharply with each season. While initially, Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) was the foil for Daniel in the first season, soon after, the perennial Cobra Kai nemesis John Kreese (Martin Kove) was added. In season three, Chozen Toguchi (Yuji Okumoto), the deadly opponent from Karate Kid II (1986), came back, and in the fourth season, Karate Kid III’s (1989) villain Terry Silver (Thomas Ian Griffith) returned. Now in season five, Mike Barnes (Sean Kanan) also from Karate Kid III, has made an appearance, as well as the addition of the first female sensei into the Cobra’s dojo, Kim Da-Eun (Alicia Hannah-Kim). With the addition and anticipation of each new villain to the show, it made me wonder: are we more interested in the villains than the heroes? Do We Love Villains? In the summer of 1977, while I stood in the blazing sun amongst an endless throng of moviegoers waiting to get into the cool theater to see Star Wars , yet again, people in line talked more about Darth Vader than Luke Skywalker. There was a curiosity about the enigmatic Dark Lord of the Sith. I, for one, was definitely more interested in finding out what made Vader tick. When it comes to our favorite martial arts universe, I don’t think it is any different: villains are fascinating. The Cobra’s Rogues’ Gallery From the decade that brought us “New Coke,” and parachute pants, also came a slew of Karate Kid adversaries, all of them destined to find defeat in the calm wisdom of Mr. Miyagi and a possibly illegal technique from Daniel LaRusso. (Hmm, I guess it depends on who you ask. Right, Johnny?) Through Cobra Kai , we have revisited the brutal challengers to the All-Valley Champion and have been intrigued to see where they are now. Johnny Lawrence, though the original nemesis, is now an earnest adult, being dragged forcefully into the 21st century. After a shakey alliance at first, Johnny has become one of Daniel’s most unlikely allies. Chozen Toguchi, from Karate Kid II (1986) has gone from being a deadly opponent to being among Daniel’s inner circle of trusted friends. His ability to dish out a beating is still firmly established in the many brilliantly choreographed fights in season five. The return of Terry Silver’s protégé from Karate Kid III (1989) , Mike Barnes, was a great surprise in the fifth outing. Viewers learned that Barnes had moved on from being “Karate’s Bad Boy” to an all-around nice guy, but is still willing and able to use his fists when necessary. The entertaining and dynamic bare-knuckle bromance that develops between the trio of former Daniel LaRusso antagonists in season five was enough to make me wonder: can there be a show just for them? In a refreshing change, season five has finally brought a female sensei into the dojo in the form of Kim Da-Eun, played with aplomb by Alicia Hannah-Kim. Kim is brought in by Silver to train up the most promising Cobra Kai students. As the granddaughter of the creator of “the way of the fist,” she is the perfect one to teach the philosophy of no mercy. Sensei Kim is an unforgiving taskmaster that uses machiavellian tactics to exact what she wants from her students. I, for one, am looking forward to seeing more of the brutal dimension she brings to Cobra Kai in season six. (Assuming and hoping that there is a season six) The Desolate Ones Not all Cobra Kai villains are “former” though. With the fully-fleshed out backstory of John Kreese in season three, we understand him better, but he continues to make choices that are not in keeping with a positive martial arts philosophy. Kreese’s alignment with the tycoon/quasi-Bond-villain Terry Silver (Brilliantly portrayed by Thomas Ian Griffith) eventually brought more woe to himself, as well as poisoning the well of Cobra Kai . The storylines of Silver and Kreese are revolving doors of misery to themselves and others, but that is why we love to hate them, right? They operate on a plain devoid of any true self-reflection and are caught in a cycle of venom-soaked retribution, that despite their best efforts, brings harm not just to others, but to themselves. I love a good redemption story as much as I love a good revenge story and the latest season of Cobra Kai seems to have it all. I don’t know what will come next, but I think it is a fair bet that there will continue to be villains, both new and old, attempting to do their worst to our favorite Southern California martial arts community. And we will continue to love them for it.

This is the third article of a five-part series in which I will be sharing my opinion on the five most important steps one must take on their journey to become a successful sport karate competitor. If you haven’t read part two about seeking mentorship, you can find it here. Towards the end of that last article, I wrote about the importance of seeking mentorship from your fellow competitors, especially those who have more experience than you. The topic at hand in this piece, being a leader, reveals the other side of that relationship. The first two steps we have discussed, showing up consistently and seeking mentorship, are really the only tools you need to understand what is going on at a tournament and start climbing the ranks as your skills improve. This third step about leadership assumes that you have been participating and learning for several months to a year, and you are now ready to start assuming responsibility within your career. This begins with something as simple as helping a new competitor understand the rules of a division or the proper way to bow into the ring, such that you can now be the mentor much like your fellow competitors were for you when you first started competing. The most important concept to understand right away is that you do not have to be one of the best competitors in the division to be a leader. Supporting your fellow competitors by giving advice to those less experienced than you or giving handshakes and fist bumps to the competitors who are ahead of you is essential to fostering a positive competitive environment. Leading by example this way will help you gain the trust of your competitors, which will allow you to learn more from them and in general have a more enjoyable experience sharing the ring with them. Nobody likes the guy that is secluded from the rest of the competitors in the ring, who never shows support for other competitors and is always complaining about scoring or the efficiency of an event. I guess the easiest way to describe this first aspect of leadership is to just be a good person. As you might expect, the leadership necessary to become a successful sport karate competitor extends beyond the basic sportsmanship described above. Another important feature of leadership in sport karate, or any competitive field, is the way you carry yourself given the outcome of a division. Not only does this play into this discussion of sportsmanship, but competitors who do not handle wins and losses appropriately often develop a poor reputation. The right way to handle wins and losses is pretty straight forward. If you lose, shake the hands of the judges and your competitors, congratulate the winner, and (if you so choose) respectfully ask the judges how you can improve. If you win, still shake the hands of your judges and competitors and continue to congratulate your opponents on their solid performances. This seems elementary, but there are too many instances of competitors storming out of the ring when they lose a division or a point fighting match, as well as occasionally competitors not winning with the grace of a true champion. The goal is to develop this sport to become a legitimate professional activity, so it is important that our champions act like professionals. There is one more place where competitors can demonstrate leadership that is often forgotten… social media. Especially as social media becomes increasingly important for employment opportunities and college acceptance, every competitor should be cognizant of what they are posting on social media. Leaders do not post inappropriate content, get involved in petty debates with critics, publicly provide harsh criticism of others, or post anything that is unbecoming of someone who has been bestowed a black belt. No matter what style you come from, there is a code of honor that every martial artist should follow and that should not be forgotten on the internet. Instead, leaders in the sport karate community use their social media platforms to inspire young athletes and sometimes even share competition tips or tutorials. Using social media to bolster positive conversation about the sport is an excellent way to be a leader. After this diatribe it should be apparent that I feel leadership is important, but why is it so important through the lens of sport karate? This sport is dependent upon what I’ll call “trickle-down inspiration”. A kid goes to a tournament, attends the night show, and they see the performance on stage that makes them decide they want to be a world champion someday. That same kid trains hard to achieve that goal and sure enough competes on stage one day themselves. When that kid is on stage, there is another kid watching and being inspired to do the same thing on their journey. Being a leader and inspiring others isn’t just good for an individual’s sport karate career, it is essential for the prolonged survival of the sport.

Around the world, martial artists find themselves studying one art or another for a multitude of reasons. Today, we are talking with American Kenpo Master Bryan Hawkins . He is the head instructor and owner of what was one of Grandmaster Ed Parker’s most well-known American Kenpo locations, the West LA school. IL Thanks for joining us. Can you tell us a little about yourself? BH Well, I’ve been training in the martial arts for nearly 50 years, own three karate schools here in the Los Angeles area, and have affiliates across the country and abroad. I began my Kenpo training in LA in 1980 at the Ed Parker karate school. In 1987, Mr. Parker himself asked if I would take over the operations of the West Los Angeles school and become the chief instructor. IL How did your martial arts journey begin? BH I started martial arts in the mid-70’s in Modesto CA. I had been doing a lot of wresting and dabbled in boxing. So, when I was 14 riding my bike to boxing class, I would always pass a Shotokan karate school. And one day, instead of continuing to boxing, I went into the karate school to check it out. I never looked back. After training in Shotokan for a couple of years, that particular dojo closed, so I started training in a dojo across town. It was a blend of Kung Fu and Kenpo, but it was really heavier on the Kung Fu aspect. After a while, when I was 19, I decided to move to Los Angeles, and my instructor at my school highly recommended that when I get to LA that I find an Ed Parker American Kenpo school because that was the best martial arts school around. IL So, how did you find your first American Kenpo school and was it what you expected when you saw it in person? BH After being in LA for a bit and securing a job and place to live I happened to drive by the Ed Parker West LA Karate school and walked in. When I first walked in the door, I immediately noticed they were doing something very different. Something I needed to learn. I saw two guys sparring, guys fighting with weapons, guys working on forms even a couple of guys doing a little grappling both stand-up manipulations and on-the-ground wrestling/grappling. Something more was happening here than in any school I was in before. What I immediately realized was that Kenpo appeared to be much more comprehensive in its approach to self-defense than my previous arts. One thing that really stood out was that they were practicing against more than one attacker. And not only that, but they were perfecting techniques against attackers with various weapons like guns, knives, and clubs. They were even doing spontaneous attack drills. I decided to enroll on the spot, but what kept being reinforced was the uniqueness. When guys would come from all sorts of other disciplines, they also noted the differences in training techniques, tools, and philosophy. It wasn’t just the physical training that was different, though more hands-on or physical than other schools, it was the attention to the mental aspects of the art that set it apart. There was a great deal of emphasis placed on preparing mentally for possible altercations. The dojo didn’t emphasize sport karate because Ed Parker felt that created the wrong mindset for street self-defense. The training mindset was always to prepare for the worst, i.e., a surprise attack by multiple armed attackers or assailants. IL You’ve mentioned Kenpo being unique a couple times. Can you expand upon that? BH Most systems in Martial Arts deal with only certain stages of range, certain weapons, and often only certain targets. So therefore, they are not comprehensive by definition. Ed Parker saw that deficiency and created a system that dealt with all the possible weapons we can form with our body attacking all possible targets on an assailant’s body through a method of efficient and effective delivery. By that, I mean to say, if the attacker is slightly out of range, we are taught to use man made weapons to reach them, i.e., a club, nunchaku, etc. If they are within range, then we use our natural weapons such as the fists, knees, elbows. If we get close enough to where our opponent is grabbing onto us, we need to know how to throw and trip our assailant to the ground. Once on the ground, we need to have the skills to kill or submit the attacker at that stage as well. And we need to be able to do all these things while being aware of our environment, which is the number one rule in American Kenpo, Environmental Awareness. IL Can you elaborate on the concept of Environmental Awareness? BH Sure. The military uses a concept of Situational Awareness, which basically is being acutely aware of everything going on around you. Ed Parker’s definition of environment is everything that is in you, on you and around you. For example, if you’re ill or injured you know you can’t defend yourself to the same degree as if you are healthy. That’s what’s in you. You have to know that. For things that are on you, sports equipment, clothing items, are your clothes restrictive or can they be used as a weapon? For around you, its other people, the flooring, furniture etc. Ed Parker would frequently use a belt or tie as an example. They can be an advantage when used against an assailant, or they could be your downfall. Keep in mind that these items may be on you or someone else. You must be aware. IL That’s some great insight. We must go for now but thank you for your time. BH Thanks for having me I look forward to continuing our discussion. Be sure to check back as we talk with Master Hawkins more about his journey and history with the West Los Angeles Kenpo Karate school. Salute, Ian Lauer 2nd Degree Black Belt American Kenpo 1st Degree Black Belt Tae Kwon Do 1st Degree Black Belt Hapkido 1st Degree Black Belt Coszacks Karate

This five-part article series will be released on five consecutive days, as I share what I feel the five most important steps are to have a successful competitive career in sport karate. I am not merely using a cliché when I tell you that sport karate changed my life. I am absolutely certain that I would not be the man I am today without this activity. Martial arts training gave me values that I carry with me to this day, then sport karate on top of that traditional training taught me so many life skills and presented a variety of opportunities. I learned goal-setting, how to lead by example, confidence, calmness in the face of adversity, and much more. These lessons and the exposure that I received from being a successful competitor resulted in opportunities like being featured on television, mentoring students around the world, traveling broadly to teach seminars, and even getting accepted at Stanford for undergrad and now going to medical school. The purpose of this article series is to share some of the things I have learned that helped me along the way, which I hope will empower the competitors of today to learn such valuable lessons and earn such life-changing opportunities. So, what is this first article all about? What do I mean when I say, “show up”? I really mean it quite simply. The first step to kickstarting your sport karate career is to show up to events and be actively involved. This seems obvious at first glance, but there are a lot of mistakes that I feel families make when they first dive into the sport karate world. Take note of the fact that I said families, not individuals. Traveling to sport karate tournaments at a high level is time consuming and expensive, no one can do it alone. Regarding the mistakes that I mentioned, I feel one of the most common errors that new competitors make is not competing in the NASKA “AA” divisions. I’ll take this opportunity to disclose that these articles are going to focus on the NASKA world tour, as that is where the highest level of competition can be found in North America. North American WAKO events are fantastic, PRO-MAC is an incredible league, and there are dozens of regional and national leagues that will be part of this discussion. Keeping in mind that we are focusing on NASKA, the “AA” divisions are the events in which competitors are eligible for NASKA points and winning these divisions will move you on to the grand championship rounds of competition. This is the division where all of the most talented competitors test their skills. My opinion is that it is NEVER too early to enter this division. Many new competitors start their careers in the “A” divisions that typically only have one or two local athletes who essentially just get to receive a trophy and go home. I do feel there is a place for a first-timer’s division in which young competitors can enjoy a low-stress division to learn the ropes of competition, and I applaud tournaments who specifically label that division. However, if you intend to travel the circuit and one day be one of the best, the sooner that you surround yourself with great competitors, the faster you will become one of the them. Give this analogy some thought. If there was an open registration 1v1 basketball tournament and LeBron James was going to be competing. Would you rather enter an “amateur” division that you have a better chance of winning, or take advantage of the opportunity to play basketball with LeBron James? I think most people would agree that you should go play against LeBron, it isn’t all about getting a win and going home. Earlier, I mentioned the wide variety of regional and national leagues that are available right now. Although much of this discussion is focused on the goal of becoming successful on the NASKA circuit, every new competitor should start by traveling a regional or national circuit. This is a great way to get experience without the extreme expenses of flying all over the country to get to the NASKA world tour events. At some of the national events like those that PRO-MAC or WAKO USA promote, there is often a decent pool of NASKA world champion-caliber talent to test your skills against. There is also typically some overlap with NASKA judges, which presents a good opportunity to show the judges who you are in hopes that they recognize your talents sooner and start rewarding your improvement over time on their score cards. There are also a bunch of high-quality regional leagues that provide exposure to top talent as well as judge overlap, including but not limited to USA Sport Karate (Florida), KRANE (New England), RSKC (southeast), The League (west), WSKL (Wisconsin), and TKO (Texas). If you happen to be part of an organization that has private tournaments like ATA or UFAF, those are a great place to kickstart your competitive career before making the jump to large NASKA events. Once you are consistently winning first place, and certainly if you are winning grand championships, that is a good barometer to know when it is time to start shifting your focus more towards larger events as opposed to regional or national tournaments. Once you are fully invested in traveling the NASKA tour, that is arguably where “just showing up” is most important. It takes some competitors several years to get their first win on the circuit, and typically several more years to win their first grand championship and earn the opportunity to compete on stage. When you begin this journey, be prepared to be patient. You never know when your breakout tournament is going to happen, and showing up to the big events consistently increases your likelihood of having that big break sooner than later. Another big step along this journey is being offered a spot on a team. The only way the coaches of those teams are going to identify your talent is if you are putting those talents on display at the big tournaments. Teams might notice you when a coach attends a regional event, but many coaches are going to want to see how you perform against world-class competition before giving you a shot. If your family has the availability and financial stability to start traveling to tournaments, do it. Start with the regional events and learn how to compete in the first place, then gradually make your transition to the national and world-level events. When it is time to go to those large tournaments, don’t be shy about entering the professional divisions with the best athletes. If you want to be a successful sport karate competitor, the first step is putting yourself out there.

This is the second article of a five-part series in which I will be sharing my opinion on the five most important steps one must take on their journey to become a successful sport karate competitor. If you haven’t read part one about showing up to events consistently and welcoming the challenge of competing against top talent, you can find it here. Mentorship is a crucial part of one’s journey in sport karate. The most apparent manifestation of this is coaching, so I will begin there. There are two different approaches that families typically choose when it comes to coaching, I’ll refer to them as the “head coach method” and the “coach by committee method". The head coach method is when a family selects one private coach that the competitor will train with. Timelines for this training varies based on the selected coach’s availability and the family’s financial situation, but there are a lot of different training schedules that are effective. This single coach is responsible for helping the competitor choreograph forms, clean up basics, upgrade tricks, game-plan for fights, and so on. The main benefit of this method from a forms and weapons standpoint is that the competitor will never have conflicting ideas to manage. Sometimes when a competitor has multiple coaches, the various coaches may all have the competitor’s best interest in mind but have a different strategic approach that leaves the student confused, not knowing who to listen to. The risk of cross-coach confusion can be mitigated in the “coach by committee” method, however. My recommendation to decrease risk of this complication if you want to have multiple coaches would be to ensure that the coaches are division-specific. Coach A only focuses on the competitor’s weapons forms, Coach B is a traditional forms specialist, Coach C is the only one who gives point fighting advice, etc. This method is likely to be much more expensive, but there is clear benefit in getting division-specific training from a subject matter expert for all of your divisions. I have personally coached students who use me as their one “head coach”, and I have been part of “coaching committees”, and I know that both methods can be effective when done properly. It is also important to note that this private coaching is INDEPENDENT of being on a team. You can reach out to any competitor or coach on the NASKA circuit and ask them for private lessons, and 99% of the time they will be more than happy to work with you. I’ll also add that competitors should seek mentorship outside of coaching. I have had numerous judges, promoters, and fellow competitors over the years that I consider mentors who never worked with me in a coaching capacity. There is nothing wrong with respectfully asking a judge after the division what they thought you could have done better. This could also build rapport with that judge such that every time they judge you, they are willing to let you know where you are improving and where you still need more work. The same is true of promoters, who you will often meet for the first time because they are sitting in a judge’s chair. More experienced competitors are also a great source of mentorship. Most seasoned competitors are more than happy to tell you what they thought of your form if you ask them, or if you are a fighter they will share what they saw in your matches. Never be shy about asking your fellow competitors for advice. Every true competitor wants to compete against and beat the best, so it is in their best interest to help you get better. You never know, maybe one conversation with a competitor as you seek some basic advice will lead to a lifelong friendship. The camaraderie and brother/sisterhood found in sport karate is unique, it is one of the best things about this sport.

A friend said a million times we shouldn’t exaggerate. Get it? Exaggeration and superlatives can and often do make communication difficult in our human family. If some restaurant is said to have the best food in the world or something in the fridge spoiled is producing the worst smell ever, it can be tough to ever see any meaning in those words. Well, in the martial arts, there is a lot of training for what are called worst MMA case scenarios. The thesis here is only slightly tongue-in-cheek and would best be understood as using sarcasm to make a serious point. A point which will hopefully be clear at the conclusion. Many disciplines in martial arts attempt to prepare students in self-defense situations to be ready for something called the worst case scenarios. Multiple attackers, armed thieves, fighting while sight-impaired, wounded, in terrible environments, etc. One scenario that may not be spoken of enough is when one is encountered and threatened by an assailant who has more advanced martial arts training than the victim threatened. Usually training is for untrained threats who happen to be in a position to threaten. One reason it may be true that the threat of a trained assailant is not often taken into account is the universal axiom that people trained in martial arts are trained to use their skills for protection and good. One of the most beautiful aspects of martial arts has always been that most people with training could hurt others, but the respect and discipline of training gives the confidence that never needs to hurt others. The ego has been put into check so much in training; it is hardly threatened outside of the gym or dojo. Further, every self-respecting teacher of martial arts starts off somewhere around day one telling their students they are not to use their new- found skill to harm, but to defend – themselves and others. Why would anyone ever need to be trained to defend themselves against a trained martial artist if that martial artist was trained to protect the innocent? Other than a fictional scenario where someone turned to the dark side as it were and used their powers for evil – which of course happens. Go back a ways in the sport of Mixed Martial Arts and you will find quite a few stories of trained men hurting untrained men (or women). That brings us to our point. One might think that a trained martial artist who has literally climbed to the very pinnacle of combat sports and won the highest prize of all – namely, beating and becoming the very best fighter in the world, in multiple weight classes, no less – would have the confidence to never need to defend their ego. It might be assumed that knowing you can beat the very best in the world at hand-to-hand combat would alleviate any need to puff out the chest or exert your training on others – especially on others who are not themselves trained. Enter Conor McGregor. Most know of his interaction with the grey-haired man sitting at a bar and what can only be described as a suckerpunch. That account is enough to make this point. But what about our worst case scenario? When not only is your attacker trained, but even armed. In recent news there was a scuffle between celebrity rapper/pop- star Machine Gun Kelly whose normal beefs with others takes the forms of rap battles where rap GOATS destroy him (yes, that was just written) and Mr. McGregor. This time on a red carpet function, he drew the ire of one very trained Irishman. It is granted that said Irishman is nursing a broken ankle, but it has to be acknowledged that you do not want a multi-weight, multi-sport, multi-promotion, champion of mixed martial arts coming at you with a weapon (his cane) in his hand – which is what happened at the MTV awards mid-September 2021. Everyone knows famous people do what famous people do. But there was a time when McGregor was not famous and we had a martial arts student. No number of millions eliminates the need for respect and discipline. If this man weren’t famous, if he was not a member of the Cobra Kai gym, if he were not a villain in the movies, someone might ask, “Hey, what happened with Coach Kavanaugh’s student?” One respected fighter-become- coach Mike Swick said a lot in his Tweet following the incident: “You gotta be a family member to respect that man as a human anymore. He is proof money can’t buy class.” It may seem ridiculous that some martial arts gyms might need to prep people for an interaction with a trained fighter with a chip on their shoulder. It has to at least be a bad case scenario if this happens. Not everyone can hire an entourage to keep an attacking MMA champion at bay.

Gordon Ryan etched his profile on the Mount Rushmore of all-time great grapplers Sunday at the ADCC World Championships in Las Vegas. After capturing a stacked 99+ kg division winning three out of four matches by submission, Ryan turned around and ran a clinic in the superfight dominating defending champion Andre Galvao. Ryan systematically passed Galvao's guard, moved from mount, to back mount, then body triangled the champion, finally trapping one of his arms beneath his legs and locking in a choke for the submission. The rest of the tournament saw a mixture of veterans and newcomers winning titles. At 66 kg Diogo Reis defeated Gabriel Sousa 3-0 in the finals. Nineteen-year-old Kade Ruotolo became the youngest ever ADCC champion at 77 kg beating Mica Galvao by heel hook. Giancarlo Bodoni won by choke over Lucas Barbosa at 88 kg. At 99 kg Kaynan Duarte beat Craig Jones 12-0 to take the title. The women's 60 kg class saw Ffion Davies defeat Brianna Ste-marie by a 10-0 margin. Amy Campo captured the ladies 60+ kg category scoring a rear mount with just 30 seconds left to beat Rafaela Guedes 3-2. And after losing to Nicholas Meregali at 99 kg, Yuri Simoes came back to beat Meragali on penalty points in the open weight finals earning a crack at Ryan's superfight crown in the next ADCC championships.