Today, on Saturday, May 30, the sounds of striking pads, focused breathing, and spirited conversation will fill Team Karate Center in Woodland Hills, California — but this gathering is about far more than technique. “In the Spirit of the Dragon,” a one-day martial arts benefit event supporting the Bruce Lee Foundation, is bringing together instructors, students, masters, and martial arts enthusiasts from across Southern California for a day dedicated to learning, unity, and legacy. Hosted by veteran martial arts instructor Sensei Fariborz Azhakh, the event reflects the deeper philosophy Bruce Lee championed throughout his life: the pursuit of personal excellence, cultural understanding, and the constant evolution of the individual. “Bruce Lee was more than a martial artist,” says Azhakh. “He challenged people to think differently, to grow beyond limitations, and to find their own path. This event is about honoring those ideals while creating something meaningful for the martial arts community.” Throughout the day, participants will experience a diverse lineup of seminars, workshops, and educational lectures led by respected martial artists and guest instructors representing multiple disciplines and traditions. While the full roster of instructors is still being finalized, organizers say the focus will remain on sharing knowledge across styles and generations — something Bruce Lee himself advocated throughout his groundbreaking career. Unlike tournament-centered events that emphasize competition, “In the Spirit of the Dragon” is designed as a collaborative and educational experience. Students of all levels, from beginners to seasoned practitioners, are encouraged to participate, train, and connect. For many attendees, the event will also serve as a reminder of Bruce Lee’s enduring influence on modern martial arts culture. Decades after his passing, Lee remains one of the most important figures in martial arts history — not only for revolutionizing combat philosophy through Jeet Kune Do, but for breaking cultural barriers and inspiring millions worldwide. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Bruce Lee Foundation, the nonprofit organization dedicated to preserving Bruce Lee’s teachings and advancing educational initiatives centered on self-actualization, equality, and personal development. For Azhakh, whose own martial arts philosophy emphasizes discipline, respect, and community engagement, the event represents an opportunity to align martial arts practice with service and purpose. “At its best, martial arts helps people become better human beings,” he says. “This is a chance for all of us to come together in that spirit.” Event Details In the Spirit of the Dragon Saturday, May 30, 2026 9:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m. Team Karate Center 6455 De Soto Ave. Woodland Hills, CA 91367 Guest instructors and additional event details will be announced soon. For media inquiries, sponsorship opportunities, or registration information, contact: Fariborz Azhakh azhakh@gmail.com About the Bruce Lee Foundation The Bruce Lee Foundation is a nonprofit organization committed to sharing Bruce Lee’s message of self-actualization, honest self-expression, equality, and continuous learning through educational programs and community outreach initiatives around the world.

Tough guys—we have plenty. In fact, on any given day, you can’t swing a nunchaku around the Black Belt office without hitting a self-defense expert, an MMA champ or a street-hardened master who has dropped by for an interview or photo shoot. Tough girls are a different matter. First off, we don’t have as many women cycling through. Second, not all the female martial artists we deal with are into fighting; some practice the arts for other, less physical reasons. None of that is intended to marginalize the fairer sex. On the contrary, we assembled this article to shine a spotlight on those women who’ve separated themselves from the pack—those who fall into the category of “women who scare us.” Note that not all female fighters were eligible for inclusion on our list; the qualifier was that each one had to be someone we had personal knowledge of. In other words, we considered only women who have been to our office for interviews.

I want to talk to you about lightening up. About breathing a little easier. About easing up on this whole the-world-is-going-to-hell-in-a-handbasket approach to life. I want to address an aspect of real-world self-protection that, in my opinion, is a little overdone in some places—an aspect to which I may have inadvertently contributed. In my book No Second Chance: A Reality-Based Guide to Self-Defense, I hammer the need for effectiveness, for commensurate brutality, for awareness and preparedness. I discuss predator profiles that delineate real-world examples of the evil our fellow man can perpetrate on his brethren. I drive home the point of just who the enemy is. I stand by this approach 100 percent. Horrible things do indeed happen in this world. Despicable acts of violence are perpetrated every day. We must not turn a blind eye to what can happen, but it’s essential to keep such preparation in the spirit of a “just in case” rational choice and not let it drive us to paranoia. Rational people install smoke detectors in their homes, wear seat belts, see doctors for checkups, purchase insurance, wear safety goggles and lock their doors at night—all in the spirit of “just in case.” We do these things not because we live in fear but because we know that unpleasant things can happen, and these acts can reduce the likelihood or the impact, no matter how statistically rare those things may be.

When I was 20, I ran the service department at a motorcycle dealership. Yes, I said “ran.” The dealer leased the department to me, and I carried out all service and warranty work, hired employees and took care of everything else. And I was successful. A few years later, I had an opportunity to open a dojo, so I handed the business over to my nephew. Although I enjoyed what I’d been doing, I never looked back. Few things are as fulfilling as running a karate school. Interestingly, the same four keys to business success that served me well in the motorcycle industry continue to help me run my school today. Find Nobility in What You Do Nobility gives you purpose and motivates you to keep moving forward—in good times and bad. It gives you the fortitude to persevere when new instructors open schools in your town. It also helps you avoid the mistakes people often make in business—like letting ego or the desire for money take over.

Black Belt 2024 Hall of Fame inductee Scott Coker has secured $60 million in financing to launch a new fight promotion, where he will serve as CEO and co-founder alongside Peter Levin of Griffin Gaming Partners, according to a press release issued Thursday. A lifelong martial artist, Coker is best known as the founder of Strikeforce MMA and later as President of Bellator MMA. More recently, his successful fight night at the Tech CU Arena in San Jose helped reignite excitement and momentum within the combat sports community. “I always knew I wanted to come back when the time was right, with the right vision and a carefully curated team. That time is now,” Coker said in the release. “There is an incredible demand for a fresh, new global brand in MMA. This new league is about returning to what matters: the integrity of competition, respect for the athletes, and sharing their remarkable journeys with the world. We are building something authentic, something that belongs to the athletes and to the fans who live and breathe this sport.”

Time is awake while the world sleeps, intent on its own ends. —Mahabharata (translated by William Buck) As we get older, obituaries become a regular part of our news consumption. Celebrities who made the narratives and soundtracks of our youth regularly show up there, and we grieve a little. Because I was a teenager in the 1980s, it was the passing of celebrities like heavy metal singer Ronnie James Dio and Adam Yauch that saddened me. The one that saddened me the most, however, was the death of Pat Morita. Morita was, of course, famous for playing Mr. Miyagi in The Karate Kid franchise. That character was the archetypal martial arts master: warm, wise and full of secrets. Sometimes it was hidden knowledge—like the scene in the first movie in which Mr. Miyagi suddenly reveals that the chores his lone student, Daniel-san, has been doing are really karate training methods. Sometimes it’s a personal secret, like when Mr. Miyagi accidentally reveals that he’s alone because his wife and son died in a Japanese internment camp during World War II.

There’s a popular cable-TV series whose title can be abbreviated “BS.” Its hosts take enthusiastic delight in puncturing all sorts of fads, follies and cultural delusions, from UFOs to fast food. It’s enormously entertaining because we live in an age of almost absurd credulity. No matter how silly, illogical or obviously fraudulent a thing is, there are people who embrace it. Seeing the perpetrators exposed as shams is fun—and educational. Usually. One episode focused on what the hosts considered “martial arts.” I quickly realized that what they were referring to was “unarmed forms of combat purportedly useful in physical confrontations.” They also threw into the mix the alleged healing and health values of what’s loosely described as chi kung. All sorts of misrepresentations quickly became obvious. One fellow claimed karate evolved because Okinawans were under constant attack by samurai. A woman explained how “ancient Taoists” had discovered that certain vocalizations can affect our internal organs, so she giggled and barked as part of her routine. It was clear neither person had any real exposure to the roots or culture of the arts they claimed to represent.

Reader question: How much protein does a martial artist need? If a person wants to avoid beef, chicken, turkey, pork and cheese, what are the options? I’m asking because my body decided it doesn’t appreciate the regular consumption of such “yang foods,” and my physician told me a recent quadriceps injury involved accumulated micro-tears brought on partly by low levels of protein in my diet. Protein is arguably the champion of foods. Where other nutrients like fats and carbohydrates are debated and sometimes crucified, protein always seems to prevail. Call it the Bruce Lee of food. Athletes and nonathletes alike need protein to maintain a healthy and balanced body. If you train hard—say, you’re an MMA fighter, an Olympic judoka or a pro boxer—you need to be extra careful about how much you eat. Why?

The martial arts can be roughly divided into two groups: empty-hand styles and weapons styles. There’s endless argument within each group about which particular empty-hand or weapon skill is superior—for example, striking vs. grappling or sticks vs. blades. But there’s a general agreement among martial artists that a man with a weapon, regardless of the type of weapon, has a definite advantage over a man without one. Weapons are better than empty hands for one reason—the ease with which they can hurt another person. In kickboxing matches and bare-knuckle karate tournaments, it often takes a long time for one competitor to knock out another. In many of the fights, both opponents are left standing at the end, and judges must determine the winner. Even MMA matches can go a long time before one man triumphs over his opponent. With a stick, knife or gun, however, you can hurt someone worse than you can with your bare hands—and in a shorter time.

Karate Greatness Is Often Evidenced in Small Things Last spring, word came from Okinawa that Takayoshi Nagamine had died. He was the son of Shoshin Nagamine, a great teacher of shorin-ryu karate. The son’s education in the art, under his father, began when he was young. When he was in his 20s, he came to Ohio, where he began teaching karate and leading seminars in dojo around the country. I met Takayoshi Nagamine in the early 1970s. He’d come to Kansas City, Kansas, to lead a seminar. I was a teenager in town for some other budo training, but along with my two karate teachers, we went to meet Takayoshi. Having known him for years, my teachers greeted him like the old friend he was. The four of us then went for an early dinner. I sat and listened mostly. The conversation veered back and forth between Japanese and Okinawan—I understood little enough of either language back then to even ask intelligent questions.

Celebrating the Women Who Helped Shape Martial Arts Champions and Icons Martial arts history often celebrates the champions standing center stage—but many of those stories began long before the trophies, film sets, and world titles arrived. They began with parents who sacrificed, guided, encouraged, and believed. These women were not simply the mothers of martial arts icons. They were pioneers, protectors, educators, and role models whose own accomplishments helped shape the future of martial arts culture itself. Through their stories—both inside and beyond the pages of Black Belt Magazine—their influence remains impossible to ignore. Bow Sim Mark The Wushu Pioneer Who Helped Bring Chinese Martial Arts to the West Famous Child: Donnie Yen Long before Donnie Yen became one of the defining martial arts stars of modern cinema, his mother, Bow Sim Mark, had already earned international respect throughout the kung fu community. A highly accomplished practitioner and teacher of Chinese wushu, Bow Sim Mark became one of the most influential ambassadors of traditional Chinese martial arts in North America. Her demonstrations and instruction helped introduce countless students and audiences to authentic Chinese martial arts during a pivotal era for kung fu in the West. Her contributions were widely recognized throughout the martial arts world, including being named Black Belt’s 1995 Kung Fu Artist of the Year. The movements that would later define Donnie Yen’s on-screen performances were cultivated in an environment deeply rooted in martial arts excellence from childhood. Today, Yen’s legacy spans everything from the Ip Man franchise to Star Wars and John Wick—but behind the superstar stood a mother whose own influence helped pave the way for Chinese martial arts to flourish internationally. AnnMaria De Mars The Judo Champion Who Raised a History-Maker Famous Child: Ronda Rousey Before Ronda Rousey became one of the most influential figures in sport combat history, her mother had already broken barriers of her own. In 1984, AnnMaria De Mars became the first American to win a world championship in judo, cementing her place as one of the sport’s most important pioneers. Competing during an era when women’s martial arts received far less visibility and support, De Mars built a reputation for intelligence and elite competitive skill. Those same traits would later become synonymous with Rousey herself. From Olympic bronze medalist to UFC champion and Hollywood crossover star, Rousey helped transform the visibility of women’s combat sports on a global level. Yet much of the mentality that fueled that rise was cultivated by a mother who already understood what it meant to compete against the odds. AnnMaria De Mars would go on to be selected as Black Belt's 2015 Woman of the Year. Together, her and Ronda Rousey's story remains one of martial arts’ most remarkable examples of generational excellence. Malia Bernal Dacascos The Martial Arts Mother Behind a Cinematic Warrior Famous Child: Mark Dacascos Martial arts excellence runs deep within the Dacascos family, and Malia Bernal Dacascos played a major role in building that legacy. In fact, her September 1974 cover made history as the first time a female competitor appeared on the cover of Black Belt Magazine. A martial artist with strong roots in kung fu, Malia helped foster a household immersed in martial arts philosophy, discipline, and creativity. Alongside legendary martial artist Al Dacascos, she helped shape an environment where movement was not merely practiced—but lived. That upbringing would help mold Mark Dacascos into one of martial arts entertainment’s most recognizable talents. Whether audiences remember him from Only the Strong, Drive, Brotherhood of the Wolf, or John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum, Dacascos became known for blending athleticism with cinematic charisma in a way few performers could replicate. Behind that success was a family steeped in martial arts tradition—and a mother who helped cultivate both the warrior spirit and artistic expression that would define his career. Linda Lee Cadwell The Woman Who Helped Preserve a Martial Arts Legacy Famous Child: Brandon Lee Few figures in martial arts history have carried the responsibility of preserving a cultural legacy quite like Linda Lee Cadwell. Following the passing of Bruce Lee, Linda became one of the key individuals responsible for preserving and protecting the philosophy, writings, and influence of one of martial arts’ most revolutionary figures—all while raising their children, including Brandon Lee. Through books, interviews, and continued involvement within the martial arts community—including appearances in the pages of Black Belt Magazine—Linda helped ensure Bruce Lee’s teachings would endure far beyond his lifetime. Meanwhile, Brandon Lee emerged as a magnetic martial arts actor in his own right, carrying the Lee family legacy into a new generation through films such as Rapid Fire and The Crow before his tragic passing in 1993. Linda Lee Cadwell’s resilience and dedication helped preserve one of martial arts’ most important cultural legacies and ensured its impact would continue inspiring practitioners around the world today. Editor’s Note: You can explore past issues of Black Belt—including those featuring these iconic ladies—through Black Belt+. Click the subscribe button below to check 'em out!

When Mortal Kombat exploded onto movie screens in 1995, it became more than a successful video game adaptation — it marked a turning point for martial arts action in mainstream Hollywood. Long before the entertainment industry fully embraced martial arts-driven storytelling, Black Belt Magazine recognized the cultural impact the franchise would have on audiences worldwide. PHOTO COURTESY OF NEW LINE CINEMA In the pages of Black Belt in 1995, readers were introduced to the stars and martial artists behind the groundbreaking franchise, including Robin Shou, whose portrayal of Liu Kang helped define a generation of martial arts cinema. Shou brought more than screen presence to the role — he brought legitimacy. With his traditional martial arts background, athleticism, and disciplined approach to choreography, he embodied the spirit that made Mortal Kombat resonate far beyond the arcade. For martial arts enthusiasts, the film represented something bigger than Hollywood spectacle. It was proof that martial artists could carry major motion pictures while staying true to the discipline, philosophy, and intensity of the arts themselves. The fight scenes were fast, technical, and unforgettable, introducing mainstream audiences to forms, techniques, and performers rarely showcased on such a massive platform. Now, nearly three decades later, the Mortal Kombat legacy continues with a new world premiere that once again places martial arts at the center of global pop culture. As excitement builds for the latest chapter of the franchise, Black Belt proudly looks back at its long connection to the warriors who helped make it legendary. Among them is Chris Casamassa, the martial artist who brought Scorpion to life and became one of the franchise’s most iconic figures. Long before “Get over here!” became part of pop culture history, Casamassa was already making waves in the martial arts world as a nationally recognized forms champion. In July 1997, Black Belt magazine featured Casamassa on its cover alongside the late Cheryl Wheeler, celebrating the athleticism, creativity, and star power that martial artists were bringing to Hollywood. “My preparation [for the Scorpion role] was spending a lifetime in martial arts and almost a lifetime at the arcade mastering that character’s moves.” — Chris Casamassa That cover captured a defining era — a time when martial arts films, tournaments, and video games collided to create a new generation of action heroes. From Robin Shou’s breakout performance in 1995 to Chris Casamassa’s unforgettable portrayal of Scorpion, Mortal Kombat helped bridge the gap between traditional martial arts and modern entertainment. Today, as a new generation discovers the franchise through its latest premiere, the legacy remains intact. The kicks are still high, the rivalries still fierce, and the martial artists behind the action continue to inspire audiences worldwide. Mortal Kombat II brings together an impressive cast of returning stars and new additions as the legendary tournament finally takes center stage on the big screen. Directed by Simon McQuoid, the sequel reunites Lewis Tan as Cole Young, Jessica McNamee as Sonya Blade, Ludi Lin as Liu Kang, Joe Taslim as Sub-Zero, and Hiroyuki Sanada as Scorpion. Joining the franchise is fan-favorite character Johnny Cage, portrayed by Karl Urban, bringing a new level of charisma and energy to the tournament saga as Earthrealm’s warriors prepare to face the dark power of Shao Kahn. Building upon the success of the original 1995 classic and the modern reboot, Mortal Kombat II promises larger battles, deeper mythology, and the explosive martial arts action that has defined the franchise for generations. Under McQuoid’s direction, the film blends authentic fight choreography with cinematic spectacle while honoring the legacy created by martial arts icons like Robin Shou and Chris Casamassa. For longtime fans of Black Belt magazine and martial arts cinema, the new premiere is more than a sequel — it is a celebration of the fighters, performers, and filmmakers who helped transform Mortal Kombat into one of the most enduring martial arts franchises in pop culture history. For Black Belt, this celebration is more than nostalgia it is a reminder that martial arts storytelling, when performed with authenticity and passion, never goes out of style. Editor’s Note: You can explore past issues of Black Belt—including those featuring iconic Mortal Kombat stars—through Black Belt+. Click the subscribe button below to check 'em out!