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At the annual meeting of the American Psychiatric Association researchers presented a study indicating regularly engaging in sparring for MMA may lead to neurological damage. The study looked at 92 active professional mixed martial artists and found a relationship between weekly sparring and increased white matter hyperintensity. White matter are the nerve fibers in the brain and hyperintensities in them can indicate damage. It's commonly seen in the elderly and associated with cognitive decline. However, the study also showed regular sparring seemed to lead to an increase in the size of the brain's left and right caudate nuclei, which help control movement-related functions. Aaron I. Esagoff, the study's lead author, speculated this may actually help protect athletes from injuries to the caudate in official fights adding that regular sparring practice isn't entirely good or bad.

When you hear the term “combatives,” maybe you immediately envision a tough, muscular, ex-military brute beating the crap out of you whilst you do everything in your power to cover up and stay alive. Well, guess what? It does not have to be like that and let me tell you why. The fact is, combatives can be trained in a safe, fun and effective way with any martial arts. Here are five things you may not have known about training combatives. K.I.S.S. and Tell Combatives training is simple and it should be. When your life or the life of your loved one is in danger, there is no better formula than the K.I.S.S. formula. K.I.S.S. stands for Keep It Straightforward and Simple. An attack outside the dojo or gym often comes by surprise, with speed and violence of action. Your body will dump adrenaline and you will experience a loss of fine motor skills. When it comes to the martial, throw out complicated techniques that require fine motor skills, complex moves and finesse. Instead replace the complex techniques with gross motor skill movements that recruit major muscle groups and are simple to perform. Work it Baby Like any skill, combatives requires you to train, train again and keep on training. “I will make you deadly in three easy lessons” is a myth. Improving your odds of surviving a violent encounter will require consistent training. Training can be only ten minutes, three times a week to keep your combatives skills sharp. Remember, it should be easy (so not much time will be involved) but nothing can replace the space, time repetition of consistant training. The consistent training is essential for improving your odds in surviving a violent encounter. Truth be Told It is important to understand how street attacks really happen and train against THAT. As a traditional and combat sports martial artist, I instinctively knew that street level violence did not happen the way I was training in the gym, so I studied hours of surveillance and cell phone footage of violent encounters. This was a tool that our martial arts forefathers did not have and hence forth many teachers taught what they thought would happen on the street or they simply taught how to defend against attacks in their own school. But you know what? Street attacks did not happen as we are currently taught in martial arts schools or gyms. When someone attacks you on the streets (based on my research), often times, it will be at a level of middle school kid. Luckily, this lack of “attack sophistication” is easy to predict. It is important that when you train combatives, that you are actually training to defend against common, high percentage type of attacks. Join the Resistance Adding elements of mixed martial arts, Muay Thai and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu will improve your combatives skils one hundred percent. From my background in traditional martial arts (5th degree black belt in tae kwon do and sifu in kung fu), I know for a fact that many martial arts do not have a specific method of training from low resistance to high resistance in a safe, fun and effective way. They often go from low resistance (partner throwing a punch and holding it out there) to high resistance (just going full out) and very little in between. This is where the combat sports can help turbo charge a traditional martial arts school. Pad work (like with focus mitts and Thai pads) and protective equipment (like head gear and boxing gloves) when used correctly, will add new life into your combatives training. Adding safe, fun and effective resistive partner training into your curriculum is essential for the modern martial arts school. 5. Plug and Play Adding combatives to traditional martial arts can be seamless. News flash – many traditional martial arts already train many areas of combatives. Since combatives is simple (see number one above), any traditional martial arts can integrate a safe, fun and effective program into their curriculum to give their members an improved fighting chance. Tiga Tactics is one such program that will help improve the “Martial” in your “Art.” At the Martial Arts SuperShow in Vegas on July 18-20, 2022, I will be sharing how to easily integrate combatives into your curriculum. This is information you can take back to your school and start implementing on Monday. There you have it. One, Combatives needs to follow the K.I.S.S. formula. Two, the secret to improving your odds of coming out alive in a violent is to train something safe, effective and fun…and keep on training. Three, it is important to understand how a street fighter will actually attack you and to train against those types of attacks instead of defending against what commonly happens in a particular style or sport. Four, have a program that introduces resistive partner training in a safe, fun and effective manner. Fifth, realize that combatives training can be implemented into any martial arts program, seamlessly and in a way that empowers your students. Come and experience the Tiga Tactics Combatives program at the 2022 Martial Arts SuperShow for yourself.

Saenchai in his prime was one of the best, if not the best, Thai boxers to ever glove up. While most martial artists consider Samart Payakaroon to be the greatest kickboxer of all time, Saenchai’s record is impeccable, and he has had the kind of longevity that very few athletes get to enjoy. In recent years, he has stepped down in competition and largely fights non-Thai kickboxers for easy paydays. While Saenchai’s opponents today aren’t as strong as those he faced in his prime, they are usually a good deal larger than he is. Yet he’s still able to overcome them. How does he do this? In our search for answers, we must look at the concept of “no man’s land” and examine how Saenchai controls distance. No Man’s Land Cliff Bura, founder of the original Diesel Gym in London, used the term “no man’s land” in reference to the spatial gap between two fighters. The reference comes from the European theater during World War I. The opposing armies were stationed in mile-long trenches. They lived, trained and slept in those trenches, and the only way to reach the enemy was to go “over the top” and cross a large, deadly gulf of mud and barbed wire called No Man’s Land. Crossing no man’s land was a perilous task because you had to essentially waltz through an open field with no cover while the enemy fired at you. Such is also true of fighting in the ring — although in far cushier conditions. To make an attack in the ring, you need to cross no man’s land, and in doing so, you give away your intention. Those who have trained in a combat sport can probably remember the first time they sparred full contact and how it was hard to even step forward and land a shot. They would be stopped, countered or flat-out evaded, and it’s tough for beginners to figure out why. The reason beginners are unable to hit more-experienced sparring partners is they haven’t learned how to cross no man’s land at all. Invading no man’s land requires an unpredictable offense. Double and triple jabs and hand traps are all good ways to control an opponent’s guard while closing the gap. These are skills that take time to learn, and unfortunately for beginners in that scenario, it’s actually a lot easier to control no man’s land defensively than it is to invade. Saenchai’s Control When it comes to controlling no man’s land defensively, Saenchai is a master. His fights are at precisely two ranges: extremely close and extremely far. If he was to stay in a midrange, he would be in danger because he is primarily a reflexive fighter who likes to evade attacks and, although he does have knockout victories, he is not a particularly powerful fighter. Saenchai instead plays the very unusual game of being the out-fighter — but with a shorter reach than his opponents. He stays on the very edge of his opponents’ range to the point where should they throw a kick or punch, he only has to pull back slightly before leaping in with a quick counterkick, then pivot and force his opponent to turn. Saenchai in Action In this video, we see a classic example of Saenchai’s tactics. His opponent Shan is considerably larger than he is. Saenchai makes quick entries with straight lefts or snappy switch kicks. He closes the distance fast, and as soon as he makes contact, he is back on the outside again. Those who come from point-based karate styles like shotokan will probably find a lot in common with Saenchai because this is the same principle of blitzing seen in those competitions. Saenchai’s entries into no man’s land, while being quick and snappy, are also hard to predict because he attempts to sweep Shan on entry. These don’t usually succeed, but they give Shan something else to worry about. When Shan is ready to mount his own attack, he comes in from distance, and Saenchai has time to react and land his counters. It’s often said that Saenchai appears to be sparring with his opponents, rather than fighting them, because of how relaxed he is at all times. While no one can truly speak about what’s happening in his mind when he fights, it’s fair to say his sense of distance and timing is so good that he doesn’t need to stress about his opponents’ attacks. Lerdsila, a former stablemate of Saenchai, has a similarly slippery style. However, Lerdsila is known for being too focused on evading and not on attacking, which has caused him to lose decisions he could have won. How You Can Do This  If you have access to a gym and a hula hoop, you can start practicing this idea with a clear visual indicator of no man’s land. Place the hula hoop between you and your partner. Ensure that both of you are outside the perimeter of the hoop. When your partner steps forward with a jab, you will see his foot cross into the hula hoop. From there, you check the jab and pivot around the edge. The hoop will serve as a guide you can easily circle around. When your partner has to step to reset, make your counter. He then steps back outside the hoop, and you do the drill again, swapping places. The next drill, which also uses the hula hoop, has one person place his lead foot just inside the hoop while the other stays a step outside. When the partner steps into the hoop to make a move, you step backward, leading with your rear foot, before drawing your lead foot outside the hoop. Once you are outside, once again circle around the hoop. This drill helps you build the habit of stepping back and then around because ideally you shouldn’t take more than two steps backward while retreating before circling out. Practicing the drill builds good habits and helps prevent you from accidentally running into the ropes or cage while trying to evade your opponent.

“We have a quick pace, a lot of action and demonstrations, and there is no redundancy. … No one has time to get bored. We want to educate and entertain.” George Chung spoke those words in 1984 when a Black Belt writer asked him about the cable-television series he and Cynthia Rothrock had hosted for four years, but one could imagine that he spoke them yesterday about JungoTV, the streaming-video network he co-founded. JungoTV — specifically, the Black Belt Magazine Channel it hosts — is all about education and entertainment. The education takes the form of instructional footage from the best of the best, both past and current champions, and masters. The entertainment manifests as coverage of the most prestigious tournaments, along with a catalog of martial arts movies starring the likes of Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Sho Kosugi, Sammo Hung and Jean-Claude Van Damme. Education and entertainment, indeed! But that’s not to say that inside Chung’s chest there isn’t the heart of a true martial artist. He was a five-time world champion renowned for his forms, and at one point, he was rated No. 1 in the nation — in part because of the way he innovated with music and acrobatic moves like walkovers and cartwheels. “Music is a trend, not a fad,” he told Karate Illustrated in 1980. “[But] I consider the true traditional value of the form. Form helps you develop good basics, for which there is no substitute.” Chung, who was Black Belt’s 1983 Male Competitor of the Year, never let up on his mission to spread the martial arts through whatever means were at hand. Case in point: Regarding the aforementioned 1980s cable series, he said, “A lot of people procrastinate about taking martial arts. We felt if we could show people that they can do it, they would get involved. We show men, women, children and elderly people doing martial arts.” To further propagate the arts, in 1988 he followed in the footsteps of countless other tournament champions, but Chung, always the overachiever, went above and beyond: He co-wrote, edited, co-directed and starred in a film titled Hawkeye (also released as Karate Cops).That same year, when the martial arts academy he and Rothrock ran in Los Gatos, California, caught fire — resulting in total destruction of the dojo — Chung relied on his warrior spirit to endure. “If I lose, I take a champion’s attitude,” he said. “I don’t grieve. Instead, I come back even stronger.” He came back stronger when he, along with Rothrock, wrote Advanced Dynamic Kicks for Ohara Publications, now Black Belt Publishing. He came back stronger when he developed a program for the San Francisco 49ers, luring them in with promises of enhanced flexibility and then teaching martial arts practices and drills that delivered tangible benefits that applied to football. For his contributions to the team’s performance, Chung received a Super Bowl ring. In 1984 a hypothetical was pitched to Chung for the purposes of a Black Belt article. His answer was revealing but not at all unexpected for a true martial artist. “If I had only one day left with my students, I would teach them something physical and I would relate to them something philosophical,” he said. “I would first teach them a short form because if they were never going to see me again, I would like to pass on something to them so that they’ll remember the time they trained with me.“ It would also be my way of leaving something for them to pass along to their students. And then in later years, they can teach that form and maybe they can teach another form of their own. This way, the arts can really grow.“ Second, I would inject them with three basic philosophies of martial arts that I feel are very important. One is training for their own positive being, for their own physical and mental health. Two is not to abuse the martial arts in any way. And third, I would like to see them grow, as well. I would tell them [that] when they pass martial arts on, hopefully they’ll teach in a fashion similar to the way I did but that they’ll also have the creativity and open-mindedness to add and inject their own personality into their own style.” In case you need one last example of Chung’s impact on the arts, travel two years forward in time from when those words were spoken. He and Rothrock appeared in a video that was used in a U.S. Senate hearing to determine the future legality of martial arts weaponry. If you still wield weapons in your dojo, and even if you don’t, you know that his side — our side — won. The staff of Black Belt is honored to have George Chung as its 2022 Man of the Year.— J. Torres

The ninja were accomplished pharmacists, skilled in preparing different poisons and special powders and compounds. Ninjutsu training in yogen (pharmacy) also allowed them to prepare gunpowder and explosives, medicines and even concentrated foods as part of their ninja gear. Ninja Gear #1: Poisons Poisons were made from mineral, plant and animal sources. They were potent enough to kill, but could be devised for putting the enemy to sleep, paralyzing him or making him shake with laughter. Dirks, darts and arrows were tipped with poison for use in assassinations. A poison water gun was designed to blind enemies. It consisted of a long piece of bamboo with a tiny hole at the business end. The ninja concocted the poisonous water and poured it into the hollow bamboo. A smaller piece of bamboo was slid inside the larger section and fitted with a rag at the front end. The small piece was inserted and quickly shoved home, forcing the poisoned water out through the tiny hole. The poison water was usually made from iron powder and a mixture that was ordinarily used to stain the teeth of married women. Ninja Gear #2: Special Devices In addition to poisons, the ninja also had a staggering array of special devices useful to them in their trade. They had all sorts of grappling hooks and ropes for scaling walls and gaining entrance to castles. Some of the more remarkable devices were those for crossing water. So adept were they at crossing moats, rivers and lakes that legend had it they could walk on water. Actually, the ninja had a number of water-crossing devices. One was the ukidaru, or floating pots. They would encase their feet in waterproof reed pots tightly woven for the purpose and use a fan-like oar to “walk" across a moat. They might also use air-filled skins or other attachments to their feet. Another water-crossing device was a contraption resembling a life jacket. Usually made of rabbit or horse skins and filled with air, it was divided into four parts. One section was strapped on each side of the ninja and a third at the rear. They straddled the fourth section and went to work with their trusty bamboo oar. These feudal-age “water wings" came in handy, especially when crossing an enemy's castle moat at night. Ninja Gear #3: The Black Costume The trademark of the ninja was their black costume. The jacket, somewhat resembling the modern judo top, was equipped with various pockets for holding weapons and other devices. A black hood covered the face, with a pair of slits for the eyes. Black trousers and leggings covered the lower part of the body, while the feet were concealed in black tabi and sandals. Since ninja were sometimes called upon to fight alongside soldiers on the battlefield, they were also equipped with a combat uniform. They wore a jacket and leggings of chain mail. Their wrists, hands, neck and head were also protected by mail. All in all, their combat costume was a formidable outfit. Part One: Ninja History 101: An Introduction to Ninjutsu Part Two: Ninja History 101: Spying and Assassination Part Four: Ninja History 101: Ninjutsu Weapons Part Five: Ninja History 101: Ninjutsu Training