Best known to MMA fans as the “Warmaster,” Josh Barnett is the youngest UFC heavyweight champion in the history of the league.  He is a celebrated veteran of mixed martial arts and has fought in such leagues as Pride Dream, Strike Force and Bellator and has had a successful pro wrestling career in the New Japan Pro Wrestling and TNA Wrestling.

Of all the fighters who appeared in the early UFC tournaments, none provokes a wider range of emotions than Ron “The Black Dragon” Van Clief by Mark Jacobs Photos Courtesy of Ron Van Clief

Counting down the 10 greatest fight scenes in a martial arts movie , the category ONE vs. MANY.  In this list, we examine the greatest fight scenes with the twist where the hero fights more than one opponent. To make this top list we had two important criteria: Creativity and Skill.

Best known to MMA fans as the “Warmaster,” Josh Barnett is the youngest UFC heavyweight champion in the history of the league.  He is a celebrated veteran of mixed martial arts and has fought in such leagues as Pride Dream, Strikeforce and Bellator and has had a successful pro wrestling career in the New Japan Pro Wrestling and TNA Wrestling. Today he continues to challenge himself with his Bloodsport promotion as well as competing in submission grappling and BJJ. Once dubbed

by Mark Hatmaker Martial artists often train so they can strike a grappler and grapple with a striker, but the author says this might not be the best strategy. If you’ve been in the training game for any length of time, you likely have experienced the following or something similar: You trained hard for the past 90 days, putting in sprint work and producing your fastest 5K ever. Your handy-dandy smartphone app says your VO2 max (maximum oxygen uptake) is shipshape. You go to

Jared Wihongi breaks down step-by-step how he'd handle an armed combatant:

In this interview, Jared and Tony Parrish shares a story about a combative real-world application of martial arts and how he'd do it differently.

A master in Jeet Kune Do, Burt Richardson has spent his life in pursuit of the mastery of several martial arts styles including BJJ and Filipino Martial Arts. Under the tutelage of such greats as Dan Inasantos, Tony Diego, the Machado Brothers, and Carlson Gracie he is on a constant quest for knowledge. He’s an author and teacher working with people from law enforcement to civilians. We are thrilled to reconnect with Black Belt Hall of Fame inductee Burt Richardson.

Africa is the largest and most culturally diverse continent on the planet. Unfortunately, it is also the continent we are the least exposed to in the West. While we recognize the differences in Asian cultures, be it India, Japan, Thailand, China, Mongolia, Russia etc. – we often think of Africa as just… Africa. We look at it as though it is all the same, when in reality there are over 3000 distinct ethnic groups in Africa, with over 2000 languages.

Phillip Rhee is a master martial artist, actor, and filmmaker best known for creating the Best of the Best film franchise with his producing partner and mentor Peter E. Strauss (former chairman of Lionsgate) and Frank Giustra (founder of Lionsgate). The first Best of the Best starred Academy Award-nominated actors, James Earl Jones, Eric Roberts, Louise Fletcher, Sally Kirkland, and Chris Penn was distributed through Sony Pictures. In 2015, Best of the Best was chosen by Fa

Undefeated boxer and kickboxer, Graciela is the first athlete male or female to hold 2 world championships in kickboxing and boxing at the same time. Graciela Casillas shares on Defending Against Blades and Guns.

It’s a Wild & Wooly, Western, WuXia, Samurai Tour de Force Epic by Dr. Craig D. Reid John Wick is at a boiling point. Feel it! Hands up, down and sideways, the best American martial arts movie in 2023 is John Wick: Chapter 4 ( JW4 ) as he returns under more attritional circumstances. Turn on the end of the 2023 Saturday night floodlights for all to see, it is a film where its very essence of what it is, how it is, and where it can take us into 2024, where it might just mu

A master in Jeet Kune Do, Burt Richardson has spent his life in pursuit of the mastery of several martial arts styles including BJJ and Filipino Martial Arts. Under the tutelage of such greats as Dan Inasantos, Tony Diego, the Machado Brothers, and Carlson Gracie he is on a constant quest for knowledge. He’s an author and teacher working with people from law enforcement to civilians. We are thrilled to reconnect with Black Belt Hall of Fame inductee Burt Richardson. In this i

Wuxia films 1905-1982: Quasi Non-Fiction Wrapped in Fantastical Fight by Dr. Craig D. Reid The coolest wuxia film of the 1920’s, Burning of the Red Lotus Temple (1928) Who could have guessed that the fate of the first 44 years (1905-1949) of wuxia cinema was heavily affected by the sexist attitudes of the Ching Dynasty? It all started in 1772, the year the Ching government banned females from performing on stage, which created the tradition of female impersonators in B

Master Simon Rhee is a World Taekwondo Kukkiwon certified 7th degree black belt and Tournament Grand Champion, a professional stuntman, actor, martial artist, fight choreographer and stunt coordinator.

Clay Donahue Fontenot is one of Hollywood's most sought after and successful stuntmen and coordinators. He has doubled some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

Chris Bournea’s documentary Lady Wrestler: The Amazing Untold Story Of African-American Women in the ring chronicles a handful of pioneers in the fight sport, women who braved racism and sexism in the male-dominated world of wrestling from the 1950s through the 1970s. Kathleen Wimbley, now 88, trained at promoter Billy Wolfe’s gym and was a member of the first group that integrated pro wrestling. By Gerry Chisolm

by Robert W. Young Black Belt started working with Bruce Lee before he was a star — witness our October 1967 issue, which featured him on the cover at a time when his name was deemed less attention-getting than the phrase “Green Hornet’s ‘Kato’: Does he really practice kung fu?” Since he passed away, the magazine has continued to work with the Lee family to keep readers up to date on all the projects that are in the works. In that vein, we present our annual interview with

Graciela Casillas I was staring down the barrels of a shotgun. At that precise moment, I realized that I was not fully prepared to defend myself. It was by the grace of God that I was able to get out of that situation. In other words, I was incredibly lucky. This near miss served as a stark reminder of my vulnerabilities. That was the moment I began my journey of self-defense and empowerment, determined to break through the barriers that society had placed before me and every

Clay Donahue Fontenot is one of Hollywood's most sought after and successful stuntmen and coordinators. He has doubled some of Hollywood’s biggest stars.

FEATURED ON: The Combat Show BORN: Rio de Janeiro AGE: 56 STYLE: Brazilian jiu-jitsu CELEBRITY STUDENTS: Keanu Reeves, Ashton Kutcher, Vin Diesel Tony Parrish interviews Rigan Machado You’ve probably been in 30 movies. … Rigan Machado: And TV shows, but now I started getting bigger jobs. The biggest job I ever got was with Nicolas Cage and Tony Jaa [in Jiu Jitsu]. I play a warrior — it was pretty cool. I also did a comedy with Russell Peters and Michael Jai White: [The O

This tale starts with two people whose story could have been a twilight zone episode. It’s about a timeless force that bound a man and a woman from different worlds and directed them to become one with the past so they could move into the future. By Terry L. Wilson Photo Credit – Rick Hustead

Sho Kosugi and the Lucha Brothers What would two Mexican AEW superstars have in common with the most recognizable ninjitsu of modern times? In turns out, mutual respect and a love for martial arts culture.