Perhaps the biggest reason this Black Belt Classic from our May 1968 issue is so intriguing is it relies on input from three martial artists who at the time were fairly ordinary people. Chuck Norris was not a movie star, Ed Parker was not the man who founded a hugely popular art and then died way too young, and Fumio Demura was not the icon of the martial arts world that he’s known as now. The second reason is the roundtable discussion shines a spotlight on the problems with

Martial artists who are about to open their own dojo often want to give it a Japanese name.

Karate is not just a martial art; it's a way of life that instills discipline, respect, and self-confidence in children..

2024 Black Belt Hall of Fame Inductee Ernie Reyes Jr. is the featured throwback, having graced the cover of the May 1991 issue. At just...

A great kata performance must combine precision, flow, power and spirit, and good students spend considerable time and energy

Kappa are curious beasts of Japanese mythology. With the body of a human and the shell and beak of a turtle, they live..

Let's delve into the history, similarities, and differences between these two martial arts to determine which might suit you best...

When it comes to martial arts, few disciplines are as widely recognized and practiced as Karate and Taekwondo.

If there’s such a thing as karate DNA, the Funakoshi family must have it in spades..

The Long Beach International Karate Championships is an international karate and martial arts tournament first launched in Long Beach...

SAIGO lived and thrived in the tumultuous era of Japan’s early modernization. Jigoro Kano’s Kodokan was emerging as an influential force...

Those giant mazes, made of hedges or carved from cornfields and designed so that you have to wind your way through..

The 1980 Black Belt Magazine cover featured world-renowned Master Hidy Ochiai who brought Wa-shin Ryu Karate-Do, from Japan to the US in...

As a 23-year-old graduate student in Middle America in the early 1970s, I was hungry for whatever I could learn about the Asian martial arts

In short, karate and swordsmanship are both fighting arts, but there’s little in the way of technical or strategic overlap..

The October 1974 cover of Fighting Stars featured a 22-year-old Angela Mao Ying in her unforgettable role as Bruce Lee's sister...

I remembered one that I heard as a child: umi no uchi no katana, “the sword behind the smile...

How many times have you entered the ring at a martial arts competition and faced your opponent and had no idea what he or she was about.....

It was through his involvement in karate that Donnie Williams ventured into the world of movies...

Entering its 40th year the Tournament has become one of the most influential and prestigious tournaments...

There has been a sea change in thinking among practitioners of the traditional martial arts in the past 30 years...

I occasionally greet people with, “Ehh, howzit?” Those people are my age or younger, people I know well and who have some conversance...

THIS MIGHT COME as a surprise to many who train in Japanese karate, who have come to regard Funakoshi (1868-1957) as the most...

Jamie Christine Lim is a Filipino Karateka and SEA Games gold medal champion in the women's kumite.