do any of you read black belt magazine???? i do and i just love it!!!!!!!!!!! *I miss you SurgingShark* thanks for ignoring me lol BLACK BELT MAGAZINE ROCKS!!!!!!!!!!!
MCDOJO CRAP? could you please explain that 2 me thanks... hey.... my master aint a mcdojo or else i would'nr be reading this magazine.
Make sure you when you read something its with an open mind. All of these so called 9th and tenth dans with they're own "new" style of martial arts with their "secret" death touches and such is all crap. Take anything you read out of Black Belt and Tae Kwon Do times with a big grain of salt....
i noticed there is a lot of ads for "OFFICIAL SUPER SECRET TRAINING SYSTEMS" from "EX special forces" and stuff like that its kinda a joke ne1 know of a good mag though?
I always read MArtial Arts Illustrated by Bob Sykes and crew. Not only is Mr Sykes a respected MA's also looks at every topic thoroughly but also with an open mind. I thought Black belt was ok, but prefered MAI. Tae Kwon
Black belt is OK, I read it when I was younger, I still browse through it from time to time, IMHO the most valuable sections are the monthly columns. The articles are too short and too broad most of the time.
I read a few magazines here and there. I subscribe to Black Belt, which I usually find as a pretty good read, although usually too general or staged for much of the applications. It's still a pretty good read. I used to read "Martial And Combat Arts" or whatever the tile was.. they ended and replaced my subscription with "Grappling" Magazine. This magazine is Okay, but a lot of the stuff is pretty general or staged, Also, half the magazine is Matt Furey's ad and/or columns and results from BJJ competitions. Some of it is pretty fun to read, but I probably won't re-new. Sometimes I pick up a copy of Taekwondo Times or Inside Kung Fu, sometimes they have good stuff and sometimes not. I tried reading "Budo International" and some of the related issues. I really didn't care for these... tended to be mostly pictures of stuff that I most likely wouldn't use myself. I like reading magazines and sometimes get ideas from them. Mostly I read them for entertainment purposes and to keep my mind open before going to class. Of all the magazines I read, I like Black Belt the best personally.
I love reading magazines, and I agree that blackbelt, while entertaining, is a little on the crappy side of things. Best MA magazine I get is "Inside Kung Fu." Even if you don't practice CMA it is chock full of interesting stuff.
Another one that I read is Classical Fighting Arts put out by Dragon Times. Their website if not familiar is www.dragon-tsunami.org .
Dragon Times rules!!!!!!! Black Belt was good but now is crap for McDojo masters to invest in........ Anyone else hear that Dragon times went into a new name?
I subscribe to Blackbelt, and mostly just read the opinion parts, and the letters. I don't even attempt to learn techniques from the magazines, but sometimes I'll see one and say, "oh we do that," or "That looks really dumb to me." The articles where people explain their style as more realistic, or ours is better because we do such and such irritate me. On a final note there are way to many ads in these magazines, it's ridiculous. Especially the "I can make you defeat anyone on the street overnight, if you buy my 10 video set for $500, and I bet people buy them too.
I read it sometimes. More just for something to do, I find that almost the whole mag. is all advertisements. Which kind of makes me mad but what do you do, I guess they need to get money from somewhere and that is where they get theirs from.
Every time we work on techniques in class and something does'nt work or we decide that it is just plain silly someone will say "send this technique to BBMagazine. They will love it" By looking at the magazine from time to time I learn that the tequniques my sensei teaches are so supperior to any of those described in BB Mag. I feel sorry for anybody that tries to use some of the Mag techniques in real situations. Or I should really send my condolences to their families who are mourning their passing.
My favorite ad in Black Belt is the full page ad that has a headline something like this "Tennesee Mountain Man Discovers Ancient Chinese Secrets of Chi Force and Manhood Enhancement" I gotta meet this guy.
