The face of the martial arts as we know it today has change dramatically since 9-11. Just look at the front cover of America’s oldest and leading martial arts magazine “Black Belt” and you will notice the transformation. Before 9-11 the cover of “Black Belt” was adorn by traditional uniform wearing tournament winners and Asian Masters. Today most covers will show you people in regular street clothing or military tactical gear demonstrating practical techniques or good all American Hand to Hand Combat.
Let’s take a historical look at the growth and change of the martial arts in America. 3 years ago at the NAPMA World Conference which I attend every year as a speaker they put together a film that showed the evolution of the martial arts in America through the pages of “Black Belt”. This was a thrill for me since I started reading “Black Belt” in 1972 and I still have these issues today. In the sixties when the magazine was launched most of the articles were about Judo the most populated and popular martial art in the country and an Olympic sport.
In the late sixties and early seventies they began writing about the of the great American Karate pioneers Peter Urban, USA Goju, Robert Trias, Shurei Ryu and the father of American Karate Ed Parker American Kenpo. Parker was a good friend of Elvis Presley and his instructor. Another pioneer of that era gracing the pages of Black Belt magazine was Jhon Rhee the father of American Tae Kwon Do. Mr. Rhee and Bruce Lee shared their knowledge by cross training. The seventies were also known as the blood and guts era where great tournament champions like Chuck Norris and Joe Lewis emerged. This was a time where children Black Belts were a rarity and news worthy. Women that studied martial arts were also featured even though they had not reached the coveted Black Belt. In the seventies a new word was brought to our vocabulary Kung Fu. I can still remember as a young Judo student missing class that day to see David Carradine star as the renegade Shaolin monk Kwai Chan Cain. Right after that the world’s most recognized martial artist a Chinese American Bruce Lee changed the face of the American cinema with his chop suey Kung Fu movies.
The eighties changed the martial arts forever with the Karate Kid movies. Parents flocked with their children to the local martial arts schools so they could be just like the Karate Kid’s Danielson. To their surprise there were not many Mr. Miyagi’s (the humble Japanese Master) most schools resembled his nemesis school the Cobra Kai. Thanks to Mr. Miyagi’s teachings in the Karate Kid is where we get the more progressive child friendly martial arts school’s of today. The eighties also brought us the Ninja movies. Throughout the eighties the martial arts continued to influence Hollywood.
The nineties were truly a time of martial arts renaissance. First came the Muscle from Brussels Jean Claude Van Dame. Then Steven Segal entered introducing the reality based style of Aikido to the silver screen. What really changed the martial arts was the arrival of the Brazilian Jujitsu Family the Gracie’s starting and winning the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Challenge). The UFC was the closes thing to a real street fight. They proved what Bruce Lee had said in the seventies that traditional martial arts were very limited. By the end of the nineties the American fighters went beyond the Gracie’s by cross training in good old American Wrestling, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Kickboxing. American's mixed martial artist have both won and trained numerous UFC and Mix Martial Arts Champions. Today crossed trained American Fighters rule the UFC and the Mixed Martial arts Arenas. Today in 2005 Spike TV's highest rated show The Ultimate Fighter show's us America's fascination with mixed martial arts. In the late nineties Billy Blanks brought the martial arts to main stream America with his Tae Bo infomercial's. This brought millions of women into the martial arts.
In the beginning of the 21 century with the cowardice and brutal attack on our nation on 9-11 martial arts training changed forever. The U.S. Army and Marine Corps have reinstated hand to hand combat in their training. Today Black Belt magazine features articles on World War II hand to hand combat, Israeli, Russian, Filipino and American Military Combative styles. These are war and street proven systems with names like Gutter Fighting, Krav Maga, Defendo, Gung Ho Chuan, ROSS and Haganah F.I.G.H.T. which use the best techniques from all styles. Our World War II veterans beat the Germans and the Japanese in hand to hand combat in the battle fields and Bruce Lee prophesied about its use. As a proud American and a former Marine I feel proud to say that the martial arts in America are the best in the World.
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