Martial Arts Clothing

Review by Andrew Baye:

There is no secret to skill in the martial arts. If you want to get better at something, you have to spend time practicing it. In Solo Training, Loren Christensen provides literally hundreds of solo drills and routines for practicing a wide variety of martial arts skills and developing the physical and mental attributes necessary to apply them effectively when it counts.Although many martial artists may be familiar with a large number of the drills and exercises in the book, I believe that everybody will find dozens of new ways to improve their solo training among the hundreds covered, or ways to make their solo training more interesting.If you’re not doing extra training on your own outside of your classes, you should be – you lazy slacker. This book will help to get you started, and keep you motivated. Other books by Loren Christensen you should check out are The Fighter’s Fact Book and The Way Alone.

Review by L. A. Kane:

Most practitioners think that training in the dojo is fun. Many feel that training by themselves bites. Not only is there no one to help you, there is also no one to motivate you. Regardless, while tandem drills (e.g., bunkai, kumite, randori) are pretty much impossible to do on your own, some things are best practiced outside of formal class, especially where you need to focus on improving deficiencies that may not be shared with the rest of the class. If you really want to progress, you need to be able to effectively train alone.

Loren Christensen’s excellent work provides numerous tips, techniques, and exercises to get the most out of your solo training. A common complaint that my new students relate is that they are afraid to train outside of class for fear of learning techniques incorrectly. They think that unlearning bad habits is far worse than doing nothing at all so they do not practice on their own. Believe me, with this fine text even beginners can benefit. There is nothing earth-shattering here, just solid practical advice.

Lawrence Kane

Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

Review by S. Peek:

‘Living the Martial Way’ is a valuable book that should be read by serious martial artists.

The author explores a wide range of issues including the mental/’spiritual’ aspects, history, philosophy, strategy/tactics, and many others. This work is particularly valuable to those who do not have the good fortune to have an instructor who is a traditionalist. Those martial artists who have such a teacher have undoubtedly gotten a dose of most of the best of this volume. Those without such a mentor will doubly benefit from Morgan’s instruction.

Here is the breakdown of this book as I see it:

The Good

—————-

1. Lots of interesting history.

2. Excellent material on the ethical principles, loyalty, honor, etc.

3. Philosophical roots of the martial arts.

4. The benefits of training, particularly as it applies to seeking ecellence in other areas of one’s life.

5. A good section on strategy and tactics.

6. Excellent commentary on internal vs. external motivations.

7. A good response to religious based objections to martial arts training.

The Not So Good

——————–

1. Too much discussion of ‘face’ including some rationalization for inappropriate responses to a loss of face.

2. Some discussion of revenge and suicide that should have been treated strictly as historical instead of some weak justification of these as applied to the modern world.

3. The author is rather elitist in his view of warriors being superior to pretty much everyone else on the planet. Although this part included some good observations, it was overdone.

Overall, I would recommend this book for any martial artist. Additionally, I think that a lot of the information would be interesting and valuable even to non ‘warriors’.

Review by K.H.:

This book is a masterpiece. It is a great guide for the martial artist and fills in many gaps in his or her training. For example, Morgan has a chapter on Honor. He is right when he states that we in the martial arts “world” hear the word “honor” often, but, never have its definition articulated to us. He gives a groundwork of tenets (obligation, justice, and courage)and builds a thesis as to why these tenets are important to martial artist of all belt ranks. Even though I think his tenets are incomplete, but neverless insightful; it is a great start, and he is the first to forcefully lay down such a well reasoned view.The book is full of training ideas and incorperating the martial arts into one’s “everyday” life. I often refer to this book when I have not lived up to one of the tenets and strive to be a better martial artist and after reading this book, a better man.

Review by Adam:

I’ve used these for a while now, and they seem to be holding up well. Only complaint is I wish it had a velcro adjustable wriststrap to really lock them on to your hands. I find myself constantly having to re-adjust them since there’s no adjustment available.

Review by M. Catron:

Just ordered 2 of these and they are pretty good, as punch mits go. About 12 x 12 and big enough to hide large size hands. You usually get what you pay for, but in this case, you might be getting the better end of the deal. I would like to have had adjustable wrist straps, but the padded ones on the back provide adiquate grip. The “glove” can be worn on either hand. But we will see after several months of punching/kicking, I might have to order and replace.

Review by Annie Van Auken:

Some of the titles in MARTIAL ARTS 50 MOVIE PACK are so obscure, very little information could be gotten about them. A couple of selections here are from a long-forgotten American TV series. There’s even a few spaghetti-karate films thrown into the mix. The majority however originate in the Far East: Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan and the Philippines.

Lots of choreography went into the making of these movies; undoubtedly, there were a few unintentional injuries along the way, too. The action and pratfalls are non-stop and the plots mere window dressing for the foot-to-head combat scenes. For all martial arts fans these cinematic slugfests are sure-to-please.

Overall rating was achieved by averaging out viewer polling on 42 of these titles. Based on a film resource website’s 1 to 10 scoring system, the current rating for MARTIAL ARTS is: 4.8.

The following alphabetized program list includes individual poll scores, original theatrical names (where indicated), country of origin, years of release and primary performers.

(5.0) The Big Fight (Taiwan/Hong Kong-1972) – Roc Tien/Cheung Chin Chin

(4.0) Black Cobra (Italy-1987) – Fred Williamson/Eva Grimaldi

(5.1) Black Cobra 2 (Italy-1988) – Fred Williamson/Nicholas Hammond

(4.5) Black Cobra 3 (Italy-1988) – Fred Williamson/Forry Smith

(4.8) Black Fist (1975) – Richard Lawson/Dabney Coleman/Philip Michael Thomas

(2.7) The Black Godfather (1974) – Rod Perry/Damu King

(4.4) The Brave Lion (1977) – Wei Tzi Yung

(3.9) Breakout From Oppression (1978) – Fonda Lynn/Alan Tam

(2.7) Chase Step By Step (China-1982) – Chee Fung/Wong Gwan Sheong

(???) City Ninja (1986) – Wai-Man Chan/Chia Che Fu

(6.6) The Deadly Duo (Hong Kong-1971) – David Chiang/Chuen Chan

(2.2) Death Machines (1976) – Ronald L. Marchini/Michael Chong

(5.6) Death Of A Ninja (“Black Magic Wars”) (Japan-1982) – Hiroyuki Sanada/Sonny Chiba (in support)

(4.0) Fighting Mad (“Death Force”) (USA/Philippines-1978) – Jayne Kennedy/Leon Isaac Kenndey (both minor roles)

(6.1) Four Robbers (Hong Kong-1987) – Charlie Cho/Feng Ku

(5.1) Four Shaolin Challengers (Homg Kong-1977) – Charlie Chan/Phillip Ko

(3.7) The Guy With The Secret Kung Fu (Hong Kong-1981) – Sally Chen/Fei Meng

(3.9) Hands Of Death (Hong Kong-1987) – Richard Harrison/Roc Tien

(3.6) The Head Hunter (Hong Kong-1982) – Rosamund Kwan

(4.6) Heroes of Shaolin Part 1 (Hong Kong-1979) – Sing Chen/Jang Lee Hwang

(4.6) Heroes of Shaolin Part 2 (Hong Kong-1979) – Sing Chen/Jang Lee Hwang

(4.3) Image Of Bruce Lee (1978) – Bruce Li/Chang Leih

(8.1) The Impossible Kid (Philippines-1982) – Weng Weng

(5.5) Infernal Street (Taiwan/Hong Kong-1973) – Feng Chang/Wan Hsi Chin

(4.7) Karate Kids USA (“The Little Dragons”) (1980) – Charles Lane/Ann Sothern

(6.6) Kung Fu Arts (Taiwan-1980) – Carter Wong/Sing Chen

(7.8) Kung Fu Kids Break Away (Hong Kong-1980) – Au Dai/Cheung Hoi Fan

(???) The Master (series): “Max” (TV-1984) – Lee Van Cleef/Timothy Van Patten/Sho Kosogi/Demi Moore (bit part)

(???) The Master (series): “Out-Of-Time Step” (TV-1984) – Charles Collins/Dick Durock

(2.9) Ninja Champion (Hong Kong-1985) – Bruce Baron/Pierre Tremblay

(5.1) Ninja Death I (1987) – Alexander Lou/Fei Meng

(???) Ninja Death II (1987) – Lo Yiu/Fei Ming

(???) Ninja Death III (1987) – Lo Yui/Fei Ming

(2.3) Ninja Empire (Hong Kong-1990) – Mike Abbott/Marko Ritchie

(???) Ninja Heat (1988) – Chan Sheng/Chan Wai Mang

(3.2) Ninja The Protector (Canada/Hong Kong-1986) – Richard Harrison/Jackie Chan

(6.0) The Real Bruce Lee (Hong Kong-1973) – Bruce Lee/Bruce Li/Dragon Lee

(4.9) Return Of The Kung Fu Dragon (Hong Kong-1976) – Sing Chen/Tao Chen

(6.1) Return Of The Street Fighter (Japan-1974) – Sonny Chiba/Yôko Ichiji

(6.7) Shadow Ninja (Hong Kong-1983) – Roy Chiao/Wei Tung

(5.7) Shaolin Deadly Kicks (“Flash Legs”) (Hong Kong-1977) – Tao-liang Tan/Lieh Lo

(7.3) Shaolin Temple (Hong Kong-1976) – Sheng Fu/Kuan-Chun Chi

(5.7) Sister Street Fighter (Japan-1974) – Hiroshi Miyauchi/Sanae Ohba

(3.4) Snake Fist Dynamo (Homg Kong-1984) – Erik Yee/Dick Lee

(???) The Snake, The Tiger, The Crane (Hong Kong-1975) – Carter Wong/Nan Hsi Yen

(5.2) Spirits Of Bruce Lee (Hong Kong-1973) – Michael Chan/Poon Lok

(6.9) The Street Fighter (Japan-1974) – Sonny Chiba/Waichi Yamada

(???) Tiger Love (1977) – Hu Chin/Lieh Lo/Ya Wang

(4.0) T.N.T. Jackson (Philippines/USA-1975) – Jeannie Bell/Stan Shaw

(3.3) The Weapons Of Death (1982) – Eric Lee/Bob Ramos

Review by Lo Wang:

This collection is well worth every penny you’ll spend on it, as long you enjoy this film genre. Personally, these movies evoke more laughter for me than most of the comedies being currently released. Some of the movies don’t really qualify as martial arts movies – in particular, I’m referring to Black Cobra 1, 2, and 3 – three of the worst movies ever made. These movies, starring former NFL player Fred “The Hammer” Williamson would more appropriately be categorized as action movies, although there isn’t a Hell of a lot of action in them. I digress. The point is that there are maybe 3 punches thrown in the entire first movie. It’s definitely not a martial arts movie. Most of the movies in this collection, however, are exactly what you would expect. In particular, there are three movies, Ninja Death 1, 2, and 3 that are so awful that they border on greatness. I’m not a film student, so I couldn’t tell you what the filming technique is called wherein the “actors” fight in slow-motion, and then the film is sped up to make the fights look like they are taking place at a normal speed. The director of these Ninja Death movies sped the fights up too much, and the result is that every battle looks like an episode of the Benny Hill show. I put these kind of crappy movies on at night to fall asleep to (spaghetti westerns and cheesy horror flicks work well also), but Ninja Death kept me awake and laughing. None of the movies in this collection are big budget – they are all old, and the sound and picture quality is poor, but that adds, not detracts, to the experience of watching them. If you “get” these kinds of films, you absolutely can’t go wrong spending the money on this collection.

Review by R. Jernigan:

It’s not a *bad* book about stretching, and does contain some 200 exercises–even if half of them are about as complex as ‘lace your fingers together, palms out, and push your hands away from your body’ (my paraphrase).

What really bothers me, though, is a pair of problems:

First, the book mentions almost casually that static stretching (touch your toes and hold the position) has almost no correlation with functional stretching (how high can you side kick?). In the next paragraph it states quite clearly that martial artists should be focused on improving functional stretching–that static stretching is largely useless except for rehabilitation.

Now, even if that *isn’t* poppycock–which I’m not qualified to judge, but it does sound flaky–one would think that this book, intended for martial artists, would therefore proceed to focus on other kinds of stretching. No: the vast majority of the exercises are static stretches. So either the advice is flawed or the book’s target audience is wrong.

A second issue is PNF stretching. The book goes to some effort to push PNF as the most effective, best stretching technique: over and over, the refrain is that one should work towards incorporating PNF stretching into your workout as soon as is feasible (it’s not for beginners).

But just as soon as you’ve become convinced of the benefits of PNF stretching, the book goes on to state–and here I’ll quote–”Because PNF stretching requires detailed hands-on instruction and guidance, PNF stretching variations are not included in the exercise descriptions”. In other words, the book says pretty clearly, “This is what you want, and this book doesn’t describe it.”

I’m disappointed that I bought this book, and can’t say I’d recommend it to others.

Review by L. A. Kane:

If you have been doing martial arts for a while you probably won’t learn any new exercises but you will truly understand not only why they work, but more importantly how to make the most of them. Important anatomical information is distilled in a way that just about anyone can readily understand and use. This book is well laid-out and illustrated effectively to convey the information. It is holistic and thorough. Although at my age I will probably never be able to do the splits, it has measurably improved my flexibility. Great book!

Lawrence Kane

Author of Surviving Armed Assaults, The Way of Kata, and Martial Arts Instruction

Review by Erik Olson:

I’ve been looking for a martial arts based workout on DVD for my home fitness routine. But besides the various kickboxing titles like Tae Bo, “Budokon for Beginners” was the only one I found. The good reviews prompted me to take a chance on it. I was delighted with “Budokon for Beginners,” and ended up getting more than I bargained for.

The workout begins with yoga, goes into martial arts, and ends with a Qigong meditation. The overall workout is good, and I wish it were longer. But it’s quite effective on its own if you’re pressed for time, or even better if you combine it with another activity (like 20 minutes on a stationary bike, for example). Cameron Shayne’s instruction is great – he cues well and is easy to follow. As both a yoga newbie and black-belt level martial arts practitioner, I felt comfortable with his teaching.

In the martial arts portion, he uses real techniques and stances such as the front kick and Cat stance. It’s the closest I’ve seen to the real deal on a mainstream video workout. That’s not surprising, given Mr. Shayne’s background as a high-ranking black belt instructor. Indeed, it was almost like being in an actual Karate class. The bulk of the martial arts section consists of straight punches and front kicks from stances, which are among the first techniques we teach to new students at our dojo. With that in mind, as a Karate Sensei I would recommend this DVD for folks planning to begin a martial arts class, or even for current practitioners. The yoga will help build core strength and flexibility, also important for martial artists.

Speaking of yoga, “Budokon for Beginners” turned out to be a good investment in more ways than one. Besides its faithfulness to martial arts technique, it was my first exposure to yoga. I never thought I’d get into it, but this DVD led me to investigate yoga and add it to my workout regimen. As a result, I’ve enjoyed a number of yoga workouts by Rodney Yee, Baron Baptiste, and others. It’s always nice to get turned on to a new thing that’s good for you. Along those lines, I’ve also purchased Gaiam’s “T’ai Chi Beginning Practice” and “Qigong Beginning Practice.” So far I’ve been happy with the Gaiam line of workout DVDs and yoga equipment.

NOTE: The Gaiam website indicates that Cameron Shayne has a Budokon weight loss system nearing release that includes three workouts. From what I’ve seen in “Budokon for Beginners”, I’ll be purchasing it as soon as it’s available. UPDATE 10/11/05: If you have this DVD, you don’t need “Budokon for Weight Loss.” The workout portions are very similar. See my review of it for more details.

Review by Jennifer Ortiz:

This is a great workout that combines yoga, martial arts, and meditation. Cameron Shayne is a great instructor. He is clear and his demonstrations are easy to follow. I’m not the most athletic person and this is my first try at yoga, so I would put this DVD at beginner to intermediate. If I can do it, well, anyone can. I actually purchased the DVD directly from his website and he sent the DVD autographed. I thought that was a great personal touch.

This is also a great workout for someone who is short on time. The instructional version is about 40 minutes, or you can do the workout without instruction. I haven’t tried that one yet, but after doing the workout for a week, I think I’m ready to give it try.

I do hope that he comes out with another more advanced workout soon.

Review by E. J Tastad:

Pros:

Quality construction/materials

Wide waist band

Cons:

Might be snug if you are on the heavy side

Who should buy the medium weight uniform? Anyone looking for a nice upgrade to the cheap do balk/Gi most classes provide, but still have a light enough uniform to train in.

These Century medium weight pants are a great upgrade to the semi transparent “student” pants. They feel heavy without being to abrasive or restricting. The elastic waist band is wide enough so it doesn’t roll down down my waste as I train, but there is no flexibility in the waist size. If you are on the heavy side the uniform won’t stretch over a large belly, get a slightly larger size than you need and hem the legs. High quality material and well made.

Review by Helen Perez:

I loved this item. Sizes were exactly as stated. I actually like these pants better than what they sell at the karate studio where my grandson goes. I definitely plan on buying more as we need them.