Korea has taekwondo, Brazil has capoeira, the Philippines has arnis – a martial art is a truly unique and inspired choice for a national sport. Turkey’s own choice of oil wrestling is no different – it traces its roots back to ancient times, when wrestling was very much a dominant sport in the region. Oil…
Jailhouse Rock, also known as 52 blocks or 52s is a collective term used to describe the fighting styles the evolved out of the US penal institutions…or in layman’s terms 52 hand blocks is basically a martial art created out of prison house brawls. If anyone has watched Prison Break, you’ll known how brutal prison…
Wing Chun is regarded as one of the best martial arts in the world. Invented by nuns in ancient China, this fighting style focuses on self-defense and fitness. With grabs and kicks and punches, this tradition is powerful and in the right (or wrong) hands, it can be an almost unstoppable force of power and…
If you’ve ever been out to a club you’ll have seen the bouncers at the door and lurking near the bar. Huge, full of muscle and usually balding (sorry but it’s true!), these men often have a darker history than just working at your local 90s night. Police officers, army vets, bodybuilders, bodyguards – the…
Discussions about the honorary black belt have risen again after the World University Taekwondo Federation (WUTF) bestowed a black belt to none other than Philippines President, Rodrigo Duterte and his special assistant Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go. The offering happened during President Duterte’s official visit to South Korea earlier this week, after the WUTF governor, Kim…
A lot of people learn martial arts to discover how to defend themselves, and with MMA increasingly in the spotlight, they’re going to ask; is it as useful in a real fight as it looks on the screen? MMA is a martial art, and also a combat sport. There’s a lot of debate between…
Sometimes the inevitable will happen. A fight breaks out, someone is bad mouthing someone else and before you know it, a knuckle sandwich is served to you on a plate. There is no way to stop a punch from hurting, but if you’re in a situation where a fist is incoming, you should at least…
For those of you who don’t know him, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been one of the most successful players of the last decade. He has won league titles with over six different teams in four different countries and has well over 400 goals under his belt (or is it boots?). Football fans the world over will…
MMA fighters can come from a wide range of backgrounds, from jiu-jitsu to taekwondo to wrestling. To prepare against all kinds of opponents, it’s important for a mixed martial artist to have different techniques in his or her arsenal. Punches are a cornerstone of competitive fighting, and there is more than one way to effectively…
While more popular martial arts such as muay thai, karate, and judo were typically born in Asia, or at least find their roots therein, there is are martial arts all over the world with less exposure, but are far older than these disciplines. Among these ancient and lesser-known arts is Abir, the oldest martial art…