I see ads for a Martial Arts Bible every once in a while, and it’s a clever ad. I mean, the concept for a book that answers all questions, it’s a good one, and it’s needed. Here are a list of books which I think are close, with the last one really hitting the button.

The first book to be considered would be Karate Do Kyohan: The Master Text, by Gichin Funakoshi. The reason this book has to be considered is because it was the first to really offer a comprehensive look at the eastern fighting disciplines. Of course, it is slanted towards Karate, and it offers techniques and forms without real explanation, but it is a good book.

I almost feel guilty, giving out a few martial arts dirty tricks, when such things as Karate and Kung Fu really stand for honor and virtue. The sordid news, however, is that if you have to use your martial skill outside the training hall, fighting dirty may save your life. That said, here’s a few nasty, little things I’ve learned over the years that will help you walk away, and make him cry.

When it come to martial arts explosive power one has to consider the concept of Fa Jing. This is the simple gut oomph that makes such arts as Karate, Shaolin, Tai Chi, and other traditional martial arts superior to sports such as boxing. This is not to speak ill pugilism, this is just to say that there is a theory that, if followed, will make an art out of a sport, and will create a superior human being.

Eight forms is all that is really necessary to earn a Martial Arts Black Belt, and this is in karate, or taekwondo, or kenpo, or even the many shaolin systems and other fighting arts. Of course the kata must be of the correct kind to be effective. A good example of this is found in Karate, which descended from Kung Fu, and from which developed both Kenpo and Taekwondo.

In Kenpo, Aikido or ninjitsu there is a certain length of time that it should take to earn a black belt. These things are pretty much standard, but have been wildly abused by martial arts systems. Still, it is possible, if you understand certain basic facts about the fighting arts, to make your system easy to learn in a couple of years.

Black Belt rankings were begun by Judo Master Jigoro Kano. Master Kano is supposed to have based his system on rankings used by swimming clubs. Karate clubs in Japanese Universities borrowed this ranking system.

The original karate system is supposed to have been based on only two belts, white belt and black belt. As more and more people came to study, two more belts were added, green belt and brown belt. Eventually Chinese American Kenpo was devised by Karate pioneer Ed Parker, and the number of colored belts grew greatly.

There will be preferences when it comes time to learn Martial Arts, but there are also a couple of things that are fairly obvious, and that we will be able to agree on. Interestingly, I came across this information many years ago, and have used it myself. It deals with analyzing the worth of media in transmitting data. The worst way to absorb data is through the movies or TV. This is because the martial art techniques that you will see on the silver screen, whether it is the art of Bruce Lee, Jackie Chan, or whoever, has been altered for the camera. Yes, it may look fantastic, but stuntmen and camera cuts are making it look good.