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.

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.

Do you want a really powerful Karate kick! A kick so strong you could kick a bully in the belly and make him puke his potatoes? A kick so strong that a mule runs in panic when he sees you coming?

Well, you can certainly make yourself one of those kicks! In fact, all of your kicks have the potential to be that strong! All you have to do is construct one, little training device.

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.

Shotokan Karate is one of the four major karates styles in the world, so many systems are derived from this style, and thus are contaminated with some very incorrect concepts. Thus, whether you study Shito ryu, Isshin Ryu, Kyokushinkai, or any system that has the Heian forms as a base, you probably are making the errors I am listing in this article. It doesn’t mean your karate stance is bad, it just means if you make a couple of tweaks you can make it better.

I know that whenever I write one of these pieces on Mixed Martial Arts I am going to get hate mail, but the truth is the truth, and one can only hope to rescue the misbegotten. That bit of drab aside, I actually love MMA, especially the UFC grudge fights. There is enough Roman in me to enjoy the circus.

Now, the main reason such venues as Strike Force and the venerable Ultimate Fighting Championships aren’t art is because of a lack of control. When Joe Beatemup is mounting Billy Mouthpiece and the announcer is praising his control, take it with a grain of salt. The contest, you see is real, and the control is pretty shaky at best.

This secret move is actually inside karate fighting systems, as well as kung fu fighting systems, or just about any martial art you might know. This is because it is a basic motion of the arms. This basic motion, once one knows it, will give rise to virtually all the techniques of the martial arts.

Assume a natural stance, feet shoulder width and extend the arms straight out to the front. Bend the arms slightly and make circles with the arms in a clockwise manner. The circles should be about three feet wide, and should overlap each other slightly.