Dojo - Jiu-Jitsu

Country: USA
Town: Vero Beach, Florida
Dojo's Name: Oslo Karate School
Type of Martial Art: Jiu-Jitsu
Contact Person: Pauletta Zeran
Contact Number: N/A
Email: N/A
Website: www.verobeachkarate.com

Introduction to Jeet Kune Do

JDK or more known as Jeet Kune Do if a philosophy developed by my Idol Mr. Bruce Lee, it was named in year 1967 after Master Lee merged in all his training from different schools to form Jeet Kune Do and he taught all his student the philosophy in developing this Martial Art which focus on simplicity, directness and adaptation to free the fighting style from limitations due to different styles of martial art.

Basically Jeet Kune Do is a school that focus on “The Style of No Style” Jeet Kune Do also focus on the centerline of both the opponent and the practitioner which was adopted from Wing Chun. This basically allow the practitioner to Attack and Counter at the fastest speed possible additional to Wing Chun The footwork of French Fencing plays as one of the main pillar for JKD as it is all about speed additional to it the exercise and punches taken from American Boxing. All this 3 is the “Core Pillar” to JKD with additional of mixtures from other styles of Martial Art.

Unfortunately to say the actual Martial Art that was opened by Master Lee was closed approx 2 years before his tragic death. All the rest of the Jeet Kune Do schools now are opened by Master Lee’s apprentices. JKD which was split into 2 Groups are Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do and Jeet Kune Do Concept Schools Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do are opened by Masters like Taky Kimura, Jerry Poteet, and Ted Wong where these Dojos claimed to teach only what was taught by Master Lee himself and encourages it’s practitioner to develop their styles from there through their abilities.

Where else the Jeet Kune Do Concept Schools has another approach where Masters like Larry Hartsell and Dan Inosanto strive to continue Master Lee’s philosophy of individual self-expression. Where the style that was taught continued to evolve up to today and the students evolve and grew with the school.

No matter which school you choose to join, JKD’s practitioner has 4 combat ranges which was evolved from different schools, the ranges are kicking, punching, trapping, grappling and all have to be practiced equally. Because all of the school focus on one same philosophy which is the “Style of No Style”

From The Pros - Taekwondo

Name: Ebony Washington

Type of Martial Arts: Taekwondo

Rank/ Belt: 1st Dan Black Belt

Years of Training: 5 years

How You Started: Well, I have always wanted to do Taekwondo since I was in 1st grade. It looked like fun and it was so cool. I had joined in 1st grade, but for some reason I never went back. I wasn't even a white belt yet though, but I knew I loved it. Years later, when I was 12, my little brother who was in 2nd grade, got a notice from his school that he brought home. It was a pamphlet for children interested in Taekwondo in our area. I was so overwhelmed and grateful. I honestly believe that that was a sign from God. It's like it came to me, like I was meant to do it, and it really was because I'm still in it now. I'm 17 now and I'm planning to stick with Taekwondo as long as I can walk! I love it. It's like no words can describe my passion for it, and honestly...I think I'm obsessed with it. It just means so much to me. Each time I got a different rank I felt so achieving and accomplished. BUT nothing beats the day I got my black belt...that was the happiest feeling on Earth. In Taekwondo when I leave my dojo, I feel so much power inside of me, and so energetic. I feel like I can punch a hole through a wall of break 5 pieces of wood. It's an amazing feeling.

Why this martial art is good: I think this martial art is good because it really teaches you to be focused and how to use your strength the right way. It also makes you very flexible and stronger. Taekwondo is the art of the fist and foot. I think that Taekwondo really focuses on that. Especially in our forms, and free style sparring. It also helps you with self defense.

Advice to Newbies: Take Taekwondoo. I guarantee that you'll fall in love with it just like I did.

From The Pros - Bokarto

Your Name: Antonio Graceffo

Type of martial arts: Bokarto, Muay Thai Boran, Boxing, Kuntaw

Your Rank / Belt: Black Belt

Years of Training: 31 years

How you started: I started training when I was 11 because I was very small and got beat up at school. So I started training with H. David Collins, he taught American Empty Hand Fighting, which was basically kick boxing with a kung fu background. From there, I went on to work with pro-boxing coaches. I boxed in the military. I had 45 fights and won 44. I went on to train for several professional fights but only had two pro fights, both in Asia. In 2001 I moved to asia and have been training nearly full time ever since, moving from country to country, training with different masters.

I host the web TV show, Martial Arts Odyssey, where I travel from country to country training in martial arts. Unlike the shows on Discovery channel is that my show is about my real life. These are real masters and they are people I really train with. I have lived in about ten countries in my life and we have filmed martial arts odyssey is about six or eight countries.

Why you think this martial art is good: the best martial arts for striking are Khmer boxing, Muay Thai, and western boxing. They are simple, practical martial arts that teach you to strike and to get hit. Kuntaw, Yaw Yan and Bokarto are arts that include some ground fighting and grappling. I am not an expert in ground fighting, MMA or BJJ is better for ground fighting. But it is good, if you like striking, to start with a boxing or kick boxing art and then use something like Kuntaw or Bokarto to transition into ground fighting and then go get real training in either wrestling or BJJ.

Other Advice for the newbies: It doesn’t matter what art you train. Just train hard. Train every day. Don’t drink alcohol, don’t smoke, don’t use drugs. Don’t commit crimes. Train with as many masters as you can, but train seriously with each one to the black belt or brown belt level. We will start the posting this soon and for us Bokarto is an art where not alot of people have heard of it, it would be good if we havecolums like this to intro to the new people

Antonio’s website http://speakingadventure.com/

Karate Uniforms

There is no clear guideline on the uniforms that a Karateka wears, some wear white and some black, and also the arrangement of the belt differs from schools / dojo.

Referring to Shotokan Karate Belt Structure from Sensei Robert, the colours start from:

White

Blue

Red

Orange

Yellow

Green

Purple

Purple with 2 White Stripes

Brown

Brown with 2 White Stripes

Brown with 2 Red Stripes

Black (Dan and above)

those with different schools and different colour structure, please inform us...

Thanks

Dojo - Wing Chun

Country: Philippines
Town: Angat, Bulacan
School Name: B&A White Tiger Kung Fu Academy and Fitness Centre/Wing Chun-Jutsu Martial Arts School
Type of Martial Art: Samut Sari Wing Chun/Jutsu
Contact Person; Sifu Robert Bridges
Contact Number: 09286968203 (Philippines) 904-667-0146 (United States)
Email: kungfuman74@yahoo.com
Website: Under Construction

Country: UK
Town: Hemel Hempstead
Dojo's Name: Wingtsun Hemel
Type of Martial Art: Wing Chun
Contact Person: Chris Watts
Contact Number: 0780 983 9527
Email: chriswatts@wthemel.co.uk
Website: www.wthemel.co.uk

Introduction to Wing Chun

Wing Chun or Yong Chun translates to “Forever Spring” is a 2 type Martial Art which has both close-range body combat and armed combat (Butterfly Sword and Long Pole), and the most famous Practitioner in this Martial Art is none other than my idol Mr. Bruce Lee which founded Jeet Kwan Do which compromise a mixture of few martial arts.

Most of the martial arts is named after the style they carry like the art of punch and kick or the art of sword except Wing Chun. Not all are familiar with the name Wing Chun Yim, but she is the Great Grandmaster of Wing Chun, legend says that Master Yim learns about martial arts from a Buddhist nun, Ng Mui from Shaolin due to a challenge from a local warloard and if Master Yim loses the challenge, she will be forced to marry him. And of course she won the challenge, and later she marries Bac-Chou Leung, and Master Leung was Master Yim’s first disciple and Master Leung was the one who named the martial art using his beloved’s wife’s name Wing Chun.

Wing Chun’s style of Martial Art is well known for it’s speed as it’s attack are targeted towards the straightest possible path to hit it’s opponent. I guess that is the same guideline that Jeet Kwan Do follows. I’m not trying to be bias here, but “most” female have less force than male Martial Artist when it comes to attack, therefore Wing Chun which originated from Master Yim focus on perfect timing on both the stance and movement to defeat the opponent rather than using force itself. Therefore Wing Chun is suitable for people who is weaker in strength as muscles and strength are not a requirement in this martial art.

Instead of having a big set of biceps, the art of Wing Chun believes that the winning chances will side the person with a better structure or stance. Wing Chun also trains the practitioner about being aware of their own body movement to maintain body balance so that one can recover quickly after avoiding an attack.

Chi Sao or sticking hands is most seen in Chinese Martial Arts Movies as this practice is used to develop the reflexes in Wing Chun. This practice help the practitioner to understand it’s opponent’s movement and to both attack and counter their opponent’s movement precisely and also to learn how to trap it’s opponent from moving into another attack.

Image taken from: davydoom.com