Karate in the Olympics, How to Defend Against a Chainsaw and More: This Week in Martial Arts

It’s fun producing a podcast, but it’s hard to squeeze all the great martial arts content I see on there. That’s why I’m introducing my new feature, This Week in Martial Arts.

In case you missed them, here are a few cool – and fun! – martial arts videos and articles I found this week.

Worried about being attacked by a chainsaw? Read through this StackExchange thread for some tips, I guess. It keeps coming through my weekly digest, so it must be important, right? The highest-voted answer contains a real gem in it, I think: “If you find yourself in this situation,” he says, “you are likely going to die.”

“Try to not be an asshole sometimes.” Bullying takes many different forms. This Cracked video shows some instances where people meant well, but wound up coming off like jerks anyway. Think before you act. Try not to be an asshole sometimes.

Here are 10 ways you might not have known that Okinawan karate is different than Japanese karate. If you’re considering joining a martial arts program, look at Jesse Enkamp’s blog first. Or, if you’re like me, and you’ve only done one nation’s version of the art, gain a different perspective.

New to chin na? So am I. This book will help you get started.

Karate bidding for 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo

Karate and wushu are looking to enter the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, according to Yahoo. Karate has lost previous bids for the 2012 and 2016 Games.

Every move in kata has a purpose, says Kris Wilder. If you train in forms, kata, poomsae, whatever, read this. This book (written with Lawrence A. Kane) opened my eyes to the depth and breadth of martial arts when I was 16 years old.

Master Ken is back this week to show us how to catch two punches. “Luckily, if you know Amerido-te, it ain’t no big deal.”

Rules can change styles. Jack Slack takes a look at styles such as MMA, sanshou, lethwei, and how their rules have influenced their development over the years. And if you don’t know what those styles are (like I didn’t before I read this), this neat article introduces you to them. (VICE’s Fightland)

I’ve been to two Iain Abernethy seminars, and during one of them, he talked about a martial artist doing a form that had a hop in it. Iain asked about the hop, which didn’t appear to have any practical self-defense application. After some investigation, he found out the hop was included because the person who developed the form had a pole in the middle of the workout area – the hop was to move away from the poll before proceeding with the next move of the form.

Rules can change styles, and so can environments, it would seem.

On my upcoming podcast, I welcome Sensei Jim Price. To be among the first to know when it’s published, subscribe for free to The Martial Arts Podcast.

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By Adam Bockler

Adam Bockler is a B2B marketing professional, a black belt martial arts instructor, DDP Yoga instructor, and a personal trainer.