‘Featured Articles’ Archives
The Hikuta Lie: The Documentary Jack “Savage” Sellner Doesn’t Want You To See
Recently, one The Martialist's "martialmentaries," which are video mini-documentaries originally published on YouTube, was "rejected" due to a copyright infringement claim from Hikuta Enterprises. I briefly considered fighting to have the video reinstated on YouTube... but it occurred to me that the attempt by Jack "Savage" Sellner to silence [...]
Frank Dux Interview (Or, “Get A Word in Edgewise”)
Frank Dux seems to be everywhere these days. He gave a series of interviews recently, both by himself and in the company of Ashida Kim and some fellow travelers, to Bob Carson. After being wherever he was and doing whatever it is he does for the last several years, the "secret man" has resurfaced to address the various criticisms that have dogged [...]
Do I Know What I’m Talking About?
Do I know what I'm talking about? Did I back when The Martialist was founded? Do I now? Do I yet? Stating any opinion on the Internet invites criticism. Stating any opinion on the martial arts or on fighting invites that much more criticism. Ego and the sciences of self defense cannot be separated, for too many people derive [...]
Who Was Count Dante?
The ads in the back of comic books proclaimed him “The Deadliest Man Alive.” In them, for a mere 4 dollars and 98 cents, the reader was promised “the FORBIDDEN and SECRET training manual of the BLACK DRAGON FIGHTING SOCIETY,” the “DEADLIEST and most TERRIFYING fighting art known to man – and WITHOUT EQUAL. Its MAIMING, MUTILATING, [...]
The Myth of “52 Blocks” or “Jailhouse Rock”
52 Blocks. Jailhouse Rock. Known by these and other names, such as Comstock or Closing Gates, 52 Blocks is alleged by those who promulgate its myth to be a prison fighting system -- a martial art practiced in the penal system of the United States, either developed within its walls or brought to them by unjustly imprisoned descendants of [...]
Why the Kerambit?
Why do some knives become fads? There are plenty of reasons. The Rambo movies made hollow-handle survival knives all the rage back in the 1980s. Theorizing over a lockback stiletto supposedly purchased by OJ Simpsons made that knife a best-seller during the publicity surrounding Simpson's murder trial. Any and all forms of "tactical folder" swept [...]
The Power Slap
One of the dangers of striking to the head of a human being is that the skull and jaw (with teeth in it) present some very real dangers to the striking hand. One can easily break a closed fist when hitting the skull. Punching someone in the mouth can cut you badly -- or leave the other party's teeth embedded in your hand. (Nasty infections [...]
Roderick Scott Trial: What’s Wrong with New York?
His name is Roderick Scott. He's a 42-year-old black man with the build of a football player. He also holds a New York State Pistol Permit, or he did until recently. In fact, until April of this year, he kept a .40-caliber semiautomatic pistol readily to hand. Whether that pistol has been returned to him by now, and whether he still [...]
Pocket Sticks for Self-Defense
Five or six inches of wood, plastic, or metal doesn't seem like much, does it? A dowel not much bigger than an ergonomic writing pen is actually among one of the most effective close-quarters self-defense weapons you probably aren't carrying. Innocuous, usually legal, and very useful, the pocket stick is an accessory that everyone can [...]
Fitness and Self-Defense
It's extremely popular in certain circles to make public declarations of one's devotion to fitness and conditioning. Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) enthusiasts in particular tend to engage in these histrionics (as do those scrawny or otherwise out-of-shape Ultimate Fighting Championship groupies who revere and aspire to become MMA exponents). This is by [...]
