Black Belt contributor Stephen Quadros (left) gives the thumbs up to Michael C. Hall, the star of Showtime’s Dexter. The two will be appearing together Nov. 23 on the serial-killer drama. (Photo courtesy of Stephen Quadros)

Anthony De Longis  (Photo by Rick Hustead)

Whip Master Headed for TV

Anthony De Longis, Black Belt’s 2008 Weapons Instructor of the Year, will demonstrate his whip skills on The History Channel’s Extreme Marksmen 3. Scheduled to air in 2009, the program will showcase the martial artist’s prowess while standing and on horseback. Assisting him will be his wife, Dr. Mary De Longis.

“I’ll be facing an armed and armored combatant so I can unload the full power of the whip,” De Longis said. “And there will be a mounted face-to-face charge and an overtaking pursuit [during which I] cut targets from the hand of another ride at full gallop.”

“The speed and power of the whip at 1,400 feet per second, combined with the speed and power of a charging horse at 25 mph to 30 mph, require precise calculation and execution to deliver an accurate cut at the correct time while the window of opportunity rushes to close. It will be my toughest challenge to date, but it’s real skills in real time, just the way I like it. As martial artists, this is what we train to be able to achieve.”

Kung Fu Pumpkin
By Jon Sattler

Like many martial artists, Steve Santiago of Hamburg, New Jersey, turns to Bruce Lee for inspiration in all aspects of his life, including pumpkin carving. To honor the profound impact Lee’s had on his life, Santiago spent three hours creating an edible idol in his hero’s image.

Presidential candidate Barack Obama (Photo courtesy of Barack Obama’s campaign)

Barack Obama and Bruce Lee Embody Change
by Eugene Chu

(This letter is in response to Jim Wagner’s recent endorsement of John McCain and does not necessarily reflect the views of Black Belt.)

I read online Jim Wagner's view of why he is voting for John McCain. I acknowledge that McCain and Wagner have proudly served in our country's armed forces. While Wagner is truly a master of reality-based martial arts and McCain is truly a distinguished military veteran, I voted for Barack Obama. While my views are based on political belief, like Wagner, some of my reasoning is also based on martial arts beliefs.

Obama's campaign slogan is "Change We Need." In his perspective, the Bush administration has made some poor decisions with both the economy and military. Some people believe that McCain will simply continue what the current administration started. Like Obama, many martial arts teachers have also believed in change.

The late Bruce Lee held a similar mind-set to Obama. He wrote the then-controversial article "Liberate Yourself From Classical Karate" because he did not agree with maintaining traditional martial arts. He believed the old ways of strict adherence to one style and use of noncontact impeded growth and did not address real combat. Because of his work to address true sport combat, Ultimate Fighting Championship CEO Dana White acknowledges him as the father of mixed martial arts. Because of his work to address true street combat, his students taught our police and soldiers enhanced combatives, one example being Dan Inosanto teaching Jim Wagner himself.

Right now, our country is facing a recession and the war in Iraq does not have a definite endpoint yet. While traditional politics would mandate lowering taxes and keeping our troops deployed, this does not address the resource strain on our economy and our military. Under traditional martial arts, the misguided remedy for losing a street or ring fight might be more kata time or more noncontact sparring. The Obama campaign claims McCain has voted with our current president 90 percent of the time. In fact, McCain even tried to ban mixed martial arts when it first debuted, an act of misguided maintenance of tradition of both politics and martial arts. Tradition may not be what we need right now.

Regardless of who wins, I will acknowledge the winner as our president. I would prefer Obama because he is interested in doing more than simply preserving tradition. Bruce Lee went against tradition and we have mixed martial arts and reality-based self-defense because of his efforts for change. We live in difficult times, and if change from Obama can make our lives better, we should embrace it.

Sen. John McCain is a former U.S. Navy pilot. (Photos courtesy of Sen. John McCain's campaign.)

Vote for a Warrior
by Jim Wagner

For us Americans, this November is when we have the democratic privilege of voting for the next president of the United States. In essence, the soon-to-be most powerful man on Earth. The choice is between Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain. When I am in that voting booth on November 4, I will be casting my vote for the warrior—John McCain, and as a martial artist, I will give my reasons why.

Although I truly admire Obama for many reasons, I am not about to hand over the most powerful military in the world over to him. National security is economic security, but economic security is fragile without a strong national security.

McCain is a former U.S. Navy pilot, a true warrior, who was shot down over North Vietnam. He was captured by the enemy and held as a prisoner of war for several years. When given the chance to be set free and leave his fellow American prisoners behind, because of the political clout of his father, he opted to say with his men instead. That is character that one cannot buy.

McCain guarantees that he will not cut and run from Iraq, and why should we? Regardless of why we are there, we are there. President Bush’s “surge” of more troops last summer worked. Iraq is slowly getting back on its feet and Iran is held in check by having our troops on both sides of them; Iraq on their western border and Afghanistan on their eastern border. Whether we like it or not, we are the world’s police officer. Although mocked relentlessly by the media for stating that American troops “could be in Iraq for a hundred years,” McCain is absolutely right, and has not backed down from his support of the troops or assistance to the Iraqi people. The United States has had a military presence in Germany and Japan, former enemies, for more than 60 years, and there is no sign of us leaving as long as China and Russia continue to rattle their sabers.
Obama, on the other hand, has stated that he intends to withdraw our troops and that the Iraqi government is able to adequately defend themselves. Yet our generals have warned against a pull out at this time. Prematurely pulling our troops out will give the enemy their long awaited victory, giving rise thousands of Iraqis being murdered in a civil war and essentially handing over the oil fields to vacuum-seeking regional power Iran, who is backed by China and Russia. By voting for John McCain, I am voting for stabilization of Iraq.

I am voting for John McCain because he has the martial arts mentality. After all, the term “martial arts” literally means “war arts.” The U.S. Supreme Court, five judges out of nine anyway, finally understood the martial arts mentality and recently assured the American people that it is a God-given right, not a privilege, for law-abiding citizens to bear arms for self-protection. The Supreme Court understands that an unarmed citizenry empowers only the criminals, terrorists, and a government that may lean toward tyranny. Obama’s party is outraged that the Supreme Court recklessly granted citizens the right to defend themselves. After all, the police will always be there to protect you—right?

Why do we study the martial arts? Is it to beat up and destroy innocent people? Absolutely not. We discipline ourselves to be ready to use those techniques that will protect ourselves and our loved ones. We work hard to be victorious in the face of aggression. We don’t have the attitude of appeasing the big bullies, the criminals or the terrorists like most sheep do. Likewise, we should not have the national attitude of appeasing the insurgents, or any other enemy—foreign or domestic. John McCain has proved that he is a fighter, not only on the battlefield but also as a politician, even willing to take flak from his own party when he disagrees with them on occasion. Even his political enemies cannot help but admire his strong character and patriotism.

If Obama wins this election, I will call him my president. I will serve him in my official capacity. However, I would prefer serving a fellow warrior and a former senator who is both tough and compassionate. We are living in a global economy, and whoever becomes president will rely on their advisers to try to revive it. However, handing over the “football” to the next commander in chief is not a time for on-the-job training. I prefer someone who has actually faced high risk situations. That is why I am voting for John McCain.

(Editor's note: The views expressed by our columnists do not necessarily represent the views of Black Belt. Send your comments to jsattler@aimmedia.com)

Karate Champ 1; Mugger 0
by Jon Sattler

Naysayers, beware: Karate is a valid form of self-defense. The Telegraph of Great Britain is reporting that an Italian woman used her championship-caliber skills to end an attempted mugging:

(Image courtesy of Lionsgate)

The Forbidden Kingdom on Blu-ray and DVD

The Forbidden Kingdom, a martial-arts epic starring Jackie Chan and Jet Li, arrives September 9 on Blu-ray and DVD. The two-disk special edition set includes extras on the making of the film along with iTunes and Windows Media Player files so you can play the film anywhere.

Sid Campbell (Photo by Rick Hustead)

The Passing of a Master

Dear Friends,

It is my unfortunate task to announce the passing of a Masters Hall of Fame Alumni Hanshi Sid Campbell; we will mourn the passing of a great martial artist. Hanshi Campbell was known for his quick wit, passion for the martial arts, and his humor. He will be greatly missed.

His family has lost a dear loved one, his students have lost their teacher, the martial arts community has lost one its leaders, and the Masters organization has lost a great friend.

For more information on Hanshi Campbell; go to www.sidcampbell.net.

Hanshi, my prayers are with your family.

Daniel Hect
Masters Hall of Fame
CEO

Steven Lopez in the year 2000, holding his Olympic gold medal in taekwondo. (Photo from the Black Belt archives)

Lopez Family: Medals and Controversy in Beijing
by Raymond Horwitz

According to coverage at NBCOlympics.com and Yahoo! Sports, Black Belt Hall of Fame member Steven Lopez (Competitor of the Year, 2000) has added a bronze to his cache of Olympic medals. His record includes two Olympic gold medals and four world-championship titles—and he hadn't lost a match since 2002.

Some controversy arose, however, when his team leader Herb Perez filed a protest in response to a docked point in Lopez's quarterfinal match against Italy's Mauro Sarmiento.

His brother Mark, 26, and sister Diana, 24, made their Olympic debuts in Beijing. On Thursday, August 21, Mark won a silver in the men's 68-kilogram category while Diana earned a bronze in the women's 57-kilogram group.

The Martial Artist’s Guide to the Olympics
by Jon Sattler

With dozens of sports and more than 10,000 athletes scheduled to compete at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, trying to navigate through the thousands of hours of Olympic coverage can be a Herculean task. To help you find what you’re looking for, we put together this simple martial-arts guide to the Summer Games.

Boxing
Dates: August 9-24
Location: Workers’ Indoor Arena

Fencing
Dates: August 9-17
Location: Fencing Hall in the National Convention Center

Judo
Dates: August 9-15
Location: University of Science and Technology Beijing Gymnasium

Taekwondo
Dates: August 20-23
Location: University of Science and Technology Beijing Gymnasium

Wrestling
Dates: August 12-21
Location: China Agriculture University Gymnasium

Pocket-Sized Chuck Norris Battles Communists
by Jon Sattler

If Gamesoft’s upcoming cell-phone game delivers on half of the promises in the press release, we could be looking at the greatest Chuck Norris adventure of all time:

Gamers with camera phones will also be able to paste their faces onto the bodies of Norris’ soon-to-be vanquished foes. If the project stays on schedule, Norris will be coming to a cell phone near you in August 2008. No word yet on whether Mike Huckabee makes a guest appearance.

MTV "Made" coach Chan Lee bows to his taekwondo student, Ryan Watkins. (Photos courtesy of Chan Lee)

Chan Lee Brings TKD to MTV
by Jon Sattler and Edward Pollard

When MTV decided to take an out-of-shape teenager and transform him into a tournament fighter, they turned to taekwondo instructor Chan Lee. During the five weeks of filming for the reality-show Made, Lee not only helped his student earn his yellow belt also showed him how to clean up his life—literally.

We spoke with Lee recently about his experiences on the show, the importance of self-discipline, and the transformative power of traditional arts.

Tell us about your student, Ryan Watkins.
The child I got was your typical sedentary teen who likes video games. He was 5'5", 261 pounds, and we had to turn him into a martial artist.

What was the learning curve like?
Regardless of skill, as long as there’s a will, there’s a heart, there’s a passion to doing it, anything is possible. Ryan really did step up to the plate, really showed up to try his hardest. Maybe he wasn’t athletically gifted or had all the skills you look for in a martial arts fighter, but he had the heart, and that was the most important key. I think it would have been an impossible task if he didn’t have the stomach for it, but he really had a try-hard attitude and just wanted to learn everything I was teaching him.

As a teacher, you’re supposed to find what a person’s strong suits and weak points are and maximize that. I used his weight as an advantage in the fight. I’m not going to have him do a back kick or spinning kicks.

Chan Lee

Things that are going to throw him off-balance.
Exactly. It was all about maximizing his center of gravity and making him a better fighter. He’s not the type of guy who’s going to get out of the way of the kick. He’s the kind of guy who’s going to move into the kick. I developed a strategy for him in a short period of time to help him become a good martial arts fighter.

And then, at the same time, I helped him outside of his life. There’s a reason why his life became where it’s at right now, and so I helped him develop a disciplined mind and attitude outside of the school. All that had to be congruent. You can’t just be disciplined about learning the martial arts. You’ve got to be disciplined in your personal life and other parts, as well.

Otherwise you’re just a weekend warrior. Absolutely. I think we did a great job conveying that. I got him to clean his room, and it was an absolute pigsty—garbage everywhere. You don’t just look at someone’s room and go, "Oh, it’s kind of dirty." It was like, "How the heck do you actually live in this thing?" It was that bad.

He was not paying attention to his immediate surroundings and the results of his behavior.
If you put a frog in boiling water, he’ll jump right back out. But if you leave the frog in the water and slowly turn up the temperature, he won’t notice. He’ll eventually just boil. I think a common theme in anybody’s human condition is that you get used to your own stink, eating badly, treating your family bad or whatever it may be in your life.

I’m sure it’s not the first time you’ve bore down on someone who needed extra help.
I’ve been doing martial arts for 30 years now, since a kid, and I’ve had different perspectives from being a top competitor at one point to being a teacher, just a student—I was a white belt once.

Teaching is my first love. That’s why I run five schools here. Martial arts is a tool to help people become better. And so when you hear the words dojung or dojo, it becomes a reflection, a test tube where you can practice discipline, courage, confidence and all these other things that you want to happen in a safe environment.

And then all those successes you have in the dojo or the dojung become a reflection of other areas outside of here. As you develop more courage here, you become more courageous in other areas. You become more confident because of it.

Taekwondo teacher Chan Lee (left) poses with his MTV "Made" student Ryan Watkins. (Photo illustration by John Bodine)

How was he tested?
He had two tasks. Our first task that we made him do was get his gold belt for the tournament. The second task was to actually enter the tournament and compete. We had him compete in three things: forms, board breaking and free sparring.

It seems like an ideal transformation crucible.
It becomes a part of who you are. Once you become a gold belt, a green belt, a black belt, you become what that rank signifies. You become a black belt forever. It’s like when you become a marine, you’re a marine forever. You’ve had that experience to get to that point. If you’ve had a great school and a great teacher that is able to teach you that, it’s beyond the kicks and punches. It’s the discipline that went behind that punch. It’s the confidence that you had behind that kick. That’s the incredible transformation that you get when you learn the martial arts.

Karate Teacher 1; Car Thief 0
by Jon Sattler

While reality-based experts would say that you shouldn’t engage a criminal to protect your possessions, it’s hard not to cheer when you read stories like this. According to ABC15, a 71-year-old black belt in shotokan karate single-handedly stopped a car thief:

We’re guessing the students at Chomicki’s dojo are extremely well behaved.

Craig D. Reid is currently writing The Utlimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies. (Photos courtesy of Craig D. Reid)

Kung Fu Classics: Shaolin Edition
by Jon Sattler and Sarah Dzida

Dr. Craid D. Reid—our favorite martial arts movie guru—brought the Shaolin Temple to Washington D.C.’s doorstep. On Saturday, June 14, Reid presented three kung fu films about the legendary temple at the National Geographic Museum opening of Shaolin: Temple of Zen—Photographs by Justin Guariglia.

When it comes to chronicling the evolution of kung fu cinema, Reid has the ultimate insider’s perspective. In the 1970s, Reid became one of the first Western stuntmen to appear in a Chinese martial arts movie and is now a fight choreographer for American production companies.

In other words, we couldn’t agree more with National Geographic’s choice for an expert, which is why we’re working with Reid to create The Ultimate Guide to Martial Arts Movies.

But back to the screening: The flicks they picked come from Shaw Brothers Studio, one of Hong Kong’s most beloved and influential martial arts moviemakers.

Here’s National Geographic’s rundown of the films:

Reid’s equally enthusiastic about the Hong Kong classics.

“These are three of the best martial arts films made during the 1970s, and 36th Chamber of Shaolin is in the top three of the best martial arts films ever made,” Reid told us. “The fights are superb in that you can see what the actors are doing, and they don't rely on special effects or fancy editing; these stars are legitimate martial artists. The fights are shot wide angle, and [there are] up to 20 techniques per shot. No one today does that anymore—not even Jet [Li] or Jackie [Chan].”

Aspiring martial artist Ryan Watkins shows off his skills in his bedroom. (Photo courtesy of Chan Lee)

Teen Martial Artist "Made" on MTV
by Edward Pollard

Ryan Watkins wants to stop living the lazy life of a video-gaming couch potato and get some discipline by being made into a fleet-footed karate kid. Chan Lee is the owner of JK Lee Black Belt Academy and four other martial arts schools in town.

Along comes Made , MTV's self-improvement reality show that follows teens who wish to be "made" into singers, athletes, dancers, skateboarders and now martial artists. With the help of an expert in the field of their chosen new identity, they try to attain their goals. Each episode documents the process and progress of one teen over that period.

Several months ago, MTV selected Lee to be the martial arts coach during the ninth season of their Daytime Emmy Award-winning series, Made. The episode premieres Saturday, June 14, at 4 p.m. ET/PT.

(For an inside look at Watkins' transformation, check out the October 2008 issue of Black Belt.)

Jack Black studied karate for a year in elementary school and judo for several years in high school. (Photo courtesy of DreamWorks)

Jack Black Slams Sandler
at the Box Office
by Jon Sattler

Israeli commandos battled it out with anthropomorphic kung fu masters at the box office the weekend of June 6, 2008.

In You Don’t Mess With the Zohan, Adam Sandler plays a former Israeli spy who fakes his own death so he can work in New York as a hair stylist. Zohan put up a good fight, making $38.5 million, but it was DreamWorks’ Kung Fu Panda that brought home the biggest purse, earning $60.2 million.

Panda, the critically adored animated film, features Jack Black as Po, a lazy yet enthusiastic panda on an unlikely quest to become a martial arts master. When we caught up with Black at a press event, we asked him about his martial arts influences.

“My hero right now is Stephen Chow,” Black says. “I love Kung Fu Hustle; that’s probably my favorite kung fu movie of all time because he mixed the martial arts with comedy in a really creative and great way."

Black also revealed how Po’s character and attitude resembled his.

“Po’s a younger version of me [in that he’s] a daydreamer and positive, but also insecure in that he doesn’t have all the kung fu skills,” Black says. “That reminds me of my early days when I was having fun with theater and acting but was also insecure.”

Kevin Taylor: Record Breaker
by Jon Sattler

Everyone’s got a few talents they’re particularly proud of. Some people sing. Others paint.

Kevin Taylor breaks bricks.

Taylor—who is the president of the World Speed Brick Breaking Association—will be on NBC’s  America’s Got Talent on June 17, 2008. For a preview of his performance, we offer Taylor’s record-breaking display of destruction, which was shot August 2, 2007, at the Metro Beach Metropark in Michigan. But be warned: Seeing Taylor break 584 bricks in 57.5 seconds could cause intense hand pain.

Amir Perets (Photo by Rick Hustead)

The Science of Fighting Back
by Jon Sattler

Previous episodes of National Geographic Channel’s Fight Science answered the question: Do martial arts masters possess superhuman abilities? While their test results may seem incredible, most of us can’t strike with the force of a 35-mile-per-hour car crash. So how are mere mortals supposed to defend themselves?

In Fight Science: Fighting Back, scientists use dozens of motion-capture cameras and crash-test tools to analyze the effectiveness of common self-defense tools and techniques. And to ensure that the scenarios were realistic, National Geographic brought in experts like Israeli Defense Forces commando Amir Perets and former UFC heavyweight champion Bas Rutten to participate.

The episode premieres Monday, June 9, 2008, at 9 p.m. ET/PT.