Melanie Gibson General Martial Arts, Guest Writers, Training Tips

Guest Writer: What is the Best Martial Art for Self-Defense?

What is the best martial art for self-defense? While my martial art (taekwondo) is primarily a striking art, the type I’ve trained in includes grabs, joint locks, and takedowns from hapkido. One of my current school’s masters has also been training the black belts in BJJ and judo-based defense, ground fighting, and throws. This gives me a diverse arsenal to have at the ready.
Krav Maga expert Jake Randall provides his insight on which martial arts can provide a solid foundation for self-defense. If you would like to write a guest post for Little Black Belt, please visit the guidelines here.

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Melanie Gibson General Martial Arts, Guest Writers, Training Tips

Guest Writer: The Benefits of Brass Knuckles

While this blog has been home to articles about many different forms of martial arts, this is the first weapons-related post! The team at Cakra EDC Gadgets, a seller of self-defense weapons, has provided an informative post on how to responsibly buy and use brass knuckles. Please adhere to your local laws regarding the carrying and use of self defense weapons and related items. For more information on the company, please see the end of the post.

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Melanie Gibson General Martial Arts, Guest Writers, Training Tips

The Role of Taekwondo in Self-Defense and Personal Safety

Self-défense | Service des sports Université Paris Cité
Image credit: https://u-paris.fr/sport/self-defense/

While modern, competitive taekwondo has become quite popular, at its core, the martial art is meant to prepare the practitioner to defend themself. How effective is taekwondo?
Guest writer Michael, whose work has been featured on several martial arts and sports sites, explores how taekwondo technique is effective for self-defense.

I’ve personally never had to use taekwondo to defend myself against another person, but one time on a walk I was ready to throw down with an aggressive dog. I was in a fighting stance and everything. Good thing that dog was behind a fence.  🙂

If you would like to be a guest writer for Little Black Belt, please review the guest writer guidelines here.

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Melanie Gibson General Martial Arts, Guest Writers

Guest Writer: Why BJJ Is Great for Self-Defense

Looking for self-defense training? Check out Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. In this guest post, Johann Jansen van Vuuren describes how anyone can benefit from this sport. If you would like to be a guest writer, please review the guest writer guidelines here.


When it comes to keeping yourself safe, you need something that would work in the real world. What would that be? The answer is control. That’s the main reason Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) is so good for self-defense. BJJ is practical, effective, and you don’t need to be a pro. We’ll keep it short and sweet–in this post we’ll go over some of the many reasons BJJ is great for self-defense.

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Melanie Gibson Class Diaries, Training Tips

Fun with Cutlery

housewife knives
Defense against weapons typically begins once the student has achieved first degree black belt. Our school is small so we sometimes have to make do with the mix of students we have on any given day. I was the only bo dan among black belts in our tiny Friday night adult class, and that was my first opportunity to learn defense against weapons. We’ve been spending a lot of time on my test requirements, but my instructor didn’t want to neglect the learning needs of my black belt classmates, so he decided to bring out the rubber knives.
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Melanie Gibson Class Diaries

Ha! Made Ya Flinch!

flinch_forehead
It’s become a running joke that I flinch when a kick is thrown at my head during free sparring. In situations outside of a taekwondo school one might think that this is a perfectly normal reaction. Something startles us, we flinch. It’s human nature.
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Melanie Gibson Class Diaries

Swan Lake Would Have Been a Lot More Interesting with an Odile/Odette Smackdown

SwanFight2
Ultimate Fighter, Waterfowl Edition

“Move over, ballerina,” my instructor said impatiently as I was attempting a takedown during hand-to-hand practice. “You’re taking these little steps and going nowhere,” he continued. “Take one big step around like THIS,” he said, swooping his leg around into a low stance and swiftly pulling the other student to the ground.

“So I can’t do little pique turns?” I said, grinning and waggling my eyebrows. He rolled his eyes and stalked off.
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Melanie Gibson Class Diaries

Dragged Kicking and Screaming Into…well, Kicking and Screaming

inner peace

“Don’t let it escalate,” my instructor offered as a final tip for the evening. We were hanging around the dojang practicing some self-defense techniques. I was a little disappointed when he said that. I’ll admit that I’ve daydreamed about snapping the elbow and repeatedly stomping on the face of some nameless gropey man, a drunk at a bar or perhaps a cocky teenager trying to show off for his friends, screaming “Women aren’t squeeze toys! If you do this to me or any woman again I’ll hunt you down and gut you like a f*cking fish!! Now apologize!!!”
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Melanie Gibson Class Diaries, Training Tips

The Devil is in the Details

The_Robot_Devil
I couldn’t find an image that accurately reflected my thoughts. Here’s a picture of my favorite Futurama character, the foppish Robot Devil.

“I’m not good with this technical mechanical stuff!” I shrieked in mock-desperation after a number of flubbed attempts at hand-to-hand techniques (painful twists and joint locks) with my partner. Including my instructor there were only four of us in advanced red and black belt class. It was getting late, and three of us were already worn out from an intense sparring class beforehand, so we were all getting a little loopy and giggly. Throwing in complicated and intricate self-defense work after a long day only fried my brain even more.

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