Welcome to World Martial Arts Magazine. This is where we will post the Archived Articles from Previous magazine issues.

By Kazu Oyama

One Is Not Taught Violence Instead One Is Taught To Be In Harmony With The Opponent

Martial Arts is one of the contributions of Asia to the world. Who can forget Bruce Lee and the fact that he was first and foremost a martial arts athlete before being a movie star? Even until now martial arts is still a big hit with the increasing popularity of Asian movies like ‘Crouching Tiger’, ‘Hidden Dragon’ and more recently the ‘House of the Flying Daggers’.

The Chinese are the first people that come to mind when it comes to these things but the Japanese are just as athletic with a rich heritage of body contact sports that can be found in their history. The modern Japan still gives honor to these things by holding tournaments and promoting such sports abroad.

One of these is Aikido. It is interesting to note that the word comes from three

Japanese words from which one can derive the meaning of the one word. Ai means joining, Ki means spirit and Do means way. From this we can understand why Aikido is beyond just the physical skills of it students; especially since its proponent Ueshiba focused more on the spiritual and philosophical development of his students.

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By Chang Kyo Oh

Natural medicine and herbal remedies have existed as long as humankind. They include the use of leaves, bark, berries, roots, gums, stems and flowers. One of the earliest herbal texts was written at the time of Nero by Pedanius Dioscorides, a Greek physician serving the Roman army. In it, he listed many plants to treat each symptom, probably in hopes that readers might find at least one medicinal plant in their own locality. As humankind progressed through the centuries, many other texts of “herbals” would follow. Yet as an industrialized society developed, along with pharmacy and medicines, the use of herbs declined - until now.

Herbal Remedies Today:

During the past 20 years, interest in medicinal plants and herbal remedies has increased dramatically throughout society. Today we find herbal products used in a variety of ways. The general public uses herbs for self-medication and as natural cosmetics. The scientific community carefully studies the biological & pharmacological effects of herbal preparations. Today, over half of the top 250 pharmaceutical companies have researched programs involving herbal plants, something that was unheard of as little as 15 years ago. In fact, most perscription medications are derived from natural products.

Herbal Remedies and Their Benefits.

Doctors have found herbs to be useful allies in treating their patients. Natural products have become useful alternatives to established therapies, mainly because they act at different stages in the disease and can be useful in combination therapy. Lets discuss some of the more popular herbs and other natural products and their uses. Most can found over the counter at any drug store or health food store.

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By Grand Master Gary Pointer

This is often asked by black belts who are trying to advance to senior black belt ranks. The use of Ki for healing in martial therapy or Oriental medicine is very powerful. Ki is equally powerful when manipulated to cause pain or injury in martial arts.

Ki Centers are basically subtle energy channels that run through the body, located in different areas of the body. There are many Ki Centers throughout the body but the ones I will mention here are known as the “classical Ki Center system” and I’ve heard it also referred to as “the essential Ki Center system”.

The Essential Ki Center System:

There are 7 main Ki Centers that are located vertically up the spine starting at the base of the spine and all the way up to the crown area (actually believed to be about 4 finger widths above the head) of the head. They are located in the center of the body and open on both the front and the back side of the body. Starting at the base of the spine they are known as:

The Base or Root and it is Red, The second above this is known as the Sacral and it is Orange, the next above this is the Solar Plexus and it is Yellow, the next above this is the Heart and it is Green, the next above this is the Throat and it is light Blue, the next above that is the Brow (sometimes known as the 3rd eye) and it is Indigo, and the last is the Crown and it is Bright White, although colors of Purple and Gold are also seen in this area.

The Basic Function/Malfunction signs of each Ki Center:

The Base/Root Ki Center Function:

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By Master Fred Parks

Any successful venture into the world of martial arts business will require a great deal of scrutiny and evaluation. To ensure your success you must evaluate five key areas.

The First Area Is Your Product

Like it or not, your martial arts classes are treated like a service or product. You have to ask yourself is this a service or product that people want and can afford? Does it offer the user true value? Is it good enough for your mother, brother or best friend and would they buy it even if it wasn’t you selling it? Is it something that you can believe in? Will your customers (students) keep coming to class on their own or will you have to convince them every class that they should come back again?

The Second Area To Consider Is The Need In The Marketplace

Is there a true need for what you teach and offer?

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