Started on August 5th 2011 “Enter The Dojo” is a very funny YouTube web series chronicling the art of Ameri-Do-Te taught by Master Ken at his martial arts school in New Mexico.

The best way to describe this satire comedy is “The Office” for martial arts schools.

The series currently has 2 seasons and 18 episodes. As far as I can tell they are still producing new episodes, though they seem to have an irregular publishing schedule, which for a web series can be expected.

Below is a list of their current episodes. A bit of a warning, these are not kid appropriate, and the humor is most defiantly adult oriented.

Season 1

Episode 1: Welcome To The Dojo

Pilot episode where we are introduced to the students, Master Ken, and the art of Ameri-Do-Te. According to Master Ken, Ameri-Do-Te is a blend of all the martial arts in the world making it the “Best of all, Worst of none”. All others are “Bull Shit”. Lets say a guy walks up to you on the street and puts his finger in your chest, what do you do? In Ameri-Do-Te you break the finger, break the wrist, break the elbow, break the jaw, smash the groin, break the nose, break the knee, break the ribs, re-stomp the groin, knee drop the pelvis, kick the head, stomp the head, stomp the back of the neck, re-stomp the groin, then exit out and if you have any thing in your pockets you can hit them or stab them with do that as well. If you don’t, well you can run over them with your car. “Better to be tried by 12 than carried by six” – Master Ken.

Episode 2: Destroy The Groin

The most lethal weapon a martial artist can posses is his or her mind. The second most lethal is the groin grab. I incapacitates any assault immediately. It was derived from the Jungle, most people don’t this, but when two tigers do battle they are trying to grab each others groin.

Episode 3: Rape Class (Part 1)

The first part of this episode begins the character development of Cynthia starting with her feelings for Billy, Master Kens most senior student. The main focus of the episode is the monthly rape prevention class that is put on by Master Ken for free to help the women in his town protect themselves against a would be attacker. He is disgusted by other schools that charge for this as he sees it as sending the wrong message, “that poor people deserve to be raped”, he feels that the one thing that should be free are “simulated rape scenarios”. We are also introduced to Cynthia’s attractive friend Stephanie who is there to take part in the training.

Episode 4: Rape Class (Part 2)

Billy and Stephanie have a moment while training that makes Cynthia a little jealous, where she accuses her of “Whoring it up” with the hot pink sports bra and makeup. We move to one of the most important aspects of the class, the “reality based rape scenario training”. This entails Billy dressing up in a protective suite (which is basically a bunch of mixed match sparring gear and chest guards wrapped around him) and attacking the students. However, the suite is bulky and not all that effective, by the time it is Anthony’s turn, Billy is to exhausted to fight and Anthony doesn’t see the point, that’s when Master Ken Points out that he is forgetting one thing, “Rapist don’t always work alone”. Out of no where Anthony is attacked by Rachael and Billy taking him to the ground and teaching him a lesson.

Episode 5: Kill Face

Master Ken tells his students that the best way to win a fight is to not get in to one at all. That is why he teaches the “Kill Face”. It is like walking around with a loaded gun in your pocket, except it is not in your pocket, it is on your face. The key to a good kill face is the energy behind it. Master Ken demonstrates this to the class, but for safety reason will not let the camera crew film it. He warns about practicing it at home near a reflective surface, because if you were to see yourself executing it properly you might scare yourself to death. The students then demonstrate their kill faces, but Anthony is not convinced at its effectiveness. In order to teach him lesson, Master Ken gives him one at 100% and ends up “taking out” a camera guy. This really pisses him off, becasue when the students do not take the power of Ameri Do Te seriously and start goofing off, there are kill faces flying all over the dojo and some one is bound to get hurt. Anthony however, is still not convinced that was the cause of the camera guy getting hurt.

Episode 6: “Into The Darkness”

Episode 7: “Dance Of Death”

Episode 8: “Attack The Heart”

Episode 9: “The Hurticane”

Episode 10: “Meditation”

Season 2

Episode 1: “You Jitsu”

Episode 2: “Thrust of Freedom”

Episode 3: “Defensa De Zombie”

Special Episode: MMA vs. Ameri-Do-Te

Episode 4: “Imperfect Weapons”

Episode 5: “Dojo Holiday”

Episode 6: “Kung Foolishness” (Part 1)

Episode 7 “Kung Foolishness” (Part 2)

This video is part of the Santa Cruz Bujinkan Dojo video training series.

It discusses the basics of moving so you do not give any indication as to what you are preparing to do or which way you may be going.

The concept is simple, as you move, your natural tendency is to shift your weight to the opposite side you are about to move causing the body to make small corrections and movements. For example, as you walk your head and shoulders will move side to side slightly as your weight shifts to each foot.

The purpose of this drill is to train your body to move with out shifting weight and to keep you head and shoulders from moving. The benefit to this is so that your body does not give any “tells” to your opponent that alerts them as to what you are about to do or which way you are about to move.

The instructor addresses moving forward and back as well as side to side. He provides examples of training by yourself and with a partner. There are also some good tips on how to check yourself using a wall as a guide as well as a bo staff as a frame of reference. The idea is to start slow with small movements and build yourself up to larger steps and doing full movements and techniques.

It very well may provide you with that split second advantage to catch your opponent off guard and end a fight, or score that last point in a tournament.

Pretty much every martial arts system has addressed this issue in some way, it is a good idea to cross train and find a the best way that works for you.

Garrett Holeve has down syndrome, but that does not stop him from doing what he loves, MMA.

Like many others with disabilities, he has found a new life with martial arts and has made him a changed man.

Growing up as a child he refused to accept that he had down syndrome. He looked down upon others that did as he did not want to be associated with them or with the disease. His mother describe him as being a “disability bigot”. While that seems a little harsh, it was reality.

In 2010, Garrett took up MMA with his father and started to train 6 days a week. It became his new life, and his new purpose. Many frowned upon his father for letting him train and compete in MMA, but he knew that is what his son wanted and he knew he was up for the challenge.

Garrett got his chance to compete in a real MMA match against a similar sized fighter with out a disability named “Monster” Mike Wilson under the fight name Garrett “G-Money” Holeve. There were no punches pulled and it was a true fight. It lasted all three rounds and in the end was declared a draw.

Now Garrett spends his time training and teaching MMA to kids at his fathers gym. He even mentors and teaches another kid with down syndrome.

Through martial arts and MMA Garrett has found himself and his meaning in life, he has accepted that he has down syndrome, and learned to accept other with the disability as well.

He wants to go the distance and will not back down from a fight. I wish him the best of luck and hope he never gives up.

Video is from the ESPN special report “Garrett’s Fight” and the original can be found here: http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:9091876

Yasuhiro Yamashita was selected by the Japanese Judo Federation’s board of directors to take control of the boards “declaration to eradicate abuse” with in the federation.

Over the past few months there have been allegations from 15 top female judo wrestlers of being physically abused by their former coach, and this has caused huge concerns with in the sport. This action is one of many that they have taken in order to eliminate any further abuse in the future. A good summary article of the scandal can be found at japantimes.co.jp “Judo culture needs to change”.

Yamashita is a highly respected member of the Judo community, during his career he earned 5 gold medals and had 203 consecutive victories. He retired in 1985 and became the International Judo Federation’s Director of Education in September, 2003.

For more information on Yasuhiro Yamashita you can view his Wikipedia page here.

Crazy marital arts ad for the new “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 14″ video game featuring Tiger Woods and Arnold Palmer.

Synopsis:

As the two golf pros walk through the air plane hanger to what I am assuming is their private jet, they are attacked by a group of thugs trying to steal their tour trophies. That is when all hell breaks loose and they go all Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, Jet Li, and even Steven Seagal on them. Until the final “Mr. T” or “Kimbo Slice” knock off steps up and over powers Palmer. Thing are looking bad until out of no where Lee Trevino zip lines in and in one leg check takes him out.

All in all really cheesy but entertaining. Enjoy.

Video showing ancient Muay Thai training techniques that are still being employed today by many fighters.

Fighters utilize natural material such as the banana tree and coconuts to practice kicking techniques and improve hand eye coordination.

Many of us have seen the images and video of fighters kicking banana trees with their shins and basically chopping it down with their legs. This video goes in to far more detail explaining the techniques and the purpose of using the trees as sparring partners.

For many muay thai practitioners it is a way of life, much like kung fu, so they have implemented training in to their every day lives, even something as simple as taking a bath has a purpose other than just hygiene, they splash the water in their eyes to train themselves not to blink as it creates a disadvantage when fighting.

I have often thought it would be cool to take a sabbatical and immerse myself in this type of training, to focus solely on martial arts would be cool.

Please let us know what you think of the video in the comments below.

I am not much on flashy martial arts techniques being used in fighting, as most of the time it is just ineffective and a waste of energy.

But, there are rare occasion where you can get lucky and come out looking like a boss, again it is usually just luck.

This is one of those rare occasions where the guy pulls off one of those moves that you normally only see in Kata, one steps, or demonstrations and connects with it catching his opponent off guard knocking him out.

Just goes to show that you really have to be on guard because you never know what your opponent might do.

A guy that goes by the avatar “TheGingerNinja” on the web, shows off his moves while dressed up as the Marvel Superhero Spiderman.

Now I know what you are thinking, why am I posting about this. Plain and simple, it is just pure entertainment, and all goofiness aside, the guy does have some good moves and does a pretty good job of doing Spiderman some justice.

It’s just for fun so enjoy.

This karate uniform buying guide is intended to aid you in selecting the right uniform for your needs. This is a must read for those purchasing their first uniform either for themselves or their children.

I want to make a quick point on terminology, we use the terms uniform and gi interchangeably. Depending on the school and style they may refer to them either way but they are typically the same thing so there is no need to fret over it.

What makes up a karate uniform:

It consists of a jacket, pants and a belt.

The jacket is a open wrap around style that is secured using ties inside the jacket and a karate belt. It is pretty typical for the jackets to be decorated with patches (generally dictated by the school or origination), and you will often times see black belts with their names screen printed or sewn on to the back.

Example of a Karate Jacket:

The pants have a gusseted crotch that is designed to increase strength of the seam and reduce tearing. This also increases the angle at which the pants can open to a split to aid with performing kicks, stances, stretching, and other training activities.

The waist of the pants can be secured with a traditional tie strap that loops through like a belt or a more modern style elastic waist with a tie string similar to sweat pants. It is really a matter of preference as to what is best, but the elastic waist is typically easier to maintain and use, so it is recommended for kids.

Example of Karate Pants and Waist Type:

Selecting the right fabric type and weight:

The uniforms typically can be found in two fabric types; 100% cotton and a cotton/polyester blend usually consisting of 55%cotton/45% polyester.

100% Cotton – This generally makes up the higher quality medium and heavy weight uniforms. But, they can be more difficult to take care of as they will shrink if washed and dried incorrectly. You will want to wash in cold water and air dry only. You can find them preshrunk, but I generally do not recommend these as your everyday training uniform. It should be limited to competitions and/or as a instructor uniform where it does not have be to be cleaned all the time.

Cotton/Polyester Blend – This fabric type usually makes up your less expensive light and medium weight uniforms. However, it is known to be easier to take care of, and is less susceptible to shrinkage. They generally make great everyday training uniforms and are better for kids.

Fabric Weight:

The uniforms are classified in the following ways:

• Lightweight – 5oz to 6oz
• Medium-weight or middleweight – 7oz to 8.5oz
• Heavyweight – 10oz – 14oz

Some manufactures also have a super heavyweight which is generally 14oz or more.

Lightweight – These generally make up your student uniforms and are typically what you will get as your first uniform if the school provides you a uniform when you sign up for classes. They are the least expensive and usually the least quality of the bunch. However some martial artists prefer these for training because they are cooler and don’t weigh you down.

Recommended Lightweight Uniforms:

Macho 5oz Ultra Light Weight Karate Uniform

ProForce 5oz Ultra Light Weight Karate Uniform

ProForce 6oz Student Karate Uniform

Medium-Weight – These are my choice for an everyday training uniform as they provide a balance between strength, weight, and coolness. They will generally last longer and hold up better over time than a lightweight uniform. There is also generally a larger selection of sizes and colors in this range from most manufacturers. They can be found in both 100% cotton and the cotton/polyester blend fabrics to fit your preference.

Recommended Medium-Weight Uniforms:

ProForce Gladiator 7.5oz Karate Uniform

Macho 8.5oz Traditional Karate Uniform

GTMA 100% Cotton Medium Weight Karate Uniform

Heavyweight – I reserve this range for either a competition, demonstration, or instructor uniform. The heavier weight fabric is a very nice canvas material that has a great snap to it when performing your techniques, which is excellent for kata and performances. They can be found in both fabric types, but the heavier weights typically only come in 100% cotton.

Recommended Heavyweight Uniforms:

Macho 11oz Traditional Heavyweight Karate Gi

ProForce 12oz 100% Cotton Canvas Karate Gi

ProForce 14oz 100% Cotton Heavy Weight Canvas Karate Gi

Quick note about uniform colors:

Generally most schools require white uniforms for lower rank students, and reserve the other colors for the higher rank students and black belts. This is important to keep in mind and find out from your instructor before deciding what color to get. Black is also sometimes required for new students so that is why we recommend that you find this out before hand as it varies from school to school.

Examples of the typical colors:

Choosing the right size:

Karate gis are typically found in size ranges of 00000 – 8, from smallest to largest.

The sizing charts from most manufacturers relate these sizes to height and weight. In order to get the right size for your body type you need to find your height range in the chart. After you find your height range, look at the corresponding weight range. If your weight is not within that range, continue down the weight column until your weight fits the appropriate range.

In situations where your weight puts you in a larger uniform then your height, your pants are going to be too long and will need to be hemmed up.

If your weight puts you in a smaller size than your height, you should order the size corresponding to your height, but you can expect it to fit a little loose.

It is not uncommon for karate uniforms to need some tailoring to get a perfect fit, unless your are the exact height and weight for that size, so that needs to be taken in to consideration as well when deciding what to get.

Some parents like to get a slightly larger uniform for their younger children so they can grow in to them a bit. In this case, they will just roll up the pants and jacket sleeves until they grow in to them.

Lets look at some examples using this karate uniform sizing chart.

Example 1:

Persons Height: 5-2″
Weight: 120lbs

Uniform size they should order: Size 2

Both their height and weight fall in to the range for a size 2, this uniform should fit well with little to no tailoring.

Example 2:

Persons Height: 6-0″
Weight: 220lbs

Uniform size they should order: Size 6

This is a case where the persons weight dictated the size and not their height. They can expect the uniform to fit a little big and the pants will need to be hemmed to length. Light tailoring will be needed for the best fit.

Example 3:

Persons Height: 5-0″
Weight: 90lbs

Uniform size they should order: Size 2

In this case, the persons height dictated the size that they need. Their weight put them in a smaller size 1, but the pants and jacket would be too short. They can expect the uniform to fit a little loose, and because their height is right in the middle of the range, they can expect to need to adjust the pants length as well. Light to moderate tailoring will be needed to get the best fit.

Final Thoughts:

In my experience, if you can not get an exact fit, it is always better to go bigger than smaller. It can always be adjusted down if needed, and it is still useable for kids, even if all you do is roll up the pants and jacket sleeves until they grow in to it.

Karate Belt Sizing: How to Measure For Double Wrap Style Belts:

In general, your karate belt size will be the same as your uniform size, but there are some cases where you may want a larger belt or need to by a new one and can’t remember what size uniform you have because the tag has faded out.

Most belts come in what is called double wrap style, where the belt will wrap around your body twice before being tied off. (Exceptions to these are the children’s Velcro belts that only wrap the waist once.)

In order to get the correct size for a double wrap belt, what you need to do is take a string or flexible measuring tape and wrap it around your waist where you like to wear the belt.

Take this measurement and multiply it by 3, and select the belt length that is closest to that size.

Pretty simple.

Recommended Karate Belts:

Macho Rank Karate Belts

ProForce Thunder Solid Double Wrap Karate Belts

GTMA Color Karate Belts

If you have any questions about selecting your uniform, please post them in the comment section below and we can keep a running Q&A for others to benefit from as well.

Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) takes a Judo class and the first thing the instructor wants to do is teach the students how to fall, or be thrown over the shoulder in this case.

Not really the best way to start out that training in my opinion, but hey it’s a TV show.

Mr. Bean realizes he may have bitten off more then he can chew and does everything he can to not be thrown.

As always, he gets the last minuet upper hand over the situation by taking out the instructor.

Moral of this story, never take you eye off your opponent.

Take a few minutes and enjoy this classic scene, it is one of my favorites.

Right before the holiday season we moved Martial Arts Equipment Direct over to a new platform, updated the design, and gave it a new shorter domain name.

The store is now located at http://www.maeqd.com

We are excited about this move as it will allow us to offer some new products and gives us the ability to create product bundles and sets. We have started this by offering sparring gear sets which can be found here.

New Vendors and New Products

We are also taking this opportunity to expand our product selection by working with some new vendors.

We now have direct relationships with the following brands and manufactures.

• Adidas – Through Budo Mart America
• Century Martial Arts
• Combat Sports International
• GTMA – Golden Tiger Martial Arts
• Macho Martial Arts
• ProForce – Through AWMA

Over the next few weeks you will start to see some new items become available so please check back often, and if you are looking for anything specific that we do not carry please let us know and we can try and source it for you.

New Payment Options

Part of this update was to provide a better shopping experience for our customers and part of that experience is giving you more ways to pay.

We have added Check out by Amazon to our payment options so anyone with an Amazon account can now pay on our site using Amazon’s payment system.

(For those that did not know, we also have many of the items we sell available on the Amazon Marketplace as well, you can check out the full selection at www.amazon.com/shops/maeqd)

We also have plans to add e-checks as well for those they do not have a CC or Debit Card to use online, but that is still a little ways out.

We know many of you would like to use PayPal. Unfortunately, PayPal is a non option for us right now because we sell martial arts weapons and they do not allow payments for those type of products. Until our shopping cart software can support disabling Paypal as a payment option when weapons are ordered we can not use them, but we are working on getting them to add in that feature.

Better Category Filters

We have added much better filtering capabilities to the categories. Filters have been set up for the uniform and sparring gear categories as a start. You can now filter by Brand, Color, and Size to narrow down the choices to only what you need.

Social Interaction

For 2013 we plan on being more active in social media and posting more to Facebook, Twitter, and our blog so keep a look out for these post. We will be posting discounts, sales, and new product announcements from time to time, but for the most part we plan on keeping this content educational, entertaining, and interesting and we hope you enjoy it.

Here’s to a new year and an new Martial Arts Equipment Direct, please let us know what you think in the comments section below.