APRIL/MAY 2022 ISSUE OF BLACK BELT

10 THINGS THAT MAKE A TACTICAL KNIFE
Ernest Emerson, founder of Emerson Knives, tells you everything you need to know before going tactical. Depending on your planned usage, some features will be more important to you than others.

2022 BLACK BELT HALL OF FAME
The Black Belt Hall of Fame stands as the most prestigious such entity in the United States. This notion is driven home every time the editors hear a martial artist say, “You know, I’ve been inducted in four or five halls of fame, but yours is the only one that matters.”

MARTIAL BLADE CONCEPTS
In “Focus on the Tactical Wharncliffe,” Michael Janich talks about how knives are most effective for self-defense when powered by a logical system of tactics that are grounded in the realities of medical science.

WHEN ART MEETS SCIENCE
Citing medical research, the author, an experienced practitioner of pressure-point tactics, proposes a neurological model for the knockouts that occur when kyusho-jitsu techniques are used properly.

METAMORPHOSIS
Linda Denley was Black Belt’s 1980 Competitor of the Year for good reason: She ruled point karate. Find out how the Texan went from never having thrown a punch in her life to being one of the top point fighters in the world in this career retrospective.

STILL STANDING
Newcomers to the martial arts usually regard joint locks as ground-fighting techniques, but practitioners of the Korea art of hapkido know they aren’t just for the horizontal realm. Here’s a primer on standing joint locks for self-defense.