5Mar 1

March 5, 2024

The World’s Highest Ranked Martial Artist

It was long believed that Italy, land of Julius Caesar, Marco Polo, Dante Alighieri, Cristoforo Colombo, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Galileo Galilei, had produced the world’s highest ranking martial artist. Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Gilberto Pauciullo holds 22 10th degree black belts, including five in Jiu-Jitsu alone, and one in mexed martial arts.

That’s Pauciullo in the middle, with the yellow jacket, paunch, and giant white belt.

Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Gilberto Pauciullo’s official certificates include:
11th Duan – Man Seer Kung Pai Kung Fu
10th Dan – Katory Yama Ryu Ju-Jutsu
10th Dan – Okonawa Go Ju Ryu
10th Dan – Street Rapid Defense System
10th Dan – WOSD/Kapap System
10th Dan – Self-Defense
10th Dan – Agni Kempo
10th Dan – I.F. Knife Fighting System
10th Dan – Ju-Boxing Full Contact
10th Dan – Shin KakutoJutsu Hanshi
10th Dan – Gung Chi Pai Gung Fu System
10th Dan – Ju-Hitsu AJJIF
10th Dan – Ju-Jitsu IJJF
10th Dan – Ju-Jitsu ACJJ
10th Dan – Ju-Jitsu UAJJ
10th Dan – Martial Arts Police Method
10th Dan – Makoto Ryu Ju-Jitsu
10th Dan – Bu-Jutsu Sigung
10th Dan – Mexed Martial Arts
10th Dan – SERCSU
10th Dan – DIM MAK
10th Dan – Nefusen Submission Ju-Jitsu
10th Dan – Vietnamese Combat Martial Arts
Grade A – Hanshi – Soubukai Karate-Do / Japan-Tokyo
Si Gung Wing Chun – In Yp Man Martial Arts Sifu Council
Si Gung Chi Kung
9th Dan – Ken Jitsu
9th Dan – Tatsu Seiki Kikou-Do
9th Dan – Kamishin Kai Ju-Jitsu
9th Dan – Karate-Do
9th Dan – Pinoy Eskrima S.Miguel de Abanico Ming Sune Do
9th Dan – Chinese Kempo
9th Dan – Kokusai Sin Jutsu Kempo Kai
Muk Yan Chong – Wing Chun Institute
Chi Sao – Wing Chun Institute
8th Dan – Judo
8th Dan – Kimuchino Aikido
7th Dan – A.O.S. Tai Chi System
7th Dan – Ashihara Bu-Do Kai
7th Dan – Ting Ho Dao
7th Duan – Shaolin Yang Sheng Fa
7th Dan – OSTCS
6th Dan – Seishinryoku Goju Kick Boxing
6th Dan – Kendo.
6th Dan – OSR Karate-Do
4th Dan – FULUNGJJ
2nd Dan – Sakibo
Master of MARMA ADI
Master of KALARIPAYT
Master of KAPAP – Level B – cert.n:704788
Master of Military – Police Special Force
Master of Special Commando Force – S.O.G.
Master Expert of Krav Maga
Master Expert of Close Combat System
Depositary Master of Italian Traditional Knife
Depositary Master of Italian Hand Weapons Combat System

Most of us had the same three reactions, in quick succession:
1. “Only a 4th dan in FULUNGJJ??!? Pull yourself together man, and put some real effort into Sakibo.”
2. Jiu-jitsu is pathetic for having no living 10th degrees, while this luminary alone holds 22.
3. Is Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Gilberto Pauciullo truly the world’s highest ranked martial artist?

It turns out, he’s not.

With 45 years documented study of the martial arts, India’s Supreme Grand Master (Guru/Dean) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. Jagdish Singh Khatri (Ph.D.) M.A. (IGF) has earned 43 10th degree black belts, and two 12th degree black belts. This rate of nearly one 10th degree per year shows he is REALLY good. Where Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Pauciullo has a mere five 10th degrees in jiu-jitsu, the Supreme Grand Master (Guru/Dean) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. holds twelve!

Dean Professor Dr. Khatri also lists a Cinturon Negro 10th Dan. This means he is a 10th-degree black belt in black belt! That’s pretty cool. He has a 10th-degree black belt in mixed martial arts too, and according to his bio, another 10th degree in mixed martial arts. Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Pauciullo only has one 10th degree in MMA, and he can’t even spell it right – he wrote mexed martial arts. What a goof Pauciullo is.

Supreme Grand Master (Guru/Dean) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. Jagdish Singh Khatri (Ph.D.) is also a COLONEL GRAND MASTER – India & Nepal Alians Bulgarian Commandos (ABC). He’s too modest to mention it, but he is in 17 Hall of Fames. And he has 12 PhDs. So in sum, the world’s highest ranked martial artist is not Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Gilberto Pauciullo, but is in fact Supreme Grand Master (Guru/Dean) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. Jagdish Singh Khatri (Ph.D.) M.A. (IGF).

Anyone doubting the Dean (Guru) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. probably doesn’t even have one 10th degree, and is jealous. So for the few doubters, here is the proof – his certificates have a Flickr account:

The moral of the story of these dual numpties is, to quote Royce Gracie, “The belt only covers two inches of your ass, you have to cover the rest.” Given the giant belts that Supreme Great Grand Masters wear, it’s a little more than two inches of ass that are covered, but then, these asses always have oversized asses.

And to close with the opening question, phrased properly – Who is the world’s most knowledgeable martial artists? The real answer is probably Dan Inosanto, a global treasure,.

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4Feb 1

February 4, 2024

The 5 Most Influential Martial Artists of The Last 100 Years

The Great Man Theory doesn’t remotely explain all of history, but it is at the least a source of lively discussion. In that spirit, who are the most influential figures in martial arts in the last 100 years?

The question is subjective to a significant degree, but a central factor considered is how many millions of people were influenced to take up the practice of the particular martial art. Further, notable weight is lent to those individuals who created a martial art with legs – one that maintained its integrity, and did not splinter into sometimes unrecognizable pieces. And lastly, as the title indicates the figures had to be legitimate martial artists in their own right, rather than figures who promoted the martial arts through political means, or the media.

Our list begins with ….

5. General Choi Hong Hi

Choi Hong Hi, founder of Taekwondo

Choi Hong Hi (9 November 1918 – 15 June 2002) is the father of Taekwondo. As Taekwondo is reportedly the world’s most popular martial art, his inclusion on the list is obvious.

Choi is a figure of no small controversy, and his contributions are minimized in some quarters. That however is politics. Gen. Choi chose to spread the art he developed to North Korea, where much of his family remained after the war, and that did not sit well with the South Korean government, which set up the WTF to compete with Choi’s ITF. But that is politics, not reality.

And for the record, the general’s name is pronounced something like “chwe.” So if someone claims to be an authority and pronounces it Choi rhymes with joy, then you know they don’t know what they are talking about.

4. Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee, founder of Jeet Kune Do

Bruce Lee (27 November 1940 – 20 July 1973) is the father of Jeet Kune Do. His influence is extraordinary.

Lee essentially introduced Chinese martial arts to the world. He was responsible for the martial arts boom in the 1970s, the largest the world had ever seen, inspiring countless millions to take up the practice of martial arts of every imaginable sort. However, his greatest contribution may lie in his freeing martial arts from the classical mess.

Lee found martial arts as a collection of countless strictly organized and controlled contradictory sets of beliefs and practices, each of which believed itself to be clearly superior to the others. It was, truly, a field in which everyone was certain they were better than average.

He left a legacy that truth in unarmed combat lay outside of fixed systems. He showed the world a contest with fighters in fingered gloves, using strikes, takedowns, and tapping out to submissions on the ground.

In short, he left a world that was ready to embrace mixed martial arts.

When MMA came along, a new system was created for the refining of technique. It is as simple as wheels on luggage – to figure out if something works in a fight, just fight. If a technique doesn’t work for you, you’ll know, because you will get hit in the face. The name Bruce Lee gave to his approach – Jeet Kune Do, or The Way of the Intercepting Fist – captures that reality.

3. Rorion Gracie

Rorion Gracie, co-founder of the UFC

Royce Gracie is the world’s best-known exponent of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Royce’s brother Rickson was historically the best fighter in the family. And the art was refined by Royce’s father Helio. But the man who brought it to the world is Rorion Gracie (born 10 January 1952).

And the way he brought it to the world was by co-founding the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and putting his younger brother Royce in it to win it. The wheels-on-luggage simple idea was that you could test the efficacy of a martial art by actually fighting, rather than by blabbering about it in the barbershop or in the dojo. The result was the UFC, which in turn ushered in the fastest revolution in martial arts training in history.

So although he did not found an art, Rorion Gracie, is our third most influential martial artist in the last 100 years.

The other co-founders of the UFC deserve honorable mention: Campbell McLaren, Bob Meyrowitz, David Isaacs, and above all, Art Davie. Davie is the single individual most responsible for creating the UFC, but not being a martial artist himself, he’s not on this list.

2. Gichin Funakoshi

Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Karate

Gichin Funakoshi (November 10, 1868 – April 26, 1957) is the father of karate. He was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced the striking art to the Japanese mainland in 1922; but the word “karate” then had different meaning than it does today. Funakoshi founded Shotokan, which, along with Kyokushin, is one of the two best-known styles of karate in the world.

Kyokushin founder Masutatsu Oyama, who deserves an honorable mention, was in fact one of Funakoshi’s students. Funakoshi had changed the name of karate to mean “empty hand” instead of “China hand,” creating the word and meaning that spread more than any other martial art.

For better and for worse karate has splintered into countless directions. Karate can be two players wearing foam floaties bouncing up and down, or it can be the exclusive practice of kata, or it can be bare-knuckle knockdown style, or it can be Karate Combat, and the list goes on and on. However, Gichin Funakoshi is the figure who brought it to the world, and that is why he is the second most influential martial artist of the past 100 years.

1. Jigoro Kano

Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo

Kanō Jigorō (10 December 1860 – 4 May 1938) is the founder of judo. Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain international recognition, and the first martial art to become an official Olympic sport. Kano’s innovations include the use of black and white belts, as well as dan rankings. He sent emissaries across the planet to proselytize, including Mitsuyo Maeda, who landed in Brazil, and taught techniques to the Gracie family. That led to the birth of Braziian Jiu-Jitsu, which in turn led directly to modern mixed martial arts. Another student, Vasili Oshchepkov, is the co-founder of Sambo.

While most martial arts have split off into widely varying directions, judo has remained judo for over 100 years. And while there have been innovations and evolution, it is so tremendous a martial art that there remains just one judo.

And that is why Jigoro Kano is and remains the most influential martial artist in the last 100 years.

29Jan 2

January 29, 2024

What Martial Arts Are Available in This Area?

For the past 50 years, Western Massachusetts has been blessed by the presence of some giants in the field, including Lorraine DiAnne, Wendi Dragonfire, Paul Gallagher, Kalaii Kano Griffin, Larry Kelley, Noriyasu Kudo, Melissa “Dr. Ruthless” Soalt & Mike Haynack, Paul Sylvain, Dr. Marion Taylor, and Kimo Wall, among others. Heck, Bruce Lee even demonstrated at the Big E! Their legacy continues through their students, and as well great new teachers have emerged.

Below are links to some of terrific schools of different martial arts in the area, with a few accompanying words.

Aikido
Developed by Morihei Ueshiba in Japan a century ago, the practice of Aikido centers on non-violence and spirituality. There are multiple excellent options in the area, including:
•Aikido of Amherst
•Valley Aikido (in Northampton)

Boxing
Boxing is strangely not considered a martial art in some quarters. Boxing very explicitly fosters character development, has proven to be the best means of defense against multiple opponents, and has a profoundly aesthetic side as well. So boxing is unequivocally one of the greatest martial arts. The Whitley brothers are lifelong martial artists, and share their profound, multi-generational knowledge of the sweet science, at their highly-regarded Holyoke gym.
•Whitley Brothers Boxing And Fitness

Capoeira
Created by enslaved Africans in the early 1500s in Brazil, Capoeira is the most beautiful martial art of all, and much more. It is an extraordinary cultural heritage, a tremendous form of exercise, and a powerful means of self-defense.
•Capoeira Gunga Do Vale (in Northampton)

Jiu-jitsu
If your interests lie with Brazilian jiu-jitsu as practiced in a gi, Team Link is an extraordinary option. Founder Marco Alvan came to the USA with little but a black belt, ambition, and love; today he inspirationally heads a chain of over a dozen academies, including a number in Brazil, and has put students into top MMA promotions like the UFC and Bellator MMA, and all the top jiu-jitsu competitions.
•Team Link Noho, run by a black belt couple, one of whom is a world champion
•Team Link Ludlow, run by the association founder Marco Alvan himself.
Another great option is Gabriel Gladiator Training Center in West Springfield, run by the eponymous pioneer of the sport.
West Springfield is also home to the great Alexandre “Vaca” Moreno’s Vaca BJJ & MMA.
And if no-gi jiu-jitsu is your passion, check out the local affiliate from the great and powerful Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet system.
•10th Planet (in Agawam)

Judo
Judo, the gentle way, is a not-always-gentle Olympic sport that centers on throwing an opponent wearing a jacket, as well as pins and submissions. It also offers a central ethical pedagogy. Modern mixed martial arts developed directly out of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which in turn formed after Judo founder Jigoro Kano sent experts across the globe. One of them, Mitsuyo Maeda, moved to Brazil, where he taught the Gracie family Judo, plus in all likelihood catch wrestling and techniques he developed through his own experience in no-rules contests. Kano is the most influential martial artist in the last 100 years, and his art is undeniably one of the greatest and most respected.
•Kuma Judo (in Florence)

Karate
While many of the aforementioned martial arts like Aikido, boxing, jiu-jitsu, and judo are relatively uniform from school to school, the term karate is applied to a wide variety of practices, which evolved from indigenous striking-based martial arts in the Ryukyu Islands, which in turn were influenced by interaction with China. Wendi Dragonfire, mentioned above, was a direct student of Robert Trias, the first person to open a karate school in the mainland USA. Excellent local karate schools include:
•Amherst Shotokan Karate Dojo
•Northampton Karate

Kung Fu
Kung fu is a general term used widely in English for Chinese martial arts, and the practices are even more varied than in karate. While kung fu has a reputation for not being as practical as some other approaches, its combat sports aspect, Sanda, is drawn almost exclusively from traditional Chinese martial arts, and it is likely the most underappreciated base in MMA. Reputable options in the area include:
•Shaolin Kung Fu Center of Hadley
•Chinese Kung Fu Wushu Academy (in Chicopee)

MMA
This writer has been licensed in the martial arts space in 15+ states, and has worked professionally in 30+ countries, and can say definitively that Jeremy Libiszewski is one of the best coaches in the entire sport. And he is a humble, life-long martial artist, who is amazing with world-class fighters, and equally fantastic with kids.
•Fighting Arts Academy (in Springfield)

Muay Thai
For over 20 years, Aaron Snow has trained internationally, plus refereed, judged, and coached in the national sport of Thailand, the science of 8 Limbs. He now runs a vibrant Muay Thai program in Leverett, Massachusetts.
•Sitmanpong

Self-Defense
Walt Lysak teaches a comprehensive self-defense system that begins where combat sports end – with eye gouges, biting, and worse. As UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock put it, “for the street, there’s nothing better.” In addition to his ferocious self-defense system, Lysak is also a 3rd-degree black belt in jiu-jitsu.
•Sento MMA Academy (in West Springfield)

Taekwondo
Taekwondo is a Korean, striking-based martial art with an emphasis on kicks; it is reportedly the most popular on Earth. As expected for a martial art of this popularity, there are multiple excellent options in the area:
•Amherst Martial Arts
•Elite Taekwondo (in Hadley)
•Northampton Martial Arts
•Greenfield Taekwondo Center

Wrestling
This is the most vital part of mixed martial arts, as wrestling determines where the confrontation takes place – in the open, on the ground, or against a wall. Further, wrestling is an epic art and combat sport in its own right, arguably the greatest. And lastly, the indigenous form of wrestling in the USA, folkstyle, is even better a base for MMA than are the internationally practiced forms, freestle and Greco-Roman.
•Grit and Gratitude (a non-profit in Springfield, with programs for 5 year olds, through adults)

Yoga
Yoga is very much a martial art. However, unlike many dubious martial arts approaches, yoga has integrity, and does not falsely claim to directly impart self-defense skills. That said, in addition to peace of mind and spiritual elevation, the practice of Yoga imparts terrific conditioning, and as the “God of Wrestling” Karl Gotch famously explained, “the greatest hold is conditioning.” If you are a martial artist and want to improve your practice, try yoga.
•Shiva Shakti Power Vinyasa Yoga

If one of these martial arts is important to you, but you’ll have to drive a ways to make it, then drive, don’t settle. The practice of martial arts can be really important in our personal development, and going out of your way to find what you want, well, you’re worth it.

Please note, there are undoubtedly tremendous programs in the area that are not mentioned above. If a great local class is not mentioned, the oversight is not pointed, but is simply due to an unfortunate lack of knowledge. Please feel free to leave your suggestions below in the comments section.

29Jan 1

January 29, 2024

What’s The Best Martial Art?

A usual reply would be many words about how extraordinary the writer’s chosen martial art is. This scene from the dark comedy Foot Fist Way sums it up pretty accurately, with a little off-color language:

There is in reality no best martial art or best school. My mother practices Tai Chi, at a friend’s home; it helps my mother stay healthy, so Tai Chi is to me the most awesome martial art of all. And too Tai Chi probably won’t be a great deal of use in getting out of a rear naked choke. Martial arts can develop a variety of qualities, in varying degrees, including confidence, character development, cultural appreciation, conditioning, peace of mind, self-defense, spirituality, sporting success, and much more. Whatever art provides over time, with work, those qualities that you most want or need to develop is the best art of you.

Emphatically, this is not to say that all martial arts are equally good at everything. Typically, there are approaches that specialize in one area of development over others, and these areas of focus can vary enormously. And too there are countless factually incorrect claims of effectiveness, which, if self-defense is of interest, can or should be a deal breaker. But even if two schools have nearly identical approaches, many less-recognized factors can come into play. A famous gym may not offer the average student nearly the personal attention that a smaller, far less heralded one will. Proximity to your home or workplace plays a big role. How compatible you feel with the membership is a massive factor, as community will invariably play a large role in your development. Further, a great teacher in something that is not exactly what you want will likely take you far farther than will a poor teacher offering precisely what you want. In sum, choosing the best school (for you) can be complex.

So first decide what you want to get out of the practice. Then find a place where you feel comfortable, under a 30-minute drive away, led by an established subject matter expert in whatever is of keenest interest to you, work hard at it, and don’t quit. That’s the best school, for you.

Lastly, keep an open mind about martial arts. Usually, but not always, there is something useful in every approach, albeit sometimes a small one. Unfortunately, practicing a martial art can lead to one’s sense of self becoming too closely identified with the gym or teacher, and then all other schools are viewed as inferior. MMA adepts can come to see traditional approaches as hopelessly ineffective. Aikido students can view combat sports as nasty, brutish, and short. Believing your Eagle Fang is way more effective than their Miyagi Do is, literally, comedy. So don’t ask whether any given martial art is right or wrong, but rather, ask how is it right. Usually, there is a positive answer.

And in closing, what matters most is hard work. The dictates of the market are such that, most unfortunately, instructors feel compelled to make classes ever easier and shorter. If you observe a class, and it doesn’t look like physical, mental, or spiritual hard work, then you aren’t going to get very far from where you are. And beware, some teachers are skilled at pantomiming hard work, substituting ornate movements, loud yells, and stern facial expressions, for what the class actually needs to do, which is work hard. There are no secret moves, and no shortcuts. All real martial arts are hard work, above all else.

Category: Martial Arts

5. General Choi Hong Hi

4. Bruce Lee

3. Rorion Gracie

2. Gichin Funakoshi

1. Jigoro Kano

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