Martial arts magazines?

[Sylo]

Do any of you subscribe to any? if so, which do you find that the best reading material?

I'm a TKD practicioner if that matters, but I love all martial arts.

[arnisador]

Journal of Asian Martial Arts and Classical Fighting Arts are the tops. Both can often be found at Borders.

[SFC JeffJ]

Arnisador be me to them. They are easily the best researched magazines out there.

[tsdclaflin]

TKD Times is good for Korean arts. Unfortunately, it is only quarterly.

I read TKD Times and Black Belt Mag.

[tshadowchaser]

I stopped reading them when the advertisements became greater than the stories and articles.
I hate the fact that if someone buys enough ad space they seem to get articles printed in a favorable manner to them all the time

[Hyper_Shadow]

I hate the fact that if someone buys enough ad space they seem to get articles printed in a favorable manner to them all the time

It's a sad fact that pretty much the mainstream martial arts world now runs in such a manner. I've stopped reading the magazines because there simply isn't enough actual martial arts in them. I've seen loads of mags do these lengthy and pointless interviews of individuals that don't actually touch on any tangible martial subject other than the next big seminar the person is doing.

[Drac]

I still read and subscribe to BlackBelt, although the advertizing does seem to have taken over...

[Fiendlover]

I read Black Belt magazine not only because i liked it but partly because i found a picture of my shihan in the 2008 April issue (pg. 76) demonstrating the escrima stick. :ultracool

[Kwanjang]

Balck Belt Mag. Some of the trade journals such as, MA Success and Ma Professional have some interesting articles, but like mentioned above-too much advertising. I realize ads help pay the bills, but come on!

[MJS]

I subscribe to Black Belt. I agree with Drac...there is alot of advertising, but there is also alot of good material in there as well. TKD Times is found in most bookstores, so that may be of interest. I also pick up some of the MMA magazines as well.

[grydth]

Those suggesting The Journal of Asian Martial Arts are right on the money - consistently contains articles that are well researched by respected figures in the martial arts. They provide sources and notes, which can lead to further research on your own initiative.

As for the more commercialized publications, I'd say don't entirely dismiss them out of hand. It is not that the defects others have pointed out are nonexistent. Despite those flaws, sometimes an article of interest does sneak in.

I generally visit the magazine section a few times a month, and I check out the MA and the general exercise sections. Sometimes a fine article will show up in a magazine that's not even devoted to that art. You really need to look through what's there and decide for yourself. When in doubt about an article or author, post it here and if the author's a fake you'll have a pretty good thread going.

Another worthwhile trip can be to your town's used bookstore(s). Reading what was published in the 70's on forward can be a real eye opener.

[jks9199]

I stopped reading them when the advertisements became greater than the stories and articles.
I hate the fact that if someone buys enough ad space they seem to get articles printed in a favorable manner to them all the time
Wait... you mean that when you buy a magazine, you don't think it should have more pages and column inches of advertising than articles? Black Belt crossed that line years ago, unfortunately. Add in plenty of "articles" that might as well be ads for somebody's school or video tapes, and I just can't justify a subscription. I enjoy Dave Lowry's column, and I'll buy the magazine once in a while either to kill time in an airport or because of the occasional good article... but that's about it.

Same thing with most of the others. And Journal of Asian Martial Arts just comes across as pretentious to me often... Sometimes, a punch is just a punch.

[kwaichang]

Until a few years ago I had a standing subscription to "Black Belt". I found it gave me information on what was happening in the world of martial arts and a whose who up to date.
This was the only magazine that survived my interests as several others had ceased publication fairly quickly.

[YoungMan]

I used to read martial arts magazines regularly, but now I think most of them are a waste of time. Black Belt seems to have become the unofficial mouthpiece for MMA, and Tae Kwon Do Times long ago gave itself over to those who pay to get published, whether or not they have anything interesting to say. In the end, the articles are just fluff hype for instructors and their organizations, most of them junk.
Journal of Asian Martial Arts is boring with a capital B, and tends to stick with Japanese and Chinese styles. Is rarely of interest to me.

[arnisador]

I do agree that the other mags. occasionally have good stuff and nearly always have at least some "news that you can use" in them. I bought a recent copy of Black Belt for an article. Frankly, even the ads have some value--I occasionally learn about a seminar or book of interest to me.

For knife enthusiasts, there are several knife mags. (e.g. Blade) that I find it worthwhile to flip through every month at the bookstore. Learning about new products is valuable. It's rare that I buy one though.

[arnisador]

Journal of Asian Martial Arts is boring with a capital B, and tends to stick with Japanese and Chinese styles. Is rarely of interest to me.

Well, I would say that Journal of Asian Martial Arts is detailed rather than boring, but I know what you mean. It does cover a variety of arts but there is indeed an emphasis on Sino-Japanese arts, I suppose.

What do people want in a martial arts magazine, then?

[jarrod]

What do people want in a martial arts magazine, then?

hot chicks! 12 secrets of combat the government doesn't want you to know! never be afraid of any black belt again! moar chicks! mma news! the three deadliest moves from any martial art! immediately disable 7 armed attackers! xyience products! the latest on tito & jenna!

jf

[JBrainard]

It's not geared towards TKD, but since you're interested in all martial arts, I have to suggest Filipino Martial Arts Digest. It's a great FMA web 'zine with very little advertising.

[YoungMan]

hot chicks! 12 secrets of combat the government doesn't want you to know! never be afraid of any black belt again! moar chicks! mma news! the three deadliest moves from any martial art! immediately disable 7 armed attackers! xyience products! the latest on tito & jenna!

jf

You just described the typical issue of Black Belt! Used to be Bruce Lee was on every other cover. Now whatever rising MMA fighter is usually featured. On the bright side, Black Belt saves me a lot of money because I have no need to buy it.

[jarrod]

i never buy black belt any more. if mma is your thing, there are tons of mma news & technique websites out there, you don't have to wait a month to get fight results. i'm casting my vote for journal of asian martial arts.

jf

[JadeDragon3]

I subscribe to Black Belt Mag, Inside Kung Fu, and Kung Fu Tai Chi. Out of these three I like Inside Kung Fu the best. Black belt is now my least favorite. It covers way to much MMA and not enough TCM. It's also gotten really bad for all the advertisements. Half the mag is ads for this, that, and the other.

[bowser666]

I don't subscribe but I go to Barnes and Noble alot and read Kung Fu Magazine :P Yeah I am cheap :P

[chinto]

I was given a subscription for black belt mag.. but found it mainly advertisements and a lot of articles about the UFC and other wise garbage. I am not a huge fan of the UFC and other prize fights so would not suggest it at all.. found that one article in say 6 months was worth anything at best!!!

[JadeDragon3]

I was given a subscription for black belt mag.. but found it mainly advertisements and a lot of articles about the UFC and other wise garbage. I am not a huge fan of the UFC and other prize fights so would not suggest it at all.. found that one article in say 6 months was worth anything at best!!!


I agree 100%. They'll have a good article every once in a blue moon but most are about UFC which I don't really care for or the article are completely useless. BBM should read what people say about them and change thier format.

[ganglian]

It's a sad fact that pretty much the mainstream martial arts world now runs in such a manner. I've stopped reading the magazines because there simply isn't enough actual martial arts in them. I've seen loads of mags do these lengthy and pointless interviews of individuals that don't actually touch on any tangible martial subject other than the next big seminar the person is doing.

Nothing would make me happier than to have either a Bujinkan centric or silat centric magazine of quality, without the inevitable MMA hype soaking through. (no offense to MMA'ers).

[ganglian]

It's not geared towards TKD, but since you're interested in all martial arts, I have to suggest Filipino Martial Arts Digest. It's a great FMA web 'zine with very little advertising.

You have to link to that Praytell? I might find that interesting.

[arnisador]

Here it is:
http://www.fmadigest.com/

If you subscribe they'll mail you a .pdf. It's good, and free.

Eskrima Digest is a mailing list, not a magazine, but it also has lots of wheat (and of course some chaff), but isn't in magazine format.

[Daniel Sullivan]

I read TKDtimes and Blackbelt, and occasionally something else if it catches my interest. No subscription, though.

Daniel