When training for martial arts, whether judo, MMA, or anything else, there are always certain considerations needed in terms of equipment. You might need headgear, and you’ll almost certainly need gloves. As well as protective equipment, you might need bags, weights, and bands. There’s no hard and fast equipment list that will get you started, but a trip to the gym usually provides you with everything you need. Some things may be personal. For instance, you might wish to avoid aggravating an injury and have a knee brace to protect your joints. You might even need glasses to improve your visio ..read more

The upcoming Paralympics will showcase top-tier competition in its second rendition of the event, featuring participation from 25 countries across four continents. Turkey is set to compete with a maximum of eight athletes, leading the pack in terms of national representation. With the qualification phase in full swing, Para Taekwondo competitors are making their final preparations for the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, now just seven months away. A diverse group of nations including 25 countries from Africa (1), Asia (9), Europe (10), Pan Am (5), and one Affiliated Individual Nation have secured ..read more

The International Judo Federation has made new announcements regarding the IJF Academy requirements for coaches: From September 1, 2024, coaching at events like the Grand Prix, Grand Slam, Masters, World Championships Seniors Individual and Mixed Teams, and the Olympic Games will require one of the following certifications: Level 1 Instructor, Undergraduate Certificate Judo Instructor (UCJI), or Master Coach. Starting January 1, 2026, these same certification requirements (Level 1 Instructor, UCJI, or Master Coach) will be necessary for coaching in World Championships Cadets Individual and Mix ..read more

A new Kung-Fu movie named “Nonstop” seems to have been confirmed by Tony Jaa on his official Instagram page. Originally posted by Indonesian Silat expert Iko Uwais, as well as South Korean director Seung Eun Kim on December 10th last year, there was largely radio silence for over one month, which left movie fans in suspense bout whether the project would happen or not. However, this week, Jaa seems to be fully onboard and posted the movie poster to his Instagram, as well as stating “So excited about this project, can’t wait! followed by the hashtag #nonstop. Seung Eun Kim // Instagram As you c ..read more

The judo Grand Prix in Portugal was a huge success with a record breaking 624 athletes from 90 countries taking part in the event. Even though 2024 is not an Olympic qualification year, participation numbers were still up significantly from 2023. Overall, it was the Russian Federation who dominated the overall event by destroying the men’s competition with 3 gold medals and 1 bronze medal. Although, this is not displayed in the medals ranking since Russian and Belarussian athletes are forced to compete as individual athletes in IJF events. As a result the official medal table stands as shown b ..read more

Yesterday the Karate 1 Premier League Paris came to a close as expected on 28th January. The event saw Iran come away with a largely unexpected 3 medals with Atousa Golshadnezhad putting on a fantastic performance to win the womens kumite, as well as Japan claiming 3 medals of their own too. For karate fans of the Premier League format, the next event will take place in Turkey on March 15-17 later this year. Results: Male Kumite Results Male Kumite -60kg: Eray Samdan defeats Hiromu Hashimoto 3-1 Male Kumite -67kg: Said Oubaya defeats Luca Mersca 9-1 Male Kumite -75kg: Abdalla Abdelaziz defeats ..read more

On Sunday, January 28th at 2 pm, Yama, a former professional Sumo Wrestler from Japan, will be offering Sumo training with the Tennessee Sumo Association at Music City Muscle Gym in Nashville, TN. This Sumo Training is the day after a local YOUTH Sumo tournament, the KUMA SUMO BASH II, with the Antioch Sumo Bears at Antioch High School. Image // Smoothcomp The Bio of Yama can be found below, the full details of which have been taken from usasumo.com YAMA 6’4″, 601 lbs Pro Sumo Elite (makuuchi division) Pro Sumo divisional Champion (2x) 2-time World Sumo Champion University Sumo Champion (5 tim ..read more

In a recent Instagram post, Dave Leduc announced that he is moving his family to the nation of Cambodia. The Lethwei globetrotting superstar is originally from Canada, but has lived in countries such as Turkey, and is a citizen of Myanmar. During the post, Leduc thanked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet personally for the warm welcome and mentioned that Cambodia was a very stable and easy country to conduct business, as well as being close to Myanmar. This is not just a personal opinion either. People may not know that Cambodia is one of the easiest countries to own a business for foreign nat ..read more

Earlier this week former competitor Javier Delgado received his 7th Dan. This will come as no surprise who remember him competing in the 2010’s era with his best result being a silver medal in the Continental Open. Those who follow Spanish judo will know that Delgado is an 8-time national champion with 12 national medals in total. Sharing the post to Instagram, we can see the moment when Delgado is awarded his 7th Dan by his sensei Eugenio, the same man who awarded him a black belt over 30 years prior. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Javi “Ichiban” Delgado (@javidelgadoichiban ..read more

It’s not often that sports have technological breakthroughs, but in a recent event sponsored by Alibaba Cloud, the world of virtual reality met Taekwondo. In Gangneung, South Korea on Jan. 21, practitioners were suited up with goggles and body sensors, while taking part in what can only be described as virtual Taekwondo. In almost a Playstation-game-looking format, competitors squared off in a video game with life bars and a character in a game that doesn’t look too dissimilar to Street Fighter. Overall though, the comments section of Instagram was not filled with enthusiasm. The most positive ..read more