Reviews

Ip Man 2 Review Information This review will not contain any spoilers. Where to Watch: The film is available on Netflix (US). Runtime: 1hour 48 minutes Language: Mandarin, or dubbed in English or “European Spanish” (subtitles in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Traditional Chinese or Simplified Chinese.)  Starring:  Donnie Yen, Xiaoming Huang, Sammo Kam-Bo [Read More]

This review is Spoiler Free!! Starring: Steven Seagal, and Pam Grier Director: Andrew Davis Writer: Andrew Davis & Steven Seagal (Story); Steven Pressfield, Ronald Shusett, and Andrew Davis (Screenplay) Rating: R Release Date: 1988 Style: Action, Crime Drama More information can be found on the IMDB page. The Rise of [Read More]

This will be a spoiler-free review! Where to watch: US Theaters, May 2019, Fandango Now – $3.99 Runtime: 1 hour 96 minutes Language: English Director: Jesse V. Johnson Writers: Joey O’Bryan, Fangjin Song, Paul Staheli Rating: R Release Date: 03/19/2019 Style: Action, Martial Arts For more information can be found on [Read More]

This review will be Spoiler Free!! Where to watch: DVD, Rent from Youtube from $2.99 Runtime: 1hour 27minutes Language: English Director: Stanley Tong Writer: Edward Tang, Fibe Ma Rating: R Release Date: 02/23/1996 Style: Action, Martial Arts, Acrobatic, Comedic Violence For more information can be found on the movie’s IMDB page Jackie Chan’s [Read More]

This will be a Spoiler-Free review!! How to watch: Dailymotion (must sign up for a free account) Runtime: 1 hour 40 minutes Language: English (dubbed) Director: Robert Clouse, Bruce Lee (uncredited) Writer: Robert Clouse (credited as Jan Spears) Rating: R (USA) Release Date: 06/08/1979 Style: Action, Crime Drama, Martial Arts For more show details, [Read More]

Breaking Down Cobra Kai Season 1-With Spoilers! It is no secret that I really enjoyed the first season of Cobra Kai. I was thrilled to see that they not only brought the original characters back but also made a flat-out fantastic show! You can listen to a spoiler-free discussion I had with [Read More]

Title: The Silva Solution-Building Black Belts from the Inside Out Author: Greg Silva Publisher: Sheridan Books Publish Date: 2008 Format: Paperback Pages: 104 The “Pre-Reading Review” Most teachers don’t make a lot of money. They do, however, make something much more valuable: a difference.   Yeah, yeah. I know. That [Read More]

In the interests of full disclosure, I received this book for review purposes The author of this book is also a contributor at Martial Journal Title: From the Desk to the Dojang; A 50-year-old’s Taekwondo Journey Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; Author: David Ianetta Publish Date: 2018 Format: Paperback Pages: 154 [Read More]

Breaking Down Cobra Kai, Season 1-With Spoilers! Authors note: I apologize for my delay in getting this one up, but I will be finishing them all before season 2 premieres! It is no secret that I really enjoyed the first season of Cobra Kai. I was thrilled to see that they not only brought [Read More]

Kenji I’m going to talk about a little-known manga (Japanese comic book) called Kenji that I discovered a couple of years ago. It quickly became my favourite martial arts manga ever and one of my top 5 shonen (series marketed to a younger male audience). It’s a martial arts adventure [Read More]

Welcome to another book review! As an initial matter, I wanted to apologize for being away for so long. I was terribly busy at work and didn’t have time to sleep, let alone read. Rest assured, I am back, however, and even had time to read and review a new [Read More]

Knight Fight         If you haven’t seen it, History Chanel has a new show called Knight Fight. It’s a competition show where practitioners of medieval weaponry battle, using medieval weapons, against each other wearing period-style armor. Sounds good so far right? It sounds like it would be [Read More]

The “Pre-Reading” Review Duality can be an amazing thing. Two things that seem completely independent from each other often have complementing features, commonalities even, that help elevate each other to new standards. Brightness and darkness, quiet moments and loud ones, cooked chicken that is both sweet and sour (I may [Read More]

If you’re into Japanese martial arts you’ve definitely heard of Ellis Amdur, maybe even read some of his books. In case you haven’t, he’s written some of my favorite books on the subject (and I don’t actually train JMA) which you can check out here. Suffice it to say he [Read More]

In the interests of full disclosure, I received this book for review purposes. Title: Crippled Immortals: Shaolin Enlightenment on a Singapore High-Rise Author: Chris Murray Publisher: Arcadia Format: Paperback Pages: 269 Price: $15.00 (on Amazon) I think most martial artists have this dream, inspired by many movies from the ’80s, [Read More]

In the interests of full disclosure, I received this book for review purposes Title: Krav Maga, Extreme Survival Author: Gershon Ben Keren Publisher: Tuttle Format: Softcover Pages: 224 Price: $19.99 This is the third book by Gershon Ben Keren. I’ve read them all and even had him on my podcast [Read More]

As I have mentioned before in other reviews, one of the (numerous) martial arts podcasts that I listen to is “Martial Arts and Life,” hosted by Lawrence Kane and Kris Wilder. Because I enjoy listening to their podcast, I have also read a number of their books.  I even reviewed one [Read More]