Although there are probably hundreds of thousands of sites on the Internet covering martial art topics, it makes no sense to try list them here. Instead I have chosen those which I think are special, possibly unique. (If you have suggestions for sites which could be added, please e-mail me.)
It is also recommended that you go to Members' Links to look at the sites of the members of the eMSSA discussion forum. Please come back often, as I will be adding to these links regularly. Also, if you discover any links which are dead, please inform me as soon as possible.
General links, particularly of interest for people new to martial arts
So, you've never really had any martial arts training, but you'd like to start. Where do you go? Which school is the best? This guide will help you find your answers. Defintely worth a read for those new to martial arts.
rec.martial-arts is the USENET channel for martial arts. These FAQ files (Frequently Asked Questions) give lots of detail for those who are quite new to martial arts. They are much more detailed than the first link, and also certainly worth a read.
This is yet another file which will be very useful to people looking to compare different martial arts in order to choose a direction for their training.
Practical Self-Defence
This site was set up by the Metro Nashville Police Force, and it contains a lot of information likely to be of interest to anyone who trains in the martial arts, but particularly those who are focused on self-protection. (Take a look at the Rate-Your-Risk section to see how you rate in terms of high-risk behaviour.)
If you teach self-defence, or if you think you know how to defend yourself ... if you don't know the information presented at this site, then you'd better think again. In my opinion, this information is so important, that I recommend you print it out right now, and read it carefully through.
This is the full text of the US Army field manual. This section covers the principles of combat, short-, medium- and long-range combat, natural weapons, etc.
External styles
The DSI is probably the world's foremost martial arts society specialising in the study of pressure points. Not only can vast amounts of information on the topic be found on their web site, but you can also look through the training material that they have available. (Any eMSSA members wishing to make purchases can contact the South African distributor for the DSI
here.)
This is the home of Kyoshi Patrick McCarthy's IRKRS, dedicated to research into martial arts - specifically Okinawan. McCarthy has produced some of the most fascinating martial arts research (some of which is available to members only at this site), and is possibly most famous for his translation of the Bubishi. This site really needs to be visited.
Even if you're not looking for information on Uechi-Ryu, this site is a "must visit". In it you will find a section containing weekly thoughts, which cover a whole range of topics that are guaranteed to keep you amused for many hours.
(For Instructors Only.) This page gives instructors lots of training tips and ideas for ways to make classes for interesting,
fun and useful. Some tips are even illustrated by photos. There is also the possibility to subscribe to their regularly e-mailed "Latest Tips" newsletter.
Turtle Press, as a way of drawing martial artists to their site, has put a lot of useful resources - and this page in particular. Here you'll find essays for martial artists on nutrition, power training, teaching children, self-defence, etc.
Internal styles
This is the home page of the infamous Neijia Discussion Forum. Regardless of whether you join the Neijia forum or not, their home page provides a wealth of information about the body-mechanics aspects of the soft martial arts, including taiji, bagua, xingyi and aikido.
This site takes the Neijia concept one step further, and writes - in quite some technical detail - about exactly how body mechanics are used in the internal martial arts. This is one of those sites where you print out the information and end up reading it over and over again, each time getting a deeper understanding of the subject matter.
This site is the official home page of Mantak Chia's Healing Tao Organisation. You can can read the FAQ on chi kung, learn and share on their discussion board, etc.
Erle Montaigue is one of the more interesting members of the martial art community. He is also one of the most generous masters in terms of sharing information. Not only are there loads essays on his site covering the topics listed above, but you can even download the full text of some of his out-of-print books!
There are a number of classic texts written by the forefathers of T'ai Chi, which are available - translated into English - on this site. This is a must read for serious T'ai Chi practitioners.
Martial Art Resources
This site is a very useful resource for people looking for information on the topic of disabled people and the martial arts. It contains an events calendar, some essays, a links page, and more.
This is a site dedicated to the practice of increasing your
flexibility. It is incredibly detailed, including discussion of the
different types of muscles, muscle groups, and it also includes text on
each of the important joints to consider when stretching.
Not quite intended for martial artists, but certainly of interest to them. The stuff you will find there includes: some really practical tips on becoming more flexible, photos of some really stretched-out people, and even an x-ray of someone in a deep stretch, so you can actually see what is happening to their spine. Pop in if you have a few minutes.
This is a tremendous site which provides a collection of articles, essays, reviews and ponderances on topics relating to martial arts. In particular, some of the essays which might be of interest include:
* martial art terminology in English, Korean and Japanese,
* weight training for martial artists,
* essays on nutrition,
* martial art clipart.
This site includes items such as "You might be a martial artist if ...", "You know you're a middle-aged martial artist when ...", etc.
This ancient Chinese document, a classic, is probably the world's oldest treatise on war. It covers many topics relating to military strategy that most certainly will be of interest to martial artists.
This is the home page of the Black Belt Magazine, with some interesting martial arts resource ...
* martial art dictionary
Although this site is not specific to the martial arts, it has information likely to be of interest to martial artists. This includes a scientific & medical section which includes a medical dictionary, reference to mass screening, drugs in sport, HIV/Aids in sport, etc. Definitely worth a visit.
This site is so much more than just a photo gallery. For each martial art that he lists, a pretty comprehensive write-up is given as well. If you haven't been here before, you really should.
If you want a free e-mail address, you can get one at this site. This facility is better than most, because not only can you "store" your e-mails on the Internet, to be accessed from anythere in the world, but you can also have these mails diverted to any other e-mail address.
For those folk who are interested in the ultimate bladed weapon, here are some content-quality links:
* Sword Metallurgy,
* Academy of European Medieval Martial Arts,
* Historical Armed Combat Association - Swords & Swordsmanship,
* The Internet Sword and Medieval Weapons Discussion Group - Swords & History Forums,
* Six Swords from Kyushu.
This site is an attempt to create Internet TV for martial arts. You can even see previously broadcast programs in the archive.
Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) and Modern Western Medicine (MWM)
Whether you are looking into learning more about yin&yang, the meridians, the theory of five elements, etc., for healing or for pressure point work - this is a great site to start off with.
For those wanting to take the theory of traditional chinese medicine further than the above link provides for, this is an excellent site. There are some very basic articles as well as some really advanced ones.
If you want to skip the theory behind acupressure, and you're looking for a practical guide of where to press, and for which conditions, this site (with plenty of pictures!) is recommended.
If you would like to work out what a certain point does, then just click on the appropriate point on the acupuncture doll, and the text will tell you what you want to know.
There are some excellent links off this site which will allow you to get a better feel for the anatomy of the human body - and the exact positioning of the bones, organs, etc., by looking at photos of dissected and sliced bodies.
If you're looking for sites that cover a range of topics relating to modern medicine, then this site will probably take you where you need to go.
This is a very readable site with simple explanations and clear diagrams. Should be helpful in tracking down anatomical aspects of the body, for maiming or healing.
Martial Art Links sites
If you're looking more information about some aspect of the martial arts, you might decide to start here. There are a huge number of links (over 2500 when I was there) on a whole variety of related topics.
This site is category-based, which means it's easier to find the information you're looking for ... kinda like the way Yahoo works.
This page provides a very extensive list of links, primarily in style-specific sections.
This site gives you access to a number of martial art sites, invariably the larger corporate ones, rather than the private home pages. Some interesting (odd?) links too!
The designers of this site state that they intend for it to be the most comprehensive martial arts links page on the net. Just a little time at this site will make you believe it!
Eastern Alphabets
For those wanting to get to grips with the Korean alphabet, this is the site to visit.
This is another very good site on the Korean alphabet, including a dictionary.
This site lets you learn Japanese on the web.
Here you can learn Chinese, conert to pinyin, look up test in a dictionary, etc.
Zhongwen is the name of the Chinese alphabet. This is another very good site for looking up characters and translating.
