The Elite Martial Arts Publication

I have always, however, been a skeptic of BlackBelt magazine. There are a number of things I take issues with regarding this publications. But I cannot take issue with the fact that this magazine is the standard for all other martial arts magazines. Since it's roots go back nearly thirty years, Black Belt has developed itself to be the definitive martial arts magazine. But, after having read this magazine for a number of years, I've developed some opinions about it:

ELITE
This magazine attracts articles from some of the world's most elite masters. It consistently receives editorials from martial arts celebs like Bill "Superfoot" Wallace, Royce Gracie, Dave Lowry, and others.
This gives BlackBelt the edge in having the most insightful articles of any other martial arts magazines.

CONTENT
Although this has picked up in recent years, I have always found BlackBelt magazine to be deficient in the area of actual amount of content. When I first began reading this magazine (back in 1992), there wasn't more than 10 to 15 pages of content out of the 100 page publication. Now-a-days there are more pages of content than before, as well as more pages of advertisements. But I am glad to see a continued commitment towards increasing the quality of the magazine.


THINGS I DON'T LIKE
I'm more of a traditional martial artists so I believe that any logistical techniques should be taught in the classroom. For this reason, I am a little unreceptive to articles that show particular technique sequences or compare martial arts with each other. Although they sometimes give an interesting insight into the arts, they do not offer me that much more insight and information into my training practices. BlackBelt has a lot of these articles too - and I'm sure they'll continue to have them. But this seem a shallow usage of this medium.

Pound-for-pound, this is the best martial arts magazine around - like it or not. They have excellent sources of information and offer a breadth of knowledge going back over 30 years. My advice to you is to pick up a copy at the store - if you like what you see, consider ordering it (every issue is usually about these same in terms of content type). If not, don't pick it up again any type soon - 'cause it won't change much for a couple of years.