In 2004, a young judo player named Karo Parisyan had the opportunity to compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials. Instead, he chose to pursue mixed martial arts and the opportunity to compete in the UFC. Karo said in an interview recently that he had been asked the same question about “35,000 times” about whether he ever wished he had chosen differently. He said that he never regretted it once. Judo did not pay his bills. It cost him money. He took his judo skills to the UFC instead of the Olympic trials, a move which he believes was best for both him and the sport of judo.

Did you ever wonder who did win the Olympic Trials in the 81 kg division in which Karo was ranked number three at the time? It turns out, it was Bellator fighter Rick Hawn. After placing ninth in Athens, Rick began his career in mixed martial arts. His next fight will be in the Bellator season six lightweight tournament.

Written by: AnnMaria De Mars

Best Judo Style For MMA Is The One You’ve Never Heard Of

The number of judo players who have made a successful transition to mixed martial arts in recent years can be named on one hand – Rick Hawn, Ronda Rousey, Manny Gamburyan, Karo Parisyan and Satoshi Ishii. Given the lack of money in judo, why aren’t more athletes making the jump?

Why is it that two of those with the most MMA experience, Manny and Karo, didn’t even compete in the Olympics? All of the players I’ve mentioned, except for Ishii, are not very typical judo players at all.

With the launch of the new Karate Kid motion picture last week, some people are wanting to know if they should sign up their young child in a karate school. If you or the youngster has never attended a martial arts school in the past, it may be a frightening decision that comes with a good number of questions.

Here are 38 facts about Taekwondo that you may not know.

The questions is do you know all 38 of them?

I am a full-fledged lover of the martial arts. To be specific I practice the Tae Kwon Do Forms, Tae Kwon Do Sparring and Poomse also.

Taekwondo & Self Defense

Some people practicing Tae Kwon Do Forms might think: what’s the purpose of Tae Kwon Do training if you’re not allowed to use it in the streets?

If you are an owner of a martial arts school in Judo, Karate, Taekwondo, or Jiu Jitsu or any other disciplines of martial arts, you probably already know that selling martial arts supplies is very important to your bottom dollar. Whether you are selling a martial arts uniforms, weapons, sparring gear, or training equipment you want the student to be able to actually use what you are selling them. So, it is imperative if they are buying a Taekwondo Uniform or Karate gi that you get them the correct size. One simple way you can do this is to use the free online martial arts uniform calculator that we provide here on The MMA Zone. All you need to figured out the size of uniform they will need is their height, body structure, and weight the calculator will do the rest.

Most martial arts instructors that promote martial arts supplies inside their dojo that supplement get them from a wholesaler at

One thing that the martial arts of Tae kwon do is known for is their Ariel and powerful kicks!  From the low sweeps to the ariel flying side kick they are all enjoyable to watch and even better when you can see them in a match, fight, or while sparring.  We realize that other martial art disciplines have similar style kicks with various names but Taekwondo [checkout our selection of Taekwondo Uniforms] and is known for it’s powerful kicks.

1, Front Kick (Ap Chaki)

You might have heard it known as the edge-of-the-hand strike, ax hand, the shuto, as well as the thousand-hand strike. No matter which martial arts you’ve studied there will probably be some sort of version of it from Karate, Taekwondo to Kung Fu. In each and every kata from those practiced in the Kodokan to those carried out at Kukkiwon. So, how did this generalized method make it practically into each and every martial arts and kata?

Even folks outside of the martial arts world know this movement having a thanks to the 2002 hit movie “Austin Powers”. Austin Powers performed the knife hand strike or actually his patented judo chop on Goldmember.  Many close-quarters-combat specialists inside the early 1900s realized how efficient the karate chop may be, and they proved it time

Most of you have no doubt seen the hit TV show MTV Cribs where the rich and famous show off their homes. So many have indoor basketball courts or movie theaters, OK, so that´s nice, but who has their own fully kitted out dojo? Even if it doesn´t get you on MTV Cribs, having your own dojo at home will certainly be a hit with your friends and family and best of all it means you can get some serious training done at home. Plus next time your friends are bragging about how much better they are than the fighters on the next Saturday night UFC fight, you have the perfect place to duke it out and see who really has the skills.

Martial Arts Dojo

Creating Your Own Martial Arts School or Dojo

Here are a few things to keep in mind when looking to buy the perfect martial arts uniform. Whether you are looking for a Taekwondo uniform, Karate Gi, Judo Gi, or even a Jiujitsu Gi you will need to keep these things in mind.

BreakPoint Jiujtisu Uniform

Firstly if you are just looking into getting into martial arts and haven’t found a school or instructor yet then that should be your first step. Many martial arts schools have restrictions or requirements on the type and style of martial arts uniform needed for classes and competition. It’s at least easier if you know the style of martial arts you will be practicing. Some styles have very similar uniforms that can be used without problem, for example Tae Kwon Do and Karate. However other martial arts like Kung Fu, Aikido and Kendo have very different looking uniforms.