Black Belt Magazine and Combat Go are sending a HUGE thank you to everyone who participated in Fight Back! We want to send an extra wave of appreciation to the dozens of talented martial artists who volunteered their time and skills to lead training sessions.
In case you didn't know (although hopefully you do know, and got to take part) Fight Back was a week-long martial arts training marathon and fundraiser. Since COVID-19 disrupted everyone's regular martial arts routines, we decided, what better way to show support for our community, than with 60+ hours of free online martial arts training seminars, held through Facebook Live videos so we could all train together in real time?
The event kicked off Monday, May 4th, and ran through Friday, May 8th. Every day, sessions began at noon (Eastern Time) and wrapped up at 1 AM – talk about a full day! The types of training ranged from traditional to tactical; grappling to weapons; from fighting to performance-oriented sport karate. In other words, there was something for everyone.
Tens of thousands of martial artists from around the world clicked online each day to watch seminars from instructors like Harinder Singh (jeet kune do), Jared Wihongi (kali), Eyal Yanilov (krav maga), Stanislov Horuna (kumite karate), and others (you can find the videos on Black Belt Magazine's Facebook page).
As for the fundraiser part – although Fight Back was totally free to watch and participate in, there was a donation option. One-hundred percent of the proceeds went to the Red Cross' efforts to fighting the spread of COVID-19. Fight Back has raised nearly $5,000 already, and donations are still open! Since the novel coronavirus has thrown off our lives, taken so much from us, and turned our world upside down, it felt nice knowing that every kick and punch thrown during the course of training was actually a strike back against this disease!
If the comments on the Fight Back posts were any indicator, the event was a huge success – people were talking about how much fun they had, how great it was to get to train, and raving about the new skills they learned. There were also dozens of comments on every video reaching out to the instructors and thanking them, and talking with each other, sharing stories and advice. And that was the biggest victory from Fight Back: it was a clear reminder that we're all still a community. Even if we're six feet apart, we're still able to come together to train, share our love of martial arts, and have a good time.
Find all the videos on our facebook page www.facebook.com/BlackBeltMagazine/
