Martial Art Directory

31/07/2026

Upcoming Martial Art competition

🥋🔥 THE EASTERN PROVINCE NMA/ISKA CLASSIC 2026 🔥🥋

Martial Arts South Africa (MASA) is proud to support and promote another outstanding event on the National Classic Fighting Circuit.

This prestigious tournament, hosted in the Eastern Cape, is sanctioned by:

🥋 ISKA International
🥋 NMA South Africa
🥋 Martial Arts South Africa (MASA)

Competitors from across South Africa will have the opportunity to showcase their skills in a professionally organised event that promotes excellence, sportsmanship and mutual respect.

📅 Event Dates: 25–27 September 2026

📍 Venue:
Indoor Sport Centre
Uitenhage (Kariega), Eastern Cape

⏰ Key Information
• Weigh-in: Friday, 25 September (17:00–19:00) or Saturday from 07:00
• Competition starts at 09:00 each day
• Online entries close: 21 September 2026

🏆 Competition Categories

🥋 Traditional Forms & Weapons
🎭 Creative Forms & Weapons
👊 Traditional Kumite
🥊 Point Sparring
⚡ Continuous Sparring
🥋 Sport Full K1
🥊 MMA Light
🤼 No-Gi Grappling
🥋 Sport Full MMA
💥 Power Breaking
👥 Tag Team Fighting
🦵 X-Treme Kicking
🎯 High Kick Challenge
🏅 Black Belt Open Divisions

💰 Entry Fees
• First two divisions – R350
• Additional divisions – R60 each
• Team Event – R200
• Grand Champion Divisions – R100
• Breaking Tiles – R18 each
• Spectators – R50

📋 Please Note
✔ Original waiver and indemnity forms are required for registration and tournament packs.
✔ Medical examinations will be conducted on the day for Sport Full divisions.
✔ Gi Grappling divisions will be scheduled on the day.
✔ Divisions may be adjusted where necessary to ensure fair competition and athlete safety.
✔ Power Breaking is open to competitors aged 15 years and older.

📞 For Entries and Enquiries

Shihan Cindy Strydom

📱 079 278 9267
📱 064 634 0052

📧 [email protected]

MASA wishes all the organisers, officials, coaches and competitors every success. We look forward to another exceptional weekend of martial arts, friendship and high-quality competition.

🥋 See you in the Eastern Cape!

31/07/2026

Fight Sports Centre Bedfordview — Bedfordview, Johannesburg, Gauteng

Primary style: MMA

Modern MMA traces its lineage through pankration, Brazilian vale tudo, and Japanese shoot-style into the UFC era. The art functions as a system of tactical range management across striking, clinch, and ground ranges. Striking uses jab-cross-low kick combinations to set up level changes. Clinch work integrates knees, elbows, and body-locks into wall-wrestling and single-leg takedowns. Groundwork focuses on guard passing to achieve mount or back takes for submissions. Preparation relies on positional sparring, shark-tank rounds, live wrestling, and controlled MMA sparring.

Bedfordview is an affluent suburb on Johannesburg’s eastern edge, located near the N3 interchange and Eastgate Shopping Centre.

https://martialartdirectory.com/mma/johannesburg/fight-sports-centre-bedfordview

31/07/2026

VERIFIED MARTIAL ARTS DOJO

Invasion Kickboxing Club — George Central, George, Western Cape

Primary style: Kickboxing

Codified in Japan during the late 1950s and 1960s, kickboxing synthesised karate, Muay Thai, and boxing into a full-contact ring sport. Promoters like Osamu Noguchi established early rulesets centered on mid-range punch-kick integration. Practical application pairs boxing entries with low round kicks, front kicks, and knees. High-volume drills emphasize kick-catching counters, sharp angle exits, and ring-cutting pressure. Over time, heavy conditioning and live rounds refine timing under contact. Distinctions from point karate or Muay Thai stem from ruleset enforcement and pacing rather than distinct technique inventories.

George Central is the town's central business and services area in the Western Cape.

https://martialartdirectory.com/kickboxing/george/invasion-kickboxing-club

31/07/2026

AIKIDO
Morihei Ueshiba developed Aikido from Daitō-ryū Aiki-jūjutsu after studying under Takeda Sōkaku in Engaru in 1915. The technical core shifted from premodern battlefield destruction to joint manipulations and force redirection. In 1920, Ueshiba established the Ueshiba-juku in Ayabe, refining his Aiki-bujutsu method. The discipline officially took the name Aikido in 1942. Modern sessions consist of off-balancing, wrist locks, projections, and uncooperative breakfall practice without competitive sparring.
Read the full history of Aikido: https://martialartdirectory.com/martialarthistory/aikido

31/07/2026

Ringside Boxing Gym — Umhlali, Ballito, KwaZulu-Natal

Primary style: Boxing

Modern boxing traces its code to 18th-century English prizefighting and the Queensberry rules. Mechanics rely on the jab, cross, hook, and uppercut executed at long and mid-range. Defense relies on slips, parries, and rolls paired with pivots to control angles. The clinch is used to stall, reset, or free trapped positions. Training uses heavy bags, double-end balls, partner drills, and live sparring under constant pressure. Years of practice build deep specialization in distance management and punch efficiency.

Umhlali is a sugarcane farming village inland from Ballito on the KwaZulu-Natal North Coast.

https://martialartdirectory.com/boxing/ballito/ringside-boxing-gym

30/07/2026

Master West's Karate Annlin — Annlin, Pretoria, Gauteng

Primary style: Semi-Contact Karate

Semi-contact karate originated as a 1970s American sport format built around stop-hit scoring. It prioritizes controlled contact over continuous exchange. Fighters rely on fast entry and exit, utilizing lead-hand blitzes, uraken, gyaku-zuki, and yoko-geri. Distance management, feints, and angle changes replace clinch work and power generation. Practitioners pressure-test these methods through short-burst sparring and point-race interval drills. Success requires scoring clean hits while controlling impact to avoid contact penalties.

Annlin is a leafy residential suburb on the northern slopes of the Magaliesberg in Pretoria.

https://martialartdirectory.com/semi-contact-karate/pretoria/master-west-s-karate-annlin

30/07/2026

REFLEX REFLECTOR

Reflex Reflector measures reaction time the way sports science measures it: a clean stimulus, a clean response, a number you cannot argue with. The scoreboard runs across all 28 martial arts on the registry, so a boxer, a judoka and a Muay Thai fighter are all timed on the same scale.

You register with your name and a one-time SMS code. That keeps the board honest — nobody can post a score for you.

At 23:59 on the last day of every month we lock the board, and whoever is number one takes R1 000 in cash. It runs again the next month, and the month after that. We want to know who has the fastest reflexes in South Africa.

1 day and 9 hours left until the July board locks at 23:59 on 31 July.

https://martialartdirectory.com/reflex

30/07/2026

SANDA/SANSHOU
Sanda emerged from 20th-century Chinese military combative modernization rather than ancient family lineages. In 1924, the Whampoa Military Academy isolated practical striking and off-balancing methods for close-quarters infantry engagement. The Central Kuoshu Academy standardized full-contact tests on the elevated *lei tai* platform starting in 1928. Technical committees synthesized long-range strikes with high-speed sweeps and leg-catch dumps from Shuai Jiao. A standard session combines full-contact kickboxing with continuous takedown entries. Matches are decided by knockout, throw efficiency, or forcing the opponent off the fighting platform.
Read the full history of Sanda/Sanshou: https://martialartdirectory.com/martialarthistory/sandasanshou

30/07/2026

Domination Fitness & Fight Gym — Athlone, Durban, KwaZulu-Natal

Primary style: Muay Thai

Modern Muay Thai evolved as a combat sport from older muay boran systems and Ayutthaya-era battlefield training. The system mechanics rely on eight points of contact alongside clinch control and off-balancing. Entry relies on the jab and teep to close distance effectively. Mid-range exchange centers on heavy round kicks, checks, and long guard management. Inside, fighters establish neck control through plum hand-fighting to break posture. Close-quarter damage relies on knees, horizontal elbows, and cross-elbow strikes.

Athlone is a Durban North suburb located north of the Umgeni River in the Riverside area.

https://martialartdirectory.com/muay-thai/durban/domination-fitness-fight-gym