About Black Belt Journal’s Blog & Editorial Standards

Welcome to Black Belt Journal! Whether you’re a seasoned martial artist or just starting your journey, we provide practical information on various fighting styles, training methods, and the latest gear to elevate your practice. Here, you’ll find insightful articles and reviews to guide you towards achieving your martial arts goals.

Editorial Standards & Mission Statement

Our mission is to provide real, helpful information to our readers, and we uphold high editorial standards to ensure the quality and integrity of our content.

At Black Belt Journal, we are committed to providing our readers with accurate and reliable information.

To ensure the quality of our content, we employ a rigorous research process involving personal testing, customer feedback, and industry analysis.

When reviewing products, we either purchase the product or obtain sponsored access to gain firsthand experience.

We also gather valuable insights from our readers through survey forms on our website and feedback from other martial artists.

Our ultimate goal is to provide the best possible recommendations for our readers, and we strive to maintain the highest standards of research and analysis.

Why I Do Reviews

I love learning, researching, and testing new products.

Over time, I’ve learned that there is a community out there for everything, and I want to be the source that provides real information to help people make informed decisions.

By sharing my personal experiences and conducting thorough research, I aim to provide honest and unbiased reviews that our readers can trust.

How I Conduct Research For My Articles

While we aim to test every product ourselves, there may be instances where this is not feasible.

To ensure the highest quality of our reviews, we conduct thorough research by reviewing feedback from trusted sources such as Trustpilot, Reddit, BBB, and other reputable review sites that feature customer feedback

We then combine our analysis with this research to formulate a well-informed and unbiased product review.

Our methodology ensures that our readers can make informed decisions when purchasing.

Black Belt Journal’s Methodology

At Black Belt Journal, we follow a methodology to ensure our content’s quality and reliability.

This methodology involves conducting thorough research, testing products where possible, and providing an honest and unbiased review.

We believe that transparency and integrity are essential, and we strive to uphold these values in everything.

I started Black Belt Journal with over 20 years of experience in martial arts. 

My journey began with Taekwondo, where I achieved the rank of 4th-degree black belt. The discipline and focus I gained in Taekwondo laid a strong foundation for my martial arts development.  

This foundation fueled my desire to explore new styles, leading me to combat hapkido, where I earned my 2nd-degree black belt. Hapkido’s emphasis on joint locks and throws broadened my understanding of self-defense and close-quarters combat. 

For 10 years, I had the privilege of sharing my passion as a master instructor, guiding students on their own martial arts paths. Witnessing their growth and resilience firsthand solidified my belief in the transformative power of martial arts. 

Now, through Black Belt Journal, I’m excited to continue empowering martial artists with valuable knowledge and insights, drawing on my experience as a competitor, instructor, and lifelong student of the martial arts.

How I Keep My Information Free For You

At Black Belt Journal, we are committed to providing helpful information for free. We understand that not everyone can afford premium content, so we provide our insights and reviews at no cost. We may earn a commission to support our work when readers purchase through our affiliate links.

However, this does not affect our editorial standards, and we only recommend products we genuinely believe in.

Using our affiliate links, you can support our work and help us continue providing helpful information to our readers.

We hope this overview of our blog and editorial standards has been helpful. We are committed to providing high-quality content that our readers can trust, and we appreciate your support in helping us achieve this goal.

If you have any feedback or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Thank you for reading.

While we do use affiliate links to generate income, we always prioritize the interests of our readers above all else.

When creating list posts or product comparisons, we consistently research and evaluate alternative options to ensure we recommend the best possible products, regardless of affiliate partnerships.

Potential commissions never influence our opinions and recommendations, and we only promote products that we genuinely believe in and would use ourselves.

We are committed to maintaining editorial independence and providing unbiased, trustworthy advice to our readers.

At Black Belt Journal, transparency is one of our core values. We believe in building trust with our readers by being open and honest about our processes, partnerships, and potential biases.

We will always disclose this information upfront if we have any partnerships, sponsorships, or other relationships that may influence our content.

We are committed to providing honest, unbiased reviews and maintaining the integrity of our content, regardless of any external factors.

If we ever make a mistake or need to update our content based on new information, we will do so promptly and transparently, communicating any changes clearly to our readers.

We hope this overview of our blog and editorial standards has been helpful. 

How We Use AI-Generated Content

At Black Belt Journal, we use AI writing tools to help us craft better content and overcome writer’s block. These tools can be useful for generating ideas, optimizing content for readability, and enhancing the overall quality of our articles.

However, it’s important to note that we never publish AI-generated content without proofreading, fact-checking, and editing.

We understand the limitations of AI-generated content and are committed to ensuring that all information presented on our blog is accurate, relevant, and trustworthy.

Our team of human editors and experts plays a crucial role in maintaining our content’s quality and integrity. We never publish AI-generated content without thorough vetting and refinement.

While we appreciate the benefits of AI-generated content, human oversight is essential to ensure the accuracy and quality of our articles.

I aim to provide high-quality, trustworthy content for our readers, and we believe that this can only be achieved through a careful balance of AI tools and human expertise.

Thank you for your understanding and support.