By RAUL GARCIA JR | Close Combat Magazine
Sensei Danny Bolden found the his drive to “Never Stop Training” at an early age.
It was his big brother Ricky and sister Theresa who introduced him to martial arts on a regular day in 1975 after their work out at the local karate school.
“I started kicking and punching a bag in the backyard,” Bolden said.
Bolden said they taught him punching and kicking exercises, and it was all it took for him to light the fire in his heart for karate. At age 58, Bolden is still training and has raised up the ranks of martial arts.
Bolden is a Grandmaster 7th Dan in Tae Kwon Do, and has been training for more than 40 years in Jackson, Mississippi.
“My brother came up to me one day, and said its time for you to join a dojo after seeing me practice so much on my own,” Bolden said.
Today, Bolden can be found on Facebook, YouTube and TicTok showing off his martial arts style in his “Man-cave Dojo” where he has been training since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. He said his school where he is an instructor has not reopened since it closed to help stop the spread of the virus.
“I told my wife I really need a place to practice my karate, so I set up a large shed in the backyard to practice,” Bolden said.
Bolden has made hundreds of videos showcasing how to protect yourself with self defense. In many of his videos he shows viewers his expertise and power using punches, kicks and a variety of weapons.
He said, after he heard a story about a woman was car jacked and raped, he began posting videos about karate and the benefits of learning self defense training to be ready to defend against an attacker.
“I have been posting videos for about ten years,” Bolden said.
He begins and ends each video with his motto, “Never Stop Training.”
It’s the same motto that fueled his heart at an early age and he’s spreading it like wildfire on the social networks everyday. Some videos gaining more attention than others.
For Bolden, posting a video on his websites is keeping martial arts alive and serves as a place where he can share his style, wisdom and martial arts philosophy to the viewers around the world. He provides many tips and training examples that anyone can practice.
“The key to sparring is to relax and always stay focused,” Bolden said. “That is the key to sparring. If you relax and in flow with your technique never sit still always move, and keep moving keep your opponent off balance. If your afraid of getting hit your going to get hit. Like Bruce says be like water. If your like water your unstoppable because water moves back and forth.”
Bolden has won many first place titles, and has earned more than 250 karate trophies throughout his experience in martial arts.
“I won a nationals in 1988, I won a grand champion 1991, I won one in 2003 and I recently won in 2020 in a tournament held just before the pandemic,” Bolden said.