Learn Forbidden Martial Arts

A while back I penned a post about martial-art ads that appeared in the back of comic books, a popular grift that took place during the 1960s and 70s. This is an update sourced from the original author that is far more comprehensive and entertaining than the first. This latest installment includes ads offering home courses for karate and jiu-jitsu, but also an array of fictitious martial-art styles whose only existence and purpose was to literally make a quick buck. A sampling:

• Yubiwaza
• Ketsugo
• Poison Hand
• Aicondo

To be fair, there were some ads that featured karate hawked by legit instructors who ran schools, such as John Keehan (Count Dante—"The Deadliest Man Alive"), and Wallace Reumann, a Chito-ryu practitioner who trained under Hank Slominski—the latter who gave Elvis Presley his first black belt in 1960. Reumann's karate ads (which included a menacing "life like karate practice dummy" to whoop ass on) pushed the boundaries of appealing to the burgeoning masculinity and wariness of young men with doozies like this:

What would you do if you were insulted by a bully?...or if 3 or 4 hoodlums passed remarks about your girl?...or if you were suddenly mugged from behind?...or if someone came at you with a baseball bat?

If you're like millions of other Americans, you'd be absolutely helpless—and you'd be ashamed, humiliated, robbed, beaten, kicked—and pitiful in the eyes of your girl or friends.

To balance things out, this ad for Yubiwaza features a diminutive woman who turns the tables with this remarkable claim:

 I miss the days when you could get your money's worth for 99¢!