We constantly hear the importance of teaching as we become more advanced in our martial arts journey. Some may struggle to grasp the importance of this and may even have some resistance to this thinking that if they are spending so much of their time teaching, how will they have Continue Reading
David Paprocki
Applying Hip Motion to Kicks
One thing that is certain when it comes to any type of technique in any style of martial art, is the importance of hip rotation. This hip rotation can apply to different axes. We can rotate our hip forward and backward as well as side to side. When it comes Continue Reading
Opportunities: Rise to the Occasion
When I was in high school band, a few members of the wind ensembles were borrowed to play with the string ensembles to make a full orchestra. If there was a certain member that was playing in the full orchestra was absent, someone else would need to step in for Continue Reading
Is Insecurity Holding You Back?
This past weekend, I had the privilege of sharing some knowledge of jump kicking with some youth black belts at our regional black belt camp. It was a great time; I really enjoy the opportunity to dive deep into certain martial arts topics and proverbially, Preach to the Choir sharing Continue Reading
How Do You Spend Your Time?
One thing that we all need to come to terms with is that time is a finite resource, and we will not have the time to do every opportunity that we are presented with. I often joke that as I have become more senior in rank, there are times where Continue Reading
What Your Stance Says About You
Anyone who has ever trained alongside me or taken a class taught by me, knows that I value stances a lot. While stances are a crucial fundamental and having a good foundation is critical for the development of good technique, that is not totally why I emphasize stances. I emphasize Continue Reading
Create Things to Look Forward To
One thing that school created for all of us growing up is the idea of looking forward to breaks and long weekends! These breaks and long weekends are structured and determined for us and we don’t give much thought to planning them. If we were fortunate enough to have the Continue Reading
Prioritizing Good Technique Over Memorization
Disclaimer: My direct students are all university students, and as such, they are at their prime physically and have a mature yet sponge-like brain that can absorb things quickly. I understand that I teach in the most ideal situation, and some of what is mentioned will not apply as much Continue Reading
The Importance of Being Thankful
I really try to avoid talking about my relationship on this blog. I don’t find it to be appropriate or relevant in many cases, but there is one thing about my relationship and influence that my girlfriend Sarah has had on me that we can all easily apply to our Continue Reading
Manage Your Expectations with Your Effort
As a young 3rd Dan that had just started a college club, I was very hard core with the technical aspects of class as well as attendance expectations of my students if they were to train. I was very strict and often told them that if they did not come Continue Reading