In Korean martial arts there is a philosophy known as Ryu Pa. Ryu Pa, the theory of streams diverging from the main branch of the river that eventually become their own waterway. This can be seen in adding different variations to a specific form or technique, and it can even Continue Reading
David Paprocki
The Best Kind of Student: The Eager and Honest Orange Belt
Many times when we are looking to gain insight or at the very least get the ball rolling in our own train of thought, we think revelations or thought provoking questions will come from the masters. While, yes, we would hope that we would gain insight from the masters of Continue Reading
Evolution in Thinking Toward Self-Mastery
About a year ago, Anthony wrote a three part series of articles called “The Martial Artist Mentality” explaining how different lessons we learn in the martial arts can positively affect other realms of our life. You can see all three of those articles below. Today I am writing to explain Continue Reading
Why You Should Start a Blog Too
When it comes to being a martial artist, an instructor or a working professional, one thing is certain. We must be comfortable with sharing ideas. One thing that can prevent us at times when we are sharing our ideas, is the big question of doubt that we ask ourselves, “What Continue Reading
“Be Like Water”
When Bruce Lee spoke about being like water and wu sien, we as martial artists immediately think of the physical application of flowing around your opponent, and being in a state of no thought. This principle goes much deeper though. Our brains are like embedded control systems. Mathematically and systematically Continue Reading
3 Keys to Good Kicking
I enjoy kicking. I also have the advantage of being young and the advantage of beginning my training when I was a child at 6 years old. As I get older, I will definitely need to devote more time and energy to maintaining my level of flexibility and ability to Continue Reading
Misconceptions of Discipline
We were having a blog meeting and while going through all of the articles that we have saved for the future, someone said, “yeah David, you have 10 articles you can take a break!” While the recognition was nice, there was something about the statement that bothered me. You see, Continue Reading
How I Met Anthony
When I began my studies in Electrical Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, I was a rather shy person. I had desired to start a martial arts club on campus, but I thought it would be worthwhile for me to stop in and try out the Jujutsu class and Continue Reading
3 Keys to a Good Test
I had the opportunity to judge a regional black belt pretest recently. In the process of testing for my 4th Dan, this is a new responsibility that I get to take on and as such, I was very excited. I was the first judge on the panel to make it Continue Reading
Moo Shim
You will often associate Bruce Lee with the phrases “Be like water” and “Wu Shein” or “Moo Shim” if you are a Korean Stylist. The latter two references allude to the idea of having an empty mind, and not thinking of anything. He always notes how important these things are Continue Reading