What defines a community? In simple terms it’s a group of people that are working towards the same goal. For martial arts, it could mean a studio or club, a loose collection of local schools, an association, all those who train in the same style, or perhaps as large as Continue Reading
Personal Experience
Video Games that Best Showcase the Martial Arts
I’m an 80’s kid, and as such I grew up during a time that could be considered the dawn of modern video gaming. I played Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, and PC games in equal measure and enjoyed a ton of entertainment. It wasn’t until I started training in martial arts that Continue Reading
In the Face of Change, Don’t Let Familiarity Blind You
Change can be a scary thing. This past Spring, I bought a townhouse and began to live on my own for the first time in my life. Admittedly, I was intimidated initially by this life change, but despite this change, not much else in my life was different. I still Continue Reading
Why ‘Good Enough” Really Isn’t Good Enough
There have been many times where I would either be doing house chores, working on a certain project, or even practicing my martial skills and will say, “that’s good enough” and then move on to the next task or activity. I’m certain I’m not alone in this sentiment, and it Continue Reading
Teach Like Your Training Depends on It
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
Find Something That You are Bad at Yet You Enjoy
I was scrolling through Facebook recently on one of my days off. There was a post that caught my eye titled, “40 Cheat Codes I Wish I Knew at 20”. I always enjoy reading these types of articles where people who are older than me reflect back on what they Continue Reading
Don’t Forget to Celebrate
A while back a friend and I were competing at a tournament. After my friend’s round, I congratulated them on their performance. This person immediately started criticizing themselves and listing all of the ways they could have done better. I reminded them, celebrate your wins today, tomorrow is when you Continue Reading
Mentally Recovering from Injury
A while back I wrote a post about strength and conditioning and avoiding injury. (Link here). And I had said that my own recovery story was for another day. Well here we are. The fact is that I have tried to sit down and write this article so many times. Continue Reading
What You Value in Others
I have a lot of great friends that I’ve met through training and our association. I’ve mentioned in previous articles that the connections you make in martial arts are different from regular everyday interactions; you have to have a certain level of trust and respect to let someone punch and 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