One of our regional masters has a saying for training, and everyday life: habits you train are habits you gain. When you run into something you find boring, too repetitive, or seemingly unimportant, don’t be so quick to dismiss it. More than likely it has great benefits if you give Continue Reading
Philosophy
What is Expert?
What is an expert? We were having a review for this blog a couple weeks ago, and something Ana said bothered me. It bothered me not because she said anything against my view of technique, philosophy or values of martial arts. It bothered me because she was selling herself short. Continue Reading
Do It Well
It may seem easier to go through your everyday tasks as fast as possible, so you can maximize completing the number of things you need to do in one day. For example, many people do their laundry relatively quickly (maybe a few hours), but it takes them days to sort Continue Reading
You Can’t Carry Two Watermelons
When Ronda Rousey reached the peak of her fame, she became interested in starting an acting career which she successfully started. Her acting ambitions were met with certain hesitancy from her boxing coach Edmond Taverdyan who said, “You cannot carry two watermelons in your hands!” After Rousey began to join Continue Reading
Training 24:7, Truly a Way of Life
How many days a week do you train? You may find yourself thinking you aren’t training enough, maybe too much, or any amount in between. However, notice I didn’t ask ‘How many days a week do you go to class?’. What are you like on the days where you’re not Continue Reading
Why Do You Train?
Every martial artist has a different reason why they started training, but the interesting question is why they kept training. There are many people who never make it to black belt, as well as a shocking amount of people who will quit almost immediately after achieving their black belt. Why? Continue Reading
Religious Overtones in the Martial Arts
When you look at virtually every martial art, there is always some sort of moral code. These moral codes come from different religions. Many different religions are represented in different different martial arts. In a lot of the Eastern Asian martial arts you see a great deal of either Zen Continue Reading
The True Need for Self Motivation
There are a few martial arts practitioners that are not my students, but I have had an impact on their progression and development in the martial arts. They are low ranking Dan students around the rank of 1st or 2nd Dan. One common thing that I hear them say is, Continue Reading
How to Incorporate the Eastern Philosophy of the Martial Arts in a Healthy Way
One of the downfalls of eastern Asian philosophy that does not agree very much with the western philosophy we are acquainted with in civilian life is the point of not asking for things! When we train we are often taught not to ask our instructors to test or for a Continue Reading
How to Find a Good Instructor
This seems like a very opinionated question. What do you look for in an instructor? Really it sounds like it is a subjective question. It can certainly vary from person to person, but when you look at those instructors who have students that continued to train, continued to teach, and Continue Reading