How do you feel about sparring? While some people absolutely enjoy getting to spar, others absolutely dread it when the instructor says that it’s time to put sparring gear on. Some even get to the point where they are absolutely terrified. Why is this? And what does that mean for Continue Reading
Philosophy
Creating Positive Habits for Positive Change
I remember reading something in high school that stated ‘it takes 21 days to make or break a habit’. This made sense to me; I grew up Catholic, so every year there was a period of time, Lent, where we fasted and chose something to give up for 40 days. Continue Reading
The Importance of Having a Student Mindset to Being a Successful Leader
I was organizing a regional training clinic with a high ranking individual in our organization as our guest. As a 4th Dan, I always feel awkward telling very senior masters what the plan is and giving them instructions. I’m sure many other 4th Dans would agree with me. I very Continue Reading
Clean Home, Clear Mind: Good Organization Leads to Good Training
In the WTSDA, we have what are called the “14 Attitudes”, fourteen sayings that are used to help focus the student in their training. The fourteenth attitude states, ”Cleanliness is required after training. Keep yourself and your surroundings clean” (Shin, p.57). Many of the other 14 attitudes deal either with Continue Reading
Preferences vs. Correctness: How Should We Judge?
In the martial arts, especially when we are at a rank closer to black belt, we begin to be exposed to other instructors and other ways of doing things. Sometimes this will align with the way our instructors taught us to do things and other times it will not. Every Continue Reading
The Meaning of Politics in Martial Arts
You may have heard the saying, “when you put 2 people together you have a disagreement, when you have 3 or more people in the same room, you have politics”. The same can be said for martial artists; if you ask ten different people how a certain sequence in a Continue Reading
Look at Things From the Other Perspective
Before I was passionate about martial arts, my main hobby was music. The first job that I wanted was to be a rock star, so I began playing guitar as soon as my parents let me. I played in a handful of bands over the years, learned from many different Continue Reading
Dating Advice for Martial Artists
It can be easy for those that are immersed in martial arts or any other niche hobby or lifestyle to fall into the trap of thinking that they need to date someone that follows that same lifestyle or does the same activity. After all, how can our significant others really Continue Reading
Sometimes People Would Rather be Right Than Correct
Martial arts is one of few unique activities where you have to put your complete trust in someone else to teach and evaluate you. Sure you can watch videos online of how to do strikes and techniques, researching the exact way it’s supposed to be done. But you won’t know Continue Reading
What is The Purpose of Breaking Boards?
Last month, I published an article of my answers to commonly asked questions (Link here). Shortly after that, I realized that I left one out, “Can you break a board or a brick?”. The answer is yes, but most people don’t understand why we do this. Outside of the fact Continue Reading