I remember one Saturday afternoon after finishing class in the city, my students and I had planned to go share a meal together in Chicago’s Chinatown. In the past, going to eat dinner in Chinatown was a relatively easy thing. We would go to one of our favorite restaurants and Continue Reading
Philosophy
Musicality in Martial Arts
From sixth grade through high school, I played the trumpet in my school band. I wasn’t a particularly skilled trumpeter (trumpetist?) but the experience gave me several valuable experiences: a love of classical music, an increased lung capacity, and an understanding of basic musical theory. I can still sight read Continue Reading
Supplemental Exercise: Is It Necessary for Martial Artists?
A student last week approached me and asked, “Sir, do you have a workout regimine that you do? I would like to work on my physique.” The short answer to his question was yes, but when you pull back the layers, the better answer to the question is that while Continue Reading
Maintaining Excellence: Ryun Ma
Everyone talks about the end product, sometimes about the journey to get there. But rarely anyone talks about what it takes to maintain your level of success, and keep it growing. This comes up a lot in martial arts; you work really hard to get your black belt, or second Continue Reading
Don’t Confuse the Roles of School Owner and instructor
When evaluating yourself and your ability to have your own and run a martial arts program, you need to be able to evaluate yourself in the different roles that you have. You are both an instructor and a school owner simultaneously! Your business skills AND martial arts skills matter. Sometimes Continue Reading
The Meaning of “Moo”
No, this article is not about the noise a cow makes while grazing. What I’m referring to is the Chinese character of “Moo” in Korean, or “Bu”, “Takeshi”, “Mononofu” in Japanese, and finally “Wǔ” in Chinese. This is the same character that appears in such words/phrases such as “Moo Duk Continue Reading
Why White Belts Can Be Difficult to Spar: What Does That Mean For Self Defense?
In David Epstein’s Range he defines different environments in which we develop ourselves or compete in. He defines those in which we can recognize patterns as kind environments, and those that are the opposite as wicked. “In wicked domains, the rules of the game are often unclear or incomplete, there Continue Reading
Growing Into The Next Rank
Sometimes as an instructor, I may feel that a student is not quite up to par with their technique to be advanced to the next level. There are times where I may fail a colored belt student while there are other times where I might promote a colored belt student Continue Reading
Different Learning Styles: What Works for You?
While I am very grateful and privileged to have had the education I did growing up, occasionally I’ll learn something new in my adult life that I wish I would’ve been taught back in my formative years in school. Credit scores, applying for a job, filing your taxes, renting an Continue Reading
Different Training Floors and How to Adjust to Each One
As you move along your martial art journey, your path may take you to different dojangs with different floors than what you may typically be used to training on. I started training in the aerobics room on my college campus, so I was used to training on hardwood floors until Continue Reading