The martial art I practice is Tang Soo Do, and there are many other martial arts that have the same “Do” word: Ken-Do, Ju-Do, Kobu-Do, Hapki-Do, Taekwon-Do, Jeet Kune Do, etc. In most (if not all) of the translations, the word “Do” is translated as “The Way”. In Daoism, Continue Reading
Philosophy
Repetition: A Key to Growth
In my Filipino martial arts class, we practice a variety of striking patterns and a series of blocks against general attacks, usually with sticks but can be translated to empty hand or knife. We drill in these patterns and all their permutations; when we do a High Low High attack Continue Reading
Perform at the Level That You Want to Reach
I remember a time during one of my classes in my electrical engineering program when one of my professors was returning our graded midterm exams to us, and one student received an unpleasant surprise. He had received a deduction of five points on one of the problems! Now this class Continue Reading
Getting Started in Martial Arts Part 2: The 3 Goals of Different Martial Arts
Last time we categorized martial arts in 3 categories. Those categories were striking, throwing, and grappling. Read about those categories in part one, here. Now we will further categorize martial arts into 3 more categories. I call these categories “The Art”, “The Fight”, and “The Competition”. I will elaborate more Continue Reading
It’s Ok To Not Have All The Answers – All The Time
For a while, if a student asked me a question I didn’t know the answer to, I’d get really self conscious. I began to question my martial arts knowledge, and would start to think that all my years of training suddenly didn’t matter and I wasn’t fit to teach. It Continue Reading
Misconceptions About Meditation: More Than Sitting and Breathing
Before I started spending most of my time doing martial arts, I played guitar as much as I could. I still play, and I love seeing how different guitarists play their own personal styles. One guitarist I discovered a couple years ago is Tim Henson from the band Polyphia; they’re Continue Reading
Etiquette and Tips for Training while Traveling
I find myself at a point in my life where I am 1) single, 2) childless, 3) employed with flexible hours and accumulated vacation time, and, 4) not having a ‘home’ dojang. There are studios I do frequent more often due to schedule and location conveniences, but I see myself Continue Reading
Our Training Progress Graphically: It’s Not What You Think!
It is very easy to encourage our students with the wishful thinking that we are getting better every day over time in our martial arts training and that the sky’s the limit. This is great for children and youth as this limitless potential can actually be realized and provide them Continue Reading
Focus On Your Toes: The Little Things That Matter
There are many indicators that can show us how our technique is or how we can improve it. One such indicator that I like to look at in myself or tell my students to focus on is the positioning of our toes. The positioning of toes is a tell tale Continue Reading
What does it mean to “Empty your cup”?
You may have heard your instructor say at one point or another to “empty your cup”. What can this mean? Does it mean to literally empty your water bottle or canister of all liquids? Of course not! Depriving oneself of hydration can not be your instructor’s focus (if it is, Continue Reading