You may find yourself having a regular training routine: you go to the dojang two or three times a week, you get a good sweat in, and you feel like you’re in shape. Not that one can’t get in shape just by doing classes, especially for those who are brand Continue Reading
Technique
Finding The Secrets to Good Technique: A Story About Jump Kicking
When I reached the rank of green belt in Tang Soo Do around 15 years ago, my instructor took out the student manual and read to us the expectations for brown belt. He made sure to emphasize the following point: Must be able to demonstrate jumping techniques. In particular, the Continue Reading
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
The Importance of Relaxation and Control in Your Training
Whenever you feel like you are relaxed in your training, relax even more! Many times, we can feel like we are relaxed in our technique but in reality, we are recruiting a lot of muscles in order to create power. While, yes, this power might be there, it will not 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
Trick Your Brain and Disguise Repetition
I was having a discussion with a coworker over lunch about a year ago, and while he is not a martial artist, we came to talk about our different philosophies for exercising. One thought that came up in our discussion was the importance of muscle confusion – That is to Continue Reading
Harness Your Nerves and Unleash the Energy
I was a very shy and anxious kid growing up, and where I’ve gotten a lot better, sometimes I still feel that extreme inner child anxiousness where it feels like the world is crashing down around you. Where it feels like your mind is being squished and then pulled apart; Continue Reading
Trust The Experts, Not Your Ego
Let’s face it, everyone hates being wrong about something you thought you knew. What makes it worse is if the person who corrected you makes you feel bad about it. While you can’t control what others say, you can control how you respond to them. What’s important is to not Continue Reading
Take a Step Back, Adjust and Improve!
A few weeks ago, I was in Tang Soo Do class and we were doing speed breaks. For those who may be unfamiliar the goal of a speed break is to break a board by generating speed versus focusing on power. I am used to power breaks, I have a Continue Reading
Approaches to Training: Old School vs New School
There’s a common school of thought that old-school martial arts training was better because it was more rigorous; maybe you’ve heard (or seen videos) of shaolin monks training in kung fu monasteries in China. Punching and kicking trees or walls for conditioning, meditating outside in freezing temperatures with minimal clothing Continue Reading