It is a really simple concept in Zen, but it is terribly difficult for most people to pull off in reality. Be here now. I had a class working on a series of kicks using kicking shields. As I counted and the kiddos were “working”, they started talking about nonsense while kicking. There is a…
Review: The Iron Claw (movie)
So, this post is a bit off of my usual topics, but the people who truly know me know that I grew up in a house full of pro wrestling fans in Texas. Hell, I spent years working in the business of professional wrestling as a wrestler and one failed attempt as a promoter. The…
Lessons from the Samurai
I was sitting in the emergency room. I had undergone a routine procedure early that morning and gone home. The surgery had caused parts of the outer wall of an artery to be torn off. I managed to tear the rest of it open through the highly dangerous act of eating chicken soup. As the…
Do Something Worth Remembering
We had to make the trek down to Houston today. Anyone who knows me knows that Houston is not my favorite place. I’m the guy who posted once that “Happiness is Houston Texas in my rearview mirror.” But since we had no choice about going, we decided to make the most of it. We drove…
Review: Springfield Saint Victor
Presented here is my review of the Springfield Saint Victor, first hundred rounds, as well as some thoughts for anyone considering an AR-15 purchase. The gun is an AR-15 platform rifle, 16 inch barrel, 1:8, a full-length 15″ M-Lok® free-float handguard, flat face trigger which is nickle boron coated, mid-length gas system, 5.56, spring-loaded adjustable…
Concealed Carry: Notes on 5 Years In
I had to renew my license to carry this year. Texas issues such licenses for five years, and it didn’t dawn on me immediately that I’ve been carrying for five years. I decided to share some of my thoughts on concealed carry now that I have been doing it for a while. License not required…
Shotgun or AR for Home Defense?
When it comes to facing the many choices available in terms of home defense, decisions can be difficult. What follows is only my opinion, agree or disagree, I am just putting this out there because I was asked. Handgun or Long Gun I would recommend the long gun in almost every home defense situation. With…
Old Dog, New Tricks
If you ever reach a point where you think there is nothing left to learn in your chosen field, you are only fooling yourself. I have spent decades in the study of self-defense/self-protection and this week I had an eye-opening moment during a presentation from a young instructor named Mike Pana, an instructor from the…
When Injury Takes a Toll
Through the years I have had many setbacks in training. I suffered some pretty serious damage to my knee in my early teens. This single injury resulted in several more injuries through the course of my life, and today I have what I call a bad knee, and a worse knee. Of course, the knee…
The Weight of the World
I had the chance to take some time away. It was needed, and it have me a new perspective. For a start, we went to the State that I long to call home, Colorado. We spent a few days wandering the awe inspiring sights around Colorado Springs. My new favorite place on earth is the…
Wallace Smedley 