Most people live their life with two major fears hanging over their head, the fear of making mistakes and the fear of failing. Often these are the very people who wish for the dazzling success of the leaders in different fields. But the leaders in any field, in many ways, are not really that different from…

As 2016 is finally in its death throes, and 2017 is racing headlong into our collective faces, I thought I would share with you a few items of what is in the works here. First, I want to thank those of you still here. Our subscriber list went up and down a bit, but ended…

I have been asked by several people who read this blog about how I identify; am I a traditional martial artist, a RBSD guy (Reality Based Self-Defense), a gun nut, or what? To be honest, I am just studying. Each phase of what I have undertaken has been, what seemed to me, to be a…

For the people who know me best, the idea that I talk so much about being practical can sometimes take a moment to sink in. I do things in an oddball way as often as not. When asked a question, I tend to give a thorough answer with supporting information rather than a quick, simple,…

This is another addition to of a series of articles where I intend to share my journey into gaining an understanding of firearms. I am sure there are others out there who, like me, were either taught to be afraid of guns, or else simply have no knowledge about guns at all. I share this…

Very often, people tend to marginalize anything which the media wishes to marginalize. We see shows about “preppers” and assume that they are doomsday kooks.  Sometimes we need to look beyond these generalizations and see the facts. Here I am going to present some of my thoughts on things that we should all consider. You…

At one level of thinking and reacting, people wish beyond all reason to give labels and motivations to the actions of others. Obviously, part of the reason our species survived at all can be attributed to our ability to look at situations, and using our experiences, make predictions about what is likely to happen next….

With the recent terrorist activity in western nations, there have been a lot of questions coming in about how to stay safe in the event one were to find themselves in the location of such an attack. I will leave out such sections as what happens if they bomb your flight while you are at…

So, I originally mentioned August as a time of release for the latest book. Obviously that didn’t happen. I have had a couple of updates and even an “it is essentially done” post. Well, things happen. I had a wonderful opportunity to have some people put eyes on my work before I released it. Please…

I just noticed how long it has been since my last update. Wow. So, in order to keep everyone in the loop, here is the update and status report. I am currently putting the finishing touches on Prelude to a Fight. This has taken longer than I thought for a couple of reasons, but I…

There is a title to the book I am working on now, Prelude to a Fight .subtitle Personal Safety Before the Physical Conflict Begins. The book is to be about the things that happen prior to a physical conflict that are under our control. This is a logical follow up to my two previous offerings, Slapping Dragons, and Ignorance, Myth, and…

After several months of research, fact checking, and getting ducks in a row. after a good dozen rewrites of the outline, I have started on a new book. My goal is to have it available by August of this year. If you have not already given a “Like” to the Facebook “Wallace Smedley’s Page”, please…

In my previous video I had some people comment that maybe…just maybe I had pulled a fast one. Because it was too perfect that I just happened to pick the paper that said I died in the fight. So, I remade the video without letting the papers get out of sight of the camera. Hope this helps!

This is a quick video on the random nature of the outcome of fighting. I hope the point is made, and I hope you enjoy!

This is a remake of an earlier video I made for people experiencing bullying. I hope it covers the important points and helps people.

Here is a short video on coaching and working with kids.

I have been getting a lot of email lately with questions that are not really answerable in article or email format, unless I want to take a lot more time to respond that what I have available. Here is a video answering one of the more frequent questions; how should I stand before the fight…

In an article published on a feminist “news” site, claiming to address the topic of self-defense, the author used a line that still bothers me. The line was “and the amazing and impossible ‘be aware of everything around you all the time.’” This mischaracterization of the subject of awareness does have a basis in a…

I found this talk from Dr. Angela Duckworth on the subject of kids, success and grit. Give a listen. What I really like about this is the way in which, through my work with KICKSTART KIDS, I get to see this first hand as year after year I have students who have futures very much…

As 2014 comes to a close, and 2015 bears down on us like a runaway freight train… I want to thank those of you who have read my writing and especially those who take the time to share posts and even drop a line to me, even those who disagree with my points. I still…

After several emails asking for ideas regarding what would be the most important things a person should know or do in order to increase personal safety, I decided that this is a good place to answer. The fact is that increasing personal safety can be done for most people without ever learning martial arts. However,…

Have you ever “unfriended” someone on Facebook because you knew their latest status update was directed at you? Did you take this action without talking to them to see whether or not it really was about you? Have you ever assumed that you knew why a person was saying the things to you that they were saying,…

By all appearances, it seems that there is a baffling lack of thinking in this country right now. What I will cover here is a strange, almost contradictory circumstance. We have a situation where people have a Soundbite Overload, and yet at the same time seem to be suffering from a Factual Deficit.

Your lifestyle plays a tremendous role in your personal safety. The good part about this is that your lifestyle is a factor 100% under your control. In this article I am going to take a look at some of the lifestyle choices people make that affect their personal safety, and offer some points of consideration…

Within the martial arts, the term self defense is misused and overused to the point where people, often as not, don’t know that it is a legal term, and as such not really open to personal interpretation. This is so common that as a martial arts instructor, when I mention consequences of using fighting techniques,…

I was sent the following link by a friend who asked me what I thought of the article. How to Exercise Our Right to Defend Ourselves without Being Victim-Blaming When I saw the line in the link “Self defense blame victims” to be honest, I threw up a little bit. But I went ahead and…

There is a lot of talk and concern lately over these random violent attacks. As a personal preference, I like to not “date” my articles unless I am writing about a specific event, but with the frequency of these attacks right now it seems that it will not take a great deal of imagination or…

There are many articles out there along this line, ranging from how businesses end up losing their best employees, to how teachers fail their students. In this offering I am going to list what I feel are the ten best ways to be sure your students will quit. They are listed in no particular order…

Our long promised FREE online self-defense course is now live! The decision was made that the road to take was covering the information left out of the typical self defense course. We decided to use the Udemy platform to deliver the course. To take the course, go to http://www.udemy.com/self-defense-101 and sign up. The sign up process is…

On  September 29th of 2013 we crossed the 15,000 views mark and I was astonished. Today we crossed 20,000, and I feel humbled. For a tiny weblog written by a guy like me, to me this is amazing in such a short period of time. I thank all of you for reading what I write,…

Sometime during the day, we crossed the 15,000 views mark! I am pleased with this and want to thank our readers who enjoy what we publish, and those who share what they found worthy of sharing. While the sidebar shows articles dating back to 2008, please remember that this site, http://www.wallacesmedley.com has only been active…

Alright, there is quite a bit of hate being thrown around and it really does need to be addressed, but how can one address it when emotions are being intentionally stoked to such high levels? For a start, one who wishes to address the issues should start with an attitude of respectful dialogue. So, from…

We just crossed the point of 10,000 views of this website! I thank all of you who stop by, and I especially want to thank those of you who comment or send emails letting me know that you like what I am doing here. I am humbled and appreciate you more than you know. I…

There is still time and space available for the Kris Wilder Seminar! Save some money if you register before Friday! Don’t miss it! Kris Wilder 2013 Seminar Texas

When I meet someone for the first time, and tell them what I do for a living, I am often given the response along the lines of, “That’s not a job.” And to be honest, what I do does not feel like a job. Yes, I get paid. Yes, I show up every day. Yes,…

We have a lot of things coming up in 2013! In addition to our upcoming additions to be added, including a video segment, as well as a training blog and a whole host of other additions, 2013 looks to be a very good year here. I thank all of you for your support, and hope…

For the beginner student in martial arts, it can be extremely difficult to tell the real from the fake when meeting the people who teach martial arts classes. In this essay, I am going to give you some tools that will help you to determine if the person teaching the class is a real instructor,…

In the attached article here you will find an article with a disturbing video of a 16 year old girl violently stuck from behind. The man was running up behind her but somehow his steps were not heard or noticed. I am working on a longer essay to address the subject, but this video is…

I just want to send a quick note out to those who follow this blog. First I wish to thank you all for the follows, the Facebook likes, and the mostly kind emails. I really do appreciate all of it, and it does keep my drive alive to make this blog high quality in terms of…

  Like many people this terrible event hit me hard. Due to my role as a martial arts and self-defense instructor I was getting emails, texts and messages all day about the event. Before I begin anything, I want to say that above all there needs to be heartfelt condolences going to those affected by…

A few months ago, I pulled my books offline with the idea of updating them. They no longer represented the way I am doing things, and I wanted them to be as accurate as possible. In a conversation with an old friend of mine, he made note that this was a mistake, as I could…

It has been a bit of time since my last post. In the time since, I have been flooded (well…not really flooded) with emails that contained questions, criticisms, and comments. I have decided to answer some of them here, as this is as good a format as any. So, let us begin… You have gone…

I want to take a moment to thank those of you following my blog here! We crossed the 1,000 views mark in a very short time, and are crossing the 2,000 views mark in less time than it took to get to the 1.000, and that is due to my regulars. I thank you for…

Kris Wilder has published an article I wrote on the Martial Secrets Blog!! You can read it here: http://www.martial-secrets.com/2012/04/01/kickstart-for-kids-making-a-difference-by-wallace-smedly/#comment-1487

I want this to be the best possible blog for my friends and readers. Please take a moment and let me know what you would like to see more of here in my future posts. Thank you in advance to any who take the time to complete this!!

I was speaking to a friend of mine a few hours ago. I asked him if he would be interested in joining me for some workouts over the summer. I have looked at a number of workout programs, and the one that is the most interesting to me is Iain Abernethy’s Extreme Impact Martial Arts….

In the mid 90s, I had a martial arts club that was doing well enough that I was able to move out of the rec center where we were holding classes and into a storefront space. Like anyone starting out, I had little money, and more ideas than I could ever hope to bring to…

When a martial artist reaches the age of 40, does everything really change that much?  I turned 42 last year. I don’t really feel all that different from how I felt even five years ago. So it is not really the actual number 40 that matters, but age happens and things do change as we…

            To some degree, we all engage in wishful thinking. When we buy a lottery ticket, and we imagine what we will do with the money, we are doing just that, wishful thinking.             I have made no secret of my initiation into the martial arts through the door of mysticism. The true appeal of…