In the martial arts we have a very strange habit of taking off our shoes when we enter the training area. This is the reason most martial arts schools smell like a strange mix of sweat, and feet. The original reason for this ritual is probably a simple matter, like sandals fly off when you…

       Once again, the idea for this is lifted from a podcast by Iain Abernethy. He put together an excellent work on what traditional martial arts and modern mixed martial arts can learn from each other. In this piece I am going to take a look at what I feel are the things that…

     I have had a few requests from some old friends to write about this, so here is an intro into my days in wrestling.      Like anyone who was in their early teens in the early 80s, I watched a LOT of pro wrestling. Unlike a lot of people, my favorites were not Hulk…

       There is a struggle facing the practitioners of the Traditional Chinese Martial Arts (TCMA). This is something which is always facing any martial art as the world evolves, but it seems at that right now we are closer to the edge of irrelevance than we ever have been before.      In the TCMA,…

       I wanted to put up a quick update on where some of the articles have gone. It was time to do some house cleaning. As I have been examining some previously unexamined beliefs and practices in my training, things have changed. Specifically, in my series tiled “Forms: Step by Step”, a lot of…

There is a really strange subculture in the Chinese Martial Arts, almost like a cult. In fact, I have, many times, referred the Chinese Martial Arts family as a cult. I will go into greater detail about this presently, but I wish to first make clear that I am not referring to everyone who practices…

       I have been reading a lot, and thinking a lot lately about the unexamined beliefs in the martial arts. I wrote a series of unrelated article for my blog lately which dealt in various ways with the strange cult of the martial arts, and some of the absurdities which are spouted as if it…

       I wanted to write at length about Qi. Every time that I started, other concerns or cares would stop me (I do have a family and a life outside of martial arts). Eventually, a series of unrelated notes became something more, and then became edited into what is in front of you now. Here…

     In my previous post, I talked about the misuse and over use of the word “master” in the martial arts community. Today I will talk about the grossly misused word “warrior”.      The word warrior carries many heavy images within it, and it is this almost universal feel of awe and respect for a…

                I was thinking about some of the terms we use every day, or nearly every day, and how we tend to use them incorrectly. In discussing this with a friend, we noted how often people will use the word “momentarily” in a context where the proper word would be “presently”. If you say to…

I have thought for a long time about writing a “how to” on becoming a fake martial arts master. Just the idea of putting in plain sight all of the asinine lies used by those who wish to avoid the traditional road of work and sweat and pain, strung out in the open to show…

Forward Stance: This stance is also called the Bow and Arrow stance. Most people say this term is from “front leg bent like a bow, back leg straight like an arrow”. Other styles call it a front or forward stance. When attacking or defending the front, this is the stance to use. Push the front…

I am in the editing stages of my book on teaching martial arts. I have it scaled back from the original 1,205 pages down to about 850. I need to make it a bit more manageable. Look for some sample chapters soon!

Here is a great flow drill from Iain Abernathy showing an introduction to a flow drill from the start of a Pinan kata. He does fantastic work in bringing kata from the world of theory into the world of practice, unlike many I have known. I think it was Marc MacYoung who said, “The difference…

There is an entire sub sect of the martial arts community where the stated focus is “self-defense”. These are classes where there is some very impressive and fancy looking brutality going on, and it is marketed as self defense, but be careful. Self defense is a very strictly defined course of action – defined by…

Penn and Teller have a show on Showtime network called “Penn and Teller’s BS!” We all know what the BS stands for. With my satellite service, I had a free weekend of Showtime and this just happened to be the episode where Penn and Teller were doing an episode on the martial arts. In an…

My workout yesterday was really quite basic, I did stepping front kicks around the track, two laps or ½ mile, whichever you prefer to call it. I call it half mile, and I call it weak. Years ago, doing a mile of front, side, round and crescent kicks was just a part of my training….

                Yesterday I went through the following workout: Warm Up:  Jumping Jacks – 1 minute  Push ups – 1 minute Sit ups – 1 minute Running in place – 1 minute On the warm up exercises I am using a time limit instead of counting because I find that for me I am more motivated…

                To be honest, I had truly intended to keep updates on my workout and weight loss progress here. I really did. I have nothing to hide, and my life is truly an open book.                 However, I did not want to disrupt the overall feel and look of this site, so I am posting…

A Sifu is a teacher. The literal translation usually put forward is “Father teacher”, but I really feel this has to do more with noting the gender of the teacher. The female teacher is a Simo, or Mother teacher. While there are many martial arts instructors who use the term, even when it is unearned,…

The best instructors are going to be those who are teaching for the right reasons, as is the case with any teacher. Personally, I teach because the martial arts made me who I am, and continue to play a big role in what defines me to this day. I love the martial arts, and respect…

There is a possibility of some changes to the class schedule. We may be going from one day per week to two, then three, then possibly jumping up to five (with Friday and Sunday being off). I will post here as soon as I know that any changes are certain. The changes will begin in…

So, I had purchased a set of escrima sticks. I am not willing to lie and present myself as some kind of expert on the Filipino Martial Arts (FMA from here on). I am, however, very well trained in the Chinese methods of blade work. Here is my impression of the short stick.   The…

I stated in the beginning of the article “Everything my Sifu told me was a lie” that I would put together a cleaner version of the information. I hope this one makes a little more sense. Most of the information is the same, but I have put it into a more comprehensible order, and added…

The title is a gross exageration…I realize that this entry is not the most organized I have ever written. However, I felt that it deals with an important topic, and I will be posting a lot more on this subject. Eventually, it will all get more organized and concise. The subject matter is what is…

The birth and evolution of Chinese secret societies is an often discussed, but poorly understood aspect of the history of Hung Gar. Nearly every practitioner of Hung Gar knows that the birth of Hung Gar had some connection to the secret societies, but very little more is said. Secret societies have existed all over the…

When trying to decide whether or not to include a series of articles on the forms practiced in Hung Gar, there were many issues to consider. Not the least of which is the simple fact that not all Hung Gar schools practice the same forms. There are some Hung Gar schools which practice more than…

For any person to attempt to put their views and understanding of the Twelve Bridges into print is not a decision to be taken lightly. The Twelve Bridges are so poorly understood by so many who wish to seem “in the know”, and if these people have ever published, printed, or in some cases even…

Hung Gar translated into English, means Hung Family. Hung is a family name, like Smith or Jones in America. The word ‘hung’ (洪) is often confused with the words for ‘red’ (紅)or ‘hero’ (雄), which are pronounced the same, but are written with different characters. There are two common uses for this character. The first…

There are a great many martial artists who claim to have studied more than one system, and this is never a real problem. Any intelligent martial artists is going to study one core system, and then fill the holes in their self defense through cross training in whatever system they feel best addresses the shortcomings…

I return once again to the subject of fraud.   It shames an industry which is supposed to be built upon integrity and other like values that there are so many who are shamelessly promoting themselves beyond all credibility. As a small word of advice, I recommend that you do not put too much faith…

I am always excited to hear that someone is interested in training in the martial arts. I wish they would all train with me, but the simple fact is that they are not all interested in what I teach. Even so, I still get excited for them when they are about to begin that great…

I believe I first heard it described this way from Master Chief Hartman, AKA TKDTutor. Originally, the teaching of martial arts was an avocation. This means that it was not done as a way to make a living. It was done out of love of the art. In modern times, the teaching of martial arts…

Before anyone’s feathers get all fluffy, I want to point out that I use the term “kung fu legend” as a joke. It was used by someone to describe me, and I laughed it off, but it kept playing in my head. It also seems I must remind people that the words in these posts…

I came across this article and wanted to comment on it. In order to show that I am not editing the article in order to make it easier to make my point, you may see it for yourself at http://kicksboxes.blogspot.com/2008/01/clearing-air-on-dillman-thomas.html This version was copy and pasted on February 6, 2008 at 1:32 PM, and discrepancies…

When one decides to follow the path of the martial arts, as a beginner, there are many false notions which will usually fall away with time. One of these notions is the idea of one style being superior to another style.  While this attitude is to be expected, it is immature.  Advanced martial artists can…

I posted this a while back on a kung fu forum. I found it again, and it moved me so much I decided to transfer it here.First, and probably most important – Never sacrifice family for any amount of skill in any art or system. Skill in the martial art of your choice is a…

Picking up where we left off…However, there are two books, written around the time of Bodidharma, and history has attributed authorship to Bodidharma. One is called the Yi Jin Jing, and the other is called the Xi Sui Jing. The Yi Jin Jing, or “Muscle/Tendon Changing Classic” is a book detailing a series of exercises…

History for me has always been something that I love. So, after years of studying and training Kung Fu I searched for the history of my style only to find a lot of nonsense, and too many lies and legends. There is no way for me to write the authoritative and accurate account of the…

First off, I would like to state that most diagnosis of ADD/ADHD are pure BS made up by people who don’t want to face up to a kid who is too busy. The biggest problem I have with the rampant ADD/ADHD mentality in our country is the way it is misused as an excuse for…

I began my martial arts journey, really as a child. I saw TV rasslin’, and thought it was real. I remember thinking that those guys must be the toughest guys in the world, to take that kind of a beating every day. I wanted to be that tough. My brother and I were always rough…

In the world of martial arts, there are some pretty funny ideas. In the 1970’s, there was not a lot of Chinese martial arts (authentic) to be had. Most of what was out there was of the Northern Shaolin variety. The Southern Shaolin martial systems are very different in structure, philosophy, and execution. The common…

Many martial artists use the categories of “old school” and “new school” to build themselves up, and put others down. It is usually the people who are putting the others down who will label themselves as “old school”. Another term used frequently in putting down a martial arts school is “McDojo” or “McKwoon” or “McDojang”….

Every once in a while I need to get all mushy… I owe all that I have to one person. My Wife. My wife is the one person, more than anyone else in my life, who figures in all that I do. She makes me stronger than I really am, and better than I really…

It is often said that “children are our future”. I work with youth, almost exclusively. The organization I work for teaches martial arts to at-risk youth as an alternative elective, or PE credit. We are a part of their regular daily class schedule. They see us as often as their math teacher. I ran, and…

This is the first post here on my wordpress. I am not nearly the prolific writer that it might appear that I am when you look at the dates and times of my initial entries, I am moving my old blog here. Everything contained here is nothing more than my opinion and observations. If you…