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…
Tag: karate
The Free Course is almost here!
I have long promised a free online self-defense course, and the wait is almost over. The biggest issue was in finding the right platform, and once that was solved, the work began. After a lot of back and forth on the issues of what should be covered and what could be left out, I have…
An Interview with Kris Wilder
Kris Wilder has had a powerful impact on my training and approach to practical martial arts. His writing, both the solo books as well as those co-authored with Lawrence Kane, are among the books I recommend first to people who ask. The Martial Secrets podcasts are something I look forward to, and listen to as…
Reality Check: Kids and the Future
I work with kids, almost exclusively. As a T.E.A.M. Member for KICKSTART KIDS, I work in a public middle school, and the vast majority of my students are in the 6th, 7th, or 8th grade, with the rest of my students being former middle school students who are committed enough to continue training with me…
Kris Wilder Seminar in North Texas!
Kris Wilder 2013 Seminar Texas The above link will open a PDF form with the seminar and registration information. Author and Co-Author of many books on the martial arts, Kris Wilder is also the leading authority on applied traditional martial arts in the U.S. He has expanded the knowledge and understanding of applied traditional martial…
The Misunderstood ‘Stance’
Stances, at least from my point of view, are grossly misunderstood in traditional martial arts around the world. In this article I am going to give my view on the topic. Like so many other aspects of the Asian martial arts, when they arrived in Western Countries, the first thing we did was misinterpret everything….
Important and Ignored Self-Defense Topics
When we discuss self defense, there are a few things that must be kept in mind. In this article I am going to look at a few of these facts. A lot of what is sold as “self-defense” is not going to give most of this information more than a passing mention, but they are…
A Blending of Styles
I received a comment to a post made a few days ago. Naturally, as comments on the posts are so rare, this was a bit of a thrill for me. When I read the comment, I started a reply, that got longer and longer, until, I thought (and quite possibly said out loud…to myself), “This…
Is Hung Gar a ‘Practical Martial Art’?
I receive a lot of email related to what is published on this blog. I think it is funny that people express themselves so freely in the format of an email, but few people comment on the actual articles themselves in the space provided. But that aside, I did get a few emails covering the…
Overlooked Self-Defense Elements 3: Pre-Fight Indicators/Pre-Fight Rituals
This is part three of a series of articles where I look at the elements needed for a self defense or self-protection course to be of real use. In a previous article I listed the required elements as follows: Awareness Avoidance Pre fight indicators (pre-fight rituals) De-escalation Adrenaline effects And last, actual physical skills Pre-fight…
Wallace Smedley 