I turned 56 yesterday. That number feels different than the ones before it. Not heavier, but more textured. It carries decades of sweat, bruises, blood, breakthroughs, and quiet moments of clarity. It reminds me that I’ve spent most of my life in the martial arts and that the path I walk today looks different than…
Tag: Martial Arts
Empowering Teens through the Martial Arts
I had a wonderful student years ago, and for our purposes here, we will call her Lisa, but that isn’t her real name. Lisa was not a bad kid by any stretch of the imagination. She did have some trauma in her life before she became my student. She also had some odd choices in…
My Take on Taekwondo
I’ve been very nostalgic lately. This post is a direct result of my thinking over the last few days. When I think of the 90s, especially the early to mid 90s, TKD memories tend to crowd out the more difficult things I went through. During my somewhat younger days and into middle age, I questioned…
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…
Review: Martial Arts and Your Life
The following is a review of Martial Arts and Your Life, a new book by Lawrence A. Kane and Kris Wilder. Condensed version: I loved and believe you will too. Longer version: Last summer I got an email asking if I would be interested in participating in a survey for a Martial Arts book. I…
What Unites Us
I’ve spent a lot of time thinking. Stressing too! I managed to get my blood pressure all out of whack again, so there’s that. I don’t intend to get political here, no matter what I say in that realm, I will lose half of my audience. And people are on edge these days too. But…
Do You Have a Reason to Train?
There is a stark contrast between people who have a clear purpose for training and people who are thinking about training. I see it time and again. People say they would like to get in shape, or think it would be good to be able to protect themselves. But these people never have that follow-through….
Train in What?
The question comes up often, and I am sure I am not the only instructor who gets this question over and over. You say I should train to protect myself, train in what style? When I urge people to train, I am not suggesting that I am the only one who should teach them. I…
What is the best way to stop bullies?
Questions kept popping up after my video on bullying: Why do the anti-bullying programs seem to be ineffective, and sometimes even exacerbate the problem? Is there a good way to stop bullies? There is a simple reason, at least in my opinion, of why so many of the anti-bullying programs fail: these programs do not…
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…
Teaching Martial Arts: A Positive Classroom
We all have to be mindful of our interactions with our students. As I have said in the past, it is easy to catch people, kids especially, doing things wrong. There is no special skill or training needed to do this. The real challenge lies in catching them doing things right, and finding ways to…
An Interview with Pavel Macek, Sifu
In the continuing series, I present to you today an interview with Pavel Macek Sifu. He currently lives and teaches in the Czech Republic, in addition to teaching seminars in many different countries. I really appreciate the mindset that traditional training IS practical. Very knowledgeable and personable as well, he brings a lot to the…
The Useful Fiction
In looking at the many and varied approaches to self-protection out there, I did what is becoming ever more uncommon. I started thinking. There are a widely separated set of world views to choose from. But at the base, we see the world in the way that best suits our needs at the moment. Our world…
Five Things to Remember About Self-Defense
There are some factors in the subject of self-defense that must be remembered for any training or study to do you any good at all. Some of these factors are either ignored or given only the most basic mention in a self-defense class. In this article I am going to take a look at some…
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…
An Interview with Sifu Frank Bolte
In an effort to continue my promised series of interviews with some of the interesting people I have met through the martial arts, I present an interview with Sifu Frank Bolte. He is a down to earth person, with a humility rare in martial artists of his extensive experience and deep knowledge. Doing this interview changed…
An Interview with Sifu Onassis Parungao
I have thought for a time about doing a series of interviews of some of the interesting people I have met in or through the martial arts. The biggest thing that held me back was confidence. I am, after all, not really a journalist. But…I have published books and I am not really a writer!…
Strategies for Teaching Martial Arts: Student Praise
As we return to the subject of teaching martial arts, I want to address the subject of praising the student’s progress. There are many opinions on the topic, and mine may just be one more thrown in the mix, but working with more kids on a daily basis, and teaching more classes in a day…
Strategies for Teaching Martial Arts: Attitude
I am going to offer a series of articles intended for instructors who teach children, but I think there may be something of value to those parents of children who are training in the martial arts in that I may be able to offer a way for the parent to judge the effectiveness of their…
Still MORE fake mystical nonsense…
This is an older video which turned up in a discussion on Iain Abernethy’s forum, I decided to share it here and give my take on stuff like this again, as there are still people who believe this sh…stuff. First, the video: I was impressed with only one point in the video, the part where…
Violence and Conflict: Thinking of the children
Violence and Conflict From our earliest days, humans have had to live a life of violence and conflict. Whether we were hunting for food, defending a tribe or village, or marching to war, violence and conflict were there. We are, as a species, adaptable and violent. And we always have been. In our modern world,…
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…
Martial Arts Leadership
Leadership within the context of a martial arts school or style is not often examined properly. As often as not, the leaders or founders of a school, style or system feel themselves to be the authority on the subject, and they wish to have all power within the group, they feel that all decisions are…
Self-Defense for Children: What to Teach and How much is too much?
There have been a series of emails coming in that have been asking questions along the same line of thinking. The main points being: What should be included in a children’s self-defense class? Where is the line regarding how much information the child needs to hear in a class, without crossing the line? In other words;…
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…
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…
The OODA Loop and Self-Protection
Today I am going to take a look at the OODA Loop and the role that it plays in self-defense/self-protection. For those who do not know, the OODA Loop is the name given to the decision-making process. The term itself comes from Colonel John Boyd who was researching the mental process used by fighter pilots…
An Open Letter to the Bullied
I want to digress for a moment or two and speak directly to those youth, and in some cases young adults who are bullied. I am not going to try to pass myself off as an expert, or a psychotherapist in any way shape or form. This is just an old man who has been…
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 4: De-Escalation
This is part four 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 De-Escalation People…
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…
Overlooked Self-Defense Elements 2: Avoidance
This is part two 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 Avoidance. Men…
Overlooked Self-Defense Elements 1: Awareness
This is part one 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 In a…
Hollywood Misconceptions
The scene is in nearly every martial arts movie out there. The martial artist is alone. He isn’t wearing a shirt or shoes, so we know he isn’t on his way to the convenience store. He is training. He assumes the splits, possibly up on chairs or the railing of a balcony. He starts to…
New Book
Within the next week or so, my latest book will be available. This one, titled “Kick it to the Next Level, Improve your martial arts instruction without selling out” is not about Hung Gar specifically, but is a collection of articles on teaching martial arts. I will post the link once it is available!
More Changes to GJFFK
Well, it has been happening again. In my research into the GJFFK form, and the in depth training of the form that I have been involved in, my form is changing a lot. Personally, I have never felt that there was any reason to take an over reaching pride in the “my-form-has-not-changed-in-6,000-years” mentality. I know…
Wallace Smedley 