Step into many dojos today and you’ll see students moving through kata and floor drills with a kind of casual rhythm. Their stances are loose, their strikes lack conviction, and their eyes drift as if the mind is somewhere else. The movements are performed, but the spirit is absent. This is not how martial arts…
Tag: training martial arts
The High Cost of Toughness
There’s a certain reverence in martial arts circles for the old-school mentality; the grit, the grind, the stoic endurance of pain. We’ve all heard it: “Push through.” “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” “Tape it up and keep going.” “Suck it up, buttercup.” “Walk it off.” Injuries, in this mindset, aren’t just inevitable. They’re worn…
Reflections on Aging in the Martial Arts
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…
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…
Dangerous new game is spreading
There is a disgusting game that is spreading to different parts of the U.S. called knockout. It has existed roughly since 2005 under various names, “Point ’em Out, Knock ’em Out” and “Knockout King” Here is a news story on the subject: This crime is committed by kids who really should have better sense, and…
Overlooked Self-Defense Elements 6: Physical Skills
This is part six 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 Physical Skills…
One year with Gung Ji and Bagua Staff
After being thoroughly inspired by a book called “Five Year, One Kata” by Bill Burgher, I began a similar task for myself. Now, the main point of the book was to decipher the hidden applications of the katas he selected (Gojushiho for those of you interested). I gave it some thought, and consulted…
Wallace Smedley 