Don’t Take Anything For Granted
On Saturday, September 14th, I received a text from Professor Chuck Gauss informing me of Professor Will Higginbotham’s passing. I was shocked. Like many of his colleagues, I did not expect this at all. He was healthy and showed no signs of ill health. I…
A Fantastic Michigan Modern Arnis Camp!
My trip to the Michigan Modern Arnis Camp got off to an inauspicious start due to the worldwide IT outage that occurred earlier that day. I arrived at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor and got stuck in the middle of the bridge. It took 2.5…
Baseball and Self Defense
Sorry, no video for this week. Things got in the way. I’ll resume next week! Wait. Wut? What does baseball have to do with self defense? It comes from a fantastic article in “The Athletic” titled “Missing Bats: How An Obsession With Strikeouts Upended The…
High or Low Energy Private Lessons
Whether I teach a high or low energy private lesson depends on the client’s energy level. One of my clients (Rosh) drove this point home during our lesson last week. He had gone to bed early the night before exhausted and admitted that he had…
Video of the Week 4: Using the Center Line
Awareness of and mastering the center line is crucial for any martial artist. Quick aside: This is the last video available to the public. Starting next week, only subscribers can access these videos after this initial period. As such, if you want to view future…
Top Ten Tips for Watching Martial Arts Instructional Videos
Introduction With the rise of digital learning, martial arts enthusiasts have unprecedented access to a wealth of instructional videos. Nowadays, we can access videos through online platforms, streaming videos and DVDs. I have a huge collection of videos dating back to the 1980s. Over time,…
Happy New Year 2024!
Happy New Year to all of you! As I said to my wife last night, “Wow, I can’t believe that we have rolled into 2024, the year of my 60th birthday!” She shook her head, perhaps not believing I’d hit 60 in nine months. Jeebus!…
Back To The Drawing Board
As many of you know, one of my goals for my 60th birthday is to perform 60 push-ups on that day. To that end, I’ve been doing test push-ups. Until yesterday, I was progressing. Unfortunately, I regressed, going from 38 last month to 36 yesterday….
Going Into The Martial Arts Hibernation Season
Do you expect to train on the same martial material year-round? That approach will lead to burnout and stagnation. The intelligent approach is to vary your training throughout the year. Changing routines is relatively easy for martial arts competitors. For example, they can spend the…
Friday Recommendation #22
If you are not able to view the video, go here. In short, I highly recommend this video. This video starts with Jesse demonstrating Naihanchi/Tekki Shodan and explaining that it contains elements of Wing Chun. Beginning with that kata, Sensei Jesse and Sifu Kevin Lee…