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!…
The Power of Incremental Gains
How many of you are okay with incremental gains from gym or martial arts workouts? Surprisingly, at 59, I’m fine with the idea of small gains. Like most folks, I was unsatisfied with mere incremental gains in my younger days. It was either substantial gains…
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…
From Pixels to Stick Fighting
A number of my Padawans play video games. That’s not exactly shocking to you, is it? However, I have often wondered how it translates to their FMA training or, more importantly, how it informs my teaching approach. Minecraft is one of the most popular video…
The Difficulty of Teaching Structure in Martial Arts
Teaching martial arts involves more than just physical techniques. One must teach structure along with techniques. I have found that teaching structure is much more challenging than a martial art’s physical techniques. But what is structure? Structure includes stances, footwork, positioning, body posture and much…
Inside The Martial Arts Bubble
Not everyone is inside the martial arts bubble. A recent self-defence class at Durham College/Ontario Tech University drove this home. I was teaching a basic ground defence to the participants to a group of 5 to 6 students. I explained to the participants that, after…
Taking A Break From Pumping Iron: I’ll Be Back!
As many of you know, I returned to the gym in June after sufficiently recovering from my hip replacement surgery. First, my sessions at the gym from June to August were experimental in the sense that I tried out different lifting routines. I finally settled…
Friday Recommendation #20
Quick background: Sonny Sison produced the well-known FMA documentary “Bladed Hand” several years ago, which was widely acclaimed. He has long been involved in the entertainment industry. As evidenced by the interview below, he has studied various styles of FMAs. The interview touches on topics…
The Importance of Grinding!
In this day and age of the McDonald’s drive-through instant gratification culture, I feel the importance of grinding our way through life has been lost in the shuffle. To be clear, I believe in grinding through any problem, obstacle or challenge. To me, it’s the…
