Keep It Simple Stupid!
During a lesson with Caiden, I pontificated on the importance of “K.I.S.S.” I explained to him that was shorthand for “Keep it simple, stupid!” The kid laughed, thinking that was the greatest quote he had ever heard. For the duration of the lesson, he repeated…
Four Reasons Why Filipino Martial Arts Suck
A few years ago, I posted “Three Reasons Why Filipino Martial Arts Suck.” I decided to update this post to include an additional reason and tweaked some sections in the original post. Those uninformed about Filipino Martial Arts often say the following: (1) “All they do…
Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy
The first Karate Kid movie introduced us to Cobra Kai’s “Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy” slogan. While seeming over the top, upon reflection, there is depth to this slogan. Recently, my wife and I binge-watched Season 3 of Cobra Kai. We both loved it…
The Video Game Generation
I’ve known over the years that nearly all of my younger students play video games. Minecraft is one popular game among the video game generation. Among popular games with my younger students (ranging from 8 to 15 years of age) are Super Mario, Fortnite, Street…
Changes in Private Lessons
As previously mentioned, I have transitioned from teaching group classes to private lessons due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the last few months, the tenor and format of the private lessons have changed quite a bit compared to the pre-pandemic private lessons. Before the pandemic,…
Forget About Winning or Losing
When folks roll on the mat or do stick free play, why do so many focus on “winning” or “losing?” The fact of the matter is that you’re going to win some and lose some. Instead of getting hung up on who prevailed, just focus…
Martial Arts Zoom Classes
Over the last few months, I’ve been teaching five Zoom classes per week. The attendees consist mostly of students from the 6Tigers Academy and occasionally Bamboo Spirit students. The seeds of my Zoom class experiences are due to a group of siblings, originally from Ottawa…
Killer Concepts!
I recently posted on Facebook that I had updated my “Bamboo Spirit Concepts” list to include two more, expanding the list from 20 to 22. I also reordered the list so that it makes more sense. Surprisingly, the response was robust; many requested a copy of…
COVID-19 Transition
I know that it’s been a while since I posted. I don’t have much in the way of excuses. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I have transitioned from group classes to private lessons in the past couple of months. As we all know, we are…
Attacking Combinations
The story of how I came up with the “Attacking Combinations” video! While I miss teaching classes and private lessons, one of the upsides of the lockdown is that I have had mucho time on my hands to figure out variations of solo workouts. Hence,…
