Am I Crazy for Writing A Book?
Yes, you read that right! I am writing an e-book on martial arts training tips and FMA concepts. At some point, it will be self-published and sold through Gumroad. How did I decide to do this? Before the pandemic, I was teaching Modern Arnis classes…
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…
Post Lockdown Thoughts
During these unprecedented times, martial arts instructors have to think about their short term futures, after the lockdowns are gradually eased, and we return to teaching. But, first, what is the definition of “short term future” in the context of these times? For me, the…
Solo Training
Many of us cannot train with our martial arts classmates and friends during these extraordinary times. Since I have confined myself at home, I have done a fair bit of solo training, including, but not limited to, bodyweight and martial exercises, solo stick exercises, Shotokan…
Talent or Dedication?
Which is more important, dedication or talent? From an instructor’s perspective, dedication wins hands down. Like many instructors, I have students who are talented and “natural.” I also have students who are not “natural” in martial arts. Oddly enough, and generally speaking, the less talented…
Taking Advantage of Technology
A year ago, my MacBook needed to be repaired at the local Best Buy. To keep my social media efforts going, I ordered a Chromebook from Amazon. This was delivered within a couple of days. The purchase came with one terabyte of free memory on…
“Can’t” Gets You Fifty Pushups
Guest Blogger Cathy Chapaty is the author of No Pouting in the Dojo: The Imperfect Journey of Teaching Children Character through Martial Arts. A veteran martial artist, Chapaty has been respected as an empowering, positive teacher with a knack for helping children of all ages and abilities…
How to Fix The Wet Noodle
The “wet noodle” version of feeding a training partner is a fairly common problem encountered by martial arts instructors. I have seen variations of this problem among children and adults. In this post, I discuss the causes behind poor feeding and offer solutions on how…
3 Great Reasons For One Step Sparring
Many martial arts, such as karate and tae kwon do, employ a training method called “one-step sparring.” This training method has been the subject of a fair bit of debate. Some advocate it, while others deride it as impractical and unsuited to the realities of…
How Hard Do You Really Train?
I taught the inaugural class at the Harmony Martial Arts Center in Pickering on Friday night. For a Friday night time slot of 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm, I had a turnout of 7. Not bad at all. After getting some housekeeping out of the way,…
