Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about martial arts concepts and history.
Recently, I heard a podcast about clearly identifying why you do anything because it is important to effectively deliver your message. I started a martial arts blog for one main reason and a couple lesser ones. I am going to cover the main reason today. I was not satisfied with most of the martial arts instruction related to self-defense. You
The problem with too much martial arts’ self-defense instruction is that they are low percentage defenses against unrealistic attacks taught by some instructors, who have limited knowledge of street attacks. Some systems were created for street or military training and are better than others. However, the insularity of too many martial arts keep some instructors from exploring defenses for different
If you want to be able to defend yourself, work on your conditioning The greatest technique in the world is only so effective if you do not have the stamina to outlast an attack. Conditioning is one of the most neglected aspects of martial arts training. Cardio Conditioning – Remember the old saying, “Fatigue makes a coward of all of
After you earn your Green Rank, you will have completed your first year of training. Congratulations. On average, 75 percent of students who started with you have already quit training. Lucky for you, they will be much better targets for criminals. A humorous anecdote is told about two campers worried about a bear attack. One of the campers tells his
The secret to success in the martial arts or any area of life is mastering the basics. While this statement sounds intuitive, very few people actually do it. Many practitioners find the basics “boring” and want to move onto more advanced moves. The problem with this approach is emphasizing a 1 percent move over a 99 percent move. Taking Taekwondo
Despite its worldwide popularity and it’s rank as the most popular martial art in the United States, (TKD) is beginning to lose some of it’s luster due to its perceived lack of success in Mixed Martial Arts. (MMA) is the biggest thing to hit the martial arts world since Jigaro Kano decided to go to a colored and black belt system to denote rank within his school,
Orange Rank is the next step on the path to obtaining a 1st Degree Black Rank in the Zimmerman Self-Defense System. You will continue to learn new techniques and start to figure out what you are naturally good at and what you need to work on more. Orange and Green Ranks sometimes trouble students because the novelty of training in
Sam Hill, a Seattle businessman, brought Professor Yoshiaki Yamashita to the United States in 1902. Professor Yamashita intended to help spread Dr. Jigoro Kano’s relatively new martial art of Judo. Accompanying Professor Yamashita was his student Mitsuyo Maeda. Maeda would go on to teach Carlos Gracie in Brazil. The Gracies modified the techniques into the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Over
Spike TV began to broadcast a show that would put mixed martial arts on the mainstream map. 16 fighters lived in a house and competed in a tournament to see which two fighters would win a six figure UFC contract. The Ultimate Fighter would change television and the UFC for good. At one point during the Finale, ten million households
When I first started martial arts with a Shotokan karate class at our local junior college, the instructor handed out an article for everyone to read. The article covered a study with statistics. The study found that out of every 10,000 martial arts students only 100 would go on to earn black belts. Most beginning students quit after six months