Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about martial arts concepts and principles.
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
One of the biggest arguments in martial arts is still whether grappling or striking techniques are best for self-defense. Unsurprisingly, grappling arts advocate grappling techniques, while striking teachers hold up striking as the best method to defend yourself. The argument ignores the best self-defense technique in martial arts. Do not put yourself in situations, where the need for self-defense techniques
I was recently made aware of changes that the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) is making to the interpretation of forms. What else is new? Olympic Sparring rules or equipment changes almost yearly. With the popularity of the Hanmadang forms competition, it appears forms will start changing yearly now. With these changes, I have to decide whether I am going to
Anderson Silva, widely recognized as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, lost his rematch with Chris Wiedman for the UFC Middleweight Title on December 28, 2013. Wiedman had defeated Silva for the title on July 6, 2013. It was Silva’s first loss in seven years with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He was the middleweight champion for over 6
Georges St-Pierre has been the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s (UFC) Welterweight Champion since 2007 and has been fighting for the title since 2005. While he is only 32 years of age, the grind of being world champion has caused him to relinquish the belt and step away from the sport for the time being. Some pundits have speculated that he is
I was watching the UFC Fight Night prelims on Facebook Saturday night. The fights all ended in before time expired. One ended in the third round, one in the second round and three in the first round. One of the things that I notice was that none of the fighters in the first four fights were attacking from guard. They
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
One of the best Christmas gifts I ever received was a VHS tape of Grand Master Helio Gracie’s original 40 lesson curriculum from the Gracie Academy in Torrance, California. The Grand Master filmed his original curriculum with his grandsons, Ryron and Rener Gracie. The Grand Master must have been in his mid-eighties, yet his technique was still very crisp and sharp. Ryron
These five Judo throws are fairly simple to execute and are not dependent on a Judo gi for proper execution. A throw can often devastate an attacker and take the fight right out of them. 1) Osoto gari (Major Outer Reaping Throw) -Don’t neglect this throw because it seems very basic. Olympic Gold Medals have been won with it. The
While watching the Facebook Prelims for UFC 161, I observed a trend that happens often in mixed martial arts competition. One of the competitors would get a dominant position but would sacrifice it to chase a submission. He caught the other competitor in close to ten submissions but the other man escaped all ten and one a close split decision.