Archive for the 'martial arts' Category

I’m sure you have heard all the cliches about growing older gracefully. I have always liked the more distinguished as my beards slowly whitens but what if you are a marital artist? How do you do that gracefully? I mean many martial artists that used to be in great shape when they were young and competing, now ride a desk and watch MMA!

We can still talk a good fight (as the brain is still there) but out reactions have slowed a bit (partially due to our increased stature – beer belly) and regular workouts are only in our mind. I’ve included myself in this group because as much as I hate to admit it – I’m 54 years young now and while I still work out often – I pay dearly for any injuries! It makes the next workout challenging.

In this post I will go over some issues older martial artists have to confront and some really great strategies for transitioning into that next phase of your martial arts training (and I don’t mean quitting) so you too can grow older and better!

Before I begin I’d like to consult those famous philosophers – the Beatles, take on getting older.

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Most of my early childhood years I wondered how to defend myself! I had the normal amount of bully experiences and soon learned the hard way that one had to stand up to bullies. The first lessons on how to defend myself were from Batman and Robin. It drove my dad nuts to hear me talk about how their punches would really work!

Anyway after years of learning and eventually teaching karate – do we really do a good job of teaching basic self defense? I mean there is so much fluff in the martial arts… all of that philosophy about only fighting if there is no other way out and the stuff about forms and even basics. Who ever won a fight by practicing punches from a low horse stance?

Well in this post I’ll answer the question about how well the martial arts teach self defense for the masses (most kids have had a lesson or two) and if all of the fluff actually helps but most of all I would like to say how I would teach self defense and why I would not open up a school teaching self defense.

First for your perusal is the episode of Longstreet (an old TV flick of my day) where Bruce Lee did a guest spot helping the blind man learn how to defend himself.

Imagine that you have taken a year of karate lessons from your local dojo and you decided to take a short-cut home from school (through the park) because you are running late and it is getting dark. Oh yeah – you are a 15 year-old girl. You are confident because you hold a blue belt and have actually had some sparring experience – loved it but the other girl – not so much!

Well some other teen boys approach you as dusk falls – asking if you want to party. There are three of them and they are younger than you. You tell them no thanks and as you try to leave – they block the trail in both directions! Still talking they say that have some beers in a cooler nearby and how about having a bit of fun.

Your escape route is seemingly cut off and you don’t want to go with these boys for a “bit of fun” so what do you do?

More on this later but in this post I will examine what fighting spirit is and how it can help one make good self-defense decisions. Also I will talk about the lack of fighting spirit and the ramifications of that. In a nut shell the fight or flight decision in us sometimes has to be made in an instant for us to gain a momentary advantage. If we do not act when we have a tactical advantage – your chances of a good outcome diminish!

Take a look at this video to see what is possible as Dr. Ruthless so aptly demonstrates.

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[Editor's note] This is a guest post by Allision Gamble whom I received an email inquiring about guest post opportunities. I always like to explore martial arts from all angles and am happy to share her ideas here. About the author – Allison Gamble has been a curious student of psychology since high school. She brings her understanding of the mind to work in the weird world of internet marketing.

Most of us have heard the quote: “Pain is weakness leaving the body.” And in the forensic psychology of a fight, there might be reason to believe it. The brain is an organ comprised of more than a hundred billion nerve cells that together create a network of communication for our entire body, physical and psychological. In conjunction with the spinal cord, the brain relays messages of pain or fear or threat. However, in the case of combat sports, the psychology of the brain can be a powerful tool one may utilize to overcome the body’s physical autonomic responses.

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As a child I have always loved books and moves involving adventure and martial arts. I loved the swordsmanship of Conan the Barbarian books and the sage lessons of the Kung Fu TV series. Some of the best martial arts flicks are timeless such as Seven Samurai but the theme of all of these wonderful books and movies show how the fighter overcomes overwhelming adversity by focusing his Ki (Qi, Chi).

Well I was asked to read Chambers and I agreed as I’d not read a martial arts book in a while. Let me just say once I started reading this book – I could not put it down easily. I usually take months to read a book (at a few pages a night before dropping off to sleep) but Chambers is a real page turner. I was a bit apprehensive as this looked to be a teen adventure but I was pleasantly surprised that I related well to the characters and the book grabbed my interest from the first couple of pages.

In this post I will review the book (soon to be a movie) and interview the author, Sarah Gerdes.

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This is just a quick note about a new feature on this blog – the 3-minute retreat found on the right sidebar. As you probably already know to be good at karate takes focus of mind, body and spirit.

The 3-minute retreat is one way I relax my mind and allow myself to focus. It has the added benefit if you are Christian to relate a good message daily.

Grandmaster James Mitose in his book, ’ “What Is True Self Defense?” he stated that one should practice the dominant religion of whatever country one is in, including its application to martial arts and spiritual practices.’

I encourage you to find your own peace or borrow mine – the 3-minute retreat.

As some of you know I used to own a karate school in the 1980′s and back then in the stone age (pre-internet), supplying students with uniforms and such was a bit challenging. Each school had several suppliers that sent you a catalog one used to find the best deal.

Then came the internet and while reading through the catalogs were a bit easier – one still had to find trusted suppiers that would pull everything together for school owners. Zengu.com is one attempt to make it easier for school owners.  

This quick post is going to highlight Zengu.com so any school owners can have another resource. I do have a relationship with karatedepot.com and I have had advertisements from boxingdepot.com in the past but this is not a paid post. I think this resource is one good option any martial arts instructor (karate, boxing, mma, etc…) should consider for their students needs.

Matt over at Ikigaiway.com did a post about Zengu.com that explains some of the tools available for school owners. Zengu.com is actually the wholesale website for:

• KarateDepot.com
• BoxingDepot.com
• MmaOpinion.com
  

From what I can see Zengu.com is an easy way for school owners to find their wholesale needs. Owners need to build relationships with suppliers and Zengu.com is a one more good option for school owners.