I've received, and continue to receive, a lot of great feedback on my Guruism article. Chief among those who have shared their stories are a number of women who have endured abuse in what is still, primarily, a male-dominated hobby. Rather than attempt to place myself in their shoes and speculate as to their experience, … Continue reading Culture Shock, Guest Article: Sexism (and Sexual Predation) against Women in Martial Arts
Mats Don’t Lie: Reflections Before (and After) My First BJJ Comp
Thursday "I can't wait for your tournament," an online acquaintance told me, "So I can see a six page blog post about how it's not about winning it's about the experience you get along the way." "What I'm hearing from this," I responded, "Is that you read my blog." But hey-- when you're right you're … Continue reading Mats Don’t Lie: Reflections Before (and After) My First BJJ Comp
Guest Article: Wing Chun as a Principles Based Art
I'm at the lake this week, so no article from me this week. I've reached out to May Chan, a Wing Chun instructor in Vancouver, to discuss Wing Chun. Wing Chun has become a broad term with no one definition for what "Wing Chun" is, and that, mixed with a lack of "alive" training practices … Continue reading Guest Article: Wing Chun as a Principles Based Art
Culture Shock: Criminality and Unpaid Labor in Martial Arts
I have to admit that when I published my article about Guruism and Cults of Personality , I was a little apprehensive. I don't generally like publishing things that are that personal to me, but as responses and discussion piled up, one thing became clear: My story was personal, yes, but it wasn't just my … Continue reading Culture Shock: Criminality and Unpaid Labor in Martial Arts
Interview with Chris Li about “Internal Power” training in Martial Arts
Hey folks! What follows below is an interview with Chris Li, a martial artist who has primarily trained in Aikido. He's a great resource within the Aikido community regarding the history of the art and a very approachable guy. He also trains in "internal power", which is something that never made sense to me, even … Continue reading Interview with Chris Li about “Internal Power” training in Martial Arts
Guest Article: In Defense of the Woo-Woo
This week, a guest article by "Roger" (last name withheld at his request) about drawing the line between realism/practicality and some of the other benefits of martial arts that may be understated, undervalued or ignored. What do you think? Is there benefit in training martial arts beyond practicality? Is the philosophical benefit of what the … Continue reading Guest Article: In Defense of the Woo-Woo
The Necessity of Failure in Martial Arts
Some housekeeping before we start- the response to last week's article was incredible. It helped me realize that my experiences, although personal, were definitely not just my own. I have a followup article planned but it needs a little more time as I compile the responses to the discussion that ensued. After a year of … Continue reading The Necessity of Failure in Martial Arts
Cults of Personality and Guruism in Martial Arts (and ways to fight it)
Quick Note: The point of this article is to point out experiences that I've had and been told about regarding certain prevalent behaviors in the martial arts community. To that end, I've taken out a lot of names and specific details. If some of the stories seem vague, it's because I'm trying to make a … Continue reading Cults of Personality and Guruism in Martial Arts (and ways to fight it)
Guest Article: What Makes a Martial Art Effective?
Guest article time! This article comes from James Stapleton and is based on a Reddit thread he made of the same title. I found it particularly riveting and asked if I could edit it into a format suitable for the blog, and he generously agreed. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. … Continue reading Guest Article: What Makes a Martial Art Effective?
Mount Escape Seminar and Promotions
Unified Training day at the gym! Got members from all 4 locations onto our mat and it was packed. Great to see everyone though. Techniques: Each professor, starting with mine (Bruno Frazatto) showed a mount escape. They started simple (Upa, shrimping into guard replacement) and worked into more complex (balance displacement into Single Leg X-Guard, elbow … Continue reading Mount Escape Seminar and Promotions
