June is Men’s Mental Health Month, at least according to some calendars (others say it’s November). Regardless, it’s always a good time to talk about mental health. I’ll save you the trouble of asking the question my partner asked when I told him what I was working on—what do I [Read More]
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. Research shows that one in five people in the United States is living with some kind of mental health condition, and statistics are similar in other countries. Our collective experience with the 2020 pandemic and other events has shown that everyone needs to pay [Read More]
Mental rehearsals (also known as visualizations) are an excellent tool to use for your training, development, and motivation in martial arts. This tool has been useful to everyone from top professional athletes like Michael Jordan and Michael Phelps to fortune 500 CEOs to ordinary people in therapy. The beauty of [Read More]
Health in the Martial Art World Martial arts, as a whole, is a very deep and amazing practice. For us to continue our beloved art to the next generation, we must know its past, present, and future. The past is full of war, philosophy, duels, religion, and spirituality. Current martial [Read More]
I’m a reader, and, as part of my dedication to Martial Arts, I like to hear what other people are saying and doing. I like hearing new bits of history and different takes on the philosophy and methods of teaching and training. In the Martial Arts world, we are fortunate [Read More]
When pushed to extremes, humans can overcome amazing obstacles. Fueled by nothing but primal emotions, they gain the determination they didn’t have before. Emotions effect everything we do. The performance of martial artists are fueled by many different emotions for better and worse. Anger has shown to be both a [Read More]
Martial Journal is proud to be a part of and support the Never Settle Awards – helping to recognize martial artists around the globe. At the end of each category you’ll find a link to select your choice for the recipient. Let’s get out and rock the vote. EMISSARY [Read More]
The Seed. There is a quote in Hamilton that Alexander Hamilton, in the scene where Burr shoots him, sings, “Legacy. What is a legacy? It is planting seeds in a garden you never get to see.” Sometimes teaching and training feel like that. A garden that is yet to bloom [Read More]
“I don’t have time to train” is something parents end up saying at some point in their martial arts and parenting journey. They have a point. Parenthood drains almost all of our personal resources. It takes time. It takes energy. It takes money. It takes focus. It takes attention. Since [Read More]
April is Stress Awareness Month. A way to combat stress is by developing resilience. For more resources on managing stress, visit the American Psychological Association’s resource page on resilience. John Coyle, Olympic medalist, author, and public speaker, has presented to leaders in my organization over the last year as part [Read More]
One of the most valuable lessons of martial arts is how to persevere when you make mistakes. Many feel like giving up. It is so easy for people to give up when they feel exhausted, and to refuse to push through. This is especially important in self-defense training. When someone [Read More]
Do you ever feel like you’re wearing a mask or must put on an act in front of certain people? Do you feel like the world has impossible expectations for you to meet—or do you put impossible expectations on yourself? Do you feel like you can’t be honest about what [Read More]
Do you want to completely transform your life positively and become an unrecognizable person to your peers? If so, martial arts and jiu-jitsu is the best way to get this accomplished. Self-improvement always starts with your health, when you get this in line the building blocks for transforming your life [Read More]
This article serves as a follow-up to my re-awakening post, “The Weirdness and Joy of Returning to Training After an Injury.” When I was a child, my dad used to make “first day of school” signs for my younger brother and me. We’d hold up our signs while grinning for [Read More]
Martial arts is a dynamic sport. It allows its practitioners to stand up to oppression and defend themselves and others. As the popularity of martial arts grew, it evolved into multiple disciplines and crossed over to other sparring sports. Different martial artists practice martial arts for different reasons. Some do [Read More]
My job is to teach people how to be safe. That’s how I earn a living and the central focus of my study. I know even if I won the lottery tomorrow, it’s still how I would devote my time. That doesn’t make it any easier when the world around [Read More]
Listening to What I Already Heard Even though I have been following Iain Abernethy for many years, it was my friend and great martial artist and physical therapist David Wallace who made me aware of this fundamentally important teaching of Mr. Abernethy’s. It was during this fascinating conversation with him [Read More]
I’ve left and returned to taekwondo three times in my life: Once as a pre-teen when other interests eclipsed taekwondo. I returned at age thirty-three as a desperate wreck looking for a fresh start. Once as a jaded black belt leaving a toxic environment. I returned a few months later [Read More]
Several years ago, during a low period in my life, I wondered if taekwondo had become yet another addiction. I’ve been addicted to many things: people, exercise, food, alcohol, thought patterns, and coping mechanisms. Taekwondo had been a saving force in overcoming the worst of my mental illnesses. Of course [Read More]
The year I started my adult taekwondo training, I had a raging eating disorder. It manifested during my teen years, peaked during college, and remained mostly contained throughout my twenties and thirties until I hit my emotional rock bottom. It quieted as I found my mental solace in taekwondo. [Read More]
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