Commentary

Hi all! I spent last month in London and Edinburgh with my lovely and talented wife. We were there mostly for her career, and some couples time, which left me with the time and focus to think about travel safety from the point of view of a safety professional and [Read More]

Most systems of Kali have a set of strikes to various target locations on the body, I have heard of systems with as little 2 basic angles of attacks, and as many as 64 angles of attack, Today we will be focused on the 12 basic strikes of Dekiti Tirsia [Read More]

I always begin my posts with a brief intro phrase like “if you haven’t seen this, where have you been”, and this one is no exception. Kung Fu Hustle (功夫, Gōng Fū) is a 2004 film by Stephen Chow. Kung Fu Hustle is a martial arts comedy unlike any other [Read More]

Around 2018 I became fascinated with cults. I binged as much content as I could find: articles, podcasts, documentaries, books, etc. At first, it seemed like a harmless passing interest. About nine months into that year, after months of vacillating between misery and denial, I finally admitted to myself that [Read More]

Wait a minute. Did he really just say martial arts don’t boost self-esteem? Is this dude insane or something? Maybe so, but that isn’t why I made that statement. The reason I say martial arts don’t boost self-esteem boils down to one thing: definitions. There are two terms that many [Read More]

Let’s start at the very beginning The first thing we learn in DTS Kali is our 12 basic strikes, much the same as you would basic strikes or kicks in any style of martial arts. The proper motion is tag to the students to be reviewed time and time again. [Read More]

If you’re reading this about the same time I wrote it, then summer is in short supply. In just a few weeks, we’ll be sending our kids and teens back to the nearest institution of learning. That’s good in a lot of ways. Education is important. Socialization is important. Having [Read More]

There are many ways to peel an onion. As you do, you go deeper until you get to the very core. This is the way all martial arts are meant to be taught and learned. I will focus today (as I always do) on Kali. Even more specifically, Dekiti Tirsia [Read More]

This is one martial arts training tip that many of us already know. However, knowing that we should ignore the latest shiny object and actually doing it are two different things. In this day and age of information overload, it can be difficult to remember. Even the most basic truths [Read More]

So We’re in the Park… When Raz Chen and I co-write, we often spar or hit pads in the park while working out the details. Raz insists this is because it helps him think better. I believe the sight of his students loafing is offensive to him and he derives [Read More]

Many times, students look at me and think I had an easy road to becoming a Krav Maga expert. Growing up, I won’t deny I was quite physically talented and coordinated. I was also the smallest kid in my Krav Maga classes. While in my previous hobby of Capoeira, my [Read More]

I recently did an interview with Eyal Yanilov. Although it didn’t make the article, one of my favorite moments in his discussion of training was talking about him as a teenager when he studying under Grandmaster Imi. During that time, Eyal had been taught sentry removal training. For those who [Read More]

When we think of self-defense, much of the time we portray ourselves as an empty handed defender striving to overcome a weapon wielding attacker. However in this day and age, never knowing if, when, or how we may be attacked, should we consider using a blade to defend ourselves? This [Read More]

On Father’s Day, I was irritated to see so many martial arts studios and publications post the same meme. I can take a joke, but I do not like being the butt of jokes. When you consider why this is supposed to be funny, it stops being a joke and [Read More]

I looked at the two one-inch boards my friend was holding and let out a breath. As I relaxed my body, thinking about the round kick I was about to execute, I remembered I had not broken two boards with this kick since I took first place in a tournament [Read More]

This is the sixth in a series of six articles on things I have learned from High-Intensity Resistance Training that have influenced my approach to martial arts. If you missed the previous articles in this series, you can find them here: High Intensity Resistance Training and Martial Arts – A [Read More]