Training Tips

It was embarrassing the first time I tried to put my black belt on after a 10 year break. It had collected its fair share of dust and my waist had collected its fair share of padding. I had received my black belt in Taekwondo right before I left for [Read More]

You walk into your dojo, take off your shoes, bow at the mats and place your bags down, greeting all the familiar faces. You had a long day at work and almost had to convince yourself to come, but now that you’re finally here you feel ready to work hard. [Read More]

Tips For Getting Perfectly Timed Photos If you are a parent or friend going to support a loved one at a martial arts tournament or promotion ceremony, it’s likely that you will want to take photos while there. And, if you’ve never tried taking pictures at an event like this, [Read More]

You Are Stuck In A Training Rut. Now What? If you are a long-time reader of my articles on MartialJournal or on my CAIA Blog, then you know I have a deep, long and complicated love-hate relationship with the grappling arts. Grappling arts are amazing arts. They are incredibly important [Read More]

Life is busy. It doesn’t matter whether you’re busy with kids, work, family, social engagements, overtime or trying to find time to clean the gutters… which you were supposed to do last April, but Aunty Susan came to town for Michael’s 50th birthday and stayed with you for a week, [Read More]

In 3 weeks, I will be joining a great fundraiser at Combat Arts Institute of Australia. It is a challenging and fun event that will help raise funds for diabetes research. The event consists of 100, 1-minute rounds of sparring, with only a 10-second break in between each round. Participants [Read More]

Those who live for training find it hard when some time life gets in the way of training. Work, family and social commitments can take over and ruin our routine. So how can you keep up your skills even when you are busy?

Cross training in the martial arts is a topic of much debate and, unfortunately, conflict (debate and conflict always go hand in hand). With the explosion of MMA over the past two decades, cross training is now very common in some disciplines. This is both a blessing and a curse. [Read More]

There is an old saying that we are an average of the 5 people we spend the most time with, which I believe is true. When you embark on your martial arts journey, you will meet many wonderful characters, but also challenging ones. You can read about some of these [Read More]