Martial Journal

The Reality Of Perception I consider myself a fan of British comedy. I adore Monty Python, and I’m also a big fan of Eddie Izzard. Find his HBO Special “Dressed to Kill” sometime; he has a way of talking about language that is quite similar to George Carlin. The example [Read More]

First Things First (WARNING: This article may contain mild spoilers for both seasons of Iron Fist, Luke Cage season two, and The Defenders.) I recently had the pleasure of recording two podcast episodes about Iron Fist. The first one I recorded on Whistlekick Martial Arts Radio with the host, Jeremy [Read More]

What Is The True Price Of Fanaticism? The following is an excerpt from my book, “The True Believers” which was recently re-released in a 2nd edition. It’s a story about the darker side of martial arts communities, and how great things became corrupted by codependency, fanaticism, and yes, money. Some [Read More]

This write-up is the second in the series offering survey-driven data to interested martial artists. Our last report was on enrollment, and you read the write-up right here on Martial Journal. Well, here. If you haven’t followed the previous articles, here’s the short version. We construct surveys for martial artists [Read More]

A common prejudice among educated humans in both academia AND the martial arts is a bias against people who are self-taught. The nerdy word for these self-taught people is “autodidacts.” While I agree with the opinion that, especially in highly technical areas of expertise, formal training is nearly always the [Read More]

Traditional Martial Arts – Filling in the Gaps I was listening to a martial arts podcast last week while I was on the treadmill and I heard a line that really struck a chord in me. The line was essentially a statement by a traditional martial artist that said he [Read More]

Appetite For Destruction (Of Boards) My boards are stacked. Spacers set tightly at the edge. I raise my hand to strike the stack. *thud* The dull, dead sound of a hand hitting the boards and not going through. The force runs through my hand and wrist, up my arm. Why [Read More]

How The Martial Arts Helped Me Beat Cancer Odds can truly be overcome due to the physical, mental and spiritual training of the Martial Arts, as well as the camaraderie of your dojo brothers and sisters. Most importantly, you may find a relationship with your instructor that is far greater [Read More]

A Tough Week For Civility Last week, I watched the horrible state of American politics unfold over a five day period. A crazy person sent bombs to political figures and government officials all over the country. Luckily, no one was hurt. Then, Saturday morning, a gunman entered a synagogue near [Read More]

This past weekend UFC229 created headlines everywhere. The build up to the fight was huge and the rivalry between Connor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov was highly publicized. It was so heated that it ended up with McGregor throwing a trolley through a bus window and injuring people in the process; [Read More]

Thousands of parents enroll their children into martial arts programs across the country every year. Maybe it’s your unruly 4-year-old who needs to learn self-discipline before kindergarten, a high schooler who should learn self-defense before going off to college, or any age in between. No matter why, you are helping [Read More]

Are Forms Still Relevant? Forms. Let’s face it, they have gotten a bad name. Whether you call them forms, kata, shapes, or one of the many names given to them, it’s true. Most modern martial arts and self-defense systems not only question them but completely put them down and often [Read More]