Rejoining the Tao (retired)

Saturday afternoon First Defense Krav Maga hosted GM Jeff Smith , a karate and TKD practitioner from the "blood and guts" era of full contact kickboxing. Krav practitioners spar, but not competitively. Our head instructor Nick Masi brought Mr Smith to the school to share his knowledge of movement, striking, and tactics. Here I will try to capture some of his drills and key themes. Mr Smith began the seminar by explaining his key principles: footwork, distance, accuracy, timing, and speed. We worked movement drills and relaxed our shoulders to avoid wasting energy and losing speed. Mr Smith said skipping rope was a great way to practice relaxing shoulders while developing endurance. If you constantly trip on the rope, get rid of it! Just work the movements. You generate the most striking power in a stance, not while moving. Therefore, we drilled moving, striking, and moving again. Mr Smith led us through a series of attack sequences. From a left foot forward fighting ...

Last night, Shane Fazen Tweeted the following: I genuinely believe that every single person in the world should be punched in the face, at least once, before the age of 18. #BeHumble When asked "why?" Shane responded : It's humbling. Knowing that your actions could lead to, say, a broken nose, I think people would be a lot less selfish. This is a good example of another person having a completely different perspective. I never considered that I might act in a way that would prompt someone else to want to punch me in the face. Now, I am not a paragon of virtue, but it's unlikely that I would put myself in such a situation. I would also not consistently associate with people who try to solve problems by hitting others! I tend to agree with Shane for a completely different reason, however. When I was 18 I enrolled at the US Air Force Academy. All male freshman cadets were required to take boxing. (All female cadets were required to take a self-defense class,...

How do you train yourself to go from zero to max speed in a conflict scenario? This question has been on my mind since I started an eight session introduction to the Japanese art of Kendo. I'm a sucker for "defined introductory programs." I began training at First Defense Krav Maga , one year ago last week, by enrolling in our eight week Fundamentals program. Last month I noticed Capital Area Budokai was starting an eight session introduction to Kendo for only $80, I decided to give it a try. I already enjoy practicing Filipino Martial Arts , especially double sticks. I also use a bokken (wooden sword) for the exercise-only practice of Jungshin Fitness . I thought these Kendo sessions would be a cool way to learn a martial arts-oriented way to use a sword. (At Capital Area Budokai I practice with a bamboo shinai, not a bokken.) Kendo training is far different from Krav Maga Global classes. Kendo is much more formal. We spend a lot of time working on a fewer numbe...

Martial arts provide a gift that many desire, yet can be difficult to find. The present is "presence," also called "being present." A search for those terms yields many articles about presence. For example, the Huffington Post offers tags with links to dozens of articles on the subject. They extol the virtues of being truly integrated with your immediate surroundings. In brief, it's possible to be happier and more productive if your mind is on the task and environment at hand, rather than elsewhere. I experienced the gift of presence earlier this month at my Krav Maga school 's "Friday Fight Night." (See my Februrary post Back to Sparring for thoughts on my first experience with this tradition.) There is no opportunity for "being absent," the opposite of presence, when you are sparring. If you check out from the immediate environment to think about problems at work, or an upcoming vacation, or your favorite TV show, you are li...

Point Fighting in Texas in 1996 as a TKD White Belt Last night was Friday Fight Night at my Krav Maga school . I decided to try it out, although I was anxious about what might happen. I knew the class lasted two hours, and that sparring was involved. I hadn't sparred in 15 years, when I was 29. At 44 I wondered how I would handle the experience. Before last night I had sparred in three different systems. At my Kung Fu school in Billerica, we did more of a Western boxing style of sparring, with less emphasis on kicking. We did not follow any "points" system, and I never fought in a competition. From this experience I learned the basics of boxing and picked up some nifty circular or crescent kicks. I am a fan of the inside crescent kick from the lead leg, for example. It can set up a rear leg roundhouse kick. When I briefly practiced Tae Kwon Do in San Angelo, the emphasis shifted. Now kicks were the primary weapons, with extra points awarded for jumping kicks. I co...