I trained Shorei Kai Goju Ryu under a former green beret who started in Judo and also studied aikido. This is the kind of stuff we did all the time, and our classes usually had black belts from other styles learning from him. This inspires me to complete a yakusoku kumite I have been contemplating f...

Both in teaching students and in observing others, I note variations in how Kanbun's style is taught. It's the nature of the beast. There is variability, and then there is variability. When Miyagi Chojun chose to take Higaonna Kanryo's Fuzhou Sanchin and close the hands, he chose to bring a style do...

Thanks for weighing in, Van. And long time no chat with! Miss you, my friend. You included this article in one of your posts above. ..... The Swiss Difference: A Gun Culture That Works I appreciate that article. It's very well done. What I find interesting is that there are battles going on in some ...

In some 2001 statistics, it is noted that there are about 420,000 assault rifles ( fully automatic , or "selective fire") stored at private homes, mostly SIG SG 550 models. Additionally, there are some 320,000 semi-auto rifles and military pistols exempted from military service in private...

We're not talking about handguns, Glenn. These are military-grade weapons. We shouldn't be surprised there's a bit of regulation involved in owning them and buying/selling them. That said, they're in virtually all homes.

- Bill

Father-son competition is a good and hopefully healthy thing. This is particularly true when the process of doing the activity is a bonding one irrespective of the outcome. Chess is part intuition and part memory. All the great masters have an encyclopedia of partial games in their heads that they r...

There is no such thing as a good or bad style, because the only good style is the one that resonates with the personality of the student in such a way as to bring out the best in them. Years ago I bought that hypothesis. But as I've learned more about physiology, neurobiology, kinesiology, and the ...

Historically one big reason for the development of martial arts was freedom from tyranny. More often than not it was the tyranny of highway bandits and home invaders. But it also was freedom from the tyranny of governments and invaders. Below is a compelling video that all martial artists should wat...

I did meet Uechi Kanei, Uechi Kansei, Uechi Kanmei, and Uechi Kanji. Sadly only one of them is with us today. We had both Uechi Kanmei and his son Uechi Kanji visit us in the Mid-Atlantic region about 17 or so years back. One of my female students was put up by the Uechi family when she visited Okin...

A couple of kids will take you to the Filipino side of things. These kinds of drills can often be done identically with knife and with stick. Raffi teaches lots of these at Uechi Summerfest. ..... Filipino Martial Arts Empty Hand Flow Drills Below shows some adults with application examples. Note th...

Here is a Southern China system which has preserved its inside fighting, constant touch sensitivity. They also fight out of a shallow stance. The really good practitioners can do with their legs as well. It is in fact suggested in the Seisan jump posture where the front leg is (or should be) held at...

Patrick McCarthy is a bit of an international treasure in martial arts. We were lucky enough to have him as a guest at my school about a decade ago. He's a former full contact martial artist, international traveler, applications expert, traditionalist, historian, and author. He's probably best known...

What would you do in a situation like this? I know I picture myself intervening unless I was with family and my primary duty was to them. But the reality can be gruesome. Below is a detailed story from the first to contact the would-be assassin on the train from Belgium to France. This guy is the re...

I personally believe it's important to cut off ties with child molesters. The rate of recidivism is too high, and the damage done too great. It's that simple. I was talking to a well-known Uechika at camp a few weeks ago over lunch about this. He bailed from the school when it became evident that hi...