articles


The Practical Karate Training Methodology: A Primer

The majority of karate schools, today, fall into two camps, both of which are almost entirely creations of Post-WW2 Japan: That said, there is a third camp that has been growing in popularity: I honestly don’t think I need to go into much detail on how the first two train, because they are so popular; they almost exclusively follow a […]


The Five Elements of Karate

“Karate” is a broad term, which covers many different martial methodologies and styles originating on Okinawa and, later, Japan. There are a number of misconceptions about what karate is, although there has been a movement–a sort of “karate Renaissance”–in the past decade, or so, which has been making more information about karate available, and promotes a practical approach to the […]


Unarmed Combative Training as a “Prep”

Author’s Note: This article was originally written for a disaster preparedness newsletter from the Arizona chapter of Zombie Squad–a non-profit focused on educating people about disaster preparedness–and I recently re-discovered it in my archives. Upon realizing that I had never publicly shared it, I decided to share it, here. Unlike most of my articles, which are geared toward martial artists, […]


Mental Health and Martial Arts

Mental health issues carry with them a great deal of stigma, and they aren’t commonly discussed. Martial artists, in particular, have a tendency to avoid the topic, because martial arts are supposed to instill discipline, focus, and mental clarity. Additionally, martial artists are often seen as “tough” people, and it can sometimes be difficult for others to understand that those […]