The other day I saw a fantastic quote by Boxing legend George Foreman:
"Boxing is like jazz; the better it is, the less people appreciate it”
 
As a person who spent most of his life working as a professional musician as well as studied music quite extensively, I connected with this instantly. 
 
When I shared this quote on social media, a large number of the people who responded were musicians. This was to be expected, seeing as they probably related to Jazz being a hugely under-appreciated genre of music, often only truly understood by other musicians.

It also made me think of the recent speech made by Meryl Streep, where she famously said that ‘Mixed Martial Arts… are not the arts’. It made a lot of people in the martial arts community – practitioners and fans alike – angry at the fact that another artist (and in fact one of the most decorated and celebrated artists in recent history) made such a claim.

Was Streep correct? If so, what’s the difference between sports and arts? At which point does one become the other? Can they overlap? What about combat sports and martial arts, can those questions apply to these two as well? 
What, in a bigger-picture sense, is art?

I want you to go through the following exercise in your head:

Imagine you’d spend your 20 years training in a martial art with the belief that you’d be able to defend yourself, but have never tested it out under extreme or real conditions or outside of your dojo. Imagine you would then have someone challenge you to try it on a fully resisting opponent, one whom you don’t know and does not respect you and your martial art. You try it, and it doesn’t work. Not even close – you get your butt kicked thoroughly.
Alternatively - imagine you’d been training to compete in a tournament, and have been beating everyone in your class easily. You arrive to the tournament and your opponent, someone who is less experienced than you, beats you comprehensively in no time at all.

Are you on the path to mediocracy or excellence?

How clean your desktop is could indicate how likely you are to survive a violent attack! Not sure why? Read on!

A while ago I discussed the ‘Dojo Syndrome’. I received some very positive feedback about the first three articles (you can read them here, here and here), with many instructors saying ‘this is exactly what happens!’ and had a few requests to post some more tips. I hope this helps you with your training!

There is a very common misperception in the martial arts world, that the sensei is always the best fighter and technician in the dojo; they are unbeatable and will never lose a sparring match to a student! 

This is often very far from the truth... And here's why.

There's an old samurai maxim, which says 'a man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action'. While I do not consider myself a master, I am obssessed with martial arts and so I am always looking for parallels I can draw from training to pretty much everything else. While my experience in art revolves around music and martial arts, I believe that these principles apply to every other art, as well as to business, life, the universe and everything. Recently someone on Facebook shared this post about being a professional session musician. I was instantly amazed at how relevant this was to being a proficient martial artist, especially one who is interested in multiple disciplines and styles. I'd like to share my thoughts on this with you in the hope it helps you with your art, whatever it may be!

'Principles of Pugilistic Propulsion'... Say it 5 times quickly!

The theme for our Krav Maga classes at CAIA this coming month is striking. Personally, I’ve been on a journey over the past 2 years specifically exploring the pugilistic martial arts styles for my own enjoyment and personal growth.

As we are going to focus on these over the next few weeks in greater detail in class, I wanted to share some of the principles of effective striking that Dr Gavriel Schneider highlights. Please note that I am only reiterating and interpreting material here.

So… what are the secrets for generating power in your strikes?

A quick blog on something that has popped up in conversations several times recently, and I've been experimenting with these variations of one of the most fundamental techniques in Krav Maga - The 360 defence with a counter - to find what works best for me.

Want to know which varaitions works best for you? Read on!

Speed. It’s a great attribute to have, whether you are looing at self-defence or competition. To watch fighter with blistering speed is always awe-inspiring. But too often speed is looked at as how fast your hands are moving, or have fast you can move your feet. While this is definitely important, speed encompasses a lot more than just that, and is really a term that encompasses a variety of skills! So what is speed really made of?

A while ago I wrote about the false notion (at least in my eyes) that traditional martial arts and modern combative applications, most predominantly Krav Maga, do not mix well or, as some even claim, are diametrically opposed in the martial arts sphere. But are they?