Riding the Strike of the Cobra: The Softer Approach to Blocking
In this series of lessons, we want to explore several advanced principles of soft blocking. The hard approach to blocking is designed to use...
De Ashi Harai is like the Judo Jab
Just as in boxing, where it is said that "Everything works off the jab", in Judo it might be said that "Everything works off...
Footwork Training In Martial Arts – An Introduction
In response to a comment a respected martial arts teacher recently made to me that he felt that footwork training was becoming a lost...
Young Bo Kong Taekwondo Counters
Take Kwon Do Grand Master Young Bo Kong as spent a lifetime perfecting his skills in the ancient art of Korean hand and foot...
A Scientific Break Down of the Strike
Since this is a martial arts article most of you have correctly surmised that this essay isn't about walk outs by disgruntled employees, picket...
Footwork, Footwork, Footwork
The single biggest distinction between fitness and martial arts training is whether participants move or remain stationary, and the key is learning footwork.
However they...
A Karate Chop Offers Proof of the Power of Physics
A karate chop, or shuto strike, is one of the few things in life that offers visceral proof of the power of physics. If you are untrained in the martial arts and you karate chop a brick, you may break a finger or worse. But if you karate chop that brick with the proper force, momentum, and positioning, you’ll break the brick instead. “Amazingly, there are no tricks involved,” says Michael Feld, a physicist at MIT. “What you have here is one of the most efficient human movements ever conceived.”
Your Secret Self-Defense Sequence
Unconscious Machine Gun of Moves
When people come into my self-defense gyms one of the first things I teach them is to have a defensive...
Jump Kicks
Jump kicks are one of the most popular martial arts techniques. Various martial arts experts agree that these kicks are one of the most...
PPS Kicking and the Balance Paradigm
"Balance is a necessary ingredient for optimal martial arts performance."
Two masters of the system, Progressive Protective Systems (PPS), disagree with the above statement, at...
Jeet Kune Do Knock Out Potential: Developing JKD Power in Your Punch
We have all observed students execute a punch or strike but upon contact there was just no impact power. When I was involved in...
The Best Block is No Block
The best block is no block at all!! With that said, it is well known and documented that if you try to block an...
How Muay Thai Fighters Set Up Their Opponents
An American Martial Artist Travels to Jamaica to Learn How the World's Best Muay Thai Fighters Set Up Their Opponents Before Delivering the Knockout...
The Revival Of Bare-knuckle Boxing
Most people today think of fighting systems as Asian. Some also even think of Brazil or Israel, but most don’t think of martial arts...
Pure Punching Power: Karate-do Punch vs Karate-jutsu Punch
In this article a Medical Doctor Examines Karate-Do and Karate-Jutsu to find out which system has a better karate punch.
Much has been made of...
Palm Heel Strike & Foot Stomp Technique Explained
In honor of Don Nagle's American Karate Association, Ed McGrath's School of Isshin Ryu Karatedo and Kobudo we would like to share our explanation...
