How Joint Locks Work in the Martial Arts
Joint manipulation in the martial arts is used to control a subject, take them to the ground, or immobilize the affected limb. Because it's a fine motor skill, they generally take lots of practise before they can be used effectively. There are different ways to approach learning joint locks depending on the traditions of the martial art you're learning, all with different benefits and drawbacks, but as a general rule, they combine two principles, pain compliance and structural manipulation. (more...)
An Extra "Promotion" When I Made 4th Degree Black Belt
I was going through my old certificates last night, most of which usually sit in envelopes locked away in office drawers, and my husband noticed something I hadn't seen before. Let's see if you can find what's wrong with this certificate:
Dealing with Martial Arts Partners with Dangerous Training Habits
When you train in a martial art with a lot of partner-based training, you end up working with all kinds of people, big or small, male or female, experienced or inexperienced. With all the different pairings, you find that everyone has different habits, some good, some neutral, and some bad, which can be dangerous for one or both people in the pairing. In our dojo, we tend to attract people with good training attitudes and ethics, so students don't generally do things while they train that are intentionally dangerous. That being said, sometimes adjustments need to be made for safety. A student might hit or throw a training partner a little harder than the person receiving is comfortable with. Or maybe a less experienced student might cling to person throwing them in a way that is dangerous. (more...)
6 Interesting Jiu-jitsu/BJJ Submission Grappling Guard Passes
I like to check out YouTube on a fairly regular basis to find interesting new concepts or techniques in the martial arts. This week, I decided to explore different alternatives for guard passing techniques that can be used in Jiu-jitsu submission grappling. One of the great things about submission grappling as popularized by BJJ is that because so many people are doing it, it evolves very quickly and people develop interesting new ways to improve control, submissions and defense on the ground. In our dojo, we don't enter tournaments or train for the purposes of competition because our primary focus is self-defense, but we still practice submission grappling techniques. Submission grappling has become so popular as a sport you cannot afford to ignore it in the self-defense world, and it offers a lot of value for improving one's defensive capabilities on the ground. You'll see more of my ideas behind this when my book, When the Fight Goes to the Ground: Jiu-jitsu Strategies for Self-Defense which I wrote for Tuttle Publishing, comes out early next year. (more...)
The Benefits of Taking a Break on Learning & Productivity
Western society is a often characterized with a spirit of ambitious go-getting. The people who are often thought to make the most of life are the ones who set goals and work diligently toward them. You see this in the martial arts too, especially with regards to the belt system. As a white belt, a student looks to learn all the techniques on the yellow belt system. Once they have developed the required proficiency at those techniques, they're tested and usually promoted. Lather, rinse, and repeat until life takes you away from the art or you get bored. (more...)
Meditations on Meditation: A Visit to a Zen Centre
This past Sunday, I went to the Zen Centre of Vancouver to do their introductory session to Zen. I've been meditating regularly for years, using more or less the same methods as they do in Zen. I recently decided that it might be nice to try formal practice in a group to see what it's like. It was an interesting experience that I'd like to share.
I rode my scooter to the Zen Centre early Sunday morning. At first, I drove past it. It was easy to miss being a house in a residential area with only a humble sign over the front door marking it for what it was (as seen here on the right before it was renovated). I rang the doorbell and was greeted by Eshin John Godfrey (shown in photo below on the left), the centre's abbot. He is a friendly man who smiles a lot, and does a great job of making new visitors feel comfortable and welcome as I came to discover. (more...)
7 Useful iPhone Apps for Mental & Physical Health
I have had an iPhone 4 for over a year now and up until recently had hardly any apps on it. After hearing about how useful they can be, I decided to explore what ones might be helpful for maintaining mental and physical health. Of course, I preferred if they were free, but I found myself intrigued by a few of the ones that required payment. So in this post I'll review 7 of the ones that I thought people who strive for a healthy lifestyle would find most useful.
1. Clear (Productivity App). Price: $2.99. This remarkably simple app makes it easy to make and track lists, whether it's to-do lists, grocery lists, goal lists, etc. It makes cute little sounds as you add and subtract things from your lists, making it that much more satisfying a process. According to studies, making lists helps us organize our minds, which can in turn help us learn better (or so I was told in my 1st year university psychology class). Clear is really intuitive and easy to use, though you may find that the very act of making these lists makes it so that you don't actually have to rely on them as much (as is the case with me).
Nutty Buddy Groin Protector Product Review
In the fall of 2011, I was given the opportunity to conduct a review of a different type of groin protector. I've tried a lot of different cups over the years, trying to find one that works effectively and is also comfortable.
The Nutty Buddy
When I started in Jiu-jitsu, my style didn't use groin protection, and people were left to defend themselves, and exercise control while demonstrating strikes to the groin. I'm not going to debate the pros and cons of cup vs non-cup training, except to say, anyone who thinks wearing a groin protector makes you less likely to protect the groin has likely never worn a cup, or at the very least, been hit by Lori O'Connell Sensei while wearing one.
If you watch the video of me being struck in the groin at the end of this review, you'll see how hard it is to intentionally let someone hit you in the groin during the included outtakes. (more...)
How to Add More Realism to Self-Defense Training
In Can-ryu Jiu-jitsu, we train how to defend against a wide range of specific attack scenarios including wrist grabs, head locks, throat grabs, bear hugs, wild haymakers, ground holds, weapon attacks and more. When students are just starting out, the attacks are more or less static and non-adaptive with training partners being fairly compliant. We start off with very low levels of resistance to give students the chance to work on form and technique without being under so much pressure that they fall apart. Below is an example of a self-defense situation response performed in a demonstrative, low-resistance format from Steve Hiscoe Shihan's YouTube channel (he's one of the heads of our style).
Teach People, Not Just Lesson Plans
Teaching is an important vocation, not simply to pass on knowledge, but to inspire people to greatness. Teachers have the capacity to change lives, and it's not just because they put together a good lesson plan. The best teachers are the ones that see those they teach not simply as students, but as people.
Each person has their own unique learning style, personality, and life situation. They each have different interests and passions that inspire them, as well as different hot buttons or issues that cause them to think stressful thoughts. If teachers take a genuine interest in their students not simply in terms of their training but in the context of their whole lives, they can not only help better in the class setting through greater understanding, they can also touch their lives in a more meaningful way.
I covered some of this concept in my blog post How Martial Arts Instructors Can Give More, but I feel like there is more that can be said on this topic. Here are 3 ways teachers can focus more on their students as people: (more...)
