4 Key Principles for Defending Against Larger Attackers
Being a smaller woman, I've had to practice my Jiu-jitsu/self-defense techniques with a different mindset throughout my martial arts career of nearly 20 years. I've had to learn to compensate for my inherent physical disadvantages while making the most of my advantages. When it comes to self-defense though, I've identified 4 key principles that help provide the greatest efficiency when defending against larger attackers when unarmed. (more...)
Dojo Hockey Warm-up for Martial Arts Classes
It's important to have a wide variety of cardio warm-up options to develop different body movements, but also to keep things interesting for your students. Our traditional warm-up choices have always been skipping, stair climbing, running, and even the occasional game of freeze tag. Recently, I introduced a new game, dojo hockey, as a choice for warming up. It was something that I once did in a Taekwondo class a while back. I remembered it and thought it would be a nice change. It is now our most requested option for warm-up. (more...)
How to Breakfall Naturally
This is a bit of a contradiction in terms. Breakfalling is one of the most unnatural things we teach to new students, to consciously let yourself fall to the ground without trying to stop the fall or slow your descent. We naturally fear the threat of injury we have learned can result from impact. In truth, we are our own worst enemy with this line of thinking. But what happens when this fear is removed from the picture?
Have you every taken a fall so fast that you had no time to even recognize that you're falling? I know I have. While I was in Ottawa over the holidays I was rushing out of the house down my parents' sloped driveway. There was a half inch of new snow. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that the new snow was covering a thick layer of ice from the freezing rain we had prior to the snow. As I committed my hurried step to the ground, my foot just slipped out from under me banana-peel style with no time to think or react. I was carrying bags in both my arms at the time too. The funny thing was that there was no "breakfalling" but I managed to fall without hurting any part of my body. (more...)
Can Older People Do Jiu-jitsu? Just Ask Rick...
Every so often a prospective student emails me and asks me if it's realistic for an older person to take up Jiu-jitsu. Most of the time the people asking are in the 40s and overweight or out of shape. I've always said that it's possible for anyone of pretty much any age and physical condition (provided doctor's approval) to start training, but it was only after Rick Karnowski started training with us, that I had the perfect person to point toward as proof. (more...)
5 Tips for Maintaining Martial Arts Training (Or Any Hobby) as a Parent
I recently started thinking about all the parents that train at my dojo and their training patterns. Some come to class like clockwork every week. Others come more sporadically. Then there are some who sign up with the best of intentions to train regularly and then fall away from training for months at a time because of their parental commitments. Not having any children myself, this got me thinking: Is it very challenging for parents to maintain their martial arts training because of their kids? Some people seem to have no trouble, others find it a struggle. What is the secret to keeping it going? With no experience to draw on, I turned to Facebook to ask my many martial arts friends for help answering these questions. The following tips are the result of said inquiry. (more...)
Celebrating Martial Arts Milestones
It's important to live your life on purpose. Not to go through life letting everything happen without taking an active interest, but to have intentions for yourself so you keep developing as a person. When you achieve goals, it's important to pay homage to them and celebrate the sense of accomplishment it brings.
Taking Responsibility for Higher Level Learning
I recently graded for my light blue belt in Shorinji Kan Jiu-jitsu and I'm happy to report that I passed and am feeling altogether smurfy in my new belt. As I go up the ranks in Shorinji Kan, I'm reminded of how the nature of training and grading preparation changes the higher you get. All too often students get into the higher belt ranks in their style without being fully aware of the shifts in responsibility so it's important to understand what this entails.
The Shift in Responsibility
When you're in the citrus coloured belt levels, your instructor more or less takes care of you. You put complete trust in them to make sure you know what you're supposed to know for your level so that when you're put up for your next grading, you're aware of what is expected of you. But when you get up to the upper intermediate and senior level Kyu ranks, the responsibility shifts. Sensei is often more focused on the lower ranks' development and you start to play a role in their development too, running warm-ups, teaching breakfalls, sometimes even teaching techniques. As a result, you don't always necessarily get to train some of the higher level techniques that you're expected to learn at your belt level. (more...)
Getting Into & Maintaining the Martial Arts Training Habit
One of the keys to excellence in the martial arts (or anything for that matter) is to keep doing it. It sounds simple, but many people fail to do this, even with the best intentions and the greatest appreciation for the art. So why does it happen? People simply fall out of the habit or fail to develop the habit in the first place. (more...)
How Martial Arts Instructors Can Give More
Martial arts instructors have the potential to make a huge difference in the lives of their students. They give students the opportunity to improve their coordination, endurance, strength, flexibility, etc, but they can also help instil confidence, discipline, and mental clarity, which can benefit all areas of their lives. Most instructors very much want to help their students improve their lives. They become instructors with the best of intentions. Then what happens? They pour all their efforts into running great classes, but find that students come and go very quickly and the majority don't stay for the long haul. Even the very best instructors face these issues, no matter how much experience they have or how many accolades they've received. Naturally, instructors then try to figure out how to make their students more loyal. (more...)
6 Favourite Movie Fight Scenes for Inspiration
I have a few students getting ready for belt tests. I know that many people have a tradition of watching their favourite martial arts movies the night before a test to help pump them up. I imagine people also do this before big competitions as well. Anyway, I've put together a list of my 6 favourite martial arts movie fights that each have their own themes for motivation. (more...)
