Martial Arts Education

When I started teaching the martial arts years ago, the one label I thought my school needed to avoid more than any other label was “most expensive school in town.” I felt that charging top dollar for teaching the arts was an apostasy. I was convinced that expensive schools could not possibly have the same ...

Somewhere in the middle of rushing between activities, places and people, somewhere in the crevices of our wall-to-wall work schedules, there is the time we take for ourselves. This is when we do something a little extra for ourselves-perhaps a hobby or simply to relax and focus our minds to reorganize our thoughts. A little ...

The reason so many martial arts schools have trouble teaching effective fitness kickboxing is because conventional martial arts and fitness kickboxing are two completely different animals. Teaching conventional martial arts has very little to do with teaching martial arts fitness. The elements of a good fitness kickboxing class are not the same as a conventional ...

If you do not let the public know who you are, where you are located and the products and services you offer, then don’t expect them to become students. This may seem so basic as not to require mentioning, but it is a little more complicated. What I mean is communicating the right information to ...

  If discipline is mentoring someone, then don’t you think self-discipline must be accepting that vision for your self? When the alarm goes off in the morning, it is self-discipline that makes you get up and go to work or school. It used to be your mom or dad. They were your Disciplinarian/Mentor, but now ...

I want to relate some of the very powerful effects that adrenal stress has on the human mind and body. As an instructor, you must understand how the adrenal reaction can affect a student’s ability to defend himself during an actual encounter. We ask applicants to our RMCAT self-defense course if they have ever been ...

  There are few subjects in American society that will raise eyebrows quite so quickly as a discussion of discipline in the classroom. Since the 1960s, there has been a distinct disagreement among Americans about what discipline is, what it should be or if it’s even important at all. Since a growing portion of our ...

To achieve your goals, you must learn to think big. Always aim high. Don’t look at the crossroads or you will see walls and barriers, which will obstruct your path and impede your progress. Move forward by looking at the sky and your opportunities will be unlimited. At the same time, you must pursue realistic ...

In this column, we have talked about how to modify a variety of exercise to reduce the chance of injury to some people who may be predisposed to certain conditions like lower back or knee problems. Risk can be based on three factors: chronological, cardiovascular, and orthopedic. The key is to run an exercise program ...

Some years ago, I was at a major “contact” Karate tournament that had attracted fighters from across the country for many years. More than a few of the matches are decided by knockouts, and the action is always hard and fast. The rules allow for full-contact kicking to the head and body, but hand strikes ...