Martial Vitality

Have you considered learning martial arts through private training? Prior to this week, my experience was limited to traditional group settings. Once or twice I can recall being the only student in a given group session, so I did benefit from one-on-one instruction. This week, however, I decided to I wanted to try private classes. Twenty years ago I stopped learning a Chinese Kung Fu style when the Air Force sent me to intelligence training in San Angelo, Texas. I stayed in touch with my teacher, Sifu Michael Macaris (pictured above), but I didn't practice what I had learned during my two year assignment near his school. I switched to Tae Kwon Do and Modern Arnis, then later Ed Parker-style American Kenpo Karate. I wish I had kept practicing my Kung Fu forms, even though I enjoyed learning new styles. Earlier this year I decided to get in touch with Sifu Macaris to see if he might be interested in offering private classes. My goal was to begin gradually re-learning the Chinese form...

Do you wrap your hands when practicing martial arts? If you don't now, but want to, what wraps should you buy? In this post I will offer three reasons for hand wrapping, plus three tips for buying hand wraps. I will also suggest a set of wraps I recently bought, and hopefully save you some research time. I wear hand wraps to for several reasons. 1. Protect Your Wrists.  When worn properly, they help provide better wrist alignment. This means you are less likely to strike a bag or focus mitt with a bent wrist, which could result in injuring the wrist. 2. Sweat. Wraps absorb sweat. When sharing focus mitts during training, this is of benefit to you and your training partners, and keeps the gear a little less damp. 3. Sizing.  I have found most boxing gear, when properly selected, is sized for hands that are wearing wraps. If you agree that wraps are a good idea, what should you buy? Look for these three features. 1. "Mexican" Wraps. I recommend so-called "Mexican"...

Bejtlich w/Curtis Abernathy (left) and Ed Parker Jr (right), 2001 Need more than five criteria for choosing a martial arts school ? As I continued looking at Tae Kwon Do programs for one of my daughters, I realized my original post needed a second part. Therefore, here I feature criteria six through ten for choosing a martial arts school. 6. Curriculum.  What does the school teach? When I first stepped into my Krav Maga school , I noticed a series of flyers sitting on a place to stow shows and clothing. The flyers listed the requirements for passing the Krav Maga Global ranks of P1 through G1. I could see what was expected of a student and what I could expect to learn at each stage. 7. Class Composition.  Does the student mix, for the classes you wish to attend, match your expectations? Some students, or parents of students, may not care about this element. For example, they may not mind that six-year-olds are training with sixteen-year-olds, or twenty-six-year-olds. In my ca...