Martial Vitality

Yesterday I spoke with a friend who just moved from Ohio to northern Virginia, where I live. I'll call him Randy. He is a successful business person who sold his tech start-up last year. Randy wears many hats: technical director at the company that bought his start-up; venture capitalist, launching new start-ups; and family man, with a supportive wife and children. He used to compete in triathlons, but the pace of his work life has squeezed exercise out of his routine. Randy and I are about the same age (45), and he knows he needs to exercise to shed unwanted pounds and improve his quality of life. He asked about my time at First Defense Krav Maga . I told him I've been training over a year at the school, and I'd be happy to meet him for a trial class. Randy replied that he didn't feel ready for Krav Maga, because he wanted to drop around 25 pounds before attempting a workout. He said he needed to be ready for class before showing up to train. I understand his reasoning...

Have you trained for self defense while driving a car? In October my school First Defense Krav Maga conducted a Saturday afternoon seminar on self defense while driving. Our instructors, Sam and Chris, helps us learn how to deal with various scenarios, and we drilled outside, in and around student vehicles. We spent a decent amount of time dealing with intruders in the passenger's seat, as shown in the photo at left. I'm wearing the stylish wool hat, because it was freezing outside! Since that class I have begun locking my car doors as soon as I enter my vehicle, but after all passengers have closed the doors. It's such a simple step, but it can thwart a decent number of problems. For example, rather than locking your car doors immediately, you might close the door and pull out your phone. Maybe you want to check email, or phone messages, or engage Google Maps. In any of those cases, you're taking your attention away from your surroundings, and becoming immersed in the...

Is moving meditation possible, and how can it benefit a Krav Maga practitioner? My last post on Krav Maga and Kendo  mentioned how I applied some of Master Eyal Yanilov's lessons from his Combat Mindset Class . Yesterday I had another chance to integrate his lessons on meditation and breathing while spending time with members of the First Defense Krav Maga community. Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a public ice skating event at a nearby rink. We had a mix of experienced and first-time skaters, Krav Maga practitioners and family members. On a physical note, our first-timer skaters performed brilliantly. In less than an hour they were taking laps around a crowded rink. Although everyone who skates will fall at some point, during this outing none of our first-timers made unexpected contact with the frozen deck! I attribute their success to great attitudes and sound body awareness due to Krav Maga training. My sisters and I on a home-made rink. Now, on to the mental side. I grew up in the...

How do you train yourself to go from zero to max speed in a conflict scenario? This question has been on my mind since I started an eight session introduction to the Japanese art of Kendo. I'm a sucker for "defined introductory programs." I began training at First Defense Krav Maga , one year ago last week, by enrolling in our eight week Fundamentals program. Last month I noticed Capital Area Budokai was starting an eight session introduction to Kendo for only $80, I decided to give it a try. I already enjoy practicing Filipino Martial Arts , especially double sticks. I also use a bokken (wooden sword) for the exercise-only practice of Jungshin Fitness . I thought these Kendo sessions would be a cool way to learn a martial arts-oriented way to use a sword. (At Capital Area Budokai I practice with a bamboo shinai, not a bokken.) Kendo training is far different from Krav Maga Global classes. Kendo is much more formal. We spend a lot of time working on a fewer number of top...

Martial artists, especially those in Asian systems, are likely to hear about Sun Tzu and his so-called "Art of War" manuscript. Beginning with the 1989 movie Wall Street , it's been fashionable for leaders of all types to quote the general and his most famous book. What do scholars of Chinese history have to say about it? I learned several answers to this question last year at the first Sun Tzu conference , organized by Thomas Huynh. I enjoyed the event, but in this post I want to share my notes from the talk by Peter Lorge . Dr Lorge is the author of the incomparable Chinese Martial Arts history text, probably the best academic book ever written on the subject. (See Ben Judkins' review .) Peter made many statements about Sun Tzu and his text which did not sit well with the audience, so they make for interesting reading here! First, Peter does not believe Sun Tzu existed as a discrete individual. He doesn't believe Lao Tzu, author of the Tao Te Ching, existed eit...

2016 was the year I returned to the martial arts. Beginning with my third class on January 20th, I started a training journal. Thanks to these notes, Google Calendar, and a collection of certificates, I can assess how much time I spent training last year. In this post I'd like to capture some statistics on my 2016 journey. Krav Maga My first ever Krav Maga class at First Defense happened on January 6th. Prior to my P-1 test in April, I participated in 32 formal Krav Maga classes. Between my P-1 test and my P-2 test in September, I participated in 58 Krav Maga classes. After my P-2 test and through the end of classes on December 22nd, I participated in 54 Krav Maga classes. That is a total of roughly 144 hours of regular Krav Maga classes. In addition to regular classes, I participated in several seminars and camps. In July I participated in two Krav Maga seminars at the Martial Arts Super Show taught by Mr Eyal Yanilov, totaling 5 hours. Later that month I participated in a ...