Martial Vitality

In my 2016 Martial Arts Year in Review post I mentioned having martial arts goals for 2017. I realized today that I had not documented these explicitly, so here they are. My first set of goals involves Krav Maga , my primary art. I plan to attend and pass the KMG General Instructor Course Part 1. If possible I would like to attend and pass Part 2 this year as well, but that depends on the location and timing of the class. I also plan to attend and pass the KMG Kids Instructor Course . My school First Defense Krav Maga is offering both GIC1 and KIC shortly, so I am fortunate to have those opportunities on my schedule. Joining the ranks of KMG instructors is my number one priority for 2017 and 2018. Also for Krav Maga, I plan to take the Practitioner 3 test in March. If that does not go well, I have an opportunity to re-test at our Spring Camp in May. Assuming I pass P3, I plan to take the P4 test in the fall, either at a regional grading event or at the Fall Camp in November. My sec...

Kimura, courtesy of WikiHow "Yes!" This week I learned the power of this simple word, used at the right time and with the right emotional content. Late last month I started training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at One Spirit Martial Arts , headquarters for Professor Pedro Sauer. This week I signed up as a regular student. I've spent most of my time taking the Gracie Combatives classes, where a gentleman named Sebastian is usually the coach. I really enjoy these classes because there is a defined curriculum and class structure. I'll write more about that in a future post on the utility of curriculum and structure! This week I noticed that Sebastian used a simple but effective teaching technique. I'm not sure if the Gracie Instructor Certification Program explicitly teaches it, or if Sebastian picked it up interacting with other instructors, or if he independently arrived at the same place. The technique is this: when a student executes the proper technique, or element ...

In May 1993 I was a third year cadet at the US Air Force Academy, studying history and political science. I learned that the author of a new book, We Were Soldiers Once...and Young , published the previous year, would be speaking at the Academy in one of the periodic guest lectures that most cadets skipped due to exhaustion, workload, and apathy. The head of the history department invited me and a few other history majors to have dinner with the author, Lt Gen Hal Moore, prior to the lecture. I believe I was strongly encouraged to purchase a copy of the book, which I did at the on-campus bookstore. I did not have a chance to read the book prior to the dinner. I was balancing the academic duties of two major degrees and two minor degrees (French and German) with the leadership duties of running one of my squadron's "elements." I don't remember much about the dinner, except that I had never spent any time with a flag officer before, and certainly not a three-star. I bro...

What's so special about seminars? Last night my school First Defense Krav Maga  hosted Master Eyal Yanilov , head instructor of Krav Maga Global . He taught a two-part seminar lasting 3 1/2 hours. The first part described ways to combat the physical stress causing by sitting, using exercises to open and unfix the hips and pelvis. The second part addressed some of Krav Maga's "sweeping" defenses, starting with the "left vs left" technique found in the Practitioner 2 curriculum. I admit that I'm a "seminar junkie." When I saw my school announce the event, I knew as long as my schedule cooperated that I would attend. One of our senior instructors, Patrick Hards, told me last week that if he called all of his classes "seminars" then I wouldn't miss a single one! Why am I hooked on Krav Maga Global seminars? Here are five reasons. 1. Concentration. KMG seminars tend to concentrate on a single principle of the system. This is true of m...