Martial Vitality

  Today, 18 January 2022, the Martial Vitality project is six years old. I started it as the Rejoining the Tao blog in  January 2016 . The Martial Vitality brand arrived later, when I was considering open a school. I consolidated both projects under the Martial Vitality name in  July 2020 .  Martial Vitality captures what I find interesting about martial arts, outside of martial arts history. For example, the  #martialartstechniqueoftheday  from my  Instagram account  shares images of techniques, generally from very old grappling texts. If you prefer  Twitter  or  Facebook  I post using the same hashtags there. In my last post I wrote that I Am Indeed Recovering from Shoulder Surgery . Due to the pandemic I have not trained since March 2020. I am considering whether or not to return to jiu-jitsu. Since the pandemic started, my school closed and reopened under new management and trainers, and in a new location. Some of my favori...

When I posted the above photos to my social media accounts, one of my friends wondered if I had shared pictures from the Mars lander. Those are actually images taken inside my shoulder, by a doctor on April 26. During the middle of 2020, probably in June or definitely by July, I noticed that I had severely injured my left shoulder. I was familiar with the pain caused by a rotator cuff tear. I had partially torn my right rotator cuff during Air Force Academy training in 1991, but didn't get it repaired until I experienced three surgeries in 2007 and 2008. I tried to recover on my own using exercises from the last sets of therapy sessions. In the summer of 2020, in the middle of the first US Covid surge, I was reluctant to see a doctor, have an operation, or attend months of physical therapy. By the end of March 2021 I was vaccinated. I made an appointment to see a doctor and also got MRI scans of my arm. The doctor informed me that not only was my rotator cuff fully torn, but that I...

Four years ago on January 30, 2017, I took my first jiu-jitsu lesson at One Spirit Martial Arts in Herndon, VA. It was a Gracie Combatives lesson. Someone took photos for the school's social media pages, and I ended up barely appearing in the back row of one of the photos.  In March it will be one year since I stopped training due to Covid-19 . Since then I have been trying to keep mentally and physically engaged with jiu-jitsu, despite not attending classes at the academy. For example, beginning on January 1, I started my "90 Days with Danaher" program. Every day I watch a John Danaher instructional. I started with the first two volumes of Feet to Floor, then continued with Go Further Faster 1 Pin and Turtle Escapes. I am now in the second volume, Go Further Faster 2 Guard Retention. I take notes on each video and screen captures for private reference.  Go Further Faster 1 Pin and Turtle Escapes screen capture with annotation Each day I share a few screen captures ...

  Today, 18 January 2021, the Martial Vitality project is five years old. I started it as the Rejoining the Tao blog in January 2016 . The Martial Vitality brand arrived later, when I was considering open a school. I consolidated both projects under the Martial Vitality name in July 2020 .  Martial Vitality captures what I find interesting about martial arts, outside of martial arts history. For example, the #martialartstechniqueoftheday  from my Instagram account  shares images of techniques, generally from very old grappling texts. If you prefer Twitter or Facebook I post using the same hashtags there. Currently I'm on the 18th day of my 90DayswithDanaher project, where I watch one John Danaher instructional video each day. I started the month with his Solo Drills series and continued with volume 1 of Feet to Floor. I'm watching the second volume of Feet to Floor now. You might also want to check out my sister projects Martial History Team  and Sourcing Bru...

  2020 was not the best year for anyone, let alone for those practicing martial arts. Nevertheless, I've been summarizing my martial arts activities each year since my return in January 2016 , so why stop now? Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu I started 2020 as a fairly new blue belt , having tested at One Spirit Martial Arts (OSMA) in October 2019. I had 35 classes during the remainder of 2019 at that rank. I wrote in my 2019 Martial Arts Year in Review that "my goal is 17 classes per month, which is 204 classes per year. I expect that will translate into about 20 hours of class time per month, or 240 hours of class time per year." Before Covid-19 became a serious problem in my area, I participated in 40 BJJ classes at OSMA, with my final class occurring 11 March 2020. That was 40 classes in 70 days, and perhaps it was a bit too much. I hurt my back a few times during that period, including the last class on 11 March. Although my school continued teaching for a bit more, took a brea...

Hello everyone. I just wanted to post a quick note describing my goal for this site. Previously I posted information on my personal martial arts journey on a blog called Rejoining the Tao. I also created a presence called Martial Vitality, as a possible home for a future martial arts school. I had various social media accounts for both sites, which was confusing. I decided to retire the Rejoining the Tao account and content and migrate the blog posts to this site. Therefore, everything previously published on that blog is now here. I've also retired the old @rejoiningthetao Twitter account, and asked my small number of dedicated followers to move to my @martialvitality Twitter account .  I've been posting regularly to the Martial Vitality Facebook account regularly, so that will continue. I will save this site for long-form material that I want to be sure survives any issues that could arise with Facebook. On a similar note, if you're not already following my new project f...

Travis Stevens on YouTube, https://youtu.be/xLNpi2HHPsU Travis Stevens, American judo Olympian, spent over two hours on YouTube describing how to fix the American competitive judo system. He said he has spent several years advocating these changes and pitching it to multiple audiences. This post is my attempt to summarize his main points. I thought his presentation was compelling, so I wanted to capture highlights. If you want it straight from him, please watch the video. The First Step: Startup Revenue Through Seminars The First Step The first step is to hire a coach to perform two main functions. The first is to teach judo cadets, those under age 18 years of age. The second is to have that coach teach 18 seminars per year, across the US. (That's 18 seminars, not just seminars for 18 year olds.) Figure 1 below shows the revenue that a single seminar could generate, depending on the attendance and the cost per person. Figure 2 shows shows the revenue that 18 seminars could generat...

Saturday I attended a Jiu-Jitsu seminar by Rigan Machado, hosted by Patrick Tray of Trident Martial Arts . I want to share a few thoughts on the seminar for anyone who wants to attend one in the future. The location was top notch. Trident is in Woodbridge, VA, and features two huge training areas. They are meticulous about mat hygiene. I've trained at Mr. Tray's school before, about 1 1/2 years ago for a great series on ground, striking, and weapons scenarios. The cost was very reasonable -- $79 for early registration and three hours. Saturday was a gi session and Sunday was a no-gi session. I could only attend Saturday. If I had paid at the door, it would have cost me $99. If I had registered early for both sessions, the cost would have been $149. In addition to Master Rigan, Master Marcos Santos from Texas  was present and helped teach material. Mr Tray and several of his black belts (like Mikey Custodio) participated and helped teach. Ben Gilbert, who is a full instructor f...

2017 was my second full year practicing martial arts, since my return in January 2016 . About a year ago I posted my 2016 Martial Arts Year in Review , reporting some statistics on my training and how I spent that time. Because I have no official training scheduled today or Sunday, it's time for me to analyze how I practiced in 2017. For comparison's sake, in 2016 I spent approximately 300 hours in formal training. About two thirds involved Krav Maga. Less than one sixth involved other martial arts, such as Kali, combatives (including my first serious ground work), and Kung Fu. The remainder involved fitness (Jungshin and Ground Force Method) and firearms. Krav Maga In 2017 I began my second year of training at First Defense Krav Maga in Herndon, VA. I started the year as a P-2. Prior to my P-3 test in March, I participated in 50 formal Krav Maga classes. (I had trained 94 hours since my P-2 test.) Between my P-3 test and my P-4 test in September, I participated in 50 Krav Maga...

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports I watched Bellator 149 Friday night, while on a business trip to the west coast. Like some of you, I wanted to see Royce Gracie fight Ken Shamrock one more time. My first live UFC was  UFC 4 , which happened in December 1994, several months after I started studying kung fu. Many of the guys in the school had seen the three previous UFC contests. UFC 3 took place in September 1994, and the next day the guys who watched it tried out their takedowns and ground-and-pound techniques on those of us who had no idea what had happened! As a 44-year-old martial artist, I was probably able to relate to Gracie and Shamrock better than most of the regular UFC and Bellator audience. After watching the earlier Bellator fights Friday night, I couldn't imagine the stamina needed to fight 3 five minute mixed martial arts rounds at age 49 (Gracie) or 52 (Shamrock). At the Air Force Academy I took mandatory boxing training my freshman year, and was drafted for the squad...

My First Gi and White Belt, from 1991 I began studying martial arts as a cadet at the United States Air Force Academy in 1991. During my military career I tried various styles, including Karate, boxing, Judo, combatives, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Tae Kwon Do, Filipino stick and knife fighting, Wing Tsun, and American Kenpo. By early 2001 I had a broken wrist and a desire to change direction. I separated from the Air Force in March of that year and later stopped practicing Kenpo. In late 2002 my wife and I moved to the DC area, and within two years I was looking for a new martial arts school. I never found a good fit, but I also fought my way through three shoulder surgeries and related problems. In 2012 I managed to try a Tai Chi class, which was fun in its own way. I finally recovered my health during 2015. By early 2016 I decided to take another look at the local martial arts scene, and I was pleased to find and enroll in a Krav Maga school . During that 15 year gap from 2001 to 2016, a ...