A teenage student of mine came to me with four questions about teenagers and martial arts. These questions were to help him formulate a speech arguing for martial arts to be taught in high schools. I felt they were excellent questions, and with his permission, have posted them to this blog for all who are…

That big right (or left) hook knocks out sport fighters all the time and is used by all as their primary strike therefore it is obviously the most powerful punch you can throw, right? Not quite, but it’s easy to be fooled by the results. The hook punch is extremely versatile and has one of…

It’s the age old question of which martial art is the best. The quick answer is this, the practitioner is more important than the art. The long answer involves asking, “What is the purpose of the martial art?” and “what are MY goals for training in the martial arts?” Another question might be, “Is this…

Military fighting systems are quick, efficient, simple and get the job done. They are also completely illegal for personal use when it comes to civilian self defense. Keep in mind these no quarters systems were developed for wartime hand to hand combat in which there is no regard for human life, the only goal is…

Dim mak, the touch of death! Strike the opponent on specific pressure points along meridians throughout the body and shut down the opponents kidneys, or liver, or even heart! Is it real? Not so much. While this secretive, legendary style of fighting does have some specs of reality, there has been no evidence or scientific…

Ok, time to for me to nerd out here. I’ve had this debate many times and have seen and read other debates on which one is a better punch. Most come to the conclusion that the horizontal punch has more power and is therefore the superior punch. As a Taekwondo and Hapkido practitioner I have…

Anyone of any size, strength, age and gender can learn martial arts, this is absolutely true! However, people take this statement a little too far by saying these attributes have no bearing on the martial arts and how well you perform. While technique is by far the best attribute, strength and size can help dramatically…