Being decisive is incredibly important as a Martial Artist. Of course in self defense, if we wait too long to respond we will get hurt. Sparring, hitting mitts and rolling in BJJ helps train our minds to make split-second decisions. A simple way to think about it is that we take our time training our minds and bodies to be able to act quickly. When we have time, we spend

In kids’ class yesterday a brand new student asked me, “What does Martial Arts mean?” I then characteristically went on a long rant about Martial Arts, Kung Fu, Tai Chi, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and much more. It’s been a while since I’ve written about some of this, so let’s discuss some of the meaning and history of our styles. First, when we say Martial Arts we are referring to all of

A Dark Night of the Soul (not to be confused with The Dark Knight, the only superhero movie I saw twice in theaters) is a concept I’ve been familiar with for a while but haven’t had much direct experience with. The idea was first described by St. John of the Cross while he was imprisoned in the late 1500’s as a sort of purification of the spirit . Today, the

In martial arts and meditation we strive to become aware of our emotional states and learn to ride the waves of physical and internal energy to our benefit. The ups and downs become more predictable, just like practicing falls on the count. Teaching and watching this happen from the outside has given me some perspective, but taking care of a baby has made me increasingly aware of the natural rhythms

Creating an empowering context is a crucial skill. Empowering context is basically shifting your mindset so that you get energy from a given situation and you can flow creatively to meet challenges. An example of an empowering context we talk about all the time in martial arts is to treat challenges like opportunities. When someone throws a punch in kung fu or tries to sweep you in BJJ, this is