Areté is an ancient Greek word that translates to excellence in effort, or of a thing. It refers to doing one’s best at a chosen activity, which could be a physical action. Importantly, the concept also included excellence of moral

The question of the week is: Do I search for purpose and meaning, or does it find me? This hints at our experience of finding purpose and meaning in life. For many of us it seems like a long journey, perhaps

The question of the week in the dojo is, “What is the secret to inner strength?” This got me thinking about a few things. For one, the breath. Whether you’re doing specific energy work like Qigong and Tai Chi, breathing

Pressure often shows up at tournaments. This weekend in the dojo we had our first kids grappling tournament since Covid. It was a great afternoon with lots of close matches. In the end, each division could only have one winner.

The question of the week is How do you react when you’re overwhelmed?   Let’s dissect the question a bit. First, the word react assumes a more or less automatic action, as opposed to a deliberate response. Most of us go through

We take off our shoes before entering the mats in the dojo for a few reasons. One, we practice barefoot for safety (some kicks and brazilian jiu jitsu techniques are more difficult or dangerous with shoes). Two, it is cleaner

Sometimes a mind rut can sneak up on us. While we were stretching at the beginning of the kids Wushu class yesterday, I mentioned the test coming up. One of the kids in the front row said, “I don’t think

In an Aikido class I took many years ago at Sifu Brown’s dojo, I heard a wonderful way of conceptualizing the different levels of self. If I remember correctly, the teacher’s name was Sensei Bob Nadou. He said that when

The Question of the Week is "What excuses am I making?". Just asking this question on a regular basis is huge. An honest approach to discovering where we can make improvements is crucial to our Martial Arts practice. As soon

Since the Kohnens tested for their black sash two weeks ago the dojo has been buzzing with excitement. I’ve had lots of questions about what it means to be a black sash or black belt and yesterday got a familiar