Blog: Rank in Martial Arts
How do you get a black belt? You find a competent teacher and a good school, begin your training and work hard. Someday—who knows when—it will come. It is not easy, but it’s worth it. It may take one year;
Blog: How to Make and Keep your Martial Arts Resolutions
The first real goal I ever made was to meditate every day for a year. I did this when I was 17 and had just begun practicing martial arts with Sifu Brown. It was one of my New Year’s resolutions,
Blog: Every Day is a Vacation – Using Martial Arts for Relaxation and Mindfulness
I just came back from a week-long family trip to Hawai’i. Anybody who has been at the dojo for a significant time knows that I don’t really go on vacation, and this trip was actually the longest I’ve ever been
Blog: Role Models
The Question of the Week at the dojo is: Who are your role models? The term “role model” has always had a childish, boy scout-type connotation for me, but we’ll use it. Who do you model yourself after? Who do
Blog: Finger Pointing the Way to the Moon
In an early scene from one of the greatest martial arts movies of all time, Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee is shown sparring with a student. Unsatisfied with the student’s performance, he implores him to throw his technique with emotional
Blog: Martial Arts Injuries , Pain and Suffering
I just got one of the worst injuries of my life. It’s not really that bad (possibly a partial rotator cuff tear), but since I’m quite mindful, in general I avoid injuries. This one, like pretty much all my serious
Blog: What are you avoiding? How to do what needs to get done!
In this article we will explore why we avoid things and how practicing martial arts and meditation help us step up and do what needs to get done. There's a wonderful story in Zen Flesh, Zen Bones called Eating the Blame: Circumstances
Blog: You are God
This post and all others are a product of my experience and understanding gained from practicing martial arts and meditation. Please consider what I say, as always, as just that. It may challenge what you believe about god, but I
Blog: How Martial Arts Teaches us to Survive and Be Happy
Our brains aren’t designed to be happy. I read this in an article recently and my initial reaction was, “Well, that sucks.” A response which, it turns out, is explained perfectly by the article. This blog will talk about that,
Blog: Letting Go and Zen Archery
This year on retreat we did a few exercises designed to help our kung fu and tai chi students experience mushin, or a state of no-mind. One of these drills was something that we’ve never done before: zen archery. To
