Category: Martial Art Training
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Thoughts on Martial Art Testing
I have found through bitter experience that talking too early about Blackbelt Testing scares students away. As a new instructor, I used to think that the idea of being a Blackbelt would inspire new students to train and give them something to look forward to. Apparently, that’s not how most people’s minds work. In fact,…
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Su Suhk Kwan Jang Nim Sung Nin Suh Performs Ki Cho Hyung (White Belt Form)
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The Notebook
I wish I was better at taking notes. I wish that I had thought to take notes from the beginning of my martial art career. My first Kuk Sool Won seminar I was still a white belt, and Kuk Sa Nim gave a lecture and said things that I’ve never heard him say since. I…
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Martial Art Endurance Training
If you are a student of mine or a reader of this blog, then you know that I’m working hard on endurance training. That’s what this article is about. There’s a kind of “hierarchy of needs” to martial art training. When we come in as a White Belt, everyone has a different level of talent, knowledge,…
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Lessons Learned from a Failed Test
Maybe this is bad business. I’m a huge believer in transparency though, and there are lessons here. As difficult at this is to admit to my students and readers, I failed my last Blackbelt Test. It’s happened before. Actually, nearly every time I test with my instructor, Pyung Kwan Jang Nim (PKJN) Ben Mitchell, I…
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From the Archives: Dojang Protocol
I find myself at the end of my list of ideas for weekly blogs. Please drop me a line if there is something that you would like me to write about. In the mean-time, here is another article from the deep past (relatively speaking). Published in June of 2007 when Kuk Sool Won™ of Muncie was…
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Hidden Secrets of Kuk Sool Won™
The idea of “secret techniques” in the martial arts has always fascinated people. Verbal tradition, urban legend, movies, and television have all perpetuated the idea that there are secrets that allow martial artists to achieve near super-human powers with the right training and practice. Like all legends, there must be some kernel of truth to…
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Brilliant Idea
Please watch as Jane McGonigal shares secrets of the universe with you. She’s lifting the curtain and giving you some of the science behind the magic of Kuk Sool training as seen through the lens of her experience and brilliance. [ted id=1501]
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Decide When to Be Patient, and When Not to Be
Most of the lessons that we teach in the dojang have applications outside the martial art school. It works the other way around too. This article is about something I learned about myself a long time ago when I was learning to fly airplanes and how it applies to martial art training. When you begin…
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Ten Exercises that will Make Taking Martial Art Classes More Fun and Less Scary
Most people like the idea of being a martial artist. It sounds cool, and honestly it is cool. What we don’t like is getting started and actually doing the work necessary to become a martial artist. Beginning is the hardest part. Most of us remember gym classes from high school where everyone seemed to know…