Many years of martial arts training have taught me that these arts are about much more than self-defense. They are paths inwards to the most important knowledge to which one can aspire – know thyself. I share stories about the lessons I’ve learned and brotherly advice for younger students on their journey.
Back in my teaching days, there were questions like this, “I have been reading about standing meditation practice and have come across two sources who say that the weight should be over the heels. In Nine Dragon Baguazhang, we are …
One of the highlights of my martial arts study was the shooting of a video series of lessons on dealing with multiple opponents. The highlight for me was not the martial stuff, but the actual shooting of the video. I …
When I was starting out in internal martial arts, I was attempting to learn many arts at once. I was attending classes in Taiji, Bagua, Xingyi, and Qigong and feeling quite superior about it. After all, the more one knows …
I recently posted this on Facebook: You’re at a local convenience store and glance at guy who walks through the store checking it out. He glances back. Moments later, as you pick up your item from a shelf, you hear …
There are no pictures of Billy. He was easily the most reserved student in the class, keeping mostly to himself except during partner exercises. On occasion, someone would take photos of the class for future use in brochures, websites, etc. …
When I scan internal arts social media, I almost never see the things that are most meaningful to me. I see lots of videos of forms and techniques. I see mentions of historical masters and styles. I see lineage claims …
In many the traditions of the East, the teacher is sometimes considered absolute in his authority (note – I am using the masculine he/him/his etc. for simplicity). He is assumed to have attained expertise in the content of his teachings …
“You must mean standing at attention” said Billy, with certainty. “No, I mean intention” his teacher replied with only a hint of irritation in his voice. “Just stand in that posture and follow along. I will describe the imagery I …
The other day, I pulled my notebooks off the shelf to start what I thought was the simple task of transcribing them for this site. After all, I took lots of notes as part of my learning so surely they …