I want you to go through the following exercise in your head:

Imagine you’d spend your 20 years training in a martial art with the belief that you’d be able to defend yourself, but have never tested it out under extreme or real conditions or outside of your dojo. Imagine you would then have someone challenge you to try it on a fully resisting opponent, one whom you don’t know and does not respect you and your martial art. You try it, and it doesn’t work. Not even close – you get your butt kicked thoroughly.
Alternatively - imagine you’d been training to compete in a tournament, and have been beating everyone in your class easily. You arrive to the tournament and your opponent, someone who is less experienced than you, beats you comprehensively in no time at all.

Are you on the path to mediocracy or excellence?

How clean your desktop is could indicate how likely you are to survive a violent attack! Not sure why? Read on!

A while ago I discussed the ‘Dojo Syndrome’. I received some very positive feedback about the first three articles (you can read them here, here and here), with many instructors saying ‘this is exactly what happens!’ and had a few requests to post some more tips. I hope this helps you with your training!

There is a very common misperception in the martial arts world, that the sensei is always the best fighter and technician in the dojo; they are unbeatable and will never lose a sparring match to a student! 

This is often very far from the truth... And here's why.

There's an old samurai maxim, which says 'a man who has attained mastery of an art reveals it in his every action'. While I do not consider myself a master, I am obssessed with martial arts and so I am always looking for parallels I can draw from training to pretty much everything else. While my experience in art revolves around music and martial arts, I believe that these principles apply to every other art, as well as to business, life, the universe and everything. Recently someone on Facebook shared this post about being a professional session musician. I was instantly amazed at how relevant this was to being a proficient martial artist, especially one who is interested in multiple disciplines and styles. I'd like to share my thoughts on this with you in the hope it helps you with your art, whatever it may be!

Speed. It’s a great attribute to have, whether you are looing at self-defence or competition. To watch fighter with blistering speed is always awe-inspiring. But too often speed is looked at as how fast your hands are moving, or have fast you can move your feet. While this is definitely important, speed encompasses a lot more than just that, and is really a term that encompasses a variety of skills! So what is speed really made of?

A while ago I wrote about the false notion (at least in my eyes) that traditional martial arts and modern combative applications, most predominantly Krav Maga, do not mix well or, as some even claim, are diametrically opposed in the martial arts sphere. But are they?

A discussion I have often heard amongst practitioners of self-defence and Krav Maga systems is whether sparring should be included in the curriculum. There are many valid arguments for both sides and different schools and instructors approach it differently. Here are my two cents.

Christmas and the New Year are always a time for reflection, and are also the cause of a phrase that now reeks of unfulfilled potential and wasted gym fees:

‘New Year’s Resolutions’

Everyone has made resolutions that they haven’t kept before. But why are they so hard to stick to? And how can you improve on keeping those resolutions?

Whether your goal is to lose weight, gain confidence, fit into those jeans or learn how to defend yourself, learning how to effectively set goals is key to achieving them.

The process of effective goal setting is not only relevant to your training, fitness or health regime, but is just as relevant for maintaining great relationships, building a successful career, and pretty much everything else in life!