Swamp Talks

All too often, we want something to work when we’re sparring, or rolling, and it just doesn’t happen for us. Let’s take a deeper look into why.

Do you get nervous when it's time to spar, or roll with someone? Does anxiety overcome you? Have you ever had someone you 'really' didn't want to spar with in class? You can overcome this with the following...

Max asks me to share my personal experience with belt tests in the martial arts. Three stories stand out. Join in as we discuss what happened, and how they turned out.

Let's dive into the pros and cons of testing adults in martial arts schools. How effective is the test? Does it produce better students? Does it make 'you' better? Or, is it a complete waste of time?

Injuries can put us out of commision for long stretches, or even discourage us from coming back when they do happen.

While we can’t alway guarantee they won't happen in a dangerous sport, we can decrease the likelihood and do things that help us recover faster.

Max and I discuss some tips for helping you minimize injuries in your martial arts training.

How long does it take to get a Black Belt? Why does it vary so much from school to school, or style to style? Is it really such a great idea to get a black belt quickly?

Join Max and I in the swamp behind the gym as we delve into this important question, and tackle a touchy subject with martial arts practitioners.

Forms were libraries of fighting techniques, a method of transmission for passing of knowledge, not the be all and end all of martial arts.

Join me in this episode of Swamp Talks as Max and I discuss forms (Kata, Tao Lu) training in the martial arts, and why I believe focusing on them is a giant waste of time if you are trying to learn to fight, or defend yourself.

How do you start martial arts training? How do you overcome fear, the intimidation, and avoid pitfalls of getting injured, ending up in the wrong school, or selecting the wrong teacher.

These are all extremely important factors that can make, or break our efforts to get trained and reap the benefits martial arts has to offer. One bad experience can cause some people to quit and never go back.

In this episode, I tackle these questions and offer tips to keep you safe, and help you start out on the right foot.

Hitting plateaus in our training comes with the territory. There is no avoiding them. The longer we train martial arts, or any sport/activity that requires long periods of intense practice, we are destined to hit these stale periods in our progression.

Over the years I have hit many of these, the longer I trained, the longer some of these lasted. Join me as Max catches up with me training behind the school to ask how I deal with these roadblocks.

I'll share with you my methods for dealing with these, shortening the time I’m stuck in them, and making the best of them as we go.