con.cen.tra.tion n. exclusive attention to one object; close mental application. – Dictionary.com I don’t think there’s anyone who would argue that martial arts doesn’t take concentration. Forms, in particular, take concentration — to execute a form successfully, you need to focus on your movement, focus on your intent. When the masters my school speak of [...]
Urban Samurai posted the question “Black Belt Responsibilities: Are There Any?“. His article is thought-provoking and all of the comments are worth reading as well. I’m not a black belt. Right now, my black belt seems a distant goal on a far horizon. But his article got me thinking: why do I want to be [...]
… at least for me. I thought I’d introduce my blogroll blogs and explain why I follow them. Maybe you’ll find some new favorites among them, too. 1. American/Traditional: A/T’s author is a teacher and student martial arts and is highly traditional, as am I. I enjoy reading his philosophy and often find his beliefs [...]
My dojang promotes what they call “Black Belt Skills”: once a week, they choose a word or short term that reflects an ideal black belt behavior. I’ve decide to take this term and discuss what what it means to me as a martial artist and as a woman. (I’m actually running a week behind because [...]
Image via Wikipedia Made famous by the Disney movie Mulan, Hua Mulan is the hero of a chinese ballad called The Song of Mulan, dating from around 5 C.E. (A.D.). The ballad [English translation] opens with Mulan weaving as she worries about her father who’s been called to military duty by the Khan. He is [...]
Training Women in the Martial Arts: A Special Journey Authors: Jennifer Lawler & Laura Kamienski Publisher: Wish Publishing Buy from: Amazon Don’t let the thiness of this book fool you. Training Women in the Martial Arts may be only 118 pages long, but it’s 118 pages packed with information and ideas. One of the authors, [...]
Continue reading about Product Review: Training Women in the Martial Arts
Yup, that’s right. I’m giving away a copy of Jennifer Lawler’s Tae Kwon Do for Women. All you need to enter is leave me a comment between now and July 31st. On August 1st, I’ll have Dynamo draw a name at random. Click the link above to see the book and get more information about [...]
What I present in this post is my own experience and the experience of the many other women I’ve known who’ve also lived through domestic abuse in any form. I refer to the abuser as “he” and the abused as “she” because I’m writing about why women don’t leave, but also because the vast majority [...]
Continue reading about Domestic Abuse: 12 Reasons Why Women Stay
I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but Dynamo has ADHD. And is borderline high-functioning autistic. As you can guess, he’s not an easy kid to raise. I used to think it was just my inexperience; he’s my first and only and I had very little contact with or interest in kids before him. But I’ve [...]
Continue reading about Dynamo’s Challenge: Change, Autism and Martial Arts
There are many things I wish our schools taught, in the way of basic life skills. When I graduated from high school, I was well-prepared for more schooling (college), but ill-prepared for life as an adult. If it were up to me, I’d mandate a course on personal interaction — i.e., how to get along [...]
