New essay published in InYo martial arts journal, winter 2012

InYo Winter 2012 cover

I just had an essay published in the Winter January 2012 issue of InYo: The Journal of Alternative Perspectives on the Martial Arts and Sciences.

Check it out!

Related Posts:InYo: The Journal of Alternative Perspectives on the Martial Arts and Sciences July 2011 issueNew Podcast Series – Episode 1 – BeginningsReview: Every Writer’s Dream, by Jeff Goins5 quick links for 8 October 2011Tuesday Links for 20 September 2011: writing prompts, jujutsu, nanowrimo, and more

5 quick links for 21 October 2011

Bartitsu montage

This is an action-packed set of links to start off your weekend, what with knife throwing, a Sherlock Holmes 2 movie trailer, an exciting Chess Boxing Championship, and a Led Zepplin song done as only Michael Winslow can do it. And, if in all this excitement you lose your ereader, I’ve also included a link with advice on what to do about it.

Led Zepplin’s Whole Lotta Love: You’ve probably not seen or heard . . . → Read More: 5 quick links for 21 October 2011

5 quick links for 11 October 2011

donkey and goat friends

Five quick links, including women’s self-defense footage, healthy recipes, NaNoWriMo tips, a beta version of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, and 10 free online classes to level-up your life.

Awesome women’s self-defense footage: From about 1947. Note that she’s in heels and wears the flirty short shorts of the time. Crossfit Evolve Nutrition:Some useful nutrition links and recipes for healthy eating More NaNoWriMo tips and thoughts: NaNoWriMo is almost here! Beta-version of The Encyclopedia . . . → Read More: 5 quick links for 11 October 2011

5 quick links for 8 October 2011

red apples

Today we’ve got five interesting links, including a video clip about Bruce Lee, an initial recommendation engine for science fiction books, two Steve Jobs links, and a link about the Geek Girl convention!

Hurray for the weekend!

Bruce Lee footage: His original Hollywood screen test, breaking with Chinese tradition, absorption of Western martial arts, origin of Jeet Kune Do, plus some action footage A recommendation engine for science fiction books Steve Jobs in . . . → Read More: 5 quick links for 8 October 2011

Weekend links 23 September 2011

apples from Morris Orchard

Weekend reading links for 23 September 2011, including: sushi etiquette, cultural insights from 5 million books, Bartitsu demonstration, and great science discoveries.

Culturomics: What We Learned from 5 Million Books: Great TED talk on some cultural insights from digitizing and processing 5 million books as n-grams. Bartitsu and Suffrajitsu Demonstrations: Martial Arts demonstrations at the Western Martial Arts Workshop 2011 in London. Bartitsu is the martial art of Sherlock Holmes and Suffrajitsu is the . . . → Read More: Weekend links 23 September 2011

Tuesday Links for 20 September 2011: writing prompts, jujutsu, nanowrimo, and more

Screen shot 2011-09-20 at 9.44.09 AM

Here are some links to help get you through the week, including: a Star Wars Asciimation, 50 most influential books, videos of martial arts throwing techniques, book 1 of The Secrets of Jujutsu, and one-word writing prompts.

Wage gains for advanced degrees: there aren’t many of these jobs, but if you can get them, they pay well in a down economy 50 Most Influential Books: not most popular, but most *influential* books. Would you . . . → Read More: Tuesday Links for 20 September 2011: writing prompts, jujutsu, nanowrimo, and more

How to Get Started in the Martial Arts, Part 4: Final Thoughts

a martial arts pell

The Next Step is Yours

There are books and DVDs for learning martial arts available online, but your best way to learn a martial art is from a martial arts instructor, so be sure to ask around or search martial arts online forums for places to train if your initial searches for schools near you come up empty.

Also, my suggestion would be to stick with one martial art for a while before you . . . → Read More: How to Get Started in the Martial Arts, Part 4: Final Thoughts

How to Get Started in the Martial Arts, Part 3: Choosing Where to Train

sword training at my house

Choosing Where to Train

Now that you have some sense of the different martial arts styles and which ones interest you, the next decision is selecting a training location. Whether you choose a sport art or a historical martial art, the key is to find an instructor and dojo/salle/school with integrity, experience, skill, and good instruction. Some dojos/salles/schools or instructors will claim that their method is ”the most authentic” or “the most effective”. Since there is no “most . . . → Read More: How to Get Started in the Martial Arts, Part 3: Choosing Where to Train

How to Get Started in Martial Arts, Part 2: Choosing a Martial Art

keg_sword

Choosing a Martial Art

The previous part of this series discussed why you might want to consider martial arts training. In this part, we investigate the differences between various martial arts, and how to select one for yourself.

A Little Martial Arts History

The history of martial arts goes back thousands of years. It is very difficult to say that a particular martial art came from a particular country, since the different martial . . . → Read More: How to Get Started in Martial Arts, Part 2: Choosing a Martial Art

How to Get Started in the Martial Arts, Part 1: Benefits of Martial Arts

barton-wright1.1

How many of you have watched a Bruce Lee movie, or perhaps you’ve seen the movie “Kill Bill”, and thought, “Man, I’d love to take martial arts training and learn to move like they do!”? Or maybe you’ve noticed that martial artists are generally in shape? Or maybe you’d like your kid to get off the couch and into a structured activity? Or maybe you’ve decided to learn some self-defense techniques? In this guide . . . → Read More: How to Get Started in the Martial Arts, Part 1: Benefits of Martial Arts