The Stick Chick

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2018-10-10T06:30:00.000-05:00

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My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 10/05/18

2018-10-05T09:19:00.000-05:00

Goodness, it's OCTOBER already, y'all!

Weather has been up and down with the temps - c'mon, cold weather, kick in already!

How was your week?

TRAINING

Another fun training session at The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup. We worked on our "defensive responses" (1, 2 and 3) with double sticks, then showed how to use those drills with other tools (we used a single knife) to explore the possibilities. This is some of my favorite material my teacher offers, and I love teaching it myself.

My karate teacher is still in Okinawa, so we're having to do home practice yet again this week (and part of next week, too).

Had a relatively minor migraine this week, but it did curtail training a bit.

Here's a shot of me that's actually staged for images we want to use on our web site, Kindred Protective Arts.

BLOGGERY

Monday: In Defense of the McDojo

Tuesday: In Defense of Sport Martial Arts
Wednesday: Nuttin'. Planned guest post didn't get finished because I was migrainey.
Thursday: In Defense of Performance Martial Arts

You can follow or like or plus or whatever on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter!

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

Y'all wanna get me a present? Find me a copy of this book:

I was honored to share two posts with a similar theme this week, and it's important that you read this and give serious consideration to what these two very different martial artists experienced:

THIS KID! Wow!!

And finally, sure, your idea of a romantic surprise is a fancy dinner or a spa day. This is mine:

LOADS MORE good stuff on The Stick Chick Blog on Facebook, so get on over there and like and share what you see!

LAST THOUGHTS:

My beloved Kansas City Chiefs keep rolling. Undefeated in the first "quarter" of the season, three of which are road wins (well, 2, considering that the game vs. the Chargers was practically a home game). The schedule gets tougher and tougher, but it's pretty fun being a Chiefs fan these days!

Supposed to rain all weekend - thank goodness there's a shelter at the Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup tomorrow morning!

Have a fantastic weekend, and have fun training!

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 09/28/18

2018-09-28T07:42:00.000-05:00

Happy First Fall Friday!

Autumn is my favorite season. Temps here in KC have dropped into "you might need a sweater" levels and I love it!

How was your week?

TRAINING

Since I didn't do a Stick Chicktivity update last week, I wanted to mention that I went down to Shawnee, OK two weekends ago to surprise my teacher at an Arnis seminar he was teaching there with Arnis OK. I got to see a lot of other old friends, help my teacher in the seminar, and then got some one-on-one training time with him later than night. A fantastic trip, with fantastic people!

If you follow me on my FB page you know I was down for the count most of the week after Oklahoma with a nasty migraine. I didn't post here and I didn't train. I recovered Friday afternoon.

So, LAST Saturday, things were "back to normal". We had a nice group at The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup! We worked on a progression of capturing the stick in various ways, countering, and then countering the counter. Always a fun drill and everyone had a great time!

Karate was on hiatus this week as my teacher is in Okinawa, so I did home practice - bo, nunchaku, and empty hand forms.

Here's some video from my teacher from that Oklahoma seminar:

BLOGGERY

Back to normal, kids!

Monday: 4 Lessons in the Martial Arts (I Keep Re-Learning)
Tuesday: The Vagaries of Self Promotion
Wednesday: THAT GUY: UFC Fanboy
Thursday: Self Defense: Why Firearms Aren't Enough

Come find the Stick Chick Blog on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter!

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

The last full "episode" of the years-long Season 4 of "Enter the Dojo" has FINALLY arrived! Watch the show-down between Billy and Master Ken!

Never forget that your opponent might have friends. Friends with SKILLZ.

Jesse Enkamp posted this. You KNOW I had to swipe it:

Somebody hasn't been to the Highland Games...

Finally...

I'm always finding cool stuff that I share almost exclusively to The Stick Chick Blog on Facebook, so please do like and follow and share that bad boy with your friends. Thanks!

LAST THOUGHTS:

My beloved Kansas City Chiefs are undefeated and at or near the top of everyone's power polls. I got to attend the last game in Arrowhead. This is me, in my "Queen of Arrowhead" fan costume, and the owner of the Chiefs, Clark Hunt.

Yes, not only am I a raging nerd about the martial arts, I'm also a big dorky Chiefs fan too. SURPRISED?

Tomorrow is the KC Presas Arnis Meetup and things should be back to normal with Karate next week, thank goodness!

THAT GUY: UFC Fanboy

2018-09-26T06:00:00.000-05:00

There's a new student in class, and you're paired up with him.

You've been asked to show him some basics to get him going. Within five minutes, he's frowning and shaking his head. "I've never seen that in the UFC, so it can't possibly work."

You work on something else, like a kick, and he says, "I've seen that kick thrown by Conor McGregor, so yeah, it's a good one!"

You're working on strike mechanics, and he says, "Yeah, but if I do that, I can get taken down to the mat for ground-and-pound, like I saw Ronda Rousey do that one time..."

Oh boy! You're working with UFC Fanboy!

Lucky you.

UFC Fanboy judges everything by what he sees happening in professional mixed martial arts fights. If he hasn't seen it in the Octagon, than it can't possibly work.

The thing is, he's not exactly wrong in the approach of trying to judge what he's learning based on things actually done and tested under the pressure of professional mixed martial arts fights. I can actually sympathize with that point of view, because honestly, so much of what we do in the martial arts is NOT pressure-tested much (partly due to necessity, partly due to just... because?).

So I'm sorta on UFC Fanboy's side here, you see. I am a big believer in pressure testing as much as you possibly can.

BUT.

UFC Fanboy's martial arts knowledge and mindset is usually ONLY relegated to what he sees in pro fights, and nothing else.

So, when you show him things you can't/shouldn't do in pro fights (for lots of reasons), he will dismiss it as unimportant OR deny that any situation arises where those things happen or are needed at all.

UFC Fanboy doesn't believe that people get ambushed (or really, that HE could get ambushed).
UFC Fanboy doesn't think that regular people could have a knife hidden on him for deployment when the fight gets close and personal.
UFC Fanboy doesn't understand that what works for young, top-flight athletes in peak physical condition may not be the best strategy for children, for regular people who aren't in shape, for the disabled, or even for middle-aged stubby chicks like yours truly. UFC Fanboy thinks one size fits all.
UFC Fanboy underestimates how devastating weapons of any kind - including improvised weapons - can be, especially in the hands of the untrained. He also dismisses the value of training against all sorts of weapons and tools because nobody walks around picking fights with a pair of, oh, sai in their hands.
UFC Fanboy doesn't believe that techniques not used in pro fights can ever work, despite the mountains of video evidence that it can and does from real life you may show him.
UFC doesn't understand that lots of pro MMA fighters started in traditional, "useless" styles like karate and taekwondo!

UFC Fanboy has very, very narrow blinders on, and a specific worldview, and it's really hard for him to see the larger picture of what martial arts are, or can be.

UFC Fanboy probably doesn't understand why people like me train at all. I've had one say to me, "You should just get a gun!" in answer to some of the points I made above.

Terrific advice for people who never go anywhere where guns are not allowed, like schools, government buildings, airports, banks, public transit in general, post offices, national parks, and the United Kingdom and Canada, to name a few.

That, right there, is where UFC Fanboy loses me completely.

The martial arts world is just so much bigger than that, guys.

We train for more reasons than just "winning a fight". A "fight" is mutual combat, kids, and I am NOT going to get into one of those if I can possibly afford it!

Some of us train in the martial arts for health reasons: mental, physical, emotional. Take "kickboxing" fitness, some ways tai chi is taught, and heck, that's my main reason (i.e., I didn't want old age to suck).

Some of us train in the martial arts for performance and the arts, like XMA weapons or tv/movie/theater stunt work.

Some of us train because our jobs needs us to (security, police, EMTs, etc.) or for self defense reasons due to where we live or work.

Some of us train in the the martial arts for historical preservation purposes, like HEMA or cultural dances that have martial elements.

Some of us train for sports like mixed martial arts, and that'd include fencing, boxing, wrestling, judo, etc. as well as MMA.

And some of us even train to fight "in the street" because that's the life they lead in the neighborhood they live in.

Most of that can't or shouldn't be done in pro fighting. Our martial arts world CAN'T fix into the Octagon alone.

So, have you trained with UFC Fanboy? Is it curable, do you think? Or were YOU a UFC Fanboy? Tell us about it in the comments!

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 09/14/18

2018-09-14T07:44:00.000-05:00

It's Friday! Hooray!

Man, I can't believe it's almost time for fall. This year has gone by fast!

How was your week?

TRAINING

Had a new friend show up to the The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup, so we showed some of our basic stuff to get him going, then we worked on "stick capture" with block-check-counter. Very fun day!

The National Football League started this week, and I got the pleasure of my beloved Kansas City Chiefs beating division rival LA Chargers on the road. Great way to start the season!

In Karate (well, kobudo), I'm still working on the first bo form. Since the weather has been spectacular here in KC, it was really nice to spend the the early evening swinging the lumber. My current studies are a perfect example of how different groups can see things different ways, and I'm working hard to understand and do things the "new" way.

I'm working on a project I'm not ready to share yet, but here's a still of me in my "Armory":

BLOGGERY

Another weird week where the fresh post published on Wednesday ended up being different than what I originally planned.

Monday: Pain and Joy
Tuesday: A Black Belt is a Black Belt is a Black Belt?
Wednesday: SHENANIGANS: Banning the Martial Arts
Thursday: The Gift of the Difficult Student

Not only can you make sure you don't miss a post by finding us on social media, but you'll find lots of cool martial arts content (especially on Facebook)! The Stick Chick Blog is on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter!

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

The second most common phrase said to a kid's martial arts class is "Tie your belt!"

There are TONS of these parody memes of the Nike ad with Colin Kaepernick out there (the one with the Swedish Chef from the Muppets is genius) but here some from two of my favorite martial arts instructors. First up, Master Ken:

And then Diemon Dave.

Finally, here's a nice video about the FMA's as a whole. Sweet.

I'm always finding cool stuff that I share almost exclusively to The Stick Chick Blog on Facebook, so please do like and follow and share that bad boy with your friends. Thanks!

LAST THOUGHTS:

"Indian Summer" is kicking this weekend, but soon my favorite season - autumn - is going to kick in, months earlier than I've experienced it for the last 12 years. I am still so happy to be home in Kansas City.

I actually have a thing I'm doing this weekend that I'll tell y'all about next week.

SO, practice makes perfect, so I expect everyone to be out there getting perfect! Have a fantastic weekend!

SHENANIGANS: Banning the Martial Arts

2018-09-12T08:24:00.002-05:00

This is not the post I was intending to write.

You see, I started updating my "Enough with Sensei Scumbag's Shenanigans" post. I used to have a list of martial arts instructors arrested/convicted of sexual abuse and other crimes of that nature in that post, and I realized I hadn't updated it in a while. In fact, that list became so long, I decided to create a new post with a better list that I could update in an easier way.

Welcome to your near future, Sensei Scumbag.

That's the post I was going to publish today.

BUT.

In my research for that post, though, I ran across a web site that had a much more comprehensive list than I had assembled. By my own independent research, this list is pretty correct, even if it's missing some, notably Ralph Hall. It's a really good list.

At first, I was really excited, as I think such a list is an EXCELLENT idea, so that people searching for martial arts instruction online can make informed choices about who they - or their child - will train with.

I think we can all agree that being informed is one way to help combat the problem of sexual abuse in our community, right? So, I thought to myself, awesome, I can just link to that list and I won't have to reinvent the wheel.

Then I started reading more of the site.

I won't be linking to that list or that site (not anywhere, including in this post). The post intended for today will stay unpublished for a while.

Here's why:

The author is one of those folks in certain Christian circles that believes that the martial arts is sinful and you can't train if you're a Christian, because the martial arts is against the Bible and they interpret things like dojo etiquette as non-Christian religious behavior.

The author contends that we need licensing and universal background checks to address abuse in the martial arts, to start, but as you read through other pages on the site, as well as his YouTube and Twitter channels, you can see his real agenda really quickly.

He wants the martial arts banned.

Used this before, I'll do it again, sorry not sorry.

If you Google it, you'll see lots of debate out there on whether or not good Christians can train in the martial arts, and they can or can't train. There's plenty of Christians out there who would agree with the author of the site that I'm avoiding linking to.

I would point out that this does not appear to be the majority view. We have LOTS of organizations in our martial arts world that are Christian in nature. Karate for Christ, the International Fellowship of Christian Martial Artists, The Christian Martial Arts Council and The Christian Martial Arts Association are just a few.

If you think that the martial arts are an irreligious thing for you to participate in, I can respect your decision. I think this is an erroneous interpretation of what is happening, I think they don't understand that the martial arts is not a monolith (my style comes from a Christian part of the Philippines after all), and I think they are misinterpreting giving respect to a teacher or a founder of a system.

If you feel like it's the right thing to do in your religious faith, by all means, don't train.

But BAN it because it's against your religion? Not in my country, my friend. We don't do stuff that way.

Damn straight, it does!

What really burns my cookies here is that the author of the site I will not link to is actually doing something I think all of us will agree with, but I can't and I won't use his resource because literally every other thing he believes I completely and utterly disagree with.

ARGH!

Licensing? I wrote about the problem of that (and objective standards) here, and I think that this guy WANTS martial arts training to be way too expensive for most people so that's not a problem for him.

Background checks? Great idea and lots of martial arts schools and organisations are implementing this. BUT I doubt it will have much effect. When you look up these Sensei Scumbags, most of them had clean records before they were caught. I can think of one notable exception and there's more, but usually these are crime-free upstanding members of the community. That's what makes them so dangerous.

Here's the thing - there IS a grain of truth to the criticism he's offering. He thinks that the very nature of training makes us ripe for cult-like behavior, authoritarian command-and-control leadership structures, and puts us in a position for the abuse of our trust.

I noted these very tendencies - and more - in the "Sensei Scumbag" post I linked to above. I think that our training culture makes it very easy for Scumbags to prey on us, and I suggest some ways to make it harder.

BUT it does not automatically follow that therefore, the martial arts community as a whole is inherently dangerous and must be regulated or banned from existence.

It'd be like arguing that because a pastor uses his charisma, sales tactics, and authority over his church for personal gain, ALL churches are like that. Or arguing because of the nature of Christian church organization, it's too easy for predators to use the church as a way to easily access - and silence - sexual assault victims so we should therefore ban churches (and it's not just the Catholics, guys, read here).

I am NOT engaging in whataboutism here. I think that any group that has any kind of leadership structure and/or money and power over people will struggle with these problems. This includes The Boy Scouts. USA Gynmastics, team sports of just about every sport you can name (here's ONE example).

If there's a group of people that includes potential victims, there are predators using that group for access to those victims.

Sensei Scumbag, Coach Scumbag, Teacher Scumbag, Pastor Scumbag, President Scumbag, Mentor Scumbag, Principal Scumbag, Father Scumbag, Boss Scumbag... they all exist.

Banning the martial arts, sports, churches, schools, workplaces, etc. won't stop him.

If you're a Christian, do you struggle with a conflict between faith and martial arts training? What would you suggest as a way to combat Sensei Scumbag? Did I give too much attention to a crackpot in the internet? Let us know in the comments!

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 09/07/18

2018-09-07T07:16:00.000-05:00

Another week gone by ALREADY? Wow!

Short week due to the holiday, but busy, busy.

How was yours?

TRAINING

Despite the potential rain, we had a really great training session at the The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup. We reviewed a lot of stuff and did some double stick disarming, which is ALWAYS fun material to work with.

We had a great birthday and holiday weekend and then Wednesday we went to Karate class and worked on Naihanchi Sandan.

I got a little work done (not as much as I'd like) on a new project I'll be sharing with you guys in the next few weeks or so.

Here's me working on a single-stick disarm. We were comparing the different types and how to "dirty up" your disarms.

BLOGGERY

This week's fresh post was so hard to get done, I ended up publishing it on Thursday vs. Wednesday!

Monday: Weapons in Real Life: Confronted with a Long Blunt Weapon
Tuesday: 4 Reasons Tournaments are Great (for Non-Competitive People)
Wednesday: THAT GUY: The Fanboy
Thursday: Martial Arts is a Piece of (Layer) Cake!

Come find Stick Chick Blog on social media! I'm sure you'll find us on ONE you like... check us out on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter!

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

If you know the creator of this, let me know so I can credit them. Of all the things I post on Facebook, THIS ONE was one of the most popular.

Y'all are a bunch of weirdos. I love you.

Met a new friend of this blog, Louis Lim, who writes about his martial arts journey at his blog, Stick Fighting Sport. He wrote about how one of my posts here (this one) changed his thinking and the results of that change. Do bookmark Louis, as there's so few FMA bloggers out there who are active! Read How Double Stick Training Improved My Dexterity And Body Coordination

And finally, I missed this when it came out, and it had me laughing so hard. Diemon Dave is a genius, people. A freakin' genius.

There's TONS on The Stick Chick Blog on Facebook, including a series of videos I've run across lately that feature stick arts of the world (Thai, Maori, Bangladeshi, Haitian...). DO check those out, it's really fascinating.

LAST THOUGHTS:

We're supposed to get rain, rain, rain here in KC due to the remnants of TS Gordon making its way through. As we've been in a pretty serious drought, that's good news as long as flooding doesn't get crazy!

And NFL season starts this week. GO CHIEFS!

Get in lots of good training and have a fantastic weekend, everyone!

Martial Arts is a Piece of (Layer) Cake!

2018-09-06T10:21:00.000-05:00

In a martial arts discussion group I belong to, someone asked the question how do you teach complex, nuanced concepts to new people.

This got me to thinking, and when I get to thinking, stuff like this blog post happens.

So imagine, for a moment, that you're making a multi-layered cake. Kind of like this:

NOT a martial arts cake, as it will not put you in a painful armbar or punch you in the face.

To put the entire cake together like the one above, you have to start with a base layer, add a little icing, add another layer, add more icing, and so on, until you have the entire cake.

Thus it is in the martial arts.

Think of each cake layer as a technique.

Think of each icing layer as practice on that technique.

Then once you have all of the layers assembled, one on top of the other, well, there's your cake, which is the concept behind all those techniques.

So, let's take a concept in my style, alternating hands.

I first learned it in a sinawali pattern, Double Sinawali. You guys probably know it as "Heaven" or "Heaven and Earth". It's this, as taught and demonstrated by Brian Johns at Bamboo Spirit Martial Arts:

If you do FMA of any kind, you probably know this pattern.

I did NOT learn it as "This is a demonstration of the alternating hands concept, where you chain together moves where you can do quick strikes in succession.". I learned it as "Do this drill this way", just as Brian shows above. And I practiced and practiced and practiced.

Next, I learned Block Check Counter, a pretty fundamental drill in what we do.

Here's Bruce Chiu of Arnis International demonstrating that drill:

Do you see the relationships between Double Sinawali and Block Check Counter already? That's right - it's the alternating hands. I didn't KNOW that at the time, mind you. My attention was on the drill as it was taught to me, not the principle behind it.

So I learned it, and I practiced and practiced and practiced.

Over time, I learned a lot more drills and techniques that used the same idea - alternating hands, often in patterns of three.

You know some of them, too, if you play Arnis. Do you play hubad-lubad? Guess what - alternating hands. Do you do Brush-Grab-Strike aka trapping hands? There it is again.

Sometimes each variant was taught with slightly different timing than what you see in the videos above (such as the first two strikes being quick, and the third a little longer behind the first two), but it was still alternating hands.

Over time - years, mind you - it dawned on me.

I was not learning a bunch of techniques. I was learning a CONCEPT.

Looking back now, it's obvious, but I can assure you, it was NOT obvious to me at the time.

Heck, I only made the connection between Block Check Counter and trapping hands being the same thing after I saw the founder of Modern Arnis, Remy Presas, teach it in a old seminar video. But watching him teach the material, I finally got it, and all the pieces fell in place.

That is 100% a true story.

Hey, I'm not always the brightest bulb on the tree, soooooo...

Muh brain hurts.

Since I cross train in other arts, I also now see it pop up all over the place. The alternating hands concept is NOT unique to what we do. I bet, if you think about it, you'll find alternating hands in what YOU do, too.

One hint: I used the term "alternating hands" but it might be something OTHER than hands.

What concepts do YOU have in your style that you learned layer by layer, only to find out it was an idea or concept way bigger than what you thought it was? Did you spot that concept in other martial arts activities, like drills, forms, even other styles? Let us know in the comments!

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 08/31/18

2018-08-31T07:34:00.000-05:00

Wait, it's the end of AUGUST already? Wow!

Even though I spent a couple of days fighting off a nasty illness of some sort, my week overall was pretty cool.

How was yours?

TRAINING

We spent a really nice Saturday morning at the The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup working on reviewing policing techniques, x-pattern sinawali, and we wrapped it up with our defensive responses. Good day of training!

Monday I woke up with some sort of illness and I spent Monday AND Tuesday fighting it off. No fun, kids.

But I got better by Wednesday, so FINALLY I could re-join karate class and get a lot of bo work in, which is always fun.

Thursday, thanks to a friend, we were able to attend the final preseason game of the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a fantastic night and we won! Yay! It doesn't count, but still, yay! It was Younger Daughter's first trip to Arrowhead and she had a blast!

X-Pattern Sinawali variant.

BLOGGERY

Weird week. Two fresh posts but no #tbt on Thursday (I was swamped that day, y'all).

Monday: Return of the Martial Arts Marketing Monster
Tuesday: GUEST POST: How Martial Arts Can Help In Addiction Recovery
Wednesday: Seven Secrets of the Martial Arts REVEALED!

Absolutely, you CAN find Stick Chick Blog on most social media platforms. Check us out on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter!

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

I can't resist a good Chuck Norris joke.

I've been getting into stick arts of the world lately, and it's fascinating how often they're found in a mixture of dance, ritual, religious significance, and stick fighting. Here's a cool one from Trinidad (Kalinda/Calinda). I'd love to know the rules for this...

Well, this is... a thing. What do you guys think about it?

If you haven't liked The Stick Chick Blog on Facebook you are SO missing out! So if you do Facebook, get on over there!

LAST THOUGHTS:

It's a holiday weekend here in the US, and it's also Younger Daughter's birthday. So there will be lots of training and baking and whatnot going on in the Chickie household.

Be good, train hard, and have fun!

GUEST POST: How Martial Arts Can Help In Addiction Recovery

2018-08-29T07:38:00.000-05:00

People who are beginning the recovery process often find themselves with a plethora of options for recreational sports, however, few people consider the martial arts. This post highlights the benefits of martial arts and how they can help individuals succeed throughout their addiction recovery.

Martial arts have been around since the earliest forms of civilization. Often coming from Mesopotamian and East Asian origins, they can be traced back to ancient forms of illustration of people bandaging their fists to engage in close combat boxing. The Tang Dynasty of China introduced the use of weapons for different forms of martial arts. From these different techniques emerged other popular East Asian martial arts concepts such as Shaolin of China, sumo of Japan, and Taekkyon of Korea.

Throughout its history, the martial arts have been popular as a sport and recreation. It is often offered in some of the best luxury alcohol rehab centers as therapy—physical, mental, and spiritual.

How do rehabilitation centers use martial arts for recovery?

The goal of the martial arts is to "master the mind" so that the body can follow and replace harmful thought patterns and behaviors with healthy ones. That also applies to recovery from substance abuse.

Many holistic rehab centers provide a variety of programs to meet the needs and the interests of their patients. Comprehensive substance abuse treatments at high-quality rehab centers address mental health, nutrition, counseling, medical health, educational services, and physical fitness, including the martial arts.

The benefits of martial arts

Just like any physical activity, martial arts has many health benefits for those recovering from addiction. More than just a physical activity, it also trains the mind to develop new cognitive coping skills as well as teaching self-discipline. Here are some of the best benefits of the martial arts.

Martial arts help with physical fitness.

People who are recovering from addiction often have less-than-ideal bodily states. They may have neglected nutrition and physical activity due to being preoccupied with their drug or alcohol use, leading to muscle atrophy, a weakened immune system, and loss of energy.

Martial arts can serve as a form of physical activity to help those in recovery gain back their strength. When paired with a nutritious diet, martial arts can improve cardiovascular endurance and muscular strength.

One of the best martial arts for physical fitness is Muay Thai, which is known to incorporate both upper and lower body strength training along with cardio.

Martial arts aid in weight loss.

Obesity is a common co-condition for those with addictions. Alcoholics are prone to weight gain since the overconsumption of alcohol leads to excess energy intake. A single 12-ounce serving of regular beer contains about 155 calories, which can add up over an evening's drinking. Alcohol is considered a source of "empty calories" with no nutritional value that can leave a person feeling hungry even after several drinks.

Martial arts can help build confidence.

The great thing about martial arts is that it improves an individual's muscles, overall fitness, and self-confidence.

A person going through recovery will have moments of self-doubt, a loss of interest in daily activities, and a lack of purpose.

Martial arts is a skill that one can build on over time, providing a sense of accomplishment. It may become a passion. Actor Robert Downey Jr. credits kung fu martial arts training for helping him in recovery.

Martial arts can help in socialization.

People in recovery have many barriers to socialization They can find it difficult to initiate conversations in regular settings such as parks, malls, or even the workplace. Martial arts can help because it is a social sport

It takes two to tango, but it also takes two to box. A beginner needs at least one partner, a teacher or fellow student. Even when the martial arts are taught in large groups, usually each individual is matched with a partner with whom to practice.

Attending a martial arts class provides opportunities to socialize with others in a fun, healthy, and engaging way. It is an opportunity to meet others from different walks of life who share the same interests.

Martial arts can improve discipline.

Like any other physical activity, patients who join in martial arts sessions can enjoy the benefits of exercising the body, socializing with others, and building self-confidence. What sets it apart from other forms of physical activity is its high emphasis on discipline.

People who are undergoing addiction recovery may often report a loss of control over their cravings, during and after withdrawal. Discipline is central to the martial arts and is its major therapeutic benefit to those in recovery. The martial arts student learns to accept the discomfort, such as may happen during training sessions or recovery, as necessary to grow in strength and develop self-control.

Discipline ignores excuses, laziness, discomfort, and anxiety. Discipline drives a person towards a higher goal. Discipline exposes the rotten core of substance abuse. Although it may look attractive from the outside, it is poisonous.

The principles of martial arts also focuses on self-control. Self-control means learning to win the battle with the right strategy. Learning to endure every punch, every sweat, and every fall will teach the person not to give in too easily to the enemy. When applied to the recovery process, it can be similarly thought of as exercising the mind to resist the temptation to give in to drugs or alcohol.

The important thing is to do whatever it takes to stay sober during and after recovery. Exercise can help. The martial arts can have particular benefits.

About the Author
Charles Watson is a freelance health and addiction writer for Elite Rehab Placement. He can be reached directly on Twitter at the handle @charleswatson00.

Return of the Martial Arts Marketing Monster

2018-08-27T06:30:00.000-05:00

Way back in the day, I wrote The Monster Post of Martial Arts Marketing Tips and Tools, intended to help lots of martial arts folks out there with little to no experience in basic marketing principles do better. I wrote it in an effort to help all y'all out there with a few tips and tricks, but of course, it morphed into one of the longest posts I've ever written.

Lately, I've been looking at a LOT of martial arts schools sites and social media channels online. And here I am, years after I first wrote the Monster Marketing post, and I'm still seeing the same stuff over and over.

Y'all know me, I just can't let this stuff slide. Sooooo...

When it comes to basic marketing...

Guys, guys, guys, we can do better than this.

For our martial arts styles and systems to survive, we have to do better than this.

So here's what I'm seeing these days, and let me offer my advice, so you can pick up your game without killing yourself trying to do tons of work.

WEB SITE BASICS

Generally speaking, web sites seem to have improved big-time, and for that, I'm grateful. But here's some stuff I'm running across that makes me wonder how well these sites are working for some of you.

IT AIN'T ABOUT YOU: Please do not make yourself the front-and-center person, with a list of all of your ranks, accomplishments, Hall of Fame entries, tournaments won, and hobbies on your web site's front page. You can have a short bio on an "Instructors" page but that's it. I know it's crazy, but people outside of our community don't know or care about that stuff much.
CONTACT INFO: Have a contact name, phone number, and email address for people to contact you, EVEN IF you have a contact form. It's literally as easy as, "Contact Sensei Joe at (999) 555-5555 or email Sensei@joebobstkdpizzaemporium.com for more information" in a prominent place (preferably can be seen on EVERY page in the header).
LINKS AND VIDEO: If you have these at all, occasionally check them to make sure they are working. It's annoying to try to run a video on a site and it isn't functional, or clicking on links that go nowhere. Especially if it's a link to your own YouTube channel or Facebook page (I do not get all the dead links to Facebook pages that no longer exist, I really don't).
EVENTS: If you have an events page or ticker, make sure you keep this up to date, and remove expired events. If I click on your events page, I shouldn't seen Belt Testing for Fall 2016 near the top.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Post something - ANYTHING - in every active social media account once a week at a minimum. Show that your school is still active and doing stuff. You can post pictures of class, stuff from events, announcements, shout-outs to students for doing something good in class, community news for your area, and re-share stuff you find on other sites like martial arts jokes and memes. I promise you, if a potential student finds your school page on Facebook - and LOTS will - and they see you haven't posted in months or years, they're going to think your school is closed and look elsewhere.
If you don't want to use the social media channel any more, DELETE IT (or at least unpublish it if it's a Facebook page). Don't just leave it out there for potential students to run across. Again, it looks like your school is closed when you do that.
Don't post anything political in your channels. The ONLY exception I can think of is back when Washington State was proposing that martial arts schools pay a sales tax and the schools were urging people to mobilize against it. Then, it made sense. But that was an exception to the rule.

ADVERTISING SEMINARS AND EVENTS ONLINE

This is driving me nuts, so I'm going to do a big section on this here.

As you can imagine, I'm in a plethora of martial arts communities and pages on Facebook. And I see lots and lots of announcements of events (seminars and camps for the most part). I see some pretty nice looking seminar announcements - beautiful, even - but there's a problem.

Take this as a typical seminar announcement I run across on Facebook:

So what do you think might be wrong with this flyer?

Here's the problems I see:

Joe's Karate School... where? It says "Midwest Gathering" but the "Midwest" consists of at about 7 to 10 states. That's important to potential attendees. Additionally, lots of people who see this image may have zero idea where Joe's Karate School is even if they happen to be in the general vicinity, or if it's an even more generic name like "Pride Martial Arts" or "Excel Martial Arts" or some such, it could be in any number of cities in all those states. Always include the FULL address of the location in ads like this, especially if they are NOT associated to Facebook Events.
No email address. Give people more than one way to contact the event organizer.
Hard to read: black on blue text doesn't have a lot of contrast and it's hard to read it. This image also goes a little font crazy. It's perfectly fine to use simple black text on a white background, folks.
Did you spot the typo (spot fishing)? Make sure there are none, and that's especially important in the contact information (email and phone). You don't want potential seminar attendees accidentally calling the Psychic Hotline (or worse) with a phone number 1 digit off from yours.

So here's what I think is a good, all-purpose flyer, again, without a Facebook event (or even a Meetup or an Eventbrite event or what have you - it's just a digital flyer):

Here's why this one works:

Easy to read - lots of contrast and white space
Address, phone number and email for the seminar is on the flyer.
Date and TIMES are also clearly communicated here, as well as the cost. It's not strictly required, but I like to put the year in my dates, because these images can float around a long time on the internet.
This flyer answers the classic "Who, What, When, Where, Why and How" questions in one big shot.

This flyer is great to use digitally as well as distribute via .pdf OR print out as handouts or signs to put up at your local martial arts supply place. EVERYTHING someone needs to know is in one graphic.

Here's an alternate image you could use as well, but it MUST be attached to a Facebook event (or again, Meetup or Eventbrite or what have you).

This is where the subject and instructor of the seminar is front and center, and then you put ALL of the information needed (the stuff in the full flyer above) in the Facebook event: email address of the organizer, a phone number, date(s), times(s), location, and payment information. The additional bonus of making a Facebook event is that it allows people to private message the organizer to ask questions.

The "Who, What, When, Where, Why and How" is answered in the Facebook Event post instead of the image.

Oh, and if you don't know how to create a Facebook event, click HERE for instructions!

You'd be amazed how many seminar announcements I see that are missing some of this key information! The date is missing, or the contact information is missing, or the cost is missing, and all of these are really important for a person to consider if they can attend or not.

Also, one more thing - if you're posting an event announcement via your personal page on Facebook, be sure to make that post PUBLIC. People who aren't your friends won't be able to see it.

This post got CRAZY long, didn't it? Well, I had a lot to say on this, and I'm really hoping that you can take what I say here, and in the original Monster Marketing post, and put it to good use.

What drives you crazy about martial arts marketing and advertising you find online? Got a question, or disagree with something I said here? Let me know in the comments?

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 08/24/18

2018-08-24T06:30:00.000-05:00

It's you again, Friday? Already?

Weird week. Projects kept me from training much, but for very good reasons.

How was your week?

TRAINING

I'm hip-deep in a work project and due to that, I've had to spend almost every waking hour working on that project. As a result, it's been very difficult for me to cut loose some training time this week.

Saturday we did train as usual at The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup, but that's all I did this week, as I spent most of my time working hard on this project I have been building for the last, oh, month and half or so. I hated missing the Sunday meetup in Overland Park, and Karate on Monday and Wednesday.

I hopefully will clear some hurdles so I can get back training because I miss it SO MUCH. Argh.

BLOGGERY

Blog posts I wrote and shared via social media this week:

Monday: 3 Annoying Realities of Being a Martial Artist
Tuesday: 4 Annoying Realities of Being a Weapons Based Martial Artist
Wednesday: Seven Secrets of the Martial Arts REVEALED!

Thursday: 6 Annoying Things About Being a Female Martial Artist - 1 and 6 Annoying Things About Being a Female Martial Artist - 2

Come find the Stick Chick Blog on most social media platforms. I'm on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter!

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

Awww, man, please, don't do that to that sword. PLEASE.

I see your katana sword girl, and I raise you three Arnisadors:

I think I speak for all of us when I say WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL, US CENTER FOR SAFE SPORT? How is this happening? Athletes outraged as banned taekwondo coach reinstated

Lots of goodness over on the Facebook page, so if you join us there, you'll get to see all the cool stuff first!

LAST THOUGHTS:

We're adjusting to Older Daughter being away at school and Younger Daughter's new schedule okay. I'm planning on actually, y'know, DOING MARTIAL ARTS this weekend, and hopefully I can get back on track. Sheesh

Train safe, train hard, have fun, everyone.

Seven Secrets of the Martial Arts REVEALED!

2018-08-22T08:26:00.000-05:00

Okay, I'm sure that somebody is gonna send a squad of ninja assassins after me for writing this post.

But your friend the Stick Chick is going to take the risk, because I'm all about the truth.

THE. TRUTH.

Here's seven secrets of the martial arts - REVEALED!

BLACK BELT REALLY DOES MAKE YOU AN UNDEFEATABLE BADASS

Yeah, yeah, we talk a good game about how black belt is just a representation of having mastered the basics in a martial arts style. Sure, we'll deny that having a black belt in a martial art style doesn't make you special.

The truth is, earning your black belt is literally the highest achievement of most of our lives. Earning it requires having to defeat 50 men in an underground kumite tournament, or defeating 17 professional UFC fighters in grappling, or killing at least seven men if you are learning weapons (in the UK, it's really tough as you have to do it with nothing but a rolled-up copy of the Radio Times).

A real Black Belt can't be defeated in a street fight, no matter how many people jump them in a dark, bad alley behind a dive bar. A real Black Belt can manipulate time and space around them (like Doctor Strange but WAY cooler) and can kill you by shooting a rubber band at a pressure point.

YES, THERE IS A BEST STYLE TO LEARN FOR THE STREET

But why would we tell YOU so you can learn it? We keep that stuff super-secret so we're the only effective street fighters, duh.

WHO WOULD WIN IN A FIGHT - BRUCE LEE OR CHUCK NORRIS?

Here, I'll let you figure out that one for yourself. Only one of those guys is alive, and I'm pretty damn sure that even though he's getting up there in age, Chuck Norris would win vs. Bruce Lee's corpse.

Unless we're talking Zombie Bruce Lee, then... well... we're all doomed, like all the people living in big cities when Super Heroes fight Super Villains in the climax scene of big-time superhero films.

The face of the Apocalypse

YES, I'LL BE HAPPY TO SHOW YOU A MOVE

There you go. What, you didn't see it?

I'll do it again.

Ninnnnnjaaaaaaah!

DO WE HAVE TO REGISTER OUR HANDS AS DEADLY WEAPONS?

Of course. Here's where you can do that.

ARE MARTIAL ARTISTS REALLY SUPER DANGEROUS?

I just said we have to register our hands as deadly weapons, so what do you think? I spend most of my days wandering around, looking for random people on the street to challenge just for fun. Of course, these are folks out walking a dog or pushing a stroller, or old ladies doing yard work, or middle-aged accountant-types washing a car in their driveways.

Hey, I live in the suburbs, guys. These are my streets.

I've won at least 53% of those fights, sooooo...

WHAT IS THE BEST MARTIAL ARTS WEAPON TO LEARN FOR SELF DEFENSE?

Nunchucks, without a doubt. They're incredibly practical and deadly and you can sneak them in anywhere you like, if you're creative.

You really should get yourself some nunchucks and just start copying Bruce Lee (not Zombie Bruce Lee, who doesn't need nunchucks, obviously) by moving them around really, really fast (they don't work otherwise), preferably in a space where there's a ceiling fan or many breakable items (especially collectible heirlooms like little porcelain children or animals).

You totally won't hit yourself in the fingers, the head, or the groin. It never actually happens, all those videos online are staged.

And no, you don't need a teacher, like you don't really need a teacher for most martial arts weapons. You can just do what they do in movies, because that's totally realistic and is SUPER COOL.

What other secrets of the martial arts need to be revealed? Fellow badasses, chime in!

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 08/17/18

2018-08-17T08:00:00.000-05:00

Well, hello, Friday!

I had an awesome week! Hope yours was as good as mine!

TRAINING

My weekend ended up being very different than I'd planned, as I was surprised by my sister coming to visit from Detroit and my mom driving in from St. Louis. More on that in a moment.

Saturday's session of The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup was so fun. We finished off the policing techniques and then we did some of my favorite material, the Dos Manos blocking drill. I'm ALWAYS up for Dos Manos as it's one of the most practical things we do.

So, since my family from out of town surprised me for my birthday - which was AWESOME - I didn't do any more training that weekend other than the Meetup.

Unless, of course, you count having a surprise party for me at Blade & Timber West Bottoms as "training" (I could make a case). Friends surprised me there, too, and I spent the evening throwing axes. You KNOW how fun I thought that was (if you don't, the answer is HELLA INCREDIBLY AWESOMELY FUN).

I did okay. See?

One of several of my bullseyes of the night

When I cut a cake, I CUT A CAKE.

Monday and Wednesday we went to karate and I started learning my first bo form. It's cool and while it's not super complicated, there are preferences that are NOT the same way I did bo at AKATO, so I'm working on overriding habits built up over three years there.

BLOGGERY

Blog posts I wrote and shared via social media this week:

Monday: Sticks for Kids: Observations on Teaching Kids Arnis
Tuesday: Filipino Martial Arts - Why We Don't Make the List
Wednesday: The Big Secret About Choosing a Martial Art Style

Thursday: A Creature of Habit

Yep, you can find the blog on most social media platforms. I'm on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter!

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

Never fails.

I am SO TORN about this video. TORN. On the one hand, it's nunchaku tricking. On the other hand, it's Master Ken.

And finally...

Image found HERE.

There's more to be found on the Facebook page, so if you join us there, you'll get to see all the cool stuff first!

LAST THOUGHTS:

Older Daughter heads off to Wichita State today to begin her Freshman year of college.

Younger Daughter started 3rd grade. This video is from our school district and was all over our news this morning. It's pretty cool, but our school is NOT featured as it's not new or just completed renovations.

You guys be good.

The Big Secret About Choosing a Martial Art Style

2018-08-15T08:16:00.001-05:00

"Which martial arts style is the best?"

"Which style is better - Style A or Style B?"

"Which style should I study for my age/height/weight/gender/fitness level?"

"Which style is best for kids?"

Every martial artist reading this has either been asked these questions personally, or they've run across it in martial arts online forums and discussion groups. This might be THE most common question asked by people considering martial arts training for themselves or someone they love.

Every martial artist has their own opinions about how to answer this question.

It's Arnis, of course.

Once we eliminate the silly stuff like Yellow Bamboo and super secret ninjer societies skulking around in public parks and whatnot, the possible answers come from we'd all consider relatively "legit" styles.

Y'know, basically different versions of Taekwondo, Karate, Judo, Muay Thay, Jiu-Jitsu, Aikido and Aikijitsu, weapons-based styles like Historical European Martial Arts and Arnis/Kali/Escrima and Japanese swordsmanship and fencing and such, Chinese martial arts like Tai Chi and Kung Fu, Kenpo or Kempo, and so on.

Many of us have some very strong opinions about style. Whether it's traditional or modern, whether it's ground-heavy or not, whether it's combative or sport, weapons or no... some of us believe that there are absolutely "right" styles, and "wrong" styles, and will advise newbies accordingly.

But here's the thing. Style isn't the most important consideration for beginners and newbies. In fact, it doesn't really matter much at that stage of the game.

Yep, I'mma say it again, loud and clear:

What matters more than style, for a BEGINNER, is this:

Location and convenience of training schedule. If it's difficult to get there you'll end up quitting really quickly, so finding a time/place that is EASY for you to attend is the best choice.
The school/teacher's teaching method. Is it comfortable for you, do you enjoy how they teach, is it something that works for you? Do you like the "vibe" in the room? There ARE different approaches, guys, and not all are regimented and hierarchical.
What's available near you. I do not recommend that newbies try distance learning for styles that just aren't available in their area (as someone who's move around a LOT I know this is a very real problem - I've struggled with it myself). Sometimes you have to settle for something else when what you want to study isn't in your area.
The cost. Can you afford this? Cheap isn't always the best option (but sometimes there's some really good schools/teachers you can find teaching inexpensively or even free), but you can't ignore the expense as irrelevant.
Why are you training? Is it for health, self defense, personal growth, personal challenge, etc.? Be clear on this and choose the school that is delivering what you're seeking in the first place. If you are not a competitive person, you might want to avoid that gym that has a bunch of trophies and plaques in the window, y'know?

NONE of this is dependent upon which style you end up studying.

I am of the firm opinion that ANY martial arts training, for a beginner, is not a waste of time. It's hard for beginners to know what they really want out of the martial arts, so the bigger question is just TRAIN/NO TRAIN.

And I think you should train, even if it's at Joe Blow's Taekwondo and Pizza Party Palace to start.

Because here's the secret most people don't mention.

You can change styles once you learn more and get a better feel for what you really want.

I, myself, did that exact thing.

I started in a variant of Taekwondo and shortly after I began training I was introduced to Modern Arnis. After a couple of moves cross-country, I settled down with my teacher in Presas Arnis and I did NOT pick up TKD again. But not before I actually picked up a blue belt in two different variants of taekwondo.

Once I found Presas Arnis, I realized that I didn't want to do Taekwondo any more. In fact, my primary interest in training ended up being in weapons in general, with Presas Arnis as my base. I had NO IDEA when I first started that would be the case.

Not that I think taekwondo is bad! I certainly don't think that at all, as Older Daughter has a black belt in it, and I have many, many friends in that style, and heck, my teacher in Presas Arnis teaches it himself!

It just isn't for me, personally.

That time I spent in taekwondo was actually quite useful as I transitioned to full-time Presas Arnis. TKD still influences me to this day, eight years after I took my last formal class in the style. It trained my mind, it gave me a foundation to understand other stuff I've studied since, and it showed me some principles that are absolutely applicable in Arnis.

So if you start off at Joe's, but then learn that hey, maybe you'd like to learn this aggressive hugging thing they're doing over at the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu place across town, that time at Joe's is still useful. You trained your brain to start thinking like a martial artist at Joe's and that's a good thing.

If you're a beginner, don't let the dizzying array of martial arts styles in the world bog you down. If you follow my advice above, you'll get started, and THAT'S more important by a mile.

We won't even get into different variants of the same base style.

Then later, you can make other choices in which style(s) you're interested in if you like, and you'll be coming from your own educated viewpoint, rather than depending on the opinions of a bunch of strangers or people who aren't you to guide you.

Don't sweat it. Just get on a mat and start training, and don't let style choice hold you back.

Martial artists, what advice do you have regarding style for newbies? Did you start in one style and transition to another? Let us know what you think!

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 08/10/18

2018-08-10T10:30:00.001-05:00

Friday, Friday, Friday!

Great week this week - how was YOUR week?

TRAINING

Saturday we had some big fun at The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup. We worked on policing techniques from Kombatan.

Later that day, we drove out to our friends from Kapatiran Mandirigma down in Spring Hill, KS. They're from the Kombatan side of my martial arts family, and they showed us drills they do from their "Freestyle" drill. We don't do things exactly the same, but it's close enough that Mr. Chick and I were able to keep up and not completely embarrass ourselves (or at least, our KM friends were nice enough not say so if we did!). Spring Hill is a haul for us but we'd like to make it down there every once in a while!

Sunday I went to the Kansas City Chiefs training camp. If you martial arts guys are my tribe, Chiefs fans are my OTHER tribe. It was a blast!

Monday we went to karate class and I got in a whole lot of work with the nunchaku. I was given fine-tuning to the form and while I certainly am a long way from perfecting it, I know it well enough now to work on all the little details.

Tuesday was election day here in my area, and I didn't get to vote because somehow the DMV screwed my registration up (Mr. Chick and Older Daughter were able to vote just fine)! Arrgh!

Wednesday I would have trained, but it was my pre-birthday dinner from one of my favorite restaurants in Kansas City - Stroud's. OM NOM NOM NOM.

Thursday I celebrated my 50th birthday by attending a Kansas City Chiefs preseason game. We tailgated all afternoon and it was Older Daughter's first NFL game. We had SO MUCH FUN!

Me with the statue of Lamar Hunt, founder of the Kansas City Chiefs and chief architect of the
American Football League (he was also the guy who named the NFL championship game the Super Bowl).
He was also instrumental in the creation of Major League Soccer in the US.

BLOGGERY

Blog posts I wrote and shared via social media this week:

Monday: We Are Poor Judges (Of Ourselves)
Tuesday: To the Nth Degree
Wednesday: The Big Five-Oh

Thursday: An Unexpected Benefit of the Martial Arts

You can find and follow or like or whatever on MANY social media platforms! I'm on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter?

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

You empty hand people can take things a teeny bit too far...

Some great content from friends of this blog this week:

Kai Morgan On martial artists obsessed with being “Sensei”
Sensei Ando:

Brian Johns:

Joelle White: Judging at Nationals
Andrea Harkins: Kick Your Doubt to Pieces

We were some busy bees this week, huh?

There's SO MUCH MORE on the Facebook page. If you're on Facebook, please do like and share it with your friends!

LAST THOUGHTS:

As far as I'm concerned, when you hit the 50th, you can celebrate for days on end. So I plan to celebrate with ARNIS on Saturday morning at our meetup, some kobudo practice and probably a nap or five.

Be good, people!

The Big Five-Oh

2018-08-08T07:50:00.005-05:00

I turn fifty years old tomorrow, on Thursday.

That's right, I've inhabited this earth for half a century, fifty turns around the sun.

I started training about ten years ago just before I turned 40, because I was in the middle of a mid-life crisis, and if I didn't do something quick, aging was gonna suck, and suck hard.

Of course, I don't know what the consequences might have been if I hadn't started the martial arts. It's possible I'd have found some other way to try to keep my body moving and my mind busy and engaged, I guess.

But surely it wouldn't be as so darn fun as being a martial artist is.

It's hard to list all of the ways the martial arts has made my life better over the last ten years. It's not just the personal benefits of mental, emotional, and physical health - although those are certainly important and not to be underestimated.

It's enriched my family, and as a whole, given us something to bond over other than just the normal family stuff. It's given me close friends that I value so very much. It's given me a sense of belonging and purpose, of being part of a big tribe of weirdos that I fit in with.

Hey, training in the martial arts spurred me to write this blog, and via this blog, I've met a lot of really super-awesome people from all over the world, both online and in real life.

Back in my youth, the age of 50 was such a far-away and arcane thing, something that I didn't believe in my heart would happen to me.

Y'know, kind of like the black belt rank is to orange belts.

Of course now 50 doesn't seem that old. In fact, in some ways, I still feel like I'm a newbie at life itself.

Just like I felt after I promoted to 1st Black a few years ago.

I'm always learning new stuff, not just in the martial arts but in other stuff I'm interested in doing, personally and professionally. I don't see myself as being near "retirement age" because I don't intend to retire, really. I'd rather be doing stuff that keeps me engaged and busy and keeps me connected with other people in my community.

In the martial arts, I still have a LONG way to go to get good in Arnis, much less other styles I study. And I still have to carve out the time to add a ground game into my skillset, which is a major goal I plan to address... eventually.

So, to close out this post, I'm posting this video (link in the comment on the image below) on my personal profile tomorrow, but you guys get to enjoy it a day early. Tomorrow I plan to eat favorite foods and go to a Kansas City Chiefs pre-season football game, so you know it's gonna be a great day for the Chick.

Watch the skit HERE.

I hope YOUR 50th is as great as mine!

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 08/03/18

2018-08-03T07:59:00.000-05:00

Friday already? Wow!

I got in a little bit of good martial arts work this week. How about you?

TRAINING

Saturday we played some with the staff and walking cane as well as sticks at the The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup. We played sumbrada - aka the "6 count drill" or "3-8-12" with the bo and cane, which is always really fun.

Sunday I stayed home and did chores I needed to do that had been backing up before Older Daughter and I hit the road for a short road trip.

Monday and Tuesday I saw a WHOLE LOT of Kansas as I took Older Daughter to orientation at Wichita State University. WSU is a pretty fantastic campus, I have to say. The dorm she'll live in is nicer than anywhere I've personally lived. She made some new friends, and we got our ducks in a row for her to move down there for the school year in just a few weeks. You may not realize this but WSU has an... interesting... mascot. Google WuShock.

Wednesday I got to karate class and we worked on Naihanchi Shodan, Naihanchi Nidan, and I started learning Naihanchi Sandan. We were also introduced to the suburito (a heavy wooden training sword) and worked with it a while (and my arms are sore... again...). This is what the suburito we were working with looks like (there's lots of different kinds):

Image found HERE, where you can buy one of these bad boys.

Thus begins my very, very early introduction to Japanese sword.

BLOGGERY

Blog posts I wrote and shared via social media this week:

Monday: Nuttin'. I was somewhere in Kansas at the time.
Tuesday: 3 Tips For Parents to Choose a Martial Art
Wednesday: THAT GUY: The Dandy

Thursday: Real Life Fights: The "Shovel Girl" Fight - Lessons Learned

You can find the Stick Chick Blog on most social media platforms! I'm on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter?

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

The truth. This is the real consequence of training, y'all. AND aging. Harrumph.

Yet more cool stuff from Coleman Fink again this week. He is IN this video. Wow!

When I grow up, I wanna be Ninja Nan.

Finally, where was this advice 18 years ago, huh?

I got lots more martial artsy stuff over on the Facebook page. If you're on Facebook, please do like and share it with your friends!

LAST THOUGHTS:

"Normal" weekend planned, with The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup. Mr. Chick and I also plan to visit Kombatan friends down in Spring Hill, KS on Saturday, so yay!

Sunday... I'm going to Chiefs Training Camp. YAY!

Have a fun weekend, everyone!

THAT GUY: The Dandy

2018-08-01T08:38:00.000-05:00

It's time to work takedowns, and you and your partner get ready to begin.

You realize your partner looks like someone who just competed in the Miss America contest. Full makeup, lots of hair product, perfectly manicured and painted nails. There's also a lot of jewelry - rings, earrings, necklace(s), ring(s), and maybe even an anklet.

Like this, but wearing gi.

So you get to work on the technique, but you get makeup smeared on your uniform, you get a cut from a nail, and you get annoyed looks whenever the hair gets messed up. Oh, and your partner is also wearing enough perfume/body spray to supply the entire state of New Jersey with scents for a year, and you look forward to getting a nice lungful of fresh, perfume-free air.

You've been paired with THAT GUY: the Dandy.

Note that I was careful not to assign gender in the example above, because the Dandy can be any gender, just like all of the other THAT GUYs featured here. I would add, outside of class, I think it's fine to be the Dandy, even if it's not my personal cup of tea. Hey, whatever makes you happy is good by me.

But on the mat... yeah, the Dandy is NO FUN to work with.

The Dandy gets annoyed when they get too sweaty. The Dandy gets distracted checking themselves out in the mirror in class (partly to admire themselves, partly to check the state of their hair/makeup/jewelry). If it isn't makeup, the Dandy will ruin your gi with bronzer smears.

The Dandy practically jangles as they move around because of all the jewelry. Which is really bad if the Dandy is studying ninjutsu. Just sayin'.

Looking good while training is more important to The Dandy than being good AT training.

Let me admit that I, personally, am a jewelry nut. I LOVE jewelry, and off the mat I wear lots of jewelry most of the time (especially rings). But ON the mat, I take off anything that might hurt my partner or get me in trouble, like rings and earrings.

I learned that lesson the hard way when I got hit in the hand with a stick, and had to cut off my wedding ring as my fingers swelled. Now I wear a silicone wedding ring.

The Dandy's nails in particular can be a huge problem. Nail cuts are always a risk even when we keep them trimmed but MAN, it's like working with someone with 20 little knives on their hands and feet. You're lucky if you don't get cut at least once or twice every time you work with the Dandy.

The Dandy leaves a scent cloud as they move around the room, so you can trace their path through the dojo. You feel like you need a gas mask when you work closely with them and your eyes water from the cloud of chemicals.

If you spend any time the gym, you know exactly who I'm talking about, because yes, the Dandy will be the one admiring themselves as they work out.

From this really funny commercial by Planet Fitness

Do you have any stories of training with the Dandy? Are YOU the Dandy or have Dandy-like tendencies? Let us know in the comments!

To see all of the THAT GUY posts, click HERE.

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 07/27/18

2018-07-27T07:23:00.000-05:00

It's FRIDAY! Yay!

Struggles this week. Didn't get to train like I wanted to. The mind was willing, the body, not so much.

Hope yours was good!

TRAINING

Saturday was our (now) normal session of bangin' sticks at Happy Rock Park at the The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup. Lots of fun playing with some cool concepts, even if my right arm/shoulder is still hinky from the epic day of nunchaku training from the prior week. If you're in the KC area on a Saturday morning, come play with us! It's free and fun!

Sunday I joined the Overland Park Shindo Muso Ryu Meetup. I have to take it easy with my right shoulder healing, but I did get some work in, and a little Arnis after (working mostly with my left hand, which is, after all, something I'm always trying to get better with).

Monday I attended karate and worked on Naihanchi Shodan and Naihanchi Nidan, then worked just one specific portion of the nunchaku form I'm working on - a pretty tricky catch that puts the weapon in reverse grip in one hand. NOT EASY.

And then... the migraine swarm started, and I struggled with it for the rest of the week. Had a big one hit Wednesday just before karate class. Ocular migraine, vertigo, fuzzy brain, fatigue... everything except pain. In that state it would be a very, very bad idea for me to handle weapons.

So I took it easy. Nothing else for it.

So I didn't get as much work as I wanted this week. Sigh.

BLOGGERY

Blog posts I wrote and shared via social media this week:

Monday: The Gift of Fear
Tuesday: Three is a Magic Number
Wednesday: The Big P

Thursday: Why We Should Be Glad Rumblr Was a Hoax

Connect with the Stick Chick Blog on your favorite social media platform! I'm on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter?

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

Weaponize ALL THE THINGS.

It's not real. But damn, it still amuses me every time I run across it...

This list ISN'T EVEN COMPLETE, if you can believe it... 21 things women who train in martial arts are tired of hearing

This is SO COOL.

And finally... damn straight, it does.

As usual, other neat content, stories, and funny stuff can be found on the Facebook page. Join us!

LAST THOUGHTS:

Really hoping this migraine swarm disappears because I have stuff to do this weekend. Plus, Mr. Chick will be gone all weekend attending this:

I'd tell all y'all to be good, but I know lots of you on a personal level, and I know it's a fruitless endeavor.

Train hard, train smart, and have a great weekend!

The Big P

2018-07-25T08:16:00.000-05:00

We martial artists know that training teaches us so much more than just using punching, kicking, grappling, and weapons to great effect on "bad guys".

I'm talking about the values we incorporate into what we do.

Often, we're explicit about certain values, like taekwondo's tenets of courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self control, and indomitable spirit. We have them on our web sites, in our student handbooks, on the wall of our training spaces, and it's something we refer to and talk about a lot, explicitly.

We also communicate values via proverbs, such as "Slow is smooth, smooth is fast" or "fall down seven times, get up eight", or "a black belt is a white belt who never quit" and so forth.

Whether it's direct or it's indirect, every single one of us are absorbing these values as we train. We carry these values with us into other spheres of our lives - work, family, friends, faith, and other hobbies.

Lately, I've been learning and relearning a value that I think every one of you reading this can relate to. That value is PATIENCE.

Ah, patience, the Big P. It's kicking my butt.

I gotta quit letting Patience sneak up behind me like that, for one.

I've been studying new things with new teachers lately, and I admit, I'm dismayed that I'm not catching on faster.

I want to be good at it, RIGHT NOW.

Of course, I know that's not a reasonable expectation. If I were teaching me as a student, I'd tell me the exact same things my teachers are telling me. I'm doing fine, I'm making good progress, be patient.

My brain knows this. My body even knows this.

But my heart... my heart is yelling at me to STOP SUCKING AT THIS STUFF FASTER!

That's the theme of my life lately... being patient.

Frankly, I'm not the world's best when it comes to patience. I wanna do, NOW, and I really dislike having to wait. I'm the Veruca Salt of the martial arts world, I guess.

I'm not a bad egg! I'm not!

However, there is a way you can make the time you have to wait shorter.

The hack, as the kids say, to having to be patient is another big P: Practice.

It's not a matter of letting time pass. It's a matter of the repetitions and work you do to acquire the skill. So if you want to be good faster, you spend more time training and you'll get faster quicker. It really is that simple.

We like to say that earning a black belt in a given style takes so long - three years, five years, ten years, what have you. Unless your style requires a certain minimum time-in-rank (as many do), you CAN do it faster, legitimately. Those time frames assume a certain level of training, so many hours per week over the years.

Let me explain what I mean. Here's a hypothetical for you:

Let's say it takes 5 years to earn a black belt in a style. Let's assume 10 hours of training a week (in class and home practice) and 50 weeks in the year. That makes you a dedicated martial artist, by the way. So, this person would earn black belt rank with 2,500 training hours.

If a person trains 20 hours a week, a super-dedicated person who is going WAY above and beyond in training, that person can get that same amount of training in half the time, 2-1/2 years.

I bet the super-dedicated person who earns the black belt rank in 2-1/2 years is no better or worse, all things being equal, than the dedicated person who did it in five.

They both have the same amount of training time.

Thus, if I want to stop being annoyed by having to be patience, the real solution is to practice, not whine about it here on the blog or get mad at myself for not catching on faster.

Practice beats patience. And you can quote me on that one.

Do you struggle with patience? How much do you practice? Any advice for someone like me? Let us know in the comments!

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 07/20/18

2018-07-20T07:45:00.000-05:00

Friday I'm in love... with the martial arts!

Yeah, I'm a huge dork. What can I say?

This week rocked hard, and I hope your week was awesome, too!

TRAINING

Saturday was a heck of a day.

First off, we played empty hand drills at The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup. I mentioned I met another local FMA player in last week's round up. His name is Harley Weibling, and he came by to visit our meetup and he's a super-awesome guy. He hosts a class on Saturdays at Cave Spring Park at 10 am, so do check out his classes in the area, y'all. He knows his stuff!

After the Meetup, I spent about 4 functional hours or so of working on my new nunchaku form with my new teachers and friends at Zensekai Karate Kobudo Rengokai's Kansas seminar. There were folks there from Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas, Colorado and Florida (I feel like I'm missing a state so sorry if I have). Yes, it was incredibly fun, but it totally wrecked my right arm (esp. my wrist), but hey, that's what you get when you do repetitive motion for hours and you're pushing a half-century, right? No regrets on that - happy to have learned the form and now I have to perfect it.

Also, the head of the organization, Greg Lindquist (and our teacher) was promoted to Hanshi 10th Dan. Congratulations, sir!

Because I destroyed myself on Saturday, on Sunday I did NOT go to the Shindo Ryu Meetup over in Overland Park. Decided the wiser course is to rest and recover, so I did that instead.

Monday night we perfected our forms. Well, got in more practice, anyway, because I have a loooonnngg way to go. But still, having fun with it.

Wednesday I ended up going to bed at about 4 pm and slept so late I didn't go to Karate. Hey, sometimes, you just gotta rest, and so I did.

SUPER AWESOME WEEK y'all.

BLOGGERY

Blog posts I wrote and shared via social media this week:

Monday: In Defense of Combat Sports
Tuesday: The Blind Spot (With Weapons)
Wednesday: Getting Old Sucks

Thursday: Aging and the Martial Arts

You can't escape the Stick Chick Blog on social media, so why not connect with me on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter? Facebook is always hoppin' with good stuff so please do join us there.

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

If you aren't sure who that might be... it might be YOU.

Nice primer on kobudo weapons from Karate by Jesse:

Hey, yours truly is a contributor to the "Martial Arts Woman" so hey, pick up a copy and enjoy not just my perspective on our weird little hobby, but the perspectives of 24 other women! Buy on Amazon HERE.

Datu Tim Hartman competed in a tournament and won first place in the Masters division with this nice interpretation of our stick form into a katana.

Saw some nice blog posts this week you should check out:

Friend of this blog Andrea Harkins with The Martial Arts Sisterhood
New training buddy here in KC, Matt Danda, shared this with me: Martial Arts After Forty
John Titchen shared this post of his: Suit Up!

And finally... a wolf after my own heart:

I also ran across some... interesting... stories involving weapons of various kinds in some really weird situations, and those are on the Facebook page. Come check it out.

LAST THOUGHTS:

The weather changed this week and we're all feeling kinda sluggish in my house. I have the Kansas City Presas Arnis and the Overland Park Shindo Ryu Meetup, so that should get me moving again.

Also Older Daughter spent a week or so with family and she comes home on Saturday. I got a small taste of what it's going to be like with her going off to college next month.

Have a great weekend, everybody.

Getting Old Sucks

2018-07-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

Getting old sucks.

Yeah, sure, better than the alternative.

But still, it sucks.

The mind is willing, but the body says...

When I was young, and an athlete, I pushed myself pretty hard. I could do a lot of "work" for a long time (and needed to, because I am NOT a natural athlete). While there were consequences (I think by my count I sprained my ankle at least six times as a cheerleader and a track and field athlete), I do not remember feeling like I've been hit by a truck after a training session.

This was after hours of running up and down hills, of throwing 8 lb shotput and 2 lb discus, of being a part of human pyramids where I was one of the people at the base, with other girls standing on my hips and shoulders (both at the same time). None of this is lightweight stuff.

I did this almost daily with serious physical consequences.

Over the weekend, I spent a few hours not wearing shoes on a wood surface, flailing around objects that don't weigh much, and by the end, I'm walking funny and I have sharp pain in my joints. I had to cancel training planned for the next day because I didn't think I can manipulate a weapon without it flying out of my grasp and putting an eye out, much less walk all the way from my car to the training area (all of, oh, 50 yards) without needing to stop and rest a couple of times.

Physically, I'm wrecked.

This ain't fair, y'all.

I know, I know, who said life is fair, blah blah blah. Granted.

Still...

I came to training late in life, and I started because I wanted my old age to suck less (because if I continued my chain-smoking sedentary ways, it was gonna be AWFULSAUCE). So that's the kicker of all this.

If I didn't spent hours barefoot swinging objects (or doing forms empty hand, or banging sticks or whatever martial art thing I'm doing day to day), and paying for it with needing a day to recover from it sometimes, it would be WORSE.

I have plenty of friends in my age group that don't train or take regular exercise, that are basically me before I fell into martial arts. They have all the ache and pains I do, but they didn't have all the fun we have when we train when they acquired those aches and pains. And of course, they aren't experiencing the mental and emotional benefits of training either.

So yeah, it could be worse. Heck, my chronic conditions don't heap on an extra helping of pain like, say, rheumatoid arthritis does my friend Mike Mahaffey, or the pain many of you reading this have from old injuries or other conditions that make doing what we do difficult and painful.

But think of how bad it would be if we didn't train, right?

Right.

But still... getting old SUCKS!

Have you noticed extra pains or needing more recovery time from training hard as you've aged? What tips would you have for the older martial artist to prevent injury and pain? Let us know in the comments!

My Week in Stick Chicktivity - 07/13/18

2018-07-13T07:43:00.001-05:00

It's Friday the 13th! But it's your lucky day, because here's my roundup of my martial arts stuff for the week!

Fantastic training week this week, y'all. Hope yours was just as awesome.

TRAINING

Hey, we finally have someone we don't know in The Kansas City Presas Arnis Meetup! It was awesome meeting a new friend and training with him. I sure hope that's a sign of great things to come for the group...

Sunday I made it to the Overland Park Shindo Muso Ryu Meetup and got in some productive jo work. After class, I worked with the group for about 45 minutes - I taught them single sinawali. Another FMA player has joined the group and we've made friends, and I hope to see him more soon. Maybe we are sowing the seeds of a MAPA for the KC area? That'd be awesome if we can make that happen.

At our karate class on Monday, we continued working on Naihanchi Shodan, and Naihanchi Nidan. If you know me, you know forms aren't my forte, but I'm making progress, I think. On Wednesday, we started working with weapons for the first time. And guess which one I'm working on.

Go on, guess.

Give up?

AWWWW YISSSSSS! Yes, I am a SUPER HAPPY CAMPER right now, lemme tell ya.

Mr. Chick started bo, so at our home practice on Thursday he started teaching me that, too.

SUPER AWESOME WEEK y'all.

BLOGGERY

Here's all the jibber-jabber I shared from the blog this week:

Monday: One is the Loneliest Martial Arts Number
Tuesday: The Cult of Black Belt
Wednesday: Not Wrong, Just Different

Thursday: Stopping the Good Man

Looking for the Stick Chick Blog on social media? I totally got you covered on Google Plus, Facebook, MeWe, Tumblr, and Twitter! Come to the Facebook page in particular, as there's ALL SORTS of funny, challenging, and thought-provoking martial arts content there.

OTHER MARTIAL ARTSY GOODNESS

I didn't have a brother, but I do have a cousin who is a wrestler, and yep, he practiced on his sister, and my sister, and me....

Two posts this week on the important topic of sexual harassment and abuse in the martial arts. Cathy Chapaty writes When your sensei talks to you about sex, run, and Aesopian BJJ/FRC wrote Confronting the Problem of Sexual Harassment and Coercion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Both are really good and I highly recommend you read them and share them.

This video is making the rounds in martial arts circles and it's hilarious:

And finally...

LAST THOUGHTS:

Tomorrow we host our Presas Arnis Meetup, then we're spending the day at a day-long seminar by our Karate teacher. Very excited for this, as we'll get to meet a lot more folks in our organization. And we'll get to train lots of weapons.

Be good and train well!

Not Wrong, Just Different

2018-07-11T08:13:00.000-05:00

I was working with a few new training friends, showing them some basics from Presas Arnis.

Also in attendance - much to my relief because he was a huge help - is another person who's very well versed in the FMA's, just in a different lineage. "Lineage" in the Filipino Martial Arts is convoluted, complicated, and not as direct as it is in the Japanese, Korean, or Chinese martial arts, but for the sake of this post, we'll use that terminology. I am from one lineage, and he's from a different one.

To our friends, though, he and I do the exact same thing.

He was helping me get the group going, and he coached them to do slightly different footwork than what we teach initially. I hadn't seen that way before (but upon reflection it totally makes sense and I think it's a good idea) but in the moment, I was afraid of confusing the newbies and I was uncomfortable with just rolling with what he was saying.

It wasn't that his way is wrong. It's just different.

I regret now that in the moment, that I didn't adapt to his method, as it is actually a pretty good idea. I was still clinging to the way I was taught and the way I've been taught to teach it.

But we all do that, don't we? When presented with an innovation or a different point of view on something we believe we know well in the martial arts that doesn't come directly from our teacher(s), we resist the change by instinct.

Generally speaking, the martial arts world is pretty conservative. We prefer to do things as our teacher taught them, and changing things is a big deal.

Partly out of loyalty to that teacher, partly because some of the cultures our styles come from are pretty conservative and change-resistant, and partly because it's uncomfortable to change something you've been spending years working on a specific way.

And sometimes it's political. That is, my teacher/lineage is the real deal, and those other guys are posers or liars or misunderstanding the technique or whatever. Because if you do it different, you must be wrong, right?

I first heard the phrase "not wrong, different" from Datu Dieter Knüttel at a seminar of his I was attending. He was showing a specific method of doing something but he noted that others do it a different way and talked about why his organization chooses to do it the way Datu was showing it.

My teacher has always been good about sending the same message. You can do it differently, and here's why he chooses to do it this way. However, the succinct way Datu Dieter put it "Not wrong, just different" has always stuck with me since I heard him say it.

Not wrong, just different. There's more than one valid way to solve a problem, and each has upsides and downsides. Which one you go with depends on which way you think that the upsides greatly outweigh the downsides.

It's helped me develop an open mind, which is very helpful as I do cross train a lot, not only with different FMA styles, but completely different unrelated martial arts styles as well. I think I do a good job of "emptying the cup" as hard as I can when I'm in someone else's domain and trying to learn how they want me to do it.

As you can see, though, by the story I told at the beginning of this post, as open minded and as flexible as I am, I still feel uncomfortable when things are different. That's especially true when I am working with people who are closer to what I do and my teacher teaches.

I'm still skeptical of what the other guy is doing, trying to justify what I'm doing and why we do it OUR way. I still have to be bludgeoned over the head to see a good idea and recognize it as such in the moment.

I have to keep saying to myself, "Not wrong, just different" and understand what the reason is behind the difference, and see if it makes sense to me. I have to respect the difference, even if it isn't something I'd do myself.

I might find something that helps me (and my students) learn something I think is important, in a better way.

Do you agree or disagree with the idea that you can be different but not wrong? How do you "empty your cup"? How do you roll with it when presented with a different way? Let us know in the comments!