Many martial traditions, including ours, use martial forms (series of attacks and defences for solo or partnered practice) to help train martial precision, flow, and fitness. Having a form that you can practice without a training partner provides structure for improving and maintaining your martial ability when you don't have the option of training with…
These days, there is very little impetus to end up in a duel with sharp swords or even a true in-earnest fist fight on the street. In fact, I'm quite happy to live in a time and place where I do not need to defend my life on the regular. However, I am a teacher and…
Merriam-Webster defines “awareness" as: Knowing that something (such as a situation, condition, or problem) exists Feeling, experiencing, or noticing something (such as a sound, sensation, or emotion) Knowing and understanding a lot about what is happening in the world or around you Awareness is an essential part of martial performance and learning. It allows you…
Read More... from What Happened: Three Games to Help You Develop Fighting Awareness
In speaking generally about kinds of martial arts and how to compare Bartitsu to other more familiar systems, sometimes we have to clarify our terms and classifications. One way to think about combat practice is to consider where the philosophy that underpins its rules and methods fits on a spectrum. Abstraction vs. Pragmatism One spectrum…
Whenever I teach dance, or martial arts, body mechanics are a big part of the foundation that I try to build with my students. There are many similarities to the mechanics required in partner dancing to those required in swordplay. When you get into lifting and dipping your partner, the crossover starts to even more…
At our rank exams, we evaluate students by how they demonstrate certain techniques alone and against a partner, as well as their use in sparring. Many students are most nervous about the competitive aspect and not being able to plan exactly what will happen in the sparring component. However, I see more students get reduced…
Does the list of things to learn seem endless? It is. The more you think about the possible shows that require fight choreography and their potential needs, it can seem like an impossible task to be prepared for it all. One hand, two hands, look ma, no hands! When it comes down to it, you’ve…
This past week I wrote a post about posture and my journey to build it in myself. How we hold, carry, and move our bodies is essential to our practice as martial artists in two ways: Effective Martial Arts Requires Effective Mechanics The heart of martial arts is body mechanics. Every technique you can perform is…