What was predominately a male activity has slowly been changing over the last few decades. You now can go into any training hall where martial arts are being taught and often find more women than men practising. Their approach and spirit is often different and the challenges they face can be considerable if there are …
It is said that in order to draw the silk from a silkworm’s cocoon, you need to do so in a constant smooth movement. If done fast or jerky or changing direction too much, the silk will break. If too slow, it will tangle. So it is with the practice of silk reeling in Tai …
On the island of Okinawa, there is a cultural sport called bullfighting. It is quite different from bullfighting in Spain. There, the bull takes on a man. It is very flamboyant, but it can also be very gruesome. In Okinawa, they pit one bull against another. Two bulls are lead into a ring and put …
Breathing is probably the single most important aspect of the martial arts. We can all learn. Earlier, I wrote about the time and the area where Tai Chi is generally believed to have been formalized, and thus recognized, as what we practise today. Yet, in doing so we cannot ignore the fact that it did …
“I have been many years training in the Way of Strategy, Ni Ten Ichi Ryu, and now I think I will explain it in writing for the first time. “It is now during the first 10 days of the tenth month in the twentieth year of Kanei (1645). I have climbed mountain Iwato of Higo, …
Chop wood, haul water … It was the very simple movement of mopping the floor that taught me the circular motion and energy needed to do a mid-level block. Like the famous scene in the original Karate Kid movie, I discovered the actions and intention of this movement through a non-martial-art practice. If my memory …
With no desire to rush, I chose a different route to Karate class. I saw a small fraction of martial arts being practiced in Whitehorse.
It is always enjoyable to write about an activity that is well-represented in the Yukon. However, to do some form of justice to Aikido and those who teach it, I will need to touch on the history of this amazing martial art and the founder of it before I explore what is offered here. Aikido …
I had fallen asleep while waiting for my test to begin. There were over 400 black belts at the week-long camp. Many had travelled thousands of miles from different countries to have the opportunity to attend. Over 15 instructors were brought in from around the world. We had just gone through a week of training …
Do you remember a little ad on the back of comic books? The legendary Charles Atlas had put together a promo about a skinny weakling having a big bully kick sand in his face in front of his girl. Off the skinny lad went and subscribed to the Charles Atlas training program, then came back …
I was 12 years old. I was facing a young girl, about my age, with a whole lot more experience in Judo than I had. However, I had the male ego in full swing and thought no way could this girl toss me. Moments later, I was flying through the air only to land on …
I was first introduced to Tai Chi Chuan by a karate instructor from Quebec. We had brought him to the Yukon to teach Karate to us and ended up spending half our time learn the long form of the Yang style. This has become fairly common with many of the Karate people I practised with. …
A few weeks ago, I was involved in a discussion about bread making. No, I do not mean those bread making machines you can buy at your local store, but bread made by hand. I remember as a child my mother and her sisters getting together to do the fall harvest. They would bake bread, …
PART 2 of 2 So, what does the life of a professional sumo wrestler look like? Sumo wrestling is highly organized and rules are strictly enforced through the stables that most belong to. Rules must be followed and each wrestler is granted privileges based on their rank within the organization. Ranking can be separated into …
I was sitting in the Vancouver airport a few years ago when, down the passageway, came the biggest men I had ever seen. Dressed in full traditional Kimonos of extraordinary colours, these men, with a large entourage, struck a very imposing scene. People stopped and stared, moved out of the way as they approached and …
There is an old story I read many years ago. I will do my best to retell it: A sword master was visited by an old friend in his village. They talked of the times they had lived through as they drank tea in the small room of his house. At one point, the talk …
Since Judo became an Olympic sport, it would be hard to find someone that has not heard of it. Judo is one of the most popular martial arts in the world today. What many people don’t realize is Judo is not an ancient martial art but came about through one man’s efforts and vision. Judo …
There is a wonderful little book called Moving Zen written by C.W. Nichols. It tells the story of his training and living in Japan. A few years ago, I met him and spent time talking about his book, his present activities and some of the challenges he faced in his training in another country. One …
If you are looking for a style to practise or you are already involved and the instructor tells you theirs is the best martial art, I recommend you run, not walk, from that person. Besides being a great defence, running will remove you from someone that does not know what they are talking about. You …
On a cold and snowy evening in the Yukon, people and children come together in a small gymnasium. Children surge into the building followed by the parents, expressing relief from the weather outside. The unique mystical twilight has been encroaching for the last half hour. When they leave it will be dark. Over the next …
Could you please teach my son some self-discipline? He seems to be hitting people at school and I need help dealing with this type of behaviour. My child is always talking back to me and can’t seem to stop getting into trouble at school. Can you help? My daughter has no self esteem and is …
Is That All There Is … To Kicking-Punching-Throwing? Read More »
What does the name “martial arts” bring to mind? For many, it is fighting and whatever form that takes. To others, it evokes oriental mysticism with people dressed in strange clothes doing strange things with their bodies. And, to many, their vision of it is based on movies which depict a lot of acrobatics and …
