Having some really cold weather here in Minnesota provided the opportunity to do some searching for more lessons to learn and bring to my students. I found this article “The Big Secret to A Successful Career” on LinkedIn and thought that it not only fit how to be successful in a career but in martial […]

This fits something that was mentioned during our 2014 cuts. Martial artists and athletes give 100% during their training. Every workout is just as tiring and draining as the last. They train so hard that it always “seems” there is no progress. Without the discipline of their art, they would miss the progress that they […]

I highly suggest reading this blog post. It applies to martial artists as well as the law enforcement personnel that prompted it. I am very grateful to have come across such a resource. Outside the box thinking and addressing “softness” by Kasey Keckeisen.

Even in the martial arts, we’ve heard this saying Perfect Practice Make Perfect and the article linked here comments on it. The start of the article discusses the 10,00-hour rule. This is something that has come up in classes recently. We had the realization that most students are actually in class training for about 100 […]

As I write this, the VH1 Behind the Music: Styx episode is on. The comment by Tommy Shaw about why we would leave the band struck me. The struggle within the band between playing Dennis DeYoung’s music and the direction Tommy Shaw wanted to put stress on the band. He commented that he had 1) […]

Sitting here watching “Miracle” for the first time. I know that its one that should have been seen before but I tend to shy away from movies about actual events. Anyway… During the exhibition game of Team USA vs Norway, Brooks hears the players talking about the women in the stands. The game ends in […]

I found this article and realized that I’ve been slipping, too. Will a Closed Mind Destroy Your Future? – Bruce Kasanoff The best example of the closed-minded aspect is now about 25 years ago. I had just started training in Seidokan Aikido while a buddy started in Danzan Ryu Jujitsu. We regularly got together socially […]

(Expanding on a LinkedIn article) When I came across this article, I was glad to see some people are changing the standards… How I Hire: I Look For Your Failures, and Your Character but where this comes into play is my own school. For the years that I’ve been teaching the martial arts, I’ve always […]

Teen Titans: Winner Takes All (episode 22) I got to watch this episode again while winding down for the evening. Yes, I’m still watching Saturday morning cartoons…on a Friday night. This was one of the episodes that struck as spot on in its presentation of competition. The desire to “win at all costs” is very […]

This past weekend was our semi-annual Haidong Gumdo seminar with USA Chief Master Marshall Parnell (Lotus Blossom School of Martial Arts). As usual, he presented quality technique and insightful lessons about personal development. During the training, the temperature rose high enough to cause the mercury vapor lights to go out – twice. Our school is […]

Randori – 乱取り I came across these Lucy Marcus articles – “When stopping is the best way to go: the 3 step personal off-site” and “C-Suite Suicide: It Needn’t Be Lonely” – which lead me to think, again, how martial arts is life. I had the great fortune to train in Seidokan Aikido with founder, […]

The more articles that I read about leadership, the more I keep hearing them repeat the core principles of the martial arts and a few deeper concepts. Even the big notables like Deepak Chopra speak about these principles and probably don’t realize it. They use different words to describe the characteristics and suggest that (academic) […]

An enjoyable article that made sense… The Best Talk I’ve Ever Slept Through After several tries, I couldn’t find anything “smart” to add. I enjoyed the points made in the article and the stories used to illustrate the points. In the end, the material still seemed to be mostly the martial arts principles in different […]

The following quote struck me as I read the article on LinkedIn — Ed McFarland offered, “Takers view life as a zero sum game, they keep score and concern themselves over who got what. Givers see life as anything but a zero sum game, they give and help, not because of any immediate gratification, but […]

This is a good article about being able to live life away from the company. http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20130815154057-7898280-stepping-away-so-others-can-step-up?trk=tod-home-art-medium_0 At the end, he asks what plans have been made for stepping away from your company. I’ve thought about that a few times. As a security supervisor, my goal beyond having a quality staff who could handle everything was […]

Last night’s sparring class brought up the topic of head contact and the consequences of it. No, I’m not talking about how bad it is nor about all the safety equipment to protect students. I’m not going to argue the necessity of safety equipment. The medical evidence about concussions puts light and science on that. […]

How much praise do you need? Are you willing to train without hearing compliments? Can you spend hours, even years, developing your technique and increasing you understanding? My old school training says: 1) teach technique 2) encourage development and continued training 3) explain application once understanding has started 4) encourage more training 5) teach more […]

Over the past few weeks, I’ve received calls from three collections companies looking for White Tiger Martial Arts. Not for anything about our school or programs, though. I took a couple calls to figure out that the calls were for a now defunct Taekwondo school in the Metro area. They had burst on the scene […]

It’s always great to spend time with students. A recent class reminded me of this. While a portion helped me recognize some connections in the material, another still brought out the short-sightedness that students can have. It started with a question about praising students for their work and developed into a discussion about why people […]

Partnerships are required to be successful in all areas of life. Building a Business Partnership That Lasts Have you ever thought of your martial arts training as a partnership? I have been trying to develop partnerships with my students and other teachers from the beginning of my training. Too much of our society is about […]