In my very first post, Part I of this series, I covered a basic philosophy on how to avoid injury, and appropriately moderate your training regimen. Even though you can reduce the risk of injury, it still happens often enough to where approaching it in the same kind of balanced way really helps. Knowing what steps to take to a speedy recovery involves a minor amount of education and action to get the full benefit.

As usual, Sensei demanded that we go to our regular spot to eat: the local burger joint. Contrary to what many might imagine, sipping tea and eating a traditional Japanese meal after a hard day’s training was not Sensei’s forte. Sensei preferred a cheeseburger, fries, and a diet Coke. “A martial artist can have whatever he wants to eat – especially after training this hard and for this long. Reward yourself with a burger!” he liked to say. Internally, I chuckled and was happy to have something that satiating after a hard workout like we had just done. I could see that all the years he had spent in the USA had ever so slightly changed him, especially someone who was so intensely Japanese in his ways as a martial artist and a man of Zen.

​Martial arts forms, or Kata, is a method the martial artist uses to perfect, catalog, and transfer their fighting methods so that they may be preserved and refined by the next generations of fighters. The fact that we have forms still with us today that are between several hundred to over one thousand years old is an incredible testament to their genius and innovation. Improperly taught, learned, or practiced however, can lead to disastrous outcomes that can cause an entire martial art system to fall into the ash heap of history.

Since the long overdue debate around violence against women got traction, parents have been asking me for advice on how to get their little girls to learn to defend themselves. Teaching women to fight is far from a real solution for our society’s rape-culture problem but, at least on the individual level, it may help – either by teaching them how to get out of violent situations or creating clear signs of physical confidence that will make some predators think twice. ​

​I had a beginning student in Karate a couple of years ago that really wanted to do heavy Kumite (Karate’s word for sparring). Coming from a wrestling background, he was used to different types of defensive postures. While they were good for defending against grabs and take downs, they left him exposed to certain kicks, especially round houses to the ribs. Part of this was because of the nature of his open position kept his elbows away from his center line, losing the natural cover they provide around the torso

The benefits from training martial ​arts are often too numerous to list in one article. Many people categorize the martial arts as a sport, and assume you receive the same benefits as you would in any other sport. While this is true to a degree, what you receive from training the Martial Way is much, much more than this.

As a martial artist, one of the most important aspects of our lives is how to balance our training properly. Getting the most from our regimens, maintaining our health, getting sufficient rest, and injury avoidance and recovery is paramount. Understanding how to train in a balanced way has to do with a proper attitude, and sound underlying principals of how the body works. After a lot of research, trial and error, I have found in my years of training and teaching, some basic guidelines that have served me exceptionally well.