The Sharp Edge of History
A guy walks into the dojo and says: “I just want to learn to fight.” He paused for a second. “I really don’t care about all that other stuff.” He didn’t say what other stuff he meant. We didn’t ask. He wanted to learn to fight. We teach that. He started that day. What he […]
Having a Practice
Having a practice is not the same as doing an activity or learning a skill set. An ‘activity’ is interesting or pleasant or distracting or edifying or fun. We enjoy it. It might make a lasting impression, but it probably won’t. Go to dinner or a movie, play a game or go for a walk. […]
How to Encourage Mushin or “Flow” in the Dojo
Researcher Steven Kotler writing in the Harvard Business Review, listed four conditions that produce a flow state – intense concentration, goal clarity, feedback as to how well you are doing, and a properly matched challenge to skills ratio. We use these continually in martial arts training. If the challenge level is set lower than the […]
Senior Karate Training
Our Senior class is for people 65 years old and older. Sometimes classes for this age group are watered-down version of “the real thing.” Older people are sometimes treated as less competent versions of younger people. They sometimes think of themselves that way. New technology makes old technology seem obsolete, and irrelevant, and sometimes ridiculous. It […]
Mountain Karate is Outstanding
Every student in our program builds fitness and flexibility, with a level of challenge that’s just right for them. We teach a complete, authentic martial art, for practical self-defense. The atmosphere is friendly but serious. What we don’t have: high priced belt tests, big egos, a cult-of-the-founder, or long term contracts. Our instructors are experienced […]
Takuan’s Solution for Practical Combatives
Combat training simulates conditions of high stress. It works that way now and it worked that way in Tokugawa era Japan. Under hyper arousal we experience changes in sense perception and physical performance that can hinder our effectiveness: Our field of vision contracts to a small circle right in front of our eyes, an effect known […]
The Dojo and the Crime Scene
Amid all the shouts of f*ck the police there are millions of people who call the police, every day. For help. Most of them are calling because they are afraid or have been hurt, or their stuff has been stolen. They are calling for help. Often, they call for protection from drug dealers […]
The Kansha Controversy
If you do a word search on the titles, keywords and quotations in the articles I have written over the last few years you will see, month by month, who has been inspired by what I have written: who has republished it, or who has changed some words, reordered the ideas and posted it as […]
The Point of Contact
One skill we do not usually train in the dojo is self-defense decision-making: When does an encounter become a conflict, and when does a conflict become a fight? Discretion and Valor Under some circumstances we want to avoid threat situations. Tactical trainer John Farnam describes basic self-defense this way: “Don’t go stupid places. Don’t […]
You Are Essential
Genghis Khan thought he was essential. When he said: “The greatest happiness is to vanquish your enemies, to chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth, to see those dear to them bathed in tears, to clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters.” you can understand how he felt about being a winner. Growing up he was no one special. […]
The Threat Matrix
It is not just our bodies that may be threatened. Our minds come under attack every day. Our training makes it possible for us to detect those threats – and to take skillful action to avoid, reduce or eliminate them. These threats are as real and as deadly as the physical ones we face. […]
Two To The Head
Our double punch has a unique high-power application, facilitated by uniquely Okinawan training.
Gradient of Competence
There are a lot of pop culture references to traditional karate that make fun of it. From the Karate Kid movies to Seinfeld to Jim Carrey to Friends and on and on, karate dojo’s are mocked, and karate teachers are presented as pompous, self-regarding goof balls. A healthy dojo is a training environment. To […]
What Bodhidharma Taught at Shaolin
The legend that connected Bodhidharma to the martial arts at Shaolin makes its first appearance in the 17th century, more than a thousand years after Bodhidharma lived: The “Sinews Transformation Classic” is the earliest extant manual that assigns daoyin gymnastics a martial role. It’s likely author, the “Purple Coagulation Man of the Way,” was the […]
Do Something Hard
Back in the old days, after work or on the weekends, people sat together in the yard and talked and played music for hours. They did it because they liked to do it. They didn’t need a psychologist to tell them it was good for them. They didn’t have an ambition to perform somewhere, or […]
Fire on the Mountain
Last year when I posted “The Point of Contact,” about tactical decision-making in martial arts, I wrote: “…we might want to evade threats, like if there’s a riot down the block, and it’s heading your way…” Several commenters thought I was just being dramatic. The Point of Contact took on the question of when to respond […]
Members Test Positive for Excellent Spirit
Training on our own and holding classes online is not what any of us were expecting. It is a great test of spirit, and meeting that test is a great statement about our commitment to our art and to each other. We never missed a class as we transitioned to meet the new conditions. Our […]
The Action and the Scenery
We are all responsible for other people. Our family and friends, students and teachers, co-workers, clients and customers, our neighbors, ourselves, and who knows how many others who may be influenced by what we do. We are practitioners. We train. As we do, we strengthen our body and mind, and refine our lives. Because we […]
Martial Arts & Martial Law
Operating in the dark is a challenge. Darkness may be helpful. Sometimes it is necessary. But it’s difficult to orient in the dark; harder to detect obstacles, threats, targets and the path we need to take. Which is a lot like training now. Isolated from the dojo, separated from friends, from the normal routines and […]
Training in Time of Plague and Panic
We train to detect threats before they emerge, and to deal with them effectively if they do. Threats are always present in our environment, sometimes in the distance, sometimes up close. Opportunity is around us too. At our Tuesday evening class on September 11, 2001, pretty much every member of the dojo showed up to train. […]
Mastery & Happiness
Habituating to operating in a flow state requires: clear goals, high challenge, performance feedback, complete engagement in purposeful action, being in control, feeling that your efforts matter. As you pass the phase boundary through training, to flow, you experience a merging of action and awareness. Your action becomes spontaneous and effective. These conditions are associated […]
“Group Flow” in Kata
Researchers have identified a phenomenon they call “group flow” which emerges in the performance of well-trained groups. In traditional martial arts we know it well. When members of a team, band, military unit, business or dojo “cooperate, agree on goals, skills and patterns of action”, then “group flow,” or group cohesion, emerges. Pioneeered by psychologist […]
People Get Ready
Some people feel worthless. They get used to it. You may know someone like that. It’s not good. For every person with an inflated sense of their own importance there may be many more who feel like their life doesn’t matter. They feel like the world is rigged against them. It may be. Maybe they […]
The Path to “Flow”
The path into a state of “flow” is open to everyone who sincerely wants to take it. It is blocked to observers.
Training the Hara
The science of high-performance – of advanced states of body and mind known as “Flow” – confirms what we discover in traditional karate training: Training the hara is essential to effective martial arts. In one sense the “hara” refers to the center of the body – our center of gravity, the center of our energy. […]
Police Incident
Motels are like life. You never know what will happen. And at some point, you have to go.
Kansha, II
I’ll tell you another reason we have the Gratitude calligraphy in front of the dojo: Gratitude is not a mushy, sentimental feeling. It is a hard practice. It’s up there as a reminder to appreciate having a good place to train, and to appreciate each other. It’s easy to focus on what’s lacking. Faults of the […]
Thanks to our Readers Worldwide
Thanks for all the great feedback on “The Good Fight”! If you have not read it, here’s some info on what’s in it: There is a sense that the world is spinning out of control. People feel something is wrong. Martial arts has a role to play, in our lives and beyond, to make things right. That […]
You Are Your Art
In the olden days the word “art” was applied to anything that required skill; like the art of farming, the art of architecture, the art of war. This is the use of “art” in “martial arts.” It doesn’t mean “for aesthetic purposes,” or artsy or intuitive. It is not distinct from “scientific.” Builders work with […]
The Good Fight
The groundbreaking new book by Jeffrey Brooks. In a culture of commercialized, trivialized martial arts, The Good Fight is essential reading. “Eloquent and thought-provoking…” -Mark Tankosich, Hiroshima University of Economics, Dan Rank Sho-ha Shorin Ryu and Zen Nihon Kendo Renmei Jodo “Such deep thoughts about martial arts are very rare! I really enjoy the excellent content.” –Prof. Christof Paar, Kishaba Juku, […]
The Rhinoceros Tale, 3rd Edition
Reviews of “The Rhinoceros Tale“, by Jeff Brooks: “An unforgettable account, crackling with energy and full of heart… the kind of book that can change your life.” – Philip Zaleski, Editor, The Best Spiritual Writing series “…honest, entertaining and forthright…” – Dave Lowry, author of Autumn Lightning “The best book I have read in a long time …filled with […]
The Warrior’s Choice
Warriors can neither cling to safety, or be careless with their lives. None of us can. A pivotal moment in the fate of Okinawa and of Japan lets us reflect on the depths of our martial art.
Mountain Karate 