In the U.S, a violent crime occurs every 35 seconds. We in Maine tend to enjoy a very low crime rate, however there seem to be a very recent string of random attacks in Portland. The Portland Press Herald is reporting today that two suspects have been arrested in a string of seemingly random violent [...]
It’s a question that comes up quite frequently: Can you defend yourself against someone who is bigger and stronger? And: How important is size and strength in martial arts? The answer requires a bit of a breakdown: 1. Don’t confuse sport with self defense. Combat sports like MMA, boxing, and wrestling have weight classes for [...]
Police in Portland, Maine arrested Arien Litalien on Monday after he allegedly robbed a watch shop in downtown Portland using a brick as a weapon. He is accused of using the brick to smash a glass case and grab a number of expensive watches. An employee apparently chased and tackled Litalien in a parking lot [...]
The other day I posted a statistic to my facebook profile – that 70% of adult males carry edged tools, such as knives, on a day to day basis in the U.S. A couple of people called me on the statistic; I have no problem with that. I do have statistics and research methods training [...]
If you’ve been involved in martial arts, combatives, or self defense training in any way you’ve undoubtedly seen many programs touting the secret techniques or principles of self defense. There are a lot of very impressively marketed systems out there and, if one is to believe the hype, the Navy SEALS, Special Forces Commandos, hit [...]
There’s an old rule of thumb in the martial arts that less than one percent of those who start out will last long enough to earn a first degree black belt. Less than one percent of those people will stick with training long enough to earn a second degree black belt. I’m sure that this [...]
Japanese is an interesting language in that many terms have no direct translation into English. Single sounds can carry worlds of conotation and, when combined with other sounds, produce rich meanings beyond direct translation. In Japanese, there are 3 almost interchangeable terms which are used to mean “martial arts” – Budo, Bugei, and Bujutsu. Understanding [...]
Martial Arts photos from Flickr
