Tatsu Dojo Martial Arts And Fitness

One of the things I miss most about Japanese culture is the practice of removing your shoes in many places like homes, resturants...and martial arts dojos. Now, there is a very functional reason for this: tatami mats. Tradidional tatami mats are made with a dense rice straw core, woven with a grass surface. They have a unique smell and texture that feels homey and quite. And, they are very suceptable to dirt and damage from shoes. Entrances like the one picutred here are

I have the privilege of having a tiny office in my home; my own little den with all of the books I’ve read, many I haven’t but they look...

Maintaining The Martial Mindset On a sweltering August afternoon, somewhere between Tokyo and Misawa City, Japan, I was riding the...

Every once in a while, especially in the summer, nobody shows up for advanced karate class.  Last night was one of those times, mostly...

Understanding Priorities In the movie, The Last Samurai, there is a famous scene where Tom Cruise's character has to face a well-trained,...

Why Some People Never Start Or Return To Karate Beginner's Karate Class At Tatsu Dojo I am very fortunate to have started martial arts...

The Structure And Science Of A Martial Art Rising Elbow Strike In Karate I don't believe that Dave Lowry, author of the book, The Karate...

What I Hope To Leave For My Kids And Students I don’t know if it’s like this so much anymore, but I got into martial arts because of two...

One of the unique aspects of traditional martial arts is the importance of training alone.  It is relatively easy to get in your car and drive to a dojo, dojang, kwoon or gym and spend an hour or more training with other people.  Indeed, one of the reasons we join such places is for the community and motivation.

(But) when you have to stabilize a weight as in a barbell squat, there are a lot of nerves and muscles operating at the same time.  This is considered a compound movement where we’re using multiple nerves and muscles in order to stabilize the load and complete the action.  But, this requires thorough training, just like martial arts. 

Issoyama Shihan, pouring out the spirit of Aikido. In United States Air Force basic training, we had a training instructor (TI), the...

Young men training in the "first Tatsu Dojo." Growing up is not for the faint of heart, especially the teen years.  Now, everyone has...

Well, that didn’t take long.  It’s only been a couple of months since (I thought) I wrote our last blog for a while, having felt burned...

These blogs began partially because of some sage advice from a trusted friend who wisely convinced me not  to publish a book about my...

My morning routine has in changed much in the last 15 years or so; get up early, pour myself a cup of coffee, find my beat up and...

Most people have heard of arts like karate, taekwondo, kung fu, judo and of course jujitsu.  But these are actually broad terms that generally define these martial arts.  And most of these arts have definitive styles of their own.

I’ve mentioned several times that I had the fortune to have had some great teachers who not only shared their knowledge but wisdom as...

Bruce Lee once said he didn't fear the man who knew a thousand techniques; rather he feared the man who knew one technique but practiced it a thousand times. This is a concept that's easy to understand but hard to put into practice.

One thing I’ve learned during my career in therapy as well as decades in martial arts is the value of tenacity.  I don’t believe it’s a natural occurrence; I think it’s a skill, something that has to be developed over time through sacrifice, pain and patience.

I was very fortunate to have learned about things like mission and vision early in my military career.  There have been countless books,...