Greetings, Last week I was privileged to host Master Pearson here in Connecticut.  He returned to offer CPR, first aid, and AED training and certification to the teachers of the Noah’s Ark Early Childhood Learning Center at the synagogue where I work.  It was such a pleasure to have him return to the CT but […]

Greetings, Well, we’re back!  Hard to believe how fast it came and went, but indeed, another Winter Retreat is behind us.  These weekends are always special and this one was no exception.  It was great to reconnect with old students and teachers and meet new people as well.  If you missed this one, then I’m […]

Hagsaeng Naebu Interview with Mr. Walsh! Full Name:  Gabriel Michael Loring Walsh (That’s right; my parents elected to give me a mysterious second middle name in order to honor a distant relative.  I hardly ever use it except when people ask me what my full name is.) Age: 25 How long have you practiced Taekwondo? 13 […]

Hello everyone! This is my first post since the MAIA convention and I’m going to tell you all about it so let’s get started! MAIA stands for the Martial Arts Industry Association and it has been around since late 2001. The association describes its mission statement as “To grow the martial arts industry, one school […]

A bit of humor to kick off your Monday… TOP TEN WAYS YOU KNOW YOU’RE A MARTIAL ARTIST 10. You close doors or turn on/off lights with a roundhouse kick…every time. 9. Your dog heels when you kyap. 8. You judge a good pair of jeans by their flexibility and range of motion. 7. You […]

Many years ago, when I was a young, I used to hang out in Master Pearson’s office at our full time school (this was way back in the day, for all you old time IME fans out there, when the office was in its second location which later became the lobby between the Yin and […]

No matter where you are in your martial arts journey, your martial arts training is a key element of your journey.  In many ways, the training is the journey because it is the vehicle that transports us from where we are ability-wise to where we want to be with our abilities.  Here are some elements […]

1a)  The Virtues of Combative Ability Part I: A Deterministic World View 1b) The Virtues of Combative Ability Part II: An Attraction-Based World View 2)  Attraction Based Thinking In Aikido 3)  Tactically Covered 4)  Changing Your Worldview Will Change Your World 5)  Why You Should Carry an Appreciation Stone I thought that picking five top […]

For most modern-day-mainstream-Americans, the world militia might conjure up images of rednecks with excessive amounts of guns calling each other colonel all the time.  It is unfortunate that opinion of such an important part of our American history has fallen to such a low image in the eye of the general public.  At its founding […]

As I run around today, trying to get all my last minute packing done for my upcoming trip (I’m off to the Rainforest in the Dominican Republic for 10 days), I find it difficult to come up with a topic for this week’s post.  In an attempt to find something to write about, I looked […]