Martial arts articles for the Full Potential Martial Arts dojo (school) in the Carmel Valley neighborhood of San Diego
Hitting a target is helpful for developing speed, power and precision in martial arts. When we learn a new technique, we may initially practice the technique “in the air.” In time, we become more familiar with the basics of the technique. Then it is time to apply the technique against a partner or a target, […]
Punching Bag and Makiwara Practice – What’s Better? Read More »
Being confronted by perpetrator holding a gun can be extremely scary. Having a “gun pulled” on you is sure to get your adrenaline going! Guns Represent a Serious Threat Before delving into the specifics of how to defend yourself against a gun-toting assailant, a word of caution. Even for the highly trained, a gun presents
October 2013: Tai Chi and Internal Martial Arts Seminar in San Diego Note: this even has already taken place. If you are interested in martial arts, karate, tai chi, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, come train with us at our regular martial arts classes. Free martial arts trial class available at our San Diego martial arts school. We
As we all know, in addition to numerous health and fitness benefits, one of the key benefits of martial arts training is in allowing us to gain valuable self-defense skills. Those skills go with us wherever we go, and are at our disposal should a situation arise – at home, in school, at work, at
Deep thanks to Sensei Louis Jemison of the Zen Bei Butoku Kai, as well as the Santa Cruz crew from Sensei Rod Sanford’s dojo, for hosting an excellent internal martial arts camp in Lake Tahoe last weekend! It was great to see everyone, and to further the knowledge of the martial arts, both internal and
Recently, we started learning the karate kata Pinan Nidan at the San Diego dojo. Kata, which in Japanese literally means “form”, are a set of choreographed movement patterns, that can be practiced solo or in groups. At a basic physical level, kata help in drilling movement patterns into “muscle memory” – patterns that are useful
Last week, on January 7, 2014 the famous Hong Kong entertainment mogul and philanthropist Run Run Shaw died. Having lived a long life, to the respectful age of 107, Sir Shaw (Queen Elizabeth II knighted him in 1977) built Shaw Brothers Studios into one of the largest film production companies in the world. If you
As the year 2013 is winding to an end, I often get asked “how can I improve in Karate?” The answer is very simple: “perfect practice makes perfect,” as coach Vince Lombardi used to tell his players. If you are a “New Year’s resolutions” kind of person, set yourself the goal of practicing Karate every
In martial arts training we often touch on the topic of flexibility. Flexibility, or, as I prefer to call it, limberness, allows us to maintain a good range of motion for each joint or joints. When we are limber, our health and quality of life is enhanced. Likewise, loss of flexibility can dispose us to
Stretching and Flexibility in Martial Arts: Theory and Techniques Read More »
Many martial artists like to train in both external and internal aspects of their martial art — be it Karate, Tai-Chi, Kuntau-Silat or another martial art — we see them in our San Diego martial arts studio all the time. This is because early in one’s training, it is much faster to observe progress in
