April 25, 2015

Pre-blog notes:

– I had a great time in Indianapolis last weekend at the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. I was with some great people, including Steve & Kim Aldus, Jeff & Eric Borchardt, Tim & Lori Runquist, Eddy Parker and his entire SOCA crew, Michael Brand and his uncle/sensei Kevin Fellers, James and Kim Webster, Vera Harrison and her whole contingent from Peoria, and all of the rest of the instructors from Saturday’s seminars who taught kata bunkai, joint locks and more. It was a pleasure, of course, to be kicked again this year by Bill “Superfoot” Wallace. And last, but not least, thanks to my travel partner, Venkat, for making the drive an enjoyable one.

– I’m honored to have been inducted as the Leading Seminar Instructor of the Year. To whomever nominated me, thank you. Unfortunately, somebody translated my name incorrectly…

Eh, close enough.

A photo posted by Adam Bockler (@adambockler) on Apr 18, 2015 at 6:44pm PDT

– Today I’m in Galesburg competing in forms with Nan Dan Sho, so wish me luck!

– I post a new This Week In Martial Arts every Saturday morning. When you’re done with this one, go back and check out all the other cool links I’ve pulled over the past few months by going through the This Week In Martial Arts tag.

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This Week In Martial Arts

Andre The Giant appeared in a French martial arts movie when he was 21. Brandon Stroud over at Uproxx has a gift for finding the most obscure wrestling-related content on the Web. IMDB says the film, “Casse-tête chinois pour le judoka,” centers around a judoka who “tries to save the world from nuclear disaster fighting Chinese and Russians.”

Ever run Naihanchi on the ground? Neither have I, but I kind of want to after seeing this article and video from Sensei Ando. Every style of karate, it seems, has a form of Naihanchi/Tekki in it somewhere. And as someone who needs to improve his ground game, I can appreciate when someone applies a “stand-up” kata to the ground.

Here are some simple rules for healthy eating. Aaron E. Carroll, a pediatrics professor, shares some of his tips for eating healthy with the New York Times. While these aren’t rules based on empirical evidence – Carroll says little in nutrition actually is – he makes suggestions based on available research. Among them: Eat as many unprocessed foods as you can, and moderation is key. It’s nothing necessarily new, but it’s a good reminder.

“Sporting injuries are a leading cause of adults losing teeth,” according to a UK-based dentist writing for the BBC. Dr. Lyndon Meehan cites a Brazilian study that shows more than 1 in 4 athletes suffered dental trauma. More than half knew about mouthguards, “but only 15 [percent] actually used one.” In particular, 1 in 3 martial artists suffer some form of dental trauma, behind only basketball and rugby.

“[I]f I had my way, it would be compulsory for everyone playing sport to wear a mouthguard.”

Thanks to Iain Abernethy for sharing.

You sweat, right? Well, what martial artist doesn’t? A Psychological Science journal recently published an article saying that a person’s sweat can contain various emotions. In other words, when you feel happy after a hardcore training session, it may be partially because your fellow students are happy, too.

Despite what Journey tells us, here are 5 things we must stop believing as martial artists, straight from my pen pal Andrea Harkins, The Martial Arts Woman. As a student and as a person, I’ve felt all of these at some point. But you’ve got to keep going. “You and I,” Andrea says, “we are going to be alright.”

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