Category: Blog

As I have written quite extensively about, Jigaro Kano is probably the very most influential martial artist of modern times. It was his vision to preserve and synthesize the ancient feudal Jiu-jitsu schools into one ultimate modern system of unarmed combat and physical education. He called this new Jiu-jitsu, “Judo” to distinguish his modern scientific… Continue reading Part 1: Jigaro Kano- In His Own Words

One of the questions I often get is about the value of short term “quickie” self defense courses and how valuable they are. I have done a lot of research and development in this area. Several years ago I took a serious look at the content of short-term self-defense courses and also at the idea… Continue reading “Speed” Self-Defense

In the previous segments of this series of posts, on the differences between Krav Maga and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, I argued that it was actually the underlying principles that were the biggest differences between these two self-defense systems. Furthermore, I demonstrated that true combat principles are not just a matter of arbitrary choice but should be… Continue reading Part 4: Krav Maga vs. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Testing the Differences

In my first post about “evidence based self-defense”, we discovered that even a profession as steeped in the scientific method as medicine is, still went through modern periods where unfounded opinions often held sway over more objective evidence. My point was, if this can happened in the medical profession, then it is almost guaranteed to… Continue reading Part 2: “Evidence Based” Self-Defense

In my post about balance and first principles (“Part 2:Krav Maga vs. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu” ), I mentioned that by understanding the importance of balance and more importantly “stability”, on real fighting, you would know more about real fighting than the vast majority of the “pseudo-experts”. I wanted to clarify here some of the things I… Continue reading Part 3: Krav Maga vs. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Why Most Stand-Up Fights Look the Way They Do

A while back, I picked up the June, 2015 edition of “COMMON GROUND”. For those of you who are not from the greater Vancouver area or have never heard of “common ground”, it’s a local free Vancouver, British Columbia, based publication. This magazine specializes in articles about optimizing and alternative health, holistic well-being, spirituality and… Continue reading “Evidence-Based” Self-Defense?

Multiple opponents, multiple opponents, multiple opponents, as a Self-defense professional who focuses primarily on Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, I sure hear a lot about multiple opponents. Yes, that’s right; there is a multitude of opponents to our stand on multiple opponents. We hear so much about multiple opponents these days that it does get a little irritating.… Continue reading The Truth About Multiple Opponent Defenses

In an earlier post I discussed the major differences between Krav Maga and Brazilian Jiu-jitsu as self-defense systems. In that post I outlined that the most important difference between the two was that Brazilian Jiu-jitsu was not just an assortment of fighting techniques but was more importantly a collection of combat principles. The rebuttal is… Continue reading Part 2: Krav Maga vs. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, First Principles

A question that I am often asked is about the kind of unarmed combat, “defensive tactics”, martial arts or Hand-to-hand combat training that militaries use to train their soldiers. Many people often assume that the average soldier must be learning something…well…“military grade” that is far more secret and powerful than the civilian population has access… Continue reading Martial Arts and the Military Mind

“Not all Brazilian Jiu-jitsu is created equal”. This is a short-hand phrase that I use to get people’s attention and begin to educate them about the different incarnations of Brazilian Jiu-jitsu. Brazilian Jiu-jitsu has really grown in popularity over the years, to the point that it is now often cited as the world’s fastest growing… Continue reading Not All Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Is Created Equal