John V.'s Posts - Wellsphere

My Kind of Demo by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Master Ken talks about the use of a special technique he created for multiple attackers. Now because of how dangerous The Hurticane is I can't really show it to you at ... Read on »

Black Belts and Red Flags by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Today I was invited to observe a black "sash" test given at a local kung fu school. It was the fighting part of the test; I missed the forms and self defense portions, thoug ... Read on »

Reality Check For The Streetfighter by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Somebody sent me this amusing but rather sensible list of 6 Painful Things Nobody Tells You About Fighting that's worth checking out (two pages). Topics include the p ... Read on »

The Female Warrior: Archetypes and Stereotypes by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Occasionally I'll get a question about the Isshinryu symbol, the mizugami (water goddess). One version is that the founder, Tatsuo Shimabuku, had a lucid dream about the ... Read on »

Fighting Words, Testosterone, and Honor by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts I attended a one-day Isshinryu seminar yesterday. It was a good outing as I picked up a lot of useful information and techniques. After all these years it's humbling but goo ... Read on »

How To Be A 'Class A' Karate-ka by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Peter Urban (l.) vs. Don Nagle in an exhibition match, New York, 1962 One of the first books written on karate authored by an American was The Karate Dojo: Traditions ... Read on »

How To Be A 'Class A' Karate-ka by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Peter Urban (l.) vs. Don Nagle in an exhibition match, New York, 1962 One of the first books written on karate to be published in the West was The Karate Dojo: Tr ... Read on »

The Way of Holmes by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Just viewed the new movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Highly recommended. Holmes' character, nicely portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. and originally penned by Sir Arthu ... Read on »

Don't Quit Your Day Job by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Somebody I know wants to open a karate school and devote himself to it full time. He says he's done plenty of research and introspection on the matter and believes he's ... Read on »

Abuse of Power by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Recently a karate school owner told me he picked up an entire family of students courtesy of abuse attributed to their former instructor. Apparently the young boy spilled wa ... Read on »

Enhance Your Kata by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts If you believe that learning one new kata after another is the only way you'll advance in rank at your school you're right. You would also be right to conclude that know ... Read on »

Superhero Archetype Gone Awry by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts My son showed me this story about an MMA fighter moonlighting as a caped crusader Self-styled superhero Phoenix Jones will not be charged in an October incident in wh ... Read on »

The Way of Spock by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Striking Thought's post on Captain Kirk's fighting prowess immediately conjured up images of his first officer's skill in Vulcan kyushu waza. Kirk was a hack compared to ... Read on »

Bizarre Self-Defense by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts An email I received entitled "13 Things Your Burglar Won't Tell You" included a piece about one Val Glinka who teaches a peculiar self-defense tip at an Ohio public scho ... Read on »

Cultivating Wisdom by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts The classic Chinese text, the Bubishi, was passed down through numerous generations of teachers to students of quanfa (kung fu) until it finally arrived in Okinawa in the m ... Read on »

Tale of Two Students by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts The following accounts are true and happened this past week. Names have been changed for obvious reasons. Marge has been training at our school for about three years. She ... Read on »

Master Ken Needs Your Help by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Master Ken wants people in the martial arts community to spread the word about his reality show which chronicles the most lethal martial art known to man: Ameri-Do-Te. Ac ... Read on »

Getting Wasted by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Isshinryu karate founder Shimabuku used to say "All bottles are good." This is supposedly a reference to different styles or techniques found in the martial arts. Students t ... Read on »

Breaking The Cycle of Violence by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts Are we becoming more violent? Any casual observer of world news could conclude so: Arab Spring, the recent English riots and other events of this ilk are supposedly lin ... Read on »

Kata: Theatrics vs. Function by John V. Patient Expert

Posted in: Blog Posts in Martial Arts The Karate Thoughts Blog has a piece on tournament kata that caught my eye. While I agree that kata "is a rehearsal for an unfortunate, grave situation" I believe that t ... Read on »

John V.

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