Digital Warrior Martial Arts

How To Punch

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:04:16 +0000

Take a look at this article that I published on hubpages on How To Punch. It's mainly loking at the basic principles of how to punch effectively with power and speed that are relevant whatever techniques or type of punch that you use, but it does also inlcude links to the best online resouurces for learning specific punching techniques.

Martial Arts Heroines

Tue, 5 May 2009 18:09:21 +0000

You might find this interesting. Its an article on martial arts heroines looking at some of the most inspirational and influential women both in the history of martial arts (such as Yim Wing Chun, the founder of Wing Chun kung fu and her teacher) and in the modern world. Its longer than most blog posts at 2000 odd words but it still shouldn't take too long to read and really do think you'll enjoy it.

Concealed Stick Fighting

Thu, 16 Apr 2009 11:39:14 +0000

Here is an interesting video introducing the basic principle and techniques of concealed stick fighting that I thought you might like:

Kung Fu Kicking

Sun, 22 Mar 2009 14:28:18 +0000

The 3 videos below are short tutorials demonstrating the 3 basic kicks that are common to many styles of kung fu:

Peace of Mind

Sat, 14 Mar 2009 14:41:57 +0000

One of the great things about being trained in martial arts is the confidence and feeling of security that it gives you. Being able to defend yourself, your loved ones, and even your property is very important, and the knowledge that if the worst should happen and you found yourself in a violent and dangerous situation you at least have the knowledge and skills required to maximize your chances of neutralizing the threat you face can be very reasurring.

But sometimes going to a martial arts class a couple of times per week (or whatever you do) is not enough, either for peace of mind or to ensure your safety. If you live in a particularly violent and dangerous area, or if you have to pass through one as part of your daily routine, you may need to take extra precautions. Likewise a person who has suffered a violent attack in the past will often find that it is very hard to shake off the fear that it instills into you so that you can feel safe again. In situations like this the best thing you can do for your piece of mind is to make sure that you are equipped to handle any dangerous situations. Buying a personal security product such as a stun gun or pepper spray can be a great investment even if you never need to use it - just for the emotional reassurance it gives you.

If you do feel that this could help you then the best place is to go to a trusted retailer such as http://www.lapolicegear.com/ who sell this kind of product, and are also a 'Tactical Tailor', supplying a wide range of clothes as well as equipment to police and army personel, as well as the general public.

Elbow Strike Combination

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:28:29 +0000

This is a video demonstration of my favourite elbow strike combination. It also shows how to generate power for each strike:

FeedCluster Martial Arts

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 14:44:37 +0000

I just found a new website that allows you to set up your own blog aggregators for any subject, so I set one up for martial arts. For those of you who don't know a blog aggregator is a website that uses rss feeds to collect together all of the latest posts from a whole load of different blogs covering a particular topic, and then displays them all together in a blog portal. Basically it means that people don't have to keep visiting different sites to see if there's anything interesting, cos you can check them all out in one place and then pick which one to go to.

You can set new aggregators up for free, so I set up an account and created a Martial Arts Blogs portal and added the feed for this site to it. If you have a martial arts blog too then feel free to add it to this page and get some free promotion!

Gym Junkies

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 14:13:38 +0000

Looking back over all of my previous posts for this blog today I noticed a glaring absence in the topics that I’ve covered so far. Other than my series on parkour free-running (which I still maintain is one of the best aerobic exercise strategies for martial artists, because of its additional benefits to agility and balance) I haven’t written anything at all about physical conditioning and strength and fitness training.

Although martial arts instructors are always at pains to say that it is knowledge and skill which are most important rather than the physical attributes of a person (quite rightly too) this absolutely does not mean that you don’t need to bother about going to the gym to develop your strength and fitness. Firstly if two people have the same skill level, the stronger one will always win any confrontation, but in actual fact it is fitness that is the most important thing for martial arts.

Many people do not realise how much more a real life confrontation takes out of you than sparring or other regular training and practice. It’s all well and good knowing all of the best techniques for any situation, but if you don’t have high fitness levels then you will only get a few brief chances to beat your opponent before you are simply too exhausted to use them.

I guess the reason that I’m bringing this up know is because I recently found a new (or at least new to me) method of training that I think is particularly beneficial for martial arts. It’s called turbulence training, and is actually a new take on an old classic that everyone knows - circuit training - only with shorter and higher intensity workouts. It is ideal for two reasons: because it helps to develop the right kind of strength for martial arts, as well as being great for fitness, and also because I personally find that if you’re spending time on your martial arts training then you don’t have much left over for pure gym training, and so high intensity short workouts are really handy.

It’s a fairly new thing to me so I’m not enough of an expert to give you more info myself, but I can recommend the Turbulence Training review on the Gym Junkies website (http://www.gymjunkies.com) to anyone who is interested. While you’re there you might also find their section on muscle gaining secrets useful if you want to work on your strength and power (or just get a gym body in time for the summer!). It feaures a great ebook, and there are also a bunch of 'how to' videos on the site, and other stuff too.

I'll try to continue this topic with some ore useful training tips and techniques, but as the thaw of spring comes to the northern hemisphere my thoughts are turining back to the free running (I nearly always train indoors in the winter), so that will probably be next.

Fighting Games

Thu, 5 Mar 2009 16:05:26 +0000

Here's a new website where you can play free martial arts and fighting games and which also features games reviews and more.

McCullough vs Cerrone

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 15:07:27 +0000

A great match up and a really entertaining fight.

Shown across three videos: