Columbus Martial Artworks

An excellent article on exactly what the hips are. One part in particular jumped out at me:

The hips should always move as a natural consequence of actions initiated in the legs. Since they have no mechanism by which to move in and of themselves, it is an error to think that we move from our hips. Like a tree being swayed by the wind, the hips are caused to move.

"They are always watching you."

Who are they? That depends on who you are.

If you are the instructor, then they can be your students, prospective students, the person responsible for employing you, or the tough guy on the basketball court, sizing you up for later.

If you are sun bae, then they are the hu bae right behind you. They are also the prospective student, seeing what it means to be senior rank in this school. They are the instructors, taking your measure.

This past weekend, I traveled to Pittsburgh to take part in the Western PA Gup Clinic. I was accompanied by members of BTSD and CTSDA. It was a good day of training all around. There were many gems and tidbits I managed to collect.

Here it is. Finally. In the flesh.. er, pixels. It's been a long time coming, but I'm more than pleased with the results. Going through the design process with a professional marketing company was a positive experience for me. They nailed what I wanted first time. That's hard to do, especially with something this personal and dear to me.

I've asked the designers to pass on their notes and comments about how they achieved this. Perhaps I'll have those to post some day.

For now, enjoy it as is.

I love martial arts, specifically Tang Soo Do of the WTSDA variety. With the turn of the new year, I've been trying to find more students for my weekly class. At a recent recruiting event, I was struck by how hard it is to sell the thing I love, the thing I am passionate about, to the average stranger on the street. If I'm not careful, I find myself getting excited and virtually frothing at the mouth while, on the other side of the conversation, my potential student's eyes are glazing over in boredom. How dare they!

I just got finished finalizing all of my end-of-the-year paperwork. For some instructor's, this is a monthly occurrence. Since my club is still in its infancy, I can get away with doing a packet or two a year for headquarters. I had to send the following: gup applications, gup testing forms, instructor certification renewal, club certification renewal, and an order of stuff. I usually send a cover letter with my packets, detailing what HQ can expect to find and providing my contact information in case they need to notify me of any discrepancies.

I'm a month early to start fulfilling my New Year's resolutions, but I'm going to post this anyway. December first, officially, marks my promotion to E Dan. It's as good a date as any to reaffirm the fact that it's time to start over. We have a tradition in my lineage that says when you get a new rank, it's time to reexamine everything you've learned up to this point, tear it down, and build it back up. Take the best of what you've got this far and build on it.