Martial Art Blogs I recommend

My Journey in Martial Arts - Ronsan60 writes about his "stories as I remember them during my journey in the Martial Arts." I particularly liked this post: A little LaVallee's History thanks to Rob V. It's the story (I wonder if it's accurate) of how Kyoshi bought his first dojo in 1974. Ronsan60 has trained since 83, he trained in the "old days."

American/Traditional - The author is a traditional who discusses the question this week of whether the churning out of black belts by belt-mills diminishes the value of more hard-earned belts. It's a thoughtful insightful discussion. On one hand, "no one else’s belt...can diminish the meaning or value of ...yours. The meaning of the belt lies in a combination of what it took to earn it, and what the wearer continues to do to live up to it." On the other hand, he points out the difficulty of holding to a standard which takes seven years to earn a belt when his students have friends earning their black belts in three down the street." Great blog and article: Does an 8-year-old’s black belt reflect on mine?


On My Own Two Feet - A starting Martial Artess blogging about her and her son's trip into the martial arts. Her particular focus is about women in the martial arts.

There are some others that should make this list but, since time is limited and this post has been sitting around unfinished for awhile, I'll do this as a series, stay tuned for the next batch.



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Why do I blog?

I get this question all the time. I think it's a funny question. I think it's a question best answered with a question.

Why do we do anything? I train in karate and run and nobody asks me why. I am a voracious reader and nobody asks me why. I sometimes watch TV and nobody asks me why. I have a job that interests me although it might not be the most lucrative way to spend my time and nobody asks me why. I sometimes go to see films or plays and nobody asks me why.

I blog because I've always liked to think, to reflect, and to write. Blogging helps me think and reflect and I enjoy writing.

And I want to make progress just the way I try to get better in karate or get faster run times. In a sense, I work hard at blogging and try to think how best to share my thoughts.

Going through my days, I sometimes think of how I might capture a thought in a blog post. It reminds me of the times in my life when I've viewed my days in terms of how I might tell someone about it later. I've heard that actors and writers often live their life with one eye towards remembering each feeling and thought so they can use it later to power or to inspire their art.

And just like running, I'm not really doing it for anybody who might be watching. I'm mostly blogging for me.

When I'm running, if someone smiles and waves at me as I go by, I like it. I like it even more if they admire my form and note the speed. It's even more fun if I know the person or if someone runs with me. And while the camaraderie and social interaction is nice. it's not why I run. It's not why I go to the dojo, or why I blog. But the social side helps.

I do what I do (train, read, blog) as a performance primarily for myself because at the end of the day, I'm the one who cares.

Dad and David 2004 ish