Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Feb 6, 2012, 12:27 am
It's hard to overstate the impact of "The Karate Kid" on the western martial arts landscape. Between Bruce Lee and Mr. Miyagi, very few figures have more strongly shaped popular conceptions of what martial arts look like. Of all the memorable scenes in "The Karate Kid", the crane kick stands out as ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jan 30, 2012, 4:32 pm
I'm very pleased to present this interview with Loren Christensen. Loren has developed a strong reputation in the realms of martial arts authorship and modern self defense/combat. When it comes to putting martial theories to the test, Loren is a model example for how to do intelligently and effectiv...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jan 27, 2012, 3:21 pm
Thanks to everyone who helped make this giveaway a success! We reached our goal and have crested the 10,000 mark on Facebook. The value and contributions of facebook members continue to be an important part of ikigaiway.com. As you might recall, I decided to work with a private company called Ooshir...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jan 22, 2012, 6:43 pm
Recently I had a chance to chat with Adam over at Low Tech Combat. He asked me some great questions surrounding traditional martial arts and their suitability for self defense training. Check out the interview here. Low Tech Combat is a great site focused on applicable, scientific means of self defe...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jan 16, 2012, 11:16 pm
It's easy to pontificate about the complexities of being a Sensei. After all, they have the ability to shape lives for better or worse. Teaching can be a daunting task once you start taking it seriously. Less discussed is the role parents play in the development of young martial artists. The decisio...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jan 5, 2012, 11:09 pm
Very few martial artists have had more cultural impact than Bob Anderson...especially considering most people have never heard of him. When you reflect on the best sword fighting scenes in cinema history, you might cite some of the following movies: The Lord of the Rings Trilogy Mask of Zorro Pirate...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Dec 23, 2011, 11:25 am
If you stay in the martial arts long enough you'll find someone who doesn't like you (I know, I'm a total buzz kill). It's true, though. Martial arts affect people in a very profound, fundamental way. Because of that, divergent viewpoints on martial matters can take drastic turns for the worse...qui...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Dec 12, 2011, 10:43 pm
Hello everyone! Every now and then I like to celebrate a milestone of the website. Happily one such milestone is approaching. The Facebook Fan Page is approaching 10,000 group members! This is great - I didn't suspect it would grow so large and I'm very thankful it has. In order to help get us over ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Dec 6, 2011, 8:06 pm
It's that time of year again. Time for Martial Arts Santa to make his appearance! For those of you who remember the previous exploits of Martial Arts Santa, thanks for sticking around the blog for so long! This year he's going to focus on that wonderful tradition of gift-giving. As opposed to normal...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Nov 28, 2011, 4:50 pm
Kata is very energetic. Once you get on a role, it can feel like an avalanche of focus and momentum.  In some ways, that’s good. It means that the form has been learned and you no longer need to pause, scratch your head, and try desperately to remember what comes next. Unfortunately, that same mo...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Nov 20, 2011, 10:07 am
GUEST AUTHOR: Michael Heveran has spent the past ten years practicing a variety of martial arts, especially European sword arts such as Girard Thibault's rapier system and Achille Marozzo's sword and buckler. His unarmed background includes Wing Chun, American Kenpo, Daito Ryu Aikijujutsu, and Capoe...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Nov 19, 2011, 6:54 am
GUEST AUTHOR: Marie Lazeration Richter began her martial journey nearly seven years ago learning traditional Karate-Do at Shotokan East in York, PA; currently, she studies and serves as a junior instructor in Tai Chi Chuan with Sifu Steve Kleppe at Shao Lin Boxing Methods in Waukesha, WI. As a free...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Nov 1, 2011, 5:28 pm
If you follow MMA, you'll certainly know the name Bas Rutten. This dutch fighting legend has achieved fame with a unique combination of cage talent and stage presence. Bas is exceptionally exuberant, quirky, and joyful in his pursuit of fighting and self defense effectiveness. He has made some popul...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Oct 25, 2011, 6:41 pm
As evidenced by the comments left on this blog and the awesome facebook community, IkigaiWay has some smart cookies reading and participating! There's no question that IkigaiWay wouldn't be where it is today without the thoughtful contributions of the community. We've all come together under the ide...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Oct 18, 2011, 10:19 pm
Here in the Northeast U.S. things are starting to turn cold. That means a lot of my physical fitness is going to take place in the dojo or my apartment. As such, I'm always on the hunt for new and interesting perspectives on ways to enhance physical activity and keep away those winter doldrums. That...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Oct 13, 2011, 1:46 am
Of the many formalities that come along with traditional martial arts, shouting kata names has to be one of the most noticeable. The actual execution of the kata announcement varies wildly, from calm utterances to screams that cause nearby glass to shatter. Interestingly, the act of yelling a kata n...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Oct 2, 2011, 12:13 pm
... a wide assortment of emissaries, bodyguards, and soldiers made their way to the island ... the island with only a very small peace keeping force remaining of the ... The Japanese ultimately witnessed a few small demonstrations of this "indigenous Okinawan art ... took control of the islands,...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Sep 21, 2011, 10:53 pm
Remember 5 questions in 5 days? That seemed to go over well so I figured I would take some more questions. This one is a doozy: "How does one learn to become a good teacher? Can lower ranking students teach?" When considering this question I quickly realized that I couldn't create a prescription f...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Sep 17, 2011, 3:19 pm
As martial artists we often get bogged down in details. Techniques, training, research...it's all very technical and thick. Every now and then it's fun to explore the 'what ifs' of martial arts. Luckily, for those times, we have authors like Sarah Gerdes and novels like Chambers. Chambers is a mar...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Sep 12, 2011, 12:05 pm
Last year I put in the hard research and came up with the Top 7 Kicks in Martial Arts Movie History. That countdown was full of face crunching footwork, so I decided it was time for another list. This time I'm upping the ante and listing not just the best kick, but the best martial arts training mo...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Sep 5, 2011, 4:19 pm
Imagine the most boring class you had in high school or college. The teacher's droning probably made you itchy to escape the intellectual prison they called a classroom. Now imagine the best class you had in high school or college. The impact of that instructor has probably lasted well beyond your ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Aug 30, 2011, 12:24 pm
Do you remember vinyl records? Scratch that, do you remember cds? On a cd or record you had a finite number of songs carefully constructed and placed just so. When done right, the cd represented a few separate works of art which came together to form a grander piece of art. While the actual number ....
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Aug 24, 2011, 1:45 am
If you're a traditional martial arts point fighter, you could go your whole life without experiencing a good hook punch. If you're a street fighter, you could see it on any given day. There's something about the hook punch that is naturally ingrained in the human combative complex. When tensions rai...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Aug 18, 2011, 4:49 pm
The other day I revisited a cartoon I used to watch as a kid. After about 10 minutes I realized I was gritting my teeth and wondering what the heck was going on. The plot was nonexistent and the voice acting made me want to find the mute button in a hurry. Nevertheless, when I ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Aug 5, 2011, 10:20 pm
I'm pleased to present this interview with John Donohue, a karateka and kendoka who possesses a strong reputation as a martial arts author. With over 30 years of training experience, Mr. Donohue has combined his martial arts with his academic life. As a result, he has created multiple high quality ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jul 28, 2011, 1:23 am
I'm not big on cities. Being in close proximity to nature has always been important to me (as evidenced by the design of this blog). But living as close to Philadelphia as I do, I would be remiss to miss out on Chinatown so I recently took a trip down with some of my family. Among Philly's many se...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jul 22, 2011, 6:54 pm
For centuries, being the uke of a skilled instructor has caused cold sweat and second thoughts in students. There's something about bowing and walking toward your impending doom that seems like a bad idea. Times have changed somewhat, and with the increase in school sizes and seminars students are ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jul 18, 2011, 3:20 pm
Howdy everyone. As you know I work closely with the Karate Depot team to figure out new ways in which to help martial artists. Recently we realized something unusual about martial arts retailers - every company has a standard store front with wholesale tacked on the side as an afterthought. Karate ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jul 12, 2011, 2:17 pm
One of the best ways to stay hungry for improvement and stave of complacency is to get exposed to high level martial artists. Observing top practitioners of any classical style can quickly fill you with a mix of emotion (admiration, uncertainty, self-consciousness, inspiration, etc). It can also be...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jul 6, 2011, 1:13 am
The longer I train the more I realize the importance of wellness. Of course, wellness may be the least glamorous part of training. After all, eating vegetables and legumes doesn't make for an exciting youtube clip. Luckily I get to hang around a bunch of experienced practitioners who tell stories ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jun 23, 2011, 2:08 am
"A self-help author who led a sweat lodge ceremony in Arizona was found guilty of three counts of negligent manslaughter on Wednesday...Jurors in the case against James Arthur Ray began deliberating after a four-month trial. More than 50 people participated in the October 2009 sweat lodge that was ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jun 14, 2011, 10:41 pm
There's nothing more valuable to a martial arts teacher than good questions. When someone asks me a great one (and even shows the patience to listen to my answer) it just makes my day. When I have some insight to a question, I enjoy sharing relevant stories and details that I think might help the s...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Jun 10, 2011, 11:16 pm
Hey everyone. I just wanted to give a quick shout out and personal thanks to Weekly Martial Arts. They decided to highlight a few of my articles and share them with their audience. Weekly Martial Arts is an interesting resource because it is a purely Facebook based martial arts community. The site ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - May 25, 2011, 1:00 am
This is a continuation of the interview with Bill Hayes Sensei. Part 1 can be found here. Hayes Sensei is a senior practitioner of Shobayashi-Ryu Karate-do and a keeper of the old ways of Okinawan study. His personal experiences with Eizo Shimabukuro Sensei and the United States Marines (retired Maj...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - May 21, 2011, 2:25 pm
I’m very pleased to present this interview with Bill Hayes, Kyoshi of Shobayashi Karate-do. Hayes Sensei became a senior student of famed Okinawan instructor Eizo Shimabukuro and has worked diligently to pass along karate as it was originally taught to him over the course of multiple decades. Hay...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - May 14, 2011, 12:31 pm
When it comes to traditional martial arts, we often see a lot of posing, costumes, and dramatics. If you go to a modern tournament that’s about all you see. Is it any wonder that the rumor regarding traditional styles is that they are simply too rigid, too caught up in themselves to be efficient ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - May 13, 2011, 12:27 am
This is a big one. It was extremely difficult to frame a complete answer to all the parts of this question. To understand what I mean, play the video below and listen closely at the full question as I read it. You’ll no doubt recognize it’s broad implications. Nevertheless, I feel like I touche...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - May 12, 2011, 12:09 am
The globalization of martial arts is still a young phenomenon. Think back only a few generations and you’ll notice that each particular art was mostly relegated to it’s birth country, with just a few foreign practitioners modestly spreading it back in their home countries. Nowadays, any town th...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - May 10, 2011, 11:15 pm
With the increased popularity of MMA, grappling has become a very hot topic. Even before that there were some over-exaggerated statistics about how many fights actually go to the ground. One thing has been made clear though – effective grappling is a very useful part of self defense. If that’s...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - May 9, 2011, 11:05 pm
Our first question revolves around a very classic problem in traditional arts – do people actually use kata during sparring? Part of the inefficient, ritualized stereotype that goes along with traditional arts stems directly from this issue. Furthermore, when watching sparring at any tournament o...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - May 3, 2011, 10:03 pm
Let’s do something new and interesting! I’m looking to take 5 questions and answer one per day all next week. This will give you a chance to get a fresh perspective on an issue you’ve been pondering over, and me a chance to address some matters I may not have thought to cover. The specific su...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Apr 26, 2011, 12:21 am
There’s a company that’s been on my radar for awhile called Vook. Vook is an ebook and app focused group that has managed to take the best qualities of written content and video and put them together in an attractive way. Frequent viewers of this blog know I personally utilize a lot of video an...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Apr 12, 2011, 11:53 pm
When you think of Philadelphia, your mind is not instantly transported to scenes of natural beauty. In fact, the city is pretty rough. But just on the outskirts of town lies Fairmount Park, an unusual escape that features some of the finest Cherry Blossoms on the East Coast. Every year a Cherry Blo...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Apr 6, 2011, 1:19 am
Monday was suspiciously nice outside. For those of us in the Northeastern U.S., warm weather has only visited once or twice in the last five months. Therefore, it was with great trepidation that I took a step outside in order to get the mail a block away. Imagine my surprise when it turned out to b...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Mar 29, 2011, 11:36 pm
During some random internet task I stumbled onto a fairly common image. It’s certainly nothing unique or even interesting, and yet I feel like it possesses a special quality for martial artists. After all, could anything be more aptly descriptive of the process of following a martial way? You’v...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Mar 22, 2011, 2:45 pm
One of my instructors, Ann-Marie Heilman, has a rather intense day job. She has to guide children with autism and other special needs in a classroom environment. As you might suspect, her job entails slower lessons, more attention per student, and emotional understanding. But it also comes with rand...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Mar 16, 2011, 12:26 am
By now you’ve certainly heard about the 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami that caused massive destruction off the northeast coast of Honshu, Japan. The results from this natural disaster are still unraveling, but I would like to share a few pieces of information that might help you more fully ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Mar 7, 2011, 1:03 am
If you check any tourism guide for Pennsylvania (yes, they exist) one of the ‘must-see’ stops is Longwood Gardens. Longwood is a beautiful piece of property that is rich in both natural conservation and history. I won’t belabor the details; suffice it to say that the place developed out of an ...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Feb 23, 2011, 12:52 am
I recently did an interview with a fine fellow named Himanshu Ojha of the Columbia News Service based out of Columbia University. Himanshu was curious about the recent rise in availability of martial arts instructional videos. He was investigating their value and validity as training tools. Himansh...
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Matt A. posted an article on Ikigai | Blogging the Martial Way - Feb 18, 2011, 1:11 pm
. .. … …… ……… ………… …………… _ (Just kidding about the ‘no problem’ part – the results were pretty much a foregone conclusion. Thanks to Greg Holmes, BJJ Black Belt under Relson Gracie).
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