Five types of martial artist under Covid lockdown

posted in: Covid | 7

2020 has been pretty disorientating to date – and had a huge impact on martial arts. During these difficult months, it’s been really interesting to see how different martial arts instructors and students are reacting to the pandemic.

This article sets out five different types of response.

Which one are you – or do you fall into a category all of your own . . . ?  

What do the martial arts terms “uke” and “ukemi” really mean?

posted in: Kanji | 6

In the Japanese martial arts, the words “uke” and “ukemi” are important, subtle concepts, which don’t translate neatly into English. And these concepts apply across many, if not all martial arts. In this blog article, I’m going to look at these two Japanese words in some depth, to see what light this might shed on their meaning . . .

Ethics and morals in the martial arts – LIVE panel discussion on Wed 15 July

posted in: Academic, Ethics, MASRN | 10

Information on a live panel discussion on the topic of ethics and morals in the martial arts, for the 6th Martial Arts Studies Conference 2020. The theme of the conference this year is Martial Arts, Religion and Spirituality. Find out more about who else is on the panel, what we’ll be covering – and how you can access this and/or any of the other eight conference panels taking place . . .

“Online Martial Arts – Evolution or Extinction?” My new book – out now!

We’re used to doing many things virtually now – but is it really possible to teach or learn a martial art online? Matt Stait and I have co-written a new book which asks some searching questions about the essence and the future of the martial arts; and invites you to consider whether online martial arts are the death knell for authentic practice, or their much-needed saviour , , ,

Analysing the costs and benefits of “fake female empowerment” in the martial arts

posted in: Women | 0

The martial arts are often said to be empowering for women. However, in some instances this “empowerment” can appear inauthentic. This paper coins the phrase “fake female empowerment” to denote a form of martial arts training experience that can look and feel like empowerment for women and girls, while in reality doing nothing to increase their actual power, or even decreasing it . . .