Ten things that change as you start to understand violence
As a person starts to understand violence, through martial arts training and/or their real-life experience, there are (at least) ten positive changes that may take place . . .
How do you teach young people about violence prevention?
The charity Stand Against Violence takes a public health approach to violence prevention – with impressive results . . .
Is Lightsaber Combat a real martial art – and what can asking this question unlock for us?
“You’re starting to come to the realization that there’s less difference than one might expect between the experience of practices that are hyper-real versus those that are historically grounded. You’re taking your first steps down an interesting path. Keep taking the additional steps, and move beyond questions of definition. What do you see . . . ?”
Reader question – Should I tell my sensei about my traumatic past?
Emma (a Karate beginner) has written in response to the article: Ten ways martial arts training can help survivors of abuse:
“I found this a very insightful article which reflects my own experience – thank you for writing it. I wanted to ask you what you think the benefits of sharing a personal history with my sensei might be. I don’t want to burden them with unnecessary information, and am also quite private, but if there is anything that might be of use, I might want to tell them . . . “
Ten ways martial arts training can help survivors of abuse
Some people come to martial arts training hoping to heal and move on from their experience of physical and/or sexual abuse.
This doesn’t always work out, as the experience can be overwhelming or triggering, or unsuitable in other ways for some individuals. However, if all goes well, here are ten wonderful benefits that training can bring for such students . . .
The Rise of the Jujitsu Suffragettes
“Just take my advice: if you are a respectable girl, as you say you are, don’t walk in Regent Street at night.”
Find out what happened when genteel Victorian / Edwardian ladies started to take an interest in the martial arts . . .
Is Tackling Discrimination a Hard or a Soft Art?
Inspired by last week’s Amaryllis Fox video – Reflections on using martial arts principles to fight discrimination . . .
Why I’m not inspired by female warriors – despite loving martial arts
A friend has sent me a three-minute video called Women Were Some of the Fiercest Samurai Warriors Ever. It’s about a woman called Takeko Nakano who led an army of women to fight in the Boshin War (Japanese Revolution).
He thinks he’s sent me an exciting, inspirational and glorious story about women’s empowerment, which I will love as a female martial arts practitioner […]
The Attraction of Violence
Some uneasy issues came up in conversation. Why can fighting and machismo transfix even a cultured and sensitive man . . . ?