Eight reasons to train in Lightsaber Combat (even if you don’t agree it’s a real martial art)
21 Jul 2016

Eight reasons to train in Lightsaber Combat (even if you don’t agree it’s a real martial art)

by | posted in: Academic, MASRN, MASRN Conference 2016 | 12

One of my female martial arts blogger friends, Megan, has been training in Lightsaber Combat for the last few months. It looks like they have a lot of fun – but until now I didn’t really get it.

But having attended a lecture on this topic yesterday by Dr Ben Judkins (of Kung Fu Tea fame), a few things have fallen into place. Here are the key points he made, which suddenly put this seemingly bizarre art into a very interesting light . . .

Ten ways martial arts training can help survivors of abuse
19 Jul 2016

Ten ways martial arts training can help survivors of abuse

by | posted in: Emotions, Empowerment, Survivors, Violence | 7

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 . . .

Ten ways that martial arts can help children with Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD)
29 Jun 2016

Ten ways that martial arts can help children with Behavioural, Emotional and Social Difficulties (BESD)

by | posted in: Academic, Children, Inclusion | 7

Evan Vlachos straddles three worlds, as a special education teacher, a researcher and a Karate practitioner (Shorin ryu Karate-do and Matayoshi Kobudo). This gives him a unique insight into how martial arts can benefit children with BESD . . .

According to Evan, here are ten of key benefits of traditional martial arts training for these children . . .