Taking Another Shot at Good Competition: What it Means to All of Us, Who We Are and How We Are Perceived! By MAH (“Mad as Hell”) Joe Corley I have just gagged my way through the CBS primetime debut of “mixed martial arts, featuring “the one, the only Kimbooooooooooo Sliiiiiiiiiiiice!” During two hours and 45 [...]
Sometimes you learn things in the strangest places. Being a writer, I’m always looking for story angles and tidbits of information to pass onto MAPro readers. I recently ran across a fascinating article I believe relates directly to most of the instructors in this industry. The article was bout, of all things, fishing, and the [...]
I have found that, on average, a traditional martial arts instructor doesn’t necessarily make a good martial arts (MA) fitness instructor. The reason for this is because traditional martial arts and MA fitness are two completely different animals. Teaching traditional martial arts has very little to do with teaching martial arts fitness. The elements that [...]
The instructor holds the air shield high, at face level. He is prepared to withdraw the air shield when the student strikes to avoid too much impact on the student’s hand. Again, the student must feel the impact, so that he can gauge the power of his strike. Retract the shield just a micro-instant after [...]
When I started teaching the martial arts years ago, the one label I thought my school needed to avoid more than any other label was “most expensive school in town.” I felt that charging top dollar for teaching the arts was an apostasy. I was convinced that expensive schools could not possibly have the same [...]
Twelve months ago, I sat down to begin writing a column for this magazine, a column about philosophy and how it relates to business. And at the time, my son had just been born and things were changing in my life. Up until that point, while running my business, I would get caught up [...]
In my March 2008 column, I covered the various reasons why every martial arts school should have a Web site as part of its marketing plan. I also emphasized that your school’s Web site has two main purposes: to increase new business and to retain and extend the training of current students. Much like how [...]
Classical martial artists spend much time and energy to learn timing, as part of their training. For example, in traditional Japanese swordsmanship, when the warrior defeated his enemy, based on the moment in time, he became aware that an attack was imminent.Go No Sen is the name for a warrior who saw the attack and [...]
[Editor's Note: This column presents the text of the third and fourth pages of the formal, color invitation that Master Corley presents to his students who are invited to his school's Leadership Training program. It reflects his thoughts on the pursuit of mastery. Read and use whichever parts you like...and be sure to œwalk the [...]
Although fitness enthusiasts, coaches and martial arts instructors have been doing their favorite exercises for years, the new science of sports medicine has begun to demonstrate that certain exercises are contraindicated (meaning they are counter productive). Admittedly, there is some dispute over these exercises, with many longtime practitioners saying they have done certain moves for [...]
This month, we are going to examine the “prison bully” story told in last month’s article such that we can profit from its lessons in self-defense. We first need to realize that while those events occurred in the crucible of prison life, the lessons they teach aply to human conflict in any environment. All of [...]
In the daily routine of running a business, it can become easy to look for patterns that make our lives easier. In fact, looking for patterns is built into the human psyche. So many strange photographs and ghost sightings can be explained merely by the fact that the human eye is predetermined to find the [...]
If you do not let the public know who you are, where you are located and the products and services you offer, then don’t expect them to become students. This may seem so basic as not to require mentioning, but it is a little more complicated. What I mean is communicating the right information to [...]
Why I Love Martial Arts Fitness
I’ve recently been reflecting on the impact my programming has had on people and the difference between what I hear my students say today as opposed to when I taught only a traditional martial arts program. In the past, the compliments were mostly about how a child improved in school or how much more confident [...]
Protect your Assets with the Right Business Entity, Part 1
As I wrote in my August/September column, the best way to keep what you have is not to have anything in your name. To implement that strategy, you must choose the right business entity (or entities) to limit exposure of your assets to (successful) lawsuits and separate your asset ownership. This month, I’ll explain Sole [...]
When I served my three tours of military duty in Southeast Asia, we used multiple layers of defensive methods, or multiple redundancy defenses, to protect an installation. For example, my job as a dog handler was to be the first level of defense, encountering the enemy outside the perimeter of the installation. We were also [...]
