Hook Sweep Secrets

Here is a neat video clip taken whilst I was teaching at Rodney Kings (Crazy Monkey) Martial Arts retreat in Singapore recently. my partner was Sydney based brown belt Adam Kayoom. This particular class was on some more advanced ideas for super-charging the hook sweep. I hope everyone finds it useful.
best wishes for Christmas,
JBW

Making New Years Resolutions Work!

Hi Everyone
I would like to wish you all the very best for this Christmas and the coming new year.
New years is usually a time when everyone becomes motivated to make new and positive changes in the way they live their lives - a chance to improve on last years efforts - a chance to 'start over'.
Usually though, people start off with a 'bang' - and it is not too long before their new visions begin to fade to a fizzle. Why is this so?
A large part of the reason that new years resolutions so often fail, is due of the type of motivation that underpins that resolution. One way to think of it is like this:
There are two types of motivation - the 'away from' type and the 'toward' type.
If our news years resolution is based on the 'away from' type - ie: a desire to move away from the mundane, away from the ordinary, then perhaps, though well intentioned, it is doomed to fail. The reason is simple - when we actually begin to move 'away from' that picture we have in our head, our brain says' mission accomplished' and the motivation becomes weaker.
Instead, if we were to employ the 'toward' style of motivation ie: we see oursleves moving toward a 'state of excellence', toward the 'extraordinary' then the nearer we get to that picture, then the stronger the motivation becomes.
So: it's easy. become clearer on what you want to become, on what you want to acheive - and don't think about what you are trying to 'move away from'. Make the picture, big, bright and clear. The motivation will stay strong - and you will fill it building as you make progress.
So have a great Christmas with family and loved ones, I will get back online after I return from the wilds of Tasmania - as I am about to leave for my annual jaunt into the remote regions of the central plateau.
best regards,
JBW

Tips for the hook guard

here is a short vid clip on a powerful method of dealing with an opponent who is trying to pass our hooking guard. This modified arm-drag works wonders when an opponent has taken a grip on either or both of your legs.
Train Safe - train Smart!
JBW

Priorities for living

Home at last ... it is great to be back with my family and at my school in the evenings once again. My schedule between now and the end of January is pretty low-key and relaxed - a time to re-charge and regroup before 2007 gets too far underway.

Different people have different priorities, and those priorities will change as the circumstances of their lives change. One thing becomes clear to most everyone at some point - the more fortunate realise it sooner rather than later - and that is the understanding that 'time' is more valuable than money. Time to spend with friends and loved ones, time for ourselves, time to re-create, time to fulfill our personal needs.

My father gave me much great and sage advice whikst he was still alive - and one piece that seems more and more relevant to me is this:
LIVE FOR TODAY BUT PLAN FOR TOMORROW

I have known quite a few people who have worked themselves to the point where they had no time to spend doing the things they really wanted to do. They put those things off, citing that they would do them one day 'when they had the time'. The sad thing is, that day never came for these people I knew, because through one circumstance or another, their lives came to an early end. To me, this is profoundly sad.

We all need to work, we need to plan for tomorrow, we need to set ourselves up financially so that we have more options available to us as the future becomes the present; but for me at least, NEVER, at the expense of putting off LIVING TODAY.

Live well - live fully - live in the moment - treasure your close friendships, love your family as if it were your last week alive - live with passion and integrity - plan for tomorrow, yes - and plan well, but LIVE FULLY FOR TODAY - for the now is all we can ever be truly and completely certain of.

Live well - live smart.
JBW