Suffragettes and Ju Jutsu

Before the beginning of the First World War Great Britain wasn’t a hugely democratic country. Until the 1867 Reform Act most men didn’t have the vote. The Reform Act changed this but women still most certainly weren’t allowed to vote.

What If You Just Don’t Get It

We have all been in a situation where no matter how hard you try, you just can’t get a technique right. Even if your instructor or training partner is being very compliant and helpful.

Martial Arts v Reality

Ok you have been doing martial arts for a while now and gone through the belt system a bit and you are now doing very some very technical techniques which have a some danger to them so you are definitely not a newbie anymore. This means you can handle yourself in a real fight, right?

Netflix – Age of Samurai Review

Netflix recently released the documentary Age of Samurai telling the story of the end of the Sengoku period or Warring States period from 1467 to 1615. The documentary dramatises the story, with commentary from historians, of the rise to power of Oda Nobunaga, Toyotomi Hideyoshi and Tokugawa Ieyasu and their eventual unification and control of the whole of Japan.

Martial Arts Belt System – Is It Needed?

Most martial arts have a some kind of belt system where you start with either a red or white belt and work your way up possibly following a curriculum and when your instructor thinks you are ready you take a grading exam and you get a different coloured belt until you get to black belt and then you get various degrees of black belt. However, is it needed?