The First Post

Welcome to "Travels in the Martial Arts", a blog dedicated to the discussion of and reflection upon my travels and experiences in the martial arts, be they international, interpersonal, or internal. In my monthly (and hopefully more frequent) entries, I hope to recount important insights and experiences I have during my personal journey as a martial artist in the hopes of inspiring and inciting conversation with others. Posts will include (but certainly won't be limited to) visits to martial arts schools throughout the United States and the world, reviews of books on the martial arts, and experiences in independent practice. Though I had been sitting on the idea of recording my experiences in a public format for some time, it was not until a recent trip in the Western United States that I began to realize the value of such writing both for myself and the martial arts community.

The martial arts community, as far as I have observed, is an unusually eclectic and divided one, marked not only by stark disagreements on all levels from technical to philosophical, but also by a lack of communication and awareness between groups. While in the biological sciences (the other large community of interest in which I include myself) groups of opposing beliefs most certainly exist, they at least acknowledge one another's existence and may regularly come into contact through conferences, meetings, and articles. By contrast, many martial artists and their schools or communities have a tendency toward parochial viewpoints and an attitude toward outsiders that, if not xenophobic, is at least apathetic. Those who are more open to outside viewpoints still often lack a mode to communicate their perspectives in an open forum and exchange knowledge beyond the rare visit by an outside student. Though this is most certainly a generalization--as my travels have shown me countless times in the past--I believe blogs like this one have a great role in promoting greater exchange between martial artists (and martial arts) and in helping the community become a more cohesive whole.


Thus, I urge readers--especially those with more experience and training than I have--to read and respond to my posts as they please, or, even better, to start their own blogs and give their perspectives that way. Throughout my posts I will make assertions based on my own personal experience and opinions, and hope that readers will feel free to share their own views or answer questions posed throughout.

To start things off, like some sort of cooking-show blog writer, I have two posts prepared earlier so that readers don't have to wait for the finished product to come out of the oven. These two, titled "Mountain Training" parts 1 and 2 were written in late March during my visit with some relatives in Kalispell, Montana. It is my sincere hope that you will enjoy reading these as much as I enjoyed writing them, and I look forward to adding additional posts as time goes on.
Thanks for reading!

Charles