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Some of the absolute best martial arts seminars I have been to were with Tim Cartmell when he visited Seattle. Over several years I attended Tim's Bagua, Taiji and Xingyi sessions, and one on MMA for the street. Tim lived, trained and competed in Asia for many years, returned to the States and earned his Black Belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He has also authored and co-authored many valuable books on Chinese martial arts, some of which I have. Above is a sample of Tim's "Ground Proofing" video... Read Full Story

Today is the annual fist-pumping-scream-fest known in America as The Super Bowl. Or should I say "Stupor Bowl". Millions of chickens will give up their wings. High-fructose corn syrup will rain from the sky, clinging to the sweating brows of obese former high school athletes. Bud and Bud Lite will battle on the field of crappy Beers. I wrote in November that Martial Culture is not Jock Culture . The "Art" of martial arts and even the challenge of man-to-man sparring is something intensely... Read Full Story

Spoiler Alert Being as today is Ground Hog Day, I thought this might be fun; but I am giving away a secret so back off if you are planning a visit to a Zen Monastery... Years ago a friend of mine wanted to straighten out his life and checked himself into a very famous Zen Monastery here in the U.S. There were gardening and cleaning tasks assigned, but the entire rest of the day was in seated meditation. He said they would sit there in a large group and count each breath to ten, and then start... Read Full Story

In our last post, we looked into steps to survive a possible economic crash, and the subject of making alcohol came up in the comment section. I tried making Beer years ago, but here's an even easier method to get quick booze made cheaply and with few supplies: Hard Cider Most people probably don't know this, but most of the original apple trees in the pre-industrial era were planted for making hard cider- healthy and loaded with alcohol. Where I live, I spend most of the winter pruning... Read Full Story

This is pretty cool if you haven't seen it: A house that transforms into a fortress. * Supposedly this is in South Africa. But from what I am reading on the fetid surf of the interwebs there's a lot of this going on. 2011 was a record year for gun sales. Sure, a lot of idiots think Obama is coming to take your guns. I like to remind them that the only President that has disarmed the American public was George W. Bush in Hurricane Katrina. In fact, Bush sent Mercenaries from private security... Read Full Story

Alternet has a short article by the Princess of Progressive Publishing, Katrina Vanden Heuvel. Vanden Heuvel, editor and publisher of " The Nation " magazine, has written "Why I Swapped Yoga for Kickboxing". Here are a few excerpts, followed by my commentary: "Now, I have nothing against yoga, but in light of the threat to our country posed by decidedly hawkish GOP wannabes, I find – at least for my purposes as publisher and editor of the Nation – yoga's emphasis on serenity and pacifism to... Read Full Story

Well, we've been snowed in most of this week up on our undisclosed secret island hideout. Took the 4wd out one day and it turned into a sled ride. The wife was driving down a steep hill with ice and snow, got a little sideways and had a slow-motion slide that left us perched over an 8-ft bank looking into the woods. So we sat there with the truck tipping back and forth, about to take a slow roll. -My wife did great. I told her to turn the wheels directly downhill and drop into the woods... Read Full Story

In fact, nearly all the progressive leadership was killed in the '60's On today, the celebration of the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, we must also remember that King was the target of a sophisticated conspiracy to kill him. The short video above provides the results of the 1999 jury trial "King Family Versus Jowers and Other Unknown Co-Conspirators". Here are a few excerpts from an article by Carl Herman : "Martin Luther King’s family and his attorney, William F. Pepper, won a... Read Full Story

Our Buddy Bob Patterson from "Striking Thoughts" alerted Dojo Rat Headquarters about this one: Female bodyguard training in China! Now pay attention fellow Dojo Rats, this will be an interactive project for all of us! Here's what Bob Said: "I smell an opportunity for DR female body guard training camp in the Pacific Northwest. I might quit my job to help you teach..." From "Buzzfeed": "Trainees gather at the beach as they wait for the beginning of a training session for female bodyguards... Read Full Story

Alternet has a funny and thoughtful piece by Tolly Moseley titled "Naked Yoga? Why I Stripped Down to Do "Clothing Optional" Yoga" Here's a few clips: "My instructor looked at me from the head of the dim room and smiled. Not in a creepy way, more in a “you can do this!” way. But I wasn’t so sure. I had struck a Warrior One pose a thousand times before, yet I still stumbled into the person next to me more often than I cared to admit. Normally I’d just offer a little self-deprecating shoulder... Read Full Story