August Is All About Positivity
This weekly post highlights positivity in the martial arts from around the world. Unfortunately, it is far too easy to find negative stories on the internet. Positive ones, however, are harder to find. Let’s recognize and celebrate those martial artists and schools who are doing good things in their communities, as well as, making great accomplishments.
You can see the last installment here.
Martial Arts Podcasts
Do you like martial arts? Do you like podcasts? If you answered yes to both, then you are in for a treat! The team at Whistlekick recently launched a website to feature various martial arts podcasts. Click here to read about why the Whistlekick team decided to create a home for all martial arts podcasts. If you want to discover martial arts podcasts, or would like to get your podcast featured on the site, then make sure to head on over to https://www.martialartspodcasts.com/ and check it out!
Melbourne, Australia
Regardless of where you attended school, there are some subjects that would be considered required learning. Math, science, language, and writing would be obvious ones. Typically there is also a physical activity component in many schools as well. In those classes, you learn the basics of popular sports like basketball, baseball, and futbol/soccer among others. However, what if you learned the basics of self-defense? Martial artist and Biggest Loser trainer Tiffany Hall thinks that self-defense should be part of the mandatory curriculum in schools. Now that’s an idea that I would like to see more discussion on!
Rhyl, Wales, United Kingdom
The heart is an amazing organ. It literally never stops throughout our lifespan from the first beat to the last. No sleep. No coffee breaks or vacations. However, in some rare cases, it can grow with imperfections that can cause it to fail prematurely. Paul Williams was born with a rare defect in his heart that has already caused him to go into cardiac arrest without warning. While the doctors were able to use an implant to solve the problem with his heart, he developed PTSD. However, his discovery of Tai Chi has helped him to start to conquer his fears of his heart stopping and reclaim his life.
Quebec, Canada
What if I told you that you could buy a car, learn how to drive and operate it on a training course, but never take it on the road? Might you wonder if I have just lost my mind because that doesn’t make any sense? If that was the case, why would you bother buying one? Well, Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu practitioners in Quebec have a similar gripe. They are allowed to train in BJJ, but not compete based on a law that was designed to ban MMA competitions. Which is just like the hypothetical situation of learning to drive without being able to drive; it’s completely ridiculous.
Bangui, Central African Republic
Many things can be used to separate us as people – religion, borders, gender, wealth, age, politics… and the list goes on and on. While I have always known about it, a recent conversation with a friend helped me to crystallize my thought process on one thing that universally unites people: The Martial Arts. Have you ever been to a gathering and found that one person who also trains? Immediately better gathering, right? The martial arts stands adjacent and separate from all of those other things in our lives. Where they have a tendency to divide us into groups, the martial arts has a tendency to break down those barriers and unite us with common ground and mutual respect. In Bangui, they are using Capoeira to do that very thing!
Let’s start a discussion! Did any of these articles have an effect on you? Did they change the way you viewed a particular topic? Don’t be shy! Feel free to sound off!
If you know of any good examples of positivity in the martial arts, please let me know! You can contact me directly using the contact form right below this, or post in the comments section at the bottom of the page.
As always, embrace positivity, my brothers and sisters!
- Martial Journal Is Growing and Expanding! - August 21, 2019
- The Grandmaster Movie Review - August 3, 2019
- “Big Brother” Movie Review - July 19, 2019
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