Category Archives: Martial arts

About the martial arts I teach, practice and research.

Uvalde

Posted on June 3, 2022 by Stephen W. Browne

Another horrific mass shooting has reignited the bitter recriminations that always follow such events. Shocking claims about inaction by the police that day are turning up, which I’d rather not say anything about that before further investigation, but it doesn’t … Continue reading →

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Deadly decisions

Posted on September 12, 2012 by Stephen W. Browne

Researching and writing the article “Deadly force decisions” for Monday’s paper was the most intense experience I’ve had at the Independent to date – and that includes donning harness and climbing a 70 foot ladder to the top of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Martial arts, Personal, Science | 2 Comments

Review: Knights of Mayhem

Posted on December 9, 2011 by Stephen W. Browne

Note: Printed in the Marshall Independent TV Guide What you first see when you tune into “Knights of Mayhem,” a new reality show on of all places the National Geographic Channel, appears to be a bunch of smack-talking, foul-mouthed rednecks … Continue reading →

Posted in Martial arts, Movies | 3 Comments

With sword in hand

Posted on July 2, 2011 by Stephen W. Browne

I just received my baskethilt broadsword from Purpleheart Armory yesterday, and I’m having a lot of fun and making quite a nuisance of myself to my family with it. Purpleheart owner Christian D’Arcy makes a wooden waster for broadsword practice … Continue reading →

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The 21 foot rule

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Stephen W. Browne

I’ve blogged about knives and their use in the martial arts category. At Wim Demeer’s site I just found Danny Inosanto teaching some cops exactly how dangerous it is to approach anyone with a knife. It must be stressed, these … Continue reading →

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Knives, knife fighting, and nightmares – part 2

Posted on December 20, 2010 by Stephen W. Browne

OK, I hope you’ve read the stuff on Animal’s site I urged on you in part 1. Now I’m going to present the case for knives as a tool of self-defense, and hope to God I’m not talking to the … Continue reading →

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Knives, knife fighting, and nightmares – part 1

Posted on December 5, 2010 by Stephen W. Browne

For law enforcement officers, civilians, and martial artists, knives are a terrifying reality. Police who have to get close to contacts to question or arrest them, have to keep in mind the possibility of them having something unobtrusive and deadly … Continue reading →

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Training with Guro Danny again

Posted on February 22, 2010 by Stephen W. Browne

This weekend I drove four-and-a-half hours to Minneapolis to the Minnesota Kali Group school to train with Guro Danny Inosanto. Danny was one of Bruce Lee’s senior students, and his choice to carry on his art of Jeet Kune Do. … Continue reading →

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Martial arts and combatives, pt 2: What can you get out of it?

Posted on January 1, 2010 by Stephen W. Browne

My point about this is, “combatives” teachers sometimes like to cop an attitude of “this isn’t martial arts, this is the real thing.” However, looking at these videos I see an awful lot of martial arts techniques. If you know something about bunkai (application) of traditional Karate kata for example, in combatives DVDs you see palm heel strickes, fist hammer, knife hand, ridge hand, and that rising outer forearm strike usually mis-called an “upward block.”

The difference is how they’re practiced. There’s something in the energy of the O’Hagan and the Defendo demonstrations that’s hard to describe, but you could call it intent. Though they’re pulling the blows, they actually look like they’re intending harm rather than trying to look good for an audience.

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Martial arts and combatives, Part 1: What’s out there?

Posted on December 20, 2009 by Stephen W. Browne

I’ve written here about the study of one of my two primary martial arts styles Pekiti Tirsia Kali , and about the new fad for the study of “combatives” based on the training for soldiers and OSS operatives that evolved … Continue reading →

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