Articles | YMAA

Tai Chi for Relaxation: Dealing with Stress
December 10, 2012
We are faced with many kinds of stress every single day. Modern life is fast-paced. The images we see in advertising and on TV are flashy and rapid-fire. The media and Internet blast millions of images before our eyes and minds every day. Prime-time television is cynical and obsessed with action, murder, and mayhem.
Excerpt from DUKKHA—The Suffering, A Sam Reeves Martial Arts Thriller
November 26, 2012
Dukkha: a Pali term that corresponds to such English words as pain, discontent, unhappiness, sorrow, affliction, anxiety, discomfort, anguish, stress, misery, and frustration.
Qigong for Women: Chest Health
November 5, 2012
Breast health is an important issue for women, but it is just part of the entire health concerns that should be addressed. Many people don't realize that almost ten times as many women die of major cardiovascular disease as die of breast cancer.
Who is Going to Teach Me: Your Teacher's Qualifications
October 29, 2012
"My sensei is a 5th dan," said one young man. "Oh yeh, my sensei is 6th," said the other. "My sensei has black belts in four different martial arts." "Well, my sensei is a master of weapons!"
A Map: Knowing Where You Stand in The Dojo
September 17, 2012
The size of an Okinawan karate dojo is likely to be smaller than its counterpart in America or Europe. It is also more likely to be attached to or form a part of the sensei’s home. Space on the island is at a premium and few families can afford the luxury of leaving large sections of their home vacant and unused for most of the day.
Traditional Tai Chi Ball Training - September 11, 2012
The tai chi ball is a traditional training tool used to strengthen the muscles, joints, and bones. It is also a method used to open and strengthen the circulation in the belt vessel. You may use any kind or size ball or any object that will fit between your hands for this exercise.
Hamstring Stretches - July 30, 2012
Because the hamstrings are the most stubborn muscles in our body, we need to constantly stretch them. If you think about it, the hamstrings are one of the muscles that do not have any strengthening exercises.
Fight, Flight or Freeze: Trained and Untrained Responses - July 2, 2012
School is out for the summer and it is a normal day, like any other. The sun is shinning, birds are singing in the trees and you’re working part time at the local grocery store, bagging groceries to pay tuition.
Karate Choices for Lifetime Achievements - June 13, 2012
In karate, when your sporting days are over, you might, like many others, make the false assumption that you can simply move across to budo karate: if you do, you’re making a big mistake!
Taekwondo-A Powerful Tool for Self-Defense - May 14, 2012
The martial art of Taekwondo, literally meaning "art of hand and foot fighting," is more than two thousand years old. Yet its physical and spiritual content have never been so vigorously sought after and practiced as it is now.
The Third Eye or Spiritual Breathing - May 7, 2012
The third eye is located behind the forehead, between the skull and the brain, in front of what is also called the spiritual valley or the crack between the two hemispheres of the brain.
Sport, Health, and Martial Art: Kyogi, Kenko, and Budo - March 19, 2012
For many people training in karate these days, there seems to be only one way to train … their way! Like other martial arts, karate has not escaped the glare of commercialism, and with that, the packaging and branding of each school, style, or association.
On Writing Dukkha - The Suffering - January 16, 2012
As a Portland, Oregon police officer, my partner and I once responded to the 12th floor of a high rise where a deranged man had just fired seven rounds from a shotgun into the face and chest of his psychiatrist.