journal.melendez.org

Binge Reading This Month

Joshua Jordan on Unsplash   Need to study this hand wrap technique.    Audio Interference: Teaching Self-Defense “When I first took karate, I was already an activist. And I could see right away what this could do for women in the 70s.” — Annie Ellman Good reminder of how privilege can be at play when we practice martial arts, with the luxury of multiple memberships (I'm guilty) and extended coursework (also). Great podcast featuring interviews with two groups that teach self-defense skills: Pop Gym and the Center for Anti-Violence Education . Dealing with Strikes from the Guard Practical self defense BJJ training. I'm always surpised how much sport jiu jitsu does not reflect the realities of fighting, so this is a refreshing change. Kind of a "no-duh" for Krav people, but good nonetheless. Why Krav Maga is Different from Martial Arts "A Krav Maga practitioner is not challenging anyone in their realm, or in any other realm.  We are normal pe...

Thanks,  Martin Kníže Slashing versus Stabbing Interesting comparison of knife attacks. My summary of the article is sometimes stabbing is better and sometimes slashing is better, and most of us thankfully will never have to actually find out first hand. Sticks and How to Attack with Them My instructors always remind us to be good attackers as that's the only way that your partner will learn. I'm guilty of occasionally pulling my punches on my partners in the interest of not injuring them, but I'm trying to be more aggressive while still demonstrating good control. Plus, in the world of self-defense fighting, training in how to be a bad guy is as helpful as the training to be a good guy. This article about how to attack with a stick is good stuff if you're trying to learn how to defend well against it. Hopefully you don't run into someone who knows how to do this, but the mechanics are very helpful to understand. Plus there's a cool video of p...

I’m not a doctor and only know what I have read and documented below. I’m not offering you medical advice in any way, shape or form. You should talk to your doctor before doing anything I or anyone else suggests to you.   I am writing this at the same time as I nurse my injured eye . I blame this recent kick boxing mishap on my lack of sleep the night before. Exercise can reward you with better sleep, but I would suggest that sleep be prioritized over exercise. Besides impacting reaction time and thus making you more prone to injury, we know that sleep affects metabolism , the ability to learn , and even moral judgment . Too much sleep can also be a problem. As we age, our ability to sleep uninterrupted gets more difficult , even though we still require the same amount of sleep. There’s a lot of advice out there and a lot of people hawking fixes to our sleep woes. It’s enough to make you stay awake at night fearing too little or too much sleep. Turn off your gadgets a...

We are eating very different food than our grandparents and most certainly different from our more distant ancestors. Not only has the nutritional density of food decreased over time due to modern farming , researchers are now suggesting that the carbohydrate density of food has increased as well, making plants and all the things that consume them less healthy by impacting metabolism at the same time as the nutrients are diminished . This has the unfortunate effect of making us consume more while benefiting less. I'm not Kurzweil crazy - yet. I’d like to think that this is why I’m so interested in nutritional supplements as I have slowly gotten into the habit of consuming a wide variety of them daily. While it stands to reason that we need to compensate for the lack of nutrition in our diets, if I’m honest with myself I really take supplements for the same reasons that we over consume medications; we’re all looking for a quick fix or an edge, enhancing ourselves to productiv...