I have said time and time again martial arts are metaphors for life, but what exactly does that mean? In short it means all skills you need in life martial arts can give you. The most obvious of these is the ability to defend yourself. This skill, however, is simply scratching the surface. Looking deeper into self defense, beyond the base level of combative application, it ultimately means learning how to communicate effectively, keeping the advantage. 

A well placed bomb, grenade, bullet, punch, kick, sweep, throw, joint lock etc. is simply one piece to the whole of martial arts that ultimately distills down to effective communication. How well can you develop report? How can both of you win? How can the conflict be dissolved? More so how can your enemy become your friend? 

I know this is quite off topic from what I normally write about, however, I feel it is very much inline with martial art philosophy and outlook, which is very important and pertinent to the correct practice of Kung Fu and Tai Chi. Martial arts are meant to deal with combat, and being that combat is something that few have experienced and even fewer decide to write about, I figured I'd share my response with everyone. Today on going to church I listened to a very moving sermon summarizing a classic sermon which was given by Dr. Fosdick back in Nov. 12th, 1933 titled "The Unknown Soldier" I will attach the original sermon in PDF at the end of this blog post for you to read and reference. Enjoy my friends and as usual comment, like and share. Thanks.

In our last post (What makes a PERFECT Relaxation Massage!) we touched on what makes a perfect massage, and in particular we covered elements of a perfect relaxation massage. Today we're going to dive into what elements make a perfect therapeutic massage.

In the context of therapeutic massage it is important to work with the client closely, regulating your work and more importantly your intensity to their current ability and tolerance. Sometimes, if not all the time, when working through troubled areas there will be discomfort, pain, and stress response from the client.