22 Fighting Fear At Valkyrie we make it no secret that we’re owned and run by women. We constantly, actively recruit women as students. When the subject of women, fear, and
22 Post Assessment First run of assessments done. Rapier sparring took up our entire night on the previous Monday, and the wrestling assessments completely destroyed the whole class and left us exhausted enough
167 Beauty and The Beast Being pretty means you win at life. That’s how it works. If you are born with the right genetics for the time, it’s like being
22 Dealing With the First Big Hit The first solid hit I ever got was rewarding. It was in my first month or so of MMA training, back before I ever picked up a sword. I was
22 Traditional Arts in the Modern Martial Arts World I love watching the UFC these days. It’s progressed and developed to the point where a good bout looks like sparring from old-school martial arts. Lyoto Machida’
167 Painting Death Ditch all the drama of martial arts, and you are left with a reality that doesn’t jive with our spoken or even understood reasons for training. Mostly we
22 Myriad Paths Handwork has certain character to it. In Valkyrie, our handwork is mostly modern boxing, with legwork thrown in from Savate and Shotokan. It’s a good blend, workable and
22 The Wolf Lord of Blades Capo Ferro sounds so much better when you make him all “Game of Thrones,” doesn’t he? Sounds a lot more badass. Would you rather learn the
22 Heat-seeking Fist A good fencer can make a great unarmed fighter. The training in use of measure is unmatched by any other martial art. Facing high speed steel all the time gives
22 Slow The F--- Down... If I could only ever do one thing to improve my fencing, it would be slow work with a competent partner. It’s the mother of all good technique,
22 A Little More Film Fun The new phone has a handy built-in video highlight feature. Just had to try it out in class last night, and share the results with you guys. A little swordplay:
22 Strong or sharp? I dearly love to punch people in the head, but not as much as I like to kick them in the thigh. Alright…I lie a little. I like
22 Transition to the Bridge You see the knife in the hand, and all your training tells you to do anything other than what you are about to do. Block, parry, run, kick, grab the
22 Jab, Hook...and Cut Jab. Jab. Jab. Over and over, feet moving around, playing at measure, dodging each shot that comes back at you. Constantly sticking that left hand in your opponents’ face,
22 Matadora By the Numbers We got a lot of excellent photos in last night’s class. It was in part due to a lack of equipment, which meant Courtney/She-hulk was able to
22 Take Five, From the Top I’m working on a new description of classes for students interested in training with the Valkyrie WMA Alliance. It’s not a difficult thing to do, but
22 Movements subtle, strong, swift, supple and bold At the still point of the turning world. Neither flesh nor fleshless; Neither from nor towards; at the still point, there the dance is, But neither arrest nor movement. And
22 Top Five Feeling a little under the weather this morning, and have an early start at work, so just a quick one this morning. The site has been running long enough to
22 Balance, Timing, and the War. The problem with most martial arts teaching, especially in written form, stems from a basic misunderstanding. In order for me to explain the technique I want to teach, I have
22 Mixing Martial Arts: Swords, Fists, and Sexuality It’s been a historic weekend for martial arts. Ronda Rousey and Liz Carmouche tore it up in the first UFC women’s Bantamweight championship. It was a
22 Boxing Marozzo We had a complex technique to learn, so I decided to start the class out with warm up drills. In theory, an angled off-line step is a simple thing, even
22 Measure Control From Sword to Hand Swordfighting can give you a great sense of measure. With good work and attention, you can reliably lean back out of an attack so it misses you by millimeters. You
22 Tenacity There is that lovely moment in an instructors life when you are pinned on your back, and you can feel your arm on the verge of breaking. A younger, fitter,
22 Lessons About Lessons I’m a little sore this morning. Moving seems to take a little more effort than expected. My joints feel tender on the inside. We had a great class
