About This Blog

Welcome to Fight Strategies, Secrets of the Masters.

This blog is

• devoted to the advanced study of fighting
• covering competitive (e.g. sport) and self-defense applications
• intended for the fighter that wants to know more than just form
• endeavoring to not only understand how, but why

Masterful fighting is more like Magic than you may realize.   Many times, once you see how the trick is done, you think "well that's so obvious, I could have done that", but before this point you didn't get or do the trick!  Further, knowing how the trick is done is nothing like actually performing it.  Even more still, performing it in front of a live audience (like with an actual opponent) is a whole other thing.  Like a magician, this stuff must be practiced over and over and over and over and over by a martial artist, and with an actual, unpredictable, opponent in a dynamic setting.  Masters do make things look easy, but only because they did the hard thing, practiced properly.

For over 30 years I enjoyed the fighting arts as a hobby: a side activity that complimented my priorities in life (family, career, school, etc.).  I took various fighting classes, entered the ring, went to seminars, watched fights, cheered on friends, enjoyed action movies, competed, joined teams, and practiced.  In 2014, the opportunity to move from "Hobby" status to "Serious Student" and "Coach" presented itself and I took it.  The result has been incredible.  So many details have become clear with these new eyes, and like a preacher whose just discovered his new faith, I want to share.

Since switching over, there have been numerous Black Belts from multiple disciplines that have commented to me on how powerful are the details that I pull forward and present to them in our training together. They note that over the years those things just become a part of what happens in their motions, and are part of their natural artistry.  We end up with very interesting discussions, and then have some amazing dynamic, kinetic exchanges on the floor!

This blog was created as an outgrowth of my continued studies, as a serious full time student of fighting arts and a coach.  I've been building a personal collection of videos and analysis that can be shared more broadly for those students so inclined to learn of the subtle details, the secrets of the masters.

There are a few things that must be made abundantly clear:

1. I claim no credit for any of these techniques, my contribution is simply highlighting details
2. Knowing the details doesn't mean you can apply them, so you must practice practice practice
3. I'm not a fighting arts bigot, I'm open to anything that works regardless of style

It is my sincere hope that these posts help you in your journey as a fighter and/or fighting aficionado.  Like with Mozart or Bach or Chopin, or Rembrandt or Da Vinci or Van Gogh, or Milton or Shakespeare or Dante, while you may appreciate their work, when you see the actual details in their work, you appreciate the artists individual brilliance too as I do.

-Will