Surviving a Traditional Dojo

A fellow martial arts blogger I follow, Matt Apsokardu, just released a free e-book on surviving in a traditional dojo. It focuses on life in schools of very traditionalist-style arts such as Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Aikido and others. People studying arts such as Krav Maga or any street-style defense won't find it as useful, but there's still some interesting content for those folks as well.

Matt's a smart guy and a great blogger. He's been blogging about traditional arts for quite awhile and has been practicing martial arts for over 13 years.

I just got done reading it and I'd have to say it's pretty good stuff. People I'd recommend it to most:

• Anyone considering getting into martial arts - especially those scared to death of trying
• Martial artists of 0-5 years of training

This book outlines the culture of traditional martial arts and will inform you of just about all aspects of it, not only to make you more comfortable in knowing what to expect, but to make you a better student.

Here's Matt's summary of what's in the book:

• Achieving a beginner’s mindset
• Learning the martial arts uniform and belt
• Taking care of yourself and avoiding pitfalls
• Stretching and effective practice
• Handling problems with teachers and other students
• Fighting and self defense
• Dealing with rank and hierarchy
• Shuhari and lessons in being advanced

Matt's terminology is very Japanese-oriented, so you may find some terms different depending on the origins of your art. Largely though, much of his advice can easily span the most common traditional arts taught here in the United States.

Another great part: I'm in it in the "Words of Wisdom" section.

It's free. If you do a traditional style or are thinking of trying one you should definitely download it: Student’s Guide to Surviving a Traditional Dojo