I travel a lot for work, and have a unbreakable rule to train wherever I go. Texas, Alaska, Canada, Mexico. Whatever country or state I’m in, I find a school. Hopefully I’ll meet many of you along the way. It’s never not a bit nerve inducing. Doesn’t matter that I’ve been doing martial arts since I was a kid, visiting an unknown school can still bring worries. Encouragingly I can admit I often find welcome and kindness. But regrettably I have found a few schools where they want to run me through a grinder. Hey it’s a style, I’m not one to judge, but if you ain’t prepared for that grind you can get really messed up. Bringing me to my Priit Mihkelson praise. I have a rule that has given me confidence and control wherever I visit. Utilizing his stellar defensive principles I will always do a full defense round, sometimes even a full defensive training session. That way I can gauge the schools spirit, and even show them I’m there to be a good training partner. As much as I’m worried, they too need to see what I’m about. Many times I’ve had an instructor (a Carlos Gracie school stands out) say, “I know what you’re doing and I really respect it. Feel free to roll more offensive I can see you have a good mindset.” That’s my encouragement to anyone who might be reading this. If you get those nerves, and they seem to make you hesitate to train. Real talk you may not! You may be an absolute savage and my respect goes to you. But if you do experience a bit of worry, just give yourself over to the defense. You’ll improve, get a ton of data points along the way, and honestly gain much respect. Though some people will tell you your rolling is annoying but I digress. Now I’m off to sleep, have to fly out to West Virginia in the morning. Have a new school I’m checking out. We’ll see how my shield holds up. Pictured below is me going over some of these principles with my students (framing hip from bottom). Be blessed.

When sparring I like to also get a feel for the style (individual and school first). However, I don't put myself into bad positions / play defence because even when defence holds up, being on bottom against someone 20+ lbs heavier is gonna take a toll.

When sparring I like to also get a feel for the style (individual and school first). However, I don't put myself into bad positions / play defence because even when defence holds up, being on bottom against someone 20+ lbs heavier is gonna take a toll.