Doctor Bryan Stoops' Martial Arts Wisdom For Everyday People

Wishing a happy, heavenly 100th birthday to the late, great Sigung Taky Kimura.

Dear Thaiboxing Friends,
Give the gift, just for one day, of not posting pics of yourself in obscenely shirt Thai shorts, no matter how attractive you are. Noel.

Dear JKD Friends,
Please give the gift of not arguing for a single day about what JKD is/is not or what Bruce Lee would be training today. Noel.

Who else loves the Filipino Martial Arts? This is coming up in two months. Join us online or in-person in Queens!

48 years ago today, we lost Bruce Lee. Today, I wrote the following article in gratitude:

Today, 48 Years Ago… On this day, July 20th, 1973, the world lost Bruce Lee. That was just under five years before I was born. I grew up reading Bruce Lee’s…

I have two things I want to put on everyone's radar:

1. My Virtual Phase I Jeet Kune Do Trainer Certification Weekend is just under a month away. Even if you have no prior martial arts background, if you are interested in the martial contributions of the late, great Bruce Lee, please visit http://www.virtualjkdtrainer.com/ for all of the info and to get registered today. The sooner you register, the more time you have to study the curriculum prior to the event.

2. I will be teaching a 45 minute block for the birthday celebration of Grand Tuhon Gaje on Saturday, May 1st. My section will be on Being A Multi-Dimensional Stick Fighter! Use the info on the attached digital flier to register today.

May 22nd and 23rd, I will be teaching my second Virtual Phase I Trainer Certification Weekend, but my first one focused on Jeet Kune Do! You can get all of the info at virtualjkdtrainer.com and most importantly: when you visit that page, put in your info for a special option!

There are a few hours left until I open up registration for my Virtual Jeet Kune Do Phase I Trainer Certification Weekend.

Visit virtualjkdtrainer.com right now & put in your info on that page.

When registration opens in a few hours, you will be approached first with a special option. Only those indicating their interest will receive this option.

In June of 2020, I taught the Filipino Martial Arts version of the same offering, and we had a blast! The JKD Weekend will be held May 22nd and May 23rd; come and join our group for an amazing training experience.

Here is the schedule for my Virtual Jeet Kune Do Phase I Trainer Certification Weekend. Visit virtualjkdtrainer.com right now to indicate your interest in attending. You will be contacted first and offered a discount when registration opens in a few days.

On Sat & Sun, May 22nd & 23rd, I will be offering a Virtual Jeet Kune Do Phase I Trainer Weekend. I will release the schedule very soon. Registration is going to open in a few days. Visit the link below & submit your info. When registration does open, I will contact you first (and offer you 10% off).

For all of the info, and to get on the interest list, just visit http://virtualjkdtrainer.com/

After digging around a little, I recently found my first draft of my martial arts student manual. I wrote this sometime around 2011 when I opened up my first semi-pro academy in Chino Hills, California. I recently held my Zoom, training event, Decade, to celebrate the opening of that academy 10 years ago.

That first draft is interesting because all of the arts are together at every level. We did a lot of good training in that garage. Today, I have attached some pictures from that garage academy, and I have posted the rules from my student manual below.

I'm going to be really honest; there is no one way to get through the Pandemic. It's only worth grinding away at some goal if doing so is NOT going to erode your will. Some people are barely getting by. If you are doing okay (whatever that means), then yeah, it may be time to try to (safely) go after some of the goals you had for yourself before this 13+ month long episode of Black Mirror through which we're all living started.

I have over 100 hours of complimentary Filipino Martial Arts, Jeet Kune Do, Silat, Wing Chun, and Youth Martial Arts classes recorded and waiting for you on my YouTube Channel. I'm not going to lie: they're not the most spectacular thing from the standpoint of production. They were filmed in my old living room, and...well, I really hate watching/listening to ANYTHING I'm in.

I know that sometimes people don't want to watch long clips, and I respect that. You can use the videos in any way that will be helpful for you, including watching classes in 10 minute installments. If you could please just subscribe, like some of the videos, and share the link with anyone who might benefit from the videos, I would really appreciate it: https://www.youtube.com/user/StoopsMartialArts?sub_confirmation=1

I have martial arts offerings for martial artists, non-martial artists interested in advancing their careers like a warrior, K12 educators struggling through this dumpster fire wrapped up in a meteor headed towards earth of a school year, and martial arts instructors who (just like me in March of 2020) don't know where to go next. Just visit http://bryanstoopsmartialarts.com/

Lastly, I wish you good health, safety, and happiness as we move into Spring. That is a non-political statement. I have always said the hardest part of any journey is the last leg. You feel like you're done but you're really not, but the impulse to rush is strong. I know we all can see "normalcy" on the horizon. It's tempting to rush, but if we rush, it's easy to stumble. Tomorrow, I'm only going to wish those celebrating a happy Easter on social media, not write a big long thing, so this is my last long post of the week.

Please be safe, and take care of yourself. If martial arts is not "your thing", I truly hope you know what is, and that you're learning into it to help you through these hopefully once-in-a-lifetime times! Enjoy your day...

Here are those rules from that manual:

Rules
1. Treat everyone involved in your training with respect. This includes your partners, seniors, juniors, instructors, and your instructor’s instructors.

2. Tame your ego. Learn from the people who know more than you do, the people who know just as much, and the people who know less.

3. The training environment should be a place of refuge. No profanity or inappropriate remarks.

4. Leave your life at the door. Clear your mind. Do not take out external frustrations on your partners by injuring them in drilling. Take out your frustrations on inanimate training objects (heavy bag, etc.).

5. Remember to salute before class, after a drill is demonstrated, before you feed/receive, and after time is called. When in doubt, salute.

6. Please address men as “sir” and women as “ma’am” during class.

7. When in doubt, refer to your instructor as “Guro”. It’s important to learn about the culture of the martial arts.

8. Don’t ask when you’re testing for rank. Your instructor will tell you when you’re ready. Adults don’t wear their belts to class.