The Way of Least Resistance

I have just received word that this blog has received another award - making it to the Top 15 Tai Chi Blogs on Qialance ! Thank you Angelika for this honour! Copyright © 2016 Dejan Djurdjevic

A year after the publication of my  bestselling  martial arts textbook  Essential Jo  (and more than 5 years after the book was written and photographed), I am proud to announce the publication of the long-awaited companion DVD of the same name. Essential Jo , the DVD, covers the same ground as the book, along with some very useful bonus material, notably a detailed analysis of "Jusan" - the 13 count form - both in single person and two person form. The jo - the Japanese 4-foot staff - was originally taught with the ken (sword) in the samurai arts. This two hour video is arguably the most comprehensive on the subject to date, offering a course of study from white through to black belt in this practical, yet elegant, art. While it is intended primarily for students with experience in weapons arts, particularly jodo, the book can also be used by beginners for home study. The art of jodo makes an excellent addition to any martial art system. ...

Well this was an unexpected and very highly appreciated new year gift: The Way of Least Resistance was recently selected by BookMartialArts.com as one of its Top 30 Favorite Martial Arts Blogs ! To be up there with Ikigai Way , KARATEByJesse and so many others that I have followed and appreciated over the years is truly an honour and a privilege. Thank you, most sincerely, BookMartialArts.com! Copyright © 2016 Dejan Djurdjevic

I've received an absolutely wonderful New Year's Eve gift from Dr Arnold Rosenstock in the form of a 5 star review of Essential Jo. Thank you Arnold! Edit: and a great 5 star review from Josh Fiebig - thanks Josh! Copyright © 2015 Dejan Djurdjevic

After making an entry several times this year into the " hot new release " list (but languishing in the top 200 generally), last night "Essential Jo" finally cracked Amazon's Martial Arts Bestseller list overall, reaching at least 46. [Edit: as of 31/12/2015 it is at 33! ] Given that the sales have steadily been increasing from month to month - and the fact that I'm about to release the companion DVD in the next week or two, I have no reason to suspect the situation will change except for the better.  Every single month brings increased awareness and sales. Either way, I'm officially a bestselling writer! So much for the two publishers who, after a full year each of wasting my time with indecision, finally rejected my text as "not commercially viable".  (One of them had the gall to write to me recently asking me to review their titles on my blog!) Anyway, look out for the DVD folks! Copyright © 2015 Dejan Djurdjevic

Our Wu-Wei Dao syllabus at the Academy of Traditional Fighting Arts contains physical prerequisites for grading. The first reaction I tend to get from more mature students is one of horror.  I guess that is understandable: the older I get, the less I like the idea of having keep up with 20-somethings.  I guess I feel a bit like some ancient police sergeant having to do an obstacle course in under a certain time. There are the usual arguments I face - like "I'm learning martial arts skills - not training to be an MMA fighter, a law enforcement officer or soldier.  Why the heck do I need some kind of physical test?" And the answer is: "You don't." We have plenty of students who train in our non-grading classes - in particular my Chinese arts class.  There we don't have any gradings at all.  I teach certain techniques and coach students in developing their skill in these techniques.  And all of this is done without any reference to a particular p...

Over the last 2 decades I've noticed an explosion of interest in karate in "bunkai" - applications of karate's kata (forms).  There was a time (in the not too distant past) where karate had stagnated badly.  Kata were practised almost in a vacuum: forms as a series of movements and no analysis on one hand - sparring or two person drills with no nexus to the kata on the other.  This seemed to be the case since karate became popularised in Japan in the 1930s and was diluted for teaching to school kids.  It only got worse in the 1950s and 60s when it spread to the West. By the 1980s I noticed a few teachers trying to claw the way back to bunkai as the primary source of karate knowledge.  As just one example, Higaonna Morio sensei of goju ryu released his 8mm and later video tapes of kata and applications.  Meanwhile, other teachers, like Hirokazu Kanazawa sensei of SKI shotokan, handled the dilemma in a totally different way, cataloging hundreds of two ...