My Favorite Posts of 2013 (also it's my 1,000th post!)

Hard to believe this milestone finally happened ... it's my 1,000th post!


The timing is just right as I was planning on posting my favorite posts of 2013. It was hard to choose given the 555 entries in 2013. However, the Top 25 Popular Posts can be found here:

• Happy New Year 2014 & 2013 Popular Posts

Next up are 25 of my favorite posts from 2013 (in no real order). Hope you like them too:



1. My friend Joe Silvia is a mixed martial arts coach who also teaches martial arts and weapons in New Bedford, MA. He wrote some articles for his gym, Hematoma Fight Club (what a name, right!?!?!?!), and with his kind permission, I've reposted some here. Here is one that I find informative and useful:

• MMA: Hematoma Fight Club Training Guide by Joe Silvia

2 - 3.  Both my friends Craig Gemeiner and Armando Basulto are martial arts instructors who teach Savate and La Canne in addition to other arts. I'm primarily into Filipino Martial Arts, especially the stickfighting methods so these were great for me to see/learn a different approach:

• ARTICLES: Craig Gemeiner - The Stick Fighting Method of Pierre Vigny
• Armando Basulto - La Canne Basics

4. Two friends collaborated on an article, Mark Jacobs, columnist for Black Belt magazine and Phil Dunlap, a New Jersey-based MMA coach as well as a Kachin Bando instructor:

• Mark Jacobs & Phil Dunlap - Use Your Head: Clinch Fighting in Burmese Martial Arts

5. My friend Greg Jahiel contributed a book review to my site. I wanted to post some of my reviews and his review is in a style I aspire my writing to be. Check it out here:

• REVIEW: Greg Jahiel - "When Buddhists Attack" by Jeffrey K. Mann

 
6. Manong Ron Saturno, student of Angel Cabales the late Grandmaster of Serrada Escrima, has graciously allowed me to repost many of his writings. He is a great storyteller as well as a great Escrimador. This piece he wrote is especially awesome for any Filipino Martial Arts students. He wrote about the one time GM Cabales went to challenge Manong John Lacoste (one of the primary FMA instructors to the legendary Dan Inosanto). Read on about the challenge - be warned, this may bring a tear to your eye:

• Ron Saturno - The Very Heart and Soul of the Filipino Martial Arts

7. I posted a series of Coach Tony Blauer's videos and there is some good material that can aid in your Sojourn of Septillion Steps. Please check out the Cycle of Behavior series starting with:

• Tony Blauer - The Cycle of Behavior Part 1

 

8 - 9. I've posted some entries on Learning, they are all good, after all it's about Learning. These 2 top my list:

• LEARNING: Effective Learning Strategies
• James DeMile - Bruce Lee’s Five Stages for Accelerated Learning

10 - 11. I'm interested in Self-Defense and many instructors/students have a fantasy of what a 'knife fight' looks like which generally is unlike Reality. These 2 posts are graphic and should not be viewed with minors or if you have a weak stomach for these matters. Both vidclips will show you how vicious and ugly a 'knife fight' really is. Totally unlike TV/Movies portrayals:

• The Brutal, Terrifying, & Sobering Reality of Knifefights
• VIDCLIP: Lecture showing graphic images of stab wounds

12 - 14. Sometimes one can get into a situation that need not be resolved with physical violence. Sometimes you can talk your way out of it. It can be a self-defense situation, or it can be an argument with a loved one or co-worker. But do you know what to look for when it comes to verbal skills? Do you know what to say and how to say it? Check these out as start:

• Suzette Haden Elgin - The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defense (GAVSD) Overview
• THE WISDOM OF ... Dr. George Thompson (creator of Verbal Judo)
• De-escalation by Loren Christensen

15 - 18. Wisdom is all around. If you just look and listen, you will find it sometimes from unlikely sources or sources you would not have thought of. Some advice in this "thing" we call Life:

• THE WISDOM OF ... Arnold Schwarzenegger - Part 1 (6 Secrets of Success)
• THE WISDOM OF ... Ashton Kutcher
• THE WISDOM OF ... Jigoro Kano
• How To Exceed Your Plateaus by Badger Johnson

19. I posted quite a few stories of courage, bravery and derring-do with my Gurkha Spotlight series. This is my favorite:

• Bishnu Shrestha: Lone Nepali Gorkha who subdued 40 train robbers

20. Great interview with famed Shaw Brothers director Lau Kar Leung. He passed away June 25, 2013 :(

• Interview with Lau Kar Leung: The Last Shaolin

21. A friend of noted Women's Self-Defense Instructor, Melissa Soalt aka Dr. Ruthless, composed this great song for Christmas:

• The 12 Days of Self-Defense

22 - 25. I made quite a few animated GIFs in 2013, some from UFC fights and some from movies. Here are some of my favorites:

• Some animated GIF's of Dan Inosanto's demo at the Smithsonian Institute
• Rich Crunkilton's Takedowns Animated GIFs 
• Flash Point GIF Set 3
• Rapid Fire GIF Set 4

There you have it! My 25 Favorite Entries of 2013. Hope you liked them as much as I did. 

Did you have a favorite that didn't make it to this list and not amongst the Top 25 Popular Posts of 2013?