Tag Archives: Geof Gleeson

What’s in Your Library?

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George Washington brought them over from England by the trunkload.  At the time of his death, he had over nine hundred, a considerable number back then or even today. To develop his intellectual depth, Benjamin Franklin relied on them extensively to supplement his two years of formal education, which stopped at age ten.  George Patton carried them onto the battlefield.  General Dwight Eisenhower stressed their importance.  USMC General Jim Mattis, our current Secretary of Defense, had a personal collection of 7,000 of them.  Yes, we are talking about books.

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No Kuzushi!

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Back in March, I posted a video clip on BetterJudo’s Facebook page of a failed O soto gari, and asked my readers why it had failed.  Knowing that respondents would blurt out the go-to solution of no kuzushi, I debated whether to include, “Come up with something other than no kuzushi,” as the reason the throw failed.  I didn’t include that caveat, and sure enough, half the answers mentioned kuzushi.

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Winning on the Mat

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Winning on the Mat: Judo, Freestyle Judo and Submission Grappling is the title of Steve Scott’s massive (over 400 pages) book on Judo.  Scott, a key leader in AAU and Freestyle Judo, is like me a rebel with a cause and admirer of Geof Gleeson.  He feels that Judo gets no respect and is headed in the wrong direction.  About a month ago, out of the blue, Scott was kind enough to send me a copy of his book.  In return, he asked for nothing.

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I Don’t Agree With You!

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The people to fear are not those who disagree with you, but those who disagree with you and are too cowardly to let you know. Napoleon Bonaparte

If I received $100 every time someone told me that he reads my blog, agrees with much of it, but doesn’t always agree 100 percent, I could retire my substantial house mortgage.  I’m not sure why there’s a need to tell me you disagree with me without further explanation.  I would much prefer that you engage me in intellectual discourse, and tell me why you disagree or what you disagree about.  That would be beneficial.

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The Evolution of an Art

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Last week, I had the pleasure of attending a promotion ceremony for my business partner, Parker Linekin,  a kenpo karate and tai chi instructor.  His sensei, Brian Adams, was flying in from the East Coast to promote him to grandmaster 10th dan in Adams’ Integrated Martial Arts system.  Adams had been one of the first students of Ed Parker, founder of American Kenpo Karate, and had studied a variety of striking and weapons systems before founding his own system.

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