"SafetyFirst" Martial Arts

I am a health practitioner first, martial artist second. With my understanding of health, anatomy, and biomechanics, I wish to promote martial arts learning in an "injury free" class. I am also a Strength and Conditioning Specialist and Personal Trainer. I focus on safe training methods that are self defense specific, and enable practitioners to boost their reaction time, speed, power, agility, timing, without injuries. In my 20+ yrs of training in several different martial arts, I have my share of injuries (many of them still haunt me). Indeed, many Senseis/teachers lack awareness and often injure their students in class. In the end, the injured students are sidelined for weeks, months, feel discouraged, and learning halted. This is not "fun"/learning anymore, and the injuries can nag a person for life. In "striking" martial arts (e.g. karate, kickboxing), the life-altering detriments of concussions are often ignored by uneducated teachers. Any damage to nerve cells in the brain not only affect mood/cognition, but can affect the rest of the body (e.g. Parkinson's motor disability). Professional fighters are now realizing the dangers and many do not spar anymore. In "grappling/ground" martial arts, teachers and students often yank a limb beyond its normal biomechanical range of motion, injuring joints. Little do they know that our joints barely have any blood supply to them, thus healing is minimal even with the best nutrient intake. The result is many grapplers have life-long joint problems, surgeries, pain, disability, and decreased enjoyment of life. IT IS NOT WORTH IT TO HAVE LASTING INJURIES THAT DIMINISH QUALITY OF LIFE and this class emphasizes on safe training of self defense. This class will incorporate gentle stretching, easy cardio for warm up, some body weight exercises (e.g. squats, push-ups), approximately 45min of new self defense techniques every class, and a nice stretch to warm down along with breathing techniques. This class is outdoors, rain or shine, as we aim to inhale morning fresh oxygen. Class is 1.5 hour, free of charge, and we meet TuTh at 5:30am at the parking lot of Hillcrest Community Centre. Many famous people wake up early as it is the best time for "knowledge acquisition", and discipline is already being trained if you can wake early every single day. Class ends at 7am and everyone can go home, shower, eat breakfast, and get ready to focus on their day. Please come prepared for the weather.