Empty Your Cup, Part Deux

tea leaves steeping
“Empty your cup,” the master said.  “Your cup is overflowing.”

“Maybe stop pouring then?” I replied.

“It’s a metaphor,” he snapped.  But it was too late anyway.  My loafers were ruined.

“Now clean up that mess,” he ordered with a stern look.  ”And brew another pot!”  I quietly walked back to the kitchen.  This was not how I pictured my blissful weeklong vacation at an authentic Zen monastery. 

An Interview with the Founder of Shinjido Budo

Shinjido inventor Danny Da Costa says:

Shinjido literally means Danny’s Way, a label given by one of my students to the variety of techniques that I have developed for martial art. I attempt to find the easiest solution to a problem either in attack or defence. My work is based on sound principles and the techniques serve to demonstrate the principles. I have applied this approach to judo starting from the premise that our sport is fighting within specific rules and limitations…

Holiday Recipes from Amateur Mixed Martial Artists

International Taiji Community Cookbook

The following guest post may have been submitted by amateur mixed martialist Manny St. Pierre, as a response to the new International Taiji Community Cookbook, with its sales proceeds financing the International Taiji Park in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The holiday season is upon us again, and the time has come to prepare delicious meals for friends and family. Try my powerhouse recipes, and you’re sure to win any Ultimate Feasting Competition…

The Turkey Whizzer

Step 1: Purchase a frozen turkey from your favorite MMA gear supplier. (If they are sold out, you can buy one at the grocery store, and use a magic marker to write Tapout or Affliction on the side. Trust me, everyone will be impressed.)

SlowFlo: The Christian Alternative to Tai Chi?

Are you feeling run down? Suffering from tired blood? Do encounters with foreign cultures leave you confused and angry?

WholyFit SlowFlo Christian Tai Chi

If so, then we have a solution for you. It’s called SlowFlo, the Christian alternative to Tai Chi.

Inspired by Chuck Norris, the art of SlowFlo reforms the inscrutable pagan art of Tai Chi Chuan into a safe and guilt-free form of Christian exercise.

Busty Heart Splits Planks With Cans, Smashes Fruits With Melons

Some Martial Development readers have alleged that I am overly critical of breaking practices in the martial arts, in favor of punching bags. Maybe I went a little too far. For some, hitting bags is no fun. If I’ve implied that tameshiwari advocates are all boobs, then I must now apologize. Perhaps breaking is about more than vanity, showmanship and deceit.

Busty Heart

When properly executed, breaking can build power, control, and self-confidence. After diligent practice, you may even bust an entire rack of melons, or a nicely stacked set of boards.

In the following videos, model and stripper Busty Heart shows her breaking talent.