What is the biggest reason people don’t learn self defense?

Here Professor James covers some common mistakes made when using the hip escape from the mount position. Fixing these will dramatically improve how often this escape works for you.

This week I’d like to hear from you all what you will be focusing on. Some principle? A technique you want to master? Staying calm under pressure? Let us know in the comments.

Which of these do you personally need to work on the most in order to progress. Bonus: tell us in the comments which of these you have under control. Pick as many as you want.

Avoiding cults in martial arts is tricky. Especially when you’re a beginner. And even more so if the potential cult leader is very accomplished. This can easily lead the kind of hero worship that goes to a professors head and they start to fall in love with their own legend. Just because someone is good at armbars and guard passes doesn’t mean they have great life advice or that they know anything about other subjects. Be careful who you give your trust and watch out for red flags from teachers. Respect is a two way street. This week, evaluate the people you are learning from and measure them by their generosity, compassion, understanding, and patience as well as their technical proficiency and love for teaching.