Matthew Sylvester
karate
FREE Guide on how to get published in martial arts magazines
Welcome to the free guide on how to get published in martial arts magazines. For three years, I wrote for Combat Magazine, Traditional Karate, Fighters and Taekwondo & Korean Martial Arts. Two of those years I was actually employed as Features Editor and Technical Consultant, writing over three hundred articles, interviews, profiles and news pieces. … Continue reading
FREE – Deaths’ Messengers – A sneak preview
The text below is taken from my first published short story, Death’s Messengers, which is in the Grimm and Grimmer Volume Two anthology by Fringe Works. Enjoy what you read, and buy the book! Death sidestepped, brushing the kick aside with the outside of his right arm, slashing outwards with his left hand at the giant’s exposed … Continue reading
Humility and the humble bow
Every martial art has at least some tenets or ideals that promote ‘goodness’. By goodness, I mean that they require the student to follow a set of morals and ethics, which would generally be viewed by the majority as good. These usually include humility, the ability to keep going no matter what (indomitable spirit), honesty/ … Continue reading
The Burgar Rating System
I recently put up a picture on showing an application for a move from one of the ITF patterns. The application is, to be honest, awful. It’s one that I use to indicate what is an awful application, and why is it awful. Aside from the obvious “that looks awful, it would never work”, I … Continue reading
Beyond the obvious in search of excellence
Bill Burgar is not someone most Tae Kwon Do practitioners will have heard of. This is mainly because he’s a Karate guy. Bill has done what very few people in modern martial arts do today. He spent 5 years looking at one pattern and seeing how he could apply the moves in a street self-defence … Continue reading
Matthew Sylvester 