Taekwondo Instructor Jin Kang from Baek's Tiger Martial Arts (Skokie) as guest teacher on Sept. 17

Instructor Jin will be our special guest Sept. 17

Although he holds a 4th degree black belt in Karate under the Gen-Ki Karate schools, not many people know that our sensei, Zachary Bradley hold black belt degrees in Taekwondo and Hapkido. He studied under Master Bong Su Young of the Chicago Mudo Center in the early 1970's.

Suffice it to say, Sensei Zachary Bradly holds a special place in his heart for the Korean martial arts. So our upcoming guest teacher, Instructor Jin Kang of Baek's Tiger Martial Arts in Skokie will especially be at home.

Instructor Jin holds a 4th degree black belt in Taekwondo and Hapkido. He is a student under Master Baek and the manager of BTMA operations. He has honored us by accepting Sensei Zachary's invitation to teach our beginner and advanced classes. He is from a Skokie Taekwondo school that also serves students of all ages. So he'll have everyone fully engaged in the unique style of this very popular martial art.

He has honored us with teaching both the youth and adult classes on Saturday, Sept. 17. We really look forward to this event.

Guest Teacher Sensei Arthur Benjamin from Aikido of Evanston Aug. 6

Photo: Aikido of Evanston

Sensei Zachary Bradley is known to his students for never putting down any other martial arts forms or their teachers. In fact, as evident by the constant presence of guest teacher Sifu Leonard Woodson, we get plenty of training in various Chinese methods. He always encourages his students to take all they can learn and learn something new every day.

On August 6th, we'll get taste of the "Art of Harmony" known in Japanese as Aikido. Our guest teacher, Sensei Arthur Benjamin of from Aikido of Evanston is scheduled to lead a special class for our advanced/adult students (noon). Sensei Benjamin holds a 6th degree black belt in Aikido and has been studying the form since the 1970's.

We thank Sensei Benjamin for accepting to share Aikido with our humble Karate dojo.

Extend Those Kicks

Our sensei, Zachary Bradley is keen to remind the students about the need to relax your muscles until the point of impact. This video from the Norway National Taekwondo illustrates the effectiveness of such a concept.

Pressure Points

All of our students should have a basic understanding of human anatomy. It is part of our Gen-Ki Karate Evanston manual and you will be tested on them. Strikes and blocks are most effective when applied to the soft areas of the body. As the video of this Hapkido Grandmaster demonstrates above, effort is minimal. However, the risk of injury or death is high. Use and practice with extreme caution. Below are some useful references to the subject of pressure points in martial arts.

The Shin Shu Ryu White Crane website has very detailed explanations of some of the many pressure points.

The Liang Yi Wushu website also has useful information about applying them.

This military training manual demonstrates the usefulness of pressure points in various self-defense techniques:

(eBook - Arts) Pressure Points - Military Hand to Hand Combat Guide