In November 2005, the University of Bridgeport in Connecticut became the first American University to offer a B.A. in Martial Arts! 

Martial Arts have actually been taught at universities overseas for years,
mostly due to the fact that martial arts are looked at as a way of life
by most Asian countries and are looked upon with a great deal of respect.  Almost all of the professors in charge of the Bridgeport program studied at these universities and are now bringing their extensive knowledge into American college programs.

There’s a lot more to the Bridgeport program than just learning a martial art (only three of which are currently taught, Tae Kwon Do, Taiji and Judo).  In fact, actually learning a martial art is an optional part of the program for those of you who never got along with gym class.

According to the University of Bridgeport website, the program explores 4 aspects of the martial arts:

1. Historical background and philosophical roots of the martial arts
2. Languages and cultures of the societies in which the martial arts originated and developed
3. In-depth study of at least one of the martial arts (in 05-06 Tae kwon Do and Taiji are offered, with other disciplines to be added in the future)
4. Psychosocial dimensions of the martial arts and their impact upon personality and society

As we looked into it a bit more, it appears to be a fairly rigorous program.  There language requirement consists of 12 credit hours of either Chinese, Japanese or Korean, none of which are “easy” languages. (and you thought Spanish was tough!)  There’s also an International Political Economy and Diplomacy section designed to help the students gain a better understanding of the differences between Eastern and Western cultures. 

These are in addition to the typical math, science and fine arts classes that all University students are required to take.  Check out a recommended 4-year schedule for the Bridgeport Martial Arts program.

Those who do choose to practice a martial art get the opportunity to compete at national tournaments during their study.  In October of ‘05, Bridgeport students competed in the US Open Master Taekwondo Championship and took 2 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals.  Not too shabby!

While some would think that this program is only setting one up to open a martial arts school, think again.  Anyone coming out of college with an in-depth understanding of Eastern vs. Western culture and a grasp on a language as difficult as Chinese, Japanese or Korean won’t have too difficult a time finding a job.  Doing one of the optional co-curricular activities is highly recommended, as would spending a semester studying in an Eastern country to get a better grasp on a language.

In the business world, knowing another culture and/or language is getting to be a more valuable asset by the day.  Why not throw a little martial arts training in with an education as valuable as this one?

Well, it’s been a long Thanksgiving weekend and we got pulled away from the website a bit…but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been busy.  In fact, we have a couple of holiday treats for all you Martial Arts School Owners out there. 

We’re going to be working into our offering a few additional services.  We’re still hashing out our final pricing, so email us or check back later if you’re immediately interested. 

1. Website consulting for Martial Arts Schools
2. Complete website design
3. Search Engine Optimization (so search engines can find your website)
4. Writing Online Marketing Copy
5. Allowing our clients to write articles for ExperienceMartialArts.com, helping your school get more exposure.

Up until now we’ve been offering to teach beginners about martial arts, help them learn about each martial art style and guide them toward a school (your school) via our map-based school directory.  While that’s already offering a lot…we thought it would be nice to assist schools with everything having to do with the internet. 

If you’re interested, drop us a line via the “Contact” link at the bottom of this page. 

Happy Holidays!

First let me confess: I was one of “those people” trying to get my hands on a PS3 in hopes of making a quick grand by selling it on ebay. Love it or hate it, let’s move past that fact.

I have a life and couldn’t afford to be camping in line at Best Buy since Tuesday. So I resorted to my next best bet, a Sony store in a wealthy area of Denver.

The store is in one of those ritzy malls where people with a ridiculous amount of money go to show off what they can buy. This also means that the don’t have much of a tolerance for the type of people who camp out for a video game console. So they instituted a little rule to prevent this and uphold the image of the mall…

NO LINES for the Playstation 3 were allowed to form until 5:00am today! Doing so would result in a $600 fine. (which is ironically sill worth it as long as they didn’t kick you out of the line)

Needless to say, this “brilliant rule” was actually a perfect recipe for madness.

Arriving at 4:00am, we found a crowd of people waiting on the other side of a parking garage from the main entrance, standing safely on a public bike path while gently elbowing for good running positions. About 5 cops and another 5 mall security personnel were there attempting to organize the chaos, all the while laughing at the insanity of the crowd.

The cops told the crowd they would announce when the 100-yard dash to the waiting area (setup at the main entrance) would begin. I began to feel flashbacks of 6th grade track meets, only now I had a slight advantage as half the crowd was smoking. Suckers.

Right next to the main entrance, some smart person thought that a line made up of a piece of red tape and 2 cones was going to contain a sprinting crowd of roughly 200 people. He deserves a raise…

About 4:55am (before the cops ever told anyone they could go), the crowd began to creep just past the bike path onto some grass. It took about 3 seconds for the creep to turn into an all-out mad dash for the entrance.

Pushing, shoving, dodging cars and avoiding concrete pillars all the way to the entrance, I made it into the “line” with about 10 people in front of me! I was set. I was getting a PS3 and I had just made over $1K.

As I moved up next to the people in front of me, a wave of people (the smokers who were a bit slower) crashed through the red tape and into the line, creating what resembled a mash pit at the door. I had gone from #10 to #40 in a matter of seconds.

Those lucky enough to hold their spot were set. It’s tough knowing you’re 20 ft. away from $1,000, yet that 20 feet is full of a crowd of dudes ready to throw a punch if you so much as look at them wrong…and they’re smoking again.

The #2 guy in line sold his spot for $1,000. I’m not sure I agree with that decision, but he was back in bed before anyone else. Nothing like a hard day’s work.

Despite the rumors that the store was getting PS3 units in the “triple-digits” (apparently they weren’t just smoking cigarettes), or more realistic rumors of 30-40…they announced at 5:30am that all 14 units had been sold! 14! I can’t say I’m entirely surprised as that’s about on par with what other smaller stores received, but this is a SONY store.

Why did a Sony store get less inventory than our local Best Buy or Target?!?! Doesn’t Sony lose out on some of the margin if they sell it through a retailer rather than at their own store? This doesn’t make any sense to me.

If someone knows something I don’t, please shed some light on this subject.

Otherwise, go get a gym membership and start training for the PS4 release.

And don’t smoke, cuz you won’t beat me to the PS4 if you do.

This is almost totally unrelated to Martial Arts, but it’s about a mistake you DON’T want to make.

I love the holidays.  I already have Christmas lights up in my house.  I’ve been listening to Trans Siberian Orchestra for the past couple weeks.  And I’ve already drank a gallon of eggnog.  I love eggnog. 

Well this morning I’m working on the Experience Martial Arts website at Starbucks.  I’m planning on being here for a few hours and am so looking forward to my coveted Eggnog Latte.  When I know I’ll be sitting working for a few hours, I always order the latte extra hot for obvious reasons.

DO NOT order an Eggnog Latte extra hot.  Never never never.  You’ll end up with an egg in your cup. 

Turns out that anything hotter than a normal latte actually COOKS THE EGG in the eggnog latte!

For those of you who are avid Rocky Balboa fans, there’s no proof that drinking eggs will make you a better fighter/martial artist.  But if you want to test the theory for yourself, by all means…order it extra hot.

OK, enough rambling.  Back to business…