Despite the multitude of different martial arts and infinite variations on training methods there is one common component that links all systems and styles – the human body.  Regardless of culture and ideology, size or shape, armed or unarmed, modern or traditional or any of the other divisions that have arose in the martial world the human structure is the one thing that unites all.  Understanding the core principles that govern the human body forms the foundation of all arts and our awareness and view of the body has a direct correlation with how we engage it and more importantly…

“My knees are absolutely shot. All the pain and time off caused by that operation last year was for nothing!” said Alan as he slumped onto my treatment bench. Alan is an old school karate-ka - a veteran of over 40 years who was a graduate of the ‘Karate men feel no pain’ school of thought and started training when real men only bled on the inside. His years of austere training have rewarded him with a chronically crooked nose, countless broken bones, three fused vertebrae and four operations on his habitually abused knees. The last operation on his left…

The more I study the Martial Arts and the deeper I delve into bodywork and physical therapy the more of a people watcher I become.  Walking down the road, sitting in a restaurant, even queuing in traffic - are all opportunities for me to indulge in my favourite pastime.  I absolutely love spotting all the little idiosyncrasies people have and all our bodies have a story to tell that is written into our posture and physical mannerisms.  Every little quirk, twitch and stoop records an element from our past and quite often offers clues as to where we’d like to…