Remember the words of Voltaire who said "anyone who can convince you of absurdities can get you to commit atrocities."

235  The Forgotten  War  Part 24

The Pulahans arose from a specific cauldron of local grievances, traditional values, and foreign interference that so often gives rise to millennial movements.

234  The Forgotten War  Part 23

The story of the Pulahan War is a sad tale of exploitation visited on the poorest of the poor Filipinos, leading them down the rabbit hole of fanaticism.

The story of the Pulahan War is a sad tale of exploitation visited on the poorest of the poor Filipinos, leading them down the rabbit hole of fanaticism<br>.

The Forgotten War  Part 22

The stories of these six regiments extend beyond the war in the Philippines.

The Forgotten War  Part 21

"I want to tell you that we are not bandits as the Americans have accused. but members of the revolutionary force that defended our mother country, the Philippines!"

The Forgotten War  Part 20

On May 6,1903, Makario Sakay proclaimed himself El Presidente Supremo of the "Tagolog Republic of the Philippines."

The Forgotten War  Part 19

The very idea of arming Filipinos and turning them loose in the countryside was utterly abhorrent to the American military brass.

The Forgotten War  Part 18

"These people are right and we are wrong...terribly wrong!"

228  The Forgotten War  Part 17

I hold Waller's actions in Samar as reprehensible, as egregious abuses of his constitutional privileges as a a military commander.

227  The Forgotten War  Part 16

In the meantime, General Smith's combined Brigade was following his orders to turn Samar into a "howling wilderness."

226  The Forgotten War  Part 15

The Martial Brain Podcast explores the intersection between the martial arts, scientific skepticism, critical thinking, and that wacky organ that floats between our ears.  It is part of Jeff Westfall's effort to help lift the martial arts out of the quagmire of hundreds of years of magical thinking and misconception.

I love this podcast! It allows me to continue learning from Mr. Westfall even though I’m no longer in Evansville.

Rising Phoenix

Jeff, 
Thank you for letting your inner voice out.

thank you

The Martial Brain

If one more "twenty-something" says to me that "age is just a number" or "you're as young as you feel" I'm going to hit them with my cane!

192  I’m Not as Good as I Once Was, but I’m as Good Once as I Ever Was!  Part 1

When I contemplate what a dark place my mind was inhabiting prior to Dave's visit, it's perfectly possible that he saved my life that night.

203  Heroes of the Rising Phoenix Martial Arts Academy  Part 1.1

When sparring is done badly it's at the very least a poor use of training time, is probably very frightening, dangerous as hell, and really painful to watch.

201  Toxic Sparring Culture

The study of the martial arts lies precisely at the intersection of the worlds of survival and self-expression.

202  The Intersection of Survival and Self-Expression

When you picture a scene from the old west in which the cavalry comes charging to the rescue, in reality at least ten percent of the time those "boys in blue"...were black!

213  The Forgotten War  Part 2

How deeply frightening must if have been to people who had no idea that they lived on a giant sphere spinning in space as it also orbits around the sun, spinning on an axis that is tilted relative to the plane of its orbit in such a way that in the temperate latitudes the year is divided between seasons of darkness and of light.

207  Tis the Season…to Rage Against the Dying of the Light

It's almost like taking out an opponent with Mr. Spock's Vulcan nerve pinch!

210  Syncope, Hypnagogia, Barnyard Animal Behavior, and Sex Demons  Part 1

But it turns out that the Filipino people didn't WANT themselves and their property to be the property of the United States!

218  The Forgotten War  Part 7

On June 12, 1898, the Filipino rebels officially declared independence from Spain, in a document that, ironically, in light of what was to come, drew elements from the American Declaration of Independence.

217  The Forgotten War  Part 6

In order to get to Santiago, his troops would need to get past the fortified San Juan Heights on its outskirts, which loomed across their path like a fortified roadblock.

215  The Forgotten War  Part 4

If you run a martial arts academy, keep in mind that it's more productive to think in terms of business and science instead of the kind of personal politics that is a tired artifact left over from our heritage as dominance hierarchy primates,

195  Maintaining Your Martial Relevancy

Despite the fact that ethical jiujitsu players shouldn't SEEK to render their opponent unconscious, it's not at all uncommon for unintended "choke-outs" to occur.

211  Syncope, Hypnagogia, Barnyard Animal Behavior, and Sex Demons  Part 2

Calm

If there's one thing that can be learned from human history, it's that there is no crisis so bad that it cannot be made worse by our tendency to engage in over-emotional, "monkeys in shoes" behavior!

Calm Down, People!

I had been forced to endure the presence of bullies for much of my young life; I would be damned if I was going to add to macho martial culture by producing martial arts bullies through my teaching!

204  Heroes of the Rising Phoenix Martial Arts Academy  Part 1.2

Many budding martial artists pay only enough attention to their opponents to know where they are, and maybe if they are trying to do something right this second that you, as their adversary, don't want them to do.

194  The Art of Listening

The epic story of the relationship between the USA and the Philippines started in war a little over a century ago.

212  The Forgotten War  Part 1

Here's a thought...Is it a stretch to substitute the word "competent" for the word "authentic" when referring to a martial artist?

199  Authenticity, Inauthenticity, and the Martial Arts  Part 1

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