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Alyssa Chandler, Green Belt, Age 13, with her 18 month old whistlekick Sparring Boots - and they look brand new! A few weeks ago at the Elm City Karate Challenge I got to chatting with Alyssa Chandler and her Mother. Alyssa is 13 and was at our booth to replace some sparring gear she had outgrown. As often happens when I speak with someone at an event I found out that the gear she had outgrown was gear she had purchased from us a year and a half ago. She and her Mom said quite a few nice things about the gear,...

This past weekend was pretty incredible, as we attended not one but two events. We've had busy weekends before, but not with two tournaments on the same weekend. Lots of driving, sure, but also lots of new friends and fans. Tournaments continue to be our best opportunity to interact with our community and share our vision.  2015 Elm City Karate Challenge Saturday found us in Waterville, Maine at the Elm City Karate Challenge. This was the final open event on the SMART circuit and it was a double point event. There was a good turnout and a lot of familiar...

We spent Saturday, November 7th in Jericho, VT for the 2015 Fall Open Championship tournament at Mount Mansfield Union High School. This was our third year at the event, and it's the closest event we do. The last two years were fun, and this year didn't disappoint, either.While this isn't the largest event we attend, it's one of the most enjoyable. A strong presence from Taekwondo schools in the central and northern Vermont area means a lot of friendships in the room. However, unlike some tight-knit events we've been to, this does not mean favoritism or exclusion. Many styles and...

We spent much of last Saturday at the 2015 Twin-State Championships in Lebanon, NH. This is a double-point event for the growing Twin-State Martial Arts Association and their rankings. (Twin-State will be ranking our event, the 2016 whistlekick Martial Arts Showdown next year) While this circuit is smaller than others, it's full of wonderful people and great competition. This was our third year attending and we were honored to be there, as always. This year's event was a bit low in attendance, likely due to the new date. The last two years saw this event in December, and it snowed...

If you know us, you know we love podcasts. Heck, we make one! But we're certainly not the first or only podcast about traditional martial arts. We thought we'd share some of the love you've all shown us. To that end, here are the best martial arts podcasts available. Martial Arts RadioIt's true, we're biased. We're putting our podcast first because we've worked incredibly hard to produce what we feel is the best martial arts podcast available. Top-notch guests opening up about their history and offering advice to the rest of us. Inspiring, motivating real talk from great names that...