Inspiring creativity for writing articles on martial arts

[Ivan]

As some of you know, I run a website at which I write articles related to martial arts as well as fitness and nutrition. It's quite recent, but I thought it would be a great way to expand my knowledge on martial arts as a whole whilst documenting my knowledge for myself and other people.

I have recently read a book called Atomic Habits in which the author describes how he made a commitment to himself since he was young to write two articles weekly, regardless of the circumstances. I have just started up an email newsletter (you can sign up on the popup that appears on the home page), for which I aim to publish short and concise articles that can be read fairly easily every Sunday. I have also set a goal to publish a new article for the website every Wednesday or Saturday (not sure which day yet).

However, I have trouble thinking up topics sometimes, so I was wondering if there was a way to inspire creativity on topics for articles to write? I specifically want them to be focused on martial arts, and would be targeted mainly for people like the ones on this forum who are also interested in learning more about martial arts.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

I have trouble thinking up topics sometimes, so I was wondering if there was a way to inspire creativity on topics for articles to write?

I'll suggest the following. All subjects have no style boundary.

- sparring/wrestling,
- partner drill,
- tools in toolbox,
- fighting strategy,
- kick/punch/throw combo,
- footwork,
- speed/power generation training,
- grip strength development,
- function strength development,
- heavy bag training,
- leg stretching,
- ...

One Hong Kong magazine had an article "3 moves combo". I subscribed that magazine just for that article.

 

[Ivan]

I'll suggest the following. All subjects have no style boundary.

- sparring/wrestling,
- partner drill,
- tools in toolbox,
- fighting strategy,
- kick/punch/throw combo,
- footwork,
- speed/power generation training,
- grip strength development,
- function strength development,
- heavy bag training,
- leg stretching,
- ...

Thank you very much for the ideas

 

[isshinryuronin]

There are hundreds of ideas on THIS site. Just go back in topics (and skim thru the various threads as we tend to drift into other topics) for a couple of years and you should get plenty of ideas. Also, as you read thru books on MA, dozens of additional ideas should present themselves.

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

I agree with isshin-just look at thread topics, and see if any of them interest you. Also keep a journal with you (or use your phone-journal works better for me), and whenever an idea hits you, write it down. Doesn't have to be more than a sentence, but when you can't think of an idea, look through that journal and see what you come up with.

A couple general topics, all of what john said is good for the functional aspect. You can also
-go into the history of different martial arts.
-discuss comparisons of different arts.
- subsection of arts (judo vs. sambo vs. wrestling, Kukkiwon vs. ITF, kickboxing vs. muay thai, etc.) and what causes those differences/the possible pros/cons of them.
-go into details on specific martial/historical figures that might interest you. I think you've mentioned an interest in miyamoto musashi, it would be interested in reading either about his life or his philosophies for instance.
-your favorite techniques/why they're your favorite.
-techniques that might not make sense at first, but you've figured out some meaning for them.
-how to make your own kata/forms/techniques.

Just a couple ideas of the top of my head to get you started, if interested in more than the functional aspect (which were all good suggestions too).

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

-how to make your own kata/forms/techniques.

This can be an interest subject. It's easy to

- tear apart many forms,
- pick up the techniques that you like, and
- reconstruct a new form.

It's difficult to create a form that contain new information that have never been recorded in the past.

Also to record many strategies/principles into 1 form can be an interested task.