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Meet My Instructor: Dan Donzella
By Phil Elmore
I train in the pragmatic infighting art of Liu Seong Gung Fu. Meet my instructor, Dan Donzella, of Syracuse, New York.
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Martialism Meets Shorthand Empty Hand
By Phil Elmore
The Shorthand Empty Hand Program meshes with the philosophy of martialism to produce effective self-defense, conceptually.
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Chi Power, Pyramids, and Silliness
By Phil Elmore
The laws of magick do not supersede the laws of ballistics. Learn why here.
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Loading and Unloading: The Key to Power Striking and Flow
By Phil Elmore
When you learn how loading and unloading your body works in concert, you'll be able to flow better and hit harder.
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The Dreaded Pak Sao Circle
By Phil Elmore
Some martial arts seminars are more fun than others.
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Remembering Bruce Tegner
By Tony Manifold
The under-appreciated Bruce Tegner was a real martial arts pioneer.
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Finding Yourself on the Outside
By Phil Elmore
Making the choice to leave a martial arts school can be very difficult and may have serious repercussions.
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Who Are the Armchair Martial Artists?
By Phil Elmore
A great many Internet pundits love to pass judgment on who is and who is not a "real" martial artist. Who are the pretenders and who are the contributors to the field of self-defense?
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Is Sportfighting the Answer or the Problem?
By Phil Elmore and Matt Wallis
Mixed Martial Arts are not primarily self-defense training, but a lot of people sure seem to think they are. Examine both sides of the issue in this point-counterpoint editorial.
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Guns, "Gun Control," and "Martial" Artists
By Phil Elmore
The firearm is the most practical and effective means of personal protection. Those who deny this are denying reality.
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Self-Defense and Vision Impairment
By Phil Elmore
Many martial artists wear (and need to wear) glasses. There are certain concerns and training procedures with which you should be aware if you are one of them.
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Space Domination
By Phil Elmore
An effective martial art should incorporate "forward drive," forward pressure, the dominating of space. This is a means of gaining and keeping the initiative in an encounter.
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Maintaining Space and Weapons Transition
By Phil Elmore
Managing an encroaching assailant is extremely important. You must maintain space.
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Three Criticisms and Defenses of Hands-Up Ready Stances
By Phil Elmore
In this article, common criticisms (found in online dicussion boards) are addressed in order to defend the viability of hands-up space maintenance stances.
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A Brief Catalog of Empty-Hand Blows
By Phil Elmore
At the time this artice was written, it incorporated all of the hand strikes favored by publisher Phil Elmore.
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My New Friend Bob
By Phil Elmore
The Body Opponent Bag is a very useful tool for training strikes and attacks that would debilitate, maim, or even kill an unprotected partner.
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Reality Check: Traditionalism?
By Phil Elmore
Does this publication openly support traditionalism? Does it support non-traditional methods? Let's look.
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How I Train
By Phil Elmore
While The Martialist publisher Phil Elmore does not hold himself up as some paragon of training virtue, enough of you have asked that we have included this piece.
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The Martialist's profiling guides first came to prominence with the publication of the Field Guide to Trolls, a profiling outline specific to the martial arts but also applicable to other discussion boards. Since that time, we have published many more articles concerning the sociology and psychology of online interaction:

Phil's Field Guide to Trolls
By Phil Elmore
An oft-cited guide to identifying the various types of discussion forum disruptors and attention hounds that plague online martial arts boards.
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How to Spot a Virtual Tough Guy
By Phil Elmore
Some people love to talk about how tough they are, especially with the Internet to screen them from harm. Here's how to spot them.
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How to Spot a Virtual Sensei
By Phil Elmore
A lot of instructors make fools of themselves when they start posting on the Internet. Many of them aren't really instructors at all.
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Martial Arts Defense Mechanisms
By Phil Elmore
People in the martial arts have certain mental defenses to cognitive dissonance. Learn about them here.
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Tenth Dan in Bul Shi Tsu
By Phil Elmore
Can a martial art with a manufactured lineage or history be effective? It certainly can, but what do we learn about founders who lie?
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Endless Rivalry
By Phil Elmore
There are times when it seems like we spend more time arguing amongst ourselves than we do worrying about the societal predators who are the real threat. Let's try to remember why we study self-defense, shall we?
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Insecurity in the Martial Arts
By Phil Elmore
Some of the people involved in the martial arts today have never stopped being children. Their insecurities underscore this attitude problem.
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Tilting at Windmills: Obsessive Fraud-Busting in the Martial Arts
By Phil Elmore
Have you ever met one of those self-appointed fraud-busters, especially in online discussion sites? Some of them have crossed the line from "consumer advocates" to obsessed nutjobs.
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Terra Incognita: Flame-Broiling Fellow Travelers (Grill Optional)
By Phil Elmore
Just when we're getting ready to stone the heretics in the village square, maybe we should stop and examine just who and what is really at stake.
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Ego and Investment in the Martial Arts
By Phil Elmore
A lot of conflict in martial arts politics is the result of ego-investment. Explore the issue here.
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Understanding Instructor Immaturity
By Phil Elmore
Is your instructor technically very talented, but kind of an ass in other respects? He may suffer from an immaturity problem. It's a fairly common issue among students and instructors alike. Some outgrow it, while others don't.
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Bullshi-D'oh!
By Phil Elmore
The Martialist and Phil Elmore are the most discussed topics at the Internet's premier trolling site, bullshido.com. Find out what all the fuss is about.
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Understanding Bullshidoka
By Phil Elmore
Why would someone choose to spend his or her time at a discussion forum peopled by angry, vulgar, ignorant children? Who knows? Birds of a feather certainly do flock together, however. Learn to understand the mindset of the Bullshidoka here.
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In November of 2004, The Martialist Publisher Phil Elmore left Wing Chun Kung Fu to follow his own interests. Wing Chun articles from The Martialist are archived here because Mr. Elmore still holds the system in high regard. Please note, however, that Phil Elmore does NOT represent any Wing Chun school or lineage and most certainly no longer endorses the Syracuse Martial Arts Academy. Phil Elmore's writings and the editorial opinions contained therein are not those of his former teachers or their organizations. No claims to representation should be inferred by the archival of these articles. Mr. Elmore continues to advocate Wing Chun for effective self-defense but cannot recommend his former teacher's Wing Chun school (for those interested in the system in Central New York).

Leaving Wing Chun
By Phil Elmore
Leaving a school is never an easy decision. Learn about Phil Elmore's own choice to leave Wing Chun Kung Fu here.
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Discovering Wing Chun
By Phil Elmore
By contrast, learn what Phil Elmore thought when he first found and enjoyed the martial art of Wing Chun.
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The Circle of Death as Training Tool
By Phil Elmore
The "circle of death" is a versatile training methodology that any school can use.
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Refusing to Fight Force with Force
By Phil Elmore
What does it mean, exactly, to refuse to fight force with force? Is this a pacifist philosophy? Not at all.
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What is the One-Inch Punch?
By Phil Elmore
You may have seen Bruce Lee knocking people over while barely moving his harm. Learn about what he was trying to show you.
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What is Chi Sao?
By Phil Elmore
Chi sao develops touch reflexes. It's also incredibly boring. Learn what it is, and why you should care, in this article.
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What Strikes Work?
By Anthony Iglesias with Phil Elmore
Anthony Iglesias, formerly an instructor of Phil Elmore, describes how we can tell just exactly "which strikes work."
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Wing Chun: Effective Close Combat
By Phil Elmore
The efficacy of Wing Chun as a close combat system are discussed in this article.
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How Effective is Wing Chun?
By Phil Elmore
In response to a rather ignorant denunciation of Wing Chun written by a one-year student of the system, Phil Elmore wrote this rebuttal that describes just how and why Wing Chun is an effective fighting system.
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The Animals of Wing Chun
By Anthony Iglesias with Phil Elmore
Kung Fu often uses animal metaphors. Learn how these apply to Wing Chun in this article.
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What is Iron Palm Training?
By Phil Elmore
It's possible to condition your hands, though you can take this too far. Don't engage in iron palm training without consulting a physician.
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What is Chi Gerk?
By John Crescione
John Crescione, instructor to Anthony Iglesias (who was formerly Phil Elmore's instructor), describes "sticky leg" training.
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Kali Class Observation
By Phil Elmore
Learn what it was like to see instructor Eric Winfree in action for the first time, teaching a Kali class at the Syracuse Wing Chun Academy.
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A Day with a True Master
By Anthony Iglesias; Edited by Phil Elmore
Anthony Iglesias engages in some flattery with a Gung Fu message at its core.
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SWCA Knife Defense Seminar
By Phil Elmore
One of the first martial arts seminars Phil Elmore attended was this one on knife defense with Anthony Iglesias and the Syracuse Wing Chun Academy.
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SWCA Six Gates Defense
By Phil Elmore
Instructor Anthony Iglesias created this self-defense program early in the development of his training curriculum at the Syracuse Wing Chun Academy.
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