Podcasts by The Martial Brain
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
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235 The Forgotten War Part 24 from 2023-05-18T22:10:53
Remember the words of Voltaire who said "anyone who can convince you of absurdities can get you to commit atrocities."
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234 The Forgotten War Part 23 from 2023-05-10T18:50:06
The Pulahans arose from a specific cauldron of local grievances, traditional values, and foreign interference that so often gives rise to millennial movements.
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The Forgotten War Part 22 from 2023-04-28T20:17:55
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 .
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The Forgotten War Part 21 from 2022-12-23T00:29:45
The stories of these six regiments extend beyond the war in the Philippines.
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The Forgotten War Part 20 from 2022-12-13T22:33:21
"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!"
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The Forgotten War Part 19 from 2022-11-28T23:28:18
On May 6,1903, Makario Sakay proclaimed himself El Presidente Supremo of the "Tagolog Republic of the Philippines."
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The Forgotten War Part 18 from 2021-09-25T14:22:31
The very idea of arming Filipinos and turning them loose in the countryside was utterly abhorrent to the American military brass.
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228 The Forgotten War Part 17 from 2021-04-27T21:35:14
"These people are right and we are wrong...terribly wrong!"
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227 The Forgotten War Part 16 from 2021-03-09T22:26:52
I hold Waller's actions in Samar as reprehensible, as egregious abuses of his constitutional privileges as a a military commander.
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226 The Forgotten War Part 15 from 2021-02-24T21:25:45
In the meantime, General Smith's combined Brigade was following his orders to turn Samar into a "howling wilderness."
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225 The Forgotten War Part 14 from 2020-10-29T15:25:49
As the now infamous town of Balangiga burned behind him, Capt. Bookmiller famously quoted the book of Hosea: "They have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind!"
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224 The Forgotten War Part 13 from 2020-09-17T19:23:53
No matter what you call it, the event at Balangiga was the worst defeat of American troops since the Battle of the Little Big Horn!
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223 The Forgotten War Part 12 from 2020-09-01T21:34:35
Funston, four other Americans, and a renegade Spaniard would pose as POWs in the "custody" of a group of Macabebe Scouts in captured Insurrecto uniforms.
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222 The Forgotten War Part 11 from 2020-08-25T21:56:30
"To see nine men, the officers in their drawers and the privates naked, cross such a stream by such means, and drive off an entrenched force not less than ten times their number, in broad daylight,...
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221 The Forgotten War Part 10 from 2020-08-13T01:37:31
I find the story of David Fagen fascinating. We seldom rationally depict such figures in history.
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220 The Forgotten War Part 9 from 2020-07-21T21:18:13
The leaders of the Philippine independence movement had tremendous admiration for the American founding fathers and the government they wrought!
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219 The Forgotten War Part 8 from 2020-06-16T18:17:30
The depth and breadth, the sheer comprehensiveness of Filipino martial technology stands as a shining example, a tribute to defiance in the face of tyranny and oppression!
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218 The Forgotten War Part 7 from 2020-05-19T23:51:03
But it turns out that the Filipino people didn't WANT themselves and their property to be the property of the United States!
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217 The Forgotten War Part 6 from 2020-05-01T12:48:26
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 Indep...
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216 The Forgotten War Part 5 from 2020-04-24T21:18:59
Pershing was an instructor at West Point when the war broke out, and quickly sought to rejoin his old unit, the Buffalo Soldiers of the 10th Cavalry.
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215 The Forgotten War Part 4 from 2020-04-06T21:22
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.
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214 The Forgotten War Part 3 from 2020-03-24T23:22:53
The history of the world in the upcoming decade would have played out quite differently if Teddy Roosevelt had perished on that hot June day in the Cuban jungle!
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Calm Down, People! from 2020-03-19T15:08:21
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!
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213 The Forgotten War Part 2 from 2020-03-03T16:10:41
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!
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212 The Forgotten War Part 1 from 2020-02-17T02:29:39
The epic story of the relationship between the USA and the Philippines started in war a little over a century ago.
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211 Syncope, Hypnagogia, Barnyard Animal Behavior, and Sex Demons Part 2 from 2020-02-08T18:26:54
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.
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210 Syncope, Hypnagogia, Barnyard Animal Behavior, and Sex Demons Part 1 from 2020-01-26T17:10:23
It's almost like taking out an opponent with Mr. Spock's Vulcan nerve pinch!
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209 Inter-species Combat Part 2 from 2020-01-21T16:22:08
The myth that chimpanzees are 3 to 5 times stronger than humans stems from a poorly done study that was done nearly a century ago.
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208 Inter-species Combat Part 1 from 2020-01-14T16:18:47
The Roman practice of pitting humans against animals in the arena not only slaked the blood-lust of cheering crowds, it also appealed to the human obsession with hierarchical organization; in parti...
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207 Tis the Season…to Rage Against the Dying of the Light from 2019-12-24T14:00:28
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 ...
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206 You Can’t Force Balance from 2019-12-07T18:34:11
So, of course, before the science was more thoroughly understood the supplement industry promptly built the bandwagon and then enthusiastically jumped on it; producing, selling, and heavily adverti...
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205 In the Darkness, a Shining Blade I Hold from 2019-11-25T23:46:34
If you would like to be "that person" who always seems to have a thoughtful, logical point of view in any discussion, who doesn't easily fall prey to scams and pseudo-science, who doesn't allow the...
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204 Heroes of the Rising Phoenix Martial Arts Academy Part 1.2 from 2019-10-15T02:38:36
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!
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203 Heroes of the Rising Phoenix Martial Arts Academy Part 1.1 from 2019-09-17T22:02:08
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.
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202 The Intersection of Survival and Self-Expression from 2019-08-23T23:11:04
The study of the martial arts lies precisely at the intersection of the worlds of survival and self-expression.
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201 Toxic Sparring Culture from 2019-08-11T03:26:51
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.
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200 Authenticity, Inauthenticity, and the Martial Arts Part 2 from 2019-07-31T22:43:25
If such a student leaves the academy before being "certified" by his instructor, and then starts his own academy many people will label him as "illegitimate." A martial arts "bastard," if you will.
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199 Authenticity, Inauthenticity, and the Martial Arts Part 1 from 2019-07-24T01:02:14
Here's a thought...Is it a stretch to substitute the word "competent" for the word "authentic" when referring to a martial artist?
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198 Make a Note of This! from 2019-05-29T14:02:09
In a preliterate world if you wanted to remember something you had to do just that, REMEMBER it!
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197 The Master Meets the Skeptic Part 2 from 2019-05-19T23:54:09
There is a significant fraction of humanity that really wants magic to be real, and will perform impressive mental gymnastics of rationalization and confirmation bias in order to satisfy that desire.
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196 The Master Meets the Skeptic Part 1 from 2019-05-10T22:28
Please keep in mind that these are the words of a fictional character, not mine.
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195 Maintaining Your Martial Relevancy from 2019-04-20T17:35:08
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 ...
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194 The Art of Listening from 2019-04-14T19:40:21
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 ...
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193 I’m Not As Good As I Once Was, But I’m As Good Once As I Ever Was Part 2 from 2019-03-31T23:37:10
My fascination, indeed my QUEST, is to hit the sweet spot in this equation as many times as possible from now until I die.
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192 I’m Not as Good as I Once Was, but I’m as Good Once as I Ever Was! Part 1 from 2019-03-26T21:10:09
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!
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191 Bright Lines and Blurred Lines Part 3 from 2019-03-09T22:35:45
Isn't it ironic that exercising a lot can make you weaker?
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190 Bright Lines and Blurred Lines 2 from 2019-03-02T22:30:19
Most of us are aware of the martial arts movie trope of the hero or villain who is supremely, indeed magically aware of his surroundings at all times.
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189 Bright Lines/Blurred Lines Part 1 from 2019-02-24T23:57:47
Is it possible to become too detail-oriented? It can be if it causes you to lose sight of the bigger picture.
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188 The Brain is the Deadliest Organ from 2019-02-12T22:18:56
While the natural weapons of your body like your fists, shins, elbows, and knees can be quite formidable; without the brain to run things they are only parts to memorize for an anatomy test.
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187 The Dilemmas of the Kicker Part 4 from 2019-01-28T00:13:55
It's the burgeoning kicker's job, ideally with the help of a good coach, to learn to make sure that it's not easy for an opponent to gain an attachment to his or her kicking leg; and also to learn ...
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186 The Dilemmas of the Kicker Part 3 from 2019-01-16T23:48:21
Should I kick hard and risk doing as much damage to myself as to my opponent; or should I hold back some kicking power to protect my legs and feet, making my kicking game less useful?
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185 The Dilemmas of the Kicker Part 2 from 2019-01-07T23:44:21
Contacting a target with a kick makes you subject to the physics of collisions.
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184 The Dilemmas of the Kicker Part 1 from 2018-12-21T03:17:26
When done well, kicking is the human body's equivalent of heavy artillery; powerful enough to break bones, destroy thick joints, or to send an opponent stumbling or sometimes even flying across the...
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183 An American Muay Thai Tale Part 6 from 2018-12-06T03:07:23
This testing process had been the hardest I had ever done as a martial artist.
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182 An American Muay Thai Tale Part 5 from 2018-11-18T23:49:31
My left thigh became so sore and swollen that at one point, when Rob scored a clean kick to my head, snapping it way back; I remember feeling glad that he hadn't kicked my leg again.
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181 An American Muay Thai Tale Part 4 from 2018-11-12T02:49:13
Jeff describes the notorious Thai Boxing Association Instructor test, and his decision to take it.
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180 An American Muay Thai Tale Part 3 from 2018-10-29T23:16:43
Jeff describes the early years of his Muay Thai education.
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179 An American Muay Thai Tale Part 2 from 2018-10-24T00:08:43
Jeff describes his misconceptions about and experiences with Muay Thai in the early part of his martial arts career.
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