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Jeff discusses parallels in the way both violent predators and con artists select their victims.
Podcast: The Martial Brain
The Martial Brain Podcast covers topics relating to the intersection between the martial arts, science, critical thinking, scientific skepticism, and that wacky organ that floats between our ears.
135 Come to the Dark Side Part 4
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Jeff wraps up his mini-series on the controversy regarding leg locks in competitive grappling by making the case for embracing these maligned techniques.
134 Come to the Dark Side Part 3
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Jeff tells the modern part of the story of the evolution of the leg lock game.
133 Come to the Dark Side Part 2
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Jeff continues his mini-series on the controversy surrounding leg locks in submission grappling training and competition. This week he tells the Russian part of the story.
132 Come to the Dark Side Part 1
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Jeff begins a four-part series discussing the controversy regarding the relative safety of leg locking techniques in submission grappling training and competition. In Part One he tells the “Brazilian Story.”
131 Athena Vs. Ares
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Jeff discusses his fascination for the Greek goddess Athena, and what that has to do with the martial arts.
130 The Art of Not Getting Hit Part 3
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Jeff wraps up his three-part discussion of striking defense, doing a deep dive into the subject of counter-attack.
129 The Art of Not Getting Hit Part 2
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Jeff moves his discussion of developing your striking defense from passive defense to active defense.
128 The Art of Not Getting Hit Part 1
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Jeff describes a way to begin building your defensive skills vs. empty hand striking.
127 Techno-phobia and the Martial Arts
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Jeff discusses the quirky relationship between humans and their technology.
126 Believing is Seeing Part 5
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Jeff wraps up his miniseries about human vision.
125 Believing is Seeing Part 4
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Jeff discusses how bad guys through history have figured out ways to take advantage of the perceptual weaknesses of humans, and what brain science lies behind those weaknesses.
124 Believing is Seeing Part 3
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Jeff discusses the ways that your brain compensates for the time lag created when it must process visual information before presenting it to you.
123 Believing is Seeing Part 2
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Jeff continues his discussion of the powers and the failings of our most valued sense.
122 Believing is Seeing Part 1
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Jeff begins a multi-episode deep dive into how your brain manufactures what you think you see with your eyes.
121 Death by Ideology
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Jeff describes the history of Lysenkoism and the dangers of allowing ideology to trump evidence.
120 First Allegiance
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Jeff discusses the dangers of tribalism in martial arts academies.
119 There’s a Box There for a Reason!
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Jeff discusses the payoffs and pitfalls of marching to the beat of a different drummer.
118 Looking for Sensei Right
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Jeff discusses the pitfalls of dating at the martial arts academy.
117 Easter Eggs and Rabbit Holes
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Jeff discusses the various ways instructors build a lesson plan or a curriculum, and the ways the quirky human brain can corrupt the process.
116 The Red-Headed Step-child of Striking
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Jeff discusses his personal history with kicking below the belt, and it’s parallel history in the last few decades of the martial arts in the US.
115 The Beast With Two Backs?
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Jeff discusses the importance of recognizing and seizing the mutual center of gravity in the clinch.
114 Nerd Up!
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Jeff discusses the dangers of the recurring logical fallacy of anti-intellectualism.
113 It’s a Natural Fact
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This is an encore posting of episode 21. Jeff discusses the logical fallacy called “the appeal to nature,” how it applies to the martial arts, and the pitfalls of claiming that what is “natural” is better.
112 Oh, How We Danced
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Jeff discusses the various uses of footwork in the martial arts, and why you need to learn them.
111 You Say Placebo and I Say Nocebo
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Jeff discusses the “placebo effect” and whether a single session of martial arts training has magical healing properties.
110 You Are Not the Punisher
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Jeff discusses the ethical and legal dangers of following sport martial arts protocols in self defense.
109 A Study in Studies
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Jeff discusses the importance of understanding the variety of quality of various scientific studies for martial artists and the general public.
108 The Punching Order
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Jeff discusses the existence of primitive behavior among martial arts sparring partners.
107 This Technique Always Works…Well Except for When it Didn’t.
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In this encore of “The Martial Brain” #35 Jeff discusses confirmation bias and how it crops up among martial artists.
106 The Tao of the Tao of Jeet Kune Do
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Jeff discusses the creation of the book “The Tao of Jeet Kune Do” and the controversy surrounding it.
105 Battling Bartitsu Babes
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Jeff describes the history of an obscure martial art and its connection to the women’s suffrage movement.
104 Fortune’s Fool
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Jeff reveals to his poor listeners that luck is an illusion.
103 The Low Hanging Fruit
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Jeff explains why the pseudoscience known as homeopathy is among the easiest targets for skeptics in the world of woo woo.
102 The Strange Tale of Howard Bone Part 2
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Jeff continues the story of his friendship with an old carnival fighter.
101 The Strange Tale of Howard Bone Part 1
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Jeff tells the story of Howard Bone, an old friend who fought in the ring for carnivals.
100 The 100th Episode Extravaganza!
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Jeff celebrates his 100th episode by explaining the insignificance of the number 100.
99 Dueling Concepts
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Jeff discusses what happens when the right way to practice one martial art collides with the right way to practice a different martial art.
98 Lesson Planning and Helmuth Von Moltke
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Jeff discusses the importance of developing the capacity for careful planning combined with skill at improvisation; both in the martial arts and in life.
97 She Blinded Me With Scienciness!
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Jeff discusses the concept of ‘scienciness’ and how it is used to take advantage of the scientifically illiterate, including in the martial arts.
96 Everything Good Came From Us!
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Hyper-diffusionism is the misguided idea that ALL the world’s important cultural achievements, indeed all the world’s CULTURES came from a single particularly superior civilization and then diffused out to the rest of the world.
95 Martial Arts Literacy
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Jeff draws comparisons between ‘scientific literacy’ and what he terms ‘martial arts literacy.’
94 A Potpourri of Fallacies
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Jeff discusses several logical fallacies, including one that is peculiar to the martial arts.
93 Age is Relative, and Boy do I Have Some Old Relatives!
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Jeff discusses the human propensity for thinking in absolute rather than relative terms.
92 Whoa, Mule!
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Jeff discusses the importance of slowing down your movements in training.
91 Made Ya Look!
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Jeff discusses the training in and use of deception and faking in the martial arts.
90 What is the Secret to Good Comedy?
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Jeff discusses the importance of the attribute of timing in the martial arts, comedy, and in history.
89 Go With the Flow
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Jeff discusses the amazing interlocking, reciprocal flow drills of the Filipino martial arts.
88 Courage is Easy, Discipline is Hard
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Jeff draws a comparison between two attributes often associated with the martial arts.
87 The Power of Doubt Part 3
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Jeff concludes his three-part discussion of skepticism as it applies both to the martial arts and to life.