Well howdy. How’s it going? Whatcha been up to?

Let me start off by pointing out the obvious – the past 2-3 years have not seen as much content on IkigaiWay as years past. The explanation: I have shifted a lot of my time and attention to creating books. It started of with “Tales from the Western Generation”, and has shifted to helping other martial arts authors achieve their publishing aspirations since then. I’m very happy about the whole thing, although it does mean that IkigaiWay is much less vibrant than it used to be.

One thing I used to do was feature articles by readers. Instead of sprinkling them here and there, I would dedicate a whole week to reader articles. I felt this was valuable because it gave exposure to some different perspectives. It was also a concentrated blast of a variety of topics, which can be fun to experience back-to-back.

So, that being said, I’d like to do it again! This could be a great way to kickstart action on the blog and give some readers a chance to shine.

Submit Your Article Here:

Who’s Eligible to Submit an Article?

You are! As you know IkigaiWay is not style-specific, so you can bring whatever experience you have to the table. Whether you’re a 30 year vet or a 2 year newbie, it doesn’t matter. If you have something interesting to contribute, go for it. Since I’ll be acting as your editor and assistant, you needn’t be self conscious about matters such as spelling and grammar.

What Should I Write About?

The door is fairly wide open regarding your topic. However, I can give you some general guidelines that will improve your chances of getting selected:

Avoid:

• Attacks on any specific person or organization you happen to dislike
• Promotional bragging about your organization or school
• Raw training schedules about your workouts or routine
• Self aggrandizing biography

Consider:

• Weird or unique historical studies
• Important lessons learned throughout your training
• Memorable experiences with instructors
• Specific concept analysis
• Broad scope trends and goings-on in the martial arts world
• Whatever else you can dream up!

How Long Should the Submission Be?

My articles tend to vary wildly in length. However I would suggest not dipping below three paragraphs. If you start to wonder if your submission should be an ebook, you might have gone on too long.

How Do I Submit?

Submission is easy. First, create your article in a file that is friendly with Microsoft Word, Wordpad, or Notepad (if this is impossible for you, let me know. We can probably make arrangements via Google Docs). Include the text of the submission either in the body of the email you send or as a separate attachment.

Once your article is prepared, fill out this short form: