The Six Best Procedures To Learn Martial Arts
Almost as bad as the screen, and it might even be considered a toss up with these two, is the web. While there can be pearls in that there computer stream, the dreck is overwhelming. Dial into the internet for the purpose of actually trying to learn something (as opposed to just surfing around for fun) and you engage a common brain that doesn’t know any better, pseudo experts, overwhelming amounts of information with no real instruction or even organization of data, what’s neat, advertising that hasn’t and can’t be tested for worth, and etcetera.
The third weakest way to educate oneself would be to try to learn from magazines. Now, this is not to be discounted, magazines do give you an overall viewpoint of what’s going on–and not just in the classical arts–and can give a good education as to what is out there. Good writing and the dedication of the magazine to find out what the reader is really interested in, and the tendency of the worthwhile ads to stick around, makes this a good source of finding out about different martial arts.
Fourth weakest would be martial arts DVDs. Now, I should say weakest, but third strongest, because one can dial into a specific art, delve into that art in detail, and really get some great instruction. Honestly, it’s a toss up between this and the next item on the list, almost a tie, but I settled on the order you see because there are just so many bad DVDs out there–it’s just too easy to string some fighting techniques together, slap a pseudo scientific label on it, and use internet marketing to blast it past common sense.
Second best and of very high value, when it comes to the learning process goes to martial arts books. With books you might not get the visual look, but if you have any instruction in a training hall, books will do the trick. Furthermore, you can get the most detail, in depth theory, the most fully thought out concepts in books–and if you can get a video to go along with it then you really are on to something.
The best method for learning the the combat discipline, no doubt about it, is to take a martial arts class at a good training hall, one where they teach not just the blood and guts, but the heart and soul. You’ll find friendships that last a lifetime, styles of combat that stuck around for thousands of years, and some pretty darned good times. Add to that that you can ask a question about anything you want right on the spot, and the worth of this method is undeniable.
People study according to their opportunity and means, thus, none of the methods I have mentioned can be totally discounted. And, the smart student will do a mix and match and educate himself so that there are no weaknesses in his arts. In the end, every man is self made, and learning Martial Arts is the best method for making oneself.
Whether you want to study Karate, Shaolin, Aikido,or some other art, Monster Martial Art has the best DVDs in the world. 1
The Six Degrees Of Insanity Uncovered Through Real Karate!
There was a goju ryu karate club in my hometown when I grew up, but knowing about something didn’t immune me from the chaos of the educational institutions. I was treated to the teacher father figures, bullying school kids, and an education that didn’t have much to do with anything. So I needed Goju, or another art of similar value, but didn’t know it.
As I traveled through the educational experience people began taking drugs, lots of drugs. Man, a good fighting discipline really would have worked to protect me from people who were intent on going unconscious and crazy, which is the real purpose of drugs. A good karate club would have helped me to retain my natural worth and sense of self at a time when I needed it the most.
Eventually, society turned to the Viet Nam War, and this war had to be the craziest thing on the planet. The bumper sticker used to read, ‘Journey to strange, exotic lands, meet interesting, wonderful people, and kill them.’ Fortunately, at about that time I was rescued from the chaos of society…I happened across the Ed Parker Chinese American kenpo karate system.
I worked out ruthlessly, doing karate kumite by the hour, but, eventually, I was to be disillusioned by the martial arts techniques I was learning. I was learning hundreds of fighting techniques, but they didn’t have to much to do with the real world. Kenpo, though it was wonderful, was based on combat fantasy scenarios.
I went to the Kang Duk Won for my next step in evolution towards a rational world, and it was to prove the ultimate answer for all my problems. Here the training was rigorous and deep reaching, and the energy we created was all consuming. I learned that all my sweat and bruises could be focused on one single item: the handling of the incoming fist.
One, single incoming missile, and I had to handle it, but that one incoming missile represented rage and anger and chaos. Thus, in handling the fist, I was handling the rage and anger and chaos of a world that believed in war and drugs and misinformation. As I understood this I began to develop my matrixing methods.
Through this science of Matrixing I ordered all my martial arts techniques, put them in a logical arrangement so that they represented a whole science, and not an out of sequence something. The art became a science, and through the combative sciences I made my final break with the gods of insanity, So for me there were six degrees of insanity: school, drugs, war, kenpo, classical karate, and matrixing…and this is the path I chose, this is the path I discovered when I discovered Real Karate.
The path the author followed is well laid out at Monster Martial Arts. You can download a free ebook which explains his Matrixing theories. 2
The Truth About The Karate Yell!
First, practice of Karate yells is real, and taught in most karate kata in existence. The karate yell (hihap, or ki Hap, in Korean) is learned by the new student to help focus the techniques of the karate kata into precise moments of time. This increases the mental abilities, and eventually moves the student slightly out of his body.
Don’t get freaky with me on this. To be removed form the body means merely to assume a slightly different viewpoint of the body, to have the spiritual ‘I am’ that runs the body maybe a few inches above or back of the body. It is a gentle thing that happens to everybody as they live, but can be encouraged to greater degree, with a variety of effects, through the study of the martial arts.
Now, the body is not shouting, the spirit is shouting. As I said, the ‘I am’ that operates the body is shouting, and the body seems to actually get out of the way of the spirit shout. A shout directed by spirit and not body is infinitely more powerful than a shout powered by just the body.
With a shout by the body all that moves is the air. When the spirit is involved emotion will move, and not just massed air molecules, and this can be testified to by any good artist who knows the value of emotion when performing. Eventually, a martial artist will move intention, which is far above simple air, or even emotion, this is the stuff of legends and great abilities.
Thus far we have been discussing kiai from the viewpoint of being slightly outside of the body, but now we must discuss the effects of a spirit shout on another body. Yes, there is probably measurable impact by waves of massed air, which can put out candles and that sort of thing, but only at short distances. These usually depend on body movement, a fist, for instance, to help propel the mass of air.
But there is also the fact that a being can grow his size, when outside his body, and actually touch the body of another human being, and this is a direct touch that can wither and blast an attacker. The body is made up of liquid, and air is molecules, but spirit is intangible. Spirit is a perception of reality from beyond reality that can stretch through the apparent space filled by air particles and cause that liquid to wave, to ripple, to vibrate…to shatter.
I know there will be people who scoff at what I have said here, but they are people who have not done the martial arts for over forty years. The fact is that the martial arts don’t just forge the body, they cause a person to realize who is doing the forging,–oneself–and therefore to assume a removed viewpoint from the body. In summation, the martial arts take long years and intense effort to reach the stage I am talking about, but if you understand what I am saying here, and are willing to dedicate yourself to endless practice and a higher ethic of life, then you can achieve the Karate ki-ai of which I am speaking.
Learn more at Monster Martial Arts. Pick up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts. 6
Supercharging For The Most Powerful Punch Imaginable!
This trick is from the third move in the classical form called Pinan One. It is called Heian One in various other styles of karate. This is the move where you kick and block simultaneously, then stomp your foot as you block in the opposite direction.
To understand the what is happening in this technique you have to understand that bending your leg makes you create more energy. The deeper the posture you assume, the more you bend your legs, the more your legs work, the more energy you are going to have to create. This energy comes from the Tan tien, which is actually nothing more than an energy generator which is located below the navel.
When you stomp your foot in precisely the right manner, you have a sudden increase in weight. A sudden increase in weight is going to trigger a sudden increase in the energy produced by the tan tien. This energy can be channeled out to you kick, block or punch.
To make this technique really workable you must not stomp the foot overly hard. Stomping the foot too hard can cause your foot to become damaged. It can also cause long term damage up the leg and actually effect the hip bones and the spinal column.
To make this work, then, does not require that you use the strength of maniac, it requires perfect timing. The arms must return to the body at the same time the leg comes back. The hips must spin at the correct rate of speed so that the body is being used as a single and whole unit.
Moving the hips is very important, they must turn with the whole body, and support the proper alignment of the legs and arms. The hips must be able to stop at exactly the right instant. Stopping is done by emphasizing, gently, the downward thrust of the foot.
Don’t use too much strength, use perfect timing, make the body work as one unit. This is the key to supercharging your punch, kick or block and giving them a lot of extra power. Guaranteed, if you can do these things, and especially with the move from Pinan One, then you are going to have the most powerful punch imaginable.
If you want more Techniques that Really Work, drop by Monster Martial Arts. Pick up a free ebook while you are there. The instructor has forty++ years of experience.
Intrinsic Power through Six Simple Steps!
The first step in this sequence can hardly be considered a step at all, it is a lack of knowledge. This is when a person doesn’t use his hips at all when doing the martial arts. Oddly, one can see the lack of knowledge because the student has a bad case of butt wiggle when he steps forward and executes a front punch.
When I found the traditional karate of Kwon Bop I found out how to slam the hips into a strike. We would stand in place and pivot front stances, slamming the hips, as a regular part of our training. This put the weight of the body into the technique, and built really usable power.
The third step came when I realized that I could just move the hips without slamming them. This was a small motion, sometimes nothing more than an in and out jerk of alignment, but it worked, was efficient, and was my first step into what we call internal power. This motion, developed in traditional karate such as shito ryu, is often called hip vibration.
The fourth step was when I came to understand that you could roll the whole body like a pipe half filled with sand. The purpose was to make all the sand on the inside of the pipe collide with the end or side of the pipe at the same moment one struck an opponent. I was heavily involved in generating internal power now, and one can see this type of movement in properly done forms such as hangetsu.
The fifth step I realized after I had played Tai Chi for a number of years. Instead of slamming the hips, or rolling the arm or body like a pipe, I simply moved the body or body part in a subtle motion so that the tan tien was like a cup of liquid, and the internal energy was sloshing on the inside of the cup. This caused energy to swell up inside the body, and this energy could be used in martial techniques.
The power of the fifth step is when one learns to release themselves. People always hold themselves back a little, obviously not wanting to hurt somebody, but, not so obviously, stopping their intrinsic power. The sixth step is to learn to relax enough that you don’t withhold yourself, and then the energy you have generated by the previous methods becomes real and can be used in martial technique.
The path I have outlined may sometimes appear lengthy, but once you understand the pieces, it can become quite short. The problem is that many martial arts don’t present all the pieces, and one must study a variety of martial arts to learn all the steps, and this sometimes leads to seeming contradictions. Still, it is possible to learn how to develop and manifest intrinsic power if one chooses the right technology.
Al Case has studied martial arts for 4O+ years. The correct technology is called Matrix Martial Arts, and you can get a free ebook describing this correct technology at Monster Martial Arts.
Matrix Martial Arts Understood Through Three Analogies
March 5, 2010 by Al Case
Filed under Weight Loss Diet
Matrixing is important because the oral tradition of learning the martial arts has resulted in thoroughly mixed up martial disciplines. People spend much time copycatting random strings of data, but this leaves vast areas of unexplored technique. The random strings of data thus become hard to extract for use, and martial intuition takes decades to cultivate, if it ever is.
The first analogy of matrixing was one of numbers. Learning an art, be it karate or kung fu or whatever, was like trying to learn how to count when you had no 2, 3 was upside, 7 is put before 1, which is inverted, and there were no more numbers except…what is that shaved cat doing in there? Matrixing laid out the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9…and then anybody could find 10, and 11, and so on.
The second analogy of Matrixing uses language. Use the Matrix Technology and speed of learning is increased, and this because there is an alphabet, and even phonics. The martial arts can then be generated with techniques as words, forms as sentences, and whole systems as simple textbooks.
The third analogy used to define Matrix Martial Arts is a simple three dimensional form. Using the logic of matrixing you can establish the geometry of each art, and establish that geometry for all potentials of motions, and define each art as separate and unique. One then merely places the layers of art in a three dimensional cube.
Thus, the individual arts are conceptually aligned, and a student can change arts simply by selecting the right layer of art from the cube. This puts all the martial methods in a specific and logical order that is true through all the arts. Depth of art then is not mysterious and difficult to understand, but rather a straightforward process of understanding the ordered and inter-related geometry of all arts.
Several things happen when one understands matrixing science on this level. Intuition becomes obvious and easily tapped. Students learn at a much higher rate of speed, for the mind will not refuse concepts when they are simple correctly ordered.
Of course, students are unique, and how much matrixing technology it is going to take for each is a variable. A high number of practitioners make the breakthrough on the first course or two, a few students need all the courses, and there are going to be one or two students who are going to need all the courses…and a kick in the pants besides. However much matrixing it takes for the martial mind to kick in and start truly functioning, and for the student to enjoy all those fabulous, advanced abilities that students of the True Art have come to know, the journey is well worth it.
Al Case has examined martial arts for 40 years and is a writer for the magazines. If you wish to find out more about Matrix Martial Arts visit Monster Martial Arts and ask for his free ebook, Matrixing: The Primer.
How I Used Karate to Get Out of My Body!
March 5, 2010 by Al Case
Filed under Weight Loss Diet
If you can turn down the Outer Limits music for a moment, I\’ll explain. The out of body experience I am talking about is possible through Kima Chasie, or, Horse meditation. In this article I am going to tell you exactly what that exercise is, which will include exactly how to do it.
Back in the early seventies I was working on my black belt, and I was frustrated with this horse meditation thing. We would stand in the horse stance, one hand in a high block, the other hand in a horizontal, hooked back beak hand. We would concentrate out awareness on our clenched fingertips until our legs shook and sweat burst forth upon our innocent foreheads.
Yet, I knew the two minutes we were doing was insufficient. I had heard the stories of guys who would stand in the stance for two hours, and how they became superhuman. And, not to reveal my adolescent dreams, I wanted to be superhuman.
The way to immortality, to be honest, is just to go ahead and do it. So I began doing Horse Meditation with a desire and will uncommon. I would hold the horse stance until the ache became too great too bear, and then break, and know that I had not made it, again.
I decided that I had had enough, I was going to do the big breakthrough. I was going to become the most immortal martial artist in the world…uh, other than Bruce Lee. I mean, I would be more than a God, but…Bruce is Bruce, you know?
So I assumed the deep horse stance, and when the pain started, I told myself one thing…it isn\’t going to kill me. Sweat, shakes, dire thoughts of having my legs fill with blood and burst. But, having made the decision that I was going to do or die…POP…I did it.
I floated in space over my body, disembodied, the world brilliant and forever, the source of immortality revealed. I had succeeded in using the martial arts, and this would work whether you studied karate or kung fu or whatever, in realizing that I was a spirit, and that I was immortal, and that bodies were temporary things that you put on or take off as simply as one puts on a coat, or takes it off, or pants, they go on or off, too, and shoes, and socks, and…I was myself. Then, after a few eternal minutes, I decided to get back into my body, so I did, and I lost control, my stance fell forward, and I couldn\’t figure out how to move my body quickly enough, and I fell right, smack dab, square…on my face.
Al has forty years in the arts, and is a writer for the magazines. You might not get out of your body, but you can get a free ebook if you pop on over to Monster Martial Arts.
Real Karate Does Not Look Like Karate!
The reason for this is that there is nice to look at, and then there is functional. A fellow teaches, or learns a martial art, and the instructor gives him something that looks good. Once one starts applying real world potentials to the technique, however, the technique must sometimes change to work.
Take a look at the traditional kung fu back stance. The stance is so bent on the back leg that the ankle is unable to support the weight of most attacks. Thus, one must change the shape of the posture in order to really make it work.
Or, take a look at the basic middle block in Karate. It swings sideways, and there is no real weight behind it. The correct way to do this block is to shoot it out from the tan tien, which would put structure behind the move.
The examples I have just given you, incidentally, represent the reasons why many classical arts fall apart in the Mixed Martial Arts ring. The artists have been trained to look good, and not to make it work. To make something like Karate work in the MMA, or the UFC, one is going to have to change the whole structure of the thing.
Changing the structure of a martial art is not bad, if it makes the art work. Unfortunately, many teachers will scream, and one has to wonder why this is. After all, the fact that an art now works should be proof and satisfaction all in one.
I suppose what is at the heart of some teacher\’s inability to change is the love of the mystery. What is happening in their minds is that they don\’t understand what they are doing, but they have become convinced that if they just keep doing what they are doing, they will, eventually, understand it. Thus, they become blind to change, to what works, and, sadly, the potential of the true art.
The good news is that most martial artists I have encountered are not so blind. I show them basic matrixing principles, for instance, and they embrace the change. Thus, hold to the old only so long as it works, change to the new when the old fails, and watch the True Martial Arts explode across the face of this planet.
Al has forty++ years experience and his website is Monster Martial Arts. Go there and pick up a free book on Matrixing, Find Out if Matrixing is for you.
The Truth Behind the Development of Classical Karate!
Karate was designed to guard the ruler of the island of Okinawa. The Imperial bodyguards trained to use their art in a room filled with a variety of different warriors. Soldiers with different weapons and ways of fighting, while the Okinawans had no arms to rely on.
Thus, would you really use a high block against a samurai sword? Would you try to shunt a bullet aside with a shuto? Because these were the types of weapons that the Okinawan bodyguards had to confront.
Consider also that the first order given troops in such a situation, if they were to attempt to kidnap the king of Okinawa, would be to restrain the bodyguards. This means that samurai would step forward and grab wrists, perhaps preparatory to tying the hands of the bodyguards, or merely moving them from the throne room, or otherwise controlling them. And this means that the first defense of the bodyguards, as described by the first technique in karate training, would be to step in, dropping the weight and arm, thus escaping from the technique, and possibly head butting those who tried to grab them.
That\’s right, an escape from a grab, then a violent step forward to close with and punch and shove the samurai, or whoever the warriors were. This would cause chaos and confusion. This would allow the king to escape.
Now, take a close look at the form. This is the only application that really makes sense. This is the start of what the Okinawans who created Karate-do had in mind.
If the samurai was going to draw a sword, the bodyguard had to get close. This is the reason for the big steps in the form, to enable the bodyguards to jam the samurai so they couldn\’t draw their swords. This explains the moves of forms that have been adapted to block and counter methods of training that don\’t always make sense in todays modern world.
If a samurai attempted to grab a bodyguard, break the grip, head butt, then push into them. This is the truth behind the first technique, and this is how the art was designed to work. Thinking about the movements in this manner reveals an art that is true beyond belief, but you are going to have to put aside the way you were taught, and take further steps down this path if you are going to find the true art of the art known as karate.
Al Case began his study of karate 4O plus plus years ago. He has been a writer and columnist for the magazines. He uses the science of Matrixing to uncover the Truth about the Martial Arts. Get his free ebook about Matrixing Technology at Monster Martial Arts.
The Three Essential Levels of Karate
The first step of the martial arts is the body level. This is nothing more than making sure you have all the necessary body parts to do the martial arts, and that they are in working condition, or close to it. To get started on the first level one need merely understand that, on a base level, the martial arts are nothing more than calisthenics.
To make if from the first level to the second level, however, one needs to accomplish something called CBM. In the past masters would refer to this as using the body as one unit, which was correct, but lacking in working description. CBM means Coordinated Body Motion, and it is when you use all the body parts together.
With CBM all body motion must intiate at the same time. And, all motion must halt at the same time. And, all in between motion must coordinate the size, mass, length, arc, and so on of individual motions and parts.
When one accomplishes CBM, especially through a classical martial art, one\’s intention is realized. Intention is your desire to achieve something, the working part of the essential idea of whatever end goal you are aiming for. This is the thing that is commonly, and with varying degree of error, described as Chi. That chi, or intention, can be described from so many different viewpoints and experiences is what makes it so confusing.
Having CBMed one\’s body, the next step is to CBM one\’s art. I call this process Matrixing, and it involves an actual science. When one starts to matrix their martial art they must examine all moves, all forms, and follow certain scientific principles to align that art. Like CBM before, one must take into account all motions and align them to the concept of the form.
One could make the broad generalization that Coordinated Body Motion is for inside the body, and Matrixing is for outside the body, and while this isn\’t entirely accurate, there is a sizable amount of truth to the statement. The Martial Arts, you see, while they have achieved a high degree of functionality, could work a whole heck of a lot better. There has been so much interbreeding of cultures and interests and viewpoints and so on, that the martial arts are fair well banged up.
When one finally succeeds in matrixing his martial arts, the true grandeur of the arts is revealed. Senses go outward and take in a whole new world, people see what they weren\’t able to see before, and the blind awake. Coordinated Body Motion, Matrixing, human desire to undertake and succeed, these are at the heart of the martial arts, and these are what the true martial artist must seek to understand and employ on his journey to the truth of his soul.
Having studied the martial arts for 4O+ years, Al has written for the magazines and had his own column in Inside Karate. If you want to find out about Coordinated Body Motion, or how to Matrix the Martial Arts, Al has written a book which you can get for free at Monster Martial Arts.
