Sewing The Legs Of Calves On In Gung Fu

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/AlCase7.gif]We were sitting in the dojo after class, engaged in a generalized sort of BS session, and one of the guys, Ron, started telling us about when he was young and growing up on a farm. Yeah, I had to get up at 4 in the morning and go chase the calves, they’d wander off, get in mudholes, that sort of thing. The worst was when they’d get tangled up in the barbed wire, they’d get a leg wrapped up, the leg would die, and we’d have to amputate it and sew it back on. If we weren’t fast enough, the calf would die.

One of the other fellows at this BS session, Mike, leaned forward and said, “Really?” Nobody said anything, and Ron went on with his story, telling about the details of sewing a calves leg back on. Suddenly, Mike got it, he looked sheepish, and we all started laughing.

Interestingly, Ron then told us of how he had been had. His father told him to go pick up a calf every day on his shoulders. As the calf grew older and heavier, Ron would grow stronger.

Another story, recorded in one of the earlier kung fu books I read, was that you dug a hole a foot deep, and practiced jumping into and out of the hole. Each day you shovel out more dirt, and after a few years you would be able to jump six feet down and up. This was the way tolearn Light Kung Fu.

Interestingly, the history of athleticism in America is rich with tales, or even methods, such as these. People strap weights on their legs, and increase the weights every month. Then you can run faster, and have a higher and more powerful kick.

And, athleticism itself is a study in this fashion of thought. We practice running faster and longer every day. We want to be able to run our best; is this not the same as the kung fu legends, be it of a more common and ordinary way of thought?

But the fact is, these legends are probably a good thing. Legends inspire us, and, who knows, maybe there is a bit of truth to be gleaned. After all, have you ever tried lifting a calf every day until he was a bull?

Have you ever jumped in and out of a hole a thousand times a day for a year or two? How do you know training methods like these won’t make you stronger and faster? Have you ever used used Shaolin Kung fu to put the legs back on a calf?

Al Case has forty++ years in the martial arts. If you want to get strong and fast using Ancient Technologies that have been proven to work, pick up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

The Greatest Training Device In The Martial Arts Doesn’t Always Work!

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/AlCase15.jpg]I’m going to tell you something that people never think of. The old guys, a hundred years ago, they didn’t know what they looked like when they did the martial arts. They had no means of self inspecting their forms to make they were correct in their movements.

Weird, eh? But it’s a fact. Back a hundred years ago, especially in some of the third world countries that the martial arts had their beginnings in, they didn’t have mirrors.

Nowadays we walk into dojos with mirrors covering the walls. We do our kata, and we inspect our movements, and we know what we look like. Sometimes this is good, sometimes this is bad, but at least we can see what we look like.

The good is that we can correct our forms. We can see our postural mistakes and fix them. The bad…well, let me get into that.

There is this overblown thing called narcissism. Falling in love with yourself…and the way you look to the world. But image often doesn’t have anything to do with how things work.

The martial arts rely on energy that is not always visible to the spectator, and in using mirrors we start looking at our glorious form, and don’t always to create the energy that the form, without obsessing on one’s self image, can create. We are not always able to see the degree to which we should sink our weight into the ground. We are not always able to perceive whether the tan tien is glowing and growing, and being used in an appropriate martial manner.

A punch should not be a polite line of turning fist, it should be a belly busting explosion of weight and emotion and the hell with the world! A block should not be a wave of flesh and bone, it should be a staunch stance with world shaking focus! A kick should not be the ability to do the splits vertical, it should be a sinking of the weight, a balance while tremendous energies are coursed through the leg and into the foot and…beyond.

A mirror is a great thing, it can impart a myriad of detail, and make us look incredibly pretty, but it doesn’t always generate the energy it takes to win a fight. Looking good might be great for evolution into video and hollywood, but it has limited value when it comes to the true martial arts. In the martial arts one must give up the image of self to find The True Art.

The True Art is not what you think it is. Pick up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts. Author has forty years experience.

Supercharging For The Most Powerful Punch Imaginable!

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/AlCase31.jpg]There is a technique that is used to give you the most powerful punch in the world. This is a trick from traditional karate, and students often struggle with it for years. If you understand the physics I give you here, you will be able to do this trick.

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.

The Brain Crash Behind The Martial Arts

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/AlCase9.jpg]There is a huge problem with the martial arts. This problem, to be plain, is the result of lowered intelligence. And this problem can, if not addressed, result in the lowered intelligence of the practitioners.

Having stepped in front of the firing squad, let me say that I believe that the martial arts are the greatest invention since anything. Done with the right disposition, they result in high levels of discipline, increased morality, and a calm viewpoint of life that reassures society across the board. And, not to be less than truthful, they kick butt!

Now, having properly protected myself against the occasionally rabid practitioner, let me describe that huge problem. The problem is one of power and hard headedness. Simply, once one becomes an authority in the martial arts, one tends to squash anyone who threatens that power.

You’ve all heard the fellow in the ring who threatens to knock the head off the other fighter with a ax kick…just because he really dont like him. This is the heart of spectacle, this is the gladiator with too tight pants, creating his own ratings, causing the crowd to cheer for him, inciting to riot all in the interests of a corporate deal. This is the lesson of venues such as the WCW, yet brought into all other sports where a dollar is to be made.

Now, once the ignorant brute becomes ‘champeen of the wurld,’ he continues his career through seminars, and even his own chain of schools. And in this career he continues his world class example with bad English, morals and manners. Any student who asks a question is apt to receive his answer in headlocks and armbars, and not through the scientific reasoning of pulleys and wedges.

Now, thank the stars, not all instructors are like this, many instructors are intelligent, joyous fellows, who thrive on the interchange of information. But, what do we do about the, for lack of a more descriptive word, dopes? I mean, I don’t think the various athletic commissions will require a seventh grade diploma as necessary for a fellow who has dynamite in his punches.

Well, the answer lies in education, but not necessarily of the world champion. The answer lies in educating the masses. And this answer is possible through the education of the school systems.

Yes, it is about time to lay the smack down on, apply a head popping leg scissors to, wrench the arm right out of the socket of…boards of education everywhere. Time to take them teachers out and bash them in the heads with their own books. You want to fix the martial arts, start earlier, and pick the right target, next time your kid comes home with an F, head down to the local teacher store, and take a good dose of knuckle knocking, slobber knocking common sense, and convince them idiots that they better not to fail yer kid, or else!

Hey! Al has been having fun with you, but if you want to get in on the real smarts of the arts, order his free book at Monster Martial Arts.com. He has forty years experience and is a writer for the magazines.

Zen Karate and The Point of It All!

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/AlCase29.jpg]What do you get out of doing the Martial Arts? What strange abilities can you really discover and awaken? Is there a reality that could be called Zen Karate…or zen aikido, or zen whatever other martial art you might study?

There is a discipline called zen, and the best book for describing it is Zen Flesh, Zen Bones. Past that, zen is how you experience yourself, as discovered through specific discipline. My specific discipline and experience was through the martial art of karate.

The discipline is through the repetition of kata and bunkai, and through this discipline you learn to control your body. People who fight just to fight, as in MMA, never experience this discipline. They might know martial, but they don’t know art.

And, if you can learn to control the fact of your body, you realize that it took control of mind. The struggle to make your body do exactly as you want comes from you making your mind do exactly what you want. And now we come to the point of it all.

Why doesn’t life do what you want it to? Why can’t you get that great car, have the cheerleader, get that great job? The reason, for most people, is that they can’t control themselves.

I am not talking about controlling your body, nor even your mind, now. I am talking about controlling you, the person who controls your body and mind. You.

You want to be as snazzy as Bruce Lee, as rapid as Jet Lee, able to jump through hoops better than Jackie Chan? Learn to control your body, then learn to control your mind, and, ultimately, learn the secrets of controlling yourself. Learn to control that person who is controlling your body and mind.

I recommend the martial arts as the valid path for learning to control yourself. Karate, kung fu, wudan, they are all valid paths for learning how to control yourself, and to see yourself as separate from body and mind. Learn to do this, dedicate yourself to the discipline that will make you have zen karate, or zen kung fu or zen whatever, and you will be able to control the universe, and all the cars and cheerleaders therein.

You can find out about the modern approach to Zen Karate by picking up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts. The author, Al Case, has 4O years experience.

How to Be a Master of Speed through Your Study of Karate!

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/AlCase25.jpg]I don’t care how much size and bulk the other guy has, if you are a master of speed, then you are going to win. If he throws a big, fat, heavy punch, you are fast enough to block or just step out of the way. If you throw a punch, it is faster than his slow, lumbering blocks.

Do you understand how important speed is? Yet, the sad fact is that nobody ever teaches speed. Nobody ever teaches you the specialized techniques or drills that result in your becoming able to move your body faster and faster.

To be honest, to took me nearly seven years of dedicated discipline and practice in a couple of different disciplines to become fast in the martial arts. That’s almost seven years of forms and techniques and freestyle and bruises and work and exhaustion and lot of dues. And I knew there had to be a better way to get to where I was going.

I first became fast through the first move of the form Botsai. That is the move where you do a triple block, and the body protests because you are trying to make it do large movements to handle simple movements. And that concept is one of the keys to becoming faster.

Simply, if you absolutely and positively have to do something…then you, with practice, become able to do so. In Bot Sai somebody is firing three simply fists at me, and I have to respond with three large circles of the body, complete with hip twisting and stance changing. I have to do it, and, because I practice enough, I am able to do it.

So to get faster the old way, you have to set up a problem to be solved, then train your body over a period of time. And I saw similar methods utilized in other arts. And I saw some arts which went for the simple movements, but then they lost out on the hips and generation of power.

But I did realize something crucial in this matter of speed through my experience and observations in the traditional arts, and that something is commonly termed visualization. Assume a posture, be there and only there, and forget about being anywhere else. When you have forgotten the posture you are in enough, be in another position, and don’t have any thought or effort in between the two postures.

The idea here is to take out the ideas of weight and movement that is inherent in the way you move your body. Be here…then be there, and don’t have anything in between. It’s a zen approach to the practice of the martial arts, and it still takes some work, but by backing up your Karate sweat with a bit of mental attention and intention, it is possible to speed up your hands in months instead of years.

Al Case has studied martial arts for 4O++ years. You can find out about Mastering Speed and other theories he has developed over the years by picking up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

Intrinsic Power through Six Simple Steps!

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/AlCase8.jpg]Well, it was quite the thing, a couple of thousand years ago, when immortals walked the earth and chi power was common. Of course, things aren’t so glorious these days. Of course, if one understood that one could have chi power in six easy steps, then things might go back to the way they were.

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.

How to Break Boards with Your Head Really Good!

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/AlCase21.jpg]Okay, we need a warning, like check with a doctor before you do this. Or maybe a psychiatrist. Or maybe just make sure you’ve backed up your brains on hard drive.

Back in 1968, I had just start Kenpo Karate, one of the Ed Parker offshoot branches, and the head instructor decided to put on a breaking seminar. I don’t know what he was thinking, I don’t think he had a side business selling insurance. At any rate, the potential for mayhem was lurking.

We entered the training hall and stacks of pine boards were waiting for us. As a group we were taught the ins and outs of focusing, of punching through, and so on, and we were all excited. Then we started breaking the old pine-aroonies, one at a time, as the head instructor watched.

One of the students, a fellow named Jeff, asked if it was possible to break a board with the head. The answer was in the affirmative, but it shouldn’t be attempted until one was well trained. We then went into another room to break boards, and none noticed that Jeff had stayed behind.

We were in group discussion, and suddenly there was a tremendous thocking sound. It was such a unique sound that we all stopped what we were doing and stared at the door to the other room. The other room, where the sound came from, where Jeff had remained behind.

Suddenly, Jeff appeared at the door, he was standing aslant, and the look in his eyes was like little birdies singing. We all held our breaths as Jeff crossed the room, walking aslant, the birdies circling his head in a neat, little circling pattern. Jeff settled, well, sort of plonked, into a zen seated position, and the head instructor, with an eye on Jeff, continued his speechifying.

Now, if you’re going to break a board with your head, and I don’t care if you study Uechi or Tae Kwon Do or Choy Li Fut or whatever, work up to it. Start with skinny boards, even an eighth of an inch, then work your way through a quarter, through 3/8s, and so on. Heck, even wear a some kind of protective helmet the first few times, the potential for injury is that great.

Oh, and at the end of that seminar that I was at? Jeff came up to the head instructor after it was all over and asked, is it possible to break a board with your head. Maybe he should have worked on having the hardest punch instead of just a hard head!

Al Case has analyzed martial arts for over forty plus+ years. If you want to learn how to Matrix your Martial Art, pick up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

How I Used Karate to Get Out of My Body!

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/AlCase28.jpg]Turn up the mysterious music, burn a mystic for Christ, we are about to get out of our bodies. Oooo, floating motes of intelligence, able to float into bedrooms and bank vaults everywhere! And it is all possible through a common place martial arts drill, common in systems of Karate and Kung Fu, and especially wudan arts.

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.

I Used Kung Fu to have the Strongest Mind in the World

[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/AlCase7.gif]Try that on for size! The Strongest Mind ever to exist in the Whole Wide World, maybe the whole galaxy! Able to woo any dame and trounce any bad guy, and…sounds a bit too good to be true, doesn\’t it?

Oddly, the thing that I did worked, but not in the way I had anticipated. So let me tell you method I utilized, for free, and see how you do. Are you ready to have the Strongest Mind in the World, maybe in the universe?

I once read that a man who can concentrate on one thing for three minutes can rule the world. The point was that to stay focused on one thing, to put it simply, blows up the brain power. Having read this, and wanting to have the most fully functional brain allowed, I decided to do it.

I was doing doing Karate at the time, and exploring side avenues of Sticky Hands from Wing Chun Gung Fu, and various other martial things, and I really thought that I had the mental horsepower to pull anything off. I did my forms, I could remain calm during combat, and I had the discipline. Now all I had to do was apply that discipline to seeking enlightenment, pursuing Nirvana, or whatever you want to call it.

I decided to use a simple, little rock to shape the ultimate concentration and the resulting explosion of pure mentality which, I hoped, wouldn\’t shatter the universe too badly. A rock, after all, was what the earth was, and the shape of the thing was round, like the whole darned universe, and it seemed so neat and appropriate. So I went into a nearby field and chose a well shaped rock, and prepared to turn on my enlightenment.

I sat down under a tree, placed the rock before me, and focused on it. I tried not to think, I tried to just be aware of the rock, and to ignore all those silly little surface thoughts, like what was for lunch and what the latest movie was, or what I was going to do that weekend. I was, after all, going to shatter down the doors to heaven, so what use could such mundane thoughts have for me, right?

After three minutes I tossed the rock aside, got to my feet, and started walking away, totally disgusted with how boring the whole thing was. I mean, to think that I was going to enter Nirvana just by being able to think at a rock, how stupid, how boring! Suddenly, I was jerked to a stop as a sudden thought overwhelmed me.

It wasn\’t the rock that was boring, it was me. All that boredom was being generated by me, and I realized something…I would never be bored again. And I suddenly realized, in this moment of self revelation, the thing had worked, but not at all how I thought it would.

Want to have the most powerful Kung Fu? Pick up a free ebook written by Al at Monster Kung Fus.

« Previous Page — Next Page »