How Speed Relates to the Study of Good and Rare Martial Arts
[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/AlCase11.jpg]Whether you study Karate, Aikido, or that rare Wudan Art from Faroutistan, speed is vitally important to the martial arts. If you are going to accomplish anything in freestyle, you must be faster than your opponent. Even in the doing of your kata, speed gives a certain expediency that is necessary to the successful martial artist.
That said, there is another facet to the subject of speed, a facet which embraces the entire martial arts and is the mark of your progress over the decades. This is a side which relates to the speed of the art you are studying, and the speed of what is happening inside your head and in your day to day life. I am talking about the speed at which you execute your art.
The beginner is blown out by the fun of the martial arts, and he races breakneck through his forms. He spends hours tweaking his form, studying the angles of his limb so as to maximize speed of launch. Usually, this process takes about three years, but it can take longer, or lesser, depending on the individual and the art he is studying.
Remember when I remarked about spending hours looking at your form? This is the beginning of the intermediate student, this is where he first starts to understand that the art is more than just exuberance and gotcha, but a real live window into the soul and potentials of humanity that were hitherto undreamed of. This is the start of developing self awareness, and this is where the student first starts slowing himself down and starts looking at what he is actually learning.
This intermediate level is worked on by all of the hard artists, they spend hours doing their forms and studying how to be efficient in motion, and it eventually slows down to a virtual study of Tai Chi Chuan. Whether the student engages in actual Tai Chi, or just slows his movements down so he can best analyze and correct them, is beside the point. What is important is that the student is looking with awareness, not just doing mindlessly.
Awareness you see is an oddity. One can become aware through the simple act of looking. Thus, looking is free, and awareness is free, and it is the point to all life.
Without awareness life could not be. Or, one could say that life is relative to the degree of awareness that the looker builds. Thus, the value of the martial arts, as they go at ever slower rates, is that they create more and more opportunity for looking.
That all said, I do not recommend stopping your studies of speed until you, personally, have reached a point which is satisfactory and obvious to you. Live, go fast luxuriously, for you should give full throttle to all stages of learning the how to of combat, even and not matter if you are studying a rare martial art. One should not give up youth to old age.
Al Case has studied martial arts 4O years, and he is not slowing down. Come on over to Monster Martial Arts and find his free ebook. Or, better yet, head over to Five Army Tai Chi Chuan and see him put out a candle from over a foot away.
The Hellish Beginnings Of Tae Kwon Do
[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/AlCase34.jpg]Many people walk to the corner mall, walk into their Korean Martial Arts dojo, and train in nice, neat uniforms, watching themselves in wall sized mirrors, kick soft and well hung bags, and think that they are doing hard core Tae Kwon Do. These people should learn some beginnings of Korean Karate. They will find that that polite block and kick combo they are practicing was born in hell, perfected in hades, and then things got nasty.
Just to let you know, this bit of scribble is speaking of the history of the kwans from Korea of the fifties. This includes the nine major kwans, which are Sung Moo Kwan, Chang Moo Kwan, Chung Du Kwan, Moo Duk Kwan, Yun Moo Kwan, Han Moo Kwan, Oh Do Kwan, Kang Duk Won, Jung Do Kwan. There are other Kwans that grew from these nine, but these nine are the main ones.
Korea is a rugged, little spit of land, about half the size of California,sticking out from the Asian continent. It is a land equal in plains and eternal mountain ranges. It experiences extremes of typhoonal rains, siberian cold, and brain broiling heat.
Throughout the ages, Korea has endured countless wars. The Japanese reigned in the first half of the last century, and in the early fifties Korea became the battleground between the free world and communism. Thus, this peanut of land hosted the onslaught of million man armies, and the populace was in constant flight, or murdered outright.
The communist forces boiled across the 38th parallel first, causing a mass exodus the length of the peninsula. Farmers were made part of the vast communist forces, given no rifles, and put into massive meat grinder attacks. If the peasants survived the cauldron of war, they had to endure a winter with temperatures often at 30 degrees below zero.
Those that managed to survive the winters, and the spring attack of the UN forces, continued with their study of the martial arts. That’s right, in the middle of all the slaughter, in spite of the weather and starvation, the nine kwans survived. Indeed, they grew.
One tale that made me shake my head in awe of these incredible warriors was that, when the war front approached, the students would pick up the boards of their dojos and head south. That’s right, they didn’t even nail the boards down, because they knew they would have to flee, and they perfected their spinning, jumping kicks on unsecured, splintered, weathered boards. Got a splinter up your foot…pick it out and keep going, because that’s the martial arts.
So enjoy the fur lined bags and gaudy mirrors, and toast your designer water in appreciation. That Korean Karate you are studying was built by gods, and it is a legacy dripping with blood and death and tears. And when you bow…kow tow to the floor, your ancestors deserve it.
Al Case has practiced Korean martial arts 40 plus years. He has written a book and produced a video on the Kang Duk Won, and it is available at Monster Martial Arts.
How A One Armed Student Learns Martial Arts
[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/AlCase7.gif]Bobby lost his left arm because of a childhood illness, but it didn’t slow him down. He rode bikes, was athletic, and did everything a child is supposed to do, except for one. He never did the martial arts, he assumed that that was one activity he would never be able to do.
When a martial arts dojo opened up in his neighborhood, however, he could not stop thinking about it. He would pass by slowly, staring at the kids working out inside. He would ask his friends who studied martial arts endless questions, but he never went inside the dojo because he knew that there was no way he could do that physical discipline.
One day a friend of his invited him to the training hall to witness a demonstration. Bobby went, and watched, and sadness ate at his heart like a weedwacker chews weeds. After the demonstration, Bobby met the instructor, who invited him to study the martial arts.
“I don’t see how I could,” observed Bobbie, “since I only have a right arm.” The instructor grinned and said that having one arm wasn’t a problem. He said that anything is possible to a man with a whole heart.
So Bobbie began studying martial arts. He dove into the practice like a starving man attacked a plate of food, and he made good progress. Unfortunately, the instructor, while he would show Bobby all the moves, would only let him work on one technique.
Day after day, week after week, Bobbie concentrated on learning this one technique. Dutifully, he worked out the problems with his execution until he could do the technique as smooth as silk. Still, the instructor would not let him move on to other techniques.
One day, the instructor came up to Bobbie and said, “I’ve put you in a tournament.” Bobbie was flabbergasted, he just knew he was going to be beaten like a dirty rug and tossed like yesterday’s salad. Still, his instructor believed in him, so he went to the contest.
He faced his first opponent, and when that foe charged, he used the one technique and won the match. And he used that one technique to defeat a second fellow, and then a third one. When the end of tournament came, Bobbie had his division!
The next day Bobbie went to class and thanked his instructor. “The thing I don’t understand,” remarked Bobby, “is why that technique always worked!” His instructor grinned and said, “The only defense for that technique, in all the martial arts, is for your opponent to grab your left arm.
Al Case has analyzed martial arts 4O++ years. He knows lots of Clever Tricks, like the one you just read about. Stop by Monster Martial Arts and pick up a free ebook.
How To Use The Martial Arts To Read Minds
[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/AlCase16.jpg]The first time I ever actually perceived someone elses thoughts happened in San Francisco. My wife and I were ambulating through Chinatown, and we entered a shop where a grouchy old Chinese lady perched on a stool in a corner. As we peered at the various bric a brac, the grouchy one snapped at her daughter, “Look, look, look, everybody just look!”
Walking down the street after we left the store, I asked my wife, “Did you hear what that old lady said?” “How could I,” my wife peered up at me intently. “I don’t understand Chinese.”
Speaking in Chinese, and I had heard her in English. In essence, I had read her mind and translated her thoughts into English. And I could do this, I instantly knew, because of the martial arts I had been studying.
The human mind is just a big radio receiver, but it transmits, and picks up, thoughts. The sad fact, however, is that the mind is pre-occupied with static. Children can usually see into people’s minds, but they outgrow the ability and don’t even remember it when they grow older.
In the martial arts you use the discipline of the body to clear out the clutter and distractions. You do this by concentrating on perfecting the moves of your form. Eventually, the distractive static lessens, and the original ability to read minds is once again possible.
The problem, unfortunately, is that the martial arts have been so conflicted that it is difficult to find a form, or series of forms, that work the way they are supposed to. Oddly, almost any form can work if it is properly examined, and reworked so that it is scientific and true. This normally takes a tremendous amount of work, even a whole lifetime, but the process can be sped up if one knows the proper science.
Interestingly, the old Taoist writings of classical martial arts such as Tai Chi and other Wudang arts, speak of being like a child in your approach to life. I also came across mention of this concept in classics of Zen Buddhism. Unfortunately, by the time one resurrects this ability one is aged.
Nevertheless, the old anecdotes are true, the martial arts really do work, and in ways most people don’t imagine. Indeed, though the martial arts teach people how to defend themselves in combat situation, abilities like reading minds are the real beginning. And the beginning of the real beginning, for most people, is simply passing through the doors of that neighborhood training hall and learning a little Kenpo or Kung Fu or Tai Chi Chuan.
Al Case, 4O years studying martial arts, has written a free ebook which explains the Martial Technology for fixing the martial arts. It is available at his website, Monster Martial Arts.
The Secret Of Power Kick Strategies In Karate
[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/AlCase15.jpg]Kicking is one of the most misunderstood tools of the martial arts. You are potentially off balance, fighting at distance, and yet must adhere to certain basic strategies of combat. This article, however, should enable you to offset the disadvantages and develop an excellent fighting strategy, and even develop some pretty potent and powerful kicking.
Interestingly, kicks were not always a big thing, they didn’t even impact on the American martial arts until the sixties. Watch the kicks in movies earlier than that and you don’t see much, not even in the old kung fu chop sockies. The reason for this lack of adequate kicking had to do with clothing and basic strategy.
Soldiers in older times often wore armor in combat. This meant that they were carrying more weight, and their balances were often at risk if they wanted to deliver some sort of leg attack. Ask a modern day solder to kick while wearing body armor, a back pack, a rifle, while wearing combat boots, and you will easily see my point.
Another reason was that soldiers carried weapons. Why on earth would you deliver a kick, which is slower than punching, and larger and easier to see, to a fellow who was holding a sword? Or, with today’s modern warfare, a rifle?
Thus, before the advent of such arts as Tae Kwon Do, with that art’s spinning kicks and head hunters and ax kicks, martial arts foot techniques were quite a bit different. Instead of lifting the foot high and poking it straight in, which could often be easily defended against, the leg was chambered with the foot cupping the standing knee, and then flicked out. Thus, the kick was actually more of a slap with the outside of the foot.
A lot of power could be delivered with this type of foot, and one didn’t have to risk falling, and it wasn’t out long enough to be chopped off. Actually, it was designed for close quarter combat, not the long ranges developed by some of today’s arts. And, speaking oftoday’s arts, we now come face to face with modern legwork.
Long, spinning, jumping kicks came into their own with the introduction of Tae Kwon Do arts of the 60s. Long kicks took a lot of work to develop, were great for conditioning, and were so different that, at least in the beginning, they were hard to defend against. Now, however, while they are good for a change up, most people see the long foot coming, and so they treat them as a part of their basic tools and not the end all that defines combat.
It is doubtful that we will ever go back to lower, short range, slapping kicks. And, there is good reason for practicing the long, high kicks, for they are pretty darn good for shifting strategies in combat. And, the good news, one can, through heaps of sweat and a bit of intelligence, develop powerful kicks in any art, be it Karate, Kung Fu, or whatever.
Al Case began kicking 4O++ years ago in the Kang Duk Won. You can pick up a free ebook describing his methods at Monster Martial Arts.
The Effectiveness Of Communist Kung Fu Strategy!
[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/AlCase5.jpg]I’m just ending a book by Clay Blair, entitled The Forgotten War, which is about the Korean Conflict. It is a real surprise, and extremely interesting. It is of particular interest to martial artists who are interested in tales of combat on a grand scale.
The Korean War consisted of a charge by the North Korean People’s Army, which pushed the US almost off the peninsula. A push back by the United States to the Yalu river. And a push back to the 38th parallel by the Chinese Communist Forces which almost worked, but which was countered by the US, expanded by UN, forces.
The Chinese combat strategy consisted of three principles. Charge if the enemy flees, and retreat if they attack. If the enemy is doing nothing, probe for weakness.
This is a wonderful tactic…for lone soldiers. For millions of men, it isn’t very applicable. This strategy doesn’t hold up to the necessities of modern combat.
The communists, you see, in embracing this strategy, were willing to trade bodies for bullets. They would charge, hundreds of thousands of men, and trust that they had more bodies than the US had bullets. They didn’t.
While the communist strategy actually works for personal combat, or very small groups of men, it falls all apart in the face of modern armies. When the NKPA, and later the CCF, headed down the Korean Peninsula, they didn’t stop to think about things like supplies. They couldn’t feed their men, resupply them with ammunition, or even see to the wounded.
What I find most interesting, in light of these lacks, is to apply the strategy of Matrixing to the battlefield. Getting an overview of national geography, specific terrain, freezing winters, muddy springs, and boiling hot summers, it is fascinating to consider whether the Chinese Communist Forces could have won if they had been a little less exuberant and a little more thoughtful in their planning. What if the CCF had established methods of resupply, applied their millions of men in manners that didn’t waste them, had taken the time to think their way through the terrain and opposition?
I recommend this little epistle, it’s a ton of fun, and a real thought maker, if you have a penchant for reliving combat, applying the martial arts to the world, and that sort of thing. I especially recommend considering the matrixing potentials of Matrix Martial Arts, and seeing if you could reign supreme, at least in theory, in one of the great undecided wars of this last century. For myself, this book provided a terrific tool for exploring martial arts strategies on a grand level.
Al Case has practiced martial arts for forty years. You can find out about his Matrixing Strategy by picking up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.
Making Aikido Into A Combat Art
[I:http://www.weightlossdietinformation.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/AlCase14.jpg]One of the most astounding facts in all the martial arts is that Aikido does not work well in combat. The reason this is astounding is because it is derived, to large degree, from Daito Ryu Aiki Jujitsu, which is one of the most combat ready arts in existence. Interestingly, it doesn’t take much to make Aikido into a formidable combat ready art.
To understand why the ‘Gentle Way’ is not good for the street one must understand the founder’s purpose. Morihei Uyeshiba, who designed the art, designed it around his enlightenment. This is to say that he designed it for people to love their neighbor.
Of course Morihei had the ability to destroy that neighbor, so he was safe in loving him. The modern Aikidoka, however, studying an art distilled for ‘getting along,’ does not have that ability, and so the art becomes unworkable. Thus, one has to tailor the art, explore it specifically for techniques that do not enter and present themselves as ‘get along’ techniques.
In classical aiki instruction the attack is exactly prescribed, and it is designed to feed the flow of the receiver, and therefore the ‘spirituality’ of the receiver. What one should do is, after delivering a flowing attack designed to fit the defender, is apply an attack in a more rugged way, that is not designed to fit into the flow of the receiver. Thus, the defender must solve the problem of being attacked the way he would be attacked in real life.
If an attack is presented, say a lapel grab, with the arms extended, one must explore that attack with the arms bent. Further, the attack must be explored with the motion of the attack to one side or the other, or in conjunction with the movement of feet in all directions. Thus, the defender learns to not just go with the flow, but to make the flow work no matter which way it is flowing.
The procedure I am describing here is nothing more than exploring all the potentials of motion, and not just the politely described entry techniques of a zen shaped art. This is the procedure we used in rough and tumble karate schools, and we managed to stay polite, and yet became aware to anything and everything that could happen in a real fight.
I have meant many Aikidokas over the years, and the better ones have always subscribed to some variation of this procedure. Many a night I stayed late, after class, after the polite ones had gone home, and explored the nuances and deviations necessary to survival in a real fight. And for any Aikido practitioners out there who object to my opinions on this matter, I suggest they research the Hell Dojo of Ushigome, and other practices of the founder.
In reality, with the attention to detail, Aikido can be one of the most street wise arts in the world. It does take an enlightened mind, however, to embrace not just love and kindness, but the reality of violence. These, however, are the principles we embrace in the art of Matrix Aikido.
Al Case has 4O+ years experience in the martial arts. To find out about Matrix Aikido visit Monster Martial Arts. Pick up a free ebook while you are there.
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.
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.
