When It Comes To A Martial Arts Bible Several Books Have To Be Considered
The first book to be considered would be Karate Do Kyohan: The Master Text, by Gichin Funakoshi. The reason this book has to be considered is because it was the first to really offer a comprehensive look at the eastern fighting disciplines. Of course, it is slanted towards Karate, and it offers techniques and forms without real explanation, but it is a good book.
The next book to land in America with impact was the George Mattson book on Uechi Ryu. This was a huge read, offered hows and whys, and even went into some of the legends and real possibilities of the arts. While it was of more depth than Funakoshi’s epic, again, it didn’t cover grappling or throwing potentials.
Filling the space left by the first two books, and through the use of some of the most beautiful martial arts concepts ever inked, is Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere. While it goes too far in the opposite direction, not being concerned with any of the force arts, it is still a work head and shoulders above nearly all others. The book was scribbled and inked by Oliver Ratti and Adele Westbrook.
The next book on our list is Yang Family Secret Transmissions. This book is weak on form and technique, but absolutely amazing on presentation of concept. The trick is to be able to extrapolate these concepts to all arts and make them work.
One of the lesser known Martial Arts books is Taiki-ken. While the title translates as Japanese for Tai Chi Chuan, it deals more with Hsing I. Interestingly, while this book says little, it imparts huge, and it is one of those rare gems that a student must be ready for, or it will likely make no sense.
Last on the list, and the one that resides in relative obscurity, is The Master Instructor Course. It is a book, and it is accompanied by two videos which detail exactly what the author is saying. Hard or soft, intrinsic or external, striking or throwing, the author explains all, and it is an enlightenment for any who read it.
In summation, there will likely be some discussion as to what is necessary for a book to be considered a martial arts bible. Still, the writings on this list are crucial to the eastern fighting arts, and well worth the read. Of course, bible or not, all are of little value in the hands of studetns who are not willing to read, to think, and to put to work through diligent training.
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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
Doing Sanchin Kata And The Liberation Of Energy Through Circular Flux
The form was originally brought to Okinawan from China, where it was part of a system called Pan Gai Noon. While PGN is no longer taught, that first kata is taught in such arts as Goju Ryu and Uechi ryu. It has also been altered and presented in Shotokan as Hangetsu.
The original Chinese pattern, as simple as it is, was taught over the course of years. Students would spend hours a night just stancing, learning how to sink their weight, before they were shown even the most basic of hand motions. This fact, of being taught to sink the weight and stabilize the stance, should give even a slow karate student a significant clue as to the correct way to execute the pattern and create the energy.
In Uechi Ryu Sanchin, which is the first manifestation of this form beyond Pan Gai Noon, the emphasis is on muscular tension. Thus, the intent of the sanchin stance is translated from the creation (and sinking) of energy to the creation of muscle. Muscle is temporary compared to energy, and thus the form is diluted and made less.
In Goju ryu Sanchin the intent of the form is proper breathing. Thus, the purpose of the form is to create the sensation of karate energy in the body, but without the emphasis on sinking the weight the reality of usable energy is forsaken. At this point one can see that the Sanchin form has been altered sufficient to make it but a shadow of what it should be…the story gets worse, however.
In Shotokan, and like systems of traditional karate, the actual structure of the form has been rendered into common self defense moves. Mind, there is nothing wrong with this type of structure, except that it has nothing to so with the generation of serious internal chi energy of the usable variety. The form in this type of school is called Hangetsu.
To be done correctly. this incredible form must be taught in simple fashion, and with simple concepts. One must throw out complex notions of breathing and muscularity and self defense except as they are drawn along by the fact of chi energy generation. Thus, the simple instruction, “sink the weight, and ‘swirl’ the motion so that it creates a wave of energy which circles the body and shoots out the arm,” is the only instruction a student should be given.
Done with this easy bit of teaching, for months and years, the generation of internal energy becomes real, and the internal energy becomes usable. Though this writer would not propose combat as a solution, it must be remembered that Kanbun Uechi, the founder of Uechi ryu and a man who had studied the actual Sanchin in the ancient manner recommended in this bit of writing, killed a man with one strike. No, don’t kill people, but do realize the true power of the ancient arts by practicing sanchin kata by sinking the weight and swirling the body energy so that it may be shot out the arm.
There are articles and courses at Monster Martial Arts which will help you return Sanchin Kata to its original depth and power. Pick up a free ebook while you’re at Monster Martial Arts. 4
After 30 Years In The Martial Arts What It Feels Like To Hit Somebody!
I was manager of an apartment house in Southern California, and it was on a bad side of town. One day a fellow came by with a dog on a rope, and I told him (in a polite manner) that dogs weren’t allowed in the apartments. He just looked at me and grinned, “Why don’t you tell him,” and he nodded to his canine companion.
I went to the tenant he had visited and told him that he would have to tell that fellow not to visit again, and I was met with rudeness. I started taking note of the people that were coming to see this tenant, and I realized that the guy was selling drugs. This is where the story gets interesting.
I knocked on the door to his apartment and was let in, and I told the fellow that drugs weren’t allowed, and that he would have to move. He just laughed at me and announced, “I’m not even going to pay rent from now on, and you can’t do anything about it!” So I punched him.
Now, I merely sunk my weight into the sanchin stance, and I struck him with both fists on the chest. Man, he sailed over the bed and into a wall. But it was a stunning surprise to me. I hadn’t really hurt him, and I couldn’t believe the feeling of actually hitting somebody else.
The shock jarred up the arms and rammed into my shoulders, and my strike was not effective. I had kicked the crap out of bags for years, but the feeling of 175 pounds of human flesh was entirely different. I realized than that I had to change the way I was training. If this had been a real fight, with somebody willing to stand up to me, I’d have a scrap on my hands.
Anyway, the tenant jumps up, and he’s sobbing, an adult and he’s actually crying, and he says, “You can’t hit me!” Well, I wasn’t going to punch him again, I had suddenly realized how incredibly idiotic I was to lose it like that, but there was a ring of truth to his words. So I growled, “Why not?”
“Because I’ve got a friend in the closet!” I was frozen for a moment, then I went and opened the door to his closet, and his naked, gay lover was standing there, trembling in fear and with a really dumb grin on his face. Well, I learned something that time, I was going to stick to regular training in classical martial arts like Aikido and Tai Chi, and figure out a way to make my punches really real, and I was going to avoid fighting.
Over Over 4O years of learning what a punch really is. You can take advantage of this knowledge at Punch ‘Em Out. You can have the Strongest Punch in the World!
Internal Karate, Matrixing, And The Strongest Punch!
I’m going to start with the warnings for the simple reason that I don’t wish for my methods to cause damage to anybody. I found that it was very easy for over exuberant students to damage the shoulder when throwing punches. This destruction of the rotator cuff and associated elements can be avoided through classical studies.
When somebody throws a punch and lets the arm bang against the confines of proper shoulder construction the tendons and ligaments finally give way. If you practice holding the shoulder back, however, as in classical karate, the structure remains intact and is not damaged. I recommend that you search for classical movements which do not hurt the body, but which utilize the whole body (turning the whole body into the motion).
Also, I discovered that as the energy mounts it is possible to give oneself whiplash. This is the result of throwing so much energy through the body that the neck is not able to handle the sudden increased magnitude and flow of energy. I caution that people learn to minimize their effort, and this through the study of energy as practiced by some internal styles such as Hsing i.
There are other warnings I could give you, specifically to be careful not to grind the knees by pivoting on weighted feet, over throwing the hips when kicking, and that sort of thing. The warnings I have given you here, however, especially in the previous sentence, should educate you as to how to avoid such problems. Thus, let’s move into intrinsic energy.
Get a plastic pipe 18 inches in length, place a golf ball in it, and cap the ends. Tape the pipe to your arm, and execute punches in such a way that the golf ball smacks against the end of the pipe at the same moment you end your strike. I know it sounds goofy, but soon you will learn how to thrust the golf ball smoothly through the pipe and cause a good impact upon, uh, impact.
This is what intrinsic energy feels like, and you can take this concept and apply it to blocks and kicks, and the movement of your whole body. Now toss the pipe and ball and practice getting the feeling of moving weight through your arm so that you feel energy wooshing through the arm and impacting in your fist. Heck, just understanding the ‘energetical’ physics of what I have said here, you probably don’t even need that silly pipe and ball thing.
Pipe and ball or not, you need to learn the small motions that will help you build and use your energy, and, if you are smart, you will look to such things as classical arts. The classics of karate, Wudan, or other arts, have been developed to give this type of power. With the corruption of art in the last score of years, however, it is only through a study of Matrix Martial Arts that the true technology of the martial arts is starting to come to light.
Al Case has analyzed martial arts 4O+ years. You can learn how to have The Most Powerful Punch, or just pick up a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.
The Secret Of Sixth Sense Abilities In The Martial Arts
Unfortunately, not all martial arts work in this manner. There are some arts that are incredible, and they open the spirit up and enhance abilities like nobody’s business. But then there are arts that are just thuggish cockfights, backroom brawls so low they make animals look high.
This difference, the difference between low and high martial arts, can easily be understood. It is very simple to discern why some arts excel when it comes to creating magnitude and finery in the human soul, and some don’t. This is actually not just a matter of philosophy, but a mechanistic condition relating to the nature of a human being.
Consider the human spirit a light bulb. There is the grungy, dingy one, maybe filters the world through red glass, that hangs in the basement of some dungeon. Then there is the light that is sharp and shiny, a laser, able to illuminate anything for a million miles around.
A dirty light bulb stops the light, and we are talking about dirt as in anger and rage and the desire to hurt people. A laser light is not covered with filth, and the very waves of light have been aligned to make that light brilliant and infinite. So the first thing in this matter of gaining heightened sixth senses is to clean off the light bulb that you are, get rid of the rage and anger, and make all the parts of the body work together.
To coordinate the parts of the body so they work together, and are not possessed and filtered by anger, is something the human being does. The spirit, the real person, the actual being, must endeavor to accomplish this. Thus, to be a spirit, to ‘use’ the soul, in the simple act of coordinating the body parts, will cause the human being to shine brightly and put him on the road of increased abilities.
The second thing is to matrix the martial arts one is engaged in studying. This, again, is the act of alignment, but now one aligns the pieces of the art, and makes the arts into one unit. Again, the spirit must be clean, unfettered, and used to create this alignment of art.
Interestingly, alignment is nothing more than the fact of organizing, and it is a cleansing process. But in aligning body and art, one aligns the very spirit that one is, and when the soul is aligned the sixth sense abilities will come to the fore. Alignment of body and organization of art, this is how you Matrix Martial Arts and achieve greatness and magnitude and sixth sense abilities.
Al Case has 4O++ years analyzing martial arts. You can find out how to Matrix Martial Arts at his website, Monster Martial Arts. Make sure you pick up a free ebook when you are there.
Finding The True Art in the Kang Duk Won
Kang Duk Won Korean Karate was born of a classmate of Gichin Funakoshi’s, Toyama Kanken, and therefore it is one of the purest representations of Karate in existence. It took root in Korea, and was tempered in that countries harsh winters and boiling summers, all of which made it an art for men to study. Eventually it came to the United States, and I studied it in San Jose under the guidance of Bob Babich.
Next to the Kang Duk Won was the Towne Theater, which immoral cinema had the everlasting honor of showing a movie starring a gal name of Linda Lovelace for over two years. Other businesses included sweat shops and bars and nothing yuppie at all. In front of the Kang Duk Won, like as not, you would see a score of Harley Davidsons, courtesy of the Hells Angels, Gypsy Jokers, and just about any other Outlaw Biker gang who wanted to put aside war to learn the real art.
The front window was cracked and the pieces held together with duc tape. Visitors sat on a picnic bench placed under the window to watch classes. Bob’s office was a telephone booth just big enough for a desk and two chairs, just don’t try to open the chairs.
The mat was made out of sailboat canvas, and a big seam ran up the left side of the mat. It was a dirty, filthy thing, and where forms turned you could see strips of duc tape. And it was small, maybe 15 by 25, but classes of 20 and more would work full bore in their pursuit of the art.
In the back hung the bag, and Bob filled it himself, made it extra heavy. He was always taking it down to get it sewn back together, the darned thing looked like Frankenstein’s manhood. We used to kick that thing till it bounced, and the whole building would throb and shake.
Now, you might wonder why such a place deserves my infinite admiration, and the answer is simple. No excuses, no whining, no bottles of designer water standing at the sides of the mat. Just men working, sweating, giving everything they had, and building an energy indescribable.
I look at modern schools today, with all their amenities, and I shudder, for I don’t feel the manic energy, I don’t feel the intensity and the comradeship. I don’t think I am being old, I am just terrified that when I die, when I come back in another body, I won’t find a group of people that are willing to suffer for the True Art. I won’t find something, dirty, ragged, gasping for breath, and yet willing to suffuse my soul with the true spirit of the martial arts, I won’t find something like the Kang Duk Won.
Al Case has studied martial arts for over over 4O plus+ years. His CD/DVD course, Evolution of an Art, has Kang Duk Won and two other arts. Or just pick up a free ebook at his site, Monster Martial Arts.
The Greatest Training Device In The Martial Arts Doesn’t Always Work!
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.
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.
How to Break Boards with Your Head Really Good!
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.
