Is Classical Martial Arts Better Than MMA?
Now, obviously, we are going to have a difference of opinion, the main thing is can we come up with some facts, or at least opinions so well grounded, that belief in one system is superior to another? I believe it is possible.
First, there is sport v art. In a sport one fights an opponent. In an art, one is in conflict, and thus attempting to resolve conflict, with oneself.
Second, there is the question of control. In a classical art one is attempting to control ones body, ones opponent, and ones own spirit. In MMA one is all too often just attempting to knock somebody’s face in.
Thus far, the edge seems to be headed in the classical direction. In attempting to control ones own self there is a high ground, after all. This is not to say, however, that the MMA school of thought does not have considerable attributes and qualities.
The main consideration, UFC stylists would argue, is whether an art works in the dark alley, and in this they would appear to posssess an edge. After all, the face smashing, body twisting, leg breaks that one perceives in the octagon is definitely useful for self defence. This writer, however, is not completely convinced of the argument.
In the ring rules are present. No fingers to the eyes, strikes to the coconuts, small joint twisting, punching the back of the skull, and so on. These are the techniques that a classical practitioner might veer towards in a street encounter.
Thus, in the final tally, while experience with violence, such as one might find in the MMA ring, has a definite edge, this writer is still going to stick with the classical. After all, in traditional martial arts one learns how to fight without getting mugged, and there are lessons to be learned outside of violence, and which can actually de-escalate conflicts. Choose which you wish, be true to your choice, both classical martial arts and MMA have much to offer.
Got an opinion? Head to Monster Martial Arts and get more facts, see if your opinion is really right. Pick up a free book explaining Matrix Martial Arts while you’re there.
Who Would Win The Ultimate Martial Arts Fight: Steven Segal Lawman Against Michael Jackson!
First Stevie is ranked large, as in tents for shirts and the ugliest jackets known to a homeless man. This weight will give him an advantage, should he ever connect. But can he connect when the other fighter has the quickest mitts known to man?
And Stevie may have studied Aikido for half his life, but let’s hope he remembers some of his karate tricks. Michael, you see, has those slick, velvet coated hands. Those hands slither and slide, jib and jive, and can fool even the smartest artist.
To be honest, though Michael may have gotten the first few jabs in, Steven does have a few tricks up his rather large sleeves. He’s got…Southern Firepower! He’s got access to shotguns, pistols, and some stout, redneck nightclubs!
Uh, the hitting kind of nightclubs, not the jive and wail kind of nightclubs. Though, to mention it, Stevie does pick a mean guitar, and maybe he could swing that guitar like an ax! Surely a big old electric guitar bashed up against the side of Michael’s cranium wouldcause some kind of trauma!
Anyway, I know there are going to be a few people that aren’t going to go along with my reasoning, but I want you to think about the Beat It video. In that video Michael leaps into the middle of a streetfight and disarms two seasoned thugs armed with wicked looking carvers! Now that has got to be some kind of tough!
And, if that isn’t tougher than your aunt’s used undies, you can see other movies where Michael outruns machine gun bullets, bashes the hopes of hoardes of baddies, and all while singing a tune! Sure, Steven can wail a bit, but…I’ve never seen him sing in the middle of one of his movie gang fights! Heck, all Stevie can do, in the middle of the brawl, is grunt, look hard about the edges, and give a snappy one liner when everybody is laying around all broken!
Okay, I think I’ve made my case, and only the biggest fool isn’t going to agree with me that The King of Pop would beat heck out of the King of Aikido. Unless the Aikido Bad Ass can draw and shoot his trusty pistolo faster than than a politician’s mouth! Now if only Michael would jump out of the grave so we could really see this ultimate martial arts fight!
This has been fun, but if you want some serious martial arts, then click on Monster Martial Arts and get a free book on Matrix Martial Arts.
The Real Secret Of The Dim Mak Poison Hand Death Touch
In the first place, there really is an art that teaches this thing, but it is extremely hard to find a teacher, and to be accepted to learn is really hard. You have to actually know a few kung fu styles, you have to have an recommendation from a Kung Fu Master. And that is no guarantee that you will be accepted as a discipline.
In the second place, one must question the worth of studying such a rare and esoteric art. It will take years to understand the teachings and to be able to actually use them in a fight. Quite honestly, the time spent learning the poison hand death touch you could spend learning other arts.
And, what is going to have more worth? The ability to touch somebody with your fingers and have him go off and die three days later at seven thirty eight if the moon is full? Or to get so good at other arts that nobody could get close enough to you to even try such a technique as the poison hand?
To learn the Dim Mak one will be studying medicine, but not the normal medicine. You will not learn to alleviate sickness, but rather to cause the body to go into disharmony and die. This means that you will have the double study of learning the right way of curing people, and the wrong way.
You will also have to learn certain things about the time of using the death touch. You could strike (touch) somebody with a finger, but if it is the wrong time of the day, your touch is wasted. This means you are going to have to learn all sorts of things about the time cycle of the internal organs of the body, and how this translates to the trigger points on the outside of the body.
Look, I’m about done here, and you’re free to do what you want, but let me tell you one little tale of a real death touch. Certain ninpo arts teach how to wear ring needles (and other types of gimcracks). They coat the needle with a deadly poison, then cover the needle with wax.
They can poison anybody and cause death, but they are safe to themselves and their friends. Now this is a real art that I am telling you, but one that doesn’t take decades to learn and use. And that is about all I have to say on the subject of the real secret of the kung fu dim mak death touch.
Al Case began studying the martial arts in 1967, and became a writer for the magazines in 1981. If you want some really great techniques, visit his site, Monster Martial Arts.
Sure Fire Ways Of Achieving The Ultimate Kung Fu Chi Power!
First, for kung fu jump kicks, I’m going to do the following exercise. I’m going to dig a hole, one shovelful a day, and practice jumping into and out of the hole a thousand times a day. By the time I’m down to ten feet, I should be able to do jumping kicks that’ll knock over skyscrapers!
Okay, for body slamming that would put king kong to shame, I’ve got a real he man, kung fu drill! I’m going to live out in the country and every day I’ll lift a calf on my shoulders. By the time the calf is a thousand pounds, I’ll be able to lift anybody in the world, and throw him or her at the ground so hard they strike oil!
Of course brute force isn’t all I want, not when it comes to getting the kind of Kung Fu power ‘m thinking of, so I’ve got a gung fu training drill that will sharpen the eyes and make my fingers nimble. I’m going to sneak up on a wasps nest and practice snatching wasps out of the air with my chopsticks! Hah!
Taking punches is pretty important, too, and I’ve got the right idea for that. I’m going to practice running into walls and trees and things. A thousand days of running full tilt through orchards with a blindfold on should prepare me.
And the old noggin, how could I forget martial arts head conditioning! I saw a guy in a flick who could ring a giant bell just by slamming his head against it! Hey, if I practice smashing into bells with my head long enough, ain’t nobody gonna be able to ring my bell, if you know what I mean.
Let’s see, what else do I have to…oh yeah, ‘that!’ I think a little makiwara training with ‘that’ will strengthen ‘that’ immensely. Of course it may look a little ugly when callouses start appearing, but that’s a small price, and if even ‘that’ is a weapon, I will have achieved my goals and be the ultimate gung fu strong man!
I will be the strongest Kung Fu warrior in the world! Every body part will be thick, immense, dense, rippling with muscle, and able to be used in combat to the death! All hail to me…the possessor of the ultimate Kung Fu Chi Power!
For the best in home study Kung Fu books and DVD/courses, mouse to Monster Martial Arts.
A Very Intriguing Method For Making Martial Arts Chi
So we have a two part question here: how do you make chi, and how do you use it? Interestingly, the second is the answer to the first. Unfortunately, this results in a catch 22…how do you use it if you can’t make it, how do you make it if you can’t use it?
To solve this mystery let me give you an internal exercise and a drill, and see if you can solve the problem. The exercise is an old Bagua exercise named ‘Stroking the beard.’ The drill is based on the old ‘Catch hands’ game we used to play as children.
To Stroke the beard simply move the hands in medium circles, coming together at the chin and moving downward as if stroking a beard to your navel. To do this effectively you must relax your muscles, let your weight drop, breath low, and do it until you can do it with no distraction. Doing with no distraction means concentrating on only the exercise, and this is very crucial to your success.
Once you have stroked the beard for a couple of hours, find a friend and practice ‘Catch Hands.’ To do Catch Hands simply face your partner at handshake distance and let your hands relax at your sides. Your partner places his palms together and extends them in front of his body.
The object of this drill is to take your time, create lots of silence, and then catch his hands. Don’t slap at them, just catch them, like catching birds without breaking their wings, and do it gently. This simple move is the same motion needed to block or a strike, and is well worth practicing.
As you practice, over time you will become more adept at the exercise, and you will find yourself becoming calmer, jerking less, and that is when the benefits of stroking the beard are going to appear. You will find that energy flows down the center of your body and gathers at your center. It will be like a fountain that is bubbling backwards, and it will be as if energy is entering into your tan tien with every breath.
Eventually, you will be able to catch your partner’s hands easily and there will be nothing he can do about it. The important thing, though, is that you will feel the ‘universal energy’ that is chi. Keep practicing this exercise and you will experience some fascinating results, and it will be proof positive that you can create and use Martial Arts Chi.
Al Case has written a fascinating book on how to Create Chi. You can find it at Monster Martial Arts.
True Data Concerning Black Belt Rankings In The Various Martial Arts
The original karate system is supposed to have been based on only two belts, white belt and black belt. As more and more people came to study, two more belts were added, green belt and brown belt. Eventually Chinese American Kenpo was devised by Karate pioneer Ed Parker, and the number of colored belts grew greatly.
Belts of color were setup in the following ranking: white, orange, purple, blue, green, three stages of brown, different stages of black. As the belt ranking systems expanded, legends having to do with the significance of the colors grew. Each martial arts school seemed to have a different reason for the belt colors.
White and black, in the beginning, didn’t mean much, as there were so few students and the promotions were pretty cut and dried. White meant beginner, and black belt meant the student was used as an assistant instructor. As the belt systems expanded this concept quickly gave way to instructor rankings.
White, green, brown and black were supposed to relate to the spring, summer, fall and winter of the martial arts life of a student. This also aligned with the concept of beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert status. This concept, while worthwhile, gave way when more colors were added.
The full range of colors introduced by Chinese Kenpo Systems was related to a full spectrum of achievement. Rightly or wrongly, a Kenpo student was assumed, when he made it to black belt, to know everything in the spectrum. This concept began to decline when red belts were introduced.
At first, red belts were used to honor high ranking masters, these were sometimes politically motivated belts, though there were some legitimate rankings. Then, because people tend to promote themselves to the highest rank possible, the red belt replaced the black belt in many peoples estimation, and the spectral system broke apart. This was aided by the fact that some systems, especially taekwondo systems, began replacing the brown belt with the red belt.
In current times, while colored belts are said to be motivational in student lessons, the fact of the matter is that there has been some abuse. Many commercial martial arts schools have lengthened training time to align with the increased rankings to keep people at their schools for longer periods of time, and this has extended the length of time it takes to learn the martial arts. It is hoped that understanding the basic facts of Black Belt rankings, as described in this article, will help potential students when they analyze possible arts to study.
Head on over to Monster Martial Arts for the true information concerning belt ranking systems and how long it truely takes to learn the martial arts. x-4
Using Karate Techniques To Break Bricks Without Breaking Your Hands!
Now, there was a guy went to the far east, and he knew martial arts, and orientals loving their back yard barbecues, and even a few beers (pretty American, those orientals) everybody laughing and having a good time, and they asked this American to break a few bricks for them. You smashee bricks! We have fun time!
So the American hoisted a fist and smacked a brick, and the brick sat there and stared at him and he near broke his hand bones. Those wacky tailgating orientals, you see, had given him a brick with an iron rod cooked into it. Oh, ha ha ha…laughee, laughee!
Well, tell the truth, it is pretty laughee laughee. I tell ya, those Far Easters keep doin’ that kind of thing and they’ll be downright American! The point here is…don’t go smashing your hands into just any old thing, select your substance to be smashed with care.
This subject of picking your material is pretty important. People who break big stacks of ice, for instance, neglect to tell you that the ice has been pre-broken and stuck back together, which makes the ice easy to break. That tends to bend the game.
And, the people who break stacks of bricks or boards often do so by placing spacers between the bricks or boards, which, again, makes the bricks or boards pretty easy to break. Have them break the bricks and boards without spacers, and you are seeing a real power break. And, yes, your humble author can break five one inch pine boards, that’s five inches of wood, with no stinkin’ sissy spacers.
When you pick a brick to break, pick one that’s been dried out, dry ones are easier to break than wet ones. If you want to help your ten year old neice, or even your doting granny, to break a brick, bake it in an oven for an hour or two. And, it helps it you set the brick with one end on the ground and the other end on another brick, and drop the end of the brick as your chop slices downward, this increases the sharpness of impact and makes the break that much easier. Now, those are the tricks that some martial artists use, except for the specifics of the technique itself.
When you break a brick have your hand loosey goosey, and slam it down, and tighten it upon impact. This will focus your energy and protect your hands, and I have seen these principles in virtually all martial arts. Korean Karate techniques, Shaolin techniques, Kwon Bup techniques, Kenpo techniques, they are all based on the same principles, and these principles define how easy it can be to break bricks.
Want to put the some real Power in your Punch? Come to Punch ‘Em Out. We’ve got the strongest punches and the fastest kicks in the world! 2
How Speed Relates to the Study of Good and Rare Martial Arts
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.
How To Use The Martial Arts To Read Minds
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.
What Lies At The End Of The True Path Of The Martial Arts
The first step is nothing more than learning how to survive in the world. We are born, and our parents educate us and help us, but at some point we all must enter into the survival jungle. Feeding and clothing our bodies, finding out what we really want to do, surviving.
Interestingly, many of these early struggles have to do with our fellow man. It is not just the struggle for body survival, but how to get along with society which, lets face it, is not always sane. If we survive this early struggle, if we do not jump off a cliff or hang ourselves, then we become sane, though this is a relative state.
Sanity is the second level, and it is marked by the fact that we know that we are not alone. Mankind is not necessarily something that is trying to kill us, but a force that can enhance ourselves and the fact of survival. But, as I said, there is a relativity to all this.
Some people, upon learning that they are not alone, resist this state and try to destroy it. People build machines of war, corporations dedicated to slavery, governments of intolerance and…insanity. This is the stage where martial arts is most crucial, for it not only aids survival, it offers opportunities to step out of the increased insanity sometimes offered by humanity, and to find and develop the unique abilities that make individuals what they are.
This third level, discovering who we are, is what the martial arts are all about; this is where the human being rises to the fore, or dwindles into a cinder. And, at this point, let me give you the exact technology one needs to study to discover the truth of self that is our true birthright. Here is where Matrixing and Neutronics are of utmost necessity.
Matrixing provides the discipline, and Neutronics offers the actual how and why for discipline and survival. The secret is to do your martial art form, and rid yourself of surface thought. Do this by aligning your form with matrixing, and understanding why you need to align it with Neutronics.
Surface thoughts are nothing more than simple sentences, and have little to do with our true thoughts. By dedicating oneself to a pattern of motion until one is only doing that pattern, and not thinking about anything else at all, one discovers a Great Space of Awareness. It is this Great Space of Awareness that is the point of martial arts, and of life itself, and it can be developed through any art, be it Tang Soo Do, Krav Maga, or whatever, if a person merely applies Matrixing, and understands what they are doing through Neutronics.
Al Case has practiced martial arts for 4O years. You can find out about Matrixing at Monster Martial Arts. Make sure you pickup his http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Free%21.html.
