Category Archives: chi power

Reading Minds in Martial Arts

Newsletter 804
Matrixing the Thought of Combat

Man!
It is BEEYOUTIFUL out.
Time for a BEEYOUTIFUL workout!

A quick word:
Google is suppressing newsletter,
but you can find this newsletter blogged at
alcase.wordpress.com.

Bruce Lee did a good job of analyzing the motion of combat.
He took apart when,
for instance,
during the opponent’s punch,
you should attack.
You can find out more about this if you dig around at
FreeBruceLee.com.

BUT,
nobody’s ever really tried to figure out
what happens at the moment of combat.
Not the moment of launch,
but the thought that must occur
before the launch.

And,
to be honest,
nobody’s ever had the neutronics data,
so it is no wonder that nobody has ever done this.

SO…

the one thing to remember is that you have a thought,
and energy, and body,
follow it.
The odd thing in all this
is that thoughts go in only two directions.

Thoughts go out.
Thoughts go in.

This can be made complex,
if you stick on analyzing emotion,
emotion disguises what you are doing,
and so on.

So,
the exact moment of attack,
should be when the opponent is,
for whatever reason,
not thinking out,
towards you,
but inwards,
towards himself.

If you understand this,
you understand the purpose of meditation:
sitting (or moving) and never allowing thoughts to invert,
to come back towards yourself.
In other words,
to watch the world
without having internal thoughts.

Here are the ways you can take advantage
of this momentary lapse of awareness.
The most important is distraction.

Distraction is when you point the opponent’s attention elsewhere.

He blinks because of a fly.
He looks because of a motion to the side.
He thinks when you tell him there is someone behind him.
He thinks because you trash talk.
He gets mad,
or otherwise falls to emotion.
And so on.

You can attack when any of these,
or other,
distractions occur.

You can attack after the thought of attack,
but that is not a good idea,
unless you are immaculate in your strategy and tactics.
The reason is attacks will collide,
mistakes can be made once you let him go into motion,
and so on.

BUT…
the best time to attack a person?
Before he has the thought.

Doesn’t matter when he makes a decision,
or for what reason,
you simply attack before his thought.
At that point he has become victim,
as he is going to be responding to your attack,
instead of creating an original one of his own.

Here’s the thing,
people think you can’t see a thought.
But you can.
It takes an immense amount of discipline in classical martial arts.
It takes less time in matrixed martial arts.
Logic just allows you to study,
and therefore learn,
faster.

Heck,
you see people thinking all the time.
You see the look in their eyes,
you read their bodies,
you feel their energy.
If you are good you actually perceive the thought.
But that level of good
depends upon how effective and sincere your training has been.

The lesson here?
Train hard,
train long,
matrix (make logical)
everything you do.
Make yourself a perceptive person
by looking out at the world,
and not inward to your own thoughts,
troubles,
emotions,
etc.

Here’s my personal martial art…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/3a-blinding-steel-matrixing-weapons/

I created it after doing most of the matrixing courses,
it was my own understanding codified.
It should help you read thoughts faster.

Have a great work out!

Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/3a-blinding-steel-matrixing-weapons/

And don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter at
https://alcase.wordpress.com

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

How the Ignorant Defend Themselves in Martial Arts

How Ignorant People act in Kenpo and Karate and Other Martial Arts

March,
what a wonderful month.
I’m going to work out every single day,
right into April.
You do, too!

I was checking my stats on Amazon,
and reading the reviews people write about me.
Interesting reading.
But crazy.
Let me explain.

I’ll get two reviews for a book,
one is a five star review,

VERY Interesting.. and I like the “creation” theories and methods… JUST what I was looking for.
and one is a one star review.

Waste of time if you are a serious martial artist…poor illustrations…bad

The five star talks about interesting ideas.
The one star just says ‘stupid.’
Hmmm.

How could one book provoke two such dissimilar reviews?

Well,
let me tell you.

I received an email a while ago,
the fellow said:
I don’t understand all the writing,
but when I see the pictures (videos),
then I get it.

Well,
of course,
a picture is worth a thousand words.
BUT
the real key here
is that he didn’t understand the writing.

Here are some frightening statistics.

50% of adults can’t read at 8th grade level.
45 million people are functionally illiterate.
and,
one that is very important,
6 out of 10 households don’t buy a single book in a year.

Let’s consider the implications of these statistics
as they relate to my books.

Out of the 50% adults that can’t read at 8th grade level,
there are going to be a substantial number
who are passionate about the martial arts.
They are going to read what some people see as five star material,
but because they don’t understand it,
because there aren’t enough pictures,
they are going to perceive it as worthless.
At best,
they are going to sense that something just passed them by,
and they are going to be pissed.
Pissed enough to give one star.

Out of the 45 million that are functionally illiterate,
some are passionate,
they live in blogs with small words,
and they are,
again,
angry.
A rich life is passing them by,
and though they feel that something is happening,
they can’t see it.

But here’s the kicker,
6 out of 10 don’t buy a book in a year.
But they do read on the computer,
and they are vocally upset,
when they don’t understand what somebody has said.

This is the defense mechanism of the ignorant:
get upset when you don’t understand something.

Now,
why do I bring this up.
Because I get a few low reviews,
that discourages others from buying,
and the vey valuable knowledge
that is in my books,
is then removed from the hands of the consumer.
The intelligent consumer who needs to know,
but is being waylaid by the ignorant.

Feel free to give a review.
I prefer nice,
but honest will do.

When you see a bad review,
especially if you have read the book,
and disagree,
answer them.
I can’t,
but you can.
Set the record straight.

And,
make sure you are literate,
that your children are literate,
and that knowledge can be passed down.

This world is not Rep v Dem,
it is not haves v have nots,
it is ignorant v intelligent,
and if the intelligent don’t set the ignorant straight,
then the intelligent lose.
So do you want the world to get more intelligent?
Or more ignorant?

Here’s the book which received the reviews I listed above.

http://www.amazon.com/HowCreateKenpo-Creating-Kenpo-Create-Karate/dp/1500930245/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457201795&sr=1-7&refinements=p_27%3AAl+Case#customerReviews

Have a great work out!
Al

 

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

Before You…and Karate…Was Born

Find the Zen of Karate…and the Zen of You

It’s hot here in LA,
and you can really sweat those toxins out.
The best way to sweat?
Work out!

I was driving down the street the other day,
and I saw all sorts of martial arts studios.
MMA, Muay Thai, Boxing,
Karate, Kung fu, Kenpo,
Judo, Aikido, Taekwondo,
and on and on and on.

When I began,
in 1967,
which is near 50 years ago,
there was judo,
which was taught in a few places,
and there was Karate.
Interestingly,
Karate was undergoing a boom.
This was just before Bruce Lee,
and the Tracy Brothers had breathed fire into marketing,
and Karate schools were opening every where.

I began Kenpo,
went every day,
became an instructor,
and so on,
and I had a lot of questions,
and nowhere to get the answers.
The only magazine was Black Belt,
and they sort of circled the arts,
talking about,
but never delving in.

And there weren’t many books.
There was the outlandish Super Karate Made Easy,
Ed Parker had a book out,
Robert Smith wrote his book on
Shaolin Temple boxing.
But these books were either techniques books,
or they talked in mysteries,
and there was no way to understand what the heck
the martial arts were all about.

Then I came across a book called
Zen Flesh, Zen Bones.
I had left kenpo by then,
and was in the Kang Duk Won,
and this book was a Godsend.

Not a book about technique,
not a dissertation of mental tricks,
rather questions and tales
that made you blink,
and look for the real you.

One of my favorites was the old question,
‘Who were you before you were born.’

Now you might be wondering,
how can an art built of physical routines
answer that question?

The answer to that wonderment
lies in the simple fact
that we were not distracted.
Karate was not infected by boxing,
throws weren’t an active part.
And so on.

On the surface,
looking back,
reading these words as I write them,
I can understand
why people might wonder,
how can you call that an art?
How can you think of that stripped down sapling
as a wondrous forest of spirit?

Easy.
We weren’t distracted,
and we practiced those few techniques we knew
until we could make them work.

Enlightenment is when you do one thing
without distraction,
until you see the truth of that one thing.

You have heard people like Bruce Lee say,
in the end,
a punch is just a punch,
a kick is just a kick.

But,
here’s the bad news,
if you haven’t found that out
through doing a simple kick,
or punch,
without distraction,
for tens of thousands of times,
then the truth of the statement evades you.

You know about water,
but you’ve never been wet.

That is why,
except for a few logical changes,
and the nudging of matrixing,
the karate I do now,
is virtually the same
as the karate I did way back when.

Pinan one through pinan five,
the iron horse,
a few others,
I do them almost the same as I learned them.
And,
here’s the interesting thing,
the way I learned them was only a couple of generations
removed from the way they were taught before Funakoshi.

I go into modern schools
and I don’t see what I learned.
I see forms infected by boxing,
distracted by MMA,
slanted by tournaments and kick boxing.
I see techniques discarded because people can’t make them work.
I see people fighting,
instead of painstakingly being taught the drills that lead to…not fighting,
to scientifically assessing an opponent and shredding him without waste.

Most of all,
I don’t see the calm of mind,
the calm that comes not from knowing about lots of arts,
but from knowing one thing well.
And, in these modern times,
if people do know one thing well,
it has been slanted by ‘reality fighting,’
by the desire to beat up your fellow man,
not to calm yourself,
and find the truth of yourself.

Not to find out who you were before you were born.

Here’s the art that I was taught,
unchanged except for a few logical tweaks,
and the ‘de-slanting’ of matrixing.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/temple-karate/

Hope you enjoy getting back to the ‘zen’ of it all.

Have a great work out!
Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/temple-karate/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

Tai Chi Chuan vs Karate

Major Difference between Karate and Tai Chi Chuan

One of my work out partners,
way back in the Kang Duk Won,
decided he was going to do Tai Chi Chuan.
He figured it would be easy,
because of his karate conditioning.
He threw his back out so badly
it took him two years to recover.

Soft, flowing Tai Chi Chuan,
and it was too tough for a young karate guy.
What’s wrong with that picture, eh?

What is wrong is simple,
when Bruce, my friend,
did Tai Chi he thought he could just do a karate kick slowly.
But karate is fast and explosive,
the leg is out and back,
in Tai Chi the muscles have to strain to keep the leg up.
And I mean a whole sequence of muscles.
Bruce’s muscles,
though karate powerful,
couldn’t support the leg for an extended period of time,
and the result of his attempting to do such a thing
disrupted the muscles
all the way back to the spine..

Now isn’t that interesting,
tai chi chuan has more ‘weight lifting’
in its moves.
Karate has the fast explosion,
and the muscle tightening (focus)
builds the muscles.
But those muscles are built
at the beginning and end of the move.
In Tai Chi the muscles must support the weight,
throughout the move,
for a long(er) period of time.

A simple difference,
but it leads to an important concept.

Karate is explosive energy.
Tai Chi is suspended energy.

The difference manifests in movements,
in timing,
in focus of concentration,
in emptiness,
in energy.

Now we could actually analyze these differences
from different points of view.
But what I’ve said here is probably the best point to start.

Not speed,
not sensitivity,
though those are important,
but defining how energy is actually used.
Because how energy is used
defines the other terms.
This concept is core.

This is not to discourage you from trying,
but to caution you,
and help you make the transition.

If you do your karate forms slowly,
and round out the edges of your motion,
you can get Tai Chi power.
Just take it easy when you begin.

If you do your Tai Chi forms fast,
you can find Karate power,
and pretty easily.
But you do have to adapt to a different mind set.

Explosive and slow
two sides to a coin,
two sides to the martial arts.
And there are many more sides that these concepts can lead to.

Here’s the link to the Five Army Tai Chi Chuan course.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/five-army-tai-chi-chuan/

Have a great work out!
Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/five-army-tai-chi-chuan/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

Martial Arts Legends Made Real

Newsletter 793
The Truth of the Old Martial Arts Legends

Man,
this is an absolutely perfect day.
Absolutely perfect.
You know what makes it perfect?
I just worked out.
If you ever want to make NOW better,
just work out.
The more you work out,
the better NOW is.

I remember hearing old stories,
old legends from China,
and so on.

The fellow who practiced jumping out of a one foot hole.
Then, the second year, a two foot hole.
Three years a three foot hole.
After ten years he was jumping ten feet up.
Could jump on and off roofs.
And twenty years…

Then there was a the fellow who lifted a calf on his shoulders.
Did it every day.
When the calf grew into a bull, his strength was prodigious.

And so on.

Interesting stories.
Sort of like comic books.
Keeps the young kids interested.

But there is truth to those old legends.
The truth is different, however.

You do a form for a couple of years,
you train your body to move quick and fast,
any direction,
any combination of techniques.
Then,
without really understanding what is happening,
you move into the realm of the mind.
Maybe ten or twenty years.
Your thought process becomes quicker,
faster,
more intuitive.
Then,
without really understanding it,
you move into the realm of the spirit.
You stop looking at your body,
for you understand it.
You start looking at the attack,
and you aren’t a sequence of nerves and twitches and muscles and stuff,
you just go to where you are supposed to go,
without the muscular fanfare,
without the mental thinkingness.
Your body just moves through space without effort.

The thing is…
you make this happen not by measuring yourself,
but by dedicating yourself.
Not by thinking about it,
but by just doing it,
spending the years,
doing the forms over and over,
until the body gets tired of working,
until the mind gets tired of thinking about it,
until the spirit takes over and just does it.

Think about it like this:
You are digging a hole,
you are digging into the earth,
but that is just a vehicle to make strong the body.
You dig and you dig,
the body gets tired,
but you know you are getting close,
you have to keep digging,
so you steel your mind,
and you make your body keep digging.
And when the mind gets tired,
you know you are closer than ever
and all that keeps you going is your spirit.
You ignored the protests of body and mind
and you keep digging,
and,
at last,
you reach it.
It seeps out of the bottom of the hole,
seeps into your feet,
up your legs,
invigorates your body, mind and spirit.
You have found gold.
Not the gross gold that is shiny rock,
but the pure gold of refined spirit.
The gold that makes you immortal,
that makes you a pure and ever shining spirit.

Others,
unless they have done the digging,
cannot see it.
But what others know doesn’t matter.
What matters is what you know.
And you know the truth of you.

This is the truth behind the legends.
Superhuman deeds are possible,
but they are not what you think.
They are not comic book,
they are real,
but they are not normally visible,
and they are not what people usually expect.

But,
regardless,
you won’t really understand this
unless you start working out,
and don’t stop.
Work out until you are an old man.
Until the body is tired,
but you are not.
Until you realize the flesh is frail,
but the spirit is not.
That is the only proof I can offer.

Here’s the course for the week.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/temple-karate/

These are the ways I do the forms.

Have a great work out!
Al

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

The Night Before Christmas…Martial Arts Style

Newsletter 789
The Martial Arts Night Before Christmas

Man o man!
What a perfect HanaKwanMass eve!
Perfect for a work out
for all mankind.
And,
a bit of poetry
from yours truly.

But,
before I offend you with my poetry,
let me give you a thought.

Please forgive.
I ask this every year,
twice a year,
in fact.
My birthday,
and HanaKwanMass.

Specifically,
please forgive me.
If I have said your name wrong,
messed up your order,
neglected to mention you,
said something,
anything,
that offended,
please forgive.

Forgiving cleans me out,
and it cleans you out.
You lose an element of wrong thinking
by forgiving.

So forgive.
Forgive me,
or forgive somebody else.
Remember,
positive energy creates positive energy,
and negative energy creates negative energy.
So be positive,
forgive,
and make the world a better place.
Thanks.

Now,
I hope you don’t have to forgive me this,
but here’s the official Monster Martial Arts
rendition of
The Night Before Christmas.

TWAS THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

Twas the night before Christmas
I was in my shack
primed and ready
for the red fat attack.

my weapons were loaded
the windows were barred
all would be safe
while I was on guard

The chimney was decked
with concertina wire
I crouched by the couch
ready to fire.

I had an M60
with ammo to feed
I didn’t care
if the red fat did bleed.

A loaded shotgun
and grenades to spare
when red fat came down
I’d blow him out of there.

Throwing stars and knives
and a really long sword
and if that didn’t work
I knew a bad word.

Sitting there late
my eyes started to close
when suddenly I heard
a bunch of ho hos.

Off with the lights
safety off, too
I  watched the fire close
and heard a sound from the flu.

‘Ouch and gosh darn it
who put the wire here
those are my undies
starting to tear!’

Then a shower of soot
and a grunt and a groan
he landed in the fire
and gave out a moan.

He was rubbing the place
where the wire did tear
so I held down the trigger
and lead filled the air.

belt after belt
did I deal the red fat
he danced and he jumped
I knew he felt that!

then quicker than spit
I ran out of lead
but enough was enough
he had to be dead.

Boy was I shocked
to see him stand tall
stepping out of the fireplace
not bothered at all.

So I grabbed up the 16
to mow him down
he had to be hurting
cause I saw his big frown.

Then I was empty
and he came straight for me
I pulled out my knives
and sliced him with glee

He jumped to the side
moving real quick
disarmed my knives
with a well placed kick

then he dropped the big bag
he had on his shoulder
reached forth his arms
and his anger did smolder

He grabbed hard my neck
and held me up high
I tried kicks and punches
but I was like a fly

Not karate nor judo
no art did work
and he grinned a mean grin
and called me a jerk

‘Don’t you know
you stupid little man
Christmas is forever
in spite of your plan.’

Then he threw me aside
and proceeded to work
giving presents to all
and to me a great smirk

And when he left
the great big red fat
he left me a lump of coal
the big red fat rat!

HANAKWANMASS TO ALL

and to all
have a great work out.

Al

Here’s a good place to go…
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/temple-karate/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

Congrats to a New Martial Arts Master instructor!

How Master Instructor Knowledge in the Martial Arts Transcends Time and Language

Good morning!
Fantastic morning,
actually,
for I not only get to work out,
but there is
A NEW MASTER INSTRUCTOR!

Congrats to
Garib De Kwaadsteniet

Hello Master Al

My name is Garib, I am a Bujinkan Taijutsu instructor from Amsterdam, as well as studying Matrixing thru the master Instructor course, and the Monkey boxing system with my Master Instructor, Will Sess. A lot of the finer points that you mention in the course, were subject in passing in my old system, without being explained the reason behind them, whereas just thru your solid and clear and concise explanations, the reason /concept or theory behind them became immediately obvious and a lot of the random data, as collected thru the various techniques, started to fall into place and made sense from a pragmatic point of view. What I have learned from matrixing is to look at every conceivable angle, to look for the universal truth/reality in any given motion, be it passive (evasive) or active (advance/attack/counter). By that i mean if it is a balanced, body natural motion which contains all the elements of the basic basics…in alignment. Technique over strength, mobility over forced movement, softness over hardness, working with the whole body (Taijutsu),… this way, just a minimum effort, is enough for maximum protective efficiency. Those are the elements i have taken from the master Instructor lessons, which makes my approach to movement now a whole lot more scientific based, than the randomly collected heap of techniques i was taught before. In other words, Matrixing is the art of getting to the heart of the matter, in a much shorter time than it would take with the traditional or common way of Instruction. I compare the matrix method to a compass, not only because of the directions (angles) but also because it gives me a starting point, a reference from where i can easily spot and connect the energy lines, in harmony with my opponents motions and intentions…
Thank you very much for this really compact and comprehensive block of Instruction on how to execute and transmit movement and energy, in alignment and under pressure, as well as making the theory behind them clear.
Sincerely,
Garib De Kwaadsteniet

Thank you Garib,
and well done!
Your win is a very concise and excellent summation
of matrixing.

Garib was assisted by Master Instructor Will Sess,
and I believe he is non-English speaking,
which makes this win all the sweeter.
It proves that matrixing goes beyond language,
that it is a concise set of scientific principles
that transcend speech.

It is the way the universe works.

So thank you again,
Garib,
well done for your hard work,
and thanks to your instructor
Will Sess.

Okay guys and gals,
wouldn’t becoming a Master Instructor be
the greatest HanaKwanMass present
you could ever give yourself?

Simply go here…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4-master-instructor-course/

Do the course and submit your win,
and you have made it,
you have gotten that knowledge,
that martial artists from around the world,
and throughout time,
have wished to get…
You have gotten the ultimate knowledge of the martial arts
you have gotten the knowledge
that is on The Master Instructor Course!

Have a great work out
and
HanaKwanMass!

Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4-master-instructor-course/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

Congrats to a New Master Instructor!

 

Martial Arts Master Instructor Course

Okay,
my apologies,
I should have announced Jim a few weeks ago,
but this durned Al’sheimers really gets me.

So,
Congrats to Master Instructor Jim McElroy!

Dear Mr. Case
Something I want to say:
I’ve studied martial arts for many years (1977-) and never had them explained as clearly as your courses do. I cannot thank you enough for these courses. Sincerely Jim Elroy
Now with that said here I go:
Some Wins and realizations that i have gotten from your (Master Instructor) course:

And,
sorry to say,
I can’t tell you the rest of Jim’s wins.
The reason is that he goes through the material,
point by point,
explaining exactly how it works,
and how he understands it.

This tells me that he really understood the material,
which means that he will be able to use it,
but…
if I tell you the win then I will be giving you
the contents of the course.

Shucks,
we don’t want to do that!
Grin.

But here’s the thing,
this is the only course in the world
that people read,
and understand the material
well enough to transform their martial art.
Just by reading!

Oddly,
it is simple stuff,
but it is not talked about commonly in the martial arts,
or,
if it is spoken of,
then only in mystical terms
that reveal a fascination for what is being said,
but no understanding.

This is important,
this thing of mysticism vs understanding.

Three blind men came across an elephant.
One said, ‘it is like a wall!’
The second said, ‘it is like a little snake,’
the third said, ‘it like a fire hose with two big teeth!’

Each has a different viewpoint,
and they pass these viewpoints down
until everybody argues what the elephant is like.

Then you come across one yourself,
and you are not blind,
and you see how each blind man misunderstood,
and you are the only one that truly understands.

This is what matrixing does.
And it does it not by passing down my viewpoint,
but by giving you the actual physics of the martial arts.
Not the western world version of physics,
but the physics that takes into account
things like chi energy,
how the body is constructed for the martial arts,
and so on.

Things that people have rarely heard,
and then only in mystical terms.

So,
again,
my thanks to Master Instructor Jim Elroy.
Well done for that great win.
And my apologies for being so late in announcing you.

And,
now the news,
the next book,
‘How to Matrix the Martial Arts
(and the universe and life and everything else),’
is almost ready to go.
I am actually working on the physical version,
just a couple of things to do,
and then it will be here.

And,
for everybody…
it is fall.
Fall has fallen,
so have you picked an art to dedicate yourself to this winter?
Are you going to know a new art by Summer?

Think about it,
do it,
and let me know how it goes.

Have a great work out!
Al

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

The Correct Way to Do Yoga

Yoga (The Yoga Kata)

Yoga has been around for thousands of years. Yoga asanas, or postures, were being done by people for this period of time for one simple reason: they work. The interesting thing is that they work, in spite of the fact that they are, for the most part, being done wrong.

I stumbled across this fact as a result of my studies in the martial arts. I studied martial arts for years and years, for decades, and finally realized that I was trying too hard. I was using all my muscles, all my energy, and it was a waste.

do yoga

Click on the Cover

yoga for karateIt was a waste because how tense your muscles are doesn’t have much to do with how hard you hit. What matters is how relaxed you are. For when you are relaxed you can deliver the punch more efficiently.

If you are tense you are actually working against yourself, against your own body and mind. You are locking up muscles and actually stopping the flow of energy that results in efficient motion.

The problem was that nobody understood this. Instead, karate instructors would train people and wait for them to get tired of using so much effort, would wait for them, after some years, to start relaxing when they executed the moves.

Waiting for a student to get tired is not very efficient. Especially when compared to instructing them on when and how to relax.

In Yoga people are put in postures, and they stay that way, and the instructors, often sadistic animals, chuckle as the student undergoes the effort and the strain and the pain. Heck, we’ve all heard them chuckling and expounding on how easy it is.

But they don’t tell people how to make easy. Even if they do understand, they are often so filled with their own cleverness that they don’t take the time to make the simple explanations.

It’s one of those things of: ‘We’ve always done it this way!’ And no real understanding.

The truth is that effort, strain and pain can actually result in injuries.

The correct procedure should be to encourage the student to relax. Not to put him in difficult poses and wait for a year or two until he finally relaxes, but to educate him as to how to relax individual muscles.

When an instructor does this the student suddenly gets better. He enters more and more difficult poses not by trying harder, but by relaxing his body, by learning that his muscles are fighting, and he must give them commands to relax.

The interesting phenomena is that the student’s mind will not clear out until he has relaxed.

Well, of course. A straining mind is not empty, is not clear of distractions, it is filled with one, huge distraction.

The author will tell you more at Yogata.

How to Kill People by Just Touching Them!

…but you’ll be protected by the invisible force field around your body!

The one thing that gets me concerning the Martial Arts, and it shouldn’t, but it does, are ads like the one right below.

I Couldn’t Believe I Froze Up … What’s Really Ridiculous Is That I’ve Been Trained In 13 Martial Arts Since I Was Only Four Years Old, So I, Of All People Should Have Been Able To Do Something, But I Couldn’t – I Didn’t Know What To Do In This Exact Situation, Even Though I Practiced Many Similar Situations. This Was A False Sense Of Security.

kung fu training manualdynamic tension hard punch martial artsThis ad is off the internet, it’s part of a big pitch designed to empower people with ‘invisible force fields’ that enable them to handle multiple attackers with their bare hands, to tear apart whole mobs, and without any martial arts training.

Or, as in the case above, the guy had studied lots of fighting disciplines, but they didn’t work.

Okay, so let’s look at the real facts here.

Fact Number One: I doubt if the guy studied Karate, or Kenpo, or Aikido, or even a smidgeon of Shaolin. But if he did, he better ask for his money back because…They weren’t the real thing, they weren’t real fighting disciplines.

Fact Number Two: In spite of the hype of ads like this, ads which actually degrade the real martial arts in favor of making money for some bum who studied no martial arts, or martial arts that weren’t real, there is no substitute for learning a real martial art.

A fake, comic book, internet scam martial art is a handful of tricks that look neat, but have little relation to each other.

A real self defense method is a LOT of tricks, tied together with effective theory so that everything relates, and which then can work on you to change your mindset and make you a better human being.

Consider this: a real art, like Karate or Gung Fu or Krav Maga develops intuition. It develops a sixth sense. Let me tell you this: if I was that guy I wouldn’t have awakened when the bad guys so much as stepped on my property. The hairs would have stood on my neck, I would have been wired, I would have been more alert than Defcon Five! Because THAT is what a real fighting discipline does to you. It wakes you up, it makes you intuitive, it gives you that sixth sense. 

Consider this: when you study a real discipline, like Jujitsu or Wing Chun or good, old Karate, when somebody holds a gun on you…you instantly wake up! You are more alert than you have ever been, and you can’t stop the scenarios from enfolding in your mind. I can do this, I can do that, and you sort through them and wait, because you know, when the time comes, that you won’t be thinking, you will be doing.

Concerning the above two considerations, the above two chapters, I speak from personal experience. This is not a hype, or a war story, or some whimsical comic book supposition.

So the conclusion is this: if you don’t know a real form of self defense, a classical method that’s been formed through the centuries, then you are a sitting duck. You have no discipline for emergencies, you have no plan, and you likely don’t even have the conditioning.

Yes, sometimes a form of self defense like Karate or Kung Fu might have some mistakes in it, maybe defenses against weapons that are no more, maybe a poser technique, but even these problems tend to make you think, condition your body, give you alternatives in the extreme. Everything is an education, and it really all depends on what you do with it, whether you make it real enough to save your life.

And, here is the truth: don’t bother with the hype, don’t bother with comic book ads. Only seek out real martial arts, real forms of self defense. Learn them fast, and learn more than one, because what one doesn’t teach another one will.

To do less is to stand on the street in the middle of the mob holding hundred dollar bills and scream ‘Don’t take my money!’

You’ll end up in the gutter faster than fast, and it’s your own fault for not being prepared, for not getting in shape, for not giving yourself a real Martial Arts education when you could have.

About the Author: Al Case has studied Martial Arts since 1967. He is the originator of Matrixing Technology, which is the only science of the martial arts in the world. People who learn Matrixing can absorb classical martial arts three times faster, and make them work three times better.

If you want to learn a real method of Self Defense, the best place to start is Matrix Karate