Category Archives: chi power

Making the Promise of a Fight in Karate

Posted on April 17, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 805
The Promise of a Fight

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https://alcase.wordpress.com

Gorgeous day.
Absolutely gorgeous.
And that means it is an absolutely gorgeous day for a work out.
So get going!

Was teaching this morning.
We were doing Promised Fights,
and my partner was grimacing,
and finally backed off.
“Ow,” he said.
And we got into a long discussion.
Heck,
he was hurting,
I had to let him recover,
give him some data,
and then hurt him some more.
Right?

First,
I started out with the old
‘Do it a form a thousand times and you know it.
Do it ten thousand times and you’ve mastered it.’
My student did exactly the right thing,
he said,
‘So if I do it 20 times a day,
then in fifty days…’
“Yep,” I said.
“You could know it.
You could be expert in 2 months.
But you have to do it right.
You have to understand the alignment,
how the feet work and why,
and you have to know the Promised Fights…
otherwise you could do it forever and not know it.”

Second,
we went into proper body alignment,
which is covered on the Master Instructor Course,
and how the feet must align properly,
and how the particular form we were doing had to be done
to make this all work.
I ended up saying,
“align your body,
make it a single unit,
then he won’t hit your body parts,
he will hit a single, integrated unit,
and it won’t hurt you.
Energy flows through a body that is a single unit,
it doesn’t flow through body parts used in individual fashion.
This is especially important in a Promised Fight.”

And,
came the look I had been waiting for.
I had been using the term Promised Fight,
and I knew he would eventually ask about it.

“What is a Promised Fight?”

A Promised Fight,
or a Promise Fight,
is a piece of the form applied.
A form Application.
It is a self defense movement.
It is bunkai.
It is the working part of the form.
But,
it is more.
In fact,
if a person doesn’t understand what I am about to tell you,
he/she is not doing karate.
They are just fighting themselves.

I asked my instructor what a Promised Fight was,
and he said,
‘The Promise of a Fight.’
And,
while the study of PFs gave great abilities,
and the answer he gave me was correct,
it was terribly incomplete.

To understand what a Promised Fight is
I need you to look up the word ‘Postulate.’

Look it up for yourself,
get all the nuances,
where it came from,
and all that,
but for this newsletter,
the short and inadequate version is this:

suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of (something) as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief

Assume existence,
put forth the truth,
as a basis for belief.

If you understand the hint here,
you should be diving for a big old Oxford Dictionary,
wanting to know why a simple karate move
becomes the basis for truth in this universe.

So let me break it down a bit,
from the viewpoint of 50 years of training.

A postulate is a thought,
which if worked on,
becomes true.

Worked on,
as continually done in a work out.

As in a piece of the form,
practiced again and again and again.

Now,
let me back up a bit,
a form is a circuit,
a pattern of moves that you practice and practice
until you just do it without thinking about it.
You strengthen the body,
you remember the applications,
you get light and quick,
and all those sorts of things.

When you do a piece of the form,
over and over and over,
you condense the circuit,
and you get rid of thought,
and suddenly there is nothing but the move.
Somebody punches,
and you don’t exist,
you just track the incoming,
and the Promise Fight,
the postulate of moves,
pops out of you.
And it works.
You punch him,
and he falls down.
And he doesn’t understand what hit him.
But here is the truth of it all…
a thought hit him.
A Postulate of thought hit him.
A Promise Fight,
clean and simple,
without distractive thoughts,
hit him.
And there is nothing purer in this universe.

Now,
I am always so busy trying to get people to understand,
offering all sorts of methods,
that i sometimes forget to go into this factor.
BUT,
in Matrix Karate there is the Matrix of blocks.
These are like mini-Promise Fights.
Very important to get these,
to understand them,
it is important to learn the small PFs
before you get to the big ones.
The big ones are on Temple Karate.
There isn’t talk of a matrix there,
because it is assumed you have done the groundwork of Matrixing first.
And the form applications are VERY pure Promised Fights.
They REALLY result in a zen frame of mind,
and the ability to hit somebody with a thought.

If you get Temple Karate
and you haven’t done Matrix Karate,
then you are taking the long route.
It will take you years,
and as distractions mount,
you can be knocked off the path
and never get there.

So you should do Matrix Karate,
work on the Matrix of Blocks,
make inroads and discover what a PF is.
And,
you can always take the pieces of the form,
they are pretty obvious,
and work on them to make real Promised Fights.

Then you do Temple Karate,
get into the classical forms,
and really go to town on the Promised Fights.

Matrix Karate is pretty simple,
it presents the movements that are pure karate,
no distractions from other arts.
It aligns you,
and sets you up for the broader moves of Temple Karate.
It is a real Closed Combat System.
You can do it by itself,
or you can do it,
then move into the classical,
and see what kinds of things
the old guys who came before us were into.
Temple Karate is a larger assortment of tricks,
it broadens the education,
and digs you to new depths.

Anyway,
that is the story on Promised Fights.
Dig ‘em…they are the real zen of Martial Arts.

Here’s the link for Temple,
if you have already done Matrix Karate.
You can just go to MonsterMartialArts and find Matrix Karate,
it is one of the first arts presented on the home page.

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

Now,
have a great work out,
and schedule yourself for twenty times a day,
and send me your wins in two months.

Have a great work out!

Al

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

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

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Posted in bruce lee, chi power, internal martial art, karate, kenpo, kung fu, mixed martial arts, qigong, self defense, zen

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Reading Minds in Martial Arts

Posted on April 14, 2016 | Leave a comment

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

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Posted in chi power, internal martial art, jeet kune do, pa kua chang, self defense, weapons, zen

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How the Ignorant Defend Themselves in Martial Arts

Posted on March 5, 2016 | Leave a comment

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

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Posted in chi power, karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, self defense

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Before You…and Karate…Was Born

Posted on February 16, 2016 | Leave a comment

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

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Posted in aikido, chi power, internal martial art, karate, taekwondo, zen

Tai Chi Chuan vs Karate

Posted on February 4, 2016 | Leave a comment

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.

2c Five Army Tai Chi Chuan

Have a great work out!
Al

2c 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

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Posted in bagua zhang, chi power, external martial art, internal martial art, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, taekwondo, tai chi chuan

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Martial Arts Legends Made Real

Posted on January 19, 2016 | Leave a comment

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

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Posted in chi power, internal martial art, pa kua chang, wing chun

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The Night Before Christmas…Martial Arts Style

Posted on December 25, 2015 | Leave a comment

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…

3c 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

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Posted in chi power, karate, kenpo, ninja, self defense

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Congrats to a New Martial Arts Master instructor!

Posted on December 11, 2015 | Leave a comment

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…

1d 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

1d 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

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Posted in chi power, internal martial art, kung fu, martial arts, taekwondo, wing chun

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Congrats to a New Master Instructor!

Posted on October 17, 2015 | 1 comment

 

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

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Posted in aikido, chi power, karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, qigong, shaolin, taekwondo, tai chi chuan

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The Correct Way to Do Yoga

Posted on May 10, 2015 | 19 comments

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.

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