Billy Jack, stoic Indian with Green Beret Martial Arts training, was one of the first movie heroes to beat up bad guys with karate/kung fu/taekwondo/whatever.
Interestingly, I met a real Indian war hero who told me what it was really like. He was a chubby fellow from Northern California, and he had been a Navy SEAL. At least so he said.
Can you handle ANY weapon? Click on the image…
He told me that the Navy had been looking for people who were extra sneaky and mean, and they tried him and a few other Indians.
He told me they would sneak around the bush, sneak up on the VC, and kill everybody they could.
He said that one night a couple of his friends came back from a mission laughing. They had apparently snuck into a VC barracks and sliced the throat of every other man. They thought it was going to be a great joke when the survivors woke up and found that the men on each side of them had been killed.
And, he told me of a knife fight he had had when he was a teenager.
He got into it with some other good, old boy, and they were rasslin’ and stabbin’ each other when the cops pulled them apart and arrested them.
The other guy went to the hospital, where he might not make it through the night.
My friend sat there, waiting to see if he was going to be charged with fighting or with murder. And he wiped some blood off his shirt. Talk to the cops. Wiped some more blood off. Talked the cops. Wiped some more…”Hey! I’m bleeding!”
Apparently the other fellow had managed to stick him in the gut, and the fold of skin had compressed while sitting and the blood only seeped out, which made it look like he wasn’t really injured.
So he went to the hospital, the other guy lived, and he joined the Navy to avoid charges for assault and battery, which was the way they did things back then.
Anyway, I don’t know the truth of his story, he could have been telling me a big windy, but I do know something about knife fighting.
You can stab, or you can slice. Bad idea to throw, ‘cause there’s no smarts in throwing away your weapon. How you hold the knife depends on what you want to do, unless you go in without a plan. not a good idea. Everybody should be trained, and that training should have an idea for every possible situation.
Anyway, I’ve written a complete course, with a few hours of in depth video instruction, on how to handle knives and other bladed weapons. The course is called Blinding Steel, and it is available at Monster Martial Arts.
But the thing about knives is this: it is the most common weapon you will meet in a fight. After all, knives, for the most part, are legal.
You can carry a Bowie knife, or any large knife, even a machete.
You can carry knives openly, or even concealed.
The only knives you can’t carry are things like dirks and ballistic knives and daggers and stilettos.
You can’t carry knives that look like something else, like a tube of lipstick or a pen or something like that.
But you can carry a knife, and bad guys will resort to a knife as their weapon of first choice. After all, past a gun, which is illegal for the most part, in spite of all constitutional guarantees, a knife is easy, quick, and visually frightening.
But, if you study a real martial arts course on knives, like Blinding Steel, then you won’t have much to worry about. With Blinding Steel knife course you learn how to use anything for a weapon, and you can even take a knife away from some idiot and insert it where there isn’t much chance of getting a sunburn.
James Mitose was the fellow who brought Kenpo Karate from Japan to Hawaii, and thence to the rest of the world.
And, who, you might ask, could ‘kill’ a fellow who had studied martial arts for decades? Who introduced Kenpo Karate to the world?
Click on the cover
The story is right below, and it is a corker, with one of the most bizarre endings you will EVER read.
James Mitose ~ The Founder of Kenpo Karate
James Mitose was born in Hawaii in 1916. At the age of four years old his family returned to Japan that he might receive a good eduction.
One of the important elements of his education was the study of the martial arts.
The martial arts he studied included Okinawan Karate and Japanese Jujitsu. The training was done at the Mt. Akenkai Shaka-In temple.
In 1935, at the age of 21, James returned to Hawaii, and it wasn’t long before he began teaching Martial Arts. He called his art by the traditional names of Shorinji Kempo, and Kempo Jujitsu. Eventually, he settled on the name Kosho Shorei-ryu Kenpo.
Sensei Mitose taught martial arts for over ten years, but eventually stopped teaching and moved to Southern California, and here is where he met the man who would later ‘kill’ him.
Terry Lee (Nimr Hassan) ~ The Man Who Killed James Mitose
In Southern California James Mitose would teach only a few students, and one of these was a young man named Terry Lee. Mr. Lee changed his name to Nimr Hassan.
In the 70s Nimr Hassan was arrested for the murder of a Mr. Namimatsu. Mr. Namimatsu was stabbed multiple times, had a completely collapsed eye, and was strangled.
The evidence was clear cut. Not only was a footprint of Nimr Hassan on the victim’s chest, but he admitted his guilt in court by saying that he had done the stabbing and strangling, but he wasn’t guilty because when he left Mr. Namimatsu was still breathing.
At this point, the story takes a vicious turn: Terry Lee claimed that James Mitose gave him the weapons, which included a rope and an ice pick, and told him how to commit the crime.
James Mitose was arrested and taken to trial, and the result of that trial was a terrible miscarriage of justice.
Japanese translators were used, and even the court would admit, at a later date, that the translations were inadequate.
James denied inciting Terry Lee to murder, but stated that as his martial arts instructor he was responsible for the crime. On that flimsy ‘evidence,’ nothing more than a pointing finger and ‘he said,’ James Mitose was convicted and sentenced to life in prison.
And Terry Lee? Nimr Hassan? For turning state evidence, for accusing the man who had taught him martial arts, he spent three years in prison.
After he was released from prison Terry would claim to be the legitimate inheritor of James Mitose’s martial arts system; he claimed to be the Hanshi of the Mitose family martial arts.
James Mitose would die in prison, while the man who effectively killed him would continue teaching martial arts for many years.
About the Author: Al Case began Kenpo in 1967. Check out his three book series on ‘How to Create Kenpo Karate.’
Newsletter 706
Ligaments and how I figured out CBM
Good morning from Monkeyland!
Anther perfect day for working out!
What?
Working out seven days after surgery?
How can that be?
You simply use visualization,
do your forms in your mind,
and you still get 80% of the benefit!
And, the surgery…
The exact procedure involved a four inch slit in my shoulder
and some very delicate handiwork.
Two screws to hold the shoulder bone down,
a coil around the bones to help keep everything in place,
and a brand new ligament.
My new ligament is VERY happy to have joined my body.
Instead of the fade to black of death
which usually happens to the parts of a cadaver,
it is now part of CBM machine,
where every muscle and cell is expected to
contribute to the work of the whole organism.
Not one muscle doing everything,
but all muscles doing something.
this was the original concept of CBM depressed, incidentally.
I don’t think I’ve talked about this before, So let me explain right now.
The original concept of Coordinated body motion was
One muscle doesn’t do all the work,
All muscles do a little work.
One arm doesn’t do all the work,
all the parts of the body do a little work
This thought was a drastic departure from how I was being trained.
I was being trained to use force, even in the kang duk won.
Eventually, as you get older, you get tired of doing all the work
And you start looking for easier ways to get the work done.
But this doesn’t lead to CBM.
It leads to chi power, it leads to better martial arts,
but inefficiently.
And it doesn’t lead to coordinated body motion.
And, to tell you the truth, I was going outside my art,
And I was coming across concepts where people talked about
Using the body as one unit.
But what I couldn’t find was a way to describe this method
Of using the body is one unit,
And still be true to the concept
Of one muscle doesn’t do all the work.
So I thunk it up in my head,
Move the hand at the same speed you move the foot.
Then, instead of stepping forward and punching
I was stepping forward while punching.
And the whole ‘use the body is one unit’ thing resolved,
And coordinated body motion was born.
Yeah, just thunk it up.
Figured it out.
Made it up.
But it worked.
And I got into all sorts of computations
The weight of the leg over the arc of the foot times the speed of the kick,
The muscle of the arm Times the speed of the fist from point a to point B,
The mass of the hips rotated between the distance of the legs times the speed of…
And so on and so on.
But I gave up the computations because the world is simple
And it has to be solved simple, And kept simple, if it is going to work.
So you can take my description of CBM, and you can run with it.
You can use it and tweak your art, And fix your forms,
And make your techniques work.
Not complex.
It’s simple.
So I explain this to my ligament and it was happy,
But I didn’t have to explain it,
I just had to use CBM,
To walk with the body as one unit,
and the ligament loved it.
And the whole body Loved it.
The body Loves to work,
But the body love to work simple more.
Anyway, that is the story of CBM,
Done right, keep it simple,
And your art becomes simple,
And everything changes.
oinkey Doggie
If you want to see what goes on after CBM,
If you want to check into the real truth of such things as
Correct body alignment,
Perfect body structure,
How to make any technique perfect,
And so on,
Check out this page…
I know you all know of my problems with the copyright infringement thing on the Matrixing Kenpo books.
I’ve just about got it fixed, people are happy, and it’s time to start getting the revamped books out.
The purpose of this new website is to give you an offer, all three books, in instant download, for only $15.
Normally the books are $15 a piece! So this is a REAL deal.
Doing this enables me to make sure things work, to get feedback, and to start the publishing process anew.
BUT, this will only last a short while. I hope to have the books up on the market within a few days. And if I don’t take this offer down then, it will be down shortly after, because when I publish on Kindle they won’t allow me to sell books that they are carrying in this format.
So you might have as little as a week to take advantage of this offer.
So head for the website…
http://kenponow.wordpress.com
and check it out.
Let me know if there are any problems.
And if you want to wait for the physical books, it won’t be long, but this offer is here for right now…
Newsletter 703
The Secret of Speed in the Martial Arts
Let’s talk about speed in the martial arts.
We used to have this exercise
back at the Kang Duk Won
it was called ‘Speed of speed.’
And,
it was brutal.
You faced your partner,
and there was only one attack:
a chop to the neck,
you turn the hand
so the flat of the hand strikes the shoulder.
What made it brutal was the times
when you collided with your partner.
Neither of you was faster,
and you both ended up hurting.
speed kick in karate
Believe me,
as stupid as it sounds,
you won’t see this exercise
anywhere in the martial arts.
It just hurts too much.
Yet,
here’s the thing,
after a few months of doing this,
of suffering bone bruises to the forearms
you found that you were faster.
Some lower belt would come in
and he’d just start to twitch
and…WHAM!
you were hitting his shoulder so hard
his head near fell off!
Now,
I tried teaching that,
and people didn’t want to learn it.
Man,the groans and moans.
So I persisted,
and had small classes
of REALLY tough martial artists,
but I kept thinking about speed.
I thought about the kenpo
circularity of motion theories and drills,
but hitting somebody ten times in a second
didn’t allow one to get the body behind any of the strikes.
Hmmm.
So you have to be fast in the intuitive sense,
in the sense that Speed of Speed built up,
of seeing when somebody was starting to move,
and moving before him.
THAT was when you could get the whole body behind the strike.
So,
have you ever watched the Magnificent Seven?
The scene where Yul Brynner claps his hands?
I started out with the hands apart,
standing in a back stance,
and the partner has to close the distance
and punch the chest before the hands clap.
Worked like a charm.
Easy to do,
not so brutal,
and directly applied to increasing power through weight.
And,
there were variations I tried,
one of them,
of unusual interest,
is standing to the side with a stop watch.
Tell somebody to punch when they hear the stop watch click,
and click the stop watch a second time when the punch touches the target.
Interestingly,
times were being measured in a full second.
Yes.
That long.
No chance at all
of the punch being fast enough to work.
But what turned the trick
was to stand behind the person being punched,
and let the person watch you click the stop watch.
Man,
then they sped up,
and that was because you got rid of all reaction time,
and the puncher could see and anticipate.
But isn’t that what it is all about?
When somebody is about to punch
you don’t wait for the punch,
you look,
you examine,
you analyze,
you predict when it is coming.
Usually it starts with some kind of emotional set up,
but with the stop watch there was no emotion
and guys could get past the idea of emotion,
get past fooling each other with twitches and tells,
and directly view the factors of the strike.
People got fast real fast,
and we could tailor the strikes,
increase speed in everything
from blocks to kicks to whatever.
Now,
you can use this data,
do the exercises,
make your own exercises,
have some real fun,
and get past a lot of stuff,
and increase speed in the one area
that really matters,
putting weight behind a real strike.
And,
if you have a little extra hair on your chest,
you can always try speed of speed.
To this day
I know that that exercise,
as crude and brutal as it was,
was the one that made the real difference in me.
Okay,
if you want to increase speed
because you have perfect alignment in your body,
and perfect alignment WILL increase your speed,
then check out the Master Instructor Course.
AND,
BTW,
I’ve been fooling around
making a few sites just for grins and giggles,
so try this one…
http://combatselfdefence.wordpress.com
It’s aimed at explaining things about matrixing and neutronics,
and how they apply to the martial arts.
It’s not for everybody,
and I’m not done with it,
I’ll be working on it as time goes by,
but it’s at a point where
I thought people would appreciate it,
maybe even have some insight as to what they would like on it.
Feel free to leave comments on the site,
what you think,
any advice,
whatever.
It actually gets to me
faster than an email.
Okay,
it’s the middle of summer
so act like it!
Work out till you sweat COPIOUSLY,
and enjoy an occasional beverage.
How Karate was Born, Destroyed, and Can Be Resurrected
I had no idea what Pan Gai Noon was when I began my studies of karate.
I had begun with Kenpo karate, and then moved onto classical karate such as presented by okinawan or Japanese systems.
As the years and then decades rolled past, I delved deeper and deeper into the martial arts, and always in the back of my mind was a question where did it all come from.
The Japanese karate system comes from Okinawa, and Okinawan karate is derived from a broad variety of martial arts and Asia.
One of the most important influences in the matter karate comes from Pan Gai Noon.
PGN was talking the Fukien province of China. It was taught by a street seller name Shu Shi Wa who may have learned it as a style of Temple boxing taught by Shaolin monks.
Mind you, there are no real hard facts here, so you will have to make up your own mind as to the originals of karate and even kung fu.
That said, If you analyze PGN using matrixing, you will find a wealth of specific self-defense structures in the first three forms of this martial arts system.
In the first form, Sanchin, you will find straight thrusts that will override incoming punches. You will also find very useful and street applicable basic blocks. You will learn this in conjunction with learning how to fasten the body to the ground.
Fastening the body to the ground, or grounding, is the secret of making PGN work. It is also the secret of making all martial arts work. It is the secret of the art.
Most important, at the end of first form you will find a block called wa-uke. This is a circular block, not talking other martial arts, but possibly the most useful block ever talking karate.
The essence of wa-uke is to slap with the first hand, then grab with the second hand.
Thus, using grounding, you train yourself to stand and face. You slapping grab any strike coming in, and counter.
This concept of stand face is found in no other martial art in existence.
Other arts teach you to fight, PGN teaches you to stand and face. As simple as this concept is, the whole system is based upon it, And students would spend literally decades learning it.
The second form of pan gai noon takes this concept of stand and face using only the block of wa-uke and expands it through a variety of strikes.
Matrixing, at this point, can speed up your study of the art. By using a simple matrix graph, one can understand all of the possible permutations of motion inherent in wa-uke.
Without matrixing it can take decades to learn the art; with matrixing one can learn to stand and face in a matter of months.
The third form, Sanseirui, expands upon the theory of fighting and presents whole methods of combat.
The last one is not limited to the method of wa-uke, but is able to expand his fighting concepts in many other directions.
These three secrets of pan gai noon are inside the three basic forms. Unfortunately, they have not been passed down, but rather altered to fit Okinawan and Japanese martial arts concepts.
That’s the real truth of PGN has been obscured by people who didn’t understand them, And who translated the art into such concepts as dynamic tension, excessive breathing patterns, and basic techniques that are not tied together and any cohesive theory or concept.
If you wish to see the truth of the matter, I recommend the pan gai noon book available at Amazon. With this course you will see the truth of the beginning of karate, how it was corrupted, and how it can be made great again. An extra bonus, there are three complete systems on this book and video course.
Don’t forget to subscribe to this blog, top of the sidebar.
So how would you like your black belt certificate signed by Barack Obama? Cool, eh? I mean, the president signing your black belt certificate!
Except, you see, the president doesn’t know Karate. Or AIkido. Or Tai Chi Chuan or Krav Maga or…he doesn’t know ANY martial Art! He merely signed your martial arts promotion so you woujld vote for him!
Release of final volume of Matrixing Karate Series! Click on the Cover!
How valuable is your black belt certificate now, eh?
Now, we know this is satire, except, let’s look at a little history behind the martial arts satire.
In Korea, back in the forties and fifties, the martial arts flourished. Some of the most powerful Karate int he world came out of that era. Then a fellow name of Choi Hong Hi decided that Korea needed its own martial art. So he invented Taekwondo. It wasnt’ very good, as evidenced by three facts.
One, the forms were changed after that, better forms were made.
Two, a lot of people wouldn’t go with the new system, they felt that it wasn’t as good as the old.
Three, in Korea Taekwondo is taught to people as sort of a baby system, and the real martial arts are taught later on, and, I hate to say it, in a lot of cases, only to people of the Korean race.
It’s true. A rank form of racism. In the martial arts.
But you will have a hard time proving it, the Koreans certainly won’t opt to it.
But, that is just one instance of a martial art being changed for political reasons. Something that really worked being thrown out (or reserved, in this case) while a lesser art is foisted upon people to create ‘nationalistic pride,’ among other things.
In communist countries, a few decades ago, only the military, or communist party officials and their family, were allowed to learn Martial Arts. Another instance of martial arts by politics.
Let me make a point here: in this country there a LOT of people who think martial arts should be regulated, and this goes down even to the selection of techniques that is taught.
And, here is the cruelty behind this bonehead reasoning…these people propose regulation so that the government won’t regulate us.
Regulation of art, of martial art, for politics.
Well, you know my opinion. As the owner of Monster Martial Arts I believe in going to a flesh smacking dojo and eschewing ALL politics. And, when you have your basics in, heck, as soon as you start, you should start exploring other options, and ordering a course from me, testing in the martial arts by video with me, is ABSO-FRIGGIN-LUTELY free of politics.
It’s the knowledge that’s important here, not who signs your certificate, or whetehre you have filled in the forms in triplicate, or whether you show proper depth of bow to some bonehead who stopped learning martial arts a decade ago, when he figured out he could get people to bow down and throw money at him.
Just my opinion of course. You’re certainly free to go get your black belt certificate signed by BarackObama…heck, it’s not like politics could really hurt the martial arts, right?
Check out Matrix Karate if you want a TOTALLY non-political martial arts system.
And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog in the sidebar.
Matrix Karate is a system of martial arts,
but it is a system of logic as well,
and you can apply this logic to ANY other martial art.
Simply do Matrix Karate,
then take the basics of your system,
and I don’t care if it is krav maga
or tai chi,
or even something concocted by Lieutenant X,
and plug it into the forms and techniques
and you will have an instant Matrix of your system.
Now,
that is not the end of it,
but the beginning.
because as soon as you see your system logically,
ALL sorts of other doors are going to open.
And then the classical system that you have been studying
is truly going to become a VERY advanced form of Karate.
You won’t have those mysterious ‘hidden techniques’
holding you back.
You won’t have the political bushwah
that destroyed your system
in the way any more.
You won’t have any less than adequate instruction
that you might have received,
in your way.
Simply,
you will understand how everything fits together,
and then when you take another look
at that classical system,
you will realize something:
if your system is unchanged enough
then you will truly benefit from the concept
of it being a closed combat system.
A closed combat system is one
which was designed by evolution of generations,
doing only what works,
until you have something truly rare,
a true masterpiece,
something that can evolve the human being.
And,
if it is changed,
then you will have the tools
to RETURN it to
a closed combat method
once again.
I don’t care if your system has been…
altered by politicians,
twisted by political organizations,
changed for tournaments,
diluted for kids,
designed to make money,
or whatever,
or ANYTHING else…
you will be able to fix it.
And,
I guarantee this,
even if you can’t see what has been left out,
you will be able to figure it out after matrixing.
Now,
Matrix Karate is that powerful.
But,
here’s something I run across.
I come across,
usually in forums,
the people who say…
I know what you did,
I know what you are doing…
I’ve already done that.
Here’s the cruel trap,
there are enlightened human beings out there,
and they well might have figured out
what the heck is happening,
and they might actually have insight into their own souls.
These guys might well be VERY powerful people.
BUT…
they did it without method.
Or,
the method they used is antiquated,
based on ancient hieroglyphics
or whatever,
and…
THEY CAN’T EXPLAIN IT!
Which means they can’t teach it.
They can’t explain what they are doing,
accept in the most obtuse and confused manner.
They will resort to sayings from the Tao,
which is a good book,
but not a science,
and can be very confusing in itself.
And these guys,
no matter how smart,
end up losing students
because they don’t have a good, scientific method.
And,
I ask them,
‘have you ever seen a matrix?’
And they say nothing.
Because they are holding on to the fact
that they know something.
They don’t undersdtand,
won’t understand,
that I am not trying to destroy their system,
I am only making it so they can understand it
and teach it,
and create a REAL golden age of Martial Arts.
Now,
I have made it REAL easy.
First,
there is the course itself,
available on MonsterMartialArts.com,
and a few other places.
Second,
there is an example of me teaching the course,
complete from white to black.
That is on Monstermartialarts.com
and a few other places.
Third,
if you want to understand Matrixing theory,
there is Matrixing: the Master Text.
That is available on MonsterMartialArts.com
and a few other places.
Fourth,
there is the Matrixing Karate series.
Five books detailing ALL sorts of stuff,
available on Amazon.
Now,
here is the funny thing,
you probably paid
$50 a month for your lessons,
maybe a lot more.
And the material here is less expensive than…
all the years of your lessons,
a movie and dinner with your mate,
a used tire,
a new Tokaido gi,
A TANKFUL OF GAS!
groceries for a week (if you eat a lot)
a few cases of beer (and better for you)
a pair of Nikes,
and all sorts of other stuff,
and you end up with
MORE KNOWLEDGE
than ALL your years of previous training.
Or,
at least,
the ability to make TOTAL sense
out of ALL your martial arts.
Okay,
thanks for letting me get that out.
I know it is a sales push,
but there is data in there,
and if we are going to have a REAL golden age of martial arts,
it really is necessary.
Okay,
it rained up here at Monkeyland,
so I have to replace an inverter,
clean out culverts,
chase the cows out of the crops,
and go look at the birds.
Saw the most AMAZING buzzard hawk today.
Truly magnificent.
Sitting on the highest branch
of the tallest tree
on the highest mountain here.
Heck,
maybe I better just move that to the top of the list,
Yes,
watch birds all day,
then go work on a ‘Buzzard Hawk’ form.
That’s what I have to do.
You guys and gals,
I really want you to have an enlightening work out,
really get into it,
really analyze the way you shift your weight,
keep your blaance,
and how that combines to create EXTRA energy.
Whenever I try to explain to people that there are 2 styles of Wing Chun, anyone that “knows” Wing Chun, tries to tell me that I am wrong, that there is no second style, only the variation being that of Moy Yat and Leung Ting.
The objection stems from the fact that most people do not know that soft-style exists. There are no “training” videos sold of soft style, and finding a video on YouTube is next to impossible.
Two sides, my friend. Learn them both if you want to be great!
Soft-style was only taught to a select few students, William Cheung learned both soft-style and hard-style. Bruce Lee, Leung Ting, Moy Yat and other famous Wing Chun Stylists either never learned soft-style, or chose never to teach it. Think of it like this, hard-style was taught to the outside world, and they guarded the REALLY good material and kept it only in the family. Because I do not know these individual people, I don’t know the reason their lineages don’t include soft-style, whether they wish to continue the secrecy, or whether they simply weren’t privy to it.
The Tan-sao is a perfect example, of the difference. Hard-style leans and drops it down so it is almost horizontal, soft-style maneuvers the body properly, and keeps the tan-sao up, the eyes just barely able to see over the fingertips. Bruce Lee threw out the Tan-sao because he said it was worthless, and indeed if the tan-sao is held low, it doesn’t block anything.
When comparing forms, you will observe hard-style people simply lean from one side to the other when performing chum-kil, while soft-style will actually take a full step.
Both of the videos below include Bil-jee, if you watch those variations of that form, you will see many more differences.
Some of the key differences between hard and soft Wing Chun are as follows:
Hard-style relies more on muscular strength, while soft relies on correct body alignment. As sensei says, “if you are leaning, you are falling”. This is true in all arts, and one of the reasons my Brazilian jujitsu instructor harps on good posture. If you rely on a lean ,you must rely on muscle.
Hard-style uses a more collapsed forward guard with no forward intention, under the assertion that in trapping your energy is harder to read. While the energy is indeed harder to read, the guard is easier to blast through. Such a guard and collapse and trap a guard that has no forward intention.
Hard-style Wing Chun is what Bruce Lee was unhappy with when he created JKD. Even so, he and many others proved it was incredibly effective, even without knowing the “family secret”.
This guest blog was written by Paul Mann. I consider it a real gem of martial arts writing, and I think you will, also. enjoy.
Karate must be considered, in its final form and spirit, as an expression of your indomitable will to survive in the most direct, self-reliant manner possible, using only that which God gave you; a body, mind and spirit rigorously disciplined as an inseparable entity.2
Kyuhn literally means fist and is usually translated as fist, boxing or boxer. Kyuhn also has a much deeper, philosophical meaning: a person who is unified in body, mind and spirit. This is an implied meaning, which is derived from the fact that the component parts of your hand must be unified in order to form a fist. But, what is meant by unification of body, mind and spirit and how is it achieved?
Unification occurs when body, mind and spirit have been trained and are in harmony with each other. Unification of body, mind and spirit is accomplished by harmonizing the body, which will promote health and fitness; harmonizing the breath, which will result in an increased and harmonious flow of vital energy; and harmonizing the mind, which means controlling your mind and developing the power of concentration.
Harmonizing the Body (Tiuh San)
Before you can learn to defeat others, you must first learn to stand. Stance training is the foundation of all authentic Chinese martial arts. Physically, it strengthens the legs for stability, powerful footwork and kicking. Correct posture is developed to provide maximum results from properly executed techniques. Also developed are a focused, concentrated gaze for projection of fighting spirit as well as breath control and correct placement of the tongue. Mentally, it requires patience, refines the temperament and produces a tranquil mind. Therefore, be serious and devoted in your stance training, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.3
Harmonizing the Breath (Tiuh Sik)
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.4 There are several words5 in the Bible, which have been translated as spirit or soul. The actual meanings of these words are: any breathing creature; breath and, by implication, spirit; wind and, by resemblance, breath; a current of air, i.e. breath. As you can see, the Biblical use of the words breath and spirit are interrelated and virtually interchangeable.
In Chinese martial arts we use the word hei. The character for hei has several meanings. It can mean air, breath or spirit, but it is most commonly used to represent the concept of vital energy. It is a creative energy, the divine ‘breath’ in every being, which appears as active attention, concentration, and mental force.6
According to a research project undertaken by M.I.T. in 1978, there actually is an electrical energy field around the human body, which can be regulated and even intensified by controlled breathing exercises. In 1997, Liu Chang I was invited to produce a video tape on Fukien White Crane Karate. During the taping, studio technicians picked up a sort of rumbling, drumming sound. The sound engineer couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the radio microphone he had attached to Mr. Liu. “Oh! That’s my gung lihk (manifested vital energy),” explained Mr. Liu. The microphone was removed and taping continued without further incident.7
In one of the most amazing demonstrations of vital energy, Kirlian photography was used to film Teruyuki Yamada breaking a one-inch board. Now, there is nothing amazing about a punch breaking a board, but it is amazing that the punch never hit the board! Playing the film in very slow motion revealed that the board actually snapped when Mr. Yamada’s fist was still one inch away from it! What had shattered the wood was the pressurized force of the energy field between the board and the fist!8
The study of breath seems shrouded with mystery. Unlike the visible techniques of karate, breath and vital energy are unseen forces. They are, nevertheless, as much a part of cultivating the mind as developing the body.9 Though we could suggest any number of preliminary methods for unifying the spirit, directly speaking, uniform breathing and breath control are very important, and breath control is of utmost importance for progressing on the martial path. Success in spiritual unity and strength concentration depends on proper breathing methods.10
The art of breathing (hei gung) is characterized by deep abdominal breathing with your mind concentrated on the daan tihn, a point about three inches below your navel. Daily performance of daan tihn breathing will increase your energy level, produce explosive power and promote a positive, optimistic frame of mind. This is the source of the saying, if you know the art of breathing; you will have the strength, wisdom and courage of ten tigers.
Harmonizing the Mind (Tiuh Sam)
Part I Controlling Your Mind
Karate training will give you the ability to respond to an assault in such a way that the skills acquired through training flow naturally and freely, from knowledge to action without delay. No fear, no hesitation, only immediate, effective and appropriate action. How is this possible?
An untrained mind, like a drunken monkey, jumps around from one thought or emotion to another. One moment you’re thinking about the job at hand, and then about how hungry you are, the score of a ball game, an upcoming date, or any of the five poisonous emotions.11 These thoughts and emotions will rob you of the strength you need to face and solve your problems. Once you are able to divert energy from unnecessary thoughts and emotions and pour it into achieving goals, your power will be boundless and you will be able to achieve more of what you want to accomplish.
No thought of thought is a martial term, which refers to a mind which is empty of all thought and/or emotion; a mind which is receptive, pliant and which allows you to react spontaneously to any situation, which may occur. So then, flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Achievement of this concept in conjunction with deep breathing techniques will enable you to control your mind. The end result is a self-controlled person who is relaxed and effortless in mind and body; a person who sees things as they really are; a person who is fully capable of facing and decisively responding to any conflict, which may arise.
Harmonizing the Mind (Tiuh Sam)
Part II Developing the Power of Concentration
Once, long ago in China, there was an archer who trained daily to perfect his techniques. One autumn evening, the archer was walking home when, suddenly, he saw a flicker of movement in the shadows. It was a tiger, crouching and ready to pounce. Concentrating his mind, the archer fired off an arrow and scored a direct hit, right in the head. The archer hurried home without stopping to examine the dead animal. On the following day, he was curious and returned to the spot where he had slain the tiger. He searched everywhere, but failed to find the body of the tiger. He was about to abandon his search when he saw the arrow, stuck in a huge boulder. It hadn’t been a tiger after all, but his concentration had been so intense that the arrow had been driven into solid rock!
The concentrated mind can pierce through stone. It is characterized by “at yan” (indomitable spirit), a term which expresses a willingness to strive against all odds, to persevere under pressure, and to endure. It has an implied meaning of total commitment; of carrying on even when one is mortally wounded. The term is comprised of two pictographs, At and Yan. At is a pictograph of a hand restraining a germinating seed. Yan, the Chinese word for perseverance, depicts a heart pierced by a knife.
At yan, therefore, means concentrating your mind on one task, goal, problem or object and devoting yourself completely to discovering the solution or to finding the way out of your difficulty or to gaining your objective. It means to struggle, to grapple, to wrestle, to give your all and hold nothing back. It means closing with your problem or opponent and never retreating. It means no hesitation, advance bravely 12 with all you’ve got, again and again, until you achieve your objective.
Harmonizing the Mind (Tiuh Sam)
Part III Complete Awareness
The Chinese word for awareness, lauh sam, literally means keep your heart. Complete awareness (general, direct and specific) is the most important method of assault prevention. Your first line of defense is general awareness concerning yourself, other people and the surrounding environment. Pay attention, be alert and watch for conditions that might lead to a physical confrontation. Then, do whatever is necessary to prevent the confrontation from occurring.
Direct awareness13 (intuition14), finds expression in the saying no sound you can hear, no shape you can see. This ability to see the unseeable and hear the unhearable can make you more sensitive and receptive of the presence of other people’s energy fields. Any miscreant who intends to harm you will project a flow of energy which Chinese karateka call saat hei (killing spirit). Direct awareness is the ability to sense the presence of saat hei. When this happens, heed your intuitive alarm signals and take preventive measures before the danger manifests itself. In any situation which does become physical, direct awareness will enable you to act or strike decisively without conscious thought.
Your awareness must be more specific in the event that a confrontation does occur. Gaan is a Chinese karate concept which refers to “the space in between” combatants as well as an awareness of the potential ability of an individual to make offensive use of space, distance, timing and opportunity. Specific awareness (gaan) can help determine your success or failure by providing you with the information necessary for mentally establishing an imminent danger zone (ngaih gap yuhn).
Conclusion
The Chinese word for monarch is comprised of three horizontal lines centrally joined and intersected by one vertical line. Philosophically, the three horizontal lines represent the three essential elements. The vertical line symbolizes unification and control. The word for monarch, then, describes a person who is unified in body, mind and spirit, a person who is in control of his or her life. This concept is the heart and soul of Yushin Ryu Karate Do – the Way of the Courageous Heart. Let this be the emphasis of your training as well.
Check out the new website… http://bestkungfu.wordpress.com
Go to the Testimonials in the menu and do a search for your martial art!
Hi Sensei Al!
(On the Black Belt Course) Everything is working great! Thank you for the quick responses. I am enjoying the one on one videos. It may be cliche, but I do feel like I'm there. I also like the conversational style and the way you explain how you're teaching and why. You've got a new student for life. Thank you. ~ Daniel
What's interesting about Al Case's writings and teachings is there isn't any emphasis on 'the unknown' or 'mystery' behind martial arts. Al will slam this information in your face! Quite frankly the data isn't hidden, you'll find you're blind. ~ WG
Al Case is a powerful presence to be around, but if you can confront it, then you will not be sorry, for there is no one like him, and it is an extreme privilege and honor.
I used to read your articles in Inside Karate and was excited when I found your web site. ~ RV
As an old timer with thirty-five years of experience I was really bored, but your works have peaked my interest and shown me that there is much more to learn. I Thank You Again, Sincerely ~ CC
Where was this information 24 years ago? This course is one of the best things to ever happen to me. Thank you Al Case for the gift of knowledge!
Be blessed my teacher, ~ Rev. Ernest R
I bought the Infinite Fist tape YEARS ago and you know? I Keep going back to it! ~ KS
You are a master. You have opened me up to things that I have never thought of before. ~ KFM
I purchased your course on "Create Your Own Martial Art" and absolutely love it. I believe that your matrixing system is very unique. ~ DW
In my entire experience twenty years as a student and an instructor since, no one has contributed more to my martial arts education than you have. I started following your works twenty years ago and although I was young then I knew you had the True Art it was obvious to me even then. ~ Charles C
Students will know longer be slaves of poor instructors and practitioners. ~ Lonnie M
Win from Master Instructor Course
Let me start out by saying thank you. Thanks from all the martial artists who asked why. Al, I'm in the Security and Law enforcement field and carry Instructor credentials, so effective methods in combat and teaching them is what I constantly look for.
Win from Matrix Aikido
I just had to write to you to say WOW. Your INSTANT AIKIDO is great!!! ~ SD
My students have started coming up to me after class telling me how much more they are enjoying it, and that the classes have stopped being so ridged and now flow in a kind of give and take between me and them. I have stopped being a task master and started having fun and letting them teach me as well.
I did the Master Instructor Course and it hit me. The Basics that are so concisely communicated in this course including the Matrix principle IS the solution. It doesn’t matter what “style” I call my art, because all styles follow these same principles. It doesn’t matter how hard I train or how many repetitions I do if I don’t train the right way. And I would never become a master if I didn’t know how it all fits together. Now I do! I can honestly say that I am now on the path that I have always sought as a martial artist. Thank you Al!
I conducted a Matrix Aikido training class for a Security Team at a local manufacturing plant. I tailored the training according to their Use Of Force policy. As you know they need control and takedown skills. I knew Matrix Aikido would be the answer. The training plan you shared was boss. The class went so smoothly. The participants learned very quickly. By the end of the class you could see techniques of Monkey Boxing coming through. They were also able to create their own techniques. There was one female officer in the class who asked to become my private student. She was throwing, locking and taking down guys twice her size. The Security Supervisor wants me to come back and with more participants! I'll keep you posted. ~ L M
Have found your books and dvds excellent. My background is mainly in medical qigong but I practice Sun Style Tai CHi, BaGua and HsingI as well as Eagle Claw, Snake Style Kung Fu and several Wudang weapon styles. This is the first time I have had the underlying principles so clearly explained and in a way that they are immediately workable and demonstratable. I have worked through the Master Instructors Course, Aikido and Butterfly Bagua and have started to breakdown the Sun Hsing I using your matrix method. I was even able to teach a 70 year old friend of mine with no martial arts background your instant aikido where she was able to do some very accomplished locks and throws after the first lesson
Search the testimonials for your martial art!
Free Martial Arts Books
HERE'S SOME FREE MARTIAL ARTS BOOKS, MY THANKS FOR DROPPING BY.
Includes books on Bruce Lee, the Truth About Matrixing, the first Martial Arts book sold in America (It's a real hoot!), and much more!
