Category Archives: kenpo

Karate Kicks that will Knock an Elephant Down!

Posted on November 20, 2014 | Leave a comment

Four Steps to Strong Karate Kicks!

Kicks are one of the best and most powerful martial arts weapons you can ever develop. Not only are kicks extremely good for the cardio, giving an instant sweat during a work out, but they are one of the most powerful weapons you can have if you are ever in a fight. After all, most people in the world don’t don’t have the faintest idea as to how to use their legs, and if you do have an idea…you’ve got an instant advantage.

 

american kenpo instruction book karate kicks

Jack up your kenpo now!

Of course, kicks take a little extra hard work if they are going to develop into something you can be proud of. But if you take your time, train properly and regularly, and do learn the types of kicks in a certain pattern…you can have power busting kicks of the most magnificent order. That said, let’s go over the proper order of how to develop these kicks.

The first kick is to merely stand in one place and do the kick. You don’t have to have a stance, you can do them at a moderate and easy on the body speed, and you can even put your hand on the wall. The idea here is to look at your body andlearn how to make it move to generate efficient and effective and totally destructive kicks.

The second kick is going to be done from stationary stances. Take a kick like a simple front snap kick, low level to begin, higher as you get better, and learn how to apply it from the rear leg while standing in a front stance. Go through all the stances you know, one by one, kicking with the foot you are not standing on.

The third kick is to use the leg which holds the most weight in your stance. This means you kick with the leg supporting the most weight. Again, go through your stances, do them one at a time, but this time figure out how to hop so that the leg you are standing on executes the kick, and the leg you do not have weight on replaces the leg you are standing on.

The fourth kick is to go through and analyze the various directions you can kick in. This is going to require some quick weight shifts and turns of the body, and the ability to think of your body as very light. Simply do the third kick, as described in the last paragraph, but this time execute the kick first to the south, then go back to your stance and do the kick to the east, then the west, then the north.

Now, there are a few things you should remember as you develop your kicks through these four stages. Don’t be one of these people who do a few kicks per side and then quit. Do a couple of hundred kicks, three hundred, maybe even five hundred kicks per kick per leg.

The idea is to develop your legs so that they are as light and easy to use as your hands. So concentrate on learning how to relax while you do your kicks. Soon your kicks will be second nature, light and easy, marvelous little things of quick flick, and yet able to instantly end any fight.

Check out Matrix Karate, you get a free kicking course, complete with form and techniques and drills, with it.

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Posted in karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, shaolin, taekwondo

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How Kenpo Karate Pioneer was Killed

Posted on October 10, 2014 | Leave a comment

The Sad Death of a Kenpo Founder

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?

James mitose kenpo karate book

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.’

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Posted in jeet kune do, karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts

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Using the body as one unit in karate and other martial arts

Posted on September 3, 2014 | Leave a comment

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…

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

Now have yourself a great workout,
And I’ll talk to you later.
Al

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Posted in aikido, chi power, internal martial art, karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, shaolin

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Three Kenpo Books!

Posted on August 23, 2014 | 1 comment

I’ve finally put Matrixing to Kenpo Karate!

And, speaking of which, here is a new website…

http://kenponow.wordpress.com

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…

have a great work out!

Al

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Posted in karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts

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The Three Secrets of Pan Gai Noon Karate/Kung Fu

Posted on August 9, 2014 | 1 comment

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.
okinawan karate history
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.

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Posted in external martial art, karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, pan gai noon, shaolin

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Boy Wears Tin Skull Cap so He Doesn’t Have to Do Kung Fu!

Posted on June 5, 2014 | Leave a comment

Kung Fu Builds Strong Minds!

Yes, unbelievable but true, a young boy, who definitely didn’t want to go to Kung Fu class, has taken to wearing a tin skull cap.
The boy’s father apparently wanted to teach him good Kung Fu, and he would say things like, ‘if you don’t study Kung Fu you will have a weak mind, then the government will control you with their radio frquencies.’
The boy thought that if he wore a metal cap as protection against the radio waves he wouldn’t have to study kung fu. Which is to say, he wouldn’t have to have a strong mind.

kung fu training manual

Great book to start learning Kung Fu! Click on the cover!

The scientific truth behind this odd tale is that the body is a like a machine, and the brain is like a radio station.
Unfortunately, the radio station ‘brain’ is victim to so much static that it starts to generate its own static. The old ‘garbage in garbage out’ theory.

A study of Kung fu, focusing the mind on ‘one thing,’ will train the individual to ignore the static, and the mind will come under control, and then the radio frequencies broadcast by the government will pass right through the ‘empty mind.’

The static that is absorbed by the brain can actually come from several sources.
Drugs tend to unfocus the individual, encouraging a form of static.
The government puts out special frequencies at places across the globe in order to control mankind on a mass level.
Even education is a culprit in this sad saga, as modern education is so lacking in even basic common sense that the result is more confusion among students, rather than competence and clarity, resulting in an ‘educated’ population that will do as they are told, and not what is right.

Thus, the boy’s father was right, and the boy was wrong, but, if he persists in wearing a tinfoil beanie he will doubtless remain stupid and prone to distractions and become just one more ‘mind number robot’ having existence as a human being.

The solution? Study Kung Fu, or Karate or Aikido, or any other form of body discipline…for to discipline the body is to discipline the mind.

A good place to start would be the martial arts lessons available at MonsterMartialArts.com. They are very logical, easy to do, and will cause the body, and mind, to become strong enough to resist any form of distraction.
Remember, good Kung Fu results in strong human beings.

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

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Barack Obama signs Karate certificate!

Posted on May 6, 2014 | Leave a comment

How Politics Ruins the Martial Arts

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!

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.

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Posted in aikido, bagua zhang, karate, kenpo, kung fu, pa kua chang, shaolin, tai chi chuan, wing chun

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How Matrix Karate Changes ALL Other Martial Arts

Posted on April 26, 2014 | Leave a comment

Matrix Karate a System of Logic

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.

Have a great work out!
Al

that you are.

Have a great work out!
Al

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

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Posted in karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, shaolin, taekwondo

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‘Matrixing Karate: Master’ is on the Bookshelves!

Posted on April 8, 2014 | Leave a comment

Releasing the Fifth Volume of Matrixing Karate: Master

This is the official announcement that ‘Matrixing Karate: Master,’ has been released.

It was actually finished a couple of weeks ago, and it has had time to get up on Amazon, and it is in the createspace bookstore, so it’s time to make it official.

Release of final volume of Matrixing Karate Series!

Release of final volume of Matrixing Karate Series!

 
The first volume of this pivotal Karate series was dedicated to fixing basic movements. Volumes 2 – 4 were aimed at explaining matrixng principles, introducing matrixing graphs, and so on. Volumes 1 – 4 were based on the Matrix Karate course available at MonsterMartialArts.com.

The fifth and final volume is a bit different. It is based on a series of manuals written over the years, and upon the ‘Create Your Own Art’ video course.

The thing that makes this final book so important, and sets it apart from even the books it was based upon, is that it goes through the history and concepts of Matrixing and details exactly where each concept came from.

Thus, you are taken on a journey, from the first martial art studied by the author, Kenpo Karate, through each and every martial art he studied. This includes detailing concepts from separating two arts successfully (Kang Duk Won and Kwon Bup) and developing a third based on those two. (Outlaw Karate: The Secret of the One Year Black Belt). It goes into the exact influences that resulted in the development of matrixing, including the original matrixing lists from the 70s and 80s, and leads right into the creation of the Matrix graph.

One thing that may be surprising to students of the martial arts is that the author developed matrixing without the matrixing graph. Instead, he used lists of techniques, reworking the lists for every concept he encountered. This actually entailed, literally, thousands of lists. Thus, the development of the Matrixing Graph is a bonus to the martial arts of unparalleled value.

The book may be found on Amazon. It is paperback, and students of the martial arts are encouraged to get the earlier volumes first, that they may better understand the import and significance of this volume.

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Posted in aikido, karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, mixed martial arts, self defense, shaolin, taekwondo, tai chi chuan, wing chun

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If You Want More than Just Martial Arts Fighting…

Posted on April 1, 2014 | Leave a comment

To Fight or not to Fight

The following is a guest editorial from Alaric Dailey

Being a student of traditional Karate-Do, when I make mention to a school owner or martial artist or parent of a child taking classes somewhere that “martial arts is more than punching and kicking, there is more to being a martial artist than simply being a fighter” I get a blank stare. At this point, I have to explain the following.

wudan assassin

The Wudan Assassin, on kindle or paperback…click on the cover!

These days, tradition is often poo-pooed with some comment like “if it doesn’t make me a better fighter than I don’t care”.   But being a fighter doesn’t make you a good person, in fact, simply knowing how to fight can make you arrogant, or worse, a bully.

This is often evidenced in “fighter” gyms, people walking around with bad attitudes, all about testosterone and ego, injuries abound because people are always trying to prove they are the king of the mountain.

The way of the warrior, Bushido, is about being a gentle soul, learning not only to punch and kick, but to help others, to be calm and humble.

In other words, learning all those “useless” things, like the language, the manners, the meditation, the discipline, reciting Dojo-kun are not useless, they are about expanding your mind, and making you more than a fighter.

In my original dojo, my sensei not only give us the meditation and such, but would also tell us stories of the Samurai, and give us pieces of Bushido that most westerners never hear.  “Ikebana (flower arranging) is a great way to clear your mind”, and “self-defense is not just about punching and kicking, it is about avoiding and defusing danger in the first place” were words of wisdom that we often heard from sensei.

When the Japanese would teach an art, they would distinguish whether or not it included only fighting techniques, or would give you “the way”.  If you have “the way” it is a Do, Karate-Do, Ju-Do, Aiki-Do, etc.  If it is purely fighting techniques it was Jitsu, Karate-jitsu, Ju-jitsu, Aiki-jitsu, and Nin-jitsu.

As a side note here, you will notice there is no such thing as a “Do” for Ninja fighting techniques.  This is because the ninja weren’t fighters, they were assassins, their skills included, poisons, escape, evasion, not being seen, killing techniques etc.   Being a hired killer, and being a better person have nothing to do with each other.

There are 7 virtues
Rectitude (義 gi)
Courage (勇 yū)
Benevolence (仁 jin)
Respect (禮 rei)
Honesty (誠 makoto)
Honour (名誉 meiyo)
Loyalty (忠義 chūgi)

and 3 more associated virtues
Filial piety (孝 kō)
Wisdom (智 chi)
Care for the aged (悌 tei)

I see it as a great loss that so many have thrown away history and tradition, the Do, in favor of the more testosterone fueled (and MMA fanned) jitsu.  It is a sad state of affairs that our children grow up idolizing real and fictional people who push the ideas “might makes right” and “the ends justifies the means”, never once mentioning justice and mercy.

I highly recommend “The Hagakure”.

Check out the Karate Katas that work.

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