Category Archives: kung fu

Making the Martial Arts Intuitive

Posted on December 7, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 843

Intuition in the Martial Arts and a BIG win!

Good evening
and…
HANAKWANMASS!

monkey boxing lineage

Click on the cover!

Got lots of things today,
including a PHEEEnominal win from a Monkey Boxer.
So…
LET’S START!

First,
it is the month of HanaKwanMass,
and I should explain that to all you newbies
who only joined the newsletter in the last year.

HanaKwanMass stands for…
Hanukkah, Kwanza, and Christmas.
Political correctness is for idiots,
if somebody says Happy Kwanza to me,
I say Happy Kwanza back.
Skin color, religion,
those are just distinctions for the ignorant.
We all bleed red,
and I don’t care what you call your viewpoint
of the Supreme Power.
So
HanaKwanMass,
I reach everybody,
or offend everybody,
and the heck with political correctness.

Second,
the path of the martial arts
involves making a person intuitive.
So they don’t have to think,
but do the right thing,
without thinking about it,
automatically.
What matrixing does is do this FAST.

Look,
there’s a lot to matrixing,
and that’s because the martial arts have had a lot done to them.
People,
well meaning instructors,
have obscured the real arts.
They have hidden the path to intuition.
Matrixing merely cleans up the field,
derails mysticism
with scientific observation,
and heaping helpings of logic.

One of the first things I ever wrote about Matrixing…

If you want to teach somebody how to count,
you wouldn’t say…
4, 7, green, 5 elephant…and so on.
You would say…
1…2…3…4…
and so on.
The martial arts, because of politics,
religion, nationalism, personal interest,
and so on,
are a mixed mesh up of…
4, 7, green, 5 elephant…and so on.

Matrixing returns the art to the logic of 1…2…3…4…and so on.

But there’s so much more,
there is the intense scrutiny of basics,
the rearranging of form,
the alignment of techniques,
and the presentation of a scientific philosophy
so that people no longer get lost in the mysticism.

Unfortunately,
people who aren’t too smart,
can’t let go of the mysticism,
and they resist matrixing.

Invariably,
they haven’t studied it,
but they sure know how to badmouth it.

So,
third,
here’s a win.
It is a spectacular win,
comes from a Monkey Boxing student.
And I should say something about this.

Matrixing presents the logic,
can be applied to any art.

Monkey Boxing is me teaching.
I use matrixing,
and all the tools at my disposal.
You might see a drill I learned in the Kang Duk Won
45 years ago.
You might see a translation from Wing Chun to Aikido,
that I worked on 40 years ago.
You might see something I made up yesterday
to help one student make the leap
from the hard grind of repetition
to the joy of intuition.

It goes this way and that,
an intuition of teaching,
and I have no way of judging
whether my instincts are correct.
So to get a win like this
really makes my day.
Here’s the win…

Al,

I don’t have room here to say this big enough or joyfully enough— but if I did, I’d put a HUGE big “Whoopee!!”

I’ve finally been through the first few videos of the Monkey Boxing course.  I have a habit of watching all I have- this from a learning technique I picked up years ago called “super-learning” and it basically says to learn anything- first skim over the material, which creates a ‘sense of familiarity’ to the information.  I’ve done that.  I have been left on CLOUD 9.

I was injured in an accident in 99– got mashed between two HUGE trucks– my 16 ton tow truck and a 9,000 pound Ford Excursion SUV…. and after that, I took almost 3 years to learn just to walk semi-normally again and I still limp.   Lately, I’ve had more “arthritic” effects and stiffening as a result. The other effect it had on me is, for some reason, and no doctors have been able to tell me why- I’ve lost a LOT of memories of my life.  I can put all my past memories probably in a two or three hour video if I could transfer my thoughts to video.   My 5th degree black belt in Kenpo- for instance– is GONE.  I know it did it, and every so often get a little “glimpse” of things but doesn’t stay with me.  My bodyguard years- I have a few memories of that- and even the last few years since the accident, most of the past part is just not there.

I’m telling you this because I wanted to get back into a martial art- more for self- defense than the “art” part.  I’m 60, not in good health at all, but want to learn to take care of myself.

What I found, just watching the first 14 videos (for some reason I missed 13- which I’ll get when my internet is back on- my data limit ran out).. was that it IS exactly as you said– SO INTUITIVE!!  It’s a truly NATURAL grouping of actions and motions- and I easily flow with it.   I’m So excited, I could scream– probably will a bit later!! 🙂

I have begun, and will have to work consistently and SLOWLY, and let it build on its own.   I can see myself doing it all- very slowly- and with dynamic tension to get the motions correct and build the muscles for that particular move as the same time- then over time the drills will build the motion back into my muscle memory (which hopefully will stay with me since they ARE natural- logical  motions).   I don’t know how long it will take me to learn and get really good at this- and don’t really CARE– because I KNOW it works- my “spirit” says it WORKS… and my mind KNOWS it works- because it is NATURAL/LOGICAL and REAL. I’ve already put my Kenpo books, cds., and other stuff I was looking at BACK in storage– and won’t be needing them.  I’m not interested in spending another 5+ years just learning something that is NOT right for me anyway.   And I love that just doing the Forms is the only realy “workout” I need.   I DO a workout- have begun recently- called 7 miracle tiger moves.. which is dynamic tension in motion.. and LOVE them- they are very effective and are working.  I can just AD this system to my routine and learn Monkey boxing while “working out” at the same time!!  I LOVE this.

You can’t possibly KNOW just how happy this has made me.   I have no one to work out with–and the forms will take care of that.   Later, once I’m settled where ever I go- I want to get a dummy and stuff to work out on.  I’ll probably teach it to someone close by once I get settled too.

I DO have a lousy internet right now, though– it’s wirless through Net Zero– which is a good service– but the “hotspot” I got from them is crappy.  It’s a pad that I use for hotspot- and most of the time it kicks out right in the middle of whatever I”m doing- and I have to shut everything down and start over… and the signal strength is weak- so it doesn’t pick up well at all when it’s cloudy.   I’m ordering a better “hotspot” later- like Jan.  (my check this time is already spent on my truck).. Until then- I’m hoping all the videos you post are ARCHIVED– because I will miss from now to about the 5th…  That is why I want to DOWNLOAD them all to my hard drive– because I use up “data” limit time watching them directly and can’t do them over and over like here at home.

I thought I would have loads of questions– but don’t- because it IS so “intuitive” and natural (or maybe the kenpo and tai chi is still in there helping with that somewhere- just unconsciously).. and I just LOVE this..  I was seriously looking at JKD online, and Wing chun online– etc.– but not now– I’m Doing MONKEYBOXING totally!!  Forget all that other long time stuff!! 🙂

Anyway-  hope this wasn’t too long- but just wanted you to know- I have FOUND my “niche” in this!!!   THANK YOU.

David C

pS– There’s NO WAY I can possibly do the Monkey in a Box for a bit– I have trouble getting up and down out  of a regular chair lately… but I’m working on it..  and I’ve always had this “feeling” in me that there was “an answer” or a “secret” to ALL martial arts– and this is it!!

David,
thank you very much for the win.
Thank you for allowing me to share this,
I know it will inspire people.

And,
for all you guys and gals.

David’s points are very simple…

anybody can learn it,
it is intuitive,
it can be learned fast…
or slow.
Depends on what you need and want.

And,
I don’t wish to replace anybody’s arts,
but that sometimes happens.
I actually prefer that you take my material
and revitalize your own art of choice.

Here’s the key,
matrixing breaks apart and rebuilds,
it makes logic, and logic becomes intuitive.

Monkey Boxing is me teaching.
I teach matrixed art,
and I draw on ALL my experiences
to get the student to experience ALL of his abilities.

Now,
those of you who have signed up for Monkey Boxing,
you’ll get a Monkey Boxing newsletter shortly
giving you the heads up on the new videos,
and other things that are happening on the site.

Here’s two links…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/matrix-karate/
starts the matrixing path…

and…
http://monkeyboxingnow.com/internet/
a page I’m trying out
to gear to ads on the internet.

Now,
HanaKwanMass,
and a Happy Work Out to All!

Al

http://monkeyboxingnow.com/internet/

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

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

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, karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, taekwondo, tai chi chuan

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Knew Only Three Kata…

Posted on August 28, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 827

Which Three Martial Arts Forms Should You Study?

Again, thanks to all
who have purchased the
Tiger and Butterfly Martial Arts System.
It’s available on Amazon.

martial arts system

A complete Martial Arts System! ~ Click on the cover!

Now,
got an interesting email.
The question was,
If I could only study three forms,
which three forms would you recommend?

Quite interesting.
I mean,
I’m always telling everybody
study as much as you can,
there’s no end to knowledge,
learn as many arts as you can.

BUT…
if you could only study three forms…?

I recommended
Sanchin,
Seisan,
Sanseirui.

Those are out of the Pan Gai Noon course.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/evolution-of-a-martial-art/

Why would I recommend those?
Because those three forms
focus on grounding,
and dedicated hand motion.
All three forms teach one how to move in any direction,
and yet keep your ground,
and use that ground in your hand techniques.
There is a tremendous swirl of energy
up the body in those three forms.
And,
the energy is easily manifest in the hands,
and the hands,
almost perfectly fit the ‘slap-grab’ concepts
which are outlined in Binary Matrixing.

This is not to say the forms of classical Karate aren’t good,
they are,
but they are ten,
and the request was for three.

And,
this doesn’t mean Shaolin isn’t good,
but Shaolin spreads out over a number of concepts.

And,
why not Matrixing?
There are three forms in Matrixing?
Because the purpose of matrixing
is to put logic in the martial arts.
What good is all that knowledge
if you can’t apply it to a variety of martial arts,
to more than three forms?

So I was sort of caught,
hoist with my own petard,
I believe it is called.
I wanted to say matrixing more than anything,
but if you only had three forms,
then those are the three.
They give more internal energy,
contain more face to face,
hand to hand combat.

And,
I can’t resist,
I would recommend the iron horse
(kima shodan/tekki 1)
as a fourth form.
Just because it causes
oodles and oodles of pure energy.

Anyway,
that all said,
the reason the question was so good,
so appropriate,
was because when I write a book
I always think it is the best.
You have to, or why write?
So I think a book is the best,
but it may or may not be,
I have to wait to see what people say.

And the idea that one could study only three forms,
aligned with my purpose
in the Tiger/Butterfly book.
My purpose,
as always,
is to put together
a better martial arts system.
Each time I sit down to write,
I am thinking,
how can I make this better,
how can I formulate what I’ve done,
into better and better art.

How can I give people the purest information
to cause them the quickest progress,
and the most profound experience
in the martial arts.

So if the question had been,
what seven forms,
then I would have rejoiced mightily.

But…
three forms.
Zowie.
What a question.
You guys feel free to consider your choices.
Put them in the comments for this newsletter
at monstermartialarts.com.

Hey,
again,
thanks for purchasing
the Tiger and Butterfly book (amazon)

have a great work out!

Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/evolution-of-a-martial-art/

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

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

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, shaolin

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Martial Arts Drilling

Posted on August 25, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 826 ~ Subscribe now!

The Secret of Two Directions in the Martial Arts

Thank you to everyone
who has purchased the
Tiger and Butterfly Martial Arts System.

martial arts system

A complete Martial Arts System! ~ Click on the cover!

If you want videos of the forms,
if you want to expand your understanding of the two systems
from which this system came,
check out the Matrix Karate
and Shaolin Butterfly courses.

Don’t forget to leave a good review on Amazon.

Okay,
here’s some stuff about martial arts drills.

When somebody is training a person,
maybe to close distance,
they might set them up a few feet from a bag/wall/whatever,
and have them practice shuffling forward.

You shuffle and shuffle,
people get tired
and go do some boxing.

Hey,
it’s true.
People don’t understand the classical,
get tired of the grind,
they want to fight,
so they go somewhere where people do more fighting
and less drilling.

But the drilling is crucial.
The martial arts are like a wall,
the bottom bricks need to be firmly in place
before a student can build the wall higher.
So you have to practice these basic drills,
and build the basic building blocks.

So,
you are drilling,
practicing closing with the wall,
trying to get the time from launch to impact
to disappear.
And you are making a crucial error.

There are two directions to a line,
and no matter which direction you are going,
both directions are important.

Watch a person start to walk from a standing still position.
chances are
they lean backward
so they can push a foot out.
It’s true,
they unbalance themselves,
so they can fall forward.
They go in two directions to go in one.
A most inefficient method for starting the motion of walking.
But,
if you watch the martial arts,
you will see the most amazing examples
of similar inefficiency.
People just don’t know how to get started.

The correct method is to bend the legs slightly,
and cause yourself to lean forward,
into the motion,
by thinking about it.

And,
if you are going to close distance
in the martial arts,
you need to set your stance
so the ‘wave’ of your legs
can be properly unleashed,
and every part of the body
can contribute to the forward motion.

CBM,
Coordinated Body Motion,
put to work in the simple act of walking.

Now,
if you are not guilty of unbalancing yourself to walk,
if you are already engaged in CBMing to walk,
then let me give you a further example.

Do both the hard and the soft!

I had a group of students attempt to close distance.
They would shuffle and punch,
and they were abysmally slow.
And they didn’t even like it.

So after a few minutes of springing forward,
I had them play a game.
I had them move forward,
extend a forearm for the grabbing,
and spring back when their opponent grabbed.

This put a whole new excitement into the drilling.
This made the student think backwards,
even as he was going forwards.

Then I had them do the original exercise,
and they were shocked
at how they had improved at closing distance.

Try it for yourself.
Drill one way,
then set up the opposite direction,
then go back to the original direction,
it won’t be long before you are faster.

And,
the drill can be used quite gloriously
when it comes to freestyle.
You can set up different targets,
move them into range,
retreat with verve,
and,
here’s a kicker,
set up a counter to attack.
And you will be most excellent at the counter,
because you are adept at moving in both directions.
You haven’t gotten bored with going only in one direction,
which breaks the concept of yin and yang,
of opposites in the universe,
and have become adept at the whole motion.

This drilling,
incidentally,
is the product of neutronics.

Matrixing provides logic.
Gives understanding to the whole picture.
But who is doing the martial art?
You.
That is what neutronics is about.
And in this case,
you are taking advantage of the two directions of a line,
and training in both directions,
to fully understand one direction.

Most people only train in one direction.

Here’s a neutronic datum for you:

The purpose of the martial arts
is to deliver a force or flow
while avoiding a force or flow.

How are you going to accomplish that purpose
if you don’t understand the martial arts in,
at least,
two directions?
How are you going to master the hard,
if you don’t understand the context of soft
from which it comes?
And how are you going to master the soft,
if you don’t understand the contact of hard
from which it comes?

So,
I say it again,
if you know Karate,
or TKD or Kenpo,
or some other hard art,
then you need to learn Aikido,
or TCC,
or some other soft art.
Only if you understand two directions,
will you master one.

If you know Karate,
go here…

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

If you know Tai Chi,
go here…

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

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

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

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, external martial art, internal martial art, kung fu, martial arts, self defense

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Karate Kung Fu System in New Book

Posted on August 19, 2016 | 4 comments

Newsletter 825 ~ Subscribe now!

Tiger and Butterfly Martial Arts Book

The new Martial Arts book is called
‘Tiger and Butterfly,’
and it’s pretty darned good.

new martial arts book

click on the cover!

If you look at the title,
and you have done any matrixing,
then you can see that I have used
portions of the Matrix Karate course,
and portions of the Shaolin Butterfly.

This was interesting,
because I didn’t want to fall into the trap
of having systems disagree.
I wanted the concepts to build on each other,
not work against each other.

In a way,
there is a certain similarity
between Tiger and Butterfly
and the MCMAP books I wrote.

The similarity is in the arrangement of material.
This had to be,
because when you make a system,
certain things have to be done,
certain rules have to be followed,
certain principles have to be included,
and all the way up the belt levels.

One of the reasons I wrote this book
is because I visited a few schools,
and I saw how the modern schools
have let forms and techniques fall by the way.
They work on freestyle,
on fighting.
The students get better,
but they can’t do certain things.
For instance,
they don’t understand how to take a punch.
And,
they have limited knowledge
concerning what happens
when you complete the circle (cycle) of a technique.

The system has eight belts,
white
yellow
orange
purple
blue
green
brown
black

There are no degrees.
Each belt is designed to be done
in about three months.
Brown belt might take longer,
but the material on the brown level
is pretty advanced.

When done,
the student will have those liquid kicks,
those floating kicks that look so light,
but knock down a elephant.
They should be able to take any kind of a punch.
They will be able to freestyle with authority,
and make a grab art out of any technique.
They will have knowledge.
Real knowledge.
Not just the fast reflexes of freestyle,
but a complete body knowledge,
how the body is constructed,
how to tweak it for more energy,
how to construct it for total effectiveness.

I want you to think about something.
When you study matrixing,
there are several courses,
and I recommend that you do them all,
that you get the complete picture,
from striking to locking
to guiding to manipulating
to predicting to taking down…
and more.

But,
I can’t reach everybody,
and some people don’t understand
just how big the martial arts are,
and that you have to understand them as a science.
They are locked in ‘hit and punch,’
‘ground and pound,’
and don’t see or understand the bigger picture.

This book is for those people.
Hopefully it will get them excited for the big picture.
But even if it doesn’t,
it will afford a massive education,
and do a lot towards bringing these people
who are studying arts that have degraded over time
into the real art.
They will appreciate it as science.

And,
even if they don’t,
if they do the book,
not just read it and say…
‘oh, I knew that,’
or…
‘we have that in our system,’
but actually do the book,
all the drills and techniques,
all the forms and fighting drills,
then they will be doing the true art.
Whether they were stupid and didn’t even understand
what I am talking about,
if they do the drills and exercises,
they will end up doing the true art.

For instance,
at a certain point,
a certain belt,
I teach a type of kick.
It’s a floating kick,
then you turn the hips over and slam the energy
down into the ground
as you strike.
The point is…
you can’t do that kick
unless you use the tan tien
in a certain way.
You simply can’t.
So they will practice it,
get it,
and stumble over the concept,
whether they understand what is happening or not,
and they will end up with classical power
in a certain mode.
And the whole system is constructed
so that one mode leads to the next.

Okay,
spoken enough.
Simply go to Amazon and enter
‘Tiger and Butterfly,’
or
‘Tiger and Butterfly martial arts’
or
‘Tiger and Butterfly Al Case,’
or something like that,
and watch it pop up.

Remember
it is unique,
matrixing brought one more step forward,
and it is REALLY potent!
It is a COMPLETE martial arts system.

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

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

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, external martial art, internal martial art, karate, kenpo, kung fu, self defense, taekwondo

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Teaching Martial Arts to Children

Posted on August 12, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 823 ~ Subscribe now!

Here’s How You Teach Martial Arts to Youngsters

‘Karate is the best thing you can do for your child.’
Who said the above quote?
The answer is at the bottom of this newsletter.

We didn’t have much of a kids class
back when I was learning at the Kang Duk Won.
There weren’t many schools back then,
and there was no shortage of adult students.
Now,
of course,
schools can only survive if they have children’s classes.
But how the heck do you teach a child?
Children have short attention spans,
they tend to whine,
and they don’t remember everything you say!

Which brings us to the solution.

First off,
don’t try to teach classical forms,
just keep working on the basics.
Teach them basic kicking,
basic rolling,
and do lots of freestyle ‘games.’

Here’s a couple of things to illustrate what I mean.

I went into a school, a pretty good school,
and noticed a healthy sized kid’s class.
Interestingly,
there was a riot of color when it came to belts.
white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, green, red.
All with stripes of…
yellow, orange, purple, blue, green, red.

This school had an amazing amount of belts,
and I asked the instructor about it.
He equivocated,
and when I watched a class,
I suddenly realized what he was doing.

He was teaching nothing but basics.
But there was a method here.

Kids can’t remember things,
so he just kept emphasizing basics,
and waiting for an individual child
to reach the point where he could accept instruction.
Until that point was reached,
it was calisthenics,
basics,
and games.

Interestingly enough,
though there wasn’t an emphasis
on teaching classical forms and techniques,
children who were wild and wooly
began to calm down.

The exercise tired them out,
and made them amenable to reason.
The discipline of just doing the basics,
made them more able to focus.

And when were they ready?
When they stopped trying to interrupt the class,
when they began to focus on what they were doing,
when they became aware
that there was more than a game going on.

Here’s something to think about:
I have seen young children
who were mature beyond their years.
I have known adults
who were nothing but children.

The key word is responsibility.

So you teach things like
kicks and shoulder rolls,
basic one step sparring games,
breakfalls and punches,
and you back everything up with
don’t let them rest.

Don’t make them cry,
don’t drive them like an adult,
make everything fun and laughs,
but don’t let up.

It is an interesting line you walk with this method.

When a child starts to look at you,
to understand what you are saying,
and especially when he is willing to help younger students,
then he is ready for instruction.

It might take a month,
it might take years,
but you just have to watch and wait.

You have to keep them there with games and fun,
until they can string a half dozen moves together,
and remember them,
until the light of awareness enters their eyes.

Here’s what you are actually fighting.

Parents that don’t feed their children properly,
that send them off to school
with cereal,
if that.

Electronic games that consume children,
and drive them to frenetic activity.
Peers that squash children.
Drugs that are handed out freely
by adults who don’t understand
what the real solution is.

Karate,
or any martial art,
can be part of the solution.
In many cases,
it is the only solution that is needed.

We live in a weird society,
a place where values have been forgotten,
where parents have never been parented themselves,
and simply don’t have a clue,
where teachers are guided by psychological interests,
and the simple fact of raising a child
has been forgotten and neglected.

As a martial arts instructor,
you may be the first sane person a child has ever seen.
You might be the only sane person a child has ever seen.
Yet your small influence,
being based in common sense and good values,
may be the difference.

Now,

Who gave the quote at the beginning of this newsletter?
Chuck Norris

Check out this link:

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

This is the course that makes an instructor.
Not a boot camp approach,
but a method of knowledge.

have a great work out!

Al

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

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

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

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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Having Proper Martial Arts Manners

Posted on July 29, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 821 ~ sign up now!

What’s with All the Bowing Stuff in the Martial Arts?

“Politeness is the greatest strategy.”
Al Case

The most polite man i have ever met
was my instructor in the Kang Duk Won.
He was also the best martial artist I ever saw,
which leads to an interesting possibility:

Politeness goes hand in hand with competence.

Think about it,
if you are polite,
honestly polite,
then you won’t be scared,
you won’t have hidden demons driving you,
the martial arts will have expunged you of all that.
You will be honestly competent.

So practice politeness
as well as seek competence.

Now,
with that in mind,
what is the purpose of bowing in the martial arts?
Aside from my little diatribe on politeness,
why should people keep bowing and bowing all the time?

On one level,
it is a sign of respect.
I respect the work you’ve done,
the level you’ve reached.
And under that is the implied question:
will you teach me.
And the teacher bows to show respect
to those who have come seeking his instruction.

On another level,
it is merely saying hi.
hi to everybody in the school.
Hi to everybody who contributed to the school,
even if they are passed on,
a simple greeting to your friends.

With those two viewpoints in mind,
here are the times you would bow.

Bow when entering the school.
Bow to senior classmates.
Bow to junior classmates.
Bow when stepping onto the mat.
Bow to the instructor,
especially when asking a question.
Bow after receiving instruction.
Bow at the beginning of class.
Bow at the end of class.
Bow before you engage in any drill,
be it sparring, form, etc.
Immediately disengage and bow
if an injury has occurred
as a result of something you’ve done.

AND,
bow to a classmate outside of school,
or,
if not considered appropriate,
give him/her some sign of greeting.

AND,
whenever entering another school,
always bow,
show that you have studied the martial arts,
and that you are aware of martial etiquette.

Sounds like a lot of bowing,
yes?
Well, it is,
but let me offer an insight.
I can’t imagine not bowing,
I strive to bow the most,
to set the best example of being polite.
I am constantly running into students
who are surprised when I bow to them.
But,
it encourages them to bow.
And,
it makes you feel good.

Imagine walking into a school gymnasium,
or an auditorium,
with 500 people present.
Imagine yelling out…
HI EVERYBODY!
And having them all yell to you…
HI, AL!

After near 50 years in the arts,
that’s what it feels like to me
when I bow.

And I like to think
that maybe I’m as competent as I am polite.
One can hope.

Here’s a link to the martial arts
I have been studying for near 50 years.
Take a look,
and see if I’ve made any inroads,
if the changes i have made from the classical
have value.

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

have a great work out!

Al

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

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
https://alcase.wordpress.com

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Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

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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The Arthritic Martial Arts Punch

Posted on July 22, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 820

Arthritis and a Martial Arts Punch!

“It’s not how hard you can hit,
it’s how much weight you can deliver.”
Al Case

I just received a great letter,
a fellow name of Damian,
said Yogata helped his arthritis,
and he talked about how
he sometimes had trouble with a fist because of arthritis.

yoga martial arts style

Click on the cover!

I recommend Yogata,
or any form of yoga,
but I really want to talk about punches,
which may impact on concepts about arthritis.

Arthritis is an interesting condition,
doctors sometimes lump everything
under the term arthritis,
and there are a lot of causes
behind arthritis.
It’s all sort of generic,
but generic with a bite.

So here’s the thing:
injury leads to inflammation.
The body is swelling.
Sometimes the swelling is obvious,
sometimes not,
but the pain,
or lack of usability,
is real.

Many, many years ago
I realized I wasn’t a breaking kind of guy.
My instructor was,
many people are,
there is something seductive
about Power,
and power is often associated with breaking things.

But I figured out that it’s not how hard you hit,
it’s how much weight you can transfer into the opponent.
So I thought about it,
and I realized something:

“you don’t have to tighten the fist.”

This is weird,
we all tighten the fist,
and it is important…for beginners.

Tightening the fist upon impact
teaches focus,
introduces one to concepts of power,
but,
at a certain point,
you don’t need to tighten the fist.
Here’s something to think about”

take a stick and poke it into a watermelon.

Did the stick get ‘tight?’
No.
It just had to be aligned,
and it required a certain amount of ‘quick’ weight.
Although,
when you think about it,
you could puncture a watermelon with a stick
using ‘slow’ weight.

So I started working on the idea
of poking the bones of my arm/fist
through an opponent’s body
without tightening the fist.

Having the idea of puncturing the body
in my mind.

It worked.
No fanfare,
no big deal,
just relax,
align the bones,
feed a little energy into the structure
to keep everything in line,
relax and throw the body.

Worked like a charm.

And…
I started holding thumbtacks in my fist
and breaking things.

And…
here is the kicker,
the more I relaxed,
the better I was able to thrust my
thumbtack holding bones
through an object.

There’s all sorts of things to think about here.
My favorite is this:

if you threw 20 pounds at somebody it would hurt.
(especially if that 20 pounds
had 200 pounds of body behind it)

So when you tighten the arm,
when you focus the fist,
the tightening of the muscles actually holds the strike back.

That’s very zen,
very tai chi,
very true.

BUT,
don’t stop practicing with a tight fist,
you need a certain degree of focus to develop internal power.
And hitting with just the bones,
as I describe here,
is not the only strike,
and focusing the energy is VERY important.

In fact,
I would say that it would be VERY difficult
to learn how to strike with a relaxed fist
if one doesn’t first gain an understanding
of how to focus the energy with a tight fist.

Anyway,
those are my thoughts,
and I want to thank Damian for making me think,
and sharing his win with me.

If you have arthritis,
or ANY condition,
there are ways to keep training.
You just have to relax your thinking,
look around,
and find what works.

And you can find what works
in Yogata,
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/yogata-the-yoga-kata/

in The Punch
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/hard-punch/

and if you think I’m just talking,
check out the video on this page…
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4c-matrixing-chi-power/

Take care…and
have a great work out!

Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4c-matrixing-chi-power/

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

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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Training to Relax in the Martial Arts

Posted on June 24, 2016 | 1 comment

Newsletter 816

Relaxing is the only way to find the True Martial Arts

I remember reading of Koichi Tohei,
many years ago,
and some scientists asked if they could test his ki.
Like, on machines.

do yoga

Click on the Cover

Now this isn’t a smart idea.
Ki is an energy motivated by thought,
sometimes the energy can be registered,
but the thought never can,
so science often proves there is no such thing as ki.
Can’t be measured…doesn’t exist.
Which is the same reasoning
that kept the world flat for so many centuries.
They just don’t what to measure,
and there isn’t a machine in existence
that can measure thought.

That said,
the test went round and round,
they couldn’t explain what Koichi was doing,
and they couldn’t figure out the readings they were getting,
and he,
probably with a diabolical sense of humor,
told them he could slow his heart down.

They said nonsense,
a human being couldn’t control the nervous system in that way.
So he did it.
He dropped it some 30 beats,
then sped it up again,
then slowed it down.
And the scientists were really confused.

So let’s talk about what you are supposed to do
with your mind in the martial arts.

First,
forget it.
It’s just a bunch of memories.
Get rid of the past,
at least ignore it,
and you are more in the present,
and then you can better control your body.
Logical, right?
But too simple.
People have a hard time buying into this simplicity.

So,
in Karate,
we trained so that the mind
didn’t become excited,
and so that we kept looking,
and ignored emotion.
Ignored the emotion of fighting.
Didn’t feel the anxiety,
or panic,
or sudden beating of the heart
as the world devolved to chaos.

Note that I am moving at the same time.

When somebody throws a punch at me
I actually slow down.
My mind looks right past any memories,
and I focus on the moment.
I stop reacting,
even to my own training,
and start moving with the person.
In real time.

Now,
there are MANY examples of this in the world.
The baseball player,
for instance,
the guy way out in the field,
takes off…AT THE CRACK OF THE BAT!
Not before it,
not after it,
but at the same time.
AND,
he moves intuitively to where the ball is going.
He attempts to ‘meet’ the ball,
at some specified time and place.

But how did he know where the ball was going…
at THE CRACK OF THE BAT!

There are other examples,
but this is my favorite,
probably because everybody knows what I am talking about.
Especially if they have played baseball.

If you have ever had a sixth sense,
known when something was going to happen before it happened,
felt somebody walk behind you (hairs on end),
that is you,
putting aside memories,
and perceiving directly.

In Karate,
it happened about the time I got to Black Belt.
When I got there I began to focus,
without excitement or distraction,
on what was happening.
And it really screwed people up,
when I displayed no reaction time.

Reaction comes from ‘react’
which means you are so immersed in memories (or training)
that you can’t perceive directly.

Signals have to travel through the body to create motion,
instead of you,
apart from your body,
just creating motion.

Okay,
I’ve talked long enough,
probably left as much confusion as enlightenment.
But here’s the trick…
You have to train with people
in a system which understands this.
In which the techniques support this,
the forms are aligned and orderly.
The freestyle is not a fight,
but a procedure of learning how to look.
Not getting excited,
not getting distracted by emotions,
but calming yourself
so that you don’t get excited.

I’ve done the best I could
to give you a good system.
In fact…systemS.

Here are the systems…
http://monstermartialarts.com/courses/

But you have to work,
and work hard.
You have to get the idea that I’m talking about in your mind.
You have to force yourself to calm,
to put aside excitement,
and become cool and machinelike in your actions.

Good luck with this,
in spite of all the simplicity of my systems,
it is still hard.

It’s hard to restrain emotion,
put aside memories,
memories that you sometimes don’t even recognize as existing,
and function on a high level.

But it is possible.
Good work out to you.

Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/courses/

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
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Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

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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Congrats to New Karate Black Belt

Posted on June 22, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 815 ~ Sign up now on the Free Books page!

New Karate Black Belt

Good morning!
Wonderful morning.
I just did a whole bunch of forms,
I feel like a million.

The most important Martial Arts book ever written.

The most important Martial Arts book ever written.

Hey,
there’s lots of stuff happening,
so let me start with…
CONGRATS!
to Peter Carmody

Peter passed his Matrix Karate Black Belt test.

The test was done on video,
and Peter went through having to repeat the test,
doing all the corrections,
and making all the matrix karate material work.

And he made it look good!

Video testing is interesting.
You could probably film yourself on an iPhone,
don’t wear black against a black wall,
white against white,
and so on.

Have some sunlight,
or a few bulbs glowing.

You don’t need lots of space
as long as I can see your whole body.

Have a partner.

Be willing to fail once or twice,
at least.

And here’s the thing,
Matrix Karate is pretty darn unique.
You see,
most karate systems were developed for specific reasons,
bodyguarding,
the element of being grabbed,
having to deal with weapons,
etc.

Not saying you won’t encounter these things today,
you need some awareness of these things,
but the real factor is that we are a fist culture.
If you are in a fight
the usual weapons will be fists.
Then something that can be used as a cub,
then a knife,
etc.

But fists are the base of it all.
And,
if you can handle a fist,
it is just a short step to a knife,
if you have enough brains to adapt.

Anyway,
Matrix Karate is designed around the structure of the body,
it is a complete art,
taking into account all angles of attack and defense.
But it is SIMPLE!
Because the posing and the unnecessary techniques
have all been weeded out.

You have to learn about mistakes,
but the essence is in the logic
where one move leads to the next,
with no circus moves.

It’s funny,
I remember one of the first wins
I ever received,
this was about ten years ago.
The guy wrote that he had gone to a martial arts school,
and the first technique they taught him
was a cartwheel into a jump kick.
Not how to block and punch.
Not even the basic kicks,
but a jumping kick off a whole body contortion.

Can you see why matrixing was so desperately needed?
A little common sense?
And every system,
no matter how classical or developed,
benefits from the direct infusion of logic that matrixing provides.

Anyway,
well done to Peter,
and I recommend Matrix Karate and the Master Instructor Course
(you need both of them to test).
Whether you are accomplished and have a black belt,
whether you are a raw beginner,
whether you are just in the middle and need to get going,
Matrix Karate is the easiest,
the best,
the most efficient and completely rounded karate
on the planet.
Period.

Here’s a link to how to video test…

https://alcase.wordpress.com/martial-arts-video-testing/

Have a great work out!

Al

https://alcase.wordpress.com/martial-arts-video-testing/

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
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Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

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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Finding a New You Through Martial Arts

Posted on May 26, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 810

Defeating Distractions to Find the True Martial Art

Good afternoon!
Special day tomorrow,
I’ll tell you about it down the page,
but before we get to it,
remember this:
the only way to celebrate this special day is to…
work out!

Okay, hope your interest is piqued,
but before we talk about that special day,
let’s take a moment to talk about emotion.

Ultimately,
you don’t want to have any emotion in your martial arts.
You don’t want to cry,
or feel fear,
or anger,
or any kind of emotion.

Emotion is a distraction.
It gets in between the thought of what you are going to do,
and the reality of what you do.

There is this thing called emotional content,
Bruce Lee mentions it in ‘Enter the Dragon,’
but even that,
ultimately,
is a distraction.

To get to the pure state
where you can read the mind of the attacker,
see what he is going to do before he does it,
and move with perfection,
you must get rid of ALL emotion.

There is a problem,
however.
The problem is that nobody really knows what emotion is.

If you can stick with me through a couple of points
I can help you understand,
which is to say that I can help you understand
something that nobody understands.

Here’s the dictionary definition for emotion:
a natural instinctive state of mind deriving from one’s circumstances, mood, or relationships with others: she was attempting to control her emotions | his voice was low and shaky with emotion | fear had become his dominant emotion.

But that doesn’t tell you what emotion is.
That is like saying electricity goes through wires,
but there is no mention of where electricity came from,
what a generator is,
or how electricity ‘flows’ through a wire.

It is an inadequate definition.

Here are three more definitions:
1 she was good at hiding her emotions: feeling, sentiment; reaction, response.
2 overcome by emotion, she turned away: passion, strength of feeling, warmth of feeling.
3 responses based purely on emotion: instinct, intuition, gut feeling; sentiment, the heart.

Again,
these don’t tell you where emotion comes from,
what has generated it,
and how it really works.

So,
here we go,
here is what emotion actually is.

Emotion stems from motion inside the head.

And here is a truth,
there are only people in this universe.
Everything else in the universe,
all the objects and non-living things
(or ‘low living’ like animals)
are the effect of motion in the universe.

A bug sits on a stalk,
a frog sees the swaying stalk and must flick his tongue.
A coyote sees the motion of the tongue,
and is compelled to eat the frog.

The universe happens like dominoes.
And,
the ONLY thing in the universe
that can upset the dominoes,
can change the path of the falling dominoes,
can change cause and effect,
is a human being.

A human being has choice,
and that ability,
that decision making ability,
is apart from the universe,
and can cause the path of the universe
to change and change and change.

So a human being can change the universe,
but how does he change it?
by having a thought first.
So he thinks,
and does what he thought about,
and what he thought about comes to be.

But,
in between the thought and the accomplishment,
is emotion.
Think about it:

A man wants to accomplish something,
he sets out on the task,
then he gets angry,
or fearful,
or otherwise emotional,
and his ability to make accomplishment is lessened.

He was distracted.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter,
why does man create these (his own) distractions?
Why does he create emotion
and waylay himself?
Why?

What happens when you squeeze an lemon?
Juice squirts out.
Gets in your eye and you cry.

So a man creates emotion when he is squeezed,
like a lemon,
and ‘things’ squirt out.

things like fear,
anger,
hate,
and so on.

And these things disrupt the mind,
cause distraction,
and obscure the basic thoughts that one may have.

When I was a child I was spanked,
which is to say I was squeezed.
I experienced fear,
and pain,
and anger,
and that stuff,
because I didn’t know what it is,
it stayed with me for a long time.

It would even be fair to say that,
like dominoes,
certain of those emotions
caused me to study martial arts.
How weird.

So when you feel pain and anger
and all those unpleasant things
just say ‘no’ to them.
Just refuse them.
Refuse to dwell on that emotion,
refuse to have motion inside your head,
refuse to feel the lingering effects of being squashed (squeezed),
and go about your life.
Refuse the distraction
and accomplish your thoughts.

Of course,
it is not always easy to do that.
Sometimes what is big in your head is greater
than your ability to ignore.

That is where the martial arts come in.

The martial arts train you to accomplish an attack,
no matter the distraction,
and the heck with emotion.

No other practice on earth does this
more efficiently or to greater effect.

You face your partner on the mat.
He growls,
people yell,
you are tired,
but because you have endured training,
and pain and other distractions,
and gotten to your black belt,
you are able to ignore the distractions,
move forward,
and accomplish the thought of the strike,
or the lock,
or the takedown,
or whatever.

You simply train yourself to ignore
the motion inside your head,
to ignore anything in the universe that tries to stop you,
and you accomplish your thought.

Here’s a cruel trap,
people who start the martial arts,
then quit,
were distracted.
They let something squeeze them,
and they quit.
And the cruelty is that if they had kept going
they would have found the ability
that would have enabled them to ignore distractions,
and accomplish their thoughts.

Catch 22.
Yes?

One last thing I want to say about this.
There are many people who fail,
and,
there are many people who are studying something
thinking it is a martial art,
when it isn’t.

You have to study the true martial arts.
You have to find forms that work,
and you have to make them work.
You have to cleanse your techniques
so they become pure
and can show the thought that created them.

That path creates the discipline.

Just fighting does not.
Fighting teaches you to fight.
Doing the real martial arts,
practicing techniques until you can make them work,
that is the discipline of ignoring distractions
and getting yourself to the point
where you can make your thoughts work.

The best method,
because incorrect movements
(which are distractions)
have been removed,
is Matrix Karate.

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

Okay,
that special day I was talking about.
For me it is the most important day in the universe,
for it is when I decided to have physical presence on this planet.
Birthday.

And,
if you have been following this blog
for the last couple of decades,
then you know I always ask for one, specific present.

Forgive me.
If I have sent out the wrong order,
didn’t answer an email,
didn’t answer an email quickly
said the wrong thing,
didn’t understand something,
failed in some way,
if i have done
ANYTHING
that might have offended you,
or caused you ANY sort of distraction…

Forgive me.

Help me clean up my universe,
help me not have the distractions
of bad service,
poor communications,
or ANYTHING else.

It will help me,
and it will help you.

Thanks.

Now…
HAPPY WORK OUT!

Al

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

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
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Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/matrix-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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