Category Archives: kung fu

New Years Martial Arts Tricks

Posted on January 3, 2016 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 791
Martial Arts Mastery the Right Way

Great morning to you!
A great work out to you.
A year full of great work outs to you!

Here’s a few martial arts thoughts to start off 2016

I asked this question last year, and I’m going to ask it again.
Where do you want to be at the end of 2016?
What martial arts do you want to be expert in?
How far do you want to go?

Mastery comes from two factors,
hard hard you work,
and how scientifically correct is your art.

To make yourself work hard,
put notes up around the house.
Make yourself do fifty punches before you open the frig.
Do two forms before you go outside.
And inside.
Practice your applications as you walk
to the bathroom.
And so on.

Heck,
do your forms before you eat,
before you sleep,
and upon waking.

If you want to make it this year,
if you want mastery,
you need to be dedicated.

And,
here’s something to think about.
I was talking to somebody about the difference between
fighting and the martial arts.

You can be a fighter but not a martial artist.
You can’t be a martial artist without being a fighter.
You can’t be a good martial artist without giving up fighting.
It’s true.

It’s also true that
in a sport you attempt to defeat the other person.
In a martial art you attempt to control yourself.

You should know a minimum of two martial arts.
One with lots of force,
one with lots of flow.
Do that and your mind won’t be trapped by
being compelled to move in only one direction.

To win a fight the first thing you must do is control the distance.
While there is an art to fighting,
the true art is in control.

When it comes to augmenting your studies…
Some people learn best from a video.
Some people learn best from a book.
The best people learn from both.

One thing you should do,
if you really want to make it to mastery this year,
is sit down and make a list of polite things you can do.
Fighting is easy,
being polite,
especially when somebody wants to fight,
is not always so easy.
But it is the way to the true martial art.

Okey dogley.
That’s enough for now,
but think about spending a whole year doing nothing
but accumulating wisdom.
That’s going to give your martial art real legs.

Have a great work out,
and don’t forget to check out
the video on this page

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

Happy New Year!
Al

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

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Posted in kenpo, kung fu, taekwondo, wing chun

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Congrats to a New Martial Arts Master instructor!

Posted on December 11, 2015 | Leave a comment

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

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

Congrats to
Garib De Kwaadsteniet

Hello Master Al

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

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

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

It is the way the universe works.

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

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

Simply go here…

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

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

Have a great work out
and
HanaKwanMass!

Al

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

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

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

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Revenge through the Martial Arts

Posted on December 4, 2015 | 1 comment

Newsletter 786
Revenge…Martial Arts Style

Good Evening!
Feel tired after a long day’s work?
Go stand in the ready stance.
Don’t burst into motion,
just wait.
Let your body fall into the first move.
then the second.
Soon you will be working out full bore,
and feeling tremendous amounts of energy.
Just don’t push it…
let it happen.

Okey dokey!
I was talking with a fellow this past week end,
and an interesting subject came up.
Revenge.

I don’t know why.
We were just talking,
and then…revenge.

Now revenge is very over rated.
if you want revenge,
then you have already lost.
Already been beaten.
So get over it.

But,
that said,
if you are the kind of fellow
who dwells obsessively
on all the things that people have done to you…
the best cure is hard work,
attention to details,
and dedicating yourself to the goal.
In this case,
the goal of revenge.
Of beating him.
Of teaching him a lesson.

And that brings us to an interesting saying.

‘Revenge is a dish best served cold.’

You probably heard it in a Steven Seagal movie,
‘Hard to Kill,’
I believe is the name.
The one where he goes through a seven year coma
only to wake up and kick ass,
and have revenge.

So this old saying an oriental saying and…
except it is not oriental.
Do a google,
and you’ll find it is French!

That’s right.
French.
And,
there is some argument
as to which novel it appeared in first.

But,
it sounds oriental.
It sounds like them evil slant eyes
with their insidious plots,
said it.

I mean,
it even sounds sort of…zen!

But…
French.

But here is the trick,
it doesn’t really mean what you think it means.

Everybody think it means you take twenty years
craft a glorious payback,
and laugh evilly over the dying foe.

Nope.
That’s downright silly.
It’s silly because
in 20 years a lot can happen.
The guy might die.
Your plan might fail.
You might evolve and realize that he was right to win,
and he isn’t such a bad guy.

But assuming he is a villain of Darth Vader’s stature…
why would you want him to enjoy himself for 20 years?
I mean,
get your revenge and get it while the getting is good!
Right?

So here is what the saying REALLY means.
Mind you,
this really is going to be zen.

Served cold refers to having a calm state of mind.

If you laugh maniacally
as he lays dying,
then you have become him.
You have become the evil.
And where is the enjoyment,
when the mind is fevered?
You aren’t enjoying,
you are giving in to your own base urges.
But,
if you can have a calm mind,
then you have beaten him,
not just with your revenge,
but you have ‘out-evolved’ him.

So,
don’t wait,
get your revenge as quick as you can,
but cool your mind down
so you can actually enjoy yourself.

Of course,
as for myself,
I think I would rather dedicate myself to training
before I lost,
before I ever needed a revenge.
Win the first time.
That’s the real key.

Have a great work out
and
HanaKwanMass!

Al

BTW
here’s a course that will help you take control
of your hot to trot,
fevered,
out of control mind.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/2ba-matrix-tai-chi-chuan/

Or you can get the whole package.

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

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

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Posted in bruce lee, jeet kune do, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, mixed martial arts, shaolin, weapons

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Congrats to a New Master Instructor!

Posted on October 17, 2015 | 1 comment

 

Martial Arts Master Instructor Course

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

So,
Congrats to Master Instructor Jim McElroy!

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

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

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

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

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

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

This is important,
this thing of mysticism vs understanding.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great work out!
Al

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

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

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

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The Correct Way to Do Yoga

Posted on May 10, 2015 | Leave a comment

Yoga (The Yoga Kata)

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

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

do yoga

Click on the Cover

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The author will tell you more at Yogata.

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Posted in chi power, kung fu, qigong, tai chi chuan, zen

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New Bruce Lee Book Released!

Posted on April 24, 2015 | Leave a comment

Bruce Lee versus Classical Martial Arts!

The name of the book is ‘Bruce Lee, Jeet Kune Do, and Neutronics.’

Written by Al Case, a martial artist with near fifty years experience in the martial arts, this book takes an outside viewpoint of Bruce Lee, and his martial art (Jeet Kune Do).

bruce lee training manual

Book on Bruce Lee’s Martial Art of Jeet Kune Do.

Bruce Lee is often considered, specifically as to what drove him to his martial arts theories. The main focus of the book, however, is to compare and contrast Jeet Kune Do to the more classical martial arts, specifically, the author’s art of Karate.

This is a hard core book. While it is respectful, it is obvious that the author holds Mr. Lee in high esteem, there are some very hard questions asked concerning the formation of JKD, and the real purpose of the art.

It is also an intelligent book, going into Matrixing Technology, which is the first and only science of the martial arts, and Neutronic philosophy. The author claims that because JKD is an advanced martial art only advanced methods of thought can be used to analyze it.

Which is to say that if you are Beeavis or Butthead, you may want to avoid this tome. It won’t teach you Jeet Kune Do, and it may hurt your head to actually start thinking about it.

Mr. Case has, as said, near 50 years martial arts experience. He began Kenpo Karate in 1967, quickly became an instructor, and went on to study virtually every martial art that came down the pike during the Golden Age of Martial Arts. He became a writer for the magazines in 1981, and had his own column in Inside Karate. Thus, Mr. Case doesn’t enter the picture as a newbie, but an experienced fighter and writer. His compare and contrast with JKD should provide the most enlightened student with much thought.

Bruce Lee, Jeet Kune Do, and Neutronics, will be released and on Amazon within the week, and students interested in the paperback version should do a search on Amazon probably by the last week of April 2015.

Students who would like to save $5 and purchase the instant download of the book should go to FreeBruceLee.com.

http://freebrucelee.com/martial-arts/new-book-on-bruce-lee/

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Posted in bruce lee, jeet kune do, karate, kung fu, self defense, wing chun

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Make a Hard Punch with Old Time Training Method

Posted on December 12, 2014 | Leave a comment

Old Muscle Building Method Makes for a Super Hard Punch!

I mean that literally, you can have a hard punch in days. The old body building method is called Dynamic Tension, and it was used by the old comic book guys like Charles Atlas and Joe Weider. It is actually still sold today.

kung fu training manual

Start developing your kung fu super powers! Click on the cover!

dynamic tension hard punch martial artsInterestingly, Chuck Atlas made his millions in the pages of comic books. He had ads that ran for years, and he even beat the Great Depression. His most famous ad, a bully kicking sand in a lads face at the beach, actually happened to him when he was a youth, and inspired him to create his world famous method for building muscles.

I was acutely aware of the comic book ads, liking comics and being a skinny weakling when I was young. I suppose, in some way, I answered the comic book ad when I took up the study of the martial arts. And, serendipity, amongst the forms I learned was one which dealt with Mr. Atlas’ form of shaping the body.

The pattern was supposedly a variation of a Wing Chun form. I don’t recall what we called it, but I do recall the hours spent on one specific movement in the form. That one movement made my punch get stronger and stronger and stronger.

When you do the move, take a back stance and cross the wrists in front of you. Press wrist against wrist, and slowly slide the wrists past each other. Let the power build, then let the hands snap off each other and execute a punch.

It’s best to punch with the rear hand, and let the front hand come back across the chest. It is also good to simultaneously press your feet against one another in the back stance. Then, when you release the hands, you can release the stance and really cover ground.

The muscles tend to build fast, and you’ll notice an increase in strength I would say within seven days. Over time you will notice the working parts of your arms and legs are getting denser and better shaped. And, in conjunction with the thrusting forward of the whole body, you are going to have some kind of powerful strike.

Obviously, you can tailor this exercise for other body parts, other types of strikes and blocks, and your body should get in fantastic shape. I’ll tell you this, one look at your chiseled physique and nobody is going to try to kick sand in your face. And that is how an old body building method can give you a hard punch in literally days.

About the Author: Al Case began martial arts in 1967. He studied such arts as Kenpo, Karate, Wing Chun, Aikido, Norther Shaolin Kung Fu, Southern Shaolin Kung Fu, Tai Chi Chuan, Pa Ku Chang and various weapons. He became a writer for the martial arts magazines in 1981, and had his own column in Inside Karate. Check out his course on increasing Chi Power.

If you liked this martial arts article then you should subscribe in the sidebar. There’s more a comin’.

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Posted in chi power, external martial art, karate, kung fu, martial arts, mixed martial arts, shaolin, taekwondo, wing chun

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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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Knife Fighting: the Wrong Way and the Right Way

Posted on October 19, 2014 | Leave a comment

A Knife Fight Goes Bad…

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.

green beret martial arts

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.

That’s Blinding Steel, at MonsterMartialArts.com.

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Posted in karate, kung fu, mixed martial arts, self defense

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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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