Tag Archives: karate master

Evolving Your Martial Arts with Zen!

Creating A Better Martial Art!

I recently had a person ask me,
‘what do I know about Zen?’
I said,
‘I know everything.’
Pretty arrogant, eh?
Well,
this is going to be a lengthy newsletter,
but I will explain it in a way
that will wake up the zen in you.
I will even,
at the end,
explain EXACTLY what zen is,
and why it makes your martial arts superior.

I started Martial Arts in 1967.
I had no idea what they were.
I looked for books,
but couldn’t find a thing.
But I did find books on this thing called Zen.
I had no idea what zen was,
but the few references to it
said it would improve one’s martial arts.
It was supposed to be the difference
between martial ART
and everything else,
including the simple ‘fighting’
that most people assumed martial arts was.

Then I came across a book called
‘Zen and the Art of Archery.’
By Eugene Herrigel.

Eugene went to Japan to study zen
and they refused to teach him.
Nope.
Won’t teach you.
Go away.
He persisted,
and he asked why they wouldn’t teach him.
They said because he had no cultural context.
He had no frame to put it in.
It wouldn’t hang on him.
He simply wouldn’t be able to understand it.

Well, these durn foreigners can be persistent,
and he persisted,
and he asked,
‘How can I study it?’
And he was told,
study something else with zen.
That might give you enough context
to understand it.
Eugene took up the art of archery.
And he didn’t understand it.
He tried,
but he was told to hold postures,
to forget about the target.

Forget about the target?
how do I hit it then?
His western, logical mind
simply couldn’t grasp the concept.
The master,
whose name I forget,
but it is in the book
should you wish to find it,
invited Eugene to his house.

It was evening
and they had dinner
or tea,
or something,
then the old man took Eugene
to the backyard.
He had a hundred pace archery range.
At the midway point,
fifty paces,
was a stool with a candle on it.

The old man had Eugene light the candle
then stand behind him.
Eugene could see the single candle,
but not the target at the end of the range.
The old man turned off the lights
Eugene heard the twang of a bowstring,
and the arrow passed through the flame
and extinguished it.
The old man told him to turn on the lights.
The old man had not only extinguished the candle,
he had made a perfect bull’s eye.

And that was the old man’s demonstration of zen.

You can read the book yourself,
see if it sounds like bushwah,
but after nearly 60 years in the arts
I have seen enough things that were like this,
that I believe.

So…what is zen?

I’ve come across lots of definitions
but the simplest and best definition I have found
was simply the word, ‘knowledge.’
One can get into all sorts of Japanese linguistics
and explore origins and etymology and such,
but at essence,
this is what it boils down to for me.

The old man who shot out a candle
and made a bull’s eye
was demonstrating a higher knowledge.
A knowledge that most men,
without the discipline,
and the correct way of thinking,
simply cannot understand.
The correct way of thinking,
such as…
do your form,
forget about the target,
and…
be now.

I had the discipline to understand zen
because I did the martial arts.
I had the context to understand
this unique and elevated
form of knowledge.
But I needed something else.
That something else came
in the form of a hundred years old manuscript,
from a college lecture
on the subject of yoga.
Talk about going far afield!

That manuscript said this:
Man is an essence,
an idea,
surrounded by ‘sheaths.’
He surrounds himself with the sheath of family.
He surrounds himself with the sheath of his work.
He surrounds himself with hobbies,
systems of law and religion,
education and rules and morals and mores and…
everything in the world does one thing…
substantiates the man.
We identify ourselves,
we give reason and purpose to our existence
by our clinging to these sheathes.

In zen they sometimes talk about
returning to the source,
or…
being childlike in your wonder
and appreciation for life.
People think they must be ‘childlike’
to understand zen.
They don’t understand that to understand zen
they must understand themselves as an idea.
That they are an essence
wrapped in self generated ‘sheaths,’
and that to understand themselves,

to get to the idea of zen

they must rid themselves of sheaths.
They must peel the layers like an onion
and uncover that original idea
that they are.

Oh, the lies we must penetrate.

When one does the martial arts
they are trying to be
‘in the now.’
They are not trying to react,
but to act,
and even if that action is merely
the relative motionless
of just being in the now.

I didn’t just practice the martial arts
for nearly 60 years,
I investigated them.
I read everything I could,
even things like yoga and zen
and obscure religious manuscripts.
When doing the forms
I tried to divest myself
of what other people thought the forms were,
and tried to stick to only physics,
no matter where that led me.

The result was a lessening of the static in my mind.
I no longer have that ‘chatter’
in my head,
telling me what to do,
to care what people think,
to act a certain way.
None of that.

I explored the context of this martial zen
by learning and practicing
every martial art I could.

Attaining the purity of explosion,
silence before and after
the moment of the punch
in Karate.

Focusing attention until it was unwavering
on the single finger of Pa Kua,
or the delicate geometry of Tai Chi.

Exploring patterns of Kenpo and Arnis
and various other arts,
until there were no patterns,
only me
moving in space
without regard for planet earth.

When I wrote
The Last Martial Arts Book,
the one on ‘Nine Square Diagram boxing,’
I had all of this in mind.
It is able to be done with the purity of explosion,
the silence and contemplation
of tai chi and pa kua.
I do the forms (and the fighting) with my eyes closed,
so that I am only connected to reality
by the sensation of gravity,
and the geometry of the self in space,
that there is no distraction of the world
to interfere with the idea of me
exploring a world without context,
a world of only me,
unbound by convention,
thought or idea.

This is the way I try to do all martial arts,
cultivating silence within,
observing the world without judgment,
able to do things at 76,
that I couldn’t do at 19.

This is a sad times we are living in.
Children are being programmed and not taught.
No more cursive or standard clocks.
No more ability to critically think.
Just follow directions
and trust that ‘authority’ will take care of you.

It is ignorant times,
and such things as zen cannot be understood,
and are unknown as a path to a superior man,
because people don’t understand simple words,
and even if they do,
they are being bound in sheaths,
and robbed of context,
the context of nothingness
that is the true reality
for the idea of what a man is.

Okay,
there it is,
philosophy and rant,
message and path,
all wrapped up in one, neat blog.

I suggest you look at unwrapping yourself from what binds you.
Undo the matrix being constructed around you
Defeat the teachings of ignorance
which have been used to imprison you.

If you want to follow the path to a higher martial art,
and to a higher, more evolved and superior you,
I suggest that you educate yourself.
Pick up a copy of
Zen and the Art of Archery.
Start exploring these concepts.
And for the discipline,
to achieve the context of which I speak…

The Last Martial Arts Book:

Nine Square Diagram Boxing

There are a couple of editions,
so make sure you get the edition with
FIVE HOURS OF VIDEO LINKS!
You may have to search,
but there is your path.

Enjoy the summer
and learn a new martial art!

Al

And thanks to everybody who picked up my book,

Advanced Tai Chi Chuan for Real Self Defense!

Don’t forget to give me five stars.
Those ratings help my sales.

Don’t forget to check out the interview
https://anchor.fm/dale-gillilan/episodes/S1E10—Al-Case-e12e3np

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 12 ratings for 5 stars.
(There is a video version of this book with no stars yet)
My two yoga books have 9 ratings between them for 5 stars.
‘The Book of Five Arts’ has 8 ratings for 5 stars.
‘The Science of Government’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.
‘Chiang Nan’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.
My novel, ‘Monkeyland,’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars

That’s a lot of good ratings
so hopefully you’ll find the book that works for you.

How to Fix Karate:
A Karate Training and Workout Book
(Two Volumes)

Making Martial Arts Techniques that Work in a Fight!

Poser Martial Arts Techniques!

What makes a good martial arts technique?
Actually, it is easier to ask what makes a bad martial arts technique.
I think I’m going to write a bit on this on future blogs,
but let’s start with what I call a ‘poser.’

First, before I give you the facts,
go on youtube and ask for bunkai,
or martial arts techniques,
or form applications.
Now,
have that page open while you read this newsletter.

The prime example of a poser technique is
when the defender punches,
then waits for the defender to do his technique.

This flaw,
this ‘stop-motion’ in the middle of a technique
is the quintessential definition of a poser.
In a real fight people don’t throw one punch and stop.
Does a fellow stop in the ring after he punches?

Now,
take a look at the technique open on youtube.
Does the attacker stop motion after a punch?
If he does,
no matter what,
no matter how august the art,
or prestigious the artist,
that is a poser technique.

If it’s a really bad poser,
if the attacker is frozen for a long time
it’s fun to take a stop watch to him.

Now, here comes the bad news.
Film yourself doing techniques,
or just watch other students do them.
How many of your techniques are posers?
The answer is a lot.
Most arts are about 90% poser.

In my art we train extensively
with a matrixed form of Lop Sau.
In this perfect exercise
the techniques we practice are in use.
They are not slices of a form
designed to teach you something abstract
that is not necessarily useful in a real fight.
We train so that you segue directly into counters,
so you can handle the secondary attacks that MUST happen
because of the body position you are in
and the techniques you are using.

Anyway,
the point is that you must examine your art
no matter how much you love it,
and define and eliminate all poser techniques.
To not do this is to invite a beating.

Okay,
obligatory ad.
If you are curious about my lop sau,
my ‘perfect drill for fighting,’
check out

The Last Martial Arts Book
Nine Square Diagram Boxing

But DON’T get this version.
Look around and find the version with over FIVE HOURS of video links!

That’s five hours of video training
for the price of two books.
That is THE BEST deal anywhere!
And it will make your karate technically correct
and give you all the real techniques!

Okay,
guys and gals
thanks for being martial artists
you make the world a better place…

Have a great work out!
Al

Don’t forget to check out the interview
https://anchor.fm/dale-gillilan/episodes/S1E10—Al-Case-e12e3np

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 12 ratings for 5 stars.
(There is a video version of this book with no stars yet)
My two yoga books have 9 ratings between them for 5 stars.
‘The Book of Five Arts’ has 8 ratings for 5 stars.
‘The Science of Government’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.
‘Chiang Nan’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.
My novel, ‘Monkeyland,’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars

That’s a lot of good ratings
so hopefully you’ll find the book that works for you.

How to Fix Karate:
A Karate Training and Workout Book
(Two Volumes)

A New Martial Arts Master Instructor Testimonial!

Newsletter 953

A New Martial Arts Master Instructor!

Super congrats to new Master Instructor
Maj (ret) Paul von Hacker

Here is Paul’s win…

Master Case,
Let me begin by saying I had high expectations and your course exceeded them. You are the most articulate and scientific instructor I’ve ever had and I find that to be exceptionally effective when learning. I’ve studied a number of systems in 25 years and found differing aspects of each that I’ve incorporated into my personal skill set. From a striking perspective I tend to enjoy karate and boxing. Footwork tends to be boxing and pa qua oriented. My ground experience has been almost exclusively Jiu jitsu. The only weapon I’ve ever really studied was dear horned knives and then knives.

From my perspective your master instructor course is a must have. I’ve taught numerous classes in non-martial arts settings. As an Air Force officer it was just part of the job. I am very analytical with regards to instruction so your method truly broke each area down into very concise sub areas that I felt were masterfully pieced together.

(Paul has described the course in detail here, so we move to his conclusion…)

Conclusion: Sir, I have met many skilled practitioners in martial arts. I have worked with men and women whose skill and technique were inspiring but I have never met anyone who put it all together. I was speaking to a 3rd Dan Judo BB in the local area. He runs a school and I have gone over from time to time on sparring night. He has an open mat sparring session to enable his students to spar with other students from various disciplines. I began explaining your matrixed concepts to him and he was a bit cautious. So I explained it this way. If one wanted a degree in computer science one would have to accumulate 120 credits towards the degree, roughly 70% of that is not related to the degree. If one could instead take the 50 credits toward the degree it would take roughly 3 semesters. It is a simplified way to explain it but one I explained it that way he understood. Then we sparred and had a good time and the entire time I was watching, in-between bouts, I found myself using the corrections and the tools and the amazing things is I am not very educated in Judo. The fact that I could ID areas of poor grounding, misalignment, and bad CBM speaks to the simplicity and complexity of the material covered.
On your website you mentioned pricing being low so numerous people could benefit, that is laudable but I recommend you increase your pricing. The work you’ve accumulated it the totality of your life endeavor. Imagine it this may, during WW II the greatest minds on the planet struggled to unlock the atom. In 2019, any student can crack open a book and read the equations used, theories proved, and any semi-educated person could go back in time and explain the concepts easily and concisely to Einstein and his team. You’ve unlocked the atom! You’ve taken this light years from where it was, steam engine and propeller air plane to atom splitting attack sub and to top it all off you’ve articulate enough to explain it in the most concise manner I’ve ever seen.
Maj Paul von Hacker III, USAF, Ret

congrats and well done Master Instructor Hacker,
and thank you.

And,
to everybody,
this is a world which has been educated out of common sense.
it has become bound by myths and lies.
People make up reasons when they don’t understand the real reasons.
For these reasons the martial arts suffer,
and people circle on the rim
and never experience the real martial arts.
The real martial arts are simple,
and the Master Instructor course is the key that unlocks them.

Again,
congrats to Paul,
and…
Have a great work out!

Al

1a Matrix Karate

Here’s a Christmas win…

A WIN!

Merry Christmas my friend. I love what you do, and you’ve changed the way I approach the arts that I love. 2018 marks my 40th year as a martial artist, and I believe that what you do is so important to us true believers. Please remember that innovation is always going to be violently resisted initially. What you do is absolutely logical, and it’s impossible for any sane man to argue with logic. Press on with pride brother. You ARE making history and a legacy. Best wishes and thanks.
– Sean

“There is no comfort in the growth zone and no growth in the comfort zone”
Unknown

The Secret to REALLY Good Martial Arts!

Newsletter 878

THE SUMMER OF SUPER MARTIAL ARTS!

Happy hot day to you!
Hot days are the best days,
the work outs sweat you hard
and you detox the body.
Do it!

One thing people should remember,
when it comes to the martial arts,
is that they are not all hard,
nor all soft.

Take a look at Morihei Ueshiba.
Guy studied some serious hard arts
before he came up with peace and love.

How about Tai Chi?
Those soft moves
are backed up by some brutal moves.

So what does this mean?
It means you have study both the hard and the soft.
You can’t study one without the other.

Now,
eventually,
if only by age and injuries,
your hard art will soften up.
Then comes enlightenment
and a profound appreciation for both sides of the yin yang.

But why wait forty years?
Why risk not making it to forty years
and not even discovering the other side of the art,
of yourself?

I’ll tell you the truth here:
when people ask me why my karate punches are so effective,
I tell them Tai Chi.
When people ask me why my Tai Chi is so effective
I tell them Karate.

That’s the truth.
Because I know what a hard punch is,
I have been able to develop tai chi to handle them.
Because I know what sensitivity and balance are
I have been able to develop Karate beyond simple muscles.

Okay,
I know I’m preaching to a a few of the choir here,
but there are others out there
who need to know this.
Who need to do some Tai Chi or Aikido
to go along with their punchology.
And there are others
who need to beef up their punches
with some good old karate or kung fu,
if they are going to evolve
their sweet and sensitive side.

Here’s TWO links…

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

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

If you order the DOWNLOAD ONLY…
(Not the physical disks!)

I will give you two for the price of one.
Simply order one of the above courses,
Temple Karate or Five Army Tai Chi,
DOWNLOAD ONLY,
and write to me,
say you want the two for one deal,
and I will send you the passcode for
the DOWNLOAD ONLY.

Let’s see,
it’s wednesday,
so let’s make this offer good through Sunday, July 16.
Come Monday don’t bother to whine and grovel,
it’s gone.

So do it,
take advantage,
I don’t make offers like these often.
In fact,
can you even remember the last time?
So do it,
and make this the summer of super martial arts,
study and master BOTH sides!

Have a great work out!

Al

Here’s TWO links…

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

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

If you order the DOWNLOAD ONLY…
(Not the physical disks!)
ONLY GOOD UNTIL SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2017!

http://www.martialartsinstructortraining.com

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

Master of Karate Defeats a Mugger!

How Gichin Funakoshi Dealt with a Mugger!

Good Morning USA, and world, and, uh, guess I’ll throw in the universe.

Never can tell, some gloopy alien with three eyes might be keeping track of those strange critters on earth. Might be reading this article right now making sure we’re not being contentious and guilty of sedition to the alien galactic empire.

alien

Hello, Gloopy Alien.

I wonder if he knows what this here finger of mine is for? Hah.

Speaking of weird and Gloopy Aliens, the founder of modern Karate, Gichin Funakoshi, was about 80 years old, and was out for his nightly walk. The night was ominous, Japan was in an unsettled state, and he saw a mugger waiting on a street corner.

Gichin knew, deep in his heart, that that mugger was going to try to mug him. Hey, you think a mugger’s going to risk picking on somebody who is big? Nope, muggers want to get on with their work with the least amount of personal risk, you know? Smart guys, these muggers are.

Anyway, Gichin keeps on walking makes sure he looks feeble, and as he passes the mugger and the mugger leaps at him he whirls and grabs the mugger.

Now, you might be wondering where he grabbed the mugger. A death lock on the carotid–a specialized nerve center that immobilizes totally?

Well, uh, he didn’t do any of those things.

He grabbed him by the, um, cajones. The apples, you know..the coconuts. He grabbed him by the children he might sire some day, by the future, by his only source of fun on those long, lonely nights that frustrate a mugger when he is all by himself and can’t find anybody who even remotely likes him.

Now the founder of modern Karate has a mugger by the embarrassment, and what is he going to do next?

Does he flick a set of knuckles to the throat and crunch the Adam’s apple…cause it to swell up and stop the mugger from breathing? Does he launch a spear hand thrust to the chest and yank the mugger’s very heart out and take a big bite while the terrified mugger watches in terror? Or does he just start to close his hand. Close his hand slowly, and watch the life blood drain out of the mugger’s face, and the very life right out of his quaking and pain infested body, and the happiness out of his future? Squeeze, until the nutty pulp runs out from between his gnarly, old fingers. Squeeze, until a loud popping sound fills the night air. Squeeze, until the mugger screams like a little girl and falls to the pavement, never to enjoy the feel of loving again.

Gichin called for the cops. Yep, he stood on that corner and held that man and called for help.

And the mugger was totted away to think about his crimes, and the terror of having his manhood held by another man.

An interesting lesson for a mugger, eh?

Another interesting lesson would be if you looked up the real meaning of the word testament and where it comes from and all that.

Anyway, the point of all this is this don’t walk down that dark alley. Yep. My students have heard me say this, and they know what I mean. When you have a choice of a long walk down a lit street, or a short trip through a dark alley, take the long way.

You can tell you’ve made it, that you do understand what the martial arts are all about when you can see a dark alley before you reach it.

Hey, a sunny street in the heart of town might be a dark alley if there’s some idiot waiting for you. And you should have developed the extra perception, through those endless hours of practice, to know the difference between a dark alley and a well lit street.

Here’s the best Karate course in the world!