The deadliest weapon in all the martial arts world is…the towel. This weapon is so deadly it should be outlawed. In fact, anybody caught with a towel in hand should be arrested and thrown into the darkest prison!
When one considers the towel, one should consider the vast speed it moves at. The hand flicks, and the tip of the towel can exceed one hundred miles an hour! Thus, the tip of a speeding towel can split skin and create mighty welts!
The deadly towel can be made even deadlier by doing one simple thing. If one dips the tip of the towel into water, the towel can become even more cutting and cause even more pain. A tip dipped in water gains weight, and the integrity of the strike is increased multiple times!
Another thing to consider, when considering the towel, is that it is easily ‘hidden. In fact, it is hidden in plain sight! Who, on earth, is scared of a simple towel draped around the waist, eh?
And, speaking of this ‘hidden’ factor, when are you most susceptible to attack? When you have no weapon! When you have a spear or sword, or even a simple knife in hand, people are much more loathe to attack you!
If you are standing with no weapon, maybe dripping from a shower or dip in the pool, that is when people are not scared of you. In fact, when you are apparently unarmed is when people are most likely to attack you! That is the time when you are, apparently, most unable to defend yourself.
When attacked while wearing but a towel, you don’t scream and look around for a weapon when attacked. You merely drop your towel, which (hopefully) affords a severe shock to the attacker. Then you flick and snap, dance and writhe, and chase the intruder from your realm!
You think this article is a joke? Consider that Miyamoto Musashi, the greatest swordsman that ever lived, was once accosted in a bathhouse by a dozen sword wielding attackers. Using only his towel, and his, uh, natural talents, he chased the swordsmen from the bathhouse and down the street!
About the Author: Al Case began martial arts 60 years ago. He has been a writer/columnist for the magazines, and has produced hundreds of hours of martial arts video instruction. Check out his video on how to Matrix Martial Arts weapons…
-Thank you for writing this! I found this easy to follow and understand. I’m very happy I took a chance this.
-This course was a win! The biggest win I had in this course is it solidified for me that I have been right all along in my methods than others “more experienced” because of a “rank.”
-The reality is, a lot of the material I already knew. However I never had anyone explain it in a technical and mechanical way. The examples of the 4 powers and the 6 tools to me were damn near mind blowing. It was the smack on the forehead “oh yeah that’s right” moment.
It cleaned up a lot of the “clutter”. Now, as I mentioned a lot of this material I knew. I was very fortunate to train with Master John Wesley Shepherd who was trained by the late GM Sherman Harrell who was directly trained by GM Tatsuo Shimabukuru, the founder of Isshinryu. He used to explain things in a similar fashion. Sadly, he was never around enough and we were mostly taught by his big brother Billy who is an excellent practitioner but as a teacher………. you get the idea.
We spent a lot of the times teaching ourselves. Because of this, maybe we ourselves stumbled onto these lessons when you combined grown men from different occupations and backgrounds. Fast forward years later after our school closed down, I begin training in Escrima de Cuerdas, an art founded by a simple carpenter the late GM Liborio Heyrosa who couldn’t read or write. He was subsequently trained directly by the late GM Venancio Anciong Bacon (founder of Balintawak) and Nene Rosales a famous Filipino fencer.
– It (this course) helped me tremendously because regardless that the Philippines is a former U.S. Commonwealth, sometimes there is a bit of a language barrier. Some of these lessons did not translate. Your lessons created the bridge. Now everything made sense. The part that also helped tremendously was as we were all taught that it should be one continuous motion or no wasted motion but you explained it and demonstrated in a way that made sense…
The other thing that opened my eyes the most was the body testing. In Isshinryu for us this is common…….when performing Sanchin. I’ve never seen this done while throwing a basic straight punch. Heck, I never even thought of it myself. This to me is the highlight of the read/videos. I’m sure some will say I’m nuts but that’s what it was to me. I can’t wait to try this on everything but it also helped to perfect every technique within a kata. I now see each movement as unique.
Can’t wait to download the Matrix Karate Course! And also, thank you!
Thank you, Craig.
And well done.
Interestingly,
Craig says he knew a lot of the material before,
he is exactly the SECOND person who has said this about the course.
This is after me selling the course for 15 years.
what is of interest is that Craig says
they ‘spent a lot of time teaching ourselves.’
This is actually one of the reasons I figured this out.
My instructor hardly ever said anything,
and in the silence I had to figure things out.
My father was an engineer
and I was raised with an eye towards physics and mechanics,
and that is probably my secret.
You see the martial arts have been handed down
mostly through oral tradition,
and that is a fine way to build up mysticism.
The result is teachers use examples that are unique to their culture,
and fail to impart the actual mechanics and physics of the art.
Anyway,
Again,
congrats to Craig,
and well done.
Now,
thank you to those who have purchased the book courses on Amazon.
I’ve got two of them up right now,
How to Fix Karate
and
The Shaolin Butterfly.
These are books,
but with links to the videos from the actual courses included.
This is a real step forward for saving money,
and for getting the full course.
And,
I’ve included a video this week.
I’ve got hundreds of these snippets.
I once sold them as a course which six whole people purchased.
The gun extends a straight line
The sword extends a straight, or curved line.
The bullet goes further than the sword,
but,
even with training,
not too much further.
Odd statement, eh?
I mean, the bullet disappears into a mile away.
The sword ends at three feet or so.
But here’s the kicker,
the further away you are,
the more control of your body you must have.
Beyond a certain distance,
probably 15 feet,
control goes out the window,
and you miss a lot of shots.
(We’re not talking about sniper rifles here)
So let’s look at the basic-basics of the sword—and the gun.
Sink the weight for both.
Breath deeply and control that breath.
Relax.
Align the body properly.
Move the body with CBM
(Coordinated Body Motion).
Well,
we are fine through the first four items.
Sink, breath, relax, align.
Motion (CBM) is where it all falls apart.
I was watching a movie last night,
Jason Statham shot about 40 guys
in about five minutes.
He shot them while he turned flips,
under his arm,
behind his back,
swinging off the side of a ship,
during explosions.
40 guys,
and he wasn’t even nicked.
I guess he had that motion thing down,
right?
Nope.
The camera had it down.
The script had it down.
In reality he would have been shot,
filled with lead actually,
by the time he hit the second or third guy.
That’s just the way it is.
(why do you think SEALs sneak in?
Because charging in an easy way to die.
Why do you think ninjas sneak in?
They don’t want somebody to fight back-
they don’t want to get hurt.
Why do you think your friendly neighborhood mugger
attacks from the rear,
swinging a weapon…
he doesn’t want to risk getting a boo boo!
It’s not actually cowardice,
it’s simply good tactics:
hit without getting hit.
Deliver a force or flow,
without receiving a force or flow…)
Anyway,
It is INCREDIBLY difficult
to hit a moving target.
(People tend to shoot where something was,
and not where it is going to be)
And it is harder to hit a moving target…
while you are moving.
When you train with a gun you have to have a stable platform.
You run from place to place,
momentarily freezing and shooting,
then continuing.
Only when you make the final approach
do you unload,
firing everything you’ve got,
because during that last few feet,
when you are running,
you’re probably going to miss,
so shoot a lot of bullets and hope.
Of course,
all statistics can be improved by practice.
But,
motion is a killer.
In the martial arts
you are closer,
and there is this thing called ‘block’ and counter.
You train to handle the attack.
With a gun the only way to handle the attack
is to duck,
hide,
get a mile away.
No blocking.
So you do not develop the idea of motion against motion.
At least not to an appreciable degree.
Yes,
there are gun tactics,
training in them helps,
but if you really want to know tactics,
you must have an intuitive understanding
of how to respond with your body
to the motion of his body.
You really need the martial arts
in addition to training in shooting.
You need that ‘zen’ frame of mind.
And here is where it gets interesting.
Here is the point that led me to write this little squib.
When you train with the martial arts
you develop a state of mind.
This is a ‘zen’ state of mind.
A peacefulness during combat,
a peacefulness during…motion.
You actually develop this same state of mind
with any other practice.
Practicing something until you have mastered it
brings calmness, certainty, peacefulness.
You can attain it with a gun,
while you are ‘in platform,’
but there aren’t any practices that I know of,
in gun training,
to impart that zen state of mind
while you are using a gun while in motion.
So if you want to learn a gun,
good,
it is a tool for a martial artist,
if there ever was one.
But you need something like ‘The Gun Kata,’
made popular in ‘Equilibrium.’
I am really waiting for some fellow
to send me a video,
or a link,
to somebody doing an effective Gun Kata.
Al Case began MA in 1967. Started writing for the mags 1981. Had his own column in Inside Karate 1991. Originated Matrixing 1984. Established Monster Martial Arts 2002.
In Business since 1984. On the net since 2002.
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