Tag Archives: martial arts

Kenpo Geometry Applied to Karate

Martial Arts Geometry!

My initial thoughts on the martial arts,
the stuff that led me through to matrixing
was all geometric.

For instance,
way back in Kenpo I realized
the body has two halves.
A line right down the center,
with each side approximating the other.
Easy peasy.
This led me to one of my first questions.
Why didn’t the techniques I was learning
work on both sides of the body.

I was doing Kenpo,
and the fellow would attack with the right hand
and I might use a right handed defense
but if he attacked with the exact, same hand
in the same manner,
the mirror of my defense
the left handed version,
wouldn’t work.
That frustrated me.
Why didn’t Ed design the techniques
so they worked on both sides?

This,
incidentally
is what I call a ‘universal technique.’

This led me to simplify techniques
and focus on the basics.
Kenpo-ists thought it was sacrilege,
but it made me rethink everything
in a more traditional and classical karate mode.

In other words,
Ed was moving away from the classical,
and I was simplifying
and reverse engineering
to get back to the classical.

This was probably one of the reasons
I found the classical to be such a breath of fresh air
when I finally moved over to it.

It makes no sense to memorize 200 techniques
for the right hand
(opening the opponent)
and 200 techniques for the left hand
(closing the technique).

How are you going to remember which of 400 techniques
to use for two sides of the body?
Why not just use a small number of techniques
that worked no matter if you were opening the opponent,
or closing him?

Mind you,
I didn’t discount or neglect my learning in Kenpo
when I switched to the classical.
There were things I learned in Kenpo
that made my studies easier.
There were things I knew
that my fellow classical students didn’t know.
Which is why I tell people
you can’t learn just one martial art
and think you know the martial arts.

If a guy has a black belt in one art,
he is an expert in one range,
or one geometry of the art.
He is, for instance,
a black belt in Kenpo,
but not the martial arts.
If a guy has black belts in several martial arts,
then he could call himself a black belt of all martial arts.

This is why I tell people
a couple of times a year
to pick up a new art.
I do it at Xmas.
I do it when the season changes.
I especially do it when summer is here.
People have more time during the summer.
The days are longer,
the mind set changes in a subtle manner.

You will find the results of my initial research
in the books

How to Fix Karate (Volume One)

How to Fix Karate (Volume Two)

Just make sure you get the versions of these books
with over 5 hours of video links.

How to Fix Karate will fix your martial art,
show the simpler and more universal methods I developed,
some of which were realized only because I knew Kenpo,
or other martial arts.
And,
if you only know one martial art,
this might be the second one.

Have a great work out!

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)

The Evolution of the Shaolin Martial Arts!

The History of the Shaolin Martial Arts

Most people say the Martial Arts
came from the Shaolin Temple.
Undoubtededly,
the Shaolin Temple is a big influencer.
But,
my own theory is slightly different.

Originally
I wrote a short column about ‘Og and Bog.’
Og steals Bog’s apples by conking him on the head,
Bog imagines a defense for getting conked on the head,
and we have a technique
and the birth of the martial arts.
Which is to say
from the very first time
one man raised his fist to another,
martial arts have been developing.

Verbal history,
not a reliable thing,
says that Bodhidharma came to Shaolin from the east,
trained the monks in meditation,
and when they proved too weak to meditate properly,
he gave them the martial arts.

But when you look at the exercises credited to Bodhidharma
they look like calisthenics.
So how do simple calisthenics
become martial arts?

Let’s create a possible scenario
to present my theory.
Warlords reigned,
they conscripted peasants,
and taught them how to fight.
How to use the spear,
how to do basic ‘boxing’ (kung fu).

The peasants who survived the battles
might retire to home,
and go to a temple to pray,
maybe even feel a bit of remorse
about the deaths they caused
and join a temple.

At the temple they want to stay in shape
so they use the basic calisthenics they used in the military.
They even use some of the fighting routines.
But the essence of the temple isn’t in fighting,
and if one is in daily meditation
and begins a regimen in fitness,
it is conceivable that the exercises they did
begin to take on the form of meditation.

No, not every monk is a warrior,
but if even one soldier takes refuge at the temple
translates his military exercises
into meditation…
that might have great influence.

So we have a sort of a criss cross here
between meditation and physical combat.
It’s a maybe,
but a logical sort of a maybe.

Now let’s talk about what happens if a person
practices a routine for years,
and especially in conjunction with meditation.
He becomes aware through meditation,
and as he focuses his meditation on his calisthenics,
he achieves a different type of awareness in his calisthenics.
He starts to feel this thing called chi,
a ‘breath energy’ circulating through the body.
He finds this thing called chi is difficult to explain,
but if a person is dedicated to motion,
and to the calm and breathing techniques of meditation…
he can achieve a certain degree of awareness of,
and control over this somewhat invisible energy called chi.

And all this backs up various religious theories.

The interesting thing is that Shaolin happened,
and it is so far back
that all we’ve got is theories.
But we have another art that isn’t thousands of years old.
It is influenced by Shaolin, but…

Tung Haichuan
back in the 1800s
apparently knew some kung fu.
He went into the mountains,
met some monks,
and they taught him how to meditate by walking the circle.
Tung Haichuan supposedly combined
the circle walking and the kung fu
to make Pa Kua Chang.
People immediately invested PKC
with all sorts of religious theories.
The eight trigrams,
all that sort of thing.
A good example of a ‘calisthenic’ being adapted to kung fu,
and kung fu becoming more meditative,
just as what probably happened
thousands of years ago at the Shaolin Temple.

And!
If you look at Karate,
it was a martial art designed by and for palace guards.
Heavy duty self defense
and hard core fighting.
In just a bit over a hundred years it has become
heavily infused with zen concepts.
A martial art expanding awareness
through dedicated and repetitious motion,
until it becomes,
in its purest form,
a source of enlightenment
and spiritual development.

AND…
A good question here is
could MMA become spiritual?
I would guess probably not,
and this simply because the techniques are
more dedicated to destruction than control.
The practitioners might even laugh if
a student wanted to find the zen
behind an arm bar.

Hey,
it may have taken MANY generations
for Shaolin to become more than
a physical calisthenic for ex-warriors,
and to become a method of awareness and control
and not simply an excuse for destruction.

So that’s my theory,
if you feel it is full of holes,
or you feel some other possibility is probable,
leave comments.

I do want to say that when I developed the

The Last Martial Arts Book: Nine Square Diagram Boxing

I was trying to create movements
that would have meditative aspects
as in Tai Chi Chuan and Pa Kua Chang.
I wanted to create a degree of spiritual awareness,
and yet have the art be totally workable on the street.
I want the meditation, the control, the spirituality,
but not at the cost of losing the destructive potential of the art.

Check it out on Amazon,
and if you decide to get it,
make sure you…
GET THE EDITION WITH THE 5 HOURS OF VIDEO LINKS!

Give yourself a present,
and don’t forget to give me five stars!

Have a great work out,
and have a great and profitable New Year!

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)

Pushing Hands Applied to Combat!

The Five Armies of Tai Chi Chuan!

I say Tai Chi Chuan,
but these five armies. are usable
in every martial art.

The five armies are:
the wrists
the elbows
the shoulders
the waist
the feet

It’s pretty simple,
actually.
If you understand a little push hands
it will really make sense,
but even if you don’t,
there is a logic here that can’t be denied.

If somebody grabs your wrist simply roll it.
This escapes all wrist grips,
and provides wrist twist counters,
and opens up a LOT of other doors.

If somebody pushes on your forearm,
simply fold it back.
The idea is to let the person fall past
and circle your arm to strike him.

If the person is closer
and pushes on your shoulder, or your upper arm
so that it affects the shoulder,
circle the shoulder.

If somebody is pushing on your body,
turn the waist.

If somebody has penetrated past the waist,
simply shift back,
let him pass.

Okay,
this is designed for push hands,
but push hands is designed for martial combat.
So you don’t have to be in push hands mode,
if somebody is pressing an attack
on one of the five areas,
or zones,
or whatever you want to call it,
just use one of the five armies.
Shift back and:
roll
fold
circle
turn
shift.

If you can do all of them that is great.
That is applying CBM
(Coordinated Body Motion-using the body as one unit)
to the technique.

Now,
if you stop thinking about him coming in,
and start thinking about you moving forward,
you end up with the total strike.

You push with the feet
as you turn the waist
and circle the shoulder
and unfold the elbows
and snap the wrist.

So you can apply the Five Armies concept
to defense or offense.
Or any combination of attack and defense.

This concept is demonstrated for Tai Chi
in my

Five Army Tai Chi Chuan course

I would also recommend,
if you are more into Karate or the striking arts,
my book on

Chiang Nan

The point isn’t that this stuff hasn’t been done,
it’s just never been explained in a clear and concise manner
the way I do it.

Check them out,
and have a fantastic work out!
Al

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

(There is a version with five hours of video
but you have to hunt for it on Amazon)

And don’t forget to give me five stars!

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 that useful
find the book/course that is right for you,
and matrix your own martial arts.

Advanced Chi Power Usage in the Martial Arts!

The Secret of Martial Arts Whole Body Energy!

You know,
I talk about matrixing a lot.
Figuring out all of the blank spots in your art,
getting rid of poser techniques,
making logical sense of the whole thing.
But one thing I don’t talk about enough
is CBM

CBM is Coordinated Body Motion
In oldspeak,
or mysticism,
it is using the body as one unit.

This is a solid concept,
but often discounted.
It’s faster to just pound on a bag,
make your arm muscles big and strong,
and rely on that.

It is harder to do the forms slowly,
or at least with attention to detail,
and figure out how to use the body as one unit.
CBM.

But think of this.
Instead of building the arm so it is strong enough
to knock over 200 pounds,
why not train yourself to use the 200 pounds of your body?

The point of a punch (or technique),
is to deliver weight.
So just learn to put the entire weight of your body into the strike.
It’s easier in the long run,
and when you get old and lose your muscles,
you will still have an interesting by product.
Energy.

Energy is the capacity for work.
Work can be measured by weight.
But while you’re thinking about this,
let me tell you something else,
something a little more advanced.

You use your body as one unit.
You strike with the whole weight.
It is more efficient,
less tiring,
more effective.
But,
what happens when you CBM the other guys’s body?

This is the real secret of the grab arts.
This includes aiki, chin na, and even advanced judo/jujitsu

When you have achieved sufficient CBM
you touch the other person’s body with CBM
and his body will react by moving…WITH CBM!

The explanation is simple.
Bodies are bodies,
and you can hook them together.

ten marines lifting together can lift more
than twelve marines lifting separately.
This is a proven fact.

If you’ve only CBMed a little,
you probably won’t be able to do this.
But if you CBM a lot,
your body doesn’t just operate on muscles,
it operates on energy,
and the person you touch,
their body will react with energy,
and they will unconsciously,
without even knowing it,
CBM.

Now you try the throw.
You throw the arm,
which weighs 20 pounds,
and the body goes along
which weighs 200 pounds.

This is actually how old men,
frail and fragile,
can push young men,
robust and muscular
a dozen yards with no effort.

And you really don’t want to know what a fully CBMed strike,
with all the energy pouring forth,
is like.

Now,
the unfortunate fact is this is difficult to prove,
unless you happen to cross hands with some old fellow
who has taken the time to develop his art,
and he is willing to share his art with you.

But the theory is solid,
and it’s not going to hurt you to think about it,
and maybe consider it in your training.

He strikes,
you evade,
you push and his body CBMs
and flies away.
And he will never know what hit him.
Unless, of course,
he read this blog.

If you want to learn more about CBM
I mention it in a lot of my courses,
and my arts are designed to promote CBM
even if I don’t mention it.

But I always suggest
The Master Instructor Course

That was the first time I talked about it,
years ago,
but the data is there,
plus A LOT
 of other stuff.

Everything you need to master ANY art.

BTW
thanks to all who have purchased the
The Last Martial Arts Book
(There is a version with five hours of video
but you have to hunt for it on Amazon)
Don’t forget to give me five stars!

Have a great work out!
Al

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

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 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 7 ratings for 5 stars.
‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.
‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 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 that useful
find the book/course that is right for you,
and matrix your own martial arts.

The Curse of the Closed Combat System

When Did Karate Fail!

It’s a very common opinion, these days, that karate doesn’t work.
In this article I will tell you why it doesn’t work, and when it stopped working, which may help you make it start working again.
Mind you, there are other reasons than what I detail here, but the reasons I detail here are probably the most important reasons, specifically, the reason which was put in place by the founders of karate. A deliberate but unintended consequence of a very bad decision.

The King (emperor) of Okinawa was commanded by the emperor of Japan to live in Japan. This was a political expedience.
The problem was the Okinawan bodyguards suddenly lost their jobs.
They became wood cutters, dock workers, school teachers, and so on.
Did they stop their training in karate? Probably not. As any student of the art knows, it is the monkey on the back, a joy that is almost impossible to give up. It would not be given up easily.
Thus, the art was taught at the homes of the bodyguards, and the students were probably tough kids, or kids that wanted to be tough.
It wouldn’t have died out, and it would have remained fairly pure. But purity, as this article presents, can be a myth.

About 1900 Gichin Funakoshi had a bright idea: let’s teach karate to the school children!
Karate made small bodies strong.
Karate instilled discipline.
Let’s not, however, teach little Johnny how to rip somebody’s throat out over lunch money.
Thus, the great dumbing down was begun.
There was, however, something worse that was happening.

Karate is a CCS. A Closed Combat System. This means it is a set number of techniques, and development through the inspection of other practices is discouraged.
Karate actually became a CCS years earlier when the system was codified into forms.
Forms make it easier to teach. Forms make it easier to remember the random but physically similar techniques.
Forms doubtless caused a surge in ability as it focused training, and lifted up the lesser students.
And there was a wonderful mindset created through Karate. A zen mindset that made a superior human being.

Up until that time Karate had been, to coin a phrase, an OCS. An Open Combat System. They took techniques wherever they could find them. Trips to China, shipwrecked sailors, talking with some friendly fellow in a bar, and ending up in an alley testing out these ‘extra’ techniques.
Now it was a Closed Combat System, a system which refused data from other sources, and the children were being deliberately dumbed down, and that was the one two punch that sealed Karate’s demise.

It didn’t happen suddenly. In fact, as the art spread new blood kept it alive and quite deadly.
But, eventually, it was no longer the province of the ‘tough guy’ who wanted to be tougher and who was willing to suffer the bruises and blood and a few lost teeth of those early practices.
Then it became sold.

One could accuse Gichin Funakoshi as the first person to commercialize Karate. After all, he sold it to the school system.
But when the Americans, with their capitalistic greed (hey! I’m just sayin’!) the game was all over.
McDojos sprouted in the strip malls of America.
Forms were put aside for kid’s games so the parent’s could be kept happy. Which was, is, probably the cruelest trap of all. I want my child to defend himself, but if he gets a single bruise I’ll sue you!

Nowadays it is difficult to find a real version of Karate.
Oh, it is out there, altered, pushed by the fanatic who doesn’t give a golden tu_d if you get a bruise.
But mostly you will find…MMA.
Hey, advertising. And the Gracie Brother’s creation of the UFC is the greatest advertising ploy since Bruce Lee.
We’ve had 30 years of advertising with the big buck tournaments. It has replaced boxing to a great extent. And it’s made some people rich.
Commercialism.
Sometimes good, often bad.

Want to know how to tell when an art has gone CCS and has started to die? If not in the physical working then in the virtuous mental attitudes? The Virtue that used to be the coin developed by years of intense and unwavering training in the Martial Arts?
It is…My Art is better than yours.
I saw this happen when Karate, was in its heyday, spreading through the US and the world like wildfire.
Suddenly other arts came along, and to get students instructors would wink about another art or school and imply, or say it outright, ‘My art is better.’
And it fed the ego of the student.

Now it is happening in MMA. Not a week goes by when I don’t see some ego driven, bully boy type of child say, If it doesn’t work in the ring then it doesn’t work!
Which certainly explains why, when SEALs go to work they always end up on the ground, wrestling around and looking for arm bars.

MMA is not an art. It is a sport. An art self improves, a sport attempts to prevail over another human being. And the truth is that you don’t become better by making someone worse. That is the bully lie that has infected many MMA teachings.
That is not to say there isn’t art to some of the techniques.
But it doesn’t matter because as long as the bullies can beat up the karate man, and people of other disciplines, the lie will be accepted as the truth.
It is not MMA. It is MMS. Mixed Martial Sport.

Mind you, I am not attacking the art of Jujitsu, or other MMA based arts. Effectiveness is to be appreciated and studied. And to the extent that it becomes art i love it. But I am pointing out certain attitudes and how some misguided people degrade the art.
And, hopefully, this will create an understanding that will improve the arts on all fronts. Don’t degrade other arts, make yourself better by making others better.

Don’t like what I’m saying? Then change your sport. Or, better, change your mind.
But the truth is that when a system becomes CCS, when data is refused to be inputted, either because of commercial interests, or children running around screaming ‘My Art is Best!’, then that art has gone over the cliff and is heading for the spiked rocks below.

Really don’t like what I’m saying? Order a course in Matrixing, open your art up and accept the superiority of a true OCS…the ultimate OCS. A system that doesn’t take from all in random bits and pieces, trying to be OCS but only marginally succeeding, but rather aligns all the data so you can make the right choices…in combat, or in life.

About the author: Al Case has been studying the martial arts since 1967. He wrote articles and had his own column in Inside Karate magazine. He has written over forty books on the martial arts, including ‘How to Fix Karate,’ which is a two volume, 400 page book going into and fixing every move from the most important eight forms of Karate. It includes FIVE HOURS of video instruction.

And have a great work out!
Al

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

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 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 7 ratings for 5 stars.
‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.
‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 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 that useful
find the book/course that is right for you,
and matrix your own martial arts.

Muscle Memory in the Martial Arts!

Muscle Memory in the Fighting Arts!

Good morning!
Every kata is a prayer.
It is a moment in time
in which I summon up energies
built by the repetition of moves
over over 55 years.

Let’s talk about muscle memory.
One trains to make the muscles move in a certain way.
This is a path, a circuit of nerve impulses.
A to B to C to…to Z.
As one gets better and better
he stops using this ‘muscle memory’ path
and goes from A to Z.

You see,
if you subscribe to the muscle memory theory
then you are saying that your body is doing the fighting.
But it is you that is doing the fighting.
The muscle moves
because the impulses travel through the nervous system
and who gives the nervous system the command to move?

I ask people this sometimes
and they give me some amazing answers.
‘My brain.’
That’s a common answer,
and it shows that people don’t understand the brain.
The brain is, at best, a switchboard.
And if the brain moves the nerves moves the muscles,
who commands the brain.
‘My mind!’
That’s a great one.
Except the mind is just a bunch of memories.
It doesn’t do anything except react.
And if one is going to get to the heart of the martial arts
one must do more than react.
They must act.
And,
to get to the heart of the matter,
who gives the mind the command
to make the switchboard brain
tell the nerves to work,
to make the muscles move?

Okay.
The answer.
‘You.’

And here is the secret of the martial arts.
If you do your ‘prayers’
(your martial arts moves)
long enough…you will go back through
these body and mind systems
and find…you.

You are the creator of your life.
You make the choices.
You are not meat muscle,
you are not nervous twitches,
you are not the switchboard brain,
or the memory mind.
You are you.

And,
obligatory advertisement…
you’re going to find you a lot faster if you matrix.

Try
‘The Last Martial Arts Book’

It has the meditation of Tai Chi,
the power of karate,
the easy and simple modular method
of pa kua chang.

(And, by the way,
get the one with the five hours of video included!
The one without the videos has all the five star ratings,
but $5 more gets you five hours of video instruction.)

End of advertisement,
so get back to your ‘prayers.’

And have a great work out!
Al

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

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 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 7 ratings for 5 stars.
‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.
‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 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 that useful
find the book/course that is right for you,
and matrix your own martial arts.

How to Fix Karate Extra Data

Stages in ‘How to Fix Karate!’

Sales on ‘how to Fix Karate’ are picking up
and I thank you all.
With that in mind I should probably explain
a couple of things about the book(s).
If you haven’t got the books
this will still be interesting,
but…you need the books.

The book is big,
two volumes,
and it’s got a LOT of data in it.
But the basic principles are very simple.
First,
the Pinans are taken apart,
every move is dissected for application,
and things that were missing are explained.
Things that were wrong are corrected.
But the Pinans are still random
and missing things.
Sure, there’s gold in them,
but when you look for workability
you look for two forms.
The first one is a Matrixing form
and it replaces Pinan one.
The second one is Sanchin.

I give you enough forms to make a system,
and to round you out as a martial artist,
but the essence is in those two forms.

Matrix One provides basics.
The Matrix of Blocks
makes those basics workable and intuitive.
The student gets a solid stance,
learns how the basics work,
and becomes strong.
He becomes like a tiger,
which is the animal symbol for karate.

Sanchin has been revised, too.
Yes, you get the power by sinking your stance,
but you don’t kill yourself
with blocks and getting beaten on.
You already learned the blocks in Matrix one,
instead,
you learn the real technique behind this form,
a slap and a grab function.
This is easier to learn than Matrix One
and the Matrix of Blocks,
but it won’t work without
the fundamental strength and blocks
of the matrixing form.

When you do the slap and the grab
you end up progressing naturally
into joint locks,
and secondary joint locks
and so on.

And it all works when you do
the freestyle method in the books!

So here’s the way to remember it,
Matrix One is like the Tiger
Sanchin,
when done the way I do it,
is like the Dragon.

The freestyle methods
work from a distance,
to a closer distance
to a closer distance.
The trick is to learn how to shift
from one distance to another.

Now,
that is the simplicity of the method.
Not endless years
trying to learn forms which are missing pieces
or are ill arranged.
Not two separate arts,
freestyle and the forms.
Not a glut of forms.
Just a couple of forms,
with abundant secondary forms
to teach you
but not confuse you,
Not random techniques,
but a cold, hard logic
which can be learned in a couple of hours
and will change you into an intuitive monster
who can see what is coming
before it is even launched.

I hope this clears up
any misunderstanding
concerning
How to Fix Karate.

The book is massive,
and chock full of stuff,
but I wanted to give you this data
so you can better understand it,
and more easily learn from it.

Here’s the link to the first book,
How to Fix Karate (Vol One)

And the second book.
How to Fix Karate (Vol Two)

If the links don’t work
just use the Amazon search engine
(How to Fix Karate Al Case)

Make sure you email me
if you have trouble with the video links.
They all work,
but I believe there is some trouble with
different computers or browsers.

Have a great work out!
Al

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

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 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 7 ratings for 5 stars.
‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.
‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 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 that useful
find the book/course that is right for you,
and matrix your own martial arts.

Time to Ban the Martial Arts!

Don’t learn karate or kung fu or MMA or whatever!

Okay people!
Dust off your nunchuks
and carry them proudly on the street!
They are no longer illegal!

In 1974 New York politicians made nunchucks illegal.
Which, of course, made people want to buy them even more.
And, if you’re a student of the 2nd amendment…
was an entirely unconstitutional law.
Fortunately,
people recognize that politicians are a danger to the country,
and that they should be outlawed,
and it is very easy to get nunchucks and practice with them.

That said, let’s talk about James Maloney.
In 1981 he was arrested for using nunchuks in a demonstration.
He graduated from law school in 1995
and set about challenging the law.
He’s 60 now, and he was successful.

Judge Pamela K Chen ruled that nunchuks
were protected under the second amendment.

WAY TO GO JAMES!

You know,
I am reminded of a bumper sticker.
When guns are outlawed,
only outlaws will have guns.

Yowza!
When nunchuks are outlawed
only outlaws will have nunchuks.

And…
when politicians are outlawed…
we will all be a little safer.

But,
I did not call you here to rant political!
But since you are here…heh heh…

IF…somebody breaks into your house,
and IF…they allow you one phone call,
and IF…the 911 operator isn’t too busy,
and IF…the bad guys don’t leave before the police get there
(five to ten minutes on a good day)
then you better pray you know martial arts.

And, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that
the best courses in the world
on how to do the martial arts
are at Monster Martial Arts.
It’s true.

Your Attacker will have a Weapon!

Snuck that ad right in there…didn’t I?

Okay, guys and gals,
time to hit the home dojo
and crank out the punches and kicks
and become a better person!

Have a great work out!
Al

Hi, Kumar.

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

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 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 7 ratings for 5 stars.
‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.
‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 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 that useful
find the book/course that is right for you,
and matrix your own martial arts.

The Martial Arts Night Before XMAS!

Martial Arts

HanaKwanMass!
And, I’ve got my yearly
‘Night Before Xmas’ rendition for you.
But,
first,
HanaKwanMass means
Hanukah plus Kwanza plus Christmas!
You might offend two thirds of everybody you meet,
but you get three times the gifts!
Yahoo!

Now,
in the interests of offending everybody everywhere
is the Martial Arts Night Before Christmas!

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

Twas the night before Christmas
I was in my shack
primed and ready
for the red fat attack.

my weapons were loaded
the windows were barred
all would be safe
while I was on guard

The chimney was decked
with concertina wire
I crouched by the couch
ready to fire.

I had an M60
with ammo to feed
I didn’t care
if the red fat did bleed.

A loaded shotgun
and grenades to spare
when red fat came down
I’d blow him out of there.

Throwing stars and knives
and a really long sword
and if that didn’t work
I knew a bad word.

Sitting there late
my eyes started to close
when suddenly I heard
a bunch of ho hos.

Off with the lights
safety off, too
I  watched the fire close
and heard a sound from the flu.

‘Ouch and gosh darn it
who put the wire here
those are my undies
starting to tear!’

Then a shower of soot
and a grunt and a groan
he landed in the fire
and gave out a moan.

He was rubbing the place
where the wire did tear
so I held down the trigger
and lead filled the air.

belt after belt
did I deal the red fat
he danced and he jumped
I knew he felt that!

then quicker than spit
I ran out of lead
but enough was enough
he had to be dead.

Boy was I shocked
to see him stand tall
stepping out of the fireplace
not bothered at all.

So I grabbed up the 16
to mow him down
he had to be hurting
cause I saw his big frown.

Then I was empty
and he came straight for me
I pulled out my knives
and sliced him with glee

He jumped to the side
moving real quick
disarmed my knives
with a well placed kick

then he dropped the big bag
he had on his shoulder
reached forth his arms
and his anger did smolder

He grabbed hard my neck
and held me up high
I tried kicks and punches
but I was like a fly

Not karate nor judo
no art did work
and he grinned a mean grin
and called me a jerk

‘Don’t you know
you stupid little man
Christmas is forever
in spite of your plan.’

Then he threw me aside
and proceeded to work
giving presents to all
and to me a great smirk

And when he left
the great big red fat
he left me a lump of coal
the big red fat rat!

HANAKWANMASS TO ALL
and to all a great work out.

Al

BTW…
‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 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 7 ratings for 5 stars.
‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.
‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars.
My novel, ‘Monkeyland,’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars

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

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

How to Develop Martial Arts Chi Power!

A Sum Up of Martial Arts Chi Power!

Good morning!

and it really is.

I recently received an email asking for more info on Chi.

Here’s what I said.

Hi Jon from Missouri! Thanks for writing.

Chi is quite interesting. Think of the body as a machine, which it is, and things are easier to understand. It creates energy through biochemical actions. This energy takes on many forms, and is usually used to power the muscles.

Chi is more of ‘invisible’ (to our eyes) energy. It is also present in everything in the universe, even ‘space.’

If you follow the principle of ‘wt = work = energy’ the body will create more energy. This is the reason for lower stances. Though once one has started to manifest chi the lower stances become less necessary.

What stops chi from naturally manifesting? The fact that energy is channeled into muscles. If you can figure out how to move without using muscles, or ‘holding’ the muscles in unbendable positions.

Martial arts, especially the forms, provide different ways of channeling energy. Hard arts are relatively inefficient. Soft arts are more efficient.

Can you relax when you strike somebody? That’s crucial to manifesting chi in combat.

Relaxation requires a calmness of mind that is quite unnatural, except for babies. Babies haven’t learned to use their muscles, so they grip with energy. The grip of a baby is all out of proportion to their size and development. When they try to apply energy to the world, however, they are forced to use muscles, and there goes the chi.

To achieve the proper degree of relaxation you need to not think.

It’s this way: If you don’t use muscles you can use chi. If you don’t think you can develop the intention necessary to direct chi.

BUT, there is a kicker to all this. When chi manifests it doesn’t feel at all like the descriptions have it.

I was looking for some mystical thing, but when it manifested, though it was exactly as described, I would never have recognized chi from the description. It is much more subtle and understated, and more ‘real world natural,’ than the descriptions would have you believe. Yet the descriptions are correct.

Weird, eh?

Chi manifests when you use no effort.

Chi develops in proportion to lack of muscular effort.

People who use muscles are strong.

People who use chi (when they finally are able to use it)  will use a combination of chi and muscle. Morihei Ueshiba was known to actually pluck small trees out of the earth. He claimed it was his ability to direct chi that enabled him to do this.

When you use chi your mind starts perceiving the world differently.

When I made my breakthroughs I stopped having dreams. My mind was that calm that it no longer generated dreams. (Dreams are a low level form of static in the mind, as far as I am concerned).

People with chi will have amazing stamina. There is no way to measure this, as people and their control of chi is so totally different. 

People in my base art (Kang Duk Won) developed chi within a couple of years. I was slow; I took 3 and a 1/3.

However, they did not normally develop chi past this to any degree because KDW is a hard art. i went into Aikido and Tai Chi and learned a LOT more. Contrarily, people in Tai Chi and Aiki lacked hard art experience, and their chi was often lacking. They just didn’t understand the real world.

Chi is usually more subjective, but you will be using your body differently than other people. You will also be using your mind differently than other people.

Concluding this little rant: figure out how to do your forms using less and less muscle, less and less effort. Focus your mind on the fact that your body is a machine. Figure out how to breath down to the tan tien (a point an inch or two below the navel) and then channeling it through your body. Then do the same things for applications, no energy and no effort, and figure out how to remain calm even when the world is blowing up around you. Forms are a form of meditation and will help with that.

There is, of course, a lot more to chi than this. And a lot less. Hope you get intrigued by this description. My testimony is that chi, and the pursuit of chi, has enriched my life by orders of magnitude. I wish everybody understood this and tapped into this incredible energy source, but there is not much accurate teaching these days, and most people are not willing to do the work.

Thanks for asking, I’ll probably use this reply in a newsletter.

Have a great work out!

Al

That’s a bout as precise as I can get in a short answer.

You can read more by looking through my books, 

‘Matrixing Chi Power.’

There is also volume seven

of the biggest martial arts lesson.

‘Chi Power.’

Here’s a little clip for your entertainment,

MB 116 slap grab elbow lock

I’ve got hundreds of these clips,

many of them recalibrated to the slap grab so they’ll work better.

And,

the obligatory ad…

The Last Martial Arts Book

It’s got five hours of video links in it.

Have a great work out!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

https://anchor.fm/dale-gillilan/episodes/S1E10—Al-Case-e12e3np

BTW

I’ve got nothing but five star reviews on 

The Science of Government.

It’s really nothing more than applying matrixing to politics.

Matrixing + Politics = Sanity

I told you matrixing works with anything.

Here’s the link…

https://www.amazon.com/Science-Government-Fixing-world-government/dp/B09JRFSVVY/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1V6SI5F4EVGX2&keywords=the+science+of+government+al+case&qid=1638483302&sprefix=the+science+of+government%2Caps%2C173&sr=8-1

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6L5DSD1?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

And volume two is at…

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6XVTB9V?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860