Tag Archives: preying mantis

Four Steps to Create Your Own Martial Art

Newsletter 912

Can You Create Your Own Martial Art?

I’ve been getting a LOT of questions lately,
how do you matrix krav maga,
how do you matrix the martial arts,
how do you create your own art.

Usually I answer as best I can,
realizing that these people are not normal.
Actually,
hope I’m not offending anybody,
but they sound like bot driven questions.

As to how to matrix the arts,
read some of my books,
get some of my tapes.
Easily explained and shown.

But,
the one that got me was
‘how do you create your own art.’
What got me about this question
was that other people tried to answer it.
The question seemed to be addressed to me,
it was quorum,
so not sure,
but several people tried to answer,
and they totaled MESSED it.

Answers included:
you can’t.
you have to have something unique.
you can but it has to be proven in MMA.

Well,
the short story is this:
if you just copy somebody else’s art
you aren’t an artist,
you’re a copy cat.
So,
somewhere along the line,
you HAVE to create.
Else you aren’t really an artist.

Look,
ask this same question of a painter
and you will end up with something like this:
you can’t paint until you learn to make canvas.

Actually,
that was the attitude in the middle ages,
and famous artists would gain apprentices
who would make their canvases for them,
and never learn anything.
They were just being used.

I hope you appreciate that analogy,
because it is REALLY spot on.

So,
here is the FULL story:

first, study an art to expert (black belt)
second, study other arts on your own
third, find what works for you
fourth, categorize according to concept, principle, or whatever.

And that is the truth about creating your own art.

I encourage people to study as many arts as they can.
I help them through my courses.
I encourage them to take a class to black belt.
I give an education that helps people understand
the concepts and principles involved.
I make the best martial artists in the world.
NO copycats.

So,
you want to be an artist?
A REAL artist,
considering that an artist is somebody who actually creates art?
There is actually only one place on earth that does that.
There is only one place that gives access to a variety of arts,
and is dedicated to the student learning,
as opposed to mindless drilling,
as opposed to the art as a calisthenic,
as opposed to a single art being considered the ONLY art.

Here go…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/2d-create-your-own-art/

Have a great MLK day,
he was a man who believed in peace,
and making peace work
without using force,
is the highest martial art.

Have a great work out!
Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/2d-create-your-own-art/

http://monstermartialarts.com

Walking Through a War Zone with the Martial Arts

You Can Walk Through a War Zone with Martial Arts and Never Fight!

One of the things I realized, after 22 years in the martial arts, which was almost 30 years ago, was that there must be a thought before there can be an action.
Now, while you’re grokking that, let me take it to the logical conclusion: a fight cannot occur unless you make the decision that it can so occur.
Lots of people are going to argue with this, but that is simply because they don’t see thought before action, and so can’t understand what I am saying. They have invested too much time in fighting, and not enough time in the martial arts.
I have, just for the heck of it, walked through a riot without receiving a ding. Nor even a curse word, Nor even a bad look. I did this shortly after the Rodney King riots.
I was simply curious concerning what had happened, but more important, I was curious about my ability to walk through a ‘war zone’ without being attacked.
So I drove down to South Central Los Angeles, sauntered across Normandy and Florence (the flashpoint of the riots), drove around, got out and examined businesses that had been destroyed and so on.
No problem.
Simply, I hadn’t made the decision to get in a fight.
Even if I had run into an insane person…I was safe. An insane person, you see, can’t have an effective thought (before an action). They can’t plan. Period. That is part of their insanity.
And, to tell the truth, I had played with this concept before this occurrence.
Once, in the army, I had a fellow stand in front of me, totally enraged, and tell me he was going to beat the holy you know what out of me.
I said, “No thanks,” and watched him.
He didn’t hit me, he just got madder, and louder, and finally some other fellow in the barracks got pissed at the noise and came over and fought him. While they were rolling around on the floor I went to the movies.
Now, this brings us to the most important point of this little epistle. How do you reach the point of being able to make a decision, or not make a decision, concerning people beating you up?
People who practice fighting, and think that that is martial arts, don’t see the thought before the action. They just get mad (frustrated) when I say things like what I have said here.
People who practice the martial arts, which includes forms (concepts) techniques (plans) and freestyle (translating perfection into chaos), can reach the point of being able to see the thought before the action. They usually don’t, however, because though their art is classical, it is random. Not logical. It hasn’t been matrixed.
So the classicists who achieve this ability of being able to see the thought before an action are few and far between. They usually end up being virtually worshipped. If they make the decision to get worshipped. Usually they prefer to live a quiet life. It is just so much more efficient and pleasurable.
When you matrix your art you put it in logical order.
Never been done in any martial art in the history of the world.
A few people have pushed concepts, and that tends to align an art, and that gives people a chance to break through. But the pushing of the concept usually dies with the founder, and the art becomes a legend, and the movements of the art become rote, then confused, then dispersed.
That’s just the way it is. Logic brings one to a pinnacle, but without the concept of logic (which is different than the concepts in the martial arts) the art descends, and usually pretty rapidly. It is not uncommon to see an art self destruct within a generation of the death of the founder.
So this matrixing thing, this logic, is of crucial importance.
It will not only align your art, make it logical and intuitive, but it will safeguard against the destruction of your art.
Watch, the simple drills and forms I developed through matrixing are going to be around forever. They can’t be improved on because they aren’t so much martial arts as a perfection of logic. People will discover them, do them, and find that, while they are an art unto themselves, and incredibly effective, the real joy is in seeing how the art one does, apart from Matrixing, suddenly rears its head and achieves the goals…and concepts…of the original founders.
And, the only other thing I have to say on this matter is this: it is important to learn an art solely so one can create one’s own art. If one doesn’t create their own art, they really haven’t learned the martial arts.
And all this, seeing the thought before the action, creating your own art, understanding the arts as one art, is only possible through learning the logic of matrixing.

Shaolin Gung Fu Concepts Useful in Real Fighting

Shaolin Gung Fu VERY Effective in Combat!

Here is the lie: Kung fu is a physical art based on mythology, and it has no modern combat applications. The point is that Kung Fu is based upon five animals, and that these animals do not relate to combat. This idea, that the animals don’t relate to combat, is, as we shall see, is so ridiculous it is…ridiculous!

The five kung fu animals In the Shaolin Butterfly are not the classical five animals. The butterfly, the crane, the monkey, the tiger, and the dragon are the five animals in this kung fu. The battle strategies of Shaolin are easily illuminated through a study of these five animals.

gung fu combat strategy

The first animal is the butterfly, and the stance utilized by this animal is the back stance. This stance is used because the butterfly must flit and flee to avoid damage, and the back stance is a step backward. Thus, the direction of the Butterfly is to the rear.

The Crane is the second animal, and the Crane utilizes a one legged stance. Standing on one leg and using kicks a student will achieve great balance. Thus, the crane goes in an upward direction.

The third animal is the monkey, and the stance used by this animal is the horse stance. This stance requires that a person drive their weight downward and hold their position. Thus, the direction of the horse is straight down.

The tiger is the fourth animal, and the tiger utilizes a forward stance. This stance is designed for charging, for attacking, and it is an aggressive stance. Thus, the tiger goes in a forward direction.

The dragon is the fifth animal, and the dragon utilizes a twisted stance, with the body turned over the feet. This stance is good for spinning to catch an opponent unawares, catching oneself in awkward positions, and so on. Thus, the dragon moves in a spin or a circle.

If you examine the points of a compass you will find the directions that the five animals take, and a strategy based upon handling all incoming potentials of attack. The Monkey goes down and the crane goes up, the tiger goes forward and the butterfly goes back, and the dragon circles, which illuminates a distinct possibility for lateral motion.

The directions of these five Shaolin Butterfly animals create a thorough and strong strategy with no weak points–just one of the secrets of the Shaolin Butterfly, which you can find at Monster Martial Arts.

My Martial Arts are the Slowest Martial Arts in the World!

Martial Arts Training at its Best!

Okay, heres a shocker for you to think about–you are learning the martial arts using the slowest method of education in existence in the world. Its true. And it is propagated through the mysticism and awe of attaining something that, should you use an updated method of learning, would speed up your learning up by a factor of ten.

The martial arts work on a method that has worked for the history of the world, for monkeys. This is the monkey see monkey do method of education. Using the monkey see monkey do method of education, you are trained to memorize random strings of data.

Thats absolutely right, random strings of data. In fact, to be perfectly accurate, it is random strings strings of random data, and everything is tied together through mystical concept. Not logical concepts, but mystical concepts.

That system of kung fu you’re practicing, the one based on an animal–I have never heard of an animal being logical. Oh, you fight like an animal would fight, in concept. What youre saying is that the movements that resemble how an animal would move have been gathered together so you could copycat them.

Copycatting is not a concept, and it is not being logical in any sense.

Copycatting is doing what youve been shown…or, in the martial arts world, sold. Lots of money in selling copycat methodology, because you can just keep rearranging the strings of data and fooling people into thinking they are getting something scientific.

Now, you might think that I am down on martial arts because of what I have said. The opposite is the real truth, however–I am so in love with the martial arts it is unbelievable. I dont, however, believe in learning through antiquated methods.

What I do is take the mysticism of the martial arts, utilize logic to line it all up, and learn ten times faster than the next guy. This method, a vastly different than any method you have ever seen, is called Matrixing. Matrixing is an actual scientific method–it is not the latest fake-scientific-wordage (cyber cranial digitation, neural brain synapses, and that sort of made up so on) that internet marketers use to sell their gimmicks.

The inquiry I often get is how does it work. Consider: if you had 4, 5, 3, 8 and a shaved donkey, you wouldnt know how to count. If you had 1, 2, 3, 4, and so on through all of your digits…you would know how to count.

What I do is align the martial concepts in the correct sequence, so there are no missing numbers, no out of order numbers, and no ridiculous concepts tossed in. When people learn the martial arts in this fashion it is possible to learn, as I said, as much as 10 times faster. Of course it all depends on the person learning, and whether they have a basic education, and etc.

The above all being said, it was not an easy thing to figure Matrixing out. In fact, it took me over 30 years, as there was no precedent for what I was doing. The job is completed, however, and martial artists the world over need no longer be trapped by–the slowest method of learning in existence.

Here’s a great article on a more brutal form of martial arts training using…a Tiger!

How to Build Ki Energy with the Body in Martial Arts

Builds Lotsa Ki Energy!

Ki Energy in the Martial Arts is always considered one of those mysterious magician’s gimmicks. Nobody knows how to do it, let alone explain it, yet ki Energy, or chi power or qigong or whatever you want to call it, has grabbed the public imagination.

What is fascinating is that using the body martial arts style, there is an automatic input of energy. Unfortunately, most people never understand it, and thus the effects are unappreciated.

ki energy

Martial Arts Ki Energy!


In this piece of writing I’m going to set forth a couple of rules which should help you generate more ki energy. You’ll find that understanding what you are doing is going to really help your martial arts practice.

When you sink into a martial arts stance you are attaching your body to the earth. To hold the ground or to launch the body through space matters not, there is an attachment of the body to the planet, and from this you build your martial arts power.

When you sink into stance you need to analyze the geometry of the body. The geometry should be based upon a simple triangle. The tan tien (the ‘one point’ located a couple of inches below the belly button) is the top of the triangle, the line between the feet provide the base.

Doesn’t matter what martial arts stance you take – horse stance, back stance, whatever – just examine the triangle and make sure the angles of the triangle are functioning.

Functioning means that you are doing two things.

First, breath to the tan tien.

Second, lower the stance, so that you feel more weight, and thus create more energy.

Do these two things for a while, breathing and grounding, and you will find the function in your stance, and ki energy will start to build in your body and manifest in your martial art.

Karate vs Kung Fu vs Aikido…or whatever the fighting discipline…it doesn’t matter. The stance is the item. The art is a stylistic build upon the stance…and the techniques you do will all be mounted upon the stances.

Now, a couple of things to be wary of.

Don’t turn the feet too far to the sides, or turn them too far inwards, seek an alignment of the feet that supports the intention (direction) of the stance, and therefore the technique. This can be confusing until you realize the simplicity of how everything works.

Keep the tan then inside the base of the feet, lest your triangle topple.

Relax.

Breath rhythmically with your motion. Breath in when the body contracts, breath out when the body expands.

Do you see how basic these martial arts instructions for generating ki energy are? The difficulty lies only in thinking that the stances, which is to say the various postures, are complex, and then having to resolve them by inspection until they are simple and make sense.

Read that last sentence again, it is important, it tells you one of the reasons people make the martial arts such a lo-o-ong subject to study.

The truth of the matter is that the body can be rebuilt in as little as three months, and this includes making real and usable ki power. Watch the US army boot camp, or even one of the PX 90 infomercial ads on late night television.

Whether you change the body, and start manufacturing ki power depends not on years of rare exercises  and drills that you don’t understand, but simply resolving the simple stances and techniques and martial arts kata to the principles explained here.

For more data, check out this bit of writing on Martial Arts Chi Power. Or, if you want, all the principles that I’ve hinted at in this article on ki power are actually given in the Master Instructor Online Course at Monster Martial Arts.