Tag Archives: shotokan

How Matrix Karate Changes ALL Other Martial Arts

Posted on April 26, 2014 | Leave a comment

Matrix Karate a System of Logic

Matrix Karate is a system of martial arts,
but it is a system of logic as well,
and you can apply this logic to ANY other martial art.
Simply do Matrix Karate,
then take the basics of your system,
and I don’t care if it is krav maga
or tai chi,
or even something concocted by Lieutenant X,
and plug it into the forms and techniques
and you will have an instant Matrix of your system.

Now,
that is not the end of it,
but the beginning.
because as soon as you see your system logically,
ALL sorts of other doors are going to open.

And then the classical system that you have been studying
is truly going to become a VERY advanced form of Karate.

You won’t have those mysterious ‘hidden techniques’
holding you back.

You won’t have the political bushwah
that destroyed your system
in the way any more.

You won’t have any less than adequate instruction
that you might have received,
in your way.

Simply,
you will understand how everything fits together,
and then when you take another look
at that classical system,
you will realize something:
if your system is unchanged enough
then you will truly benefit from the concept
of it being a closed combat system.

A closed combat system is one
which was designed by evolution of generations,
doing only what works,
until you have something truly rare,
a true masterpiece,
something that can evolve the human being.

And,
if it is changed,
then you will have the tools
to RETURN it to
a closed combat method
once again.

I don’t care if your system has been…
altered by politicians,
twisted by political organizations,
changed for tournaments,
diluted for kids,
designed to make money,
or whatever,
or ANYTHING else…
you will be able to fix it.

And,
I guarantee this,
even if you can’t see what has been left out,
you will be able to figure it out after matrixing.

Now,
Matrix Karate is that powerful.
But,
here’s something I run across.
I come across,
usually in forums,
the people who say…
I know what you did,
I know what you are doing…
I’ve already done that.

Here’s the cruel trap,
there are enlightened human beings out there,
and they well might have figured out
what the heck is happening,
and they might actually have insight into their own souls.
These guys might well be VERY powerful people.

BUT…
they did it without method.
Or,
the method they used is antiquated,
based on ancient hieroglyphics
or whatever,
and…

THEY CAN’T EXPLAIN IT!

Which means they can’t teach it.
They can’t explain what they are doing,
accept in the most obtuse and confused manner.
They will resort to sayings from the Tao,
which is a good book,
but not a science,
and can be very confusing in itself.

And these guys,
no matter how smart,
end up losing students
because they don’t have a good, scientific method.

And,
I ask them,
‘have you ever seen a matrix?’
And they say nothing.
Because they are holding on to the fact
that they know something.
They don’t undersdtand,
won’t understand,
that I am not trying to destroy their system,
I am only making it so they can understand it
and teach it,
and create a REAL golden age of Martial Arts.

Now,
I have made it REAL easy.
First,
there is the course itself,
available on MonsterMartialArts.com,
and a few other places.
Second,
there is an example of me teaching the course,
complete from white to black.
That is on Monstermartialarts.com
and a few other places.
Third,
if you want to understand Matrixing theory,
there is Matrixing: the Master Text.
That is available on MonsterMartialArts.com
and a few other places.
Fourth,
there is the Matrixing Karate series.
Five books detailing ALL sorts of stuff,
available on Amazon.

Now,
here is the funny thing,
you probably paid
$50 a month for your lessons,
maybe a lot more.
And the material here is less expensive than…
all the years of your lessons,
a movie and dinner with your mate,
a used tire,
a new Tokaido gi,
A TANKFUL OF GAS!
groceries for a week (if you eat a lot)
a few cases of beer (and better for you)
a pair of Nikes,
and all sorts of other stuff,
and you end up with
MORE KNOWLEDGE
than ALL your years of previous training.
Or,
at least,
the ability to make TOTAL sense
out of ALL your martial arts.

Okay,
thanks for letting me get that out.
I know it is a sales push,
but there is data in there,
and if we are going to have a REAL golden age of martial arts,
it really is necessary.

Okay,
it rained up here at Monkeyland,
so I have to replace an inverter,
clean out culverts,
chase the cows out of the crops,
and go look at the birds.
Saw the most AMAZING buzzard hawk today.
Truly magnificent.
Sitting on the highest branch
of the tallest tree
on the highest mountain here.
Heck,
maybe I better just move that to the top of the list,
Yes,
watch birds all day,
then go work on a ‘Buzzard Hawk’ form.
That’s what I have to do.
You guys and gals,
I really want you to have an enlightening work out,
really get into it,
really analyze the way you shift your weight,
keep your blaance,
and how that combines to create EXTRA energy.

Have a great work out!
Al

that you are.

Have a great work out!
Al

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

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Posted in karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, shaolin, taekwondo

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Finding Truth by Being Silent

Posted on March 17, 2014 | Leave a comment

How to Find The Truth of the Martial Arts

I just finished a book, Matrixing Karate: Master, which is number five, and the last, of a series on how to Matrix the Martial Arts. It should be up on Amazon ina couple of days or so.

One of the last things I wrote I figured I would share with you. Hopefully whet your appetite for more; for the precise method as to how to get to this level of thought.

You can’t speak and listen at the same time.
Go on, try it.
What you’ll get is a garbledegook where you have to rely on memory, or mocking up the confusion you just experienced, to describe what you ‘heard.’ And whatever you said was premade and ejected without thought.

So, in the martial arts, you can’t attack and defend at the same time.
Physically, by the technique, you can.
But the frame of mind leading up to the attack or the defense, you can’t assume both frames of mind at the same time.
You either have to be in the attack mode, or the defense mode. You can’t be in both.
Go on, try it. If you succeed, it will be because of mental gymnastics, and not because of clarity of thought and calmness of mind.

What this does is make the universe into a binary experience; it makes it black or white…depending on whether you can isolate the difference between speaking and listening.

And, for most of us, this means you have to shut up.
If you don’t have to shut up you are going to be classified a ‘beta’ personality by the people in charge of labels, and life is going to be a frustrating experience of you being a victim.
But, if you can be ‘alpha,’ and I mean while you are actually ‘listening,’ then the universe is going to peal back for you and give up its juicy innards.

Most people, you see, are so confused, so garbled, that they run around screaming and shouting mindlessly, and then wonder why everybody in the world is so stupid that they can’t listen.

So you have to do your forms, calm your mind through this ritual, through this pattern of circuitry (I know, a bit redundant, but it is better said that way).
And you have to make yourself not speak, except in the most gentle and precise sense.

When you go into a hamburger stand, don’t ask for no pickles and extra ketchup and could they toast the bun not so much…just ask for a number one. And whisper, so that the girl actually has to listen to you.

When you teach, don’t speak. Remember, teaching by speaking is not listening, speaking too much while teaching and you won’t have any idea of whether your students get it.

Instead, summarize the teaching in one sentence, a short sentence, and then watch, observe. Listen. See if the student gets it. If you have to use two sentences then your teaching is lacking.

Okay, that’s how you do it. Though, to be sure, I certainly recommend getting a course on Matrixing, and the five book series, available on Amazon, called ‘Matrixing Karate,’ and further divided into white belt, green belt, brown belt, black belt, and Master appellations, is the latest and best way to get where you are going.

And where are you going?
To the truth. If you can just shut up long enough to hear it.

Have a great work out!
Al from monstermartialarts(dot)com.

If you want to check out Matrixing Karate (the series), then go to Amazon and type in

‘Matrixing Karate Al Case’

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Posted in karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, shaolin, taekwondo, wing chun

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Things You Didn’t Know about the Karate Low Block

Posted on March 15, 2014 | Leave a comment

Let’s start right from the first karate block.

Right from the first block you ever learned…
the low block.

First off,
people are trained to block kicks with it.
Not a great idea.

Yes,
it is for kicks,
but you have to be careful in how you use it.
It is actually better for low punches.
It fits,
it makes sense.
And if you use it on a kick,
before you are ready,
you can hurt yourself.
Like…
break a bone hurt.

So here’s the deal,
Kicking is a certain range.
Punching is a certain range.
And so on.

If somebody kicks at you,
you should step back.
They are at their longest range,
a simple step back
keeps the range extended,
makes them reach,
makes them have to overcommit
if they want to get anywhere.
So you step back,
side step,
and just watch.
Calm your mind,
take your time,
and observe.
Finally, they will over commit,
and here’s the trick.
When you do the low block
DO NOT
block a fully extended limb.
Full extension means full power.
So you have to block their kick before it reaches extension.
This means sliding in to punching distance,
blocking,
and launching your counter.
If you counter a kick with a kick,
you will both have bruised shins,
and the fight will go on.
But if you counter a kick with a punch,
you are closing the distance,
and making him blink,
jamming his space and threatening him.
He now has to recalibrate.
He has to reset his thinking.
Set his body up for a whole new potential of motions.
A simple change in range will do that do an attacker.

I remember really messing with people’s minds,
simply shifting my weight an inch forward,
or an inch back,
right in the middle of their kick.
If they kept kicking,
they would be jammed, or overextended.
A kick is that slow,
that you can do that.
Especially if you calm yourself,
sit back,
and watch.

I would do this,
jamm or back back up,
just a little bit,
and people would stumble,
almost fall,
from trying to keep up with such a small motion.

So here’s the key,
for leg attacks,
which are further away,
and slower in coming,
you simply change the range.
Shift forward or back,
lift the leg as if preparing to kick,
but not kicking,
and just throwing the guy’s general sense of timing
into the dumpster.
When he closes,
a low block is what you do for a punch.

Don’t block a bigger bone with a smaller bone,
until you have enough experience.

Instead,
mess up his distance,
which will mess up his timing,
(Time is a measurement of distance),
and save the low block for the lower level punch.

NOW,
let’s say you’ve got the experience,
and it is time to use the block on the leg.
Remember,
time is distance,
and if you practice your forms and techniques
you will reach a stage,
where your sense of time is different from his sense of time.
He kicks,
and you will feel time slow down,
and you will be able to slip your arms forward
and block the kick
in the middle of it all.
You won’t block bone to bone,
but rather move in on his slow and predictable motion
and block as if apart from his sense of time.
By your own sense of time.
That’s when your low block will start to work for blocking kicks.
This is really a zen thing,
a mushin no shin thing
(Mind of no mind),
and the way to get it is not by fighting,
but by doing your forms and techniques,
endlessly,
and analyzing fighting.
Examining fighting,
looking at it,
until it stops being fighting
and starts being a science of motion.

Okey dokey,
you guys and gals practice.
The Matrixing Karate series
has four volumes published,
white belt, green belt, brown belt, and black belt,
and you can find them on Amazon.

Here’s the link to the BLACK BELT volume.

You can findall of the volumes if you google

‘Al Case Matrixing Karate’

Have yourself a GREAT work out!

Al

 

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Posted in karate, kenpo, kung fu, mixed martial arts, self defense, shaolin, taekwondo

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Master of Karate Defeats a Mugger!

Posted on October 5, 2013 | Leave a comment

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!

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Two Words that Can Slay the Mightiest Warrior!

Posted on October 3, 2013 | Leave a comment

Two Words You Never Want to Hear!

Happy work out!
That’s not dangerous,
that’s probably the best blessing in the world.
An actual time when you can dedicate yourself
to making the body strong, the mind quick and sharp,
and the pure enhancement of you,
and NOBODY can get in your way
All of which leads us to the most dangerous words in the universe.,
and what you can do to defeat them.

A man guilty of these two words is in an eternal box of limited potential.

A man guilty of these two words is in an eternal box of limited potential.


Before I tell you what these dangerous words are,
and what you can do to undo them,
let me ask you a question.
Would you like to do one thing for the rest of your life?
Maybe build outhouses.

Let’s say you discovered that you’re a fair carpenter,
and that you build outhouses that are far better
than the outhouses built by anyone in the world.

You become famous for building outhouses,
and the government discovers that you are a natural treasure,
so they pass a law dictating that you will be
the sole and only national outhouse builder.
And they even give you lots of money for doing this.

So you go to work,
and,
at first you are happy.
Such luxurious outhouses.
Brass rails and furry seats,
endless supplies of the softest paper.
Believe me,
you are making a world happy.

And it’s good…for the first few years.
Then,
you wish you could do something else.
I mean,
as good as your outhouses are,
it’s all you do,
and it’s getting boring.
Polish the handrails,
glue the velvet on the seat,
put the paper on the roll.
Man,
maybe you’re the best,
but it feels like you could train a chimp to do it.

But,
there’s that darned law,
people expect you to make outhouses,
and the money is so good…
so you keep going.

A few more years pass,
and you are going out of your mind!
Same old same old
dat after day,
the goldurn railing,
the Frigging velvet glued down,
you even hate gluing the half moon to the door!

So you try to quit,
but nobody will give you a job because,
darn it,
you’re the supplier of America’s bottoms!
People wouldn’t be able to,
uh,
do their business…
without you!
You are more important than a national treasure!
You are the sole industry and you are the only one who is allowed to do it it and…
and you start buying drugs to escape the pain of the same old same old.

but you can’t escape,
you are doomed to building outhouses until the day you die,
which can happen none too soon,
if it was up to you.

but it can’t happen because of Obamacare,
you are taken care of,
not allowed to die,
doomed to polish handrails and glue velvet,
and,
hate to say it,
but congress is considering another bill,
they are considering making you the sole outhouse builder of the nation
next lifetime.
That’s right,
reincarnation.
Karma…
ain’t it a be-yotch?

Now,
pay attention here,
because I will tell you how to undo the effects
of the most dangerous words in the universe
in just a few sentences…
don’t just break the mouse and smash the computer because of these words,
but the two most dangerous words in the whole, entire universe are…
normalcy bias.

Normalcy bias is when you are happy that everything is normal.

The reason these words are so dangerous is because,
in the extreme,
you will be doomed to be the world’s best outhouse builder.
in the un-extreme,
these words are dangerous because
they make you content to just wallow your way through life.

Imagine being happy with minimum wage…
that’s normalcy bias.

Imagine being happy with a wife that cheats…
that’s normalcy bias.

Imagine being happy with a child that is a bone brain
who burns cats for fun…
that’s normalcy bias.

Now,
I know it all seems sort of…funny,
maybe quaint,
and maybe you’re not all that alarmed,
that’s normalcy bias.

But I’m not going to tell you the really scary thing about it
until I tell you what to do about it.
I want you to finish this page
before you go cry and hide in a corner.

It is very neutronic to say…
there are only three directions in this universe.

There is towards, away from, or with.
That’s it.
Every other direction in this universe
is just a shade of those three things.

A car is careening towards you,
you can run away from it,
you can run towards it,
or you can figure out how to hop on and take a ride.

If you choose any angle that is going away,
that is still away.
If you choose any angle that goes towards,
that is still towards.
If you can get the driver to slow down
so you can get in the door,
or hop on the hood,
or whatever,
that is with.

And this applies to a fist.

Let’s say somebody tries to hit you.
You can run away from him,
you could tackle him,
or you could guide his fist harmlessly past.

An aikido master has mastered this concept of going with.

But the master of ANY martial art (but not sport like MMA)
has mastered this.
Simply,
he has mastered the motions of the universe
so that he can do what he wants with them.
He is not the victim of a fist that smashes into his face,
he is the receiver of a blessing
that he can manipulate to his own enjoyment and satisfaction.

Joe Blow,
not knowing any martial arts,
is an accident waiting to happen.
When the fist flies,
he is going to eat knuckles.
Simply,
he is going to wallow around,
and has no knowledge
of how make the fist work for him.
How to slip it like in Pa Kua
or guide it in wing chun,
or absorb it in Tai Chi,
or harmonize with it in aikido.

Joe’s older brother,
Rollo,
has been studying karate for ten years,
so he can block and strike.
Their father,
Louis,
is matrixing,
so when the mugger flies out of the alley
with a knife in one hand and a club in the other,
screaming dirty words and exposing himself,
which of these three people is going to die because of normalcy bias?

Joe is dead meat.
He was so lame that he didn’t study anything.
He was happy to be a doofus,
going through life without working at anything.
This is the worst case of Normalcy Bias.

Rollo has a chance,
but not much of one.
After all,
the mugger is high on drugs and can’t feel anything,
and he is insane,
and even if Rollo manages to block,
his decisions are limited,
he only has a couple of choices,
and they are based on going towards.
You see,
he had normalcy bias, too.
He was happy to study one art for ten years,
not speeding up,
not looking into other potentials of motion.
Pap Louis will survive because he didn’t have normalcy bias.
He wasn’t satisfied with not knowing the martial arts,
and he didn’t limit himself to one martial art,
but he dedicated his life to learning ALL martial arts.

So the moral is this:
people who don’t accept normal as the rule
will live to fight another day.

Think about it like this:
you are the first person in America,
and you need to walk across the country.
You reach the first river,
and you are stopped.
But the guy who spent his life not just walking,
but learning to swim and climb and jump and…
he’s the one who’s going to make it across the country.

And if you are satisfied with one little corner of the country,
of living in one neighborhood,
and knowing only fifty or sixty people during your lifetime,
than…you go it…NB.
Normalcy Bias.

So go to Monster,
pick the course you don’t know anything about,
and get out of Normalcy Bias.
See to your survival
for ALL potentials of motion.
Not just the one dictated to
by one martial art,
or two.

Here’s the URL…
http://monstermartialarts.com

Al

Decided to make a separate newsletter for Monkeyland.
To sign up simply go to the ChurchofMartialArts.com
and subscribe at the top of the right sidebar.

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Posted in bruce lee, jeet kune do, martial arts, mixed martial arts, shaolin, wing chun

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Karate Puzzle Makes Martial Arts Fun and Easy to Learn!

Posted on July 16, 2013 | Leave a comment

Speed up Learning with a Karate Puzzle!

The Karate Puzzle is the brainchild of Andreas Sturm.

Now, unfortunately for non-Germanic speaking people, the website is written in German. A wonderful language that I can’t speak.

Karate Puzzle

Andreas Sturm, inventor of the Karate Puzzle!


However, a little work with the google translator, and it is easy!

The puzzles themselves are sliding images, and all you have to do is figure out which button to click to mix up the images, then slide them back into place!

Now, I found this quite interesting, and it did tax my poor brain. Even after doing the forms for over forty years, I found myself having to sort through the pictures to figure out the sequence.

And, sorting them in this fashion will help your ability to learn the forms and do them faster.

It really is ingenious, and one of those things where you slap your head and think, ‘Why didn’t I think of this?’

But you didn’t, and Andreas did, and well done to him.

There are seventeen kata on the puzzle page, a full range of the Shotokan forms. This will keep you busy into the wee hours, so when you can’t get to the dojo, you can simply open a soda pop, go through the various forms, and get yourself an armchair work out that actually works!

As for Mr. Sturm…he began his study of Karate in 1995, and began instructing in 2002.

Though the website is in a foreign language, using the translator I was able to read it pretty easily, though a bit slower than I am used to. It is a good website, fileld with solid information, and, of course, there are the puzzles.

Interested in visiting the site? It is at Karate Puzzle.

This article was written by Al Case, for more information on fantastic martial arts training methods like the Karate Puzzle, visit him at Monster Martial Arts.

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Gichin Funakoshi, Dark Alleys, and Gloopy Aliens!

Posted on June 23, 2013 | Leave a comment

Gichin Funakoshi Self Defense for the Masses!

Speaking of Gichin Funakoshi…let me first say good morning.

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.

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

gichin funakoshi

Where is that Gichin Funakoshi guy?

 

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 Funakoshi 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.

This has been a page about Gichin Funakoshi, and here’s another page about the Martial Art behind his shotokan.

This piece on Gichin Funakoshi was reprinted from Matrix Martial Arts 2009/06/04.

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Karate Throws to Break an Opponent’s Spirit!

Posted on May 27, 2013 | Leave a comment

Karate Throws to Warm Your Heart!

Speaking of Karate Throws… It used to be people learned Karate so they could one punch a sucker. Put him to sleep for a week. Then, people couldn’t do it, and by the time the nineties rolled around they were ready for Mixed Martial Arts. Ready to throw and lock, ground and pound, smash and trash, and all that.

shotokan karate throw

Best Karate Throw

Now, first, you can one punch somebody if you do it right. It has to do with depth of punch, time of actual contact (impact) and delivering an idea.

But, this is not about that one punch idea, this is about throws, and a lot of people gave up their karate training because there weren’t any throws in it.

My, my. Ain’t we silly.

Gichin Funakoshi got together with Jigaro Kano. Gichin was asking about throws, Jigaro taught him some. Then Gichin did a throw that he had not been taught by Jigaro. Jigaro was surprised and asked him about it, and Gichin replied… ‘Oh, we have throws in Karate.’

We have throws in Karate, what an interesting statement. Yet the whole world thinks we don’t! Yet the founder of modern day Karate says we do. So why don’t we see many throws in Karate?

One reason is because it is easier to teach punches to huge classes.

Another reason might be the Japanese had throws, so why teach them what they already had?

Another reason might be the Okinawans didn’t want to teach their samurai busting techniques, to the culture that created the samurai.

Heck, there could be a lot of reasons. My personal favorite reason the Okinawans didn’t teach a lot of throwing techniques in Karate (they did teach some), is that the specific physics of Karate don’t favor the particular mechanics of the body when doing throws.

The reason I say that is I learned a few throws, but they relied on violent karate style motion, and we didn’t have any ‘judo techniques’ style of motion.

Anyway, consider all that as you wish, let’s talk about throws.

In Pinan Three. The spear hand technique, you can translate that into an arm wrapping technique, and take a guy down easy squeezy.

Or, in Pinan Three, when you are doing the foot raise elbow and backfist on the way back down the center of the form, you can slide into an opponent, insert yourself under his arm, and effectively ‘split’ him. Bottom half goes one way, top half goes the other. And, voila…a throw.

Or, Pinan Three, at the end, when you do the horse stance, punch over the shoulder. Perfect for a grab from behind, you grab his arm, sideways movement with an arm throw.

Karate Throws at the end of each technique…Check out Matrix Kung Fu if you want all the throws.

Now, that’s just three off the top, the truth is, I could easily find a dozen throws in that form alone.

However, I don’t bother. I was interested, I looked, I saw, but I found that it was much better to matrix the body, isolate specific lines of energy, and therefore to isolate the throws and present them as a matrix.

I don’t teach big massive arts, I don’t teach Karate with all the techniques of all the other arts, I teach karate as a specific and ordered set of principles, as a science and not an art, and then I teach throws as a specific and ordered art in Matrix Kung Fu (Monkey boxing).

To try to teach all the arts through one particular art’s viewpoint is how we got in the mess in the first place. Somebody learns a concept, say it is the clinging energy of Mantis Kung Fu, then they try to include every single concept they have ever learned under the mantle of preying mantis Kung Fu, and suddenly they are trying to teach the elephant style of Mantis.

And it doesn’t make sense!

All the concepts don’t fit together if you try to teach them from a single viewpoint!

But, if you teach each martial art from the unique viewpoint of that art, then the arts become small and bite sized.

The problem, of course, is that people have never really isolated the specific concepts of their arts. Karate is ‘hard,’they say. But that’s not the unique concept of Karate! That is a generality, it points to art, and not to science!

‘Tai Chi Kung Fu is soft,’ they say. But all kung fu is not soft, and so there is misunderstanding, concepts are mushed together, and people are left to dig their way through the mess.

Do you understand?

For an art to be considered as a science it must be made logical, pried apart form other arts, aligned within itself, kept separate form other influences.

Then, when it is understood, it can be put together with the other arts, which is to say, other arts can be taught in similar fashion, and put together and made into a whole.

Studied as a mush, it takes decades to lifetimes to master the martial arts. Taken as small, bite sized, and logical matrixes of information, the whole art can be absorbed quickly and smoothly. Mastered in a couple of years.

But, don’t believe me. Try Matrix Kung Fu,

1b Matrix Kung Fu

See for yourself. Matrix Kung Fu is virtual all the standing up takedowns in the martial arts. If there is a takedown not there, it is invariably able to be figured out from the throws that are there.

Oinky donkey, nuff said. I hope I’ve said enough to bring you out of the dark ages, because the golden age of the martial arts is about to open.

Matrix Martial Arts shows you where the doorknob is, and all you have to do is turn and enter. That simple.

Now, before I go, Check out The Map. It’s on the menu of Monster Martial Arts. I used to have one of these a long time ago, and I’ve brought it back, very interesting, especially if you are on it.

Okay, remember…

1b Matrix Kung Fu

And I’ll talk to you next Friday.

Al

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