Find the Real You!
Speaking of Martial Arts, I just read an ad, one of those cheesy internet ads, about unlocking the inner you.
You’re only using 10% of your brain, and wouldn’t it be wonderful if you could unlock the other 90%? Continue reading
Bagua Zhang Technique is an easy thing to learn and simple to apply. The problem is that they might actually be to simple.
Too simple to learn because most people don’t have the discipline of mind, the mental ability, to make Bagua Zhang Martial Arts work. They get lost in the endless possibilities of intricacy, and lose sight of the simplicity.
Come on! All of you! At once! I know the best martial art!
When you walk the circle you must do so with an eye to developing Martial Arts Bagua Zhang Technique. These martial arts gems rely on one simple principle: the opponent must extend his arm, and the person doing the circle walking self defense must use the extended limb like a captain’s wheel. That is, he must turn the spoke, that the hub of the body would revolve.
If the punch is fast and hard, this is difficult to do, and what punch is not going to be fast?
The solution is to practice until you see the energy forming, until you see the punch generating, and then be willing and able to use whatever part of the arm you get.
For instance, the attacker launches a strike, and it is a short, circular type of jab. To make a bagua zhang technique work the student must go with the punch, let it pass, and push on the elbow, or even the shoulder.
This means you have to not only walk sideways, but you have to fine tune your distance, so that the opponent misses, passes, and is the right range for your push.
When you push you must not do so faster than the strike, nor slower. The best bagua zhang techniques are going to be the ones in which you harmonize with the motion, and therefore with the attacker.
Think: if he feels you touch him, he will resist, so if you use too much force he will change. But you don’t want him to change…you just want him to be slightly out of kilter, unable to follow up, at a slight disadvantage.
Now, what do you want to do? Continue your circle walking and tie him in knots? Spin him to the earth, circle the arm and reverse direction into a lock or takedown? These are all potential bagua fighting techniques, but the one you choose will depend on one thing: what is the most simple.
What is simple, that is what is difficult. You see, most people train to do something, but when you reach the point where you do nothing, then you can let the attacker guide you to his self destruction.
There is a phrase in The Tao: ‘Do nothing until nothing is left undone.’
Do you understand how this works with a bagua zhang techniques?
The point is that you must practice not the technique, but the concept behind the technique, then your kung fu will work, and then you will have the effortless Bagua Zhang technique that is easy and simple to do.
There is a great piece of writing on how to learn kung fu fast at Monster Martial Arts. Or you could just go to the ultimate bible on Bagua Zhang techniques.
Posted in aikido, bagua zhang, chi power, kung fu, pa kua chang, tai chi chuan
Tagged aikido, ba gua zhang, karate, kenpo, kung fu, shaolin, tai chi chuan
I went to see superman today,
definitely a martial arts movie.
Supie has daddy probs,
and the bad guy has mommie probs,
(not really, but it sounds funny to say)
and it is a slugfest fantastic!
And I had this thought
about halfway through the movie.
There’s a little superman in ALL of us!
A martial artist is a superman.
Sure we are.
We’re stronger,
longer lasting.
We rarely get sick,
we even tend to avoid accidents!
Wouldn’t you say that is a cut above Joe Ordinary?
So what makes us that way,
and what is our kryptonite?
What makes us superman is simple.
On the physical level it is the simple work out.
When you do a the first form of Karate,
for instance,
you are doing twenty lunges.
By the time you have done five forms
you have done lunges,
kneels,
squats,
all manner of sheer physical exercise.
So when you are doing Martial Arts,
you are doing body calisthenics
the way a madman might do them.
Or…
a superman.
On the second level we have energy.
Every time you do your forms
you are doing cycles of deep breathing.
This oxygenates the body,
feeds the tan tien
(the energy generator)
and cause incredible amounts of sheer energy
to swarm through the body.
So when you are doing martial arts
you are feeding the energy system,
and making something
a lot longer lasting and more powerful
than even the muscles you have built up.
On the third level we have thought.
Thought is the most powerful thing in the universe,
and Joe Ordinary doesn’t even know it exists!
Joe Ordinary thinks thought is doing a book report,
or something like that!
But we know the truth.
We know the truth because we built up all that energy,
and all that energy had to be controlled,
and the only way to control energy is with thought.
And all that energy we build up in the body,
as we learn to control it,
we learn to control the energy of the universe.
And thus,
through three levels,
we become stronger,
longer lasting,
have more energy,
know how to control that energy.
Can you understand why I refer to us as…
supermen!
Now,
what is our kryptonite?
That is an interesting question.
What can harm us?
The only thing in the universe,
the whole entire universe,
that can harm a superman is…
himself!
He can abuse his powers,
fragment his self,
lose sight of that incredible energy that is him.
The exact procedure
for making yourself less than a superman,
and,
indeed,
less than a man,
is to forsake virtue.
Virtue is part of the soul,
it is the desire to do good.
When we don’t teach,
share the lessons,
spread our charm,
then the energy dies,
we fragment,
and lose sight of our superhuman selves.
Virtue.
Help a child.
Pet a dog.
Laugh at a barbecue.
Wrestle with your younger brother…and let him win.
Tell a girl she is beautiful.
Hold a job,
learn,
share.
That’s all it takes to protect our superhuman powers.
And how super can we get?
Well,
that depends on your work out.
The more work out you do,
the more forms you do…
(every form is a prayer)
…the stronger you get.
The more times you do a technique,
the more integrated you become as a human being.
The more times you kick and punch,
the more you fill yourself with superhuman powers.
And,
of course,
there are going to be those that disagree.
Who say that I’m wrong,
and give other reasons.
but they are mere earthlings.
If we are patient enough,
we can raise them up.
And patience is a virtue.
And maybe they will come,
someday,
to the truth that we know.
You are a superman.
So,
go enjoy the movie.
Have a ball.
Eat popcorn and cheer for the good guys,
and feel sorry for the bad guys.
They just haven’t worked out enough,
lost sight of themselves,
don’t know their own power.
Enjoy the movie.
And,
BTW,
the new site is called…
Free Bruce Lee.
Google it,
it’s about a super guy,
and it’s got some super stuff on it,
and it is built for super people to enjoy.
Have a great work out!
Al
And don’t forget to go to…
Start your journey to superhuman right here…
Posted in bruce lee, chi power, karate, kenpo, kung fu, martial arts, shaolin, tai chi chuan, Uncategorized
Tagged aikido, hapkido, karate, kung fu, shaolin, taekwondo, tai chi chuan
Oinkey donkey, I gots a new martial arts website. Well, okay, it’s an old one, but I remade it with modern technology, and I get to…blog! Yeah, that was something that was missing from the old Monster Martial Arts. And what should the subject of my first blog be?
How to Matrix.
Official Monster Martial Arts Emblem
Now, in a nutshell, matrixing is merely to organize. That is all. And, in the martial arts, the mountain just fell on Mohammad.
You see, the martial arts are nothing but messed up organization.
Consider, when you learn a system, like Karate or kung fu or whatever, the system is a ‘put together.’ It is the culmination of the techniques somebody has encountered during his lifetime.
This is okay, until you consider that the fellow who put the system together hasn’t experienced all the martial arts out there. He might have two or three systems (viewpoints or ‘slices’ of the whole martial arts), chooses his techniques, usually making the system top heavy, and teaches it.
That’s like saying count to ten, and giving the student the numbers: 3, G, Z, 7, 1, elephant and watermelon.
He’s not going to make it to ten!
But, man being the cleverest of all species, will tie what he knows together with some concept, and sell the concept, and the world rejoices. Especially if he is good at beating people up.
Not at teaching, but at beating people up.
That’s where Matrixing comes in.
When I took my first Kenpo classes, back in 1967, the instructor gave me four blocks. Low, Hi, Middle Outward, and Middle Inward. “See,” he said, “You can protect yourself in four directions, up, down and side to side.”
And he was right, and it was logical, and…that was the end of the matrixed approach.
After that I learned movements where I raked the forearms paralyzing the radial nerve, and I crossed his wrists to twine my opponent, and movements where I ‘sculpted’ his body, all while pretending he wasn’t moving.
Where was the logic in that?
And don’t get the idea that I am picking on Kenpo. Kenpo is a great art. And so is Karate and Aikido and Kung Fu, and…and they all suffer from the same problem: they are put togethers. Conglomerations of techniques loosely tied together by concept.
So, let me ask you. What are the eight blocks of Karate. And I mean ALL the blocks of Karate. And I mean the ONLY blocks of Karate?
And, why are they the ALL and the ONLY in Karate? What actual physical geometry makes them the all and the only? And, what is the actual body structure that they are based upon, and if they aren’t based upon it, they won’t work?
And this is a simple question, and it is handled and answered, with scientific accuracy and total competence, in the first chapters of Matrix Karate.
And then it gets wild. Because the logic I preach, this matrixing, this organization of martial arts, goes through ALL the martial arts, organizing them piece by piece.Karate through Kung Fu through Aikido, how to be an instructor, through Kung Fus from Shaolin to Tai Chi. And Weapons.And Chi power.
This is the first time in history this has been done. A complete and logical scientific assessment of the martial arts.
And the results of studying it are amazing.
People become logical, and then…intuitive.
People become fast and powerful, and they do it quickly.
Not in decades, but in months. Even weeks, if they have already done their homework and just need the correct data to tie their arts together.
And that’s what Matrixing is, and what it does.
So if what I’ve said makes sense, if you want to change yourself, make yourself calm and logical, and then totally intuitive…if you want to master the martial arts, not the pieces called the individual arts, but the whole thing, then check out Matrix Karate.
I’ve made it inexpensive, the price of a hamburger and a movie with popcorn, so anybody can afford it. So, check it out.
This has been a page about Matrixing the Martial Arts.
Posted in Uncategorized
Tagged aikid, karate, kung fu, martial arts, shaolin, tai chi chuan
Al Case began MA in 1967. Started writing for the mags 1981. Had his own column in Inside Karate 1991. Originated Matrixing 1984. Established Monster Martial Arts 2002.
