Good morning! Good morning!
I made it to Clearwater, Florida,
and am advertising for students.
Yippee!
Back in the saddle again.
So how are you guys doing?
Do you work out every single day?
I do.
Can’t stop.
Even if I’m beat and battered,
then I simply work out slowly,
tai chi style.
Tai Chi is a wonderful art,
and outside of matrixed martial arts,
it is one of the two most powerful classical arts I know.
(the other is karate)
Unfortunately,
most people think it is for health,
and old people,
and not much use for self defense.
I’ll tell you something interesting,
I don’t think I really began to truly understand
martial arts and self defense
until I began to delve into Tai Chi.
Oh,
I could beat people up.
But not if they were better and faster than me.
But once I learned Tai Chi
I began to relax in combat,
to see what people were going to do
before they did it.
The trick,
of course,
is to develop the patience.
When you are first doing that slow ‘ward off’ move,
you ask,
how can this work?
Aside form being slow,
it doesn’t have much application.
But the secret of learning
is to keep looking at something
until you understand it.
So I looked and looked
and went slower,
and…here it comes…
FORCED MY MIND TO SLOW DOWN!
Yes,
your mind is an errant child,
throwing distractions at you.
But if you MAKE yourself move slowly,
and MAKE your mind accept a different mode of thinking,
then everything becomes understandable,
and even those weird moves suddenly make sense.
And you find the applications.
And you find out that there is a vast world
of balance and sensitivity
of perception and appreciation.
Unfortunately,
if you don’t do this,
if you don’t MAKE your mind behave,
you miss out on all this wonder.
And you actually miss out
on a lot of the true meaning of the Martial Arts.
Just saying…
So here’s the Tai Chi Package.
Will help you look,
will help you MAKE your mind behave,
will show you some of the incredible self defenses,
that other arts miss out on.
Happy New Year! And a dirty word to you. A dirty word? But…which dirty word?
The word is… ATARAXIA.
I will explain why it is a dirty word later. Right now, let me say that, dirty or not, it is the one word you should know, especially if you wish to be a real martial artist.
I do want to warn you, that if you’re not prepared for a little concentration, a bit of hard thought, and the willingness to look your face right in the mirror, you better skip this newsletter.
Here we go.
Ataraxia is derived from Greek. it means… ‘not disturbed.’ It is freedom from distress and worry.
Or, A state of serene calmness.
This is not just a philosophical word. Philosophy, as in dry old men who sit around and talk about life.
This is freedom from worrying about whether some fellow is going to attack you, whether your car is going to make it to work, or even where your next meal is coming from. Heck, it is even freedom from the fellows in Washington, who do their best to disturb any tranquil state of the soul.
And here’s the real definition.
Ataraxia is an untroubled and tranquil condition of the soul… THE IDEAL STATE FOR SOLDIERS ENTERING BATTLE! (Caps mine.)
But, we have just scratched the surface of the word.
Dig in a little deeper and we have… ‘live life modestly, gain a knowledge of the world, and limit one’s desires.’
Yikes! That means you don’t need a Ferrari, a cheap junker will do, if it will get you from here to there, which is the point of it all.
If you live modestly and seek knowledge, you will become free from fear… you will be happy.
But, it gets even juicier. A person who takes no position as to what is good or bad attains a state of ataraxia. Good or bad, you see, is a judgment. A person who judges others has removed himself from humanity.
And, yet more. A person who pursues virtue will achieve ataraxia.
So, to become a warrior, a real warrior, possessed of virtues and honor, you have to give up desires, you have to stop judging others, then you can become balanced, and that balance will manifest as a peaceful state of the soul.
Now do you understand why this simple word is so important? Do you understand why a year spent delving into it will result in yourself as a higher caliber martial artist?
And, of course, a few work outs a day. Work outs like in Monkey Boxing. Every week you get more data, old training drills that are now forgotten. New training drills to fill in the pieces. And an inspiration to work out. To not stop. To explore the martial arts to delve into what makes you you.
Think about it like this, think about this different way of looking at things: if something bad happens, you don’t get upset or emotional, for it has already happened. You don’t react, but merely move to calm the situation.
And, if you can do this, then you start to see ‘disturbances’ coming, and you start to act BEFORE the deed, thus preventing a disturbance to your ataraxia, and helping others to achieve this ideal state of spirituality.
That’s how it all works.
So why is Ataraxia a dirty word?
Because saying ‘dirty word’ makes people look. I got you to look. Hopefully, you will forgive my terrible deed, and consider a life filled with ataraxia.
And here’s something really sneaky about this, if i can inject a final word.
You saw the term ‘dirty word,’ your mind reacted, and you were compelled. Not very ataraxic, eh?
And the solution is to pursue ataraxia if you wish to overcome being a victim to ‘anti-ataraxia.’
How I used Martial Arts against an Intruder on Christmas!
HANAKWANMASS!
And a great work out to you!
Yes,
the martial arts killed Christmas.
In fact,
it was me,
with my martial arts
that killed Christmas.
Killed it dead.
Dead a poisoned rat in a trap dropped in a well.
Here’s how it happened.
Click on the cover!
Back in 1974,
I had just gotten my Black Belt.
I was in phenomenal shape,
the martial arts had turned on
all sorts of abilities for me.
I had a sixth sense open up,
I could feel when people were going to do things,
I could sense things around me,
I moved through the world
a warrior unbound.
My wife and I lived in a small house in Redwood City.
There was an upstairs and a downstairs.
It was so compact
that the bathroom was under the stairs.
One night I awoke,
felt the need to relieve myself.
Half asleep,
stumbling through the dark,
I descended the stairs.
I turned through the living room
and headed for the bathroom.
Suddenly,
a shape rushed at me!
It was dark,
but I could feel the motion.
I spun into a classical move,
and chopped with perfect form.
The intruder crashed against the wall.
One chop,
and he was down and out!
Now that’s good martial arts,
I thought,
and I turned on the light.
The Christmas tree lay a ruin.
Every ornament was flung from the tree,
little bulbs lay in shards,
scattered across the floor
The lights,
needless to say,
no longer worked.
The cheery, little angel
that had topped the tree
was smacked against the wall
and lay in ruins.
Half asleep,
I had snagged the Christmas tree cord with a foot,
and pulled the ‘intruder’
down upon myself.
Still,
I had defended myself rather adequately,
don’t you think?
I remember a time in an Aikido class,
when the instructor had talked about
using the sixth sense to protect oneself,
but not being so violent,
that Grandma had to worry,
when she walked up behind you
and tapped you on the shoulder.
Well,
I understood that one.
And I understood that I had a lot more to go,
a lot more to learn,
past black belt.
Heck,
getting a black belt is just the start.
That’s like graduating from high school,
and there’s all sorts of college ahead of you,
advanced studies in rare fields.
A lot to look forward to.
Unfortunately,
there are those that quit the martial arts
after getting their black belt.
They have nothing to look forward to.
Or at least didn’t,
until the Matrixing courses came out.
Now,
even if it’s been a few years
since you worked out,
you can jump back in the game,
study those rare fields of knowledge.
Learn Shaolin,
figure out this ‘chi’ business,
study weapons.
And you can do it logically,
without all the mystical bullstuff
that infects most martial arts.
Well,
up to you.
It is Christmas
(HanaKwanMass)
however,
so you might think about getting yourself
a nice present.
A present like a whole martial art.
How about Shaolin?
Martial Arts and Indian Stealth Skills!
part three
Happy work out to you!
Which is the same as saying,
be strong and well,
be smart and sharp.
Be kind.
This is the third part of a five part series.
Subscribe to the newsletter to find the other parts
The most important Martial Arts book ever written.
In the first two articles
we have discussed why
the native American Indian
was the best light infantry in the world.
This included a discussion of their hunting prowess,
and their devotion to silence,
all of which combined to make truly great silent warriors.
In this part I want to discuss
motion.
To begin,
for most people
walking is a process of unbalancing.
Simply,
people are standing like clumps, and to begin moving,
they unbalance their body
and fall in a direction.
Stick out a foot,
unbalance themselves,
fall in a direction.
I can’t even begin to tell you how inefficient this is.
At rest you should be able to move in any direction,
and without the need for unbalancing your body.
Now,
consider how the Indians were raised.
The woman cared for the child until the age of six.
At six the brave took over.
The child was trained to be totally and utterly silent,
and to move with extreme awareness.
Punishment for transgression in this fields was simple:
go hungry.
If the child didn’t master the skills,
then he didn’t bring home the meat,
and he went hungry.
And the family went hungry.
No excuses.
This attitude went towards hunting,
which was the main duty of the warrior,
and which led directly to combat.
No excuses.
You learned to use a knife the right way,
or you went hungry,
or…
died.
Harsh methods,
but they resulted in amazing warriors.
Here’s something that many people don’t understand.
The white man didn’t beat the Indians.
He infected him with disease.
It’s true.
The Indian had no defense for this kind of ‘germ warfare,’
and he eventually succumbed.
He didn’t lose in battle
so much as die out from disease.
Now,
that all said,
I liken the Indian hunting techniques to Tai Chi Chuan.
To sneak up on a wild animal
you had to move so slowly,
as slowly as the wind moved a tree branch.
You had to blend with the motion of nature.
You had to have a strong body to support this slow motion.
And you had to stand in a manner
in which you were still capable
at any moment,
of moving in any direction
as if sprung from a spring.
Not falling uncontrolled,
but legs loaded and ready to shove off,
in any direction.
Okay,
if you want to move with total silence,
and yet be so balanced
that you can move in any direction
without the need to unbalance yourself
and fall uncontrolled,
check out Five Army Tai Chi Chuan.
and make sure you subscribe to the newsletter
and read the first and last parts
of this scholarly treatise
on the methods of the finest guerrilla warriors in the world.
Thank you to everyone who has purchased the Tiger and Butterfly Martial Arts System.
A complete Martial Arts System! ~ Click on the cover!
If you want videos of the forms, if you want to expand your understanding of the two systems from which this system came, check out the Matrix Karate and Shaolin Butterfly courses.
Don’t forget to leave a good review on Amazon.
Okay, here’s some stuff about martial arts drills.
When somebody is training a person, maybe to close distance, they might set them up a few feet from a bag/wall/whatever, and have them practice shuffling forward.
You shuffle and shuffle, people get tired and go do some boxing.
Hey, it’s true. People don’t understand the classical, get tired of the grind, they want to fight, so they go somewhere where people do more fighting and less drilling.
But the drilling is crucial. The martial arts are like a wall, the bottom bricks need to be firmly in place before a student can build the wall higher. So you have to practice these basic drills, and build the basic building blocks.
So, you are drilling, practicing closing with the wall, trying to get the time from launch to impact to disappear. And you are making a crucial error.
There are two directions to a line, and no matter which direction you are going, both directions are important.
Watch a person start to walk from a standing still position. chances are they lean backward so they can push a foot out. It’s true, they unbalance themselves, so they can fall forward. They go in two directions to go in one. A most inefficient method for starting the motion of walking. But, if you watch the martial arts, you will see the most amazing examples of similar inefficiency. People just don’t know how to get started.
The correct method is to bend the legs slightly, and cause yourself to lean forward, into the motion, by thinking about it.
And, if you are going to close distance in the martial arts, you need to set your stance so the ‘wave’ of your legs can be properly unleashed, and every part of the body can contribute to the forward motion.
CBM, Coordinated Body Motion, put to work in the simple act of walking.
Now, if you are not guilty of unbalancing yourself to walk, if you are already engaged in CBMing to walk, then let me give you a further example.
Do both the hard and the soft!
I had a group of students attempt to close distance. They would shuffle and punch, and they were abysmally slow. And they didn’t even like it.
So after a few minutes of springing forward, I had them play a game. I had them move forward, extend a forearm for the grabbing, and spring back when their opponent grabbed.
This put a whole new excitement into the drilling. This made the student think backwards, even as he was going forwards.
Then I had them do the original exercise, and they were shocked at how they had improved at closing distance.
Try it for yourself. Drill one way, then set up the opposite direction, then go back to the original direction, it won’t be long before you are faster.
And, the drill can be used quite gloriously when it comes to freestyle. You can set up different targets, move them into range, retreat with verve, and, here’s a kicker, set up a counter to attack. And you will be most excellent at the counter, because you are adept at moving in both directions. You haven’t gotten bored with going only in one direction, which breaks the concept of yin and yang, of opposites in the universe, and have become adept at the whole motion.
This drilling, incidentally, is the product of neutronics.
Matrixing provides logic. Gives understanding to the whole picture. But who is doing the martial art? You. That is what neutronics is about. And in this case, you are taking advantage of the two directions of a line, and training in both directions, to fully understand one direction.
Most people only train in one direction.
Here’s a neutronic datum for you:
The purpose of the martial arts is to deliver a force or flow while avoiding a force or flow.
How are you going to accomplish that purpose if you don’t understand the martial arts in, at least, two directions? How are you going to master the hard, if you don’t understand the context of soft from which it comes? And how are you going to master the soft, if you don’t understand the contact of hard from which it comes?
So, I say it again, if you know Karate, or TKD or Kenpo, or some other hard art, then you need to learn Aikido, or TCC, or some other soft art. Only if you understand two directions, will you master one.
The new Martial Arts book is called ‘Tiger and Butterfly,’ and it’s pretty darned good.
click on the cover!
If you look at the title, and you have done any matrixing, then you can see that I have used portions of the Matrix Karate course, and portions of the Shaolin Butterfly.
This was interesting, because I didn’t want to fall into the trap of having systems disagree. I wanted the concepts to build on each other, not work against each other.
In a way, there is a certain similarity between Tiger and Butterfly and the MCMAP books I wrote.
The similarity is in the arrangement of material. This had to be, because when you make a system, certain things have to be done, certain rules have to be followed, certain principles have to be included, and all the way up the belt levels.
One of the reasons I wrote this book is because I visited a few schools, and I saw how the modern schools have let forms and techniques fall by the way. They work on freestyle, on fighting. The students get better, but they can’t do certain things. For instance, they don’t understand how to take a punch. And, they have limited knowledge concerning what happens when you complete the circle (cycle) of a technique.
The system has eight belts, white yellow orange purple blue green brown black
There are no degrees. Each belt is designed to be done in about three months. Brown belt might take longer, but the material on the brown level is pretty advanced.
When done, the student will have those liquid kicks, those floating kicks that look so light, but knock down a elephant. They should be able to take any kind of a punch. They will be able to freestyle with authority, and make a grab art out of any technique. They will have knowledge. Real knowledge. Not just the fast reflexes of freestyle, but a complete body knowledge, how the body is constructed, how to tweak it for more energy, how to construct it for total effectiveness.
I want you to think about something. When you study matrixing, there are several courses, and I recommend that you do them all, that you get the complete picture, from striking to locking to guiding to manipulating to predicting to taking down… and more.
But, I can’t reach everybody, and some people don’t understand just how big the martial arts are, and that you have to understand them as a science. They are locked in ‘hit and punch,’ ‘ground and pound,’ and don’t see or understand the bigger picture.
This book is for those people. Hopefully it will get them excited for the big picture. But even if it doesn’t, it will afford a massive education, and do a lot towards bringing these people who are studying arts that have degraded over time into the real art. They will appreciate it as science.
And, even if they don’t, if they do the book, not just read it and say… ‘oh, I knew that,’ or… ‘we have that in our system,’ but actually do the book, all the drills and techniques, all the forms and fighting drills, then they will be doing the true art. Whether they were stupid and didn’t even understand what I am talking about, if they do the drills and exercises, they will end up doing the true art.
For instance, at a certain point, a certain belt, I teach a type of kick. It’s a floating kick, then you turn the hips over and slam the energy down into the ground as you strike. The point is… you can’t do that kick unless you use the tan tien in a certain way. You simply can’t. So they will practice it, get it, and stumble over the concept, whether they understand what is happening or not, and they will end up with classical power in a certain mode. And the whole system is constructed so that one mode leads to the next.
Okay, spoken enough. Simply go to Amazon and enter ‘Tiger and Butterfly,’ or ‘Tiger and Butterfly martial arts’ or ‘Tiger and Butterfly Al Case,’ or something like that, and watch it pop up.
Remember it is unique, matrixing brought one more step forward, and it is REALLY potent! It is a COMPLETE martial arts system.
The first time I ever actually hit someone I was shocked.
I had trained for 20 years, and I actually had no idea
what it was like to hit somebody for real.
Then I had to,
and it totally changed me.
The most important Martial Arts book ever written.
Here’s the deal:
to understand what I am about to say
you have to understand one thing:
what is a punch?
People say it is how hard you hit somebody,
they say all sorts of things,
but I haven’t heard anybody tell me the one thing
that I experienced on the day
I actually had to hit somebody.
Go on,
google it,
see if you can find out the truth
of what it is like to hit somebody.
I’ll wait…
.
.
.
.
.
Okay,
you’re back,
here’s the truth of a punch.
A punch depends on the transference of weight
from one body to the next.
It’s not how hard you hit.
It’s not how fast,
or anything else like that.
It’s how much weight you deliver.
Now,
those other things can enter the equation.
But,
the truth is…
how much weight can you put on the sucker’s body?
Can you put so much weight the other guy’s body breaks?
Can you control the weight so it is a push and not a punch?
Are you stuck in push,
instead of punch?
Does air punching really work?
Interesting questions,
especially once you have tried to do a real punch.
When I struck this fellow
I felt weight go through my wrists.
Because I was grounded he flew back,
went over a bed and hit the wall.
Thank God for grounding.
Thank God I had practiced aligning my bones,
because if I hadn’t I might have broken my wrist,
I might have flown away from that guy from my own punch!
I just didn’t understand.
BUT,
that one punch,
and I understood.
So,
try this special exercise.
We used to do it back in the sixties,
had no clue what it meant,
and it wasn’t until I actually had to hit somebody
that I understood what the drill was for.
Assume the push up position.
Go from the hands to the fists.
Just a little push,
like you’re going to clap your hands,
but then land on your fists.
Palms,
fists,
palms,
fists.
Don’t do too many at first.
Build up a little.
Do it from a knees down push up at first,
if you have to.
What happens here is that you get
the sudden shock of weight
going through your fists and wrists,
and that is what it is like to hit somebody.
A sudden shock of weight in the wrists…
and through the rest of the body.
You ground,
you root your stances,
so that you are braced upon the earth,
and he will fly away,
and not you.
You have a straight bone line in your wrists
so you can absorb the weight.
The actual weight here is going to depend on who weighs the most.
If he weighs more,
you will fly back.
But,
even if you weigh less,
if you ground,
if you are braced upon planet earth,
then he will fly away.
Or,
if you punch with speed and snap,
the impact will ripple through his body
(imagine slapping a pond of water with your hand)
and cause great damage.
Here’s a matrix Karate Kick
Try that,
adapt it to other parts of your practice,
and let me know what happens.
And,
got something else to talk about here…
new book coming out.
This one,
the working title is
‘Tiger and Butterfly’
is a condensation,
a blend,
of Matrix Karate and the Shaolin Butterfly.
The story behind it is interesting.
I walked into a martial arts school,
asked the guy if I could help,
and he said yes.
The school is pretty good.
Probably real good,
but they were teaching martial arts without forms,
specializing in freestyle.
The freestyle was,
depending on which class was taught,
points, MMA, or Jujitsu.
Quite interesting.
So I started helping,
and eventually came up with an interesting idea:
how to teach with fewer, smaller forms.
I used the shorter Butterfly forms,
and the Houses from Matrix Karate.
So far,
it is REALLY working.
Mind you,
I always advise the complete art,
in this case the complete Matrix Karate,
or the complete Shaolin Butterfly,
but considering that the school was established,
considering that I didn’t want to change things,
just enhance them,
you can understand what I was doing.
Anyway,
the book should be out in the next week or so.
Tiger and Butterfly.
Keep your eye out for it,
and,
in the meantime,
check out this book…
It’s one of the most important books ever written.
It describes what the martial actually are,
how they are grown,
and ties together all sorts of loose ends.
It should definitely change the way
people think about the martial arts.
“It’s not how hard you can hit, it’s how much weight you can deliver.” Al Case
I just received a great letter, a fellow name of Damian, said Yogata helped his arthritis, and he talked about how he sometimes had trouble with a fist because of arthritis.
Click on the cover!
I recommend Yogata, or any form of yoga, but I really want to talk about punches, which may impact on concepts about arthritis.
Arthritis is an interesting condition, doctors sometimes lump everything under the term arthritis, and there are a lot of causes behind arthritis. It’s all sort of generic, but generic with a bite.
So here’s the thing: injury leads to inflammation. The body is swelling. Sometimes the swelling is obvious, sometimes not, but the pain, or lack of usability, is real.
Many, many years ago I realized I wasn’t a breaking kind of guy. My instructor was, many people are, there is something seductive about Power, and power is often associated with breaking things.
But I figured out that it’s not how hard you hit, it’s how much weight you can transfer into the opponent. So I thought about it, and I realized something:
“you don’t have to tighten the fist.”
This is weird, we all tighten the fist, and it is important…for beginners.
Tightening the fist upon impact teaches focus, introduces one to concepts of power, but, at a certain point, you don’t need to tighten the fist. Here’s something to think about”
take a stick and poke it into a watermelon.
Did the stick get ‘tight?’ No. It just had to be aligned, and it required a certain amount of ‘quick’ weight. Although, when you think about it, you could puncture a watermelon with a stick using ‘slow’ weight.
So I started working on the idea of poking the bones of my arm/fist through an opponent’s body without tightening the fist.
Having the idea of puncturing the body in my mind.
It worked. No fanfare, no big deal, just relax, align the bones, feed a little energy into the structure to keep everything in line, relax and throw the body.
Worked like a charm.
And… I started holding thumbtacks in my fist and breaking things.
And… here is the kicker, the more I relaxed, the better I was able to thrust my thumbtack holding bones through an object.
There’s all sorts of things to think about here. My favorite is this:
if you threw 20 pounds at somebody it would hurt. (especially if that 20 pounds had 200 pounds of body behind it)
So when you tighten the arm, when you focus the fist, the tightening of the muscles actually holds the strike back.
That’s very zen, very tai chi, very true.
BUT, don’t stop practicing with a tight fist, you need a certain degree of focus to develop internal power. And hitting with just the bones, as I describe here, is not the only strike, and focusing the energy is VERY important.
In fact, I would say that it would be VERY difficult to learn how to strike with a relaxed fist if one doesn’t first gain an understanding of how to focus the energy with a tight fist.
Anyway, those are my thoughts, and I want to thank Damian for making me think, and sharing his win with me.
If you have arthritis, or ANY condition, there are ways to keep training. You just have to relax your thinking, look around, and find what works.
Hello sir. It’s going well. Really well. Once I was able to connect Buddha crane with shuri ryu, the pieces began to fall into place all by themselves. The Buddha crane is the foundation of the kihon waza, ippons waza and came into their own flow drills(taezus naru waza). Making changes to the Kata isn’t as easy, but I have done the first few Kata. Even crazier, I found someone who has already blended shuri ryu with something. So, it came rather easy. Upon showing him how I’ve made changes opened his eyes and he’s asking me to give him pointers on how to make his karate be more ‘alive’. My shuri ryu master is dead and I never got the chance to get my black belt. So, I’ve gone thru these people I’ve run into and just from what I showed them they are willing to bring me to the black belt in shuri ryu. I’m not sure if that’s even important now, being that I matrixed the whole art, but I do hope to bring this understanding of shuri ryu to the table. Thus, starting a new (sub) ryu to the family. I couldn’t have done it without you. Osu
Thank you, Timothy, and well done!
And for everyone, please take note of a few things here.
The classical is not suffering, drills and exercises have more flow, which comes from increased understanding.
Making changes isn’t always easy. Aside from the fact of understanding the potentials of the martial arts enough so that you can make intelligent changes, you have to force yourself to change something that you have come to believe in.
Changing a belief system is often the hardest thing a man can do.
He shows his changes to another fellow engaged in changes, and he becomes the authority. Simply, he isn’t just changing, he has the knowledge, and this is something that people really respect and will adhere to.
Upon showing his changes to others he is recognized as expert, or having the ability to be expert. Osu to you, Timothy.
And, finally, here is a very interesting question: how important is the black belt at this point? People going through these changes, are gaining knowledge and that is senior to black belt.
Maybe one out of a thousand people that start karate get to black belt.
But how many have the knowledge to put together their own system or subsystem?
I encourage everybody to get to black belt, but I encourage knowledge more. Understanding is the most important thing you can ever get. Period.
Thanks, Timothy, your win is fantastic, and I hope people understand the trials and tribulations here, and the incredible passion you have for the arts.
Here’s how I analyze forms. I do this for every move. Check out video courses at MonsterMartialArts.com. This particular technique is from Temple Karate.
Now, I know Timothy has other courses and books on Matrixing, but he mentions the ‘Buddha Crane’ book. So let me explain something about that book.
That was the last book I wrote, I believe, before starting on Matrixing proper, before doing all the matrixing courses. As such, I was using matrixing concepts hard and fast, and I was developing a whole art out of what I knew. You can see me reworking techniques, reworking forms, trying to bring everything into a new slant, or, to be proper, a ‘de-slanting.’ A truth.
Here’s the funny thing, the book was actually just a ‘toss in,’ a bonus, on the ‘Create Your Own Art’ course. I wanted to show how I was creating an art, give an example to back up the theories I was pushing. The book is PDF on the Create Your Own Art Course.
You can, I believe, get it on Amazon, if you look around you can find it. You can also get it here…
That’s my publishing company, so I get a bigger royalty if you get it there.
That page I just gave you has a complete write up on what is in the book. And, the Createspace version is paperback, which most people prefer, because it’s easier to walk around with the book, than carrying a computer around while you practice.
And, a final word, the illustrations are most interesting, I wrote it on an old mac, and the software was something called Appleworks. What this means is that I drew the illustrations, hundreds of them, one line at a time. I drew figures, patterns, techniques, everything, with lines. Interestingly, I remember, at the time, not being frustrated by the slowness of it all, but being excited, because I felt like I was, by doing the illustrations in this slow and laborious way, learning something about the human form, writing what I was doing in a new way in my mind. By the time I was done I felt VERY changed inside.
So, that’s it.
Again, thanks Timothy, I hope people appreciate your win, and I hope they take the time to look at the book, and get their own wins, take a stab at understanding, and even changing, their own carefully crafted belief systems.
And everybody, it’s summer, have fantastic work outs!
Relaxing is the only way to find the True Martial Arts
I remember reading of Koichi Tohei,
many years ago,
and some scientists asked if they could test his ki.
Like, on machines.
Click on the Cover
Now this isn’t a smart idea.
Ki is an energy motivated by thought,
sometimes the energy can be registered,
but the thought never can,
so science often proves there is no such thing as ki.
Can’t be measured…doesn’t exist.
Which is the same reasoning
that kept the world flat for so many centuries.
They just don’t what to measure,
and there isn’t a machine in existence
that can measure thought.
That said,
the test went round and round,
they couldn’t explain what Koichi was doing,
and they couldn’t figure out the readings they were getting,
and he,
probably with a diabolical sense of humor,
told them he could slow his heart down.
They said nonsense,
a human being couldn’t control the nervous system in that way.
So he did it.
He dropped it some 30 beats,
then sped it up again,
then slowed it down.
And the scientists were really confused.
So let’s talk about what you are supposed to do
with your mind in the martial arts.
First,
forget it.
It’s just a bunch of memories.
Get rid of the past,
at least ignore it,
and you are more in the present,
and then you can better control your body.
Logical, right?
But too simple.
People have a hard time buying into this simplicity.
So,
in Karate,
we trained so that the mind
didn’t become excited,
and so that we kept looking,
and ignored emotion.
Ignored the emotion of fighting.
Didn’t feel the anxiety,
or panic,
or sudden beating of the heart
as the world devolved to chaos.
Note that I am moving at the same time.
When somebody throws a punch at me
I actually slow down.
My mind looks right past any memories,
and I focus on the moment.
I stop reacting,
even to my own training,
and start moving with the person.
In real time.
Now,
there are MANY examples of this in the world.
The baseball player,
for instance,
the guy way out in the field,
takes off…AT THE CRACK OF THE BAT!
Not before it,
not after it,
but at the same time.
AND,
he moves intuitively to where the ball is going.
He attempts to ‘meet’ the ball,
at some specified time and place.
But how did he know where the ball was going…
at THE CRACK OF THE BAT!
There are other examples,
but this is my favorite,
probably because everybody knows what I am talking about.
Especially if they have played baseball.
If you have ever had a sixth sense,
known when something was going to happen before it happened,
felt somebody walk behind you (hairs on end),
that is you,
putting aside memories,
and perceiving directly.
In Karate,
it happened about the time I got to Black Belt.
When I got there I began to focus,
without excitement or distraction,
on what was happening.
And it really screwed people up,
when I displayed no reaction time.
Reaction comes from ‘react’
which means you are so immersed in memories (or training)
that you can’t perceive directly.
Signals have to travel through the body to create motion,
instead of you,
apart from your body,
just creating motion.
Okay,
I’ve talked long enough,
probably left as much confusion as enlightenment.
But here’s the trick…
You have to train with people
in a system which understands this.
In which the techniques support this,
the forms are aligned and orderly.
The freestyle is not a fight,
but a procedure of learning how to look.
Not getting excited,
not getting distracted by emotions,
but calming yourself
so that you don’t get excited.
I’ve done the best I could
to give you a good system.
In fact…systemS.
Here are the systems…
http://monstermartialarts.com/courses/
But you have to work,
and work hard.
You have to get the idea that I’m talking about in your mind.
You have to force yourself to calm,
to put aside excitement,
and become cool and machinelike in your actions.
Good luck with this,
in spite of all the simplicity of my systems,
it is still hard.
It’s hard to restrain emotion,
put aside memories,
memories that you sometimes don’t even recognize as existing,
and function on a high level.
But it is possible.
Good work out to you.
Al
http://monstermartialarts.com/courses/
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Go to the Testimonials in the menu and do a search for your martial art!
Hi Sensei Al!
(On the Black Belt Course) Everything is working great! Thank you for the quick responses. I am enjoying the one on one videos. It may be cliche, but I do feel like I'm there. I also like the conversational style and the way you explain how you're teaching and why. You've got a new student for life. Thank you. ~ Daniel
What's interesting about Al Case's writings and teachings is there isn't any emphasis on 'the unknown' or 'mystery' behind martial arts. Al will slam this information in your face! Quite frankly the data isn't hidden, you'll find you're blind. ~ WG
Al Case is a powerful presence to be around, but if you can confront it, then you will not be sorry, for there is no one like him, and it is an extreme privilege and honor.
I used to read your articles in Inside Karate and was excited when I found your web site. ~ RV
As an old timer with thirty-five years of experience I was really bored, but your works have peaked my interest and shown me that there is much more to learn. I Thank You Again, Sincerely ~ CC
Where was this information 24 years ago? This course is one of the best things to ever happen to me. Thank you Al Case for the gift of knowledge!
Be blessed my teacher, ~ Rev. Ernest R
I bought the Infinite Fist tape YEARS ago and you know? I Keep going back to it! ~ KS
You are a master. You have opened me up to things that I have never thought of before. ~ KFM
I purchased your course on "Create Your Own Martial Art" and absolutely love it. I believe that your matrixing system is very unique. ~ DW
In my entire experience twenty years as a student and an instructor since, no one has contributed more to my martial arts education than you have. I started following your works twenty years ago and although I was young then I knew you had the True Art it was obvious to me even then. ~ Charles C
Students will know longer be slaves of poor instructors and practitioners. ~ Lonnie M
Win from Master Instructor Course
Let me start out by saying thank you. Thanks from all the martial artists who asked why. Al, I'm in the Security and Law enforcement field and carry Instructor credentials, so effective methods in combat and teaching them is what I constantly look for.
Win from Matrix Aikido
I just had to write to you to say WOW. Your INSTANT AIKIDO is great!!! ~ SD
My students have started coming up to me after class telling me how much more they are enjoying it, and that the classes have stopped being so ridged and now flow in a kind of give and take between me and them. I have stopped being a task master and started having fun and letting them teach me as well.
I did the Master Instructor Course and it hit me. The Basics that are so concisely communicated in this course including the Matrix principle IS the solution. It doesn’t matter what “style” I call my art, because all styles follow these same principles. It doesn’t matter how hard I train or how many repetitions I do if I don’t train the right way. And I would never become a master if I didn’t know how it all fits together. Now I do! I can honestly say that I am now on the path that I have always sought as a martial artist. Thank you Al!
I conducted a Matrix Aikido training class for a Security Team at a local manufacturing plant. I tailored the training according to their Use Of Force policy. As you know they need control and takedown skills. I knew Matrix Aikido would be the answer. The training plan you shared was boss. The class went so smoothly. The participants learned very quickly. By the end of the class you could see techniques of Monkey Boxing coming through. They were also able to create their own techniques. There was one female officer in the class who asked to become my private student. She was throwing, locking and taking down guys twice her size. The Security Supervisor wants me to come back and with more participants! I'll keep you posted. ~ L M
Have found your books and dvds excellent. My background is mainly in medical qigong but I practice Sun Style Tai CHi, BaGua and HsingI as well as Eagle Claw, Snake Style Kung Fu and several Wudang weapon styles. This is the first time I have had the underlying principles so clearly explained and in a way that they are immediately workable and demonstratable. I have worked through the Master Instructors Course, Aikido and Butterfly Bagua and have started to breakdown the Sun Hsing I using your matrix method. I was even able to teach a 70 year old friend of mine with no martial arts background your instant aikido where she was able to do some very accomplished locks and throws after the first lesson
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