Do you know what clunking is?
Of course you don’t,
I made up the term.
It describes the feeling of a real hit,
a strike that goes through the body,
a punch or kick that shakes the very bones,
sets up a wave of destruction,
shivers the heart of the person being struck.
You think I am being a little too exuberant in my description?
Nah.
You wanna break things?
Listen, there are three depths of strike.
One to the skin,
one to the muscle,
and one to the bone.
Punch skin deep and you are playing,
no bruises,
nothing but gotcha, with no impact.
Punch muscle deep and you create bruises.
Little welts to purple blots.
There is room to descend here,
into the muscle to varying depth,
and it is a very educational time
when you are playing with this strike.
Got to be careful,
too,
because it hurts.
Now,
to strike bone deep is something else.
You actually have the perception of hitting the bone,
not even bothering with the skin or muscle.
Oddly,
there are very few bruises.
but,
you can actually feel the bone shake,
and the guy who is struck has a queasy feeling,
and he rubs his arm
as if there was pain.
It hurts,
but none of that sissy ouchie stuff
that the kids cry about.
This is the deep touch,
the hello to one more bit of depth
and that bone is going to break
and if I did this to your kidneys you’d piss blood and die.
Not pain,
but knowing that the body is going to break.
Now,
how do you practice this depth of punch?
Well,
I’ll give you a couple of good clues.
One,
you relax.
You don’t put your perception in your arm,
in the sensation of muscle tightening,
except by the way.
Instead,
you put your perception in his arm,
you feel him with your fist,
and this leads to the second hint.
When you hit somebody,
plant your fist on his body
and gently push.
Now, you are working the exact muscles
of the punch
at the point of impact.
Can’t get more specific with any type of muscular training.
The exact and perfect range and motion of muscles
at the point of impact.
But,
remember,
don’t concentrate on the sensation within,
concentrate on the sensation of his body.
Feel the muscle and tissue retreat before your fist,
feel the touch of bone with your knuckles.
After a while
you can actually feel the wave,
the vibration
of the bone.
Bone doesn’t like to be touched in this manner.
Muscles and flesh, you see
hide the bone,
protect the bone,
and you have just passed all the safeguards and
touched the bone.
Now,
there is more to it than this,
but if you just practice this kind of punch,
gently,
then you will get it.
And,
when students get this kind of ability,
to punch a guy right to the bone,
I call it Clunking.
Clunking
is just sort of the appropriate word
for the sensation.
Think of it like this–
clunking is like
dropping a rock into a pond,
and having the rock strike the rocks
just below the surface.
You hear a splash
and a…clunk.
Well,
that clunk,
that sickening, splitting sound
of rock breaking
(or almost breaking,
other rock,
is what you want.
Clunk.
Deep,
dull,
thud.
You feel his bone,
he feels his bone worry and revulse,
and
clunk.
Okey doke.
Holy sweet heysoos,
I like talking about
breaking bones.
I’d think there was something wrong,
but such fun…such fun.
So,
dig into your wallet,
get out twenty,
hit the monster
and find the page on the punch.
It’s right here…
I remember when Bruce Lee Died. It was a shock that went through the soul. Here was an icon,the best martial artist in the world, in perfect physical condition…dead.
How? Why? What happened?
Final volume of Matrixing Kenpo! Click not he cover!
Interestingly, one of the first theories I heard as to the cause of his death came from a friend who was studying Tai Chi Chuan. The one word summation was: balance. And, the one sentence explanation was Bruce Lee was lacking balance.
I tucked this opinion away, collected facts, but it was literally decades before I matured enough as a martial artist to understand, and to accept, this opinion over the facts.
Let me say, before I continue, that I like facts. It could be said that only fools deal in opinions, and in most cases, this would be correct.
The person offering this opinion, however, was basing his opinion not on the facts of Bruce’s death, but upon the facts of the martial arts. It wasn’t until I was firmly matrixed in my approach to the martial arts that I understood this.
One of the facts that I continuously came across was that Bruce had an allergic reaction to marijuana, which was in tea he had drunk.
This is interesting, I have never read a study on this, is there marijuana in Chinese tea?
Another fact I came across is that Bruce had, again, an allergic reaction, this time to aspirin. But I think that the aspirin was given to him after he complained of a headache. And, I know it’s possible, but I just don’t hear of a lot of people, or any people, dying of allergic reactions to aspirin. Doesn’t mean it’s not possible, but…hmmm.
And, the third of these ‘facts,’ Bruce had a reduced fat content in his body. Now this is dangerous. And this could result in death. And this has much more substantiation in fact than the previous two theories.
Mind you, in saying this I realize that it is still opinion, and the only real fact we have is that we will never know. But this one fact, considered in light of the theory of ‘balance,’ really resonates with me. What was Bruce Lee doing that would result in a loss of balance, and which could possibly result in death? For the answer to that let’s consider how the martial arts are accumulated.
In matrixing one isolates the specific arts, and simplifies them to workable levels, and does not mix martial arts. In matrixing one studies the smaller pieces of the individual martial arts until they (eventually) blend into a larger and comprehensive whole.
Bruce, on the other hand, was doing a hybrid of the martial arts; he was doing, for one specific example, Wing Chun and Boxing.
I know, there was a lot more, he had 26 different arts at one count.
But consider the differences between just those two martial arts. Wing Chun controls the centerline and works on straight punches. Boxing moves laterally and has roundish punches.
Yes, a simplification, but bear with, for there are different concepts of chi power here.
In boxing, there is no focus on chi power, everything has to do with muscles.
In Wing Chun, hoever, the focus is on chi power, and there is major emphasis on generating energy from the tan tien.
Could this mix of martial training, taken to the extremes that Bruce took them, result in an imbalance in the body? Could this have resulted in Bruce’s death?
Unfortunately, as with the other theories, there is no proof, and likely never will be, and we all never know. But it is something to consider.
The mix of the martial arts you study is definitely worth considering. Not because of the risk of death (Bruce was a singular and extreme case), but because mixing the various martial arts, and especially without simplifying them through the matrixing process, causes confusion, and results in a slower learned and less effective martial arts.
In closing, the point of this article has been to ask, not to state definitively, and that in an attempt to understand Bruce Lee. It is only through understanding, not through mindless worshipping, that we are going to reap the true benefits of this incredible person’s martial arts and existence.
Take the first step in learning how to Matrix with Matrix Karate. For information that might be more specific to the theories presented in this article examine The Master Instructor Course. Both courses are available at MonsterMartialArts.com
How to Have Supernatural Powers in the Martial Arts…
Supernatural in kung fu, refers to such things as reading minds, intuition, seeing when things are going to happen before they happen, And so on.
The reason people have such trouble in gaming this high level of martial arts is because of a basic misunderstanding of who and what they are.
Great book to start developing your kung fu super powers! Click on the cover!
The body is an envelope for the spirit.
The mind is just a bunch of memory.
The spirit is the source of all supernatural ability in the martial arts.
The misunderstanding comes when people attribute their abilities to mental powers.
Memory has no powers, memory obscures he human being, which obscures a being’s natural power. Natural ability, what a human being can do once memories are put aside is actually what we call supernatural kung fu.
Thus to say Power comes from mental abilities is completely the opposite of what they should be thinking.
Think of it this way, A person trains his body and this creates discipline in the soul. In effect it bypasses the mind, which is to say the memories, which come between a person and his true power and ability.
Understanding this one must apply this to the martial arts.
One memorizes movements, Which creates a short-term memory. One practices the movements until the memory disappears and intuition remains. The bonus is at the long-term memory tends to disappear to, Or at least to get out-of-the-way of the martial artist.
So you memorize to give up memory and what is left is the awareness, the Spirit, the human being, the ‘I am.’
When you give up memory, your own abilities come to the fore. These abilities, Based in such things as intuition, actually frighten normal people. That is why so many people give up the martial arts at the brown belt level, for that is the level at which a person breaks through to intuition.
Unfortunately, most systems no longer bring a person to the edge of intuition, or push him through to intuition.
This is why I created matrixing. It makes the martial arts faster, it makes the jump to intuition easier.
Instead of spending years trying to figure out the confusion created by a laborious memorization procedure, the student learns logical moves, builds up no internal resistance to the memorization procedure, and slides smoothly into intuition.
Check out monstermartialarts.com, and especially matrix karate. Even if you have done martial arts for years, even if you know dozens of martial arts systems, once you experience the logic of matrixing, all those systems Will start to make sense and come together in a manner which you didn’t envision.
This guest blog was written by Paul Mann. I consider it a real gem of martial arts writing, and I think you will, also. enjoy.
Karate must be considered, in its final form and spirit, as an expression of your indomitable will to survive in the most direct, self-reliant manner possible, using only that which God gave you; a body, mind and spirit rigorously disciplined as an inseparable entity.2
Kyuhn literally means fist and is usually translated as fist, boxing or boxer. Kyuhn also has a much deeper, philosophical meaning: a person who is unified in body, mind and spirit. This is an implied meaning, which is derived from the fact that the component parts of your hand must be unified in order to form a fist. But, what is meant by unification of body, mind and spirit and how is it achieved?
Unification occurs when body, mind and spirit have been trained and are in harmony with each other. Unification of body, mind and spirit is accomplished by harmonizing the body, which will promote health and fitness; harmonizing the breath, which will result in an increased and harmonious flow of vital energy; and harmonizing the mind, which means controlling your mind and developing the power of concentration.
Harmonizing the Body (Tiuh San)
Before you can learn to defeat others, you must first learn to stand. Stance training is the foundation of all authentic Chinese martial arts. Physically, it strengthens the legs for stability, powerful footwork and kicking. Correct posture is developed to provide maximum results from properly executed techniques. Also developed are a focused, concentrated gaze for projection of fighting spirit as well as breath control and correct placement of the tongue. Mentally, it requires patience, refines the temperament and produces a tranquil mind. Therefore, be serious and devoted in your stance training, that you may be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.3
Harmonizing the Breath (Tiuh Sik)
And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.4 There are several words5 in the Bible, which have been translated as spirit or soul. The actual meanings of these words are: any breathing creature; breath and, by implication, spirit; wind and, by resemblance, breath; a current of air, i.e. breath. As you can see, the Biblical use of the words breath and spirit are interrelated and virtually interchangeable.
In Chinese martial arts we use the word hei. The character for hei has several meanings. It can mean air, breath or spirit, but it is most commonly used to represent the concept of vital energy. It is a creative energy, the divine ‘breath’ in every being, which appears as active attention, concentration, and mental force.6
According to a research project undertaken by M.I.T. in 1978, there actually is an electrical energy field around the human body, which can be regulated and even intensified by controlled breathing exercises. In 1997, Liu Chang I was invited to produce a video tape on Fukien White Crane Karate. During the taping, studio technicians picked up a sort of rumbling, drumming sound. The sound engineer couldn’t figure out what was wrong with the radio microphone he had attached to Mr. Liu. “Oh! That’s my gung lihk (manifested vital energy),” explained Mr. Liu. The microphone was removed and taping continued without further incident.7
In one of the most amazing demonstrations of vital energy, Kirlian photography was used to film Teruyuki Yamada breaking a one-inch board. Now, there is nothing amazing about a punch breaking a board, but it is amazing that the punch never hit the board! Playing the film in very slow motion revealed that the board actually snapped when Mr. Yamada’s fist was still one inch away from it! What had shattered the wood was the pressurized force of the energy field between the board and the fist!8
The study of breath seems shrouded with mystery. Unlike the visible techniques of karate, breath and vital energy are unseen forces. They are, nevertheless, as much a part of cultivating the mind as developing the body.9 Though we could suggest any number of preliminary methods for unifying the spirit, directly speaking, uniform breathing and breath control are very important, and breath control is of utmost importance for progressing on the martial path. Success in spiritual unity and strength concentration depends on proper breathing methods.10
The art of breathing (hei gung) is characterized by deep abdominal breathing with your mind concentrated on the daan tihn, a point about three inches below your navel. Daily performance of daan tihn breathing will increase your energy level, produce explosive power and promote a positive, optimistic frame of mind. This is the source of the saying, if you know the art of breathing; you will have the strength, wisdom and courage of ten tigers.
Harmonizing the Mind (Tiuh Sam)
Part I Controlling Your Mind
Karate training will give you the ability to respond to an assault in such a way that the skills acquired through training flow naturally and freely, from knowledge to action without delay. No fear, no hesitation, only immediate, effective and appropriate action. How is this possible?
An untrained mind, like a drunken monkey, jumps around from one thought or emotion to another. One moment you’re thinking about the job at hand, and then about how hungry you are, the score of a ball game, an upcoming date, or any of the five poisonous emotions.11 These thoughts and emotions will rob you of the strength you need to face and solve your problems. Once you are able to divert energy from unnecessary thoughts and emotions and pour it into achieving goals, your power will be boundless and you will be able to achieve more of what you want to accomplish.
No thought of thought is a martial term, which refers to a mind which is empty of all thought and/or emotion; a mind which is receptive, pliant and which allows you to react spontaneously to any situation, which may occur. So then, flow with whatever may happen and let your mind be free. Achievement of this concept in conjunction with deep breathing techniques will enable you to control your mind. The end result is a self-controlled person who is relaxed and effortless in mind and body; a person who sees things as they really are; a person who is fully capable of facing and decisively responding to any conflict, which may arise.
Harmonizing the Mind (Tiuh Sam)
Part II Developing the Power of Concentration
Once, long ago in China, there was an archer who trained daily to perfect his techniques. One autumn evening, the archer was walking home when, suddenly, he saw a flicker of movement in the shadows. It was a tiger, crouching and ready to pounce. Concentrating his mind, the archer fired off an arrow and scored a direct hit, right in the head. The archer hurried home without stopping to examine the dead animal. On the following day, he was curious and returned to the spot where he had slain the tiger. He searched everywhere, but failed to find the body of the tiger. He was about to abandon his search when he saw the arrow, stuck in a huge boulder. It hadn’t been a tiger after all, but his concentration had been so intense that the arrow had been driven into solid rock!
The concentrated mind can pierce through stone. It is characterized by “at yan” (indomitable spirit), a term which expresses a willingness to strive against all odds, to persevere under pressure, and to endure. It has an implied meaning of total commitment; of carrying on even when one is mortally wounded. The term is comprised of two pictographs, At and Yan. At is a pictograph of a hand restraining a germinating seed. Yan, the Chinese word for perseverance, depicts a heart pierced by a knife.
At yan, therefore, means concentrating your mind on one task, goal, problem or object and devoting yourself completely to discovering the solution or to finding the way out of your difficulty or to gaining your objective. It means to struggle, to grapple, to wrestle, to give your all and hold nothing back. It means closing with your problem or opponent and never retreating. It means no hesitation, advance bravely 12 with all you’ve got, again and again, until you achieve your objective.
Harmonizing the Mind (Tiuh Sam)
Part III Complete Awareness
The Chinese word for awareness, lauh sam, literally means keep your heart. Complete awareness (general, direct and specific) is the most important method of assault prevention. Your first line of defense is general awareness concerning yourself, other people and the surrounding environment. Pay attention, be alert and watch for conditions that might lead to a physical confrontation. Then, do whatever is necessary to prevent the confrontation from occurring.
Direct awareness13 (intuition14), finds expression in the saying no sound you can hear, no shape you can see. This ability to see the unseeable and hear the unhearable can make you more sensitive and receptive of the presence of other people’s energy fields. Any miscreant who intends to harm you will project a flow of energy which Chinese karateka call saat hei (killing spirit). Direct awareness is the ability to sense the presence of saat hei. When this happens, heed your intuitive alarm signals and take preventive measures before the danger manifests itself. In any situation which does become physical, direct awareness will enable you to act or strike decisively without conscious thought.
Your awareness must be more specific in the event that a confrontation does occur. Gaan is a Chinese karate concept which refers to “the space in between” combatants as well as an awareness of the potential ability of an individual to make offensive use of space, distance, timing and opportunity. Specific awareness (gaan) can help determine your success or failure by providing you with the information necessary for mentally establishing an imminent danger zone (ngaih gap yuhn).
Conclusion
The Chinese word for monarch is comprised of three horizontal lines centrally joined and intersected by one vertical line. Philosophically, the three horizontal lines represent the three essential elements. The vertical line symbolizes unification and control. The word for monarch, then, describes a person who is unified in body, mind and spirit, a person who is in control of his or her life. This concept is the heart and soul of Yushin Ryu Karate Do – the Way of the Courageous Heart. Let this be the emphasis of your training as well.
Check out the new website… http://bestkungfu.wordpress.com
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.
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.
Putting Real Chi Energy into Your Martial Art Strikes!
The ability to create beams of energy, though I have never seen nor heard of it discussed, is at the heart of the martial arts. I include pressor or tractor or any other type of beam in this discourse.
A beam is a line of energy thrust outward from thebody of the martial artist, and this beam is usually constructed upon a line, though it need not be. It can be said that your martial art is not a true martial art unless it builds the ability to create a beam of energy at will.
Most martial practices on planet earth are aimed towards building muscle, or the shabby excuse of energizing body parts. The purpose of this article is to awaken the reader to the potential of creating beams of energy.
The first thing to be understood is that the body is nothing more than a machine. It is an organic machine constructed of meat and bone and various linking systems.
Indeed, to the person unused to a body, it can resemble a Rubic’s cube, though, in fact, it is very simple to use.
To use the body as a beam generator one must practice classical forms, and understand the value of classical stances.
To practice the classical stances requires work, which work necessitates the creation of energy in the Tan Tien, which is the one point, which is nothing more than an energy generator on a body/machine level.
This work should be augmented by breathing in accordance with the expansion or contraction of the body. To stance, to work, to breath, to concentrate awareness along the path of the arms, to imagine.
It is imagination that sets us apart from the beasts, and it is imagination that is necessary to create the idea of a beam of energy coming out of the body. You must practice until the mind is calm and then it will be able to imagine.
To test your ability to beam it is necessary to use a simple and often over looked gimmick. Set up a candle and face it, punch, and stop your fist an inch from the flame.
Do not trick flick the flame by leaving the line of the beam, but focus, and keep the line of the beam as straight as possible. With success over time, stop your fist two inches from the flame, then further. increase distance until you can put out the flame from across the room.
Eventually, with great patience and desire, you will be able to merely look at the flame and make it go out.
There are those that laugh and such practices as detailed here are of little importance, and there are those who will not persist, but seek the instant gratification of simple fighting. Then there are those who will discover the depths of their being through this simple exercise.
The difference between the two is faith, belief in yourself, and the desire to awaken your true abilities, and thus awaken yourself.
If you want to learn more about how to create energy beams, you should look at two books. One is Matrixing Chi, and the other is called…The Punch. Those two books will definitely show you the correct, scientific method for generating energy and projecting it from your body.
How to Make a Great Poison Hand Dim Mak with the Martial Arts
Dim Mak, the Poison Hand of the Martial Arts, is death by a single touch.
One of the more esoteric forms of Dim Mak is to coat the fingernail with poison. It is said that a serious assassin would coat his fingernail with wax, then apply the poison. Thus, he could scratch an opponent with a slight flick of the finger, not risk death himself, and cause death easily.
Just how Deadly is the Martial Arts Poison Hand called Dim Mak?
This is said to be a skill developed in certain less than honorable gung fu practices, and utilized by ninjitsu assassins.
Mind you, nobody has ever given any rock solid historical examples of this type of Poison Hand Dim Mak, but that is not to say it is impossible.
If the modern student happens to be a worker in a chemical factory, or perhaps have connections in the biological warfare department of the US Army, then such a thing as a poison hand dim mak is possible.
It is this writer’s opinion that there is a far simpler method for developing this technique.
In the saga entitled ‘Iron and Silk,’ by Mark Saltzman, a certain kung fu teacher would strike a piece of metal a couple of thousand times a day.
He did this gently, so as not to damage the knuckles, but with enough force to develop a punch that was ‘metal tough.’
In fact, during the filming of the movie, ‘Iron and Silk,’ the kung fu teacher was asked to demonstrate the technique, and the resulting sound of his fist smacking on his piece of metal caused the film crew to get sick to their stomachs. They ended up canceling the audio and dubbing in a less sickening ‘smack.’
The point is that anybody can develop the poison hand death touch if they simply train and train and train.
Something that is anathematic to many of today’s ‘go for the gold’ martial artists. Many martial artists, you see, go to class, do their forms, then discuss how deadly they are over tea.
The dedicated poison hand dim mak specialist isn’t going to do that…he is going to train.
He is going to hit pieces of metal, or slabs of wood, or some other substance. He is going to do this softly, but insistently, and for an hour or more every day.
And, he is not going to be satisfied with a couple of months, as if ‘earning a belt,’ or even a couple of years, as in ranking in another system.
No, he is going to do this for years and years. Decades. And, in the end, he won’t be satisfied until the mere touch of his knuckles is enough to cause an opponent to curl up and die.
Perhaps it is good that we don’t have people with the depth of personality to train in this intense manner.
After all, shake hands with a poison hand dim mak specialist who has trained in this fashion…and your hand may well just curl up and die.
If you want to see some real chi hung power, as in the Poison Hand Dim Mak, check out Matrixing Chi. Then put that together with The Punch. Both courses are at Monster Martial Arts.
I find that there is vast misunderstanding in the martial arts as to what mushin no shin is…people usually and incorrectly compare it to reaction time.
Now, to be precise, when people talk about mushin no shin they mix it in with not just reaction time, but especially muscle memory. The idea they are coming from is that if you do something long enough then it becomes intuitive, and even ‘on automatic.’
Mushin no shin is far beyond muscle memory…it is the other end of the spectrum.
Mushin no shin means mind of no mind. Another way of saying this would be time of no time.
Which is to say that there is no mind, or memory in this case, involved.
When you train in reaction time, when you build ‘muscle memory,’ then you are building memory, and memory is based on time.
But mushin no shin refers to no time…to perceiving things as they are, and not through the artifices, or demanding the reaction time, of muscle memory.
Now, the real world difference is this.
You feel a tap on the shoulder, you spin, you chop, your grandmother, who was offering you a plate of cookies, goes down for the count.
That is reaction time. It is not intuitive, it is knee jerk reaction.
Or, you feel a presence behind you, or, better yet, without feeling the presence behind you, you turn in concert with the tap of the finger to your shoulder.
There is no contact because you have merged with the action. There is no reaction; there is no moving after the fact, or moving violently because of something.
That is mushin no shin.
The first time I ever experienced mushin no shin I was 16. I was at a bowling alley, and one of the bowlers put a pencil on the slanted desk, and it started rolling.
I watched it, and watched it, and time started to stretch out and become inconsequential…I was ‘in the moment,’ free from reaction time.
The world glowed, and I felt this delicious sense of freedom. I realized that I had total control over the flight of the pencil. I could move any way I wanted to, and there were no boundaries or limits.
The pencil fell, and I reached out and plucked it out of the air.
A fellow there said he had never seen such fast reaction time in his life.
But it wasn’t reaction time…I was moving in between moments of time. I wasn’t using muscles to make motion, I was making motion directly, as an Awareness, as an ‘I am.’ And this was without any martial arts training; years before I ever started training in the martial arts.
Now, a quirk of the moment, was that experience, and the real problem came when I tried to make it happen at will. Couldn’t do it. I needed the training.
And, even with the martial arts training, it took me nearly 20 years before I started experiencing these things as a matter of course.
The point here, however, is that it is not muscle memory, or reaction time. Muscle memory trains the body, but not the awareness, and that is knee jerk out of control. Reaction time means something has to happen before you act. Neither of these are mushin no shin.
Mushin no shin is when you are aware of life as it happens, without the interference of muscle memory, or reaction time, or training, or anything.
People who are asleep use the term muscle memory, or reaction time, to describe phenomena they don’t understand.
What makes it really confusing is when you get some fellow who trains for years, then tries to explain what he is experiencing. in the western world we fall back on the inadequate descriptions provided by science, a science which, I might add, has never adequately explained such concepts as are manifested when a person is showing mushin no shin.
Terms such as ‘reaction time,’ and ‘muscle memory,’ are offered by western science for concepts they do not understand.
The term mushin no shin is used to describe a person who is free from muscle memory, has no reaction time, and is in a realm beyond the simple physics of the universe. He is in a second set of physics, the physics of sixth senses and intuition and dreams and all sorts of things.
Mushin no shin is used when a person is not confined by his memories, and other such limitations to the human spirit.
Here are some articles which touch upon the procedure for waking the person mired in Martial Arts reaction time, and endowing him with muslin no shin.
How Matrixing Martial Arts Makes Mind Start to Work!
To understand how matrixing martial arts makes the mind open up and work right, you have to understand that the universe is nothing but rocks and stuff. A bunch of debris floating around. That body you’re in? It’s just a conglomeration of stuff that runs into things. And things run into it.
Do you see how you’ve been victimized by the universe? Was that a rock that hit me? What was that? Was that a rock?
Martial Arts makes calm minds…
You see, you are a black and whiter living a world of color. You can’t see the color. Your perceptions have been stunted.
Want to unstunt your perceptions? Want to see the world in color? Martial arts makes that happen if you have matrixed them.
Matrixing is a way of getting that instant depth perception in the universe that enables you to see, oh…color…that stuff is…color!
I realized this through studying the martial arts, through studying the fact of fists colliding with my body trajectory in the universe. Studied it a bunch, tried to see all the potentials, came up with a matrix. Matrix enabled me to see more…more…
And, I was matrixing back in the eighties, long before the movie.
Matrixing, you see, is a way of describing three dimensions on two dimensional paper. I’ve figured out how to take it out of the computer and put it into the universe, to write the truth of the universe on a mind currently working in two dimensions.
The great thing is it doesn’t work just for the martial arts, though that is the template. It works for everything! Simply, you can measure and put order into anything in the universe with matrixing. Things you didn’t even know needed ordering get ordered.
Things you didn’t know suddenly pop out at you, make you blink, and become instantly resolved.
The only reason a matrix wouldn’t work, to be honest, is because if the mind was so stunted that it couldn’t conceive of the matrix except as in black and white. If you look at a matrix and it is black and white, stay away. Your mind isn’t ready.
Well, the door is open, the choice is yours.
This has been a page about how Martial Arts makes the mind function, here’s a series of articles dealing with this phenomenon.
Good morning to you!
A work out morning!
A morning where you get stronger,
smarter, quicker, faster…
More aware.
Because that’s what a martial arts workout does.
The Secret of All motion is…No Motion.
The secret of meditation, and life, is to clear the mind of distractions.
Distractions are the bushwah probs and dialogues
and such that you carry around with you.
What did so and so say about me?
Guy in the next department pisses me off.
I need a drink.
And so on.
The martial arts clears the mind of distractions through one simple method:
You learn to focus your awareness on one thing.
I’ve suggested that you hold up your index finger and look at it,
Until you understand what I mean,
but that’s sort of mean.
it’s frustrating because it is the truth, and it is advanced,
and one should really have a proper build up
before they do the single finger meditation.
So here’s the proper build up.
Mind you, i went through this stuff for years,
one piece at a time,
before I figured it out and experienced an empty mind,
but I didn’t have the instructions you are about to get.
When you stand in the room, stand squarely,
that means you don’t lean in any direction.
When you have finally found your balance,
don’t lean (or sway or anything),
just ask yourself the question,
how do I unbalance myself
so that I can move.
It’s true,
the secret of motion from a balanced position is to unbalance yourself.
Walking is the process of learning how to fall in a direction,
and catch yourself on a leg just enough
that you keep falling and catching yourself.
The problem here is that we are not walking.
We are falling to a stance.
And we must fall as fast as we can
to a balanced (front stance) position.
So look at your options.
Do you bend and push with the legs?
What part of the body do you unbalance first?
How do you unbalance it?
Do you move muscles inside the body?
Do you push your body with a hand of energy from outside the body?
Do you pull your body towards an object/direction?
It’s an interesting question,
and one that will drive you half mad
before you finally figure out
how you actually move your body.
Let’s say you move the body with a contraction of a leg muscle
which lowers the body so you can push with a (set of) muscle on the other leg.
What mental command are you giving that first muscle?
Where is that command coming from?
Your mind?
Who told your mind what to do?
Do you understand?
It’s frustrating, and it tends to really mess you up.
But, when you finally work your way through this,
and figure out how, exactly,
you are moving your body,
It will change you as a martial artist.
Heck, it will change you as a human being.
Big time.
And this is just learning how to unbalance the body to fall into a front stance.
Now you get into which muscles are you actually catching yourself with?
What are you doing with the arm?
What torques your body as you fall?
What muscles do you use to align the arm with the action?
Does the arm resist motion to make motion?
Are you using the planet to push yourself?
Or just moving the leg over the surface without sinking your weight?
I used to do my forms for hours,
one move at a time,
looping that move,
grinding that move,
searching for the answers of body motion.
And let me make a point here.
You may think it is silly,
all this frustration for…for what?
But I came across one of my own neutronic quotes this morning,
one of the Master Instructors puts it as a signature at the bottom of his emails. Here is the quote…
“Man learns by his mistakes. Without a mistake a man never learns. Stop a man’s mistakes and you stop a man. Watch a man’s mistakes and he’ll learn every day of his life.”
Now,
consider that when you lose balance it is a mistake.
Of course it is a mistake (grin).
You were perfectly balanced,
and then you went and ruined it!
But that is the process of life.
You are fine,
then you mess it up,
then you find fine again,
then you mess it up,
and so on.
So the procedure of doing a form
is a constant method of finding balance in your form,
messing it up to get to a new point of balance,
then messing it up again to find a new point of balance,
and so on.
And if you don’t ask the questions I have posed in this newsletter,
if you don’t find out how to mess it up…to unbalance…to make yourself make a mistake and fall forward as efficiently as possible. then you are doing the martial arts like a monkey.
Monkey see monkey do, with never a thought as to what causes motion…and what causes life.
You simply must ask the question, else you will never be aware.
Now,
if you want to look at your finger until you are enlightened,
it is possible.
Very possible.
But you simply must go through this concept of unbalancing to find new balance,
of making mistakes to find awareness.
You must.
You must…workout.
A lot.
With these questions in your mind…until there is no question in your mind.
Until your mind is freed from distractions.
Now,
let me add one thing,
the Master Instructor Course is the result of what happens
when you ask yourself these questions
for thirty or forty years.
It IS the perfection of human form,
and it IS the perfection of martial arts technique.
And it has never been done before.
Period.
The stuff in the Master Instructor course has simply never been written about,
and if it was ever stumbled over in a conversation,
there was no point to it all,
no way to relate all the parts
of what I tell you on this course.
So let me ask you a question…
do you want to go through the frustration of asking yourself questions for decades?
Or do you want to get the truth about how to use your body
and how to make your martial arts perfect…right now?
Look, I’m not the first person in history to ask these questions,
but I am one of the few to come up with the right answers,
and I am the only one to ever put down the answers on paper.
Plain English.
Understandable.
Not only no mysticism,
but the death of mysticism.
Because mysticism dies when you replace it with knowledge.
So,
heres the URL,
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4-master-instructor-course/
And have yourself the BEST workout you can!
Al
PS ~ you can subscribe to the Monkeyland Gazette and find out about the Church of Martial Arts at the top of the right sidebar at Churchofmartialarts.com.
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
Search the testimonials for your martial art!
Free Martial Arts Books
HERE'S SOME FREE MARTIAL ARTS BOOKS, MY THANKS FOR DROPPING BY.
Includes books on Bruce Lee, the Truth About Matrixing, the first Martial Arts book sold in America (It's a real hoot!), and much more!
