Tag Archives: aikido

The High School of Martial Arts

Posted on August 25, 2019 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 982

The Educational Level of Most Martial Arts Instructors

Whew!
Hot today.
So I went to a martial arts ‘jamboree.’
Open call to everybody,
we all came into the school and worked out.
Did anything we wanted.
Lots of instructors around,
everybody had a blast.

So,
I was watching the instructors.
Some of them were freakin’ fantastic.
Some were okay.
We didn’t have anybody that was bad.
BUT…
I realized something.
Most martial arts instructors
are at the level of about a high school senior
when it comes to knowing and understanding the martial arts.

That’s right,
a black belt is,
generally speaking,
about the level of a high school senior.
He is bigger and tougher than the juniors and sophomores,
he knows a little bit,
but he doesn’t know enough to teach.

Pretty sad, eh?

For instance,
I spent some time showing a girl,
with physical disabilities,
how to punch so she could do the job without hurting herself.
I come back to her 5 minutes later
and a black belt has moved in and started teaching her.

‘Hit it harder!
Hit it harder!’

Pays no attention to the fact that she has problems
stopping her from ‘hitting harder.’
Isn’t aware of how her body is reacting to the overload.
Doesn’t really even know how to train a person,
especially how to hit somebody without hurting themselves.

And I don’t want to talk about the instruction
concerning joint locks or takedowns.

Simply, the instructor was about as knowledgeable
as a high school senior.

What should the knowledge level of a martial artist be?

A real martial arts instructor
should know three or four martial arts,
and actually understand how to teach.
That’s like a fellow who has graduated from college,
with a specialty in teaching.

Most instructors are trained in only one art,
and ‘know about’ every other martial art they have never seen.
Most martial arts instructors have never taken a course on how to be an instructor.
Most martial arts instructors think that a course in high school physics qualifies them
in the specialized physics of the martial arts (which are totally different that high school physics)
Most instructors don’t know anything about what chi is,
how to blend arts,
and they certainly don’t know anything about matrixing.

I spend a LOT of time educating people.
People who take my PMAT course are sometimes shocked
at what the real knowledge of the martial arts is.
People who take my Master Instructor course
are frequently blown away by what they didn’t know.

Think about it this way.

most instructors are about as smart as a high school senior
a real instructor would be at least a ‘college graduate’ when it comes to knowledge, and then have specialized courses on how to teach under his belt.

And, the alternative to all this, my solution to making instructors.

Get a black belt in matrix karate.
Learn 2 or 3 more matrixed arts.
Take the Master Instructor course.
Then you can call yourself a 4th black belt (master) with a master’s degree in teaching martial arts.
Then you would be actually qualified to teach martial arts.

Hey, it’s all on my site, and I’ve been saying this stuff for decades.

Here’s the Master Instructor Course…

1d Master Instructor Course

Have a great work out!

Al

A WIN!

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Martial Arts Night Before Xmas

Posted on December 24, 2018 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 952

The Night Before Xmas

Here it is,
my annual Xmas poem,
the Night Before Xmas,
adapted for Martial Artists.

I won’t make apologies for it,
but I will ask one thing,
a present to me for Xmas,
if you will.

If I have offended,
sent the wrong order,
dropped a communication,
offended you in ANY manner,
even with this poem,
please forgive.
It’s a new year,
help me start it fresh,
the world is too wonderful a place
to carry around ANY ill will.

Now,
with no further ado,
here is…

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS!

Twas the night before Christmas
I was in my shack
primed and ready
for the red fat attack.

my weapons were loaded
the windows were barred
all would be safe
while I was on guard

The chimney was decked
with concertina wire
I crouched by the couch
ready to fire.

I had an M60
with ammo to feed
I didn’t care
if the red fat did bleed.

A loaded shotgun
and grenades to spare
when red fat came down
I’d blow him out of there.

Throwing stars and knives
and a really long sword
and if that didn’t work
I knew a bad word.

Sitting there late
my eyes started to close
when suddenly I heard
a bunch of ho hos.

Off with the lights
safety off, too
I  watched the fire close
and heard a sound from the flu.

‘Ouch and gosh darn it
who put the wire here
those are my undies
starting to tear!’

Then a shower of soot
and a grunt and a groan
he landed in the fire
and gave out a moan.

He was rubbing the place
where the wire did tear
so I held down the trigger
and lead filled the air.

belt after belt
did I deal the red fat
he danced and he jumped
I knew he felt that!

then quicker than spit
I ran out of lead
but enough was enough
he had to be dead.

Boy was I shocked
to see him stand tall
stepping out of the fireplace
not bothered at all.

So I grabbed up the 16
to mow him down
he had to be hurting
cause I saw his big frown.

Then I was empty
and he came straight for me
I pulled out my knives
and sliced him with glee

He jumped to the side
moving real quick
disarmed my knives
with a well placed kick

then he dropped the big bag
he had on his shoulder
reached forth his arms
and his anger did smolder

He grabbed hard my neck
and held me up high
I tried kicks and punches
but I was like a fly

Not karate nor judo
no art did work
and he grinned a mean grin
and called me a jerk

‘Don’t you know
you stupid little man
Christmas is forever
in spite of your plan.’

Then he threw me aside
and proceeded to work
giving presents to all
and to me a great smirk

And when he left
the great big red fat
he left me a lump of coal
the big red fat rat!

HANAKWANMASS TO ALL
and to all a great work out.

Have a great work out!
Al

1a Matrix Karate

Here’s a Christmas win…

A WIN!

Merry Christmas my friend. I love what you do, and you’ve changed the way I approach the arts that I love. 2018 marks my 40th year as a martial artist, and I believe that what you do is so important to us true believers. Please remember that innovation is always going to be violently resisted initially. What you do is absolutely logical, and it’s impossible for any sane man to argue with logic. Press on with pride brother. You ARE making history and a legacy. Best wishes and thanks.
– Sean

“There is no comfort in the growth zone and no growth in the comfort zone”
Unknown

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On Naming your Very Own Martial Art

Posted on May 4, 2018 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 927

Picking a Name for Your Martial Art

One time I was down at the offices of CFW,
which published the Inside Karate mag,
which I wrote articles and a column for.
One of the guys,
in charge of video,
suddenly called to me.
‘Hey, Al! Got something to show you!’
I went into the video room and he put on a tape.
The tape was a half hour long,
but within a few seconds I knew what it was.
The guy on the tape was a perfect Bruce Lee imitation.
He swooped wooped,
he swung the nunchucks
EXACTLY
as Bruce had swing them in his movies.
Move for move.
He spoke lines from the movies,
and it was eery,
it was almost as if he WAS Bruce!

But,
of course,
he was just a copy cat,
a guy without much of a life,
a guy who didn’t know who he was,
so mimicked others.

That leads us into this weeks subject…
I am very big on people creating their own martial arts.
There is a simple reason for this.
If you just learn what has gone before,
then you are only a copy cat.
But when you create your own art,
when you alter the moves to fit your frame,
when you craft energy to fit your situation,
when you rearrange pieces of arts
to fit changing situations…
then you are an art.
Would Michaelangelo be an artist
if he merely copied everything Davinci did?
Same thing is true for the martial artist.
Yes,
you should learn,
and that usually implies at least getting your black belt,
in Shotokan,
or Aikido,
or whatever art you study.
But,
at a certain point you have to step outside your art.
Keep the original the same as you learned,
but create your own separate art.

Now,
that all said,
let me slide into a connected but different thing.

I subscribe to something called Quora.
On that platform people ask questions,
and answer questions.
You get a wide cross section of what people are thinking,
you get answer,
a whole host of different answers,
to questions mundane and bizarre.

Recently,
a fellow asked the question:

What’s a good name for a fictional karate style that a flow state fighter would use?

This is a very interesting question.
I have had a LOT of people ask me about naming their art.
Since I am about the only one telling people how to be artists
a lot of artists end up up sending me this question.

I remember one fellow,
many years ago,
personal student of mine.
He reached the point where he had to go out
and create his own art,
and he asked me about a name.
He was was coming up with names like…
‘The Way of the Golden Fist,’
and so on.
So I told him to call his art…

‘Rick Do.’
The way of Rick.

Fortunately,
he didn’t.
He teaches his arts
with some very fine labels.
Very smart guy.
Smart enough to know when to ignore me.

So,
anyway,
I got this question on Quora,

What’s a good name for a fictional karate style that a flow state fighter would use?

And I gave the following answer.

Interesting.

By fictional you mean to use it in a book/script? Or for own use?

What I used to do, just for stuff and giggles, was find a word, or even a zippy type word, and get it translated by google. Zippy karate, not to be facetious, but just as an example, translates as ‘bibi.’ So ‘Bi Bi Do.’ (The Way of Zippy!) This can get fun, you can have ‘crouching tigers eating unwary hunters’ translated, ‘Dūn fú lǎohǔ chī cūxīn de lièrén.’ Then shorten it up as you wish.

If you want to go more serious than my flippy examples you can certainly do that.

Good luck with it, and have a great work out!
Al from monstermartialarts.com

So there you go,
one of the things I do as an artist,
as an author and as a martial artist.
It is great fun,
makes you think,
and might even be worthless.

But I told everybody on Quora,
and didn’t want you guys to feel cheated,
so I pass it on here.

So try it out.
Make up a name for your art.
Focus in on what principles and tricks you want to teach,
and sum it up.
Then have google translate it into whatever language.

And,
while you’re at it,
You can always check out
the ‘Create Your Own Art’ course on the Monster.
It is old,
the video quality isn’t good,
but you can understand it all,
and the principles are SOUND!

Here’s the link.

2d Create Your Own Art

Have a great work out!
Al

2d Create Your Own Art

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What the Old Martial Arts Masters Knew

Posted on April 27, 2018 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 926

The Last Word on Chiang Nan

Got an email from Tom J the other week,
said an interesting thing.

I am getting the picture that “real” true karate, being true to its Okinawan roots, comes very close to stand-up grappling with strikes, I think, also, much of the sensitivity developed in Tai Chi – like exercises was there.

Even though they were not doing Tai Chi as such, lots of practice and thinking through the moves probably brought the Okinawan masters into that level of skill

Which brings me back to your “Everything must be practiced”, admonition. All the pieces are like pieces of a pie and all should be visited in practice.

Thanks Tom.
And he is so right.
People think that Tai Chi is the ultimate,
and it is,
but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others that are the ‘ultimate,’
it doesn’t mean that there aren’t other arts
that don’t elevate the student to the top.

My instructor said to me once:

There are many roads to the top of a mountain.

He had certainly reached the ability,
let alone the sage wisdom,
of a tai chi master.

The problem is that so many people think it is all about fighting.
Fighting is important,
but you go past fighting,
and start to understand how to handle life,
and what person can fight you
if you know how to handle life?
Heck,
a guy throws a punch
and it is an exercise in dissection,
in quick and sure manipulation,
and there is no fight.

And the truth of the matter is that these old guuyts,
these old masters,
who knew so much,
they knew so much because they studied more than just half an art.
Shake Morihei’s tree and you’ll find
the very thorough and complete
aikido jujitsu.
And you’ll find spear fighting,
sword fighting,
and all many of no nonsense studies.
Take a look at the Tai Chi masters,
you’ll find Shaolin,
types of kung fu,
history as bodyguards,
and it’s all to the death.

So don’t think you are going to be a master
if you study just one art.
Oh,
maybe,
but it’ll take half a century,
and then you die.

All of which means you should study ‘Chiang Nan,’

How to Translate Karate into Tai Chi Chuan

Which takes karate and applies tai chi principles to it.
You get a soft way of train a hard art.
You figure out different ways,
sometimes more efficient ways,
to move the body.
You undo the effects of training that has been too hard,
and has resulted in injuries.
You elongate your life in the martial arts.
You learn more than you ever thought there was in the martial arts.

Okay,
enough preaching.
You heard or you didn’t,
and the choice is up to you.

I think,
next time,
I’ll talk about the various courses.
I’ve got so many,
got so many books,
I should probably differentiate them,
maybe acquaint some of the newbies to this newsletter
about the how and the why of matrixing your martial arts.
Until then,
think about Chiang Nan,

And have a great work out!
Al

How to Translate Karate into Tai Chi Chuan

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The One Technique that Weakens All Martial Arts

Posted on December 22, 2017 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 907

The Martial Arts Concept That Will Get You Killed!

Behold the Poser!

I figured out the Poser like this:

I was an instructor in Kenpo.
Thought I was the deadliest SOB walking.
Then I met a kid who showed me some stuff.
Curious, I let him introduce me to his brother.
His brother happened to be a Hell’s Angel.
His brother also happened to know something of Kenpo.

“What would you do for this attack?”
He grabbed my tee shirt with two fists.
I was shocked,
incapable,
in spite of my training I didn’t know what to do.
“Why don’t you try ‘Flapping Wing?’
My eyes were round,
that was one of my techniques.
I taught it regularly.
Surely I could make that work!
So I locked his hands in place,
brought a forearm up to break his elbows.
He lowered his elbows,
which hurt my forearm.
Doggedly,
I brought my forearm around in a circle.
I smashed down on his radial nerves,
which should have paralyzed his arms,
and started to chop him in the throat.

He threw me through a wall.
Yep.
All the way through it.

Then he told me to grab his shirt.
I did so.
And he punched me…through the wall.

Twice,
in thirty seconds,
I went through a wall.

The night then became one of the most fascinating
question and answer period,
and I started to learn about the true art.
And I started to learn about posers.

The actual definition for a Poser technique is:
‘when the attacker has to not do something
so the defender can make the technique work.’

My kenpo consisted of wide circles and slapping hands,
his technique consisted of straight punches and brute force.

Now,
this isn’t to downgrade Kenpo.
There are many arts which make the circling of the arms work,
and well.
And Kenpo,
with a little bit of analysis,
can also be made to work.

Kenpo is not bad,
but there is a wide variance of ability
in the people who teach the art.

On the beginning levels of the martial arts
one learns how to streamline the straight line,
how to make it work.
Matrix Karate.

On later levels one learns circles and how to make them work.
Blinding Steel (Monkey Boxing),
for instance,
creates speed.

But,
I recommend that one learn the beginning levels
so that one learns how to generate power properly.
That power can then be used on later levels,
later levels which do not have those types of power building drills.

So,
a Poser can be a person who is a fake personality,
acts like he is something when he isn’t.
But,
in the martial arts a Poser refers to a technique
that takes too long,
doesn’t fit in with concepts of power,
looks fancy,
is often out of place
(could work if learned later on when certain principles of power have been learned)
And so on.

And,
the news…
Matrix Karate is the ONLY course that gives you techniques in the right order,
and that knowledge will help you discover the Posers in your own art,
and fix your own art.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/matrix-karate/

Your art isn’t bad.
Heck,
it might be pretty good,
but once you know how to fix it it will become better than great.
My guarantee.

Onkey Donkey,
Not too late to give the gift that keeps on giving
(one of my matrix courses)

And,
HanaKwanMass to all,
and get ready for the Martial Artist’s
‘Night Before Xmas.’
I read it (via newsletter) every Xmas.
People groan and throw up their hands,
but I think it is art.
So there.

Have a great work out!
Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/matrix-karate/

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Where Matrixing in the Martial Arts Really Came From

Posted on December 20, 2017 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 906

Is Matrixing actually New?

I get this question every once in a while.
Some fellow writes in, makes a comment,
and the question is:

Has matrixing ever been done before?

Valid question.
So,
let me give you a couple of instances
so you can totally understand whether Matrixing is new.

In the original hard bound ‘Aikido and the Dynamic Sphere,’
(not the soft bound or kindle)
by Westbrook and Ratti,
there is a fold out which sort of matrixes Aikido techniques.
It is actually quite brilliant,
but it is not a true matrix for several reasons.

One, it pertains solely to Aikido,
therefore, it lacks the viewpoint necessary to the whole art.

Two, it doesn’t provide for a gradient list of techniques,
advanced or basic, you figure it out.
This makes it VERY difficult to learn.

Three,
it doesn’t demonstrate the ‘basic-basics’ of Aikido
(those body motions which construct the basics themselves)
rather it espouses a singular concept (giving way)
this results in a student going down a singular path,
and not being able to develop certain attributes and tendencies necessary to quicker understanding,
if not more thorough understanding.

Another example of ‘almost matrixing,’
is in the book ‘Wing Chun Kung Fu’
by James Yimm Lee.
This book was supposedly authored by Bruce Lee,
but I’ve read nothing to substantiate this,
other than the fact that Bruce was teaching out of Jame’s house in Oakland.
So, who knows on this point?

The specific matrixing would be the ‘four doors and eight gates’ theory
with the resulting drills.
This is quite genius,
explains the blending of hard and soft admirably,
and in a mostly mechanical manner.

BUT…
One, it is, same as Aikido, specific to an art.
It is readily applicable to other arts,
but most people don’t understand the basics of their arts
well enough to understand the how and the why.

Two, it is specific to the Wing Chun method of controlling the contest through the arms.
Thus, several other theories are ignored, or at least not mentioned.

There are other things which influenced me,
but these two were key.
Important to note,
when you consider them,
is that I was studying several other arts at the same time,
writing extensive records (to be books) concerning them,
and really examining them from a ‘whole art’ point of view.

So,
is matrixing new and unique?

It is totally new and unique.

It is not just a new model of car,
it is a new and incredibly faster type of vehicle.

It’s like comparing a Mustang to a Tesla.
Really different.

Of course,
you won’t believe it till you’ve tried it,
and the best place to start is the basics,
as in Matrix Karate.
Not just the basics of karate,
but the basic theories of matrixing,
and a completely different way of looking at the arts,
of being able to combine all arts so that they make sense,
don’t fight one another,
and join into one whole art.

Here’s the obligatory link…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/matrix-karate/

Oinkly Doinkley,
Next Monday is HanaKwanMass,
stay tuned for the yearly rendering of a Martial Artist’s ‘Night Before Christmas.’

Have a great work out!
Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/matrix-karate/

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The Secret to REALLY Good Martial Arts!

Posted on July 12, 2017 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 878

THE SUMMER OF SUPER MARTIAL ARTS!

Happy hot day to you!
Hot days are the best days,
the work outs sweat you hard
and you detox the body.
Do it!

One thing people should remember,
when it comes to the martial arts,
is that they are not all hard,
nor all soft.

Take a look at Morihei Ueshiba.
Guy studied some serious hard arts
before he came up with peace and love.

How about Tai Chi?
Those soft moves
are backed up by some brutal moves.

So what does this mean?
It means you have study both the hard and the soft.
You can’t study one without the other.

Now,
eventually,
if only by age and injuries,
your hard art will soften up.
Then comes enlightenment
and a profound appreciation for both sides of the yin yang.

But why wait forty years?
Why risk not making it to forty years
and not even discovering the other side of the art,
of yourself?

I’ll tell you the truth here:
when people ask me why my karate punches are so effective,
I tell them Tai Chi.
When people ask me why my Tai Chi is so effective
I tell them Karate.

That’s the truth.
Because I know what a hard punch is,
I have been able to develop tai chi to handle them.
Because I know what sensitivity and balance are
I have been able to develop Karate beyond simple muscles.

Okay,
I know I’m preaching to a a few of the choir here,
but there are others out there
who need to know this.
Who need to do some Tai Chi or Aikido
to go along with their punchology.
And there are others
who need to beef up their punches
with some good old karate or kung fu,
if they are going to evolve
their sweet and sensitive side.

Here’s TWO links…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/temple-karate/

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

If you order the DOWNLOAD ONLY…
(Not the physical disks!)

I will give you two for the price of one.
Simply order one of the above courses,
Temple Karate or Five Army Tai Chi,
DOWNLOAD ONLY,
and write to me,
say you want the two for one deal,
and I will send you the passcode for
the DOWNLOAD ONLY.

Let’s see,
it’s wednesday,
so let’s make this offer good through Sunday, July 16.
Come Monday don’t bother to whine and grovel,
it’s gone.

So do it,
take advantage,
I don’t make offers like these often.
In fact,
can you even remember the last time?
So do it,
and make this the summer of super martial arts,
study and master BOTH sides!

Have a great work out!

Al

Here’s TWO links…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/temple-karate/

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

If you order the DOWNLOAD ONLY…
(Not the physical disks!)
ONLY GOOD UNTIL SUNDAY, JULY 16, 2017!

http://www.martialartsinstructortraining.com

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:

https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,

Google doesn’t like newsletters,

so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

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Lonely martial arts…or friendly?

Posted on June 5, 2017 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 871

An Interesting Thought Matrix…

Happy every day to you!
The work out you do today will be special.
Gonna really rock.
Now get started!

Got an interesting email the other day,
Michael S. had this nifty way of looking at things…

I was talking to a friend earlier and it got me thinking about a couple of things. I wanted to pass along what I came up with and see what you thought.

Basically, my idea is that techniques have three main categories in relation to each other.

If we say your good friend Joe Blow has a strong jab, you might teach him a cross. Those techniques are friendly, meaning they work together in a very natural way.

Then you teach him a kick so he’ll be able to play that range too. This kick is complementary, meaning it isn’t exactly friendly with the jab but it serves to round Joe out.

Then he goes home and gets on to Youtube and decides to pick up a kimura. He doesn’t know much about grappling, he hasn’t learned any takedowns. The kimura is lonely. A lonely technique is one that needs friends to be really effective and doesn’t have them. If Joe goes down to the local BJJ school and starts learning the basics then that kimura is going to have lots of friends.

It goes without saying that this isn’t some kind of weird dig at BJJ (I know you’ll pick that up but I want to add some clarity in case this email gets shared). If a dedicated Judoka picks up a superman punch one day, then it’s the same situation. He’ll have to develop his striking base before that punch gets to ever really be effective.

One other thing I’d like to clear up about this paradigm is that some techniques can be alone but not necessarily lonely. These will tend to be straightforward basic techniques. As a matter of course, the techniques most likely to be lonely are advanced or complex moves when someone does not have a good grasp of the basics.

And of course, have a great workout.

I like the idea of grouping techniques
as friendly and lonely.
It makes science more user friendly.

Thanks Michael.

Okay,
thanks for all the orders for the
Professional Martial Arts Instructor.

Remember, if you are out of states,
meaning foreign or even Canada,
you need to order the PDF.
Postage out of the 48 kills me.

And,
here’s an interesting little phenomena…
Paypal insists on charging shipping for PDFs.
I have talked myself blue in the face,
but they make no sense.

Here’s their insanity.
I put 0 in the shipping and handling box.
They charge $4.
I complain,
they say I have to change ALL my buttons
to fix one.
What?
Are they crazy?
Why doesn’t $0 work?
They just keep repeating their insanity.
It’s a variation of
saying the same thing and hoping for a different answer.

So,
people are getting charged $4 extra on PDF orders.
Regular book is okay,
I’ve shifted to Amazon for that.
But,
I am now trying different things for the PDF,
and may be looking for a different company.
The problem is I would have to start on changing
hundreds of buttons.
Grrr.

So,
my apology.
I will try charging one penny,
if that doesn’t work,
I will try something else.

Just thought i’d let you know what is going on.

And,
I’m working on book two of the series.
Give me a month,
should have something big and great coming along.

Okay,
for those willing to confront
the PayPal insanity, (grin)
here’s the link

http://www.martialartsinstructortraining.com

Again, thanks Michael,
and thanks to everybody for helping me.

Have a great work out!

Al

http://www.martialartsinstructortraining.com

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:

https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,

Google doesn’t like newsletters,

so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

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Perfect Martial Arts

Posted on April 20, 2017 | Leave a comment

Newsletter 865

The Key to Finding Perfection in the Martial Arts

Happy Santa Anas!
The Santa Ana’s are the big winds here in LA,
it’s fun to work out with them whistling through you.

Ok-a-ley dok-a-ley,
it’s time to find out what perfection in the martial arts is.

Had a great talk with a bunch of students the other day,
and I mentioned finding perfection in the martial arts.

So what is perfection in the martial arts?
It’s an interesting question,
one that nobody ever really asks,
they just talk about it,
and assume they know what they‘re talking about.

It’s when you can ‘one punch/one kill’ somebody.
It’s when your form is perfect.
It’s when you understand the secret of the universe.
But nobody knows what perfection really is.

I do.

I defined it in The Master Instructor Course,
and tell you how to get it.

But here,
let’s talk about the short version.
Let’s talk about one of the things that I learned
way back when
that put me on the path to,
or at least understanding
what perfection is.

I was in an aikido class,
and the instructor said,
‘The perfect art cannot be felt.’

Man,
that was zen.
you know?

And it started me thinking.

He was talking about blending your defense
with the attack.
He was talking about moving your body
totally in synch with the incoming attack,
so that the opponent didn’t actually feel you
even when you took control of his body.

And he was talking about a high level of energy,
profound spiritual awareness,
etc.

But,
there’s more to it.

I took what he said
and applied it too ground rolling.

A perfect circle has no corners.
Because if you have a corner,
something will thump on the mat,
and then there is no perfection.

I spent a lot of time
figuring out how to roll without making any noise.

And it translated as:
the perfect art has no sound.

And I took that and applied it to karate.
I learned to move
without being heard.
My feet didn’t slap the mat,
not even my gi rustled,
and the only sound
was the smack of my fist hitting flesh.

Interesting.

The other night I came across the 1935 video of Morihei Ueshiba.
There was no sound.
He threw people,
and the only sound was them hitting the mat.
But of him,
there was no sound,
no foot fall,
no grunt,
no whisper of motion.

The perfect art can’t be heard,
or felt,
or,
for that matter,
even seen.

And that is the sort of thing I endured
to figure out the seven principles of the body,
and the six secrets of how to make ANY technique work,
which are all on The Master Instructor Course,
along with a lot of other nifty stuff.

Here go…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4-master-instructor-course/

Have a great work out!

Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4-master-instructor-course/

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:

https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,

Google doesn’t like newsletters,

so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

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Defining the Yin Punch…

Posted on February 25, 2017 | 1 comment

Newsletter 852

‘Not’ punching as a Way of Life

Did you know….
you will be happy every day
if you work out every day?
It’s true!

You can find the latest old journal here…
http://www.monstermartialarts.com/MonsterJournal3.html

Remember,
no guarantees on the links here,
I don’t know where they lead,
but if you find a working link to a deal
I’ll honor it.
Not working links….too bad.

How many Martial Artists does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Just one.
The others sit around and say,
“We have that in our system.”

Awright,
it’s a terrible joke.

I actually prefer this joke:

How many buddhas does it take to screw in a light bulb?
Two.
One to screw in the light bulb,
and one to not-screw in the light bulb.

I often wonder how many people actually understand that.
I mean,
how do you ‘not-screw’ something?
how do you ‘not-do?’

It took me about 20 years to figure out how to not-do something,
and this in spite of the fact that I actually understood it.

But knowing about something
is not the same as knowing something.

So when you are beginning,
you punch,
really hard.
This has the benefit of making muscles,
creating speed,
and impressing the girls.

After a couple of decades
you realize that you aren’t getting stronger.
In fact,
you realize that the harder you go,
sometimes…
the more it hurts.

For me,
I started getting headaches from punching.
Whiplash, you know.

So I started changing things.
I didn’t want to give up the martial arts,
and I realized that if they were hurting,
there was something wrong.

I was doing something wrong.

One thing I did was read all the old texts.
Old books on zen,
Chinese concepts,
that sort of thing.

I mean,
if I was hurting,
and I was doing what everyone else was doing
then somebody else must have hurt, too.
Right?

And it was in the ‘not-do’ concept of Buddhism.
Oddly,
now I didn’t understand it.
But I understood it when I was 20!
But at 40,
I didn’t get it.

The solution to understanding this concept
came from The Tao.
There is a line in it…
a very neutronic line…

‘Do nothing until nothing is left undone.’

Lights came on in my dusty cranium.
Synapses clicked in my neural patterns.
Even the zombie circuits came alive!

I started hitting softer.
I stopped seeing how much impact I could create,
which was the result of hitting harder,
and began looking for
how soft I could hit,
or,
here it comes…
how much weight I could deliver
without hitting.

Man,
that was a real ‘not-doing.’
It was zen, baby,
right from the root.

Now,
to be honest,
it probably wouldn’t have worked
if I hadn’t spent all those years trying to hit hard.
I had to have a certain amount of yang
before I could have a certain amount of yin.

It’s sort of interesting,
the universe is built of yang,
but there is more yin.
Yang is things.
Yin is not-things.
Not things include the space of things,
but also…
all the rest of space.
Here is the key to understanding.

It’s not how hard you hit,
it’s how much weight is transferred,
but then you have to go backwards again,
and take even the weight out of the strike.
once you go through these steps
something interesting happens.

In the old Chinese texts
There was reference to hitting something
and invalidating the atoms.
Making the molecules hurt.
Hmmm.

And I found that the softer I hit,
and the less weight I put into the the strike,
the more I could feel…atoms.

Well,
not atoms,
not exactly,
but hitting softly,
with more yin,
putting space into an object (body)
and the body didn’t like it.
It was like the atoms got invalidated.

So if you hit with yang,
impact,
force on force,
then things simply break.
They just reach a point of breaking
and the object doesn’t mind that.

But if you hit with yin,
understanding what force is,
and isn’t…
then the object that you are striking wants to go away.

I guess the only way to think about it is like this…
something in the universe (a body, for instance)
doesn’t mind being broken,
for that doesn’t change it’s ‘somethingness.’
but when you hit ‘something’ with less force,
to the point of hitting it with emptiness,
so that the idea of emptiness goes into the somethingness,
then that something is in threat of being changed,
it doesn’t like it,
it wants to run away.
It is invalidated,
made more wrong than it understands wrong to be.

Weird,
eh?

Anyway,
you can see the video of me hitting something with yin
on the Matrixing Chi page on the monster.

Unfortunately,
unless you have developed enough force to understand force,
and then gone the other way to understand ‘not-force,’
or yin,
or the opposite of something (nothing…to the extreme),
you won’t understand it.
But that’s okay,
you just read the words,
have a little faith,
and do a lot of practice,
and what I say is going to make PERFECT sense.

Have an awesome work out!
Al

PS,
any trouble with courses,
any questions about anything,
drop me an email at:

aganzul@gmail.com

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

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