Tag Archives: kenpo

A NEW MASTER INSTRUCTOR!

A NEW MASTER INSTRUCTOR!

Congrats to the latest Master Instructor…
Mr. Francisco Sierra de la Rosa

Here’s his win…

In my case, being a person who already practiced martial arts before, both Chinese and Japanese styles, the concepts I was looking for were not so much technical concepts as the possibility of learning elements related to teaching, body structure, and the science behind the movement of the body when practicing martial arts.
I consider that in the course there are really useful and important tools when it comes to martial arts and their application, very important is the lesson on grounding and how it affects the movement of our body and the ability of this to relate to an opponent.
Another concept very well treated in the course is the explanation to the student of concepts such as the generation of energy and the importance of dantien … or at least a simple way to understand the Chinese teachings on how force works.
I consider that one of the most interesting elements that I have learned is the importance of angles in martial arts, it is true that this concept I had dealt with before, almost without realizing it, but not with this clarity, applicable to different situations.
In short, if we are able to combine our physical structure, with the world around us, we find the practical application of lines, angles, circles and elements that undeniably build the world, the result of this I consider these concepts of the most important during learning in the course, and applicable in all systems that someone works, with their differences and details of each art.

Thank you, Francisco, and well done!

He’s really pointed out three crucial items.
teaching, body structure and…
the science behind body motion.

Teaching is easy to understand,
take something from your mind
and put it into your student’s.
But…so few can do it.

Body structure is another bug a boo.
It is crucial,
but nobody understands the six secrets
that will make ANY martial arts technique work.

The big item, however,
is what is behind motion.
Would you like to know what I was thinking,
when I wrote about
what is behind the Martial Arts?
It’s real simple,
but unless you get it,
you don’t understand what is behind motion.
The best way to explain this is this…

You are looking through binoculars.
Who is looking?
You.
The binoculars are but a tool.
Okay, you are looking through your eyes.
Who is looking?
You.
The eyes are but a tool.

Now,
I have said everything,
that is the secret.
And to understand the martial arts,
the universe and life,
all you have to do is understand one thing:
Who are you?

Okay, obligatory ad…

The Master Instructor Course.

1d Master Instructor Course

All the secrets
easy to understand,
easy to teach.

You’re welcome.

HAVE A GREAT WORK OUT!
Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW
I’m always pushing my novels,
did you know I write other stuff?
If you want to know the truth about government,
you will find some startling matrixing going on in

THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT!

A Martial Arts Home Run!

Newsletter 1007

Release of New and MASSIVE Martial Arts Course

Okay,
7th game of the world series,
top of the 9th
full count
the bases are loaded
the pitcher winds up
he pitches…
CRACK!
Al Case hits a martial arts home run.
Don’t believe me?
Go here…

Research & Development Course

Incidentally,
another release,
just as magnificent,
I compiled the books I have written on matrixing in…
‘The Book of Matrixing.’
You’ll see the ad on the right side of the Nine Square site.

Everybody have a great work out!!

Al

Justin Earns 4th Black Belt!

Newsletter 1003

A New Fourth Black Belt!

Happy Covid!
Hope you’re enjoying your vacation,
and that all is well with your friends and families.

Haven’t been writing much lately,
well I have,
actually I’ve been writing 8 hours a day,
but it’s been in other fields.
Simply,
I need to make some money.

That lame excuse out in the universe,
let me say…

CONGRATS TO JUSTIN HARRIS
Justin just earned his black in Shaolin Butterfly,
which, with the other arts he has studied
earns him a fourth degree black belt.

WELL DONE!

Now that’s a guy who takes advantage of the Corona crisis!

Okay,
Since I haven’t been writing much lately,
you can always catch up on old writings.
First,
the inexpensive way,
just go to
https://alcase.wordpress.com
and start reading the blog.
There’s probably
a 1000 blogs there.

Or,
if you want to go a bit more in depth,
I compiled all my articles in a ten book series.
The Biggest Martial Arts Lesson

That’s a lot of articles,
near a thousand,
and they cover EVERYTHING!
Or,
you could just start ordering courses,
stop reading about and start experiencing.

You know,
I came across an interesting question today.
It was something to do with how many defenses you need
to really protect yourself
I started to chuckle,
cause the guy had it backwards.
You don’t worry about how many things you can do,
you just worry about what he is going to do.
If you are worried about what you will do
you are introverting,
and not looking out,
to where the danger is.
So look outwards
and learn to analyze strikes.

Do you know how many punches there are?
Six.
That’s all.
So let me cover this in more or less logical (matrixed) fashion.

There are two punches left and right
There are two types of punches straight and circular
There are two modes of punches snap and thrust

When you matrix these, and toss out things that don’t work (you don’t snap a circular punch, for instance) You end up with six possible strikes. Of course they could sail in fron odd directions, but still, only six…

left straight snap
left straight thrust
left circular
right straight snap
right straight thrust
right circular

So,
first, watch for the kick.
No danger from punches or other strikes,
maybe from weapons,
but you will usually see if there is a weapon pretty quick.

Second, as you step in
the kick gets jammed,
easy to handle with a retreat or a turned hip, etc.
Now you have to worry about the punch,
but worry introverts,
so you just watch him.
I know some people say you have to train
for punches from the rear,
yes,
but as soon as you turn to him he is in the front,
so front training is where the punch is coming from.

Watch his feet to see if he is angling for a punch
watch his shoulders to see if he is loading
sidestep slowly,
always being ready,
and always moving so he can’t quite fix on you.

Third,
don’t worry about knees and elbows,
he has to close to use those,
and that is so obvious it is ridiculous.

And there it is.
Fighting is easy,
reading an opponent is easy.

Of course,
it all means nothing
if you don’t spend some time
hitting things so you can feel what it feels like
practicing forms so your body is in top top shape,
and just training like your life depends on it
because,
darn it,
it does.

Anyway,
that is sort of how you apply simple logic (matrixing) to fighting.

And,
obligatory ad,
you really should look into my courses,
because they are all like this,
simple and thorough,
realistic and fun.

That all said,
don’t worry about the Covid crisis,
because worrying is introverting
and life is out there.
Instead,
train hard and strengthen the immune system,
best medical advice I can give you.

Sensei Case

Have a great work out!

Al

Here is ‘The Last Martial Arts Book,’
Best one I have ever written,

Nine Square Diagram Boxing

The Night Before Xmas…for Martial Artists

Newsletter 993

The Martial Arts 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

How Martial Arts Have changed Over 50 Years

Newsletter 988

Martial Arts Changing Over the Last 50 Years

When I began martial arts,
back in 1967,
things were different.

At this point you expect me to say something to the effect of…
we were more ‘dedicated,’
we were willing to suffer bruises and breaks,
we walked 20 miles,
barefoot,
through the driving snow,
uphill both ways.

Nope.
Has nothing to do with that.
You see,
I have been in modern schools,
I have seen people train until they couldn’t stand,
I have seen people suffer injuries and keep going.
I have seen that uncommon degree of dedication
that the martial arts create in individuals.

I am talking about knowledge.
Let me give you an example.

Do you do the horse stance?
Can you do Teki 1 for an hour?
Can you hold a ‘horse meditation’ pose
for an hour?

Nope.

Most modern schools no longer practice the horse stance.
At least,
I have never seen them.
They don’t force themselves to do low stanced forms.
And in this they are different than
the way we did things fifty years ago.

So,
why is the horse stance important?
It’s just a weird squat, right?
so what’s the big deal?

Okay,
here we go,
see if you can stay with me.

If you stand on straight legs
you don’t work.
Your legs don’t work.
You can stand on two legs for hours,
no prob.

If you stand in a deep horse,
legs bent,
you work like a mofo.
You sweat and strain,
and…the tan tien has to produce more energy.

The tan tien starts to work.

So you do it again.
And you last a half a minute longer.
And you do it again,
and again,
and over a month or so you start to notice weird things.

By breathing deeply,
and imagining that you are breathing to the tan tien,
a ‘place’ a couple of inches below the navel,
you are able to stand in a horse longer.
Your legs don’t shake as much,
and you begin to feel the energy coming out of the tan tien.

You realize that your legs are working harder,
so your tan tien is working harder,
and you are experiencing a weird sort of body energy.
An energy that Joe from the western world doesn’t know exists.

And,
here it gets interesting,
you start moving differently.
You brace in stance and people can’t move you.
Your arms become unbendable as you wish.
You stop using muscle and start using energy,
as from the tan tien,
to do certain types of work.
Most of all,
you move differently,
energy courses out from the tan tien,
goes through the arms,
becomes an unstoppable force
that is directed through and out from
your well structured karate form.

What is happening is
if you practice low stances,
doing karate forms,
that little thing called a tan tien
will ignite.
and…

THE MOTOR OF YOUR BODY WILL TURN ON.

It will change the way you move,
the way you treat life,
the way life treats you.

But,
most schools no longer practice the deep stances,
and especially the deep horse stance.
And,
here is the sad thing,
if the instructor insists on it,
students leave in flocks and droves.
Don’t want to work.
Aren’t willing to make the sacrifice.
Can’t put up with a little pain.
It’s not fun.

So…the martial arts are different
than when I first began them 50 years ago.
People are still willing to suffer,
but they don’t understand things like the horse stance,
so they end up fighting,
going to tournaments,
softening the experience with padding,
and they never get the true karate.

And,
here is something really weird.
Gichin Funakoshi,
some 50 years ago,
said much the same thing.

He said that the karate he saw
was not the karate he learned….50 years before.

Did he just observe the same thing I did?
Or was there some super secret that they were doing
that I missed.

Uh oh.

I recommend Outlaw Karate,
because I took the most important techniques
from the two most workable systems I have ever seen,
and combined them in one system.
It really works,
and you will have an opportunity
to work that horse stance the way I recommend.

3b Outlaw Karate

Have a great work out!

Al

3b Outlaw Karate

A Martial Arts Fight to the Win…

Newsletter 972

A Great Martial Arts Win

Here is an awesome little account of a fight that was a win…

Master Al,

I hope you accept the appellation I have given you,  I know no other way to address you.  Although we have never met, you have given me so much.

I have sent you a couple of ‘wins’ in the past, but in your Master Instructor course, you say to simply send a win, and ask.  To this day, I never have.  Oh, I’ve had wins,  taught unruly children, helped class members to their Black belt, taught some excellent self defense (and more importantly – in my opinion – taught people to walk away from situations.

However, tonight I write this email as I await my second X-Ray in accident and Emergency  (I think the US equivalent is probably ER?)

My middle finger on my right hand is pretty jacked up.  Ninety degree angle to the rest of my hand.  Reason?  I threw a terrible punch.  The worst I’ve ever thrown I think.  Yes, I have a thousand excuses, none of them change the fact that my hand doesn’t look like a hand currently.  It was a ‘live target,’ a human head… they aren’t soft like pads, aren’t flat like pads, and don’t stay still like pads.  But all that is my fault… it was a bad punch.  I broke my ‘good’ hand.

Let’s backtrack a little though.  I was punching another human in the face, to cut a long story short, because I was walking home and heard shouts.  Upon approaching the wooded area, I found a lady in her twenties being assaulted by a man, maybe thirty.  He had torn her dress and was doing his best at the undergarments when I arrived.  He rushed me and I threw a punch he’d never come back from.  Except it was awful.  Shocked and surprised him.  Did me too.  He wasn’t expecting to get hit, I wasn’t expecting him to still be vertical.  Awful punch.  Moving,  awkward target… but a terrible punch.

That is the worst win you’ve ever heard.  But hold on…

In that moment, I knew I’d screwed up, felt my finger snap.  But I didn’t feel the pain.  Time slowed and crystallized.  Like a scene from a movie.   My stance shifted to a left stance as I moved my ‘weak’ hand into play.  Only it’s not that weak any more, because I’ve matrixed.  I can do the same both sides and cbm comes into play… it might be my weak side,  but it’s trained more than his best side, this much was evident.  It was like I had all the time in the world, all the options laid out before me to choose from. Left outside, left inside, left upward, left down?  From my breaking my finger to my having him incapacitated was probably a second, at most, in real time, felt like an hour with the cheat code activated.

As I sit here awaiting repair, the lady is at home where she belongs, upset, and had a rubbish night, but is home and safe.  He is behind bars where he deserves to be, and I’m awaiting somebody to reconnect this joint.

Maybe not the best win you’ll ever hear… but for me a triumph.  When the chips were down, zero hesitation.  From a detached location outside my body I not only assessed the damage and selected the next best option.  I did so without thought.  But again that isn’t my win, my win is that I’ve been teaching others for months in this mindset (albeit within another system) there are another dozen people out there because of me (and in turn, you) who would have stepped in and done the same.  And of that, I am truly proud.

Perhaps in your eyes that doesn’t constitute a win.  However, I feel I won’t be writing out anything that I find more worthy, so it shall have to stand.  I haven’t before, but I shall now ask (as per your manuscript’s askance to simply offer you a win) may I step up and become a master instructor of your Matrix system?

Thank you for your consideration, and for the system/s you have created.  I truly believe that because of them at least one lady (although she has been through a hell of an ordeal) sleeps a little easier tonight knowing that sometimes the good guys win in real life… even if they have to swing by the hospital after instead of the bat cave!

Adam

Ps.  If I didn’t make it clear, it is my honest belief that through me, you saved someone’s life tonight.

Well done, Master Instructor Adam Daniel.
And, just so all you people understand,
it is not the fight that promotes him,
but the fact that he has been teaching others
using the data off the Master Instructor Course.

The interesting thing here is that when the material is logical
the human being experiences profound change.
Adam experienced being out of his body,
intuition in spades and in spite of being injured.
And,
of course,
compassion and protection for another human being.
And,
to be honest,
I may have contributed my matrixing,
but it is Adam who contributed the hard work and understanding.
He is the fellow who stepped into the breech
and put down the forces of evil.
Well done…
Master Instructor Adam Daniel.

For every one,
there is gold on The Master Instructor course,
these wins have been coming in since 2007,
when I first released it.
It worked then and it works now.
No exceptions.
Have a tremendous work out!
Al

A WIN!

Mr. Case,
I have received the Master Instructor Course, read it multiple times and have wondered…where has this information been and why is this not required for all instructors that have the care of their students entrusted in them? I was amazed that the principles of Matrixing and how they can take any martial art and develop it into one practicum. ~ Garren L

“Life’s battles don’t always go to the stronger or faster man.
But sooner or later the man who wins,
is the man who thinks he can.”
– Bruce Lee

Learn Apocalyptic Martial Arts

Newsletter 963

Here’s How To Do Caveman Martial Arts!

I’m binge watching a TV series.
‘Into the Badlands.’
Great fun,
the premise being that there are no more guns,
so we live on a few old cars,
relics like turntables,
and practice the sword.
Yowza!

And the martial arts are really cool!
Flying superkicks,
punches that knock people through brick walls,
did I say it was…COOL!

Now,
the thing that gets me is this…
the ladies,
in spite of living in relative caveman times,
all look like they stepped out of a beauty salon,
wearing the gorgeous gowns,
and,
of course,
wearing high heels that can spike an oaf’s face
with elan.

Well,
if you think about it,
that is the least of the problems.
The whole thing suspends reality for…COOL!
So what do you think a post apocalyptic martial art
would really look like?

No swords…
people would just pick up stray and heavy objects
and grind an edge on it.
Found a big, old paper cutter?
Loosen the blade and swing that!

Lots of knives.
Easy to make,
easy to hide,
easy to use.

Lots of guns,
but ammo might run out pretty quick.
So,
maybe no guns after a while.

And,
would you have a lot of people
who knew long and elaborate forms,
and knew how to use them in a fight?
Nah.

In a world reduced to caveman,
the guy who studies the short form,
and most diligently,
is going to be the one to survive.
I’ll take House One any day.

My House One,
on the Matrix Karate course,
has only seven moves.
But those seven moves have over 16 applications.
It replaces dozens of long forms
with simple logic.

House Two has 10 moves,
but put together with House One
there are over 64 applications.

So you just drill these simple moves
over and over,
and the truth will emerge:
a fellow who knows the basics well,
can beat a fellow who knows advanced techniques.
You see,
advanced techniques depend on the basics.
Got to know the basics.
And the fellow with the best basics,
no matter what kind of ‘advanced technique’ he knows,
is going to win.

Anyway,
that’s my answer to Hollywood,
gals on six inch spikes,
and those glorious
wire suspended trampoline kicks.

1a Matrix Karate

Do Matrix Karate for a year,
you’ll know how to fight better than anybody.
It’s pure, man.
It’s pure.
Pure logic and pure joy.

Have a pure work out!
Al

A WIN!
Hey Al!

I just read today’s news letter.  You are always so encouraging, and always raising such excellent signposts for those of us who follow you!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I’m taking it easy, really trying to ‘get’ coordinated body movement, working my Matrix Karate forms, looking for more and more relaxation… or less and less effort?

Each time I add a side, I find something new and wonderful.  When I started doing Form 2 backwards, I found a whole new ‘direction’ in my mind, like I was learning something completely new.

Ryan

‘I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once,
but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.’
– Bruce Lee

A New Martial Arts Master Instructor Testimonial!

Newsletter 953

A New Martial Arts Master Instructor!

Super congrats to new Master Instructor
Maj (ret) Paul von Hacker

Here is Paul’s win…

Master Case,
Let me begin by saying I had high expectations and your course exceeded them. You are the most articulate and scientific instructor I’ve ever had and I find that to be exceptionally effective when learning. I’ve studied a number of systems in 25 years and found differing aspects of each that I’ve incorporated into my personal skill set. From a striking perspective I tend to enjoy karate and boxing. Footwork tends to be boxing and pa qua oriented. My ground experience has been almost exclusively Jiu jitsu. The only weapon I’ve ever really studied was dear horned knives and then knives.

From my perspective your master instructor course is a must have. I’ve taught numerous classes in non-martial arts settings. As an Air Force officer it was just part of the job. I am very analytical with regards to instruction so your method truly broke each area down into very concise sub areas that I felt were masterfully pieced together.

(Paul has described the course in detail here, so we move to his conclusion…)

Conclusion: Sir, I have met many skilled practitioners in martial arts. I have worked with men and women whose skill and technique were inspiring but I have never met anyone who put it all together. I was speaking to a 3rd Dan Judo BB in the local area. He runs a school and I have gone over from time to time on sparring night. He has an open mat sparring session to enable his students to spar with other students from various disciplines. I began explaining your matrixed concepts to him and he was a bit cautious. So I explained it this way. If one wanted a degree in computer science one would have to accumulate 120 credits towards the degree, roughly 70% of that is not related to the degree. If one could instead take the 50 credits toward the degree it would take roughly 3 semesters. It is a simplified way to explain it but one I explained it that way he understood. Then we sparred and had a good time and the entire time I was watching, in-between bouts, I found myself using the corrections and the tools and the amazing things is I am not very educated in Judo. The fact that I could ID areas of poor grounding, misalignment, and bad CBM speaks to the simplicity and complexity of the material covered.
On your website you mentioned pricing being low so numerous people could benefit, that is laudable but I recommend you increase your pricing. The work you’ve accumulated it the totality of your life endeavor. Imagine it this may, during WW II the greatest minds on the planet struggled to unlock the atom. In 2019, any student can crack open a book and read the equations used, theories proved, and any semi-educated person could go back in time and explain the concepts easily and concisely to Einstein and his team. You’ve unlocked the atom! You’ve taken this light years from where it was, steam engine and propeller air plane to atom splitting attack sub and to top it all off you’ve articulate enough to explain it in the most concise manner I’ve ever seen.
Maj Paul von Hacker III, USAF, Ret

congrats and well done Master Instructor Hacker,
and thank you.

And,
to everybody,
this is a world which has been educated out of common sense.
it has become bound by myths and lies.
People make up reasons when they don’t understand the real reasons.
For these reasons the martial arts suffer,
and people circle on the rim
and never experience the real martial arts.
The real martial arts are simple,
and the Master Instructor course is the key that unlocks them.

Again,
congrats to Paul,
and…
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

Handling the Angry Martial Arts Student

Newsletter 951

Angry Martial Arts

Had a kid in class yesterday,
he was losing at freestyle,
got upset,
got emotional,
started carrying on and whining
and generally disturbing the class.
We worked with him,
but at the end of class he was still upset.

The next class I gave a lecture
about giving in to emotion.
You have to control yourself
if you are going to control your opponent.
And I addressed this lad
who had been so-o- upset.

You were upset the other day,
it was hard to talk to you,
because you couldn’t listen through your emotions.
You’re calm now,
so now you get the lesson.
If you fall to emotion,
you’ll fail in your art,
and fall to an opponent.

He agreed.

But the day before he didn’t agree.
He couldn’t learn through emotion.

The point here is don’t be so anxious
to give a lesson
when somebody is upset.
Let him calm down.
When the emotion is gone,
and he is able to think,
to actually analyze,
that’s when you give the lesson.

And,
a quick lesson for you
on how to defuse emotion.

Humor.

One day we had a special needs kid in class.
He got upset,
screamed at us,
said a bunch of foul words,
went to the door
and flipped us all off.

The instructor next to me said,
‘Hey! I’m number one!’
Everybody laughed.
Even the special needs kid started to laugh.

So use humor,
if at all possible,
to defuse a situation.

Now,
it is HanaKwanMass!
You only have a couple of days
to get yourself a present,
and I tell ya,
the best present you can get somebody,
and even and especially yourself,
is a complete martial art.

Here’s one…

2a Shaolin Butterfly

remember,
my HanaKwanMass poetry is almost here,
so sit by your computer with bated breath.

2a Shaolin Butterfly

Here’s a great win…

A WIN!

My journey with Al started about 8 years ago with a book written by Al called Shaolin Butterfly, which I studied and still study on a daily bases. Then Al did something that has changed my martial arts life he started offering all of his courses at a lower price than what he used to charge. I took advantage and started by ordering just a couple. I went through them and found a wealth of information which cleared away the fog that most instructors throw at their students because they themselves don’t understand the whys of their systems.

That was it. I ordered all of Al’s courses. I have taken something from each of the arts that Al has put at my feet and have made it my own, and this has been a real gift.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.” – Mark Twain

How the Martial Arts Fell Apart!

Newsletter 949

Five Steps of How the Martial Arts Failed!

I’ve spoken before of this,
some of my advertising is aimed at this,
so let me detail some of the exact steps
of how the martial arts degraded.

FIRST,
PROTECTIVE GEAR
One day the head instructor walked in
had a box of protective gear.
So we geared up,
and started hurting each other.
But we hadn’t been injuring each other
before!
Simply,
putting on the gear made us think
that we had to hit harder to have effect,
and,
we thought,
‘oh, we can hit harder,
they have protective gear on,
so it won’t hurt.’
But it did hurt,
and we started getting sprains and deep bruises,
even breaks,
so the protective gear didn’t work,
but the head instructor kept demanding we wear it.
Protective gear meant more money for him.
Interestingly,
protective gear works now,
but that’s because people aren’t teaching the real art,
which you will understand
as you continue with this little essay.

SECOND
EXPANSION
When I started martial arts,
there were maybe a dozen schools.
As the number of schools multiplied,
hard core martial artists stopped coming together
in the few schools,
and were spread out in the many schools.
in the whole SF bay area.

THIRD
KIDS
As the number of schools grew
instructors couldn’t pull in enough people,
but parents were willing to enroll their kids
at an astounding rate.
The art was quickly watered down,
drills were changed,
and protective gear was sold.

FOURTH
TOURNAMENTS
Tournaments were a wonderful way
to enroll people and keep them enrolled.
Unfortunately,
a technique that wins in a tournament
bears little resistance to a real technique.
Also,
there was grown a false sense of ‘penetration’
when it came to striking people.
My own instructor took the to a tournament
this was back in the late sixties,
and walked out mid-tournament.
The techniques were simply so degraded
he couldn’t encourage his students to learn them.

FIFTH
POLITICS
Back in the very early 70s
my instructor was sitting at his desk,
and two Koreans walked in.
They told him that
The Korean Martial Arts Association was being disbanded,
and if he joined the new Taekwondo association
he would be promoted two belts
(he was sixth black at the time)
and every black belt in his school would be promoted one belt,
and they would all get to learn brand new forms!
Forms that would replace the old ones,
which, according to these two Koreans,
were old and didn’t work.
Interestingly enough, this same association,
since that time,
has gone through two or three new sets of forms,
and there are even people who have returned
to those bad old forms
taught at schools
such as the Kang Duk Won.
This was politics,
TKD, sad to say,
was an invention by a military general
so Korea could have its own
more national art.
And so what if it didn’t work.

SUMMARY
So,
that’s the truth.
If I have stepped on toes,
sorry,
but I was there.
I saw this stuff first hand,
I experienced this stuff first hand.
It really happened.
And if you don’t like what I have said,
do some research,
if you can find histories that weren’t written
by some school for advertising,
you will come to the conclusion
that I am not kidding.

Now,
does that make the martial art bad?
No.
People have overcome bad training,
politics,
tournaments,
and other misfortunes.
The art is about people,
and the deeper a person delves into an art,
the more sure it is
that they will find the truth of the martial arts.

But there are systems which are ALL messed up.
and which are being sold as the next great thing.
And they CAN be fixed.
But you need a bit of matrixing.

But,
I don’t want to push matrixing here,
I want to push history,
I want to push actual,
physical martial arts.

I wrote five books,

Pan Gai Noon
Kang Duk Won
Kwon Bup
Outlaw Karate
Buddha Crane Karate

You can find them on Amazon.
Or,
better,
if you go through the website
you can find video courses in which I show these arts.
These courses often have the books (in PDF)
bundled in with the videos.
That’s your best deal.

Now,
I am not pushing remembering dates,
who taught who and why it matters.
I am pushing an actual progression through history,
China to Okinawa to Japan to America…
…to matrixing.
You can actually do the very techniques of which I speak,
you can see how they evolved from art to art,
country to country,
concept to concept.
Kung Fu to Karate to Matrixing.
And that is better than reading a thousand encyclopedias.
This is a PHYSICAL history of the martial arts.
This is the martial arts being written on your bones,
not a bunch of significant words on paper,
which may or may not be important,
but are definitely slanted to whoever writes them.
Better to do than talk about.

Okay,
end of push,
thanks for listening.

Here’s a list of some of my books,
including the ‘historical’ encyclopedia.

http://learnkarateonline.net/karate-books/

Have a great work out!
Al

http://learnkarateonline.net/karate-books/

Here’s a great win…

A WIN!

Al,

I have gone through many of your courses and am currently going through blinding steel and eventually on my way to forty monkeys. I recently went through your book Matrixing Tong Bei. Several things clicked and the martial arts universe opened up after finishing that book.

Respectfully,
Tyler K