The Right Way of Making Chi in the Martial Arts

I should probably call this the ‘Al Case’ way
of making chi in the martial arts
I haven’t seen anybody else talk about this,
which is one of the great mysteries.
What I do is that simple.

The body is a machine.
A machine has to be attached to the ground.
Then the machine must have a dynamo of sorts.
Think windmill,
then translate that to the body
and you have it.

Of course,
there is more to it.

When you do Tai Chi this is what you are doing,
unfortunately,
the Chinese didn’t have such things as logic and physics,
so we get ‘mystical’ terms
which are really just rooted in the science of their day.
Instead of talking about ‘grounding’ your energy
as you would in electricity,
you get ‘rooting’
as you would for a society that is more agrarian.

I know,
weird,
and probably a bit misleading,
but accurate,
especially if you do understand something of physics,
and are willing to apply it to the body.

So your stance becomes the ‘grounding’ mechanism.
You sink your weight,
shift between stances,
and the energy goes up one leg and down the other.
passing through the tan tien,
and out to the arms,
and when you ‘windmill your arms,
make circles,
and make ‘energetical connections,’
the chi starts to build.

But here’s a better way to understand it.
Make a circle with your thumb and forefinger.
Have somebody pull it apart.
They do it easily.
Now draw a circle on your hand,
making a circle of the thumb and forefinger.
Suddenly your hand is strong enough to resist great force.
You’ve just used energy.
Not muscles,
which are up in your forearm,
but the idea of energy running around and around your hand.

Okay,
now imagine that for your whole body.
When you do a move
you imagine energy running through your whole body.
Maybe you make a circle of your arms,
easy to do in,
say,
the first move of Pinan Two,
or Pinan Four.
Now imagine the energy running in a circle
around your arms.
Bingo.

Now,
you have to change that concept for different moves.
My favorite is to add a circle to the move,
and pretend I am drawing circles in the air,
and making my arms into a dynamo.

While I don’t talk about this energy,
this way of making energy,
in the Chiang Nan book and course,
that is the place where
I probably best demonstrate the concept.
Monkey Boxing is probably the art I use it the most
and specifically for combat.
But Chiang Nan is more concise for the concept.

Here’s the link…

Chiang Nan

I hope you have fun with this concept,
it is a wonderful way to start to understand
all those mystical Chinese arts.

Okay,
guys and gals,
Have a superpendous summer of martial arts!
Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW
I wrote a whomper stomper of a novel called

The Bomber’s Story

It’s all about who owns the United States,
filled with conspiracy and shootings and riots and…
there’s even some martial arts woven into the plot!

Chiang Nan

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Supercharging Karate Strikes

There is one drill
I have never seen anywhere else.
We used to do it in the Kang Duk Won
back in the sixties,
and it was part of Pinan Two,
and other forms,
but it has disappeared from classical karate,
one more example of the ‘dumbing down’ of the martial arts.
We didn’t have a name for it,
and I just call it ‘supercharging.’
It is used to increase the power of a punch, kick, etc.
And,
do it for a while
and you’ll totally understand and have chi power.
So here is a clip.
If the video doesn’t show up in this article/newsletter,
Put an H in your browser, then add the rest of this link…
ttps://youtu.be/PSeEBq21yjU
Once again Apple refuses to talk to other computers, so I had to list it this way. Sigh.

Now,
the way this technique works is simple.
You simply raise your leg
then stomp your foot as you strike.

The mechanics behind it are equally as simple.
Weight equals work equals energy.
(Wt = Wk = E)

This is why you do low stances,
so you ‘feel’ more weight,
and have to create more energy,
which energy can be directed into your strike.

But stomping the foot
(and not so hard that you damage your foot)
creates a quick shot of power,
the tan tien works harder,
more energy goes out,
and you simply synch the energy explosion with the punch.
Voila,
instant ‘chi power.’

Now, as I said,
it is in parts of the classical Pinan forms.
But you won’t see it today.
I have examined virtually every example
of pinan two on youtube,
and it isn’t there.
The technique is about the 5th move in the form.
You have just done the side to side blocks in the beginning,
and you are about to do a simultaneous block and kick to the rear,
then turn 180 degrees and do a knife block to the front.
In the modern version
the student simply turns and takes a stance with a knife block.
In the real version
you kick,
then,
you turn 180 degrees
and stomp the foot as you knife block.
It was hard to twist 180 while you were stomping,
but it taught a higher degree of body control.

There were other examples in other forms,
other ways of doing this ‘supercharging,’
and I have developed it over the years.
As you will see in the clip,
I use it for chops and punches and kicks.

The clip is from the course I put together.
The Nine Square Diagram R & D course.
That course is around 180 video segments.
It is a monster,
and it is FILLED with things like this.

And,
if you’re unsure,
it is a lot of money to invest,
you can always check out one of the other courses on the site
and make sure it is what you want.
Here’s the link…

Research & Development Course

Now,
since I have told you the secrets of the universe,
and done the obligatory advertising,
there really is nothing more to say,
except,
of course…

HAVE A GREAT WORK OUT!
Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview