Home Intrusion on Christmas, and the Martial Arts

Newsletter 844

I was Attacked on Christmas!

HANAKWANMASS!
And a great work out to you!

Yes,
the martial arts killed Christmas.
In fact,
it was me,
with my martial arts
that killed Christmas.
Killed it dead.
Dead a poisoned rat in a trap dropped in a well.
Here’s how it happened.

click on the cover!

Back in 1974,
I had just gotten my Black Belt.
I was in phenomenal shape,
the martial arts had turned on
all sorts of abilities for me.
I had a sixth sense open up,
I could feel when people were going to do things,
I could sense things around me,
I moved through the world
a warrior unbound.

My wife and I lived in a small house in Redwood City.
There was an upstairs and a downstairs.
It was so compact
that the bathroom was under the stairs.

One night I awoke,
felt the need to relieve myself.
Half asleep,
stumbling through the dark,
I descended the stairs.
I turned through the living room
and headed for the bathroom.

Suddenly,
a shape rushed at me!
It was dark,
but I could feel the motion.
I spun into a classical move,
and chopped with perfect form.
The intruder crashed against the wall.
One chop,
and he was down and out!
Now that’s good martial arts,
I thought,
and I turned on the light.

The Christmas tree lay a ruin.
Every ornament was flung from the tree,
little bulbs lay in shards,
scattered across the floor

The lights,
needless to say,
no longer worked.

The cheery, little angel
that had topped the tree
was smacked against the wall
and lay in ruins.

Half asleep,
I had snagged the Christmas tree cord with a foot,
and pulled the ‘intruder’
down upon myself.

Still,
I had defended myself rather adequately,
don’t you think?

I remember a time in an Aikido class,
when the instructor had talked about
using the sixth sense to protect oneself,
but not being so violent,
that Grandma had to worry,
when she walked up behind you
and tapped you on the shoulder.

Well,
I understood that one.
And I understood that I had a lot more to go,
a lot more to learn,
past black belt.

Heck,
getting a black belt is just the start.
That’s like graduating from high school,
and there’s all sorts of college ahead of you,
advanced studies in rare fields.

A lot to look forward to.

Unfortunately,
there are those that quit the martial arts
after getting their black belt.
They have nothing to look forward to.
Or at least didn’t,
until the Matrixing courses came out.

Now,
even if it’s been a few years
since you worked out,
you can jump back in the game,
study those rare fields of knowledge.
Learn Shaolin,
figure out this ‘chi’ business,
study weapons.

And you can do it logically,
without all the mystical bullstuff
that infects most martial arts.

Well,
up to you.
It is Christmas
(HanaKwanMass)
however,
so you might think about getting yourself
a nice present.
A present like a whole martial art.
How about Shaolin?

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/6-shaolin-butterfly/

Okley donkley,
here’s something you should know…

Got more videos out on the MonkeyBoxingNow site.
Check out the blog there,
and sign up for the newsletter
if you want the blog to come to you.

And don’t forget to be politically correct.
Don’t say Merry Christmas,
it might offend somebody.
Instead,
be socially responsible and say Happy…

BULLPUCKEY!

Say Merry Christmas if you want!
And the heck with people
who object to a well wishing!

In fact,
say
HANAKWANMASS!
Offend everybody!

It’s the only way to go!

Now,
HanaKwanMass to all,
and to all…
A HAPPY WORKOUT!

Al

(And try not to kill the tree, you rabid dogs!)

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/6-shaolin-butterfly/

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

American Indians and Pa Kua Chang

Newsletter 833 ~ subscribe now!

Pa Kua Chang and Indian Stealth Skills!
part one

Good evening!
I just finished teaching,
2 1/2 hours of bliss,
and I am in heaven.
Let me share a little of that heaven with you.
Here’s one of the things I was thinking about,
which relates to the martial arts.
Specifically,
how Pa Kua Chang relates to the stealth skills
of the native American Indians.

The most important Martial Arts book ever written.

Incidentally,
I am going to write five articles on this subject,
so if you want all five,
subscribe to the newsletter.
The other four articles will be coming out over the next month.

The American Indians were arguably
the greatest light infantry in the world.
They could outrun horses,
they had thoroughly mastered such weapons as
bows and arrows, knives, hand to hand, and so on.
And, they were masters of stealth.

Think about this:
to put food on their table
they had to be able to sneak up on wild animals.
This meant they walked with no noise,
don’t rustle a leaf,
or step on a twig.
Do it so well that a deer won’t hear you.
Have you ever seen how big a deer’s ears are?

The way they walked was very specific.
They did not walk heel to toe,
they did not place their heel down first,
the placed the front of their foot down first,
so they could feel a twig,
or any other surface that was going to cause noise
sufficient to alert an animal.
So they placed the front of the foot down first,
then rolled to the heel,
and they were aware,
feeling with their feet,
sensitive to whatever they were walking on.
And they walked fast enough to close on an animal
before the animal went elsewhere to feed,
and without alarming the animal.
That takes incredible skill.

Interestingly,
this method of walking is very similar to the way
students of Pa Kua Chang walk.
The precise way of walking in Pa Kua Chang
is to place the whole foot down,
gently,
sensing the ground through the feet.
This eliminates slippage on icy, grassy, wet whatever surfaces.
Further,
it breeds silence.
Further,
it enables the student to grip the ground.

This method of walking
is commonly called ‘Mud Walking.’
Walk so you won’t slip in mud.
Walk silently,
with no wasted (as in audible) energy.

There are differences here,
but here is the point:
both methods are used to build awareness.

It is awareness that makes a better martial artist,
not muscles,
not speed,
not anything else.
It is awareness,
of environment,
of the opponent,
of whatever is going on around you.

It’s funny,
when I hear people refer to Indians as savages
I have to suppress laughter.
They adapted to their environment,
they built a technology
that made them possibly the finest warriors in the world.

If you just study them,
if you consider how you might use their methods,
how you might improve your awareness,
you will find that they were geniuses of combat.

Now,
let’s be honest,
I haven’t studied Indian combat methods in depth,
but I have studied methods that closely align.
Here’s the link to Pa Kua Chang.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/butterfly-pa-kua-chang/

Think about what I’ve said here,
and then bury yourself in some Pa Kua,
it will be well worth the journey.

Stay tuned for four more articles
concerning the martial arts
and the stealth abilities of the American Indian.

and have a great work out!

Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/butterfly-pa-kua-chang/

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

Martial Arts Drilling Made Real

Newsletter 826 ~ Subscribe now!

The Secret of Two Directions in the Martial Arts Drills

Thank you to everyone
who has purchased the
Tiger and Butterfly Martial Arts System.

A complete Martial Arts System! ~ Click on the cover!

If you want videos of the forms,
if you want to expand your understanding of the two systems
from which this system came,
check out the Matrix Karate
and Shaolin Butterfly courses.

Don’t forget to leave a good review on Amazon.

Okay,
here’s some stuff about martial arts drills.

When somebody is training a person,
maybe to close distance,
they might set them up a few feet from a bag/wall/whatever,
and have them practice shuffling forward.

You shuffle and shuffle,
people get tired
and go do some boxing.

Hey,
it’s true.
People don’t understand the classical,
get tired of the grind,
they want to fight,
so they go somewhere where people do more fighting
and less drilling.

But the drilling is crucial.
The martial arts are like a wall,
the bottom bricks need to be firmly in place
before a student can build the wall higher.
So you have to practice these basic drills,
and build the basic building blocks.

So,
you are drilling,
practicing closing with the wall,
trying to get the time from launch to impact
to disappear.
And you are making a crucial error.

There are two directions to a line,
and no matter which direction you are going,
both directions are important.

Watch a person start to walk from a standing still position.
chances are
they lean backward
so they can push a foot out.
It’s true,
they unbalance themselves,
so they can fall forward.
They go in two directions to go in one.
A most inefficient method for starting the motion of walking.
But,
if you watch the martial arts,
you will see the most amazing examples
of similar inefficiency.
People just don’t know how to get started.

The correct method is to bend the legs slightly,
and cause yourself to lean forward,
into the motion,
by thinking about it.

And,
if you are going to close distance
in the martial arts,
you need to set your stance
so the ‘wave’ of your legs
can be properly unleashed,
and every part of the body
can contribute to the forward motion.

CBM,
Coordinated Body Motion,
put to work in the simple act of walking.

Now,
if you are not guilty of unbalancing yourself to walk,
if you are already engaged in CBMing to walk,
then let me give you a further example.

Do both the hard and the soft!

I had a group of students attempt to close distance.
They would shuffle and punch,
and they were abysmally slow.
And they didn’t even like it.

So after a few minutes of springing forward,
I had them play a game.
I had them move forward,
extend a forearm for the grabbing,
and spring back when their opponent grabbed.

This put a whole new excitement into the drilling.
This made the student think backwards,
even as he was going forwards.

Then I had them do the original exercise,
and they were shocked
at how they had improved at closing distance.

Try it for yourself.
Drill one way,
then set up the opposite direction,
then go back to the original direction,
it won’t be long before you are faster.

And,
the drill can be used quite gloriously
when it comes to freestyle.
You can set up different targets,
move them into range,
retreat with verve,
and,
here’s a kicker,
set up a counter to attack.
And you will be most excellent at the counter,
because you are adept at moving in both directions.
You haven’t gotten bored with going only in one direction,
which breaks the concept of yin and yang,
of opposites in the universe,
and have become adept at the whole motion.

This drilling,
incidentally,
is the product of neutronics.

Matrixing provides logic.
Gives understanding to the whole picture.
But who is doing the martial art?
You.
That is what neutronics is about.
And in this case,
you are taking advantage of the two directions of a line,
and training in both directions,
to fully understand one direction.

Most people only train in one direction.

Here’s a neutronic datum for you:

The purpose of the martial arts
is to deliver a force or flow
while avoiding a force or flow.

How are you going to accomplish that purpose
if you don’t understand the martial arts in,
at least,
two directions?
How are you going to master the hard,
if you don’t understand the context of soft
from which it comes?
And how are you going to master the soft,
if you don’t understand the contact of hard
from which it comes?

So,
I say it again,
if you know Karate,
or TKD or Kenpo,
or some other hard art,
then you need to learn Aikido,
or TCC,
or some other soft art.
Only if you understand two directions,
will you master one.

If you know Karate,
go here…

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

If you know Tai Chi,
go here…

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

have a great work out!

Al

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

New Martial Arts Book/Complete Martial Arts System

Newsletter 825 ~ Subscribe now!

Tiger and Butterfly Martial Arts Book

The new Martial Arts book is called
‘Tiger and Butterfly,’
and it’s pretty darned good.

click on the cover!

If you look at the title,
and you have done any matrixing,
then you can see that I have used
portions of the Matrix Karate course,
and portions of the Shaolin Butterfly.

This was interesting,
because I didn’t want to fall into the trap
of having systems disagree.
I wanted the concepts to build on each other,
not work against each other.

In a way,
there is a certain similarity
between Tiger and Butterfly
and the MCMAP books I wrote.

The similarity is in the arrangement of material.
This had to be,
because when you make a system,
certain things have to be done,
certain rules have to be followed,
certain principles have to be included,
and all the way up the belt levels.

One of the reasons I wrote this book
is because I visited a few schools,
and I saw how the modern schools
have let forms and techniques fall by the way.
They work on freestyle,
on fighting.
The students get better,
but they can’t do certain things.
For instance,
they don’t understand how to take a punch.
And,
they have limited knowledge
concerning what happens
when you complete the circle (cycle) of a technique.

The system has eight belts,
white
yellow
orange
purple
blue
green
brown
black

There are no degrees.
Each belt is designed to be done
in about three months.
Brown belt might take longer,
but the material on the brown level
is pretty advanced.

When done,
the student will have those liquid kicks,
those floating kicks that look so light,
but knock down a elephant.
They should be able to take any kind of a punch.
They will be able to freestyle with authority,
and make a grab art out of any technique.
They will have knowledge.
Real knowledge.
Not just the fast reflexes of freestyle,
but a complete body knowledge,
how the body is constructed,
how to tweak it for more energy,
how to construct it for total effectiveness.

I want you to think about something.
When you study matrixing,
there are several courses,
and I recommend that you do them all,
that you get the complete picture,
from striking to locking
to guiding to manipulating
to predicting to taking down…
and more.

But,
I can’t reach everybody,
and some people don’t understand
just how big the martial arts are,
and that you have to understand them as a science.
They are locked in ‘hit and punch,’
‘ground and pound,’
and don’t see or understand the bigger picture.

This book is for those people.
Hopefully it will get them excited for the big picture.
But even if it doesn’t,
it will afford a massive education,
and do a lot towards bringing these people
who are studying arts that have degraded over time
into the real art.
They will appreciate it as science.

And,
even if they don’t,
if they do the book,
not just read it and say…
‘oh, I knew that,’
or…
‘we have that in our system,’
but actually do the book,
all the drills and techniques,
all the forms and fighting drills,
then they will be doing the true art.
Whether they were stupid and didn’t even understand
what I am talking about,
if they do the drills and exercises,
they will end up doing the true art.

For instance,
at a certain point,
a certain belt,
I teach a type of kick.
It’s a floating kick,
then you turn the hips over and slam the energy
down into the ground
as you strike.
The point is…
you can’t do that kick
unless you use the tan tien
in a certain way.
You simply can’t.
So they will practice it,
get it,
and stumble over the concept,
whether they understand what is happening or not,
and they will end up with classical power
in a certain mode.
And the whole system is constructed
so that one mode leads to the next.

Okay,
spoken enough.
Simply go to Amazon and enter
‘Tiger and Butterfly,’
or
‘Tiger and Butterfly martial arts’
or
‘Tiger and Butterfly Al Case,’
or something like that,
and watch it pop up.

Remember
it is unique,
matrixing brought one more step forward,
and it is REALLY potent!
It is a COMPLETE martial arts system.

have a great work out!

Al

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

The Secret of a Real Karate Punch!

Newsletter 822

What is Behind a True Punch!

The first time I ever actually hit someone I was shocked.
I had trained for 20 years, and I actually had no idea
what it was like to hit somebody for real.
Then I had to,
and it totally changed me.

The most important Martial Arts book ever written.

Here’s the deal:
to understand what I am about to say
you have to understand one thing:
what is a punch?

People say it is how hard you hit somebody,
they say all sorts of things,
but I haven’t heard anybody tell me the one thing
that I experienced on the day
I actually had to hit somebody.

Go on,
google it,
see if you can find out the truth
of what it is like to hit somebody.
I’ll wait…
.
.
.
.
.
Okay,
you’re back,
here’s the truth of a punch.
A punch depends on the transference of weight
from one body to the next.
It’s not how hard you hit.
It’s not how fast,
or anything else like that.
It’s how much weight you deliver.
Now,
those other things can enter the equation.
But,
the truth is…
how much weight can you put on the sucker’s body?
Can you put so much weight the other guy’s body breaks?
Can you control the weight so it is a push and not a punch?
Are you stuck in push,
instead of punch?
Does air punching really work?

Interesting questions,
especially once you have tried to do a real punch.

When I struck this fellow
I felt weight go through my wrists.
Because I was grounded he flew back,
went over a bed and hit the wall.
Thank God for grounding.
Thank God I had practiced aligning my bones,
because if I hadn’t I might have broken my wrist,
I might have flown away from that guy from my own punch!
I just didn’t understand.

BUT,
that one punch,
and I understood.
So,
try this special exercise.
We used to do it back in the sixties,
had no clue what it meant,
and it wasn’t until I actually had to hit somebody
that I understood what the drill was for.

Assume the push up position.
Go from the hands to the fists.
Just a little push,
like you’re going to clap your hands,
but then land on your fists.
Palms,
fists,
palms,
fists.

Don’t do too many at first.
Build up a little.
Do it from a knees down push up at first,
if you have to.

What happens here is that you get
the sudden shock of weight
going through your fists and wrists,
and that is what it is like to hit somebody.
A sudden shock of weight in the wrists…
and through the rest of the body.
You ground,
you root your stances,
so that you are braced upon the earth,
and he will fly away,
and not you.
You have a straight bone line in your wrists
so you can absorb the weight.

The actual weight here is going to depend on who weighs the most.
If he weighs more,
you will fly back.
But,
even if you weigh less,
if you ground,
if you are braced upon planet earth,
then he will fly away.
Or,
if you punch with speed and snap,
the impact will ripple through his body
(imagine slapping a pond of water with your hand)
and cause great damage.

Here’s a matrix Karate Kick

Try that,
adapt it to other parts of your practice,
and let me know what happens.

And,
got something else to talk about here…
new book coming out.
This one,
the working title is
‘Tiger and Butterfly’
is a condensation,
a blend,
of Matrix Karate and the Shaolin Butterfly.
The story behind it is interesting.

I walked into a martial arts school,
asked the guy if I could help,
and he said yes.
The school is pretty good.
Probably real good,
but they were teaching martial arts without forms,
specializing in freestyle.
The freestyle was,
depending on which class was taught,
points, MMA, or Jujitsu.
Quite interesting.

So I started helping,
and eventually came up with an interesting idea:
how to teach with fewer, smaller forms.
I used the shorter Butterfly forms,
and the Houses from Matrix Karate.

So far,
it is REALLY working.

Mind you,
I always advise the complete art,
in this case the complete Matrix Karate,
or the complete Shaolin Butterfly,
but considering that the school was established,
considering that I didn’t want to change things,
just enhance them,
you can understand what I was doing.

Anyway,
the book should be out in the next week or so.
Tiger and Butterfly.

Keep your eye out for it,
and,
in the meantime,
check out this book…

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

It’s one of the most important books ever written.
It describes what the martial actually are,
how they are grown,
and ties together all sorts of loose ends.
It should definitely change the way
people think about the martial arts.

Now
have a great work out!

Al

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

Creating Martial Arts Systems and Styles

Newsletter 818 ~ Sign up at the top left!

A Buddha Crane Matrixing Win!

Got a great win from Timothy G this week!

Check it out ~ Click on the cover!

Hello sir.
It’s going well. Really well. Once I was able to connect Buddha crane with shuri ryu, the pieces began to fall into place all by themselves.
The Buddha crane is the foundation of the kihon waza, ippons waza and came into their own flow drills(taezus naru waza).
Making changes to the Kata isn’t as easy, but I have done the first few Kata. Even crazier, I found someone who has already blended shuri ryu with something. So, it came rather easy.
Upon showing him how I’ve made changes opened his eyes and he’s asking me to give him pointers on how to make his karate be more ‘alive’.
My shuri ryu master is dead and I never got the chance to get my black belt. So, I’ve gone thru these people I’ve run into and just from what I showed them they are willing to bring me to the black belt in shuri ryu.
I’m not sure if that’s even important now, being that I matrixed the whole art, but I do hope to bring this understanding of shuri ryu to the table. Thus, starting a new (sub) ryu to the family.
I couldn’t have done it without you. Osu

Thank you, Timothy,
and well done!

And for everyone,
please take note of a few things here.

The classical is not suffering,
drills and exercises have more flow,
which comes from increased understanding.

Making changes isn’t always easy.
Aside from the fact of understanding
the potentials of the martial arts
enough so that you can make intelligent changes,
you have to force yourself to change something
that you have come to believe in.

Changing a belief system is often the hardest thing
a man can do.

He shows his changes to another fellow engaged in changes,
and he becomes the authority.
Simply,
he isn’t just changing,
he has the knowledge,
and this is something that people really respect
and will adhere to.

Upon showing his changes to others
he is recognized as expert,
or having the ability to be expert.
Osu to you, Timothy.

And,
finally,
here is a very interesting question:
how important is the black belt at this point?
People going through these changes,
are gaining knowledge
and that is senior to black belt.

Maybe one out of a thousand people
that start karate
get to black belt.

But how many have the knowledge
to put together their own system or subsystem?

I encourage everybody to get to black belt,
but I encourage knowledge more.
Understanding is the most important thing you can ever get.
Period.

Thanks, Timothy,
your win is fantastic,
and I hope people understand
the trials and tribulations here,
and the incredible passion you have for the arts.

Here’s how I analyze forms. I do this for every move. Check out video courses at MonsterMartialArts.com. This particular technique is from Temple Karate.

Now,
I know Timothy has other courses and books on Matrixing,
but he mentions the ‘Buddha Crane’ book.
So let me explain something about that book.

That was the last book I wrote,
I believe,
before starting on Matrixing proper,
before doing all the matrixing courses.
As such,
I was using matrixing concepts hard and fast,
and I was developing a whole art
out of what I knew.
You can see me reworking techniques,
reworking forms,
trying to bring everything into a new slant,
or,
to be proper,
a ‘de-slanting.’
A truth.

Here’s the funny thing,
the book was actually just a ‘toss in,’
a bonus,
on the ‘Create Your Own Art’ course.
I wanted to show how I was creating an art,
give an example
to back up the theories I was pushing.
The book is PDF on the Create Your Own Art Course.

You can,
I believe,
get it on Amazon,
if you look around you can find it.
You can also get it here…

https://www.createspace.com/4577595

That’s my publishing company,
so I get a bigger royalty
if you get it there.

That page I just gave you
has a complete write up
on what is in the book.
And,
the Createspace version is paperback,
which most people prefer,
because it’s easier to walk around with the book,
than carrying a computer around
while you practice.

And,
a final word,
the illustrations are most interesting,
I wrote it on an old mac,
and the software was something called Appleworks.
What this means is that I drew the illustrations,
hundreds of them,
one line at a time.
I drew figures,
patterns,
techniques,
everything,
with lines.
Interestingly,
I remember,
at the time,
not being frustrated by the slowness of it all,
but being excited,
because I felt like I was,
by doing the illustrations in this slow and laborious way,
learning something about the human form,
writing what I was doing
in a new way in my mind.
By the time I was done
I felt VERY changed inside.

So,
that’s it.

Again,
thanks Timothy,
I hope people appreciate your win,
and I hope they take the time to look at the book,
and get their own wins,
take a stab at understanding,
and even changing,
their own carefully crafted belief systems.

And everybody,
it’s summer,
have fantastic work outs!

Al

https://www.createspace.com/4577595

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

About the Monster Martial Arts Newsletters

Newsletter 802
What’s Happening in the Martial Arts!

Good afternoon!
Think I’ll do a Tai Chi workout,
those always make me feel so large.
It’s funny…
large on a peaceful scale.

Got an email today,
asking where the newsletters have been.
Here, read for yourself…

Hey Al,
Haven’t heard from you in a while. Are you okay? I miss your newsletters. I’m sorry you’re catching flak from a bunch of little cowards spouting their worthless and unqualified opinions from the safety of their mother’s basement. I’ve been playing this game for a long time (since 1978), and I see you as nothing less than an innovator (if for no other reason than your unique ability to systemize that which has always been chaotic). We live in a unique time where the sharing of information is easier than ever. It’s easy to put people on a pedestal and idolized those who went before us as more than men. But the truth is, they only had a narrow perspective and worldview, and while they did the best they could with their extremely limited access to information, this doesn’t necessarily mean that they are deserving of worship. Just like grade school, only about 5 people out of a hundred actually studied hard and put in the work. The rest either ostracized them, or agreed with them and parroted their phrases to appear more intelligent. I think this phenomenon is seen in the Bible, with William Shakespeare, & in the martial arts. Five percent actually understand what the hell they’re reading (or have read it at all). Most of us do not understand or have not read it, so we agree with those who have and praise the brilliance of the work. The rest think it’s just a bunch of bullshit. My friend, you are among the 5%… No, you are one of those that the 5% study. The difference, is that we have access to more tools than any of our predecessors have had. There will always be  the few that create change, and the lazy masses  that first  violently oppose, and then  blindly  parrot. You can’t be extraordinary  by being ordinary. Keep on pressing on. I value and appreciate your perspective.
-Sean

I thank you, Sean,
from the bottom of my heart.
So let me explain what,
exactly,
has been happening,
and why I am so slow these days.

When I came down from Monkeyland
I was pretty broke.
No place to live,
no job…
no prospects.

Well,
it’s against the law to whine,
so I took on a bunch of jobs.

I drive Uber in the morning,
tutor kids in the afternoon,
do the martial arts in the evening,
and have a janitorial business on the weekend.

And I make sure I work out every day,
and multiple times a day,
if I can.

So that’s what’s been happening.
Survival on the stupid level.
the need for petty, crass cash.

A couple of things happened because of this,
a person gets tired if he isn’t doing what he loves.
So I’m tired all the time.
Poor me.
Whine…whine.
But,
there will come a time when I can shift everything back around,
focus on the martial arts,
and keep going.

After all,
at the end of the road is Monkeyland.
A place where people can go to study martial arts.

Anyway,
it’s not the small people who whine about what I am doing.
There is one common factor in these people:
they have never read what I am doing,
never seen a tape.
They offer opinion without facts.
They think they know everything
based on their own experience,
and they don’t need no durn facts.

So how can I get upset about a bunch of fellows
who offer ignorance as their stock in trade?

It’s sort of like listening to fourth graders
whine about how tough math is,
when the truth is
they just just don’t want to do the work.

And,
the root of the matter,
I’m just stuck in a boring spot,
should be out of it one of these days,
and doing more martial arts.

Then my chi kicks in,
my energy swells,
and life is great.

So that is what is happening.
That is why I am slow in coming out with the newsletters.
It’s my own durn fault,
for putting myself in this situation,
and it continues to be my fault
until I figure out how to right the situation.

So I thank you Sean,
and all the others,
the fifty,
and even the passersby.
Thanks for writing me the email,
encouraging me,
and even chastising me.

I apologize for being a lazy…fellow,
and I guarantee it won’t last forever,
nor probably even long.

In the meantime,
it is up to you.

Work out every day.
Don’t make ignorance your comfort zone,
but delve in,
buy books and videos,
enlarge your cranium with the swell of martial arts.

Put them to work with your friends.
Understand that their is perfection of the spirit
in the study of martial arts,
and that it makes the world a better place.

It calms the spirit,
it undoes undue excitement,
it gives lazerlike insight into the problems of the world.

I’ve been around for a while,
and I will go away,
but the martial arts are your true teacher,
they are the liberator,
the educator,
the enlightenment.

They last forever.

Enjoy.

Now,
I’ll try to work a bit harder,
and stop being a lazy…fellow.

And you go have a great work out!

Al

hHeere’s a course that undoes ignorance…

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

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

Sanity and the Martial Arts

Newsletter 801
Sanity and the Martial Arts

Good summer to you!
It’s almost here,
and do you have a plan?
Have you selected what martial art
you want to master this summer?

Hey,
I was talking to this fellow today,
He was a pilot,
used to push B1s around.
that’s right,
he was carrying the biggest bullets known to mankind.

We talked about a lot of stuff,
and veered into politics,
and it was refreshing.
He was from Arizona,
told me about gun laws there,
concealed carry,
the incredible border war that is going on
and that the news media doesn’t cover.
I told him about sanity.

He made the remark,
the old saw about:

insanity is when you keep doing the same thing
over and over,
and expect different results.

I told him that sanity was when you could observe reality.
He blinked,
and said I was right.
Never thought of it,
but I was right.
And I am.

When you do the martial arts,
you practice for some guy coming down at your head with a knife,
and you have to observe the exact reality of it all.
Observe something other than a knife
coming at your head,
and you get cut.
Blood spurts.
You know?

And here is what it all means,
most people deal in opinion.
Opinion is talk without the facts.

Most politicians do this.
They pay no attention to the fact
that every state that has fewer gun laws,
has less crime.
They call for more gun control,
which,
if you observe the reality,
is asking for more crime.

Simple but true.

So on one side we have the relative insanity
(all sanity and insanity is relative)
of opinion.
On the other side we have the relative sanity
of observation.

The thing is,
it is actually pretty easy to be sane.
Just practice your forms,
and practice the techniques in your forms,
and toss out the bushwah,
the stuff that doesn’t work.

But,
and this is an example of insanity,
many people don’t do that.

Look at the chat rooms,
everybody has an opinion.
One or two have the facts,
and the other 98 or 99 has an opinion.

That,
incidentally,
is why I don’t bother going to chat rooms,
and have even,
thus far,
eschewed a chat room of my own.

So,
here it is again,
if you can observe what is real,
you can be sane,
and the martial arts help you observe what is real.

If you can’t observe what is real,
you can only speak in opinion,
and the more opinion you have,
the more insane you are.

Well,
think about it.

And think about getting the Outlaw Karate course.

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

I was doing the Outlaw Karate course,
and tossing out bushwah techniques,
and trying to find EXACTLY what worked.
It really helped me to discover matrixing,

And,
what martial art are you going to learn this summer?

Have a great work out!

Al

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

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

The Trouble with Rhonda Rousey

Rhonda Rousey on the Ellen Show!

I have always enjoyed watching Rhonda Rousey. Her string of wins left me arm pumping the sky.

But I didn’t always enjoy her sportsmanship. I was put off when she would just glare at her opponents, reuse to bump gloves, and otherwise treated them in a manner most shabby.

Mind you, some trash talk is good. Some trash talk is nothing more than showmanship, brings in the customers. But Rhonda’s trash talk, her general attitude, was not.

The other day Rhonda went on the Ellen Show, and there proceeded to emotionalize in a terrible manner.

Yes, feeling bad over a loss is understandable. But threatening suicide?

And this unpleasant show of emotion had me considering her fight with Holly Holm once again.

Rhonda walked into punches, which, on the Ellen Show, she claimed had her feeling like she wasn’t there. And behind this tirade was the feeling that Rhonda felt it wasn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair that she got hit. It wasn’t fair that she didn’t feel good after being hit.

And, to top it off, she made a statement to the effect of: ‘I’m not making excuses.’

But she was! Everything she was saying was an excuse, and a display of emotionalism and bad sportsmanship.

Don’t get me wrong, I like Rhonda, I am anticipating her next fight. I want to see a comeback.

But I want to see a comeback with maturity, with a new attitude, with the idea that all fighters deserve respect.

If Rhonda does that, then perhaps she will deserve to win again.

Check out Blinding Steel!

Black Belt in Karate, Black Sash in Tai Chi Chuan

Newsletter 798
The Importance of a Black Belt in the Martial Arts

Good afternoon!
Absolutely stunning day.
Absolutely perfect for a work out.

Hey,
I had somebody ask me,
the other day,
what belt I was.
It’s a legitimate question.

I received my black belt in 1974.
It was in a classical karate system,
the Kang Duk Won.

And,
a few years ago,
a bunch of my black belts decided
I should be an 8th black belt.
I had some forty years training at the time.
But it was sort of interesting.
we had a wall,
and everybody who made black belt
got a plaque on the wall.
We had a dozen or so plaques,
and somebody noticed there wasn’t one for me.
So they got together and got an 8th black plaque for me.

The funny thing is I didn’t notice it
for quite some time.

Here’s the deal.
I’m proud of my black belt.
But,
shortly after I received my belt,
I lost all interest in belts
and promotions
and such.
(Though I did appreciate
what my black belts did)

Simply,
I became addicted to the information,
the the art,
to the development of myself in a spiritual sense.
But that’s me.
For those who have just begun,
you should be very concerned
with earning a legitimate black belt.

A legitimate black belt carries with it
the realization,
the knowledge,
that you have just begun to learn.
If you earned a black belt,
and you didn’t get that thought,
then there is a good chance that you aren’t legitimate.
You haven’t CBMed,
made the art into yourself,
inverted your viewpoint of the world,
haven’t understood that reality is the illusion,
and yourself is the projector.

Now,
the real point of the martial arts is this:
Does it work.

First,
does it work as self defense.
Can you defend yourself?

Second,
does it make you grow spiritually?
Do you understand your worth as an ‘I am,’
do you see yourself as a point of awareness,
do you understand how your thoughts control the universe?

I suppose,
analyzing my own preferences,
that is why I prefer Karate first,
and Tai Chi second.

Karate works.
It makes my bones hard,
puts snap in my muscles,
and gives me long life.

Tai Chi works also.
It makes me sensitive,
removes me from illusion,
and gives me long life.

And,
interestingly,
Tai Chi,
learned effectively,
is one of the most incredible
self defense styled martial arts
I have ever experienced.

And,
they provide me with a ‘hard and soft’ progression of art.
After you do a bit of matrixing,
you can see how karate can become tai chi.
And how tai chi enhances Karate.

All very interesting.

If you are experienced with the hard,
I recommend the soft.
If you are experienced with the soft,
I recommend the hard.

It’s the only way to be sure
that you really understand
all aspects of the martial arts.

The trick,
of course,
is to make sure you matrix BOTH martial arts.

Here are the Matrix links.

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

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/2ba-matrix-tai-chi-chuan/

Have a great work out!
Al

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

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/2ba-matrix-tai-chi-chuan/

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