The Defense Mechanism of the Ignorant in the Martial Arts

How Ignorant People act in the Martial Arts

March,
what a wonderful month.
I’m going to work out every single day,
right into April.
You do, too!

I was checking my stats on Amazon,
and reading the reviews people write about me.
Interesting reading.
But crazy.
Let me explain.

I’ll get two reviews for a book,
one is a five star review,

VERY Interesting.. and I like the “creation” theories and methods… JUST what I was looking for.
and one is a one star review.

Waste of time if you are a serious martial artist…poor illustrations…bad

The five star talks about interesting ideas.
The one star just says ‘stupid.’
Hmmm.

How could one book provoke two such dissimilar reviews?

Well,
let me tell you.

I received an email a while ago,
the fellow said:
I don’t understand all the writing,
but when I see the pictures (videos),
then I get it.

Well,
of course,
a picture is worth a thousand words.
BUT
the real key here
is that he didn’t understand the writing.

Here are some frightening statistics.

50% of adults can’t read at 8th grade level.
45 million people are functionally illiterate.
and,
one that is very important,
6 out of 10 households don’t buy a single book in a year.

Let’s consider the implications of these statistics
as they relate to my books.

Out of the 50% adults that can’t read at 8th grade level,
there are going to be a substantial number
who are passionate about the martial arts.
They are going to read what some people see as five star material,
but because they don’t understand it,
because there aren’t enough pictures,
they are going to perceive it as worthless.
At best,
they are going to sense that something just passed them by,
and they are going to be pissed.
Pissed enough to give one star.

Out of the 45 million that are functionally illiterate,
some are passionate,
they live in blogs with small words,
and they are,
again,
angry.
A rich life is passing them by,
and though they feel that something is happening,
they can’t see it.

But here’s the kicker,
6 out of 10 don’t buy a book in a year.
But they do read on the computer,
and they are vocally upset,
when they don’t understand what somebody has said.

This is the defense mechanism of the ignorant:
get upset when you don’t understand something.

Now,
why do I bring this up.
Because I get a few low reviews,
that discourages others from buying,
and the vey valuable knowledge
that is in my books,
is then removed from the hands of the consumer.
The intelligent consumer who needs to know,
but is being waylaid by the ignorant.

Feel free to give a review.
I prefer nice,
but honest will do.

When you see a bad review,
especially if you have read the book,
and disagree,
answer them.
I can’t,
but you can.
Set the record straight.

And,
make sure you are literate,
that your children are literate,
and that knowledge can be passed down.

This world is not Rep v Dem,
it is not haves v have nots,
it is ignorant v intelligent,
and if the intelligent don’t set the ignorant straight,
then the intelligent lose.
So do you want the world to get more intelligent?
Or more ignorant?

Here’s the book which received the reviews I listed above.

http://www.amazon.com/HowCreateKenpo-Creating-Kenpo-Create-Karate/dp/1500930245/ref=sr_1_7?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1457201795&sr=1-7&refinements=p_27%3AAl+Case#customerReviews

Have a great work out!
Al

 

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

Fantasy Martial Arts!

Newsletter 789
Fantasy Martial Arts!

Happy Sunday morning!
It is perfect,
is it not?
For a Sunday workout.
Peace.
Quiet.
A time in which to make yourself stronger.
More enlightened.

Okay dokay…
I was thinking about fantasies and the real world.
A fantasy is when you think,
‘I’m going to do this!’
and it bears no reality to the real world.

You practice the martial arts,
you mock up defenses for everything
from rape to atomic wars
and you think you are prepared.

But that’s not what it is all about.

The average person will get in three fights in his life.
That’s the actual statistic.

Now,
some people have more than that.
A lot more.
A guy who trains in boxing might have a dozen fights,
A cop might have a dozen fights.
The guy who trains in a dojo
usually doesn’t have any fights.

It’s true!
People who train,
and especially in the classic martial arts,
almost never get in fights.
The fights happen around them,
but somehow they walk the walk…
right out of the confrontation.

You can’t believe how many people have verified this for me.

‘I started the martial arts
and now nobody bugs me.’

And the truth is that they have learned to face their fellow man,
and themselves,
and they don’t have that certain set of fears
that results in fighting
anymore.

True.

And it lasts their whole life.

True.

And this is what happens when you go through
the fantasy of the martial arts.
Your fears fade
and you are left
with the reality of you.

So,
let me change pace,
because,
if you think about it,
what I have just said is the truth,
and there is nothing more to be said.

Let me bounce around a bit.

Hanakwanmass to you.
Whether you believe in Happy Hanukah,
Krazy Kwanza,
or Merry Christmas,
let everybody around you
feel the joy you have found in the martial arts.

Give yourself a present,
or give somebody else a present,
this year,
of martial arts.

Let everybody know,
just by your calm attitude
and peace of mind,
what you have
by giving it to them.

If we had a planet full of black belts
we wouldn’t have any wars.

True.

That is such a totally inescapable conclusion.

And,
get ready,
next newsletter will be
my yearly rendition of
The Night Before Xmas.

And here’s something I have never mentioned,
every time I recite that Xmas poem,
every year,
I get people jumping the newsletter.
It’s true.
I send out my rendition of
The Night Before Xmas
and people cancel subscriptions at a mad rate.

Makes me laugh.

See there are two responses to the thought
behind this Martial Arts Xmas poem.

You can laugh,
and embrace the insanity.

You can get mad,
and struggle against the insanity.

But the insanity will be there
until you do enough work outs.
Do enough work outs
and the fantasy leaves,
and you are left with the truth of the martial arts.
All I’m doing is showing the way.

The Way.

Have yourself an incredible HanakwanMass.

and a fantastic work out!

Al

After 50 years in the martial arts,
these are the forms I study…

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

My gift to you.

 

Have you subscribed to this newsletter? No? Go to MonsterMartialArts.com, sign up for the free books, and you will be signed up.

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

Another New Martial Arts Instructor!

Newsletter 788
Congrats to a New Martial Arts Master instructor!

Good morning!
Fantastic morning,
actually,
for I not only get to work out,
but there is
A NEW MASTER INSTRUCTOR!

Congrats to
Garib De Kwaadsteniet

Hello Master Al

My name is Garib, I am a Bujinkan Taijutsu instructor from Amsterdam, as well as studying Matrixing thru the master Instructor course, and the Monkey boxing system with my Master Instructor, Will Sess. A lot of the finer points that you mention in the course, were subject in passing in my old system, without being explained the reason behind them, whereas just thru your solid and clear and concise explanations, the reason /concept or theory behind them became immediately obvious and a lot of the random data, as collected thru the various techniques, started to fall into place and made sense from a pragmatic point of view. What I have learned from matrixing is to look at every conceivable angle, to look for the universal truth/reality in any given motion, be it passive (evasive) or active (advance/attack/counter). By that i mean if it is a balanced, body natural motion which contains all the elements of the basic basics…in alignment. Technique over strength, mobility over forced movement, softness over hardness, working with the whole body (Taijutsu),… this way, just a minimum effort, is enough for maximum protective efficiency. Those are the elements i have taken from the master Instructor lessons, which makes my approach to movement now a whole lot more scientific based, than the randomly collected heap of techniques i was taught before. In other words, Matrixing is the art of getting to the heart of the matter, in a much shorter time than it would take with the traditional or common way of Instruction. I compare the matrix method to a compass, not only because of the directions (angles) but also because it gives me a starting point, a reference from where i can easily spot and connect the energy lines, in harmony with my opponents motions and intentions…
Thank you very much for this really compact and comprehensive block of Instruction on how to execute and transmit movement and energy, in alignment and under pressure, as well as making the theory behind them clear.
Sincerely,
Garib De Kwaadsteniet

Thank you Garib,
and well done!
Your win is a very concise and excellent summation
of matrixing.

Garib was assisted by Master Instructor Will Sess,
and I believe he is non-English speaking,
which makes this win all the sweeter.
It proves that matrixing goes beyond language,
that it is a concise set of scientific principles
that transcend speech.

It is the way the universe works.

So thank you again,
Garib,
well done for your hard work,
and thanks to your instructor
Will Sess.

Okay guys and gals,
wouldn’t becoming a Master Instructor be
the greatest HanaKwanMass present
you could ever give yourself?

Simply go here…

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

Do the course and submit your win,
and you have made it,
you have gotten that knowledge,
that martial artists from around the world,
and throughout time,
have wished to get…
You have gotten the ultimate knowledge of the martial arts
you have gotten the knowledge
that is on The Master Instructor Course!

Have a great work out
and
HanaKwanMass!

Al

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

Three Things to Think about in the Martial Arts

Three Interesting Things About the Martial Arts

Man,
what a great Saturday!
deep horse,
meditate,
glow all day.
You know?

I want to say something,
you might find it interesting:

Everybody on this planet is insane
because there is war on this planet.
If ONE person understood this,
war would end,
and the planet would be sane.

I came across this idea many years ago.
Found it interesting,
thought I’d pass it along.
Let you guys think about it.

And,
I want to say something else,
I’ve been working a lot,
newsletters are fewer,
but,
if I don’t answer an email,
or say something that doesn’t quite work,
let me know.
I make mistakes.
But a mistake is wasted if I can’t learn from it.

And,
while you’re thinking about that,
let me talk about the point of this newsletter.

The most important thing you can do is practice.
I’ve been practicing for near 50 years.
I do forms for maybe fifteen minutes at a time.
So let’s say 15 minutes a day,
365 for 50.
So I have done 273,750 minutes of forms.
Or over 4500 hours.

Now it helps if you are doing the forms matrix style,
with perfect form.
But still,
even if your form is all messed up,
that is 4500 hours of controlling my body.
Which means 4500 hours of learning to control my mind.
Or 4500 hours of refining my spirit.
Of polishing myself.

And,
of course,
I have so much more to go.

But it’s a start.

I just wish I had matrixed forms right from the get go.

Now here’s an interesting thing.

People stop doing a form,
stop repeating a form,
because they feel they aren’t getting anything out of it.
But a form is how you control your body,
which takes control of the mind!
So you are getting humungous amounts of benefit.
It just takes a while to feel it.
To understand and appreciate it.

People stop at Black Belt.
Short sighted.

Martial Arts are not a quick school,
you graduate and never have to do them at all.
They are a long school.
You might learn them fast,
but that should be to teach you how to do them
for the rest of your life.

When I was having shoulder surgery.
I couldn’t do my forms.
But I visualized them.
Doctor’s ready to cut me,
and I am far away,
perfectly relaxed,
occupied with important things.
With the control of my mind.
With learning to be me.

And,
people stop doing forms because they think they know them.
How silly.
You might know what a glass looks like,
but that’s not the same as pouring liquid into it every day,
washing it,
using it,
appreciating all the different tastes of life.

All right.
I could go on forever.
Literally.
For a form opens the door to you,
and you last forever.

But,
I need to go do them,
not just talk about them.

So,
have a fantastic day
and a great work out!
Al

BTW
Next book is almost done.
‘How to Matrix the Martial Arts,
and the universe and life and everything else.’
Until then,
get this one…

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

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 Super Powers!

The Actual method for getting super powers from your Martial Art!

Hey, got a great win from Mylan B.

A few days ago, I was practicing my punches using a candle. It’s one of my favorite tools. Anyway, what I would do is practice a form or two, then go to the candle for a bit, do a couple more forms, back to the candle, etc. After awhile, putting the candle out became easier and easier as I began to relax more and sink into my stance. It became near effortless.

Then something very interesting happened; the candle (and a few things around it that were also sitting on the table) began to vibrate. I stepped away, and it stopped. Stepped back up to it, and it began again. I stepped up very softly so I didn’t cause the table to shake from my footsteps. When I was within two feet of the candle, it would vibrate. Very strange.

Have you ever experienced anything similar, or heard of anything like that before? Could I be starting to CBM?

Great win.
thanks Mylan.

And,
a couple of points.
CBM is an ongoing thing,
a bottomless pit of more abilities.
You actually start CBMing
when you read the simple definition.

Start all parts of the body in motion at the same time.
End all parts of the body motion at the same time.

And:
Every part should contribute to the whole.

Once you read this,
once you start looking at yourself,
seeing if the hands and feet start and stop at the same time,
the knees and elbow,
and so on,
then you are starting to CBM.

At Black Belt there is usually a big realization,
but it depends on what system you are doing.
People, systems, training methods,
they are different,
and realizations can happen at different times.
And the realizations can be quite different.
And the abilities that CBMing gives you
can be REALLY different.

Mylan talks about everything vibrating around him.
Yes.
The universe is vibrating,
and something in him
nudged up against the universe,
and all heaven broke loose.
That’s cool.
So he reached a high point of CBM.
He’ll go up and down a bit,
but generally up.
That’s what happens when you apply yourself.

Now,
I’m big on candles,
you’ve seen the video of me
putting out the candle form over a foot away.
And there’s even more impressive stuff
if you look around on the web.

So one day I was working with a few guys,
and one of them was doing the candle trick,
and getting frustrated.
I happened to be walking by,
he turned and said something like,
‘I just can’t make this work,’
and I, from six feet away, flicked a finger.
The candle went out.

His eyes got big.
I kept my eyes from getting big.
And he said,
‘How’d you do that?’
I said,
‘Just keep practicing.’
And I walked quickly away.
Heck,
at that time I had NO idea what I had done.
And later, having figured it out,
I could only do over a foot.
I couldn’t do six feet if my life depended on it.
Yet,
once,
I did it.
And I know that sometime,
somehow,
I’ll be able to do it all will.
It’s just a matter of thinking things through,
getting the discipline,
and dedicating myself to making it happen.

So,
with that in mind,
did Mylan CBM?
You bet your boots.
but how much?
Well, it doesn’t matter.
He’s doing it,
and there’s no end to it,
and it’s just a matter of how far he wants to go.
Heck,
it makes a great goal.
Flicking that candle out at six feet
drove me on to being able to do it
consistently at over a foot,
and I am looking forward to more feet.
So it drives me.

And I know that Mylan is driving himself now.
He couldn’t not drive himself.

And what about you?
i have one student who,
when he was a kid,
would walk down the street at night,
and the lamp posts would flicker.
Man, shades of a horror flick.
But it drives him.
He’s not sure how he did it,
but if he did it once
then he can do it again.

So what have you done
that will drive you?

Or,
what have you seen others do?

Or,
heck,
what have you even seen in the movies?

Look, anything is possible,
it’s just a matter of letting your imagination grab hold,
and then backing it up with good, hard work.

And,
that said,
check out The Master Instructor Course.
It’s got the basic definition of CBM inside it,
but it also has other things,
for instance,
how to CBM to make internal power happen.
And this is interesting,
for it is CBM,
based on hard core science.
It is not a whim,
or crossing tea leaves and meditating,
or wishing your chi power
through the macrocosmic orbit
while sitting in a lotus stance
for ten years.

It is science.
Unarguable.

Check it out.

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

Okley donkey,
have yourself a funominal work out!

And don’t forget to send your wins to me.

Al

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

The Messed Up History of Kenpo Karate

Kenpo History Sort of a Mess

Kenpo Karate is one of the most popular martial arts in the world, and the history is, to put it lightly, a mess.

There are three men who brought Kenpo to the streets of America. These are James Mitose, William ‘Thunderbolt Chow, and Ed Parker.

What really happened with Mitose, Chow and Parker.

James Mitose learned the art at a temple in Japan. Except, there is no temple there. The area is the home of kosho sect of the Yoshida clan, so maybe. Except…when you think about it, would there be much significance if your instructor learned Karate at a Baptist church somewhere in Illinois?

Yes, there are differences in culture, and there is a potential zen aspect to it all, but churches are basically meeting places.

The second man in this lineage is William ‘Thunderbolt’ Chow. Professor Chow claimed that he originally learned martial arts from his father, a Buddhist priest. Except, there are no records of his father as a priest. And how does that tie in with the Kenpo he learned from James Mitose?

The third man in this saga is Edmund Parker.

Parker brought Karate to the mainland, began teaching martial arts while at Brigham Young University. Except, he is said to have taught his students all he knew – he was only a brown belt – and when he went home and tried to get more to teach…Professor Chow wouldn’t teach him anything because he had been instructing without permission!

Now, there are a lot more sordid details to this story. There are fights and arguments and people slandering one another, and the reader might think, at this point, the this writer is writing black headlines just to sell an article. Except…the real problem here is not the three men, it is the students learning their kenpo karate martial art.

How to shift your forms for maximum potentials

People seem to need to bolster themselves up, to give themselves airs, to make themselves sound more important than they are.

So when Mitose says, in an offhanded remark, ‘Yes, my father used to show me tricks when I was a kid. We were living next to a church then, and we would roll around on the grass in the side yard. Lot of fun…’ the student bows deep and realizes that his instructor studied at a zen temple, was beaten with a bamboo rod for dozing, and had to go through rigamarole that would make Gordon Liu envious.

And when Thunderbolt Chow says, ‘Yes, my father had dreams of being a priest, talked about it often. Priests know really great martial arts, you know,’ the student holds his finger aloft as the lightening strikes him, and knows that he studying ancient and arcane mysteries written down in scrolls dating back to the time of Buddha.

And when Parker says, ‘My instructor didn’t have any more to teach me,’ the student catches his breath and claps his hands together, for obviously his instructor has surpassed his instructor, and the student is the real beneficiary of all this light and goodness.

the last third of 150 Kenpo techniques scientifically analyzed

Yes, there are people who spread rumor and prevarication to make themselves look good, but it is up to the student to be discerning and find out the real truth…and, there is a lesson to be learned here.

The lesson is that man learns best from his mistakes. He learns a little bit from doing something well, but he learns A LOT from messing up. And these three men, James Mitose, William ‘Thunderbolt’ Chow, and Ed Parker, they were human, and they messed up.

So, are we going to make them saints and pretend they made no mistakes? Or are we going to look extra hard at their mistakes and learn, truly learn, from them?

The author began studying Kenpo Karate in 1967. Check out the three volume set analyzing Kenpo Karate (see illustrations above for links). History, forms, and 150 techniques broken down and scientifically analyzed. This will forever change the way you look at and do Kenpo Karate.

Merry Xmas Monster Martial Arts Stye!

 A Martial Arts Xmas to You!

Good morning!
It’s almost Xmas!
Almost time to sneak down
and open the presents the night before!
Find that set of throwing stars, 
or shiny, new sword,
or other implement for keeping world peace.
Heh.
And,
speaking of the night before,
it is time for my yearly rendering of
The Night Before Xmas!
Monster Martial Arts Style,
of course.

HanaKwanMass to Freedom Fighters the World Over!

But,
before I offend everybody,
let me remind you,
I have two specials going on.

One,
Rolling Fists is half price,
because I have a bunch of labels
that faded.
Email me for details.

Two,
the HanaKwanMass two for one special!
That’s right,
get any course,
and email me afterward
for any other course
of equal or lesser value!

AND…
speaking of HanaKwanMass,
it stands for Hanukah/Kwanza/Xmas,
it is my attempt to offend
EVERY politically correct person I can.
Simply,
if somebody who is purple,
believes different than you,
is from faroutistan,
wishes you a happy whatever holiday,
TAKE IT AND LOVE IT!
And wish them well back!

Okay,
enough bushwah,
let’s get down to the one poem
that I do year after year,
which offends anybody with sensibility
but is a hoot to a martial artist…

TWAS 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.

Al

BTW ~ If you want to spread the HanKwanMass spirit, feel free to share, hit the FB button, email to a friend, or whatever.

Don’t forget to subscribe!

How to arrange all the martial arts into one training method…

What Martial Arts, Exactly, That I teach

Good morning
and a great work out to you!

The question came up the other day,
about what I teach.
I’ve got courses on karate,
kung fu,
aikido,
Indonesian weapons,
tai chi,
pa kua,
and on and on…
so what do I teach?

The Complete Military Martial Arts System…

I teach the following,
and with the appropriate method of freestyle
for each specific geometry of art.

I start off with the houses from Matrix Karate.
I am especially adamant
on teaching the first two houses,
and I obsess on the two man variations.
These are VERY concise forms
very short,
but technique oriented,
and combat efficient.

Then I teach four short forms from the Shaolin Butterfly.
The Butterfly
The Flower
The Mantis
Choy and Lee.
Again, I obsess on the two man variations.
These forms are not linear
and explore a wealth of footwork
while staying simple
and combat functional.

Then I move into Walking the circle.
I explore a lot of grab arts on the circle,
which taps heavily into the Matrix Kung Fu.

Finally,
I do tai chi.
I focus on the matrix Tai Chi,
then move into the long yang.

Now,
here’s the deal,
everybody is different,
so I teach everybody different.
There’s going to be a fellow who gets none of the above,
but gets worked on classical karate forms,
because that’s the kind of guy he is.

And then there’s going to be the fellow
who gets taken through hard appliactions of Tai chi,
because of the mix of his experiences
and that’s what he needs.

So while I have a preferred method,
I shift it all around
depending on who I am teaching.

One of the reasons I get away with this odd approach
is that i am always researching.

Some fellow with a different personality
should probably go iron clad
on a specific method.

Now,
that all said,
what courses do you actually need
to get the breadth and depth of material
if you were going to teach in the manner I do.

Matrix Karate for the houses and rhythmic freestyle
Shaolin Butterfly for the butterfly forms and rolling fists
Butterfly Pa Kua Chang for the Walking the circle
Matrix Kung Fu for the grab arts
Matrix Tai Chi and Five Army Tai Chi
And,
on top of that
blinding steel for weapons.

And,
in addition to all that
there are a truckload of courses
to support the basic courses.
I speak specifically of the Black Belt course
the rolling fists course
but there are other courses.

Here’s the deal
an instructor NEEDS all that data!

So while the fellow who loves the martial arts
should pursue a specific martial art,
the fellow who has decided to become a teacher
needs to know ALL sorts of other stuff.

So even if you didn’t want to teach my method,
if you are going to teach karate,
you should know about weapons,
if only to improve your karate defenses,
and you need to know how somebody walking the circle
would effect your linear approach,
and a guy who knows Tai Chi
should know how to insert himself
over distance
so that he can make soft ‘absorbing’ techniques work
against a hard edge.
So a guy who wants to teach,
even if only a specific martial art
should know a lot of martial arts.
And he has to know more
than if he just watched arts on youtube.
He needs to study actual books,
work with people,
and find the depth of each art,
how it relates to him and his body,
his mind and his psyche.

The fellow who has studied one art in depth
is simply not going to be as effective a teacher
as the fellow who studies all the arts,
and then uses all the arts
to penetrate to the far greater depths
of his one art.

It’s just common sense.

Anyway,
that’s how I teach,
and why I teach,
and what you should be doing
if you are studying the martial arts for life.

I’ve got two packages to help people out.

One is the Core Package,
Matrix Karate, Matrix Kung Fu, Matrix Aikido
and the Master Instructor Course.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/5-core-package/

The second package is the Kung Fu Package,
Shaolin Butterfly, Butterfly Pa Kua Chang,
Five Army Tai Chi Chuan and
How to CreateYour Own Art.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/kung-fu-package/

Each of these packages are geared
towards helping people
who are in certain stages of development
in their martial arts.

Anyway,
the whole point of what I am saying here
is that Monster Martial Arts,
the science of Matrixing,
while it is for individuals and individual arts
is more for the whole and complete development of instructors,
of the people who drive the martial arts through the ages.

So,
whether you agree with my specific method or not,
there is a TREMENDOUS amount of martial arts data here
that will help you devise and teach
in the manner you select.

While I present a science,
this is an art we are teaching
and there are many ways and methods
we should look at,
and many ways and methods
to become better martial artists ourselves.

Now,
have a great work out,
and…
Hanakwanmass!
Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/5-core-package/

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/kung-fu-package/

Why Did Ed Parker Make Five Styles of Kenpo?

The Five Kenpos of Ed Parker

The first Kenpo of Ed Parker was actually Okinawan Karate. One can see the forms in the string of techniques in his first book. Forms were actually not taught, except, I believe, for Naihanchi and maybe one or two others.

The second version was a blend of Karate and jujitsu. This version was originally taught in a small temple in Japan.

Complete scientific analysis of Kenpo Karate

Fiver versions of Kenpo Karate, and which one is the real one?

The third Kenpo of Mr. Parker was actually created by James Wing Woo, a kung Fu stylist who taught Ed’s class, and helped him write a book while he lived in Pasadena. This was the version of kenpo from which many of the forms were originated.

The fourth kenpo was a reworking and renaming of the 3rd version.

The fifth and final Kenpo was created by Ed Parker to replace the earlier styles of Kenpo. He was proud of the fact that it actually wasn’t kenpo anymore.

Now, this all stated, one has to ask why there were so many styles. The answer is simple, Ed was trying to simplify and make sense out of the mess.

The fact of the matter is that the martial arts are random sequences of motions. This causes the art to be hard to learn, and hard to apply. It is simply hard to memorize to the point of intuition so much data.

Ed was trying to simplify and make sense out of the thing so that students could learn faster (among other reasons).

Unfortunately, he failed.

He came close, but his efforts were still comprised of random sequences of motion.

Each method he designed or compiled or whatever was built upon the ashes of the previous, tried to include new concepts and theories he had come across, and does not make summation of kenpo, or the martial arts.

Was he wrong for doing what he did? Not at all. His work was ground breaking and innovative, he just lacked the logic and perspective to bring it all together.

Does it mean that the kenpo you are studying is wrong?

Nope.

For Kenpo is a manifestation of knowledge, and each person contains the knowledge in his own unique way.

Though Ed failed to make the art a science, it is still an art, and it is still whatever people make it.

Interestingly enough, Ed was proud that the last version of his Kenpo wasn’t Kenpo at all. If you want to read that story click on The Man Who Killed Kenpo.

Before People Knew What Kenpo Karate Was

Back in the Beginning of Kenpo…

I began studying Kenpo in 1967.
It was so unknown that it was called Kenpo Karate so it could be identified with the art of Karate. Not that that many people knew what karate was.

Check out How to Create Kenpo by Al Case. Fifty years of martial arts knowledge turned loose!

Kenpo was born in Japan. There are many lineages, but the specific Kenpo that is so widely known these days came from James Mitose, Thunderbolt Chow, Ed Parker, and finally, an instructor near you.

Martial Arts were not studied widely at the time, and usually it was fellows who were tough, who looked forward to the street fight, who studied them.

Kenpo came from Okinawan Karate and Japanese Jujitsu. There were other sourcss, many and varied, but the American style Kenpo you might study was likely based, at least in the beginning, on these arts.

Right from the outset Americans realized that Kenpo could be marketed more easily through tournaments, so we studied our freestyle rabidly, and we looked forward to the weekend trips.

For such a violent art, the participants at these tournaments proved to be a polite bunch. Schools were located a distance apart and there wasn’t much competition. Instructors actually looked forward to seeing each other, to comparing notes, and even learning a ‘secret’ technique or two.

And, outside of school, fights did happen. Proud warriors, Kenpo stylists, all martial artists, were happy to step up to a challenge, take umbrage at a veiled insult, trade fists with a goon.

We were more rabid back then. We didn’t do ten or twenty kicks and think we were done, we would do a couple of hundred and chide ourselves for being lazy. We would do forms by the hour. See if we could do 60 forms in an hour.

In short, we would exhaust ourselves. We would go for a run, do some weightlifting, and then freestyle for a couple of hours in class, and know that we were doing it right.

Mistakes? We made a ton of them. But over time we fixed them; the martial arts tend to be self fixing; the turn of the foot, the line of the wrist, the physics of the universe corrected us and were out teachers.

And now, near fifty years later, all we wish is one thing: to do it all again. To do Karate and Kenpo, to throw and kick and punch to our hearts content.

And we feel sorry for all those people who quit early, or who were born too late, or who were just too lax in their training to really find the truth: You are what you do, that is your measure, and that is your worth.

If you want a REALLY good book on Kenpo, consider ‘How to Create Kenpo’ by Al Case. It has the real history, the one you don’t hear much about, plus a section on how to do forms, plus 150 kenpo techniques, thoroughly analyzed so that you can be the best Kenpoka you can be. That’s How to Create Kenpo, available on Amazon. The hard work is up to you.

Here’s a fascinating bit of history: The Man Who Killed Kenpo.