You’d Better Know the Law Before You Do the Martial Arts

When it comes to the Martial Arts…‘The Law, sir, is a ass!’

A humble opinion stated in great literature. And if you know which literature, you are good.

But, that said, let’s talk about the law, and then about the law and the martial arts, and then see if you agree.

The purpose of the law is to curb lawbreakers. Which is interesting, because law breakers will break the law regardless, and the real purpose of law then becomes to curb the lawful.

Think not? Then take a gander at some of these laws.

In Pesshtigo, WI, you are not allowed to practice Karate on the sidewalk. Dangerous, you know. Might chop somebody’s eye out. Might fall through a window. Clumsy you.

In Yateswille, NY, it is definitely against the law to ride an ugly horse when going to a martial arts competition. I guess you have to put a bag over the head of your horse. But then they’d probably just write a law about blind horses or something.

in Halstead, KS, men may not take karate unless he gets written permission from his wife. Unless, of course, he has been married over 12 months.

I came across these, and a slew of other laws, on the net. I know, I should probably should check my sources.

Except, I decided to write this article regardless, and for the following reason.

Your president, the one you elected is currently running the country by Executive Order. For those of you who don’t know, Executive orders are legal by constitution amendment. This was done in 1874, so that the president could better rehabilitate the country because the country wasn’t getting rebuilt fast enough after the civil war.

Now, I think that there may be a problem with this, and I urge you to write your city, county, state, national delegate and demand that they vote executive orders off the books.

After all, President Obama has a free hand, and is legally empowered to write executive orders making immigration legal, confiscating all bullets, and having the Koran read at the beginning of congressional sessions.

But that all said, make sure you get a letter from your wife before riding a horse to compete in a karate contest on the sidewalk.

Have you read Matrixing Tong Bei?

How to Maim yourself with Bad Martial Arts Practice

Hurting Yourself for Fun with Martial Arts?

Bad Martial Arts practices will probably always be with us. After all, there is always going to be somebody who is just a wee bit not too smart in the martial arts. More gusto than brains.

The first martial arts training that I heard of that was a bit loony tunes was in Karate. This was back in the fifties, and it consisted of smashing your hand into rocks or telephone poles or other non-giving objects. The result was a hand bleeding, maybe even broken, and much too tender to continue karate practice with.

Click here to learn how to Matrix Tai Chi Chuan

Over the years I heard of other things, but the latest and greatest has to do with gangs that administer ‘martial arts beatings’ to make sure you are tough enough.

I think it was the movie ‘colors,’ with Sean Penn, where I first heard of gangsters beating the hell out of recruits before they accepted them into their inner circle. They were supposed to be gauging the recruit’s ability to fight back or something like that.

Just the other day I came across the latest evolution of this bad martial arts practice. It takes place in prison, and it is called ’52 Pick Up.’

A deck of cards is thrown into the air, and the recruit must pick up the deck, in order, while three other cons beat the heck out of him.

Now that is an interesting concept, the ability to play cards while in a gang war.

The interesting thing is that done properly, there actually is reason for these practices. Many schools, for instance, believe that one should be pushed and struck while doing the form Sanchin. The pushing and striking, however, is not to brutalize a fellow and make sure he is reduced to an animal nature, but rather to ensure that he is sinking his weight and aligning his body properly and breathing correctly and so on.

Doing this type of training, correctly and with much awareness can actually lead a person to what the Chinese call ‘Iron shirt’ training. This is a body that is impervious to strikes.

Thus, while there are many bad martial arts practices, training methods that can damage and even maim the body, the good martial artist will search for that training method that will enable him to strengthen his body through cultivated awareness.

About the Author: Al Case began martial arts in 1967. You can check out his method for chi training at MonsterMartialArts.com.

Dancing Martial Arts…How Gay!

Better Martial Arts Movements

Happy New Year!
And happy work out…
every day for the next 365 days.
You deserve it.

Here’s something I realized,
which helped me,
hope it helps you.

I was reading a forum the other day,
it was some offbeat subject
on some martial arts forum,
and this guy did a rant on old movie musicals.
We’re talking people like Fred Astair, Gene Kelly, and so on.

This fellow said something like,
“These old black and white movies are gay!
How could anybody watch a guy and a girl,
dance for five minutes!
And there’s even movies where two guys are dancing!
how gay!”

How interesting.
Art is gay.
And he was holding himself up as a martial artist.
Maybe he was too much martial?
And not enough artist?

To be sure, dancing is not martial arts,
there is not much in the way of fist and defense.
But dancing is motion,
and martial arts have motion,
so the two have common ground.
Further,
I have seen many martial artists who were good,
but could have been better,
had they a bit of the poise and grace.

And,
here’s an interesting tidbit,
before I discovered martial arts,
when I was going to high school,
and then college,
I used to be a thespian.
That’s right,
an actor.
And I was in all the plays and musicals
that my schools had to offer.
Loved it.
Good looking girls there, too.
But,
good looking girls aside
(can’t believe I said that!)
one time I was in the play
West Side Story.
I was one of the Sharks.
And we were choreographing the big rumble
between the Sharks and Jets,
and I picked out the biggest guy I could,
and I went to him with an idea.
I hit you,
you hit me,
then I hit and you duck,
and you pick me up and throw me over your shoulder.
Man,
it was great!
We rehearsed it,
went to the director and showed her what we had.
She loved it!
So the night of the play
the rumble started.
I swung and he acted like I had hit him,
then he swung,
and hit me.
Bingo…right on the jaw,
and I was out like a light.
In front of 500 people,
The audience didn’t realize what had happened,
but the director did,
and my partner did,
and somehow,
I don’t know how,
I managed to come to enough to stagger off stage.
But I was knocked out.
So much for dancing being non-violent.

Anyway,
the big hint I wanted to give you has to do with this.
During the holidays they sometimes play old movies on TV.
Find the ones with Fred Astaire or Gene Kelly,
look for some other names,
check out how the masters move.

There was a fellow name of Baryshnikov,
considered the best in the world at ballet,
and he said his favorite dancer was Fred Astaire,
wished he could move like him.

Fred would do things like dance with a standing lamp.
He would roll that thing around,
tilt it and catch it
until you thought the standing lamp was alive!
There is never a hesitation,
never a hint of a stall,
it is actually one of the ONLY examples
of perfection in motion
on this planet.

Now if only a standing lamp was a martial arts weapon, eh?
We’d all be practicing the Fred Astaire Kata.

And,
not to leave out the gals,
Fred had a partner name of Ginger Rogers,
and one time some reporter asked her
if it was difficult to dance with Fred.
She replied,
“Heck, I did everything he did,
backwards,
and in high heels.”

Now that is perfection of motion.

So drive safe tonight,
or just stay home and do your imbibing,
and check out some of these masters of motion
and see if you can pick up anything about balance,
grace and poise,
or anything else
that will help make your kata perfect.

Happy New Year
and have 365 great work outs!
Al

Last day of the Two for One Special!
Read about it here!

https://alcase.wordpress.com/2014/12/22/special-martial-arts-xmas-present/

Special Martial Arts Xmas Present!

Newsletter 721
A HanaKwanMass Present to You!

Hi.
Thanks for being a martial artist.
Wouldn’t it be a better world
if everybody was a martial artist?
Strong, calm, competent…
able to look their fellow man in the eye,
fulfill their purpose on earth
without all the bushwah?

Well,
in that spirit,
I’m going to explain Hanakwanmass,
then offer you a deal.

In the last few years it has become politically incorrect
to offer a Merry Christmas to somebody.
Heck,
if they are Black, or Jewish,
or purple or have feathers instead of hair,
or something else,
you might offend them!

Oh,
horrors!

So I started saying
HanaKwanMass.
Which stands for
Hanukah/Kwanza/Christmas
and that way
I could offend EVERYBODY!

Specifically
I could offend everybody who doesn’t understand
that Merry Christmas,
or Happy Hanukah,
or Kool Kwanza
is a good wish to all,

And if somebody is so stupid to get offended
just because somebody gave them a well wish
then they should move to a war zone,
or a prison,
or maybe just go to the movies and chill out.

So..
Hanakwanmass to you all!

And,
in the spirit of Xmas,
and in the interest of making everybody
into calm and capable martial artists,
Two for one until Jan 1 2015.

Get one course,
email me with your choice of a second course,
and I will send it to you.
(Please make sure they are of equal value)

And,
for anybody who doesn’t understand,
Buy one and get one free.
Two for one.
You can get one for yourself,
and one for your friend,
your mate,
your son/daughter
aging grandpa who can’t get up out of the rocker
but, man, would he like to learn the martial arts!

Remember…
TWO FOR ONE
(Please make sure they are of equal value)
and…

HANAKWANMASS TO EVERYBODY!

And have yourself a mighty, fine work out!

Al

(email is: aganzul@gmail.com)

Making a world Class Fist Load, or How I chose the Munio

The Munio Fist Load Keychain Martial Arts Weapon

A Fist load is a Japanese term for a hand held martial arts weapon of the small variety. In this classification you would find brass knuckles, possibly saps, and definitely Kubotans.

Complete art, a pivotal time in matrixing ~ click on the cover!

And, you would definitely find Phil Ventrello’s handy, little keychain called a Munio. You can read about the Munio, and of my test of it, here, (https://alcase.wordpress.com/2014/12/01/munio-self-defense-is-great-martial-arts-equipment/)

What you don’t know is that at one time, a few years ago, I decided to make one of these key chain killer devices myself.

First, I went to the lumber store and bought a six inch dowel.

Then, I went to the hardware store and bought a handful of nasty and sharp, little nails.

Then I measured the spread of my finger in a fist, and pounded the nails through the stick at the measured points.

ZOWIE!

I was holding a gnarly stick that fit perfectly into my hand and projected the points of some very, sharp nails between my fingers.

I had a device that could be adapted to carry keys, would fit in my hands, could be used to pound like a hammer, or flail like a small mace, and I pitied the fool mugger who wanted my skinny, little wallet!

And, here is the thing, I could make these suckers and sell them!

I could see it in my mind’s eye, mass produced by some third world country, recommended by police officers and Navy SEALs everywhere, and people would buy them like hot cakes!

Hot cakes with nails in them, but still hotcakes!

Conjecturing over this massive sales bonanza, adding up zeros in my head, I slid my home made fist load into my pocket and—OW!

The nails ripped apart my pants and scored my skin! And when I tried to take it out of my pocket it hurt even more!

I stared at the nasty, little martial arts tool. It bled at me. Darn. It was so perfect, but you couldn’t carry it. Heck, it would defeat any kind of holster, rip apart clothes, and…and if I was caught carrying one of these I would be guilty of intent to maim and all sorts of other stupid laws!

So I tossed it in the trash.

And, several years later, I carry a Munio. And now you can understand why I was so excited when I came across the Munio.

Munio means ’I defend.’ It can be carried into an airport, it won’t zap some poor fool into a heart attack, it won’t spray you in the face, and the darned thing is really cool looking!

Yet you can flail the keys and use the butt of the thing to pound sense into some poor mugger’s face!

Heck, I showed mine to my wife, and though she has NEVER showed an interest in martial arts weapons, she said, “Can I have one?”

So, check it out here…http://www.munioselfdefense.com/munio-workshops/.

An Overview of Matrixing in the Martial Arts

The Truth about Matrixing

Great day to you!

and a GREAT work out!
Lots of sweat,
maybe a little blood,
just enough to let you know
you are more than alive.
People who walk around are alive.
Those who work out are getting more alive.

I’ve had a lot of new people to the newsletter lately,
so let me sum up Matrixing.
Let them know what they got them selves into.
Incidentally,
what I am about to tell you
I wrote in a letter to a fellow.
His question was that he wasn’t sure what he was getting,
he was studying,
but matrixing didn’t always make sense.
So I thought he needed an overview.
And here it is for you.

Before we get into it,
however,
I have a special deal
for those who have been wanting the Rolling Fists course.
I finally figured out why it wasn’t showing up on the menu at Monster.
As usual, it was one of those slap your head things.
I forgot to check a box,
and it was disappearing.
Doh! (Smack)

Anyway, stay tuned for a special offer,
after the newsletter.
I’ve got a special deal
where you can save $30
on Rolling Fists.
Right now,
however,
here is the answer I wrote
concerning an overview of matrixing.

Hi Michael, glad you are having fun with the matrixing…probably an overview would help you out at this point.

The one sticking point for most people is that they have a hard time viewing the body as a machine. This is because if the body is a machine, then what are they? And the answer: they are awareness, a point in space ‘giving off’ light. Or ‘shedding awareness.’

This point, of being a point of awareness, is actually the subject of neutronics. I’ll attach a booklet (prologue) for you to better understand that subject.

The second thing to remember, in this overview, is the example I give of Eddie Rickenbacker (pg 102 of Matrixing: The Master Text).

Eddie visualized his plane on a line through space, and he had to handle incoming forces, so he visualized himself as a center of a sphere, and then came up with solutions for every angle of attack into that sphere.

Doing this for the body (the machine that you occupy, or ‘drive’) you come up with the rules of operation for the body. There are five specific rules for operating the body efficiently. These are:

Breath, relax, sink downward, align the body, coordinate the body in motion

After these five rules for maximizing potential of personal motion of the body, which are applied through the practice of form, you get into analyzing the forces and flows (directions) of incoming ‘objects’ (fists, feet, etc.). This is where you begin to construct matrixes of blocks, matrixes of ranges, and so on.

And this is where you construct specific theories of art. Karate as a defense, or Aikido, or tai chi, and so on. Each art describes a specific range, or angle of motion, and is defined by a specific concept or concepts.

Okay, so that is the overview. But, don’t worry if matrixing doesn’t ‘burst inside your head.’ Some people, a very few people, get a blast of enlightenment, everything makes sense, they see the whole picture, etc. But most people just have to compile the art, piece by piece, and settle for becoming more and more competent, until they just know everything.

There are times when I have had ‘mystical insight,’ where everything was like a message from God, a vision, and I understood everything. That was because I had accumulated enough data, and it suddenly, in a moment, made sense.

But other times I would just work and work for a few years, would experience no enlightenment, but found that I had developed superior abilities in various areas.

In Karate I had a moment of profound vision, the world turned gold, and I understood. But in Pa Kua I never experienced that, but did find, after a few years of walking the circle, that my legs were like oaks, yet filled with a lightening like energy.

So don’t worry if things don’t suddenly open up for you, just keep going, settle for the slow but sure knowledge of abilities gained over time. Just realize that you keep accumulating data, until you have the knowledge, until there are no more questions.

Think of where you were before you started the martial arts, and where you are now, and realize that some day you will be looking back to where you are now, and be somewhere very, very advanced compared to now.

Just remember, the martial arts are a BIG field. But the concepts are simple. And the process is actually one of simply gathering and arranging data until everything makes sense and there isn’t any more mystery; it is a process of isolating the simplicities and then applying them to the larger field of chaos that is the accumulated martial arts.

Hope this helps, and thanks for getting me to sum it up. I’ll print portions of this email as a article or blog that others may understand the process they go through when matrixing.

Have a great work out! Al

So there it is,
an overview.
It is VERY simple,
yet the complexity of applying simplicities
in a classical martial art
can take decades,
lifetimes.
But that is why I have matrixing.
To shorten the process.
To get you there in months,
not decades.
Still,
it is not always easy to get,
sometimes you need extra.
So…write me.
Did you know that I answer ALL emails.
If I don’t answer yours
it is because it never arrived,
or I had a DOH! moment and misplaced it,
or some other stupid reason.

So just ask again.
And, I try to go in depth into any answer.
If it’s simple,
I’ll say it simple,
then throw a couple of hundred words trying to make sure
that my answer is thoroughly understood.

Now,
about Rolling Fists.

Rolling Fists is the advanced form of freestyle I teach
after someone has gotten to black belt.
Or with specific martial arts I teach.

It is based upon Lop Sau,
but it is not just a short drill,
but rather a complete form of freestyle.

You will see it in several of my courses,
but the Rolling Fists I am talking about here
is a video course of me teaching it.
38 individual lessons,
step by step, point by point,
making sure that that the student has NO misunderstanding
concerning this advanced form of freestyle.

Now,
this is VERY intense stuff.
And,
I actually thought it was listed in my courses.
BUT,
due to me not checking a box
it was not appearing in the menu.
So now it is,
and here it is…

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

You can go there and order to your heart’s content.

EXCEPT…I have a special, little offer for you.

When I was making the disks
the labels didn’t fully print.
So I’ve got five courses
and a couple of disks on each course
have faded labels.
That’s it.
That’s the big mistake.
Faded labels.

But I can’t sell faded labels.
And I hate to throw them away.
So instead of charging $49.95 for the set of disks,
if you will accept a couple of faded labels,
I’ll sell them to you for $19.95.

That’s a $30 savings.

All you have to do is go to the page offering The Punch
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/hard-punch/
And order,
then email me at aganzul and tell me you would like the Rolling Fists faded labels.

One of the disks on this set is badly faded,
but you can read it.
And one of the others is just a little faded.
The other two disks aren’t too bad.

So,
special deal.
a fifty dollar course,
on disk,
$20.

Now,
have yourself a FANTASTIC work out!
I look forward to hearing from you.

Al

Three Kenpo Techniques for a Street Fight

Kenpo Techniques for Survival

These three kenpo techniques-and you can develop them as taekwondo techniques, or karate techniques, or whatever–will help you survive any attempted mugging. They are quick, they are nasty, and the are built so that you can be the one that walks away. Just don’t use them unless there is a real threat to your life!

Be the winner!

How to Analyze Kenpo Techniques for Real Fighting

To be sure, I developed these self defense techniques in karate tournaments a few decades ago. They can be used in the ring, but only with proper control. Use them on the street however, and you must use them without holding back.

The first technique is to break the fingers right at the beginning of the fight. Many people will have open hands, not always, but enough to where this technique will really work. So when you close the distance, assuming you are not kicking first, you must strike down on his fingers with a good, quick fist.

If you can break his fingers he will have second thoughts about attacking you–injuries do that to a person. In his head he will be going, ‘you mean I’m going to get hurt?’ And if he does continue to fight he will have one hand that isn’t worth much.

Second thing, goes right along with breaking the other fellow’s fingers, is to push his arms down. Force them down, trap them so he can’t use them, and you are going to have a heck of an advantage. This is what Bruce Lee used to do with his ‘Straight Blast.’

Third, you want him to blink. This fits right in with the shooting motion of the hands as you move into him and break his fingers and trap his hands. If you can shoot the fingers all the way to the eyes, and actually strike the eyes, then you are going to be fighting a fellow who can’t see. That is going to be a definite advantage, eh?

But even if you don’t manage to blind the attacker, if he blinks and thinks backward in his mind, then he will already be halfway to losing the fight. He will have gone from attacking you to defending himself. A mugger going backwards is not nearly the threat as one who is aggressively moving forward.

To summarize, the points in this article are break things on the way in, push his arms down, and make him blink or blind him. These three strategies should be the start and heart of any good defense if you want to save your life. So if you practice these karate techniques and I certainly don’t mind if you call them taekwondo techniques or Kenpo Techniques-you won’t be the loser in a street fight!

How to Go Beyond Fighting in the Martial Arts

The Point of Martial Arts Fighting

The number one reason people get into the martial arts is fighting. Everybody has had that bully in their background. Everybody would like to feel bigger, stronger, free from the threat of violence.

About the first and only science of the martial arts…matrixing.

Now, to be truthful, if you just want to fight, I recommend going to a boxing club for a few months. You’ll get in shape, you’ll learn what it feels like to get hit, and you’ll learn how to hit back.

If you think there is something more than fighting, however, then you must look to the martial arts. You must believe that the world isn’t just a struggle for survival, but that there is a point to it all. You must believe in yourself as a human being, and that you can actually ascend to higher levels of awareness.

First you must build a structure for containing the knowledge in the martial arts. This is why you do forms; this is something that boxing does not have. This is the mechanism which will elevate you.

Second, you must achieve discipline. I don’t mean the discipline where you get a belt on the bottom as punishment. I mean the discipline of doing something every day because you love doing it, and for no other reason.

Third, you must study a system that has logic. The reason for this is one of expedience. You don’t want to spend decades sorting through the bushwah. You want to get there while you are still young.

Fourth, you must not stop. Drill those basics patiently, open your eyes and look. You must not just work out, you must invest awareness into your art.

The Martial arts, you see, are a manifestation of the spirit. It is your awareness filtered through your own logic and spread across the heavens. Life is heaven, you know, but only if you can isolate the art of your soul and show it to the universe.

You can learn the truth about Martial Arts fighting.

Here’s an article about people who can’t confront martial arts violence.

Chuck Norris Puts Out Line of Pink Martial Arts Gear!

Chuck Norris Wore Pink to Beat Up Bigots!

It’s true, a whole new line of pink martial arts gear, and it’s pretty obvious Chuck Norris is coming out of the closet. At the very least, coming clean about a not so honorable period of his life.

Reson and the Age of Kenpo Karate

Apparently, many years ago, before he became more famous than Rock Hudson, Chuck used to tend bar. He would wear a pink apron and pick fights with anybody who made a remark.

He was young, and he excused such behavior by saying, ‘I just want to rid the world of bigots.’ On the side he would say he was just looking for ways to practice his martial arts.

And, you can believe the above is true because…I read it on the net!

Actually, a fellow wrote into a forum I was on and wanted to read an article on this thing he had heard about Chuck Norris wearing pink and picking fights with drunks, so I thought I would oblige him.

The fact of the matter is that I was learning martial arts, I was a new instructor at the local Kenpo school, when Chuck was making  a name for himself on the martial arts tournament scene.

Every week, it seemed, Chuck was winning a tournament, taking down some of the biggest names, taking home the biggest trophies.

Then, a couple of years later, when I was a black belt and out teaching at my own martial arts school, he became a movie star!

Man, we would flock to the movies, watch him beat holy heck out of uunsavory charcters, and we would cheer!

My particular favorite fight scene of his, more even than the battle with Bruce Lee in ‘The Way of the Dragon,’ is in the martial arts/horror flick ‘Silent Rage.’ There is a reality in the barroom fight with the bikers that is so darn nifty it takes the breath away.

Now, over all the years of Chuck Norris, all the movies and the TV show, I have never heard anything scurrilous said concerning him. In fact, people would always remark how he was the most polite fellow they had ever met, how he went out of his way to be kind to people.

Tough guy? Maybe. Certainly a tough karate fighter.

Bad guy? Not to my knowledge.

Wear pink and beat up drunks? Negative.

In spite of all research, in spite of my sleazy talents as a yellow journalist, I could find no mention of Chuck Norris wearing pink and beating up bigots.

All I heard was good things.

And, the Chuck Norris line of pink Martial Arts gear? Made it up.

About the Author: The author began martial arts in 1967, and does not use a pink pen when he writes. He has written over a dozen martial arts books on such subjects as Pang Gai Noon, Kenpo Karate, Marine Corps Martial Arts, the One Year Black Belt System, and, of course, Matrixing Karate. You can find these books at AlCaseBooks.com.

Be sure to subscribe to this blog.

MonsterMartialArts.com has the best martial arts home study courses on the planet.

Girl Karate Kicks Guy in the Nads!

Revenge of the Karate Ball Kickers!

I had been learning karate for a few months, and one day a girl showed up.
Okay, that’s fine with me. This was back in the sixties, it was the stone age of Karate in America, and a time of serious bra burning.
So this girl matches up, and the first thing she does is kick a guy between the legs.
That’s cool. Except it was a little hard.
Guy fell over, turned white. He was wearing a cup, but it still hurt. I mean, she really kicked hard.
So, next time she matches up, first technique out of the shoot, she kicks her partner in the groin.
He falls over, turns white. She bows back and waits patiently, and there is no expression on her face.
And, a third guy falls, and the rest of us got it.
For several matches we dodged, backed up, tried to avoid her lightening kick.
Some of us made it, and some of us didn’t.
Then, an interesting thing happened.
One of the guys kicked back.
Bang!
Right between the legs.
I know, girls don’t have anything, right?
But doesn’t mean it doesn’t hurt. We are talking about a sensitive area.
And, suddenly, it was open season.
Snap kick! Kiai!
And that poor girl didn’t know what hit her.
She had to have gone home bruised and sore.
She didn’t cry, but she suddenly learned a lesson.
Be gentle.
Later classes she was. Got to be real fun to fight with her.
And, what is the lesson here?
Use your weapons gently.

If you want to learn world class karate, real karate that only hurts if you want it to, then head over to MonsterMartialArts.com. Girls or guys, you’re going to have a ball!