Category Archives: TaeKwonDo

How one person makes the martial arts intuitive!

Newsletter 843

Intuition in the Martial Arts and a BIG win!

Good evening
and…
HANAKWANMASS!

monkey boxing lineage

Click on the cover!

Got lots of things today,
including a PHEEEnominal win from a Monkey Boxer.
So…
LET’S START!

First,
it is the month of HanaKwanMass,
and I should explain that to all you newbies
who only joined the newsletter in the last year.

HanaKwanMass stands for…
Hanukkah, Kwanza, and Christmas.
Political correctness is for idiots,
if somebody says Happy Kwanza to me,
I say Happy Kwanza back.
Skin color, religion,
those are just distinctions for the ignorant.
We all bleed red,
and I don’t care what you call your viewpoint
of the Supreme Power.
So
HanaKwanMass,
I reach everybody,
or offend everybody,
and the heck with political correctness.

Second,
the path of the martial arts
involves making a person intuitive.
So they don’t have to think,
but do the right thing,
without thinking about it,
automatically.
What matrixing does is do this FAST.

Look,
there’s a lot to matrixing,
and that’s because the martial arts have had a lot done to them.
People,
well meaning instructors,
have obscured the real arts.
They have hidden the path to intuition.
Matrixing merely cleans up the field,
derails mysticism
with scientific observation,
and heaping helpings of logic.

One of the first things I ever wrote about Matrixing…

If you want to teach somebody how to count,
you wouldn’t say…
4, 7, green, 5 elephant…and so on.
You would say…
1…2…3…4…
and so on.
The martial arts, because of politics,
religion, nationalism, personal interest,
and so on,
are a mixed mesh up of…
4, 7, green, 5 elephant…and so on.

Matrixing returns the art to the logic of 1…2…3…4…and so on.

But there’s so much more,
there is the intense scrutiny of basics,
the rearranging of form,
the alignment of techniques,
and the presentation of a scientific philosophy
so that people no longer get lost in the mysticism.

Unfortunately,
people who aren’t too smart,
can’t let go of the mysticism,
and they resist matrixing.

Invariably,
they haven’t studied it,
but they sure know how to badmouth it.

So,
third,
here’s a win.
It is a spectacular win,
comes from a Monkey Boxing student.
And I should say something about this.

Matrixing presents the logic,
can be applied to any art.

Monkey Boxing is me teaching.
I use matrixing,
and all the tools at my disposal.
You might see a drill I learned in the Kang Duk Won
45 years ago.
You might see a translation from Wing Chun to Aikido,
that I worked on 40 years ago.
You might see something I made up yesterday
to help one student make the leap
from the hard grind of repetition
to the joy of intuition.

It goes this way and that,
an intuition of teaching,
and I have no way of judging
whether my instincts are correct.
So to get a win like this
really makes my day.
Here’s the win…

Al,

I don’t have room here to say this big enough or joyfully enough— but if I did, I’d put a HUGE big “Whoopee!!”

I’ve finally been through the first few videos of the Monkey Boxing course.  I have a habit of watching all I have- this from a learning technique I picked up years ago called “super-learning” and it basically says to learn anything- first skim over the material, which creates a ‘sense of familiarity’ to the information.  I’ve done that.  I have been left on CLOUD 9.

I was injured in an accident in 99– got mashed between two HUGE trucks– my 16 ton tow truck and a 9,000 pound Ford Excursion SUV…. and after that, I took almost 3 years to learn just to walk semi-normally again and I still limp.   Lately, I’ve had more “arthritic” effects and stiffening as a result. The other effect it had on me is, for some reason, and no doctors have been able to tell me why- I’ve lost a LOT of memories of my life.  I can put all my past memories probably in a two or three hour video if I could transfer my thoughts to video.   My 5th degree black belt in Kenpo- for instance– is GONE.  I know it did it, and every so often get a little “glimpse” of things but doesn’t stay with me.  My bodyguard years- I have a few memories of that- and even the last few years since the accident, most of the past part is just not there.

I’m telling you this because I wanted to get back into a martial art- more for self- defense than the “art” part.  I’m 60, not in good health at all, but want to learn to take care of myself.

What I found, just watching the first 14 videos (for some reason I missed 13- which I’ll get when my internet is back on- my data limit ran out).. was that it IS exactly as you said– SO INTUITIVE!!  It’s a truly NATURAL grouping of actions and motions- and I easily flow with it.   I’m So excited, I could scream– probably will a bit later!! 🙂

I have begun, and will have to work consistently and SLOWLY, and let it build on its own.   I can see myself doing it all- very slowly- and with dynamic tension to get the motions correct and build the muscles for that particular move as the same time- then over time the drills will build the motion back into my muscle memory (which hopefully will stay with me since they ARE natural- logical  motions).   I don’t know how long it will take me to learn and get really good at this- and don’t really CARE– because I KNOW it works- my “spirit” says it WORKS… and my mind KNOWS it works- because it is NATURAL/LOGICAL and REAL. I’ve already put my Kenpo books, cds., and other stuff I was looking at BACK in storage– and won’t be needing them.  I’m not interested in spending another 5+ years just learning something that is NOT right for me anyway.   And I love that just doing the Forms is the only realy “workout” I need.   I DO a workout- have begun recently- called 7 miracle tiger moves.. which is dynamic tension in motion.. and LOVE them- they are very effective and are working.  I can just AD this system to my routine and learn Monkey boxing while “working out” at the same time!!  I LOVE this.

You can’t possibly KNOW just how happy this has made me.   I have no one to work out with–and the forms will take care of that.   Later, once I’m settled where ever I go- I want to get a dummy and stuff to work out on.  I’ll probably teach it to someone close by once I get settled too.

I DO have a lousy internet right now, though– it’s wirless through Net Zero– which is a good service– but the “hotspot” I got from them is crappy.  It’s a pad that I use for hotspot- and most of the time it kicks out right in the middle of whatever I”m doing- and I have to shut everything down and start over… and the signal strength is weak- so it doesn’t pick up well at all when it’s cloudy.   I’m ordering a better “hotspot” later- like Jan.  (my check this time is already spent on my truck).. Until then- I’m hoping all the videos you post are ARCHIVED– because I will miss from now to about the 5th…  That is why I want to DOWNLOAD them all to my hard drive– because I use up “data” limit time watching them directly and can’t do them over and over like here at home.

I thought I would have loads of questions– but don’t- because it IS so “intuitive” and natural (or maybe the kenpo and tai chi is still in there helping with that somewhere- just unconsciously).. and I just LOVE this..  I was seriously looking at JKD online, and Wing chun online– etc.– but not now– I’m Doing MONKEYBOXING totally!!  Forget all that other long time stuff!! 🙂

Anyway-  hope this wasn’t too long- but just wanted you to know- I have FOUND my “niche” in this!!!   THANK YOU.

David C

pS– There’s NO WAY I can possibly do the Monkey in a Box for a bit– I have trouble getting up and down out  of a regular chair lately… but I’m working on it..  and I’ve always had this “feeling” in me that there was “an answer” or a “secret” to ALL martial arts– and this is it!!

David,
thank you very much for the win.
Thank you for allowing me to share this,
I know it will inspire people.

And,
for all you guys and gals.

David’s points are very simple…

anybody can learn it,
it is intuitive,
it can be learned fast…
or slow.
Depends on what you need and want.

And,
I don’t wish to replace anybody’s arts,
but that sometimes happens.
I actually prefer that you take my material
and revitalize your own art of choice.

Here’s the key,
matrixing breaks apart and rebuilds,
it makes logic, and logic becomes intuitive.

Monkey Boxing is me teaching.
I teach matrixed art,
and I draw on ALL my experiences
to get the student to experience ALL of his abilities.

Now,
those of you who have signed up for Monkey Boxing,
you’ll get a Monkey Boxing newsletter shortly
giving you the heads up on the new videos,
and other things that are happening on the site.

Here’s two links…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/matrix-karate/
starts the matrixing path…

and…
http://monkeyboxingnow.com/internet/
a page I’m trying out
to gear to ads on the internet.

Now,
HanaKwanMass,
and a Happy Work Out to All!

Al

http://monkeyboxingnow.com/internet/

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

How to Put Zen into the Martial Arts

Newsletter 805
The Promise of a Fight

Beat Google!
Sign up for the newsletter at
https://alcase.wordpress.com

Gorgeous day.
Absolutely gorgeous.
And that means it is an absolutely gorgeous day for a work out.
So get going!

Was teaching this morning.
We were doing Promised Fights,
and my partner was grimacing,
and finally backed off.
“Ow,” he said.
And we got into a long discussion.
Heck,
he was hurting,
I had to let him recover,
give him some data,
and then hurt him some more.
Right?

First,
I started out with the old
‘Do it a form a thousand times and you know it.
Do it ten thousand times and you’ve mastered it.’
My student did exactly the right thing,
he said,
‘So if I do it 20 times a day,
then in fifty days…’
“Yep,” I said.
“You could know it.
You could be expert in 2 months.
But you have to do it right.
You have to understand the alignment,
how the feet work and why,
and you have to know the Promised Fights…
otherwise you could do it forever and not know it.”

Second,
we went into proper body alignment,
which is covered on the Master Instructor Course,
and how the feet must align properly,
and how the particular form we were doing had to be done
to make this all work.
I ended up saying,
“align your body,
make it a single unit,
then he won’t hit your body parts,
he will hit a single, integrated unit,
and it won’t hurt you.
Energy flows through a body that is a single unit,
it doesn’t flow through body parts used in individual fashion.
This is especially important in a Promised Fight.”

And,
came the look I had been waiting for.
I had been using the term Promised Fight,
and I knew he would eventually ask about it.

“What is a Promised Fight?”

A Promised Fight,
or a Promise Fight,
is a piece of the form applied.
A form Application.
It is a self defense movement.
It is bunkai.
It is the working part of the form.
But,
it is more.
In fact,
if a person doesn’t understand what I am about to tell you,
he/she is not doing karate.
They are just fighting themselves.

I asked my instructor what a Promised Fight was,
and he said,
‘The Promise of a Fight.’
And,
while the study of PFs gave great abilities,
and the answer he gave me was correct,
it was terribly incomplete.

To understand what a Promised Fight is
I need you to look up the word ‘Postulate.’

Look it up for yourself,
get all the nuances,
where it came from,
and all that,
but for this newsletter,
the short and inadequate version is this:

suggest or assume the existence, fact, or truth of (something) as a basis for reasoning, discussion, or belief

Assume existence,
put forth the truth,
as a basis for belief.

If you understand the hint here,
you should be diving for a big old Oxford Dictionary,
wanting to know why a simple karate move
becomes the basis for truth in this universe.

So let me break it down a bit,
from the viewpoint of 50 years of training.

A postulate is a thought,
which if worked on,
becomes true.

Worked on,
as continually done in a work out.

As in a piece of the form,
practiced again and again and again.

Now,
let me back up a bit,
a form is a circuit,
a pattern of moves that you practice and practice
until you just do it without thinking about it.
You strengthen the body,
you remember the applications,
you get light and quick,
and all those sorts of things.

When you do a piece of the form,
over and over and over,
you condense the circuit,
and you get rid of thought,
and suddenly there is nothing but the move.
Somebody punches,
and you don’t exist,
you just track the incoming,
and the Promise Fight,
the postulate of moves,
pops out of you.
And it works.
You punch him,
and he falls down.
And he doesn’t understand what hit him.
But here is the truth of it all…
a thought hit him.
A Postulate of thought hit him.
A Promise Fight,
clean and simple,
without distractive thoughts,
hit him.
And there is nothing purer in this universe.

Now,
I am always so busy trying to get people to understand,
offering all sorts of methods,
that i sometimes forget to go into this factor.
BUT,
in Matrix Karate there is the Matrix of blocks.
These are like mini-Promise Fights.
Very important to get these,
to understand them,
it is important to learn the small PFs
before you get to the big ones.
The big ones are on Temple Karate.
There isn’t talk of a matrix there,
because it is assumed you have done the groundwork of Matrixing first.
And the form applications are VERY pure Promised Fights.
They REALLY result in a zen frame of mind,
and the ability to hit somebody with a thought.

If you get Temple Karate
and you haven’t done Matrix Karate,
then you are taking the long route.
It will take you years,
and as distractions mount,
you can be knocked off the path
and never get there.

So you should do Matrix Karate,
work on the Matrix of Blocks,
make inroads and discover what a PF is.
And,
you can always take the pieces of the form,
they are pretty obvious,
and work on them to make real Promised Fights.

Then you do Temple Karate,
get into the classical forms,
and really go to town on the Promised Fights.

Matrix Karate is pretty simple,
it presents the movements that are pure karate,
no distractions from other arts.
It aligns you,
and sets you up for the broader moves of Temple Karate.
It is a real Closed Combat System.
You can do it by itself,
or you can do it,
then move into the classical,
and see what kinds of things
the old guys who came before us were into.
Temple Karate is a larger assortment of tricks,
it broadens the education,
and digs you to new depths.

Anyway,
that is the story on Promised Fights.
Dig ‘em…they are the real zen of Martial Arts.

Here’s the link for Temple,
if you have already done Matrix Karate.
You can just go to MonsterMartialArts and find Matrix Karate,
it is one of the first arts presented on the home page.

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

Now,
have a great work out,
and schedule yourself for twenty times a day,
and send me your wins in two months.

Have a great work out!

Al

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

Don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter at
https://alcase.wordpress.com

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

Winning with the Martial Arts

Newsletter 803
Make Your Day with a Martial Arts Win!

Great Afternoon!

I was teaching this morning,
and it is almost impossible to describe
how wonderful one feels
after sharing the martial arts.

Sharp,
quick,
strong,
happy.

Hey,
I thought I’d share a win.
I get wins all the time,
and if I’m a little busy,
so what…
I can still share a win,
right?

Before I do,
however,
google is figuring out
how to send newsletters into Spam folders.
So put me in your contacts,
or just go to
https://alcase.wordpress.com
and sign up.
The newsletters always end up there.

Now,
here comes a win from Jason W.

I’ve trained on two continents officially hold 1 black belt, and unofficially am that level in 2 others. I am currently working through the purple belt level in your Kang Duk Won course. I have to say that the workout is as tough as anything I did in Hapkido, but I am slowly getting there. The KDW material is filling in all the holes I had in my training. It’s really amazing how much stuff the instructors leave out or don’t even know. About a year ago I was at the place where you started in developing matrixing. I was looking for ways to bridge all my training into a logical system apart from the individual styles. I am lucky I found your site. I saved myself about 40 years of headaches! Just keep up the good work.

Thanks, Jason.
I appreciate kind words,
I love your win.

Jason is doing the course at
KangDukWon.com.

I wrote it in attempt
to keep alive all the material
I learned at the original Kang Duk Won.

So,
have a win,
and share the arts,
and if you have a win,
send it in.

If you want to beat the blues,
read the wins.

Okley donkley,

you guys have a GREAT work out,
and I’ll talk to you later.

Al

KangDukWon.com

And don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter at
https://alcase.wordpress.com

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

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

Sleight of Hand in the Martial Arts

Newsletter 796
Mystical Martial Arts Made Easy

Good morning!
It’s a balmy day out here in LA,
absolutely perfect for working out.
You just let the wind push you into the next move.

Hey,
here’s something interesting,
did you know that people don’t know how to use their bodies?
They do sports,
various gimmicks,
and they catch the ball cool,
but they are using the body at about 1/100 of its potential.
True.

And,
interesting enough,
I am not talking about instances of high adrenaline
as being the optimum.

In fact,
you should be using less energy
to create more effect.

Here’s the neutronic low down,very simple,
on this phenomenon.

If you study math,
the very first thing you learn to do is measure the universe.
After a couple of years of working with this fact,
which is used because it is undeniable,
you can’t argue with a ruler,
you learn to think in abstracts.
You learn to follow formula,
and you leave the necessity for measuring.

So,
two specific stages,
measure the universe,
follow formula.
The devising of new formula is considered the higher,
most creative mathematics.
That is what every professor shoots for.

Okay,
understanding this,
let’s discuss how it parallels the martial arts.

The beginner is taught to measure himself.
How fast he can run from point A to point B,
how much he can lift,
and so on.
This is the first stage,
the measurement stage,
the stage where you measure yourself in universal terms.

But you are not the universe,
you are awareness,
and to realize your true potential you have to find
the abstracts of motion.

Here is a very simple example of an abstract of motion.

The magician holds up the deck of cards,
you choose a card,
insert it back into the deck,
and the magician,
even though he doesn’t know what card it is,
pulls it out.
Whoa!
As Po would say.

But the magician has only used sleight of hand.
He has trained his hands to make a motion
that escapes the eye.
He doesn’t measure himself,
he grades himself according to how many people he can fool.

Can Joe Blow do this mystical faster than the eye can see motion?
With practice.
But here’s the point:
What if you trained your whole body to move
faster than the eye can see.
There are ways,
you know.
Here’s one.
Practice walking the circle out of Pa Kua for a few years,
until you feel the ‘lightening’ in your legs.
When somebody punches,
you move your hand in one direction,
and step down and under in the other direction.
It will be as if you disappeared.

I first heard of this disappearing act
when my instructor was being checked out by a high ranking Korean stylist.
The Korean did a series of stretches,
then,
noting that Bob was just standing and sipping a drink,
asked when Bob would be ready (for a proposed freestyle match).
Bob put his drink down and faced the Korean.
“I’m ready.”
The Korean jumped into the air with a perfect spinning kick.
When he came down Bob was nowhere to be seen.
In fact,
when the Korean turned his back Bob just walked behind him,
in conjunction with the spin.
The Korean was shocked to find Bob behind him.

I was not as fast as Bob,
I have a bigger body,
but I found that by moving my hand in one direction,
and my body in the other,
just as I described earlier,
that people would follow my hand and lose sight of me.

This is simple stuff,
but it takes immense practice.
And it takes a dedication to graduating from the simple measurement of self
into the abstract of measuring the other person.

It takes concentration,
focus of mind.

And,
in my case,
in addition to all the karate I did,
it took decades of Tai Chi and Pa Kua
to understand the enrages involved.

But,
with matrixing,
it doesn’t take that long.
It takes intense effort,
but if you understand what you are trying to do
before you do it,
then you can cut the time down by MUCH.

Mind you,
the path is different for everybody,
because everybody is different,
bodies are different,
and the mind and spirit is definitely different.
But,
if you understand what I have said here,
and are willing to dedicate yourself to the work,
then you can go beyond the measurement of the universe.
You can go into these things that,
before matrixing,
were considered mystical
and reserved for special people.

There is no reason why,
with understanding the matrixing concepts,
and a little hard work,
you can’t be special.
There is no reason why you can’t use your body
to its full 100% potential.

Here’s the Pa Kua page for any who wish
to choose that as a part of their journey.

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

Have a great work out!
Al

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

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 Rundown on the Rhonda Defeat!

Newsletter 785
Rhonda!

Happy Thanksgiving!
I give thanks for many things,
I give thanks for working out,
and what working out does for me.

Who would have thought,
in these robotic,
wartorn,
poverty stricken times,
there would be such a unique and fun way
to find personal responsibility
and martial excellence?

Before we talk martial arts,
I want to share a thought.
I was sitting somewhere,
working on my laptop,
and I had this thought.
So I emailed it to myself,
and it’s been sitting there,
and thanksgiving is a good time to share it. Here we go:

Your duty is to observe the universe, to listen to both sides, to never take a stand against one side or the other, until the truth pops out. The truth is not a viewpoint or opinion, it is merely what is.

Now,
let’s talk martial arts.

It was a shock when Rhonda got knocked out.
And I don’t understand why it was a shock,
because it was inevitable.
It was inevitable as soon as Joe Rogan claimed that
Rhonda wasn’t once in a lifetime,
she was once in history.
It seems that we finally got the ultimate ‘adjective.’
Not star,
not superstar,
not once in a lifetime,
but once…ever.

As soon as I heard that I knew Rhonda was going to lose.
I just knew.

Part of it is that when you listen to fighters
and they describe what they are going to do to their opponent,
they are living in a fantasy.

‘I’m going to do this.’
‘My striking is superior and he can’t match my grappling.’
‘I’m going to pound his face into the floor.’
I know,
when I hear this sort of thing,
that the fighter is in his own mind,
trying to psyche himself up,
but it is a lost cause.

There is just a hollow feeling,
a ‘spirit-less’ feeling,
to such words said before a fight.

The winner,
on the other hand,
doesn’t boast about what he is going to do.
He is serious.
He has no fantasy distracting him.

Here’s the weird thing:
Rhonda didn’t say such a thing,
it was Joe Rogan.
But it was so unique,
and everybody was so pro-Rhonda,
I just knew she about to fall.

Now,
here’s the thing:
when people think they are the best,
there is no place to go but down.
When they are serious,
and look at each fight as a challenge,
a mountain to climb,
there is no where to go but up.

Rogan,
with his statement,
left Rhonda no where to go but down.

I don’t say Rogan made her lose,
there was just a predict in his words.
There was a summation
of the position that the world put Rhonda in.

Tell the truth,
she is probably going to be more alive,
more determined now,
than she was before.
Now she can climb again.
Now she can go up.

Now,
the fight itself.

Rhonda tried to box a better boxer.
Holly is a champion boxer,
Rhonda apparently had a fantasy of trying to outbox a boxer,
so she didn’t go to the ground.

I think everybody agrees,
Rhonda would beat Holly on the ground.

What a miscalculation on Rhonda’s part.

And,
what will she do next time?
Will she work on her boxing game?
Of course.
But the heart of her strategy
should be her ground game.
How to avoid Holly’s fist
get under it,
and take that girl down.

Truth,
I watched Rhonda simply run into Holly’s fat fist time after time,
and I cringed with each impact.

Man,
Rhonda can take it.
But it was not smart.
It would have been a lot smarter to assess the distances involved,
and respect Holly as a champ in her own right.

Here’s the truth:
we all strive to be the best we can be.
To strive to beat somebody else,
however,
is only a partial proof,
for it comes at the cost of another human being.
The true art is being the best you can be
without beating somebody else.

Weird,
eh?

That said,
I watch the fights,
I learn from them,
and I appreciate them.
With all my talk,
one has to appreciate the measuring stick.

Okay,
nuff said.

Go to this course for the complete data
on how to assess distance in a fight.

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

And,
have a lot of great turkey,
make up for your gluttony with lots of work outs,
and here;s looking forward to…

Hanakwanmass!

Have a great work out!
Al

BTW – Thanks to you guys who wrote in and stated that you were part of The Fifty. You certainly are, and thanks.

Sign up for this newsletter at MonsterMartialArts.com.

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

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

How to Tell if A Martial Arts School is Any Good!

Newsletter 775
How to Tell if A Martial Arts School is Any Good!

Good afternoon
Perfect afternoon, actually,
because I get to work out!
how about you?

New Book on Yoga. Click the cover!

New Book on Yoga. Click the cover!

Sorry i am getting behind on the newsletters,
just have a lot to do.

I was thinking the other day
about how people can tell whether a martial art school
is good or bad.
I mean…
how do you tell?
Trophies don’t mean much,
loud mouths don’t mean much,
so how?
And i realized there was one way to,
if not tell how good a school is,
at least to elevate it to good consideration.
Simply go in and chat,
and look around,
and see how many injuries there are.
Do students talk about getting their fingers broke?
Toes?
Loose teeth?
This is the sign of a bad school.
A good school,
with the techniques practiced properly
will not have many injuries.
Yes,
lots of bruises,
maybe a bloody lip,
maybe a mouse,
but no broken bones.
No hip replacements,
broken noses,
or other signs of people out of control.

The martial arts are all about control.
Can you control the other fighter?
Or do you have to hurt him to control him?

Hurting to control is not control at all.

Here’s the thing,
you practice the martial arts not to beat people up,
but rather to learn how to control yourself.
Once you learn how to control your own body,
the second stage is to control the other person’s body.
That’s what the martial arts are really all about.

When I was practicing Kenpo,
back in 67,
I broke a toe,
I broke a finger,
and I was always going slow
because of pulled muscles,
and other sorts of things.

When I joined the Kang Duk Won
we fought three times harder,
easily,
and I never broke anything.
I got more bruises,
but less injuries.
The students knew they could hurt each other,
so they didn’t try,
they tried to control themselves well enough,
so that they could control the other person.

It’s not about fighting.
It’s about the discipline of self control.
You don’t fight,
you scientifically analyze,
you break down the techniques,
and apply them carefully,
so the other person is not hurt,
but is controlled.

That’s the whole thing,
right there,
in a nutshell.

So think about it,
stop lusting for power,
and start searching for control.
It is so much more satisfying,
and will take you to the true martial arts.

Okay,
check out The Master Instructor Course
Only one of its kind,
the actual physics
of how to control your own body,
or somebody else’s body.

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

I keep pushing this,
because it is so unique,
so important,
and will change your martial arts,
and all martial arts.
Period.

Now,
have a great work out!
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

The True Spirituality of the Martial Arts

The First Lesson in the Martial Arts

I was teaching today,
first time in a long time,
first time since I went through the shoulder injury,
and operation and rehab,
and,
man, it felt good.
Back in the saddle again.
Thanks, Nick.

master yoga martial artAnd,
I was reminded of one of the first things
I ever tell people.
Sort of important,
because I get emails from people
who ask about spirituality.
So here is the basic lesson,
usually the first lesson,
I teach people,
and it is about spirituality.

Invariably,
people will think they made a mistake,
they will usually even apologize.
I say,
‘What?’
They say,
‘I’m sorry.’
I ask, ‘For what?’

Here’s the point,
The student never makes a mistake.
He makes decisions based on the data he has.
If he comes up with an answer that doesn’t fit
he isn’t wrong.
He just needs to go over the material some more.

And here is the lesson…

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS RIGHT AND WRONG!

There is right,
and there is almost right,
not quite right,
and so on,
but there is no wrong.

The problem is that people have grown up in a society
where people make other people right or wrong.
You ran the red light!
YOU’RE WRONG!
You get a ticket.

Well, actually,
you ran the red light based on certain data.
The data might have been off,
but it doesn’t make you wrong.

It makes you the ‘victim’ of a government
that exists through the action
of making people right or wrong.

Some guy slaps his kid.
He’s not wrong,
he was raised by being slapped,
it is the viewpoint he has accepted.

Now,
we know what is wrong here,
running a red light or slapping a kid,
it is easier to say somebody is wrong,
than to understand them.

The government thinks that penalizing you
will make you more aware.
But hitting people doesn’t make them smarter.
Quite the opposite.

So here is the point:
do you want to be a spiritual person?
Then make people right.
Give up,
totally,
the idea of wrong.

Teach a kid,
show a worker the correct way,
share a good time,
make people right.

Not wrong.

This is an old concept.

Ever heard of:
Do unto others…?

This is because the universe is basically
a mirror for ourselves.

As you do,
so shall ye reap.

If you make somebody wrong,
then you are wrong.

If you make somebody right,
then you are right.

So,
which do you want to be?
What kind of universe do you want to live in?

And this is,
invariably,
the first lesson I teach.

some people get it quick.
Some slow.
But if I keep saying it,
then it works.
Students get better.
Students become better teachers.
And everybody becomes more spiritual.
More aware.
More…understanding.

Okay!
Here’s a list of books I have written

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

Check them out,
see which ones interest you,
fill out your library,
expand your understanding of the martial arts,
and of yourself.

Have a great work out!

Al

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

How the Kenpo Belt Rank System changed the Martial Arts

The Kenpo Belt Rank System

The Kenpo Belt Rank System is an interesting, little work. It is divided into a colored ranking system that goes like this: white, orange, purple, blue, green, brown (3 ranks), and Black Belt (multiple ranks).

kenpo karate system training manual

150 Kenpo techniques scientifically analyzed.

There is a problem with this, which I will describe in a second, but first, let me tell how the belt system came about.

Originally there were fewer colors. Some hold only a white belt and black belt, but most belt systems, at least inKarate, had four colors. white, Green, Brown, and Black Belt.

Students of Ed Parker, the Tracy Brothers came a cross a dance instructor from Fred Murray Dance Studios, and he showed the brothers how to put students on contracts. This was a boon to the hard working karate instructor, for it enabled him to hold people to contracts, and therefore paying dues longer.

The problem was that there were so many techniques to be dispersed through the belts. Thus, the kenpo karate techniques were divided into 8 groups, which turned out to be about 40 techniques per belt.

Students were taught a technique every lesson, thus keeping them on a belt level for 20 weeks. 8 times 20 and you have 160 weeks, divided by 50 weeks in a year, and you have three polls years to get to black belt. And, it actually took about four years.

A complete system of Kenpo, including 150 techniques, made to work.

A complete system of Kenpo, including 150 techniques, made to work.

The problem was that before that people earned their black belts in a fraction of the time. Mike stone, arguably the best karate tournament fighter in the world, got his black belt in 7 months.

Now, if somebody like Mike Stone came along, he couldn’t earn his black belt fast, but was stuck in the time scheme of four years.

In other words, he could only go as fast as the contract allowed. The odd thing was that people loved it. Although, to be honest, this writer thinks they loved it because of the intimacy and efficiency of the private lesson.

Anyway, one can argue about this, dispute it if they wish, and so what. People either buy into it or not, and that is up to the person.

As for myself, I was to test for brown belt, and I got drafted, and then, when free again, I joined a different school.

The belt ranking system in this school was 8 belts, but there were only four colors: white, green, brown, and black belt. Each color had a level or two in it.

lop sau rolling fists freestyle drill

Making Kenpo Karate unique to every individual.

And, the odd thing, we weren’t on contract, and people could go as fast as they learned the material. This made us work harder, for we could see the end of the race, and didn’t feel we had to go around the track three or four extra times.

So we had people who earned a black belt in a couple of years, and sometimes less.

Oddly, time was increasing to black belt, but that was because karate, and then Kung Fu (courtesy of Bruce Lee) was popular, new systems were being discovered, and more forms and techniques were being added to the system.

So I made it through, just in time, I might add.

And that is the story, plus a couple of extras thrown in, about how the Kenpo Belt system came to be.

If you want to break out of the forced time to black belt, it is recommended that you start studying on your own, outside of school, and accumulate sufficient information so that you know what works, especially in Kenpo, and have a large database of martial arts knowledge.

Check out the ‘Creating Kenpo Karate’ series by Al Case. It has 150 techniques completely and scientifically analyzed, plus a wealth of data concerning how to make any martial art system efficient and workable.

This has been an article about the Kenpo Belt Rank System.

The Truth of the Horse Stance!

Doing the Horse Stance the Right Way

I originally was told
that the horse stance is for learning how to fight
while you’re on the back of a horse.

Then I was told it was for fighting side to side
while standing in rice paddies.

2 kang duk won cover

tekki one

Kima Chasie ~ Horse Meditation

My own idea was that it was
for fighting on the sides of space ships.
There’s no gravity,
and you hook your feet under handles
so you can fight without flying off into space.

All ideas were probably a part of the truth,
which brings us to the real truth,
or at least as much as I can surmise
in the infancy of my ancient years.

Here’s part of a letter I wrote to a fellow
who asked me about the horse Stance.

Well, we differ here. The full data is somewhere in the Master Instructor Course, but, if you have a fellow stand with the feet shoulder width apart, feet out 45 degrees, and push across his shoulders, he will fall over. If you have him turn his feet straight, or even better, slightly in (hourglass stance), then he won’t fall over.

This gets very interesting, as you can have him feet out, feet in, again and again, and watch the results, and he loses confidence in the feet out stance and gets worse, and the feet in stance gets better. But he goes through some head gyrations trying to figure this all out.

Now, in a horse stance, because you are pushing down on the fellow he may not fall over, even if he has his feet pointing 45 degrees out, but he definitely doesn’t have as much root.

And, if a fellow is experienced, he may be able to drive his ground through a foot out stance and get away with it. But he is having to work way too hard to do it. Proper grounding requires no effort, no energy, you just drop the weight, align the body, and sink your thoughts.

Interestingly, I once heard a high level Gojo practitioner explain the foot out stance. Goju has those 45 degree foot out horse stances, you know.

He said the purpose was to make the small of the back softer. I have no idea what he meant. And, for that matter, there are a lot of things that Goju, and other arts, do that defies physics.

It often sounds like they are making up reasons without having any clue at all.

Anyway, speaking of physics, how I came up with this idea of foot in and foot out body testing came from when I was a kid. I used to examine medical pictures of the foot, and I examined my own foot, and I tried to understand how the thing worked.

Why was there an arch (spring), how should you run (walk)…with the feet straight so that foot could react in an anatomically correct manner. So you could best use the spring.

And this morphed into the reverse of spring, into proper grounding.

So it was an examination of the the foot, with physics and medicine (anatomy) in mind.

As opposed to softening the back for whatever reason.

Now, that all said, choose for yourself. Maybe there is something I don’t understand. I just try to present my viewpoint, and realize that I don’t know everything, that people have to come to their own conclusions.

And that is my official reasoning…
for now
viewpoint of the horse stance.

But the real truth,
aside from what I say,
or what anybody thinks,
happens when you do the horse stance
for a few years.

Do the Tekki forms.
Funakoshi is supposed to have spent ten years doing them,
and he highly recommended such practice.

I know in the Kang Duk Won
we practiced something called
Kima Chasie,
which meant ‘Horse Meditation.’
We would sit in the horse stance,
one hand in a high block and the other hand extended to the sides
with the fingers hooked around in a beak to the rear.
We would stare at the beak
and try to forget the pain,
focus on our breathing,
and just stay there.

Really worked.

Here’s a clip of the horse form.

And if you’re interested in more
of that sort of training,
Check out Temple Karate
on MonsterMartialArts.com.

Guaranteed good stuff.

Have yourself 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