Tag Archives: aikido

Martial Arts I Study after 55+ Years!!

Happy Summer!

You should set a goal,

choose an art,

and learn it this summer.

Let me be specific in what I study,

the martial arts I practice.

I get this question every once in a while,

and if you’re not not interested,

pass on by and I’ll talk to you next month.

I do Sanchin.

I don’t do the rock hard version

where people beat on you,

where you learn to ‘take it.’

The reason for this is that 

there are two sides to the martial arts,

avoid…or get tough.

I prefer to mix the two,

seek a type of harmony between them.

So the Sanchin I practice I will…

…sink the weight

…turn the hips

…execute a slap and grab motion

…and punch.

And,

I use a matrix of blocks

in applying the slap grab,

and develop the slap grab

from strike to lock to takedown.

This makes the art totally workable.

Now,

I play with other forms.

I practice with weapons 

and I do other arts,

but…

Sanchin is my gold.

It gives me breathing,

dynamic tension,

grounding,

loose-tight,

a whole body,

energy,

and so many other things.

For the soft side of the art

I do the material from…

The Last Martial Arts Book:

Nine Square Diagram Boxing

It includes concepts from Tai Chi and Pa Kua Chang,

and follows the matrixing logic of Sanchin.

It is a complete ‘soft style’ art.

And,

to round out the art,

and to make sure I  can use everything I study,

I do…

Rhythmic Freestyle,

lop sau (aș originated by me and described in book/video)

sticky hands (from wing chun)

Push hands from Tai Chi chuan.

And,

of course…

freestyle.

This is the actual training routine I do.

Every day.

Every day.

This routine is totally defined in two books,

How to Fix Karate (comes in two volumes)

and

The Last Martial Arts Book: Nine Square Diagram Boxing

All the instructions are in there.

including instructions on what the forms really mean,

how to make the applications work,

complete instructions on matrixing,

and so much more.

I wrote those books so I would have a path

should I choose to come back to this planet

after I die.

It’s the best I could do.

And, I should mention a couple of things.

There are two versions of The Last Martial Arts Book.

One of them has five hours of video instruction.

And,

How to Fix Karate has hours of video instruction.

And,

you shouldn’t discount the other books and courses I’ve done.

I sincerely hope that somebody gets excited

and starts researching,

seeing how I came up with this stuff.

Research is how you go deep in your understanding.

Anyway,

I thought I would mention all this

and encourage you to

learn a totally different martial art this summer!

Have a great work out!

Al

Don’t forget to check out the interview

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 ratings for 5 stars.

(There is a video version of this book with no stars yet)

My two yoga books have 9 ratings between them  for 5 stars.

The Book of Five Arts’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.

The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.

Chiang Nan’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars.

My novel, ‘Monkeyland,’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars

That’s a lot of good ratings

so hopefully you’ll find that useful

find the book/course that is right for you,

and matrix your own martial arts.

Highest Level Martial Arts!

Good morning!

I’ve always felt that

Karate is like chess

and boxing is like checkers.

They are played on the same board,

or in the same ring.

In essence,

they are games that analyze motion.

The motion of the body

the motion of the limbs

the motion of the opponent

In boxing,

the motion is dedicated to 

collisions of the fist with flesh.

In karate,

and the majority of other martial arts

the motion is dedicated to 

collisions of the fist and foot with flesh,

entangling limbs to trip, lock, throw, etc.

Some arts specialize more than others.

But,

still,

it is all about the analysis of motion.

And here we come to something interesting.

The highest stages of martial art

are dedicated to non-motion.

Simply,

you analyze motion

until you enter a state of non-motion.

The easiest example of this

that I can think of.

You and Joe Blow are playing soccer.

You are racing for the ball.

You are running next to each other 

at the same speed,

and you notice that you and Joe are motionless

compared to the background moving behind you.

You and Joe are in your own world.

Strange things happen when you are in your own world.

Time can be manipulated.

Between the two of you

you can agree to a passage of time

that is different from

the passage of time in the ‘real’ universe.

Now,

if you practice long and hard

you can create this sense of time without Joe.

You just look at an opponent

and different rules apply.

Motion becomes different.

it becomes uniquely adjusted by one person

agreeing for both people.

Read that one again,

it’s so damned simple it’s difficult.

It took me decades to find that reality,

that different sense of time,

that place where my sense of self

was strong enough to affect

the universe outside myself.

So,

how do you find this place?

First,

meditate through forms.

Second,

meditate through form applications (techniques).

Third,

when you freestyle with somebody,

eschew violence for staring at them so hard

that you end up feeling like you are in a tube.

One day I asked my instructor

if he had ever had any mystical experiences.

He said that one day

he was working out

and was looking down a long tube at his opponent.

He said the tube felt like it was 60 feet long.

He could see everything before it happened.

He even knew what his opponent was thinking.

When I was in my fifties,

some twenty years ago,

I had that experience.

I only felt like I was about 10 feet from my opponent,

but it was a stable experience,

not a one time thing.

At that time I started doing a mental drill.

And I think it helped me.

I would do forms,

often with my eyes closed,

or in a dark room,

and visualize myself as fifty feet above myself;

looking down ast my body.

I would tell my body,

 way down there,

how to move.

This brought an incredible sense of peace to myself

and I truly felt like I was expanding

as a martial artist,

and as a human being.

Have fun with this.

And, have fun with this little video clip.

MB 114 slap grab options

And don’t forget to drop by

http://www.monstermartialarts.com

Have a great work out!

Al

Hi, Kumar.

Don’t forget to check out the interview

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 ratings for 5 stars.

(There is a video version of this book with no stars yet)

My two yoga books have 9 ratings between them  for 5 stars.

The Book of Five Arts’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.

The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.

Chiang Nan’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars.

My novel, ‘Monkeyland,’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars

That’s a lot of good ratings

so hopefully you’

ll find that useful

find the book/course that is right for you,

and matrix your own martial arts.

And don’t forget to drop by

http://www.monstermartialarts.com

Have a great work out!

Al

Hi, Kumar.

Don’t forget to check out the interview

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 ratings for 5 stars.

(There is a video version of this book with no stars yet)

My two yoga books have 9 ratings between them  for 5 stars.

The Book of Five Arts’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.

The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.

Chiang Nan’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars.

My novel, ‘Monkeyland,’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars

That’s a lot of good ratings

so hopefully you’

ll find that useful

find the book/course that is right for you,

and matrix your own martial arts.

The Martial Arts Night Before XMAS!

HanaKwanMass!

And, I’ve got my yearly 

‘Night Before Xmas’ rendition for you.

But,

first,

HanaKwanMass means

Hanukah plus Kwanza plus Christmas!

You might offend two thirds of everybody you meet,

but you get three times the gifts!

Yahoo!

Now,

in the interests of offending everybody everywhere

is the Martial Arts Night Before Christmas!

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…

The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 ratings for 5 stars.

(There is a video version of this book with no stars yet)

My two yoga books have 9 ratings between them  for 5 stars.

The Book of Five Arts’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.

The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.

Chiang Nan’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars.

My novel, ‘Monkeyland,’ has 5 ratings for 5 stars

And don’t forget to check out the interview

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

Beating Up a Crowd of People!

Have you ever wondered what you would do

if you were caught, or targeted, by a mob?

This is actually not an inconceivable situation

considering the antics of such as BLM or Antifa,

In 2020 these groups caused:

$2 billion in damages

rioted in 140 cities

caused the injury of 2000 cops

resulted in the deaths of 25 Americans.

There weren’t any congressional hearings on this

nor any real reporting from the media,

but these are the figures

as far as I have been able to figure.

And it is a distinct possibility

that such riots could happen again.

So,

the question…

what would you do if you were caught up in, 

and especially targeted by

a mob of crazy people?

I took Aikido in the early seventies,

and I was fascinated by the videos

of people doing multiman combat.

I also had many situations during karate classes

where we would fight multiple attackers.

Eventually, basing the material on Aikido

and on certain karate concepts,

I filmed the ‘Matrix Aikido’ course.

This is a great course, 

as it is based on concept

and not memorizing endless techniques.

One day I was visiting one of my student’s classes.

There were about 20 young men (age 18-25) in the class.

I was asked many questions,

and the subject of fighting large numbers of people 

was brought up,

and the students’ challenged some of my assertions.

‘Okay,’ I said.

‘let’s see if I can make my theories work.’

I always remember the surprise on their faces,

they asked me how many of the students

should attempt to lay hands on me

I said, ‘Everybody.’

Man, they were blinking,

then they looked at each other and grinned,

and the melee was on.

It was some ten minutes

before anybody laid a hand on me,

and I will tell you EXACTLY what I did.

Mind you,

I was theorizing and training in pure concepts at the time.

First,

there are three directions

that a punch will take

generally speaking,

and this tended to hold true

for my situation.

First,

 the punch might hit you.

Second,

if you move back,

it will pass in front of you.

Third,

if you move forward,

it will pass behind you.

There were a few kicks,

but I just used the same theory,

but adapted it for kicks.

I then attacked.

Yep,

you heard me right,

I went forward,

into the mass of twenty men.

They were trying to create enough room

so they could punch (kick) me.

This moved them away from each other

just enough so I could slip between.

I wouldn’t always recommend a charge,

but we were in a big park

and I had plenty of room to maneuver.

As they turned to chase me

they were now in each other’s way.

As I recall,

Aikido holds that three people

is the worst scenario for people attacking you

because they have enough room.

More than three and they get in each other’s way.

Now I had only two concepts in mind.

I moved in and grabbed their bodies and ‘danced’ with them

and flung them away.

Or,

I slowed down as the punch came in

pushed their punch across their body

then they were tangled and I pushed them away.

And I kept throwing them in front of each other 

At all times I went forward.

This gave me the initiative.

I never went backwards.

Everybody chased me

and was constantly having to step around bodies.

It was one of the easiest fights I had ever had.

Now,

the only other thing of interest in this

is that when I started I noticed one person looking at me.

I knew he was going to be the one to get me.

I made it my strategy to always avoid him.

But at the end,

he got close and tagged me in the back with a punch.

Now,

what I did was that simple.

It was not complex.

If I had tried complex maneuvers

they would have got me in the beginning.

Though, as I progressed

and figured things out,

I did mix in specific techniques,

appropriate to the ‘punch in front or punch in back’

that I was conceptualizing.

And,

I knew what I was doing 

would hold true for clubs and such.

It might even hold true for firearms,

but there would be considerable limits

on what I could do in that situation.

Which brings us to the Antifa/BLM riots.

Buildings burning,

people with guns

and

Kyle Rittenhouse

Kyle wasn’t trained in the martial arts,

he was only trying to get away,

and only the fact that he had a gun 

enabled him to do so.

If he tried to get away and hadn’t had a gun

he likely would have been killed,

at least severely maimed.

If he hadn’t had a gun,

of course,

he might not even have been attacked.

But that is a probability I wouldn’t bet on.

So,

imagine yourself in that situation.

Do you understand the concepts I outlined,

always attacking,

stepping in front of or behind the strike,

how to adapt it to kicks

or to weapons like clubs or even swords.

What is most interesting is seeing how many techniques

you can come up with from the 

‘punch in front, punch behind’ concept.

This will define an entire martial art.

It will be logical,

and you should avoid poser techniques.

And,

if you find fault with my method,

or think it won’t work,

what can you come up with?

Anyway,

have fun with this.

And thanks to Kumar for asking.

Here is the link to Matrix Aikido

where I give a seminar and show

the actual conceptualizing of Aikido.

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

Have a great work out!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’ve got nothing but five star reviews on 

The Science of Government.

It’s really nothing more than applying matrixing to politics.

Matrixing + Politics = Sanity

I told you matrixing works with anything.

Here’s the link…

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

Secrets of the Rolling Fist!

Thanks to everybody who purchased

How to Fix Karate (Vol one and two)

I want to talk about the Rolling Fist today.

You’ll see smalls sections on the Rolling Fist

on a couple of courses,

and there is a larger course where I go into it in detail.

The reason the Rolling Fist drill is so important

is that it is the most efficient way to teach real fighting in the world.

Period.

And there is a reason for this.

I’ve told everybody,

but nobody gets it,

so let me build up to it,

and tell you the secret

so you’ll never forget.

But, 

so you can understand what I’m saying,

take a look at this clip.

This is me working with a fellow

who has a moderate understanding of Lop Sau. 

We’re not working on the basics,

but how to translate Lop Sau into grab arts. 

You’ve watched it?

Okay, 

you’ve got the gist,

so here we go.

When you do the rolling fist

you are basically taking turns rolling a backfist in,

back and forth,

and there is a scientific assortment 

of secondary techniques

that takes into account

virtually every attack in the martial arts.

If not through the logic of Rolling Fists,

then through the application of a few moves of the form.

If you stay inside the drill

you can’t be beat.

If you leave the drill you leave an opening.

If you leave an opening that’s where you need to rely

on the few isolated moves from the forms.

What people don’t realize

when they are doing this drill

is that you are NOT suppose to hit the other fellow.

You are teaching him how to block.

You already know how to hit him,

so what’s the point?

Teaching somebody how to block,

or handle an attack intuitively…

that’s the point.

Let me ask you a question now.

If you keep hitting somebody,

will they trust you?

No.

And if they don’t trust you 

they won’t trust your data,

and they won’t input your data,

which means they won’t be able to learn.

And you have to be especially careful of this

when you are teaching somebody.

You must teach the student to trust you.

Then they will stop trying to stop you,

and they will stop stopping themselves from learning.

If they trust you they will take your data.

After you have learned how to trust somebody

you must learn how to trust the enemy.

That’s right.

This is real zen,

but it is the truth of the real martial artist.

I’ve had people ask me:

how can you like that person.

I say,

because I trust them.

They say,

but he’s a liar and a thief!

I say,

I trust him to be a liar and a thief.

And here we are at root of it all.

Trust.

And you’ll become a superior martial artist.

And this is the secret of Lop Sau.

That and a thousand hours of training.

Here’s the obligatory ad for Rolling Fists…

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

And,

last thing,

I broke The Shaolin Butterfly course down

and made a book out of it.

It’s not the complete course,

it doesn’t have the nine square forms on it,

but it has all the smaller forms and two man forms.

 Best of all,

I have included links to the videos on the course.

It offers a good option to people interested.

It’ll be up on Amazon in a couple of days,

probably by Tuesday,

so start looking for it.

Now…

HAVE A GREAT WORK OUT!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’ve got nothing but five star reviews on 

The Science of Government.

It’s really nothing more than applying matrixing to politics.

Matrixing + Politics = Sanity

I told you matrixing works with anything.

Here’s the link…

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

Neutronic Fighting in the Martial Arts!

Good morning!

Hi to Kumar and Jerome this week.

A quick announcement,

I’m not going to be issuing certificates any more.

Just don’t have the time.

In fact,

going to be changes around here,

and I’ll let you know of them in the coming weeks.

The book is done,

just waiting for proofs.

Proofs are copies just for the author

so he can see what the book looks like.

So, a couple of weeks and the book will be out.

Been a saga,

and I’ll talk about that on the official release newsletter,

but the thing that I want to talk about here

is more neutronic,

and how neutronic relates to fighting.

I believe I have said some of this before,

but it’s worth a second go around.

Neutron means nothing.

No weight, no mass, no intention, no direction.

It is the frame of mind you want to achieve.

And,

specific to the martial arts,

no emotion.

When somebody wants to fight you

they have to come for you.

I’ve actually stopped people from being aggressive with me

by simple saying,

‘You’re coming towards me.’

And who would come towards me in an aggressive manner?

The most obvious ones were people who,

when I was a teacher,

were upset about their child.

Parents can be really obtuse and mean.

But,

the thing is this,

there are actually two waves of attack.

Three if you count the idea of attack.

So,

first a guy gets the idea of attack,

second the guy has the emotion of attack,

third the guy attacks.

The thing that screws people up is this emotion thing.

Nobody understands emotion.

Especially not the psychiatrists

and the so called mental health ‘experts.’

Emotion is motion inside the head.

So the guy decides he wants to beat you up,

he throws rage at you,

then launches his body.

The rage is designed to intimidate you,

and to bolster himself.

The rage hits you

and you are slowed,

and the fight,

as your emotion starts to ratchet,

becomes a wallow through the currents of emotion.

I can’t tell you how to wallow through emotion.

That would be like telling somebody how to swim without water.

BUT,

you need to take emotion out of the equation.

Let the emotion wash past you,

not touch you,

observe without receiving his emotion,

or mounting any of your own.

This is one of the reasons people

should study such things as Yoga,

meditation,

or the martial arts concept of 

motion without having emotion.

(Mushin no shin ~ Mind of No Mind)

Don’t get angry.

If a guy throws a punch at you it is a gift.

He is communicating with you.

Rejoice,

look at it,

enjoy it,

handle it.

If you’ve got emotion going on yourself,

 it is difficult to handle other’s emotions.

Oddly,

I learned how to do without emotion by fighting.

I would do freestyle and focus on the opponent so hard

that I ended up in a sort of a tunnel,

looking at my opponent.

This put me out of my head

and out of emotion.

BUT…

I couldn’t have done that with fighting

if I hadn’t studied the forms first,

and learned the peculiar discipline that goes with that.

You can fight all you want and never get into the tube.

But once you dedicate yourself to learning about forms,

and about your form (your own body),

it becomes surprisingly easy.

It only took me about 20 years.

BUT…

with matrixing you can probably do it within a year.

Maybe even faster.

Matrixing aligns all the data,

arranges your understanding of incoming force

so that nothing surprises you.

Matrixing educates you as to how the body functions,

and about ten times faster than classical karate.

BUT…of course,

don’t give up that classical karate.

There’s gold in them thar hills,

especially once you have the pick and shovel of matrixing in your hands.

Here’s the obligatory ad…

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

Okay, everybody,

I hope you’re working out every day this summer!

It’s the only way to get where you’re going!

HAVE A GREAT WORK OUT!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’ve got nothing but five star reviews on 

The Science of Government.

It’s really nothing more than applying matrixing to politics.

Matrixing + Politics = Sanity

I told you matrixing works with anything.

Here’s the link…

Aikido and Kung Fu and Internal Energy

Newsletter 998

The Two Types of Internal Power (chi)!

Hi guys and gals!
Happy Corona vacation!
I hope you’ve made the best of it,
learned an art or two,
worked out every day,
preserved your health and safety
for your whole life.
If not…okay,
you’ve still got time.

One of the big mysteries in the martial arts
is this thing called Chi Power,
or ‘internal power.’
It is spoken of in Karate and kung fu,
Aikido and Tai Chi
and all manner of arts.
Interestingly,
MMA,
and more modern arts,
don’t speak of it.
In fact,
‘chi power’ is often denigrated,
held in poor repute.
All that means is that people don’t understand it,
and so bad mouth it.
So,
let me delve into the subject briefly.
Before I do,
however,
you should know something.
Most arts won’t generate chi power
for the simple reason
that the body is not structured properly.
To make chi you first have to have resistance,
and the body must be formed
to take advantage of that resistance.
you don’t make muscles,
although muscles occur,
in real martial arts.
You generate awareness,
and awareness becomes chi power.
When you do the Master Instructor course
you learn how to create resistance
by structuring the body correctly,
and that turns into chi power,
but it’s not easy.
It takes time and awareness,
and most people are too interested in beating people up
and so ignore the simple fact of awareness.
When you do the Matrix Karate you learn how to structure an art,
and that speeds everything up.
No missing pieces in your path,
nothing out of place or not making sense.

Okay,
that all said,
let’s talk about the two main types
of internal power in the martial arts.

There are hard arts,
karate and kung fu and such.
Then there are soft arts,
such as Aikido and Tai Chi.

Karate is a matter of analyzing the body
so that it provides certain paths of resistance,
and then using as little force as possible
on these paths.
Why as little force as possible?
Because if you use force you build muscles.
If you don’t use force,
then you start to use energy.
But the paths of resistance MUST be correct
for the generation of energy to occur.
If you turn your feet wrong you lose resistance.
If your hips aren’t aligned you lose resistance.
If your shoulders overthrow you lose resistance,
and so on and so on.
This is why the old guys who teach hard chi
obsess on such things as the wrist not being turned properly.
Even if you knock the other guy out…bad form.

Now,
here is an interesting phenomena.
Most karate teaches explosive power.
It’s all in your ability to explode.
If your form is correct
you might make the transition
and start to generate chi power.
Most styles of karate,
however,
do not have proper form.
they have been made into boxing,
or the instructors haven’t understood what they are doing
and the art has become tweaked and incorrect.

Actually,
the proper way to teach hard chi
is as follows.
Push with the foot,
feel the turn of the leg,
feel the turn of the hip,
feel the power go up the body,
feel the corkscrew of the arm
snap the fist.

This is described in many places,
but the directions are poor,
or they leave things out.
The instructor doesn’t teach the student
to stop tightening the whole body
and to tighten only the wrist.
Or breathing is neglected.
Or the purpose of stances is not adhered to.
(sink the weight into the ground to create a motor).
But if you relax, breath correctly,
feel weight and sensation course up through the body
through exact configuration
(spiral, unfold, pulse, etc.)
then you don’t get chi power.

tell the truth,
I had chi power from my study of karate.
I had a teacher who taught a good art,
and I obsessed on figuring out the best way to form the body.
But I didn’t understand it,
and wasn’t able to teach it effectively
until after I had done Tai Chi.
Tai Chi gave me the ‘emptiness’ that I needed
to fulfill the ‘empty’ in ‘empty hands.’

Okay,
having mentioned Tai Chi,
let’s talk about the chi power you get
from such arts as Tai Chi or Aikido.

Karate is an explosion.
A ball of boom!
Aikido and Tai Chi…
they rely on getting ahead of the attacker
just enough to unbalance them.
Now,
here is the secret.
When you move with somebody,
in harmony with them,
you tap into more power.
It is the simple fact of two motors
(two bodies)
working in tandem.
More energy is created.
And, harmony has more inherent energy
than the fact of exploding.

Which is not to say karate or kung fu
don’t have harmony.
But it is constantly being upset by the need for power.
If a person can stop lusting for power,
learn to relax while punching,
harmony breeds.
Never as much as in Tai Chi or Aikido,
but enough.

So these are the two types of internal power
you get from the classical martial arts,
arts that haven’t been corrupted by such things as politics,
MMA, boxing, the need to pay rent, and so on.

But there are more types of internal energy.
Much more.
But the correct path would be to develop
one, or both, of the types of energy I describe here,
then let other energies develop.
And they will develop.
Every person is different,
however,
so it may be difficult to predict
what kind of energy and ability you will develop,
and it may not be what you were expecting.
But whatever you get,
it will be in keeping with your personality
and your personal evolution of spirit.

If you want what I am describing here,
I recommend

the Master Instructor course
to learn how to structure the body correctly.

Matrix Karate
to learn how to structure an art
so there will be no missing pieces,
no out of place oddities.

And,
if you are a long timer
and understand all that I am saying,
you might like to delve into
Tai Chi Chuan.

Okay,
‘nuff said,
have yourself a great and wonderful Corona vacation,
and a super duper work out.
Al

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

 

Creating Awareness Drills in the Martial Arts

Newsletter 975

The True Martial Art of Awareness

Got a student here,
having a rough time with Tai Chi.
When doing the form
she wants to go to a posture,
strike the posture,
and that’s all.
But the problem is one of awareness.

When I was doing a lot of Pa Kua,
one of the drills I made myself do
was walk the circle
while staring at my finger.
Focus on the finger.
And the point was this…
DO NOT GO UNCONSCIOUS!
In other words,
grow more aware.

When you strike a pose,
this is common in Karate and kung fu,
you have a moment of awareness.
When you follow the finger
as you walk the circle,
you create awareness at all times.
So striking a pose might result in 10% awareness,
but you need to achieve
100% awareness.
Awareness at all times.

If you go to a party,
and you are aware 10% of the time
and a fight breaks out,
there is a 90% chance
you will get struck.

But if you are aware 100% of the time
you will probably avoid getting struck at all.

People think the martial arts are about fighting.
Or building the body,
or quickness or strength,
or winning tournaments,
or making an image to impress the girls.
Martial arts,
TRUE martial arts.
have nothing at all to do with that.
They are about building awareness.

You have to break through the obsession with the body,
then even put aside energy,
and just become aware.

When I walk the circle in Pa Kua
I hold a finger and stare at it without break.

When I do a Tai Chi form I create circles
around my body with my hands,
and I never have a corner,
never pause or speed up,
just hold awareness in every motion I do.

When I do a freestyle drill,
the point is NEVER to beat the other person,
it is to create awareness,
to create a shield of awareness around myself
so that nobody can penetrate,
so that I can deal with anything
because I am aware.

And,
forgive me for the obligatory ad,
but if you are interested in Tai Chi especially,
but any art,
Matrix Tai Chi creates awareness
about ten times better than the classical form.
It is a simple matter of applied logic.
Maybe I’ll go into this in a later newsletter,
but for now,
remember this…
if you want your martial arts to be true
you must create awareness.
Period.

Here’s the link…
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/2ba-matrix-tai-chi-chuan/

Now have a GREAT Fourth of July!
Al

A WIN!

Al, Very early this morning I downloaded the Matrix Tai Chi package and wow! I read through the manual and am very impressed. I cant wait to start practicing what I am reading. The posture matrix and the application matrix, it makes so much sense. It took me a long time to learn the Yang short and long form as well as the Cheng Man Ching 37 form. Using the matrix I could have learned that all much quicker. I also glanced at the form video that came with the download and it reminds me of both Yang and the Cheng Man Ching forms run together but it all makes such perfect sense having read over the manual. I will read the manual over and over as I go through the course. I did the 5 Army Tai Chi course first and love it but I am seeing a lot more in the 5 Army form now having read the manual and all this after a quick read! This is great, I cant wait to get heavy into this program. I will keep you posted and as always, Thanks! ~ Kurt

“If you want to learn to swim jump into the water.
On dry land no frame of mind is ever going to help you.”
– Bruce Lee

Growing Spiritually through the Martial Arts

Newsletter 973

Evolution Through Martial Arts

An interesting thing to think about,
when you do martial arts,
is how much you are evolving.

If you do a form
you might be doing a certain number of squats
by doing the horse stance,
a certain number of lunges
by doing front stances,
and so on.
This is all physical.
You get in better shape through
the simplicity of body weight exercises.
But what about the spirit?
How do you measure the progress of the spirit?
Actually,
there is a way to measure your spiritual evolution
through the martial arts.

What does a white belt have?
hopes and dreams,
not much discipline,
that’s all.

What does a green belt have?
a bare understanding of movements.

What does a brown belt have?
better understanding of movements
with power.

What does a black belt have?
He understands the movements
and he has control.
Control is so-o-o much more important than power.

What does a master have?
Wisdom.
His techniques are so polished
he can do them without muscle.
He knows what is happening
without having to think about it.
So what is the difference between these ranks?

Time.
And…the number of times they have done their forms/techniques.
The number of times you have done a technique
is the most important thing here.

So you go to class,
two hours a week
for a year.
You make it to green belt
and you have some understanding of what you have done,
and you have done the forms ten times a week for a year,
or 500 times.

You go for brown belt,
you practice for another year,
and you have done the forms 1000 times.

You go for black belt,
practice for another year
1500 forms

A few years pass,
let’s say ten,
you make it to 4th degree black belt
more forms,
add them up at 500 a year…
13 years
6,500 forms

But what if you did the 6,500 forms in one year.
Would you be a master?
You might have the wisdom,
you probably need a bit more physical work,
but, yeah.
If you could do 6,500 form in one year,
you could cut 12 years off the runway.

Unfortunately,
most people practice inadequate forms.
Random movement,
incorrect physics,
dictate that they will go slowly
no matter how much they practice.

But what if you had perfect forms,
that condensed the material of the random motions
that make up the classical forms?
What if you had a form that focused
only on the true and correct technique,
and was totally logical?
Would you have to do the forms 6,500 times?
Or,
if the forms were ten times better,
could you just do the forms 650 times?

Interesting question, eh?
With an interesting answer.
You see,
after selling matrixing course,
specifically Matrix Karate and
The Master Instructor Course,
since 2007,
I have seen that people have a rough time with this idea.

They think it takes 13 years,
because some bozo who wants to make money off them
tells them so.

But if this idea was correct
we would have no rock and roll.
Takes too long to master the guitar,
you know.

If this idea was correct
we would have no army.
Takes too long to make a soldier,
you see.

If this idea was correct
we would still be cavemen,
chipping flints
and scratching our armpits.

But the idea is correct.
Kids pick up the guitar today,
and next year are rock and roll stars.

Young men are given weapons,
and go into combat a few months later.

We aren’t cavemen.

But,
we have to give up the idea
that learning is slow.

If learning was slow
we would still be children!

No.
You can learn the martial arts fast.
And you have to.
It is a dangerous world,
riots,
home invasion,
crooked cops,
a government in love with abuse…
you have to learn fast.
Period.

Here are the fastest, best, most logical martial arts courses in the world…

http://monstermartialarts.com

All you have to do is scroll down the page,
pick the art that interests you the most,
and do it so darn quickly
the mugger’s head will spin.

Have a great work out!

Al

A WIN!

I have found such tremendous benefit in my study of Matrix Karate that I want to dig deeper and deeper.  It’s only been a few weeks, but the forms flow so easily; it’s like Matrix Martial Arts are the way the body is SUPPOSED to work.  I love it! ~ Ryan O

“Those who are unaware they are walking in darkness will never seek the light.”
– Bruce Lee

With Matrixing in the Martial Arts People Get Mad, or They Open Their Eyes

Newsletter 954

The Two Responses to Matrixing in the Martial Arts!

People usually react in one of two ways
when I tell them about Matrixing and the Martial Arts.

In the first response,
it starts out with a fellow describing a technique.
Something he learned which blows him away,
or,
on the other side,
a technique he dismisses as worthless.

I say,
‘that’s interesting,
but what about the other four ways of doing the technique?’
They blink then.
The world is black and white to blinkers,
and they never think of the colors.
Finally,
they force it out,
‘What other three ways?’

So I tell them about the truth table,
how to matrix techniques,
usually turns into an interesting discussion
concerning how force and flow work in the martial arts.
Which is interesting.
Most artists,
except for an occasional technique,
have no idea of the force and the flow,
they just hit or throw,
tain’t nothin’ else,
specially not no three ‘other’ techniques.

And the discussion goes out on the mat,
blinks turn into open eyes,
and they are usually blown away.
I don’t fight them,
I just show opportunities and deviations
which they have never thought of.

Now,
the second way people react?
That usually happens when they are talking,
or worse,
reading,
and can’t let go of their opinion.
They feel that if they let go of their opinion
they have lost themselves,
their autonomy,
their sense of self,
their worth.

They aren’t there with me,
you see,
so I can’t take them out on the mat,
and show them what I am talking about.
And here is the VERY sad truth.

Most people don’t know how to read,
can’t understand written directions.
Of course Matrixing makes no sense to them,
even sounds bogus.
But they are filtering everything through their minds,
and everything is tainted and slanted by their inability
to read and understand
So what do they do?
They attack me as a scamster,
as an internet get rich quicker dude.
And the gold floats past their eyes.

Inside,
they know something has happened,
and it infuriates them even more.
They were so close,
and yet…they missed.
And they are stuck in the mess of the martial arts.

Let me finish by saying something:
the martial arts are a maze.
They are a path from you to…you.
You study,
you practice,
you become enlightened and discover…yourself.

Except,
the path has been so messed up by
politics,
inability to read,
vested interests,
commercialism,
tournaments,
nationalism,
THE DESIRE TO BE RIGHT…
to be an authority and to dominate.,
that is it virtually closed.

So Matrixing opens up and straightens out the path,
makes it quick and easy,
gets rid of mysticism and stupidity.
But you either have to be smart enough to read and understand,
or experience it directly from me
or somebody who has taken a few courses.

And those are the two responses to Matrixing in the Martial Arts.

Have a great work out!
Al

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

Here’s a great win…

A WIN!

Master Al,

Matrixing is a scientific approach the same as quantitative research and mastering it from that standpoint.

I have seen and experienced many individuals whose goals are usually to beat people up, be the top dog, create an Alpha male environment. Though martial arts is about winning to save your life there is a higher purpose and that is to polish one’s mind to a higher state of consciousness.

I feel that as a group we have lost our true calling of polishing ourselves and true potential due to the misguided thinking that one way is better than another. It is true we must test ourselves with competition but, we should also be wise in how we choose our fights and when to fight and hurt someone.

Respectfully,

Joshua R

“Good judgement is the result of experience,

and experience the result of bad judgement”
Mark Twain