An Algebra Book by a Martial Artist!

This is the sort of article that is going to get a few martial artists angry, and they will join more than a few modern day teachers, who will get even angrier!

New book on Algebra written by a martial artist!

After all, the martial arts are about fighting, and how can a fellow who practices thie fighting stuff know anything about Algebra?

And, martial artists who have been upset by this ‘matrixing’ thing will be discouraged to learn that there was some real science behind the creation of the thing.

Which brings us to the crux of the matter.

When I was in school I was apprised, courtesy of those day long tests, that I should be an architectural engineer.

Zowie! Design bridges and rocket ships! How cool is that, eh?

And my father, an official engineer who designed prototypes for a small firm called Ampex, and then for another small firm called Memorex, was pleased.

But, I didn’t care for this architectural engineering stuff. I wanted to learn Karate!

So I slogged through a few classes, bored out of my mind, and…and an interesting thing happened. I began applying architectural engineering to the martial arts.

Those cantilevers and arches, where were they in the human body? The analysis of geometry and materials, how did that support a horse stance, or that technique where you threw the bad guy across the room?

Could it be true? That the body is merely a structure whose motions can be reconfigured by the scientific application of formula?

The interesting thing is that, while I didn’t think I was doing anything unique (doesn’t everybody think like this), I was.

Most people can’t get outside their body, take an exterior viewpoint of their body, and consider as a machine, a vehicle, a thing of struts and beams, of forces and flows that can be analyzed with modern science.

Most people are fascinated by the ancient teachings, the immersion in other cultures, and they fall into the trap of ‘sciences’ that are passed down by oral tradition, and are based upon myth.

So, that brings us to now. Amidst all the punches and kicks, throws and blocks, I had to support myself, and I was a teacher in a private school, and then owned my own private school, for a number of years.

And I taught algebra.

But I taught it differently.

I had learned, you see, through some forty years of martial arts, that a punch was not complex, but simple.

And I looked for the simplicities of algebra.

And there were two.

The first simplicity is that algebra can be taught by asking three questions, the same three questions, for aNY algebra problem.

Once the student understands this, and starts asking himself/herself the questions are their own, the teacher can sit back and read a book, because algebra has been effectively solved. Kids, naturally exuberant, will take a joy and whistle through those long and daunting algebraic equations.

And, the second simplicity: there are two, only two, questions that a teacher must ask when teaching ANY child ANY algebraic function.

This last, in particular, is going to please home schoolers to the max. No longer struggling to lay out the problem and twist and turn it, but just ask two questions, one and two, and watch the lights go on in the child’s head.

So, if you have a child who is having trouble with Algebra, or maybe you are a teacher and want the latest method, if you are anybody who wants to clear the head of dust and debris…then the name of the book is ‘The Simple Truth About Algebra.’

Or if you are a martial artist who wants to see the truth behind theMartial Arts, from a scientific viewpoint.

The author is Al Case.

The website is: http://homeschoolmychildnow.com.

The book is available on Amazon, and here’s the link: http://www.amazon.com/Simple-Truth-About-Algebra/dp/1507724721/ref=sr_1_1ie=UTF8&qid=1422987899&sr=8-1&keywords=the+simple+truth+about+algebra