A Martial Arts Weapon for the Making

I was over at my work out partner’s house, and we were discussing martial arts, weapons, and that sort of thing.
“Hey,” he suddenly said, “Let me show you a weapon. Come on.”
I followed him out of his house and across the street to a large orchard.
“Find me a rock,” he asked.
I did so. “What, we’re going to throw rocks?
“No,” he said. “I’m going to show you how to make a weapon so fast your pants will drop.”
I blinked.
He undid his belt and whipped it off his waist. He held the ends and placed the rock in the fold, and within three seconds he had sent the rock whistling away, three times faster than I could have thrown it, and three times the distance.
He hit a tree limb, which limb cracked and hung.
“Did you plan that?”
“Nah. But a little practice and I could have.”
I stared at him, then looked down at the ground. A million bullets, and a sling nobody would have ever thought of.
There’s a million ideas like this one at Monster Martial Arts.

Where Matrix Martial Arts came From

I was living in a house in Mt. View at the time. It was shaped like a horse shoe and in the center of the horseshoe was a patio.
At the time I had spent seven years studying the martial arts. Kenpo for a couple of years, Kang Duk Won for about five, Sticky Hands from Wing Chun, and I believe a smattering of Aikido.
Anyway, I was sitting on a cinder block on the patio. and tapping a piece of rebar on the cement. I wasn’t drunk, hadn’t taken any drugs, was just sitting there tapping the rebar and listening to music. I believe it was The Horse with No Name, although it could have been anything from the album that contained that song.
So I’m tapping the rebar, not in time with anything, dunk…dunk…dunk. Bob my head in time with the music. Dunk…dunk…dunk. Feel pretty good. Dunk…dunk…DONG-G-G-G-g-g-g…
Everything was golden. The sky, the air, the trees, everything, and I couldn’t tell where the music was coming from. The music wasn’t coming the speakers, it existed everywhere, was omnidirectional, was…omnipresent.
I was forever, and I knew one thought.
‘For something to be true the opposite must also be true.’
That was the beginning of Matrixing.
That was where Monster Martial Arts had its beginnings.

The Value of a Martial Arts Certificate

“There’s my name.”
Teddy was a new instructor, who had known the head instructor for years. He was a Green Belt.
He was pointing at the head instructor’s bBlack Belt certificate.
A Green Belt had signed a Black Belt’s certificate?
WTF?
There was more to the story of course, and that more was purely political in nature.
My instructor did deserve his Black Belt, and he had had to leave his school, and organization, and promote himself to get it.
But, though I knew the value of my instructor, I had just learned the value of paper.
Paper doesn’t matter, ornate certificates don’t matter. What matters is the competence of the instructor.
I always chuckle inside when people relay their lineage…as if it matters.
And I make sure that my signature means something when I put it to a piece of paper.
Competence, honesty, ability…those are the things that matter at Monster Martial Arts.

The Craziest Self Defense Technique in the World!

I taught my son Karate. Taught him well, and he knew what good karate was. One day he came home laughing. I asked him what was up.
“I just learned the craziest self defense technique in the world!”
I asked him what it was.
“You jump high in the air, and come down and punch the other guy on the foot.”
Now, he was laughing, I was laughing, and you’ve probably got a chuckle ready to go as you read this.
Jump high to punch low? The foot?
What was wrong with the guy who told my son this technique?
Interestingly, I heard a coach on the Ultimate Fighting Championship recommend this technique.
Hmmm.
Fortunately, I avoid those techniques. Jumping high in the air just to get low enough to hit a foot is not one of the techniques you’ll learn in the Shaolin Butterfly.

The Strange Case of the Eyes in Butterfly Pa Kua Chang

I studied many different arts, every art made me better, every art contributed to the whole that was me.
Once a kid through a rubber knife at me. Time slowed down and I caught it by the handle and threw it back in one motion.
Once a fellow asked me to throw shuriken (ninja type throwing stars) which I had rarely touched before. I tossed six into a heart on a dummy without hesitation or thought. Home runs of the martial kind.
But the main thing was the eyes.
You see somebody passing by on a bus and you meet eyes. There is a connection that can’t be denied. It is like you can read thoughts, but you are deeper than the need to read thoughts.
Except I was seeing eyes like that all the time. in the store, on the street, in the park. Whoever looked at me, and I at them, we saw each other.
I knew I had become different, I knew I had evolved, and this was the type of ability I wanted people to get when I taught them things like Butterfly Pa Kua Chang.

Why Shaolin Kung Fu Will Never Be a Submarine!

To understand why Shaolin Kung Fu will never be a submarine you must understand what a submarine is. A submarine is a shape designed to travel through a specific liquid substance. Because of this all submarines eventually come to be the same shape.

This is just the physics of the matter. The submarine is designed conical because that is the best shape for traveling at speed through water. Any other shape would cause the submarine to slow down, or travel inefficiently.

If the sub travels slower, it can be shot by enemy subs. If it has a different shape it cannot turn quickly enough to defend itself. This is all related to combat and combat functions.

Shaolin Kung Fu is taught by patterns, and the patterns are designed to travel through a different substance. The Shaolin forms are designed to travel through air, and with an eye to the effects of gravity. But such considerations do not limit the Shaolin master, but rather unlimit him.

The patterns, you see, are designed around the construction of the body, and the body can react to air and gravity in many different ways. The body of the Shaolin Master is trained to act other than a human body. The body of the Shaolin Master can take on the aspects of a Monkey, or a Crane, or any other animal.

Thus, the limit of the environment is changed by the body that is traveling through it. And the body traveling through it is changed by the considerations of the being operating the body. And, the person operating the body can change how he uses it on a whim.

A submarine can never change, and if you built a submarine in a different shape, the submarine would not work. But Shaolin monks are built to assume a variety of shapes. The key is the mind.

The ability to change shape, to shift the way one moves, is possible through enhanced intelligence. To learn how to use the body in a variety of ways enhances the intelligence. It may have taken great intelligence to make a submarine, but a submarine can’t do Shaolin kung fu, and will never be a Shaolin Kung Fu Master.

Monster Newsletter #285–The Universe of Your Body!

Monster Newsletter #285–The Universe of Your Body!

It’s not just a good morning,
it’s a good life.
form after form,
technique after technique,
breath after breath.
Beautiful.

Have you ever noticed that life is more beautiful after you do something?
It really is.

I was talking about getting hit
the other week,
and I asked Nehemiah to write me something,
on what it feels like
to get hit.
He did.
So,
let’s rock.

Here’s what he said
about what it feels like
when I hit him.

So what I feel or experience when you let go:
Its like being hit by a lead pipe. Only there’s nothing broken upon impact, its a purely intention effect. When you ridge up I can resist it, and disperse it, but when you relax into the block or attack, then it just flows -its hard to resist something that you don’t feel until its already hit you. I can literally feel the energy of my body get scrambled up at the site of contact, lol and it doesn’t feel good. But the funny thing about it is that despite how much it might hurt upon impact, I find that I’m rarely (never) actually hurt after a short period of time goes by. Minutes at most.
I know that if I weren’t as trained as I am, that I’d be in some serious trouble. I’d get locked into the pain and the disorienting affect it has, and I’d be out for the count.
The fact that I can analyze what you did and how you did it, and see it in detail and how it affected my body definitely helps to not be injured.
Its like a gunshot, most often its the shock of impact that gets you, not the actual trauma to the body sustained. And if you know that, and can see that, then you can defend against it.

Thanks,
Nehemiah.

Now,
a couple of things here.
and a caution before I say them.
I’m going to go a little egghead here,
if this isn’t your cup of tea,
don’t worry,
we’ll be back to breaking bones,
and poking eyeballs,
next newsletter.
So,
if you don’t like what I say,
put your fingers in your ears
and go Nah Nah Nah,
until next newsletter.
I’ll be back to abnormal then.
But,
now being now,
let me go egghead for a moment.

First,
Nehemiah can tell the difference between
when I have that ridge of energy
holding me back,
and
when I let go.
And,
I don’t bruise him,
I am effecting the energy of him.

Second,
when he is ready,
he can undo the effects of my strike.
When he isn’t ready,
nothing he can do,
but suffer through.

Now,
how I developed a strike that works like this
has been detailed in
The Punch,
and
there is all sorts of data in
How to Put Out a Candle.
Also,
I have written a lot of articles
on this subject.
The Perfect Strike
was the first article I wrote,
and if you google
‘Al Case Punch’
you’re going to come up with ALL sorts of things.

But,
without getting into the details
which are covered in those other places,
let me tell you something
that I am doing.

I do my forms
until the universe of my body
is more real
than the universe of
my opponent’s body.

Once you have come to understand
the universe of your body,
and made it ‘more solid’
with awareness,
then when it comes in contact with another body,
you can have,
shall we say,
‘energetical disturbances.’

How do you come to grips with the concept of
the universe of your body?

First,
realize that we are talking about the limits of body
as perceived without using the five senses,
sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste.

We are talking about being aware
without the five senses.

We cultivate this through the use of forms.
Forms,
without senses,
just the awareness of trying to cause motion,
without senses.

Yes,
there is feeling in there,
and other stuff,
but…who moves the body?

Ask the question!
Who moves the body?
This is the question that the form asks,
every time you do one!

Uh,
the muscles move the body.
Uh,
the brain moves the muscles.
Uh,
the mind moves the brain.
Uh,
who moves the mind…
who
does the thinking?
Who makes it all happen?
I do.

The ‘I am,’
that is within all of us.

There,
that’s the purpose of the form!
To find who drives that smelly
and quite loathsome vehicle
called a body!
You do!
The
‘I!’
We all gots one,
uh,
or perhaps I should say,
we all is one.

Not we are all one,
but we are all
possessed,
motivated by,
‘I.’
‘I am!’

That is the purpose of the Form.
That is why every form is a prayer.
That is why
we do the martial arts.

To find ‘I.’

And,
when you find ‘I’
you suddenly ascend into a realm of different physics,
not necessarily explainable by
basic physics.

That’s how I hit Nehemiah.

I AM.

Shortest sentence in the English language.
And,
when I am,
and I know that my body is just a machine,
then I can send energy out of that machine.
I can disrupt the energy of my opponent.
I can put out candles over a foot away.
And,
there’s lots of other stuff
I can do.

But,
here is what is important…
you can do it to.

Is there a single one of you
that hasn’t had the thought…
‘I am?’

No.
you’ve all had it.
But,
how do you break through
the surface of that thought
and fall into the depths of
yourself.
The real you.
The…
I am.

You can do it with forms.
You have to matrix them.
You have to invest them with awareness.
You have to do them,
until your awareness of the outer world,
has been forgotten,
and there is only you,
doing the form.

And,
finally,
the form does you.

Okay.
I went a bit far afield there.
But,
I also went right
straight
into
the heart
of the matter.

You.
Forms.
Do.
Until you are…
‘I am.’

Okey dokey.
I could give you lots of links
that would help you out
in this matter.

But Tai Chi is premium.
Tai Chi deals specifically with
enhancing awareness.
And,
Matrix Tai Chi
undercuts all Tai Chi,
so that all Tai Chi
is understandable,
and relatable,
without all the bushwah.

In Matrix Tai Chi
I make a lot of connections,
take out the mystery,
put in the basic understanding,
so that art is
effective.

Not just in fighting,
but as a tool
for you to use
to invest your awareness in
the martial arts.

To get to where you really want to go.

I am.

Matrix Tai Chi Chuan

Now,
everything being said,
there have been a few problems with the paypal buttons.
I think I have the one on Monster fixed,
but let me know if you have any trouble.

Also,
had a bunch of Matrix TCC orders go out,
let me know if there are any problems.
Any mistakes
and I will fix them quicksnap.
Mistakes are so-o-o-o
not cool.
So,
let me know.

And,
beyond that
Have a great work out!

Al
:o)

PS–Google ‘Al Case Punch.’
And please leave a comment after you’ve read an article. This always helps my statistics.

I believe in the imagination. What I cannot see is infinitely more important than what I can see.
Duane Michals

How to Break Boards with Your Head Really Good!

Okay, before we get into breaking boards with your head we need a warning, like check with a doctor before you do this. Or maybe a psychiatrist. Or maybe just make sure you’ve backed up your brains on hard drive.

Back in 1968, I had just start Kenpo Karate, one of the Ed Parker offshoot branches, and the head instructor decided to put on a breaking seminar. I don’t know what he was thinking, I don’t think he had a side business selling insurance. At any rate, the potential for mayhem was lurking.

We entered the dojo and stacks of pine boards were waiting for us. As a group we were taught the theory of focusing, of punching through, and so on, and we were all excited. Then we started breaking the boards, one at a time, as the head instructor watched.

One of the guys, a fellow named Jeff, asked if it was possible to break a board with your head. The answer was yes, but it shouldn’t be attempted until one was well trained. We then went into another room to break boards, and none noticed that Jeff wasn’t with us.

We were in group discussion, and suddenly there was a tremendous thocking sound. It was such a unique sound that we all stopped what we were doing and stared at the door to the other room. The other room, where the sound came from, where Jeff had remained behind.

Suddenly, Jeff appeared at the door, he was standing aslant, and the look in his eyes was like little birdies singing. We all held our breaths as Jeff crossed the room, walking aslant, the birdies circling his head in a neat, little circling pattern. Jeff settled, well, sort of plonked, into a zen seated position, and the head instructor, with an eye on Jeff, continued his speechifying.

Now, if you’re going to break a board with your head, and I don’t care if you study Goju or Kyokushinkai or Hung Gar or whatever, work up to it. Start with thin boards, even an eighth of an inch, through a quarter, through 3/8s, and so on. Heck, even wear a football helmet the first few times, the potential for injury is that great.

Oh, and at the end of that seminar that I was at? Jeff came up to the head instructor after it was all over and asked, is it possible to break a board with your head. Maybe he should have worked on having the hardest punch instead of just a hard head!

I Used Karate to have the Strongest Mind in the World

Zowie! The Strongest Mind in the Whole World! Able to get any girl and beat up any villain, and…sounds a bit too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Oddly, what I did worked, but not in the way I thought it would. So let me tell you what I did, no charge, and see how you do. Are you ready?

I once read that a man who can concentrate on one thing for three minutes can rule the world. The point was that to stay focused on one thing, to put it simply, blows up the brain power. Having read this, and wanting to have the most fully functional brain allowed, I decided to do it.

I was doing doing Karate at the time, and exploring side avenues of Sticky Hands from Wing Chun Gung Fu, and various other martial things, and I really thought that I had the mental horsepower to pull anything off. I did my forms, I could remain calm during combat, and I had the discipline. Now all I had to do was apply that discipline to seeking enlightenment, pursuing Nirvana, or whatever you want to call it.

I decided to use a rock as my vehicle for the ultimate concentration and the resulting explosion of pure mentality which, I hoped, wouldn’t shatter the universe too badly. A rock, after all, was what the planet was, and the shape was round, like the universe, and it seemed so appropriate. So I went into a nearby orchard and selected a well shaped but ordinary rock, and prepared to enter Nirvana.

I sat down under a tree, placed the rock before me, and focused on it. I tried not to think, I tried to just be aware of the rock, and to ignore all those silly little surface thoughts, like what was for lunch and what the latest movie was, or what I was going to do that weekend. I was, after all, going to shatter down the doors to heaven, so what use could such mundane thoughts have for me, right?

After three minutes I tossed the rock away, stood up, and started walking away, totally disgusted with how boring the whole thing was. I mean, to think that I was going to enter the ultimate paradise just through being able to think at a rock, how stupid, how boring! Suddenly, I was jerked to a stop as a sudden thought washed over me.

It wasn’t the rock that was boring, it was me. All that boredom was being generated by me, and I realized something…I would never be bored again. And I suddenly realized, in this moment of self revelation, the thing had worked, but not at all how I thought it would.

The Hardest Hit in the World…and My Revenge!

We all want to have the hardest punch. We want to know that, in the event of muggery, thuggery or whatever, we can get the job done. What we don’t want is to be on the receiving end of a world class slobberknocker.

The fellow who delivered this dastardly strike, it was actually a kick, was my friend and fellow karate classmate. His name was Gary, and we were freestyling, and I threw a kick, he parried, and he side kicked me in the ribs. It was a powerful, classic strike, and I could feel my ribs bending, and it was the hardest strike I had ever experienced in the martial arts.

Truth, to this day, I have no idea why my ribs didn’t break. But I couldn’t breath, couldn’t talk, and I should have stopped and taken a breather, told Gary to kick with less force, seen to my protection. Being young, dumb, and full of…vigor, I continued.

Cleverly, I turned to the other side and continued to fight. I kept my range, circled, went tactical, and after a minute I could breath. Then I did something very stupid, I attacked.

I thought I was recovered enough, and I threw a side kick. Gary scooped the side kick and threw his own side kick. He was shorter than me, and his kick came up, hit me in the groin, lifted me off the ground.

Thirty years later, on a trip to the doctor for a routine checkup, he noticed that one of my testicles was shrunk. Yup, I knew that, and I knew as the doctor made his observation exactly when it happened. That second kick that Gary threw was the hardest strike I have ever experienced, it would have broken my ribs, but it didn’t hit my ribs, instead, it just squashed my apples.

At the time, I just continued to freestyle, survival mode got me through, but, eventually, I was to have my revenge for his out of control ways. He left the school, actually went to another school and taught, and then, six months later, he came back. I had not left, I had continued learning, and I had accomplished something I call Coordinated Body Motion, CBM.

All parts of the body move as one unit, and it is slow at first, but once one gets it, it is not just fast, it breeds intuitive responses. Freestyling with Gary at this later time I began kicking him, and kicking him, and kicking him, and because he didn’t have CBM, didn’t have intuitive responses as developed by Classical Martial Arts, he couldn’t block my kicks. I kicked his ribs until they bent, but I didn’t go beyond, he was, after all, my friend, and though friends make mistakes, they should always watch out for each other.