The Greatest Strategy in the Martial Arts

Newsletter 821 ~ sign up now!

What’s with All the Bowing Stuff in the Martial Arts?

“Politeness is the greatest strategy.”
Al Case

The most polite man i have ever met
was my instructor in the Kang Duk Won.
He was also the best martial artist I ever saw,
which leads to an interesting possibility:

Politeness goes hand in hand with competence.

Think about it,
if you are polite,
honestly polite,
then you won’t be scared,
you won’t have hidden demons driving you,
the martial arts will have expunged you of all that.
You will be honestly competent.

So practice politeness
as well as seek competence.

Now,
with that in mind,
what is the purpose of bowing in the martial arts?
Aside from my little diatribe on politeness,
why should people keep bowing and bowing all the time?

On one level,
it is a sign of respect.
I respect the work you’ve done,
the level you’ve reached.
And under that is the implied question:
will you teach me.
And the teacher bows to show respect
to those who have come seeking his instruction.

On another level,
it is merely saying hi.
hi to everybody in the school.
Hi to everybody who contributed to the school,
even if they are passed on,
a simple greeting to your friends.

With those two viewpoints in mind,
here are the times you would bow.

Bow when entering the school.
Bow to senior classmates.
Bow to junior classmates.
Bow when stepping onto the mat.
Bow to the instructor,
especially when asking a question.
Bow after receiving instruction.
Bow at the beginning of class.
Bow at the end of class.
Bow before you engage in any drill,
be it sparring, form, etc.
Immediately disengage and bow
if an injury has occurred
as a result of something you’ve done.

AND,
bow to a classmate outside of school,
or,
if not considered appropriate,
give him/her some sign of greeting.

AND,
whenever entering another school,
always bow,
show that you have studied the martial arts,
and that you are aware of martial etiquette.

Sounds like a lot of bowing,
yes?
Well, it is,
but let me offer an insight.
I can’t imagine not bowing,
I strive to bow the most,
to set the best example of being polite.
I am constantly running into students
who are surprised when I bow to them.
But,
it encourages them to bow.
And,
it makes you feel good.

Imagine walking into a school gymnasium,
or an auditorium,
with 500 people present.
Imagine yelling out…
HI EVERYBODY!
And having them all yell to you…
HI, AL!

After near 50 years in the arts,
that’s what it feels like to me
when I bow.

And I like to think
that maybe I’m as competent as I am polite.
One can hope.

Here’s a link to the martial arts
I have been studying for near 50 years.
Take a look,
and see if I’ve made any inroads,
if the changes i have made from the classical
have value.

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

have a great work out!

Al

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

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
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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

Creating Martial Arts Systems and Styles

Newsletter 818 ~ Sign up at the top left!

A Buddha Crane Matrixing Win!

Got a great win from Timothy G this week!

Check it out ~ Click on the cover!

Hello sir.
It’s going well. Really well. Once I was able to connect Buddha crane with shuri ryu, the pieces began to fall into place all by themselves.
The Buddha crane is the foundation of the kihon waza, ippons waza and came into their own flow drills(taezus naru waza).
Making changes to the Kata isn’t as easy, but I have done the first few Kata. Even crazier, I found someone who has already blended shuri ryu with something. So, it came rather easy.
Upon showing him how I’ve made changes opened his eyes and he’s asking me to give him pointers on how to make his karate be more ‘alive’.
My shuri ryu master is dead and I never got the chance to get my black belt. So, I’ve gone thru these people I’ve run into and just from what I showed them they are willing to bring me to the black belt in shuri ryu.
I’m not sure if that’s even important now, being that I matrixed the whole art, but I do hope to bring this understanding of shuri ryu to the table. Thus, starting a new (sub) ryu to the family.
I couldn’t have done it without you. Osu

Thank you, Timothy,
and well done!

And for everyone,
please take note of a few things here.

The classical is not suffering,
drills and exercises have more flow,
which comes from increased understanding.

Making changes isn’t always easy.
Aside from the fact of understanding
the potentials of the martial arts
enough so that you can make intelligent changes,
you have to force yourself to change something
that you have come to believe in.

Changing a belief system is often the hardest thing
a man can do.

He shows his changes to another fellow engaged in changes,
and he becomes the authority.
Simply,
he isn’t just changing,
he has the knowledge,
and this is something that people really respect
and will adhere to.

Upon showing his changes to others
he is recognized as expert,
or having the ability to be expert.
Osu to you, Timothy.

And,
finally,
here is a very interesting question:
how important is the black belt at this point?
People going through these changes,
are gaining knowledge
and that is senior to black belt.

Maybe one out of a thousand people
that start karate
get to black belt.

But how many have the knowledge
to put together their own system or subsystem?

I encourage everybody to get to black belt,
but I encourage knowledge more.
Understanding is the most important thing you can ever get.
Period.

Thanks, Timothy,
your win is fantastic,
and I hope people understand
the trials and tribulations here,
and the incredible passion you have for the arts.

Here’s how I analyze forms. I do this for every move. Check out video courses at MonsterMartialArts.com. This particular technique is from Temple Karate.

Now,
I know Timothy has other courses and books on Matrixing,
but he mentions the ‘Buddha Crane’ book.
So let me explain something about that book.

That was the last book I wrote,
I believe,
before starting on Matrixing proper,
before doing all the matrixing courses.
As such,
I was using matrixing concepts hard and fast,
and I was developing a whole art
out of what I knew.
You can see me reworking techniques,
reworking forms,
trying to bring everything into a new slant,
or,
to be proper,
a ‘de-slanting.’
A truth.

Here’s the funny thing,
the book was actually just a ‘toss in,’
a bonus,
on the ‘Create Your Own Art’ course.
I wanted to show how I was creating an art,
give an example
to back up the theories I was pushing.
The book is PDF on the Create Your Own Art Course.

You can,
I believe,
get it on Amazon,
if you look around you can find it.
You can also get it here…

https://www.createspace.com/4577595

That’s my publishing company,
so I get a bigger royalty
if you get it there.

That page I just gave you
has a complete write up
on what is in the book.
And,
the Createspace version is paperback,
which most people prefer,
because it’s easier to walk around with the book,
than carrying a computer around
while you practice.

And,
a final word,
the illustrations are most interesting,
I wrote it on an old mac,
and the software was something called Appleworks.
What this means is that I drew the illustrations,
hundreds of them,
one line at a time.
I drew figures,
patterns,
techniques,
everything,
with lines.
Interestingly,
I remember,
at the time,
not being frustrated by the slowness of it all,
but being excited,
because I felt like I was,
by doing the illustrations in this slow and laborious way,
learning something about the human form,
writing what I was doing
in a new way in my mind.
By the time I was done
I felt VERY changed inside.

So,
that’s it.

Again,
thanks Timothy,
I hope people appreciate your win,
and I hope they take the time to look at the book,
and get their own wins,
take a stab at understanding,
and even changing,
their own carefully crafted belief systems.

And everybody,
it’s summer,
have fantastic work outs!

Al

https://www.createspace.com/4577595

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

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

Five Martial Arts Books Written over Twenty Years Make an Encyclopedia

I Wrote an Encyclopedia of Martial Arts

There are five books in the Martial Arts encyclopedia, and they cover Karate from China to America, from the first transmutations of Kung Fu to the latest scientific innovations.

Pan Gai Noon, is on of the more important Chinese Arts that influenced Karate

Kang Duk Won is a pure form of Karate before the Japanese went power crazy on it.

Kwon Bup is an American version, very powerful and straight forward.

Outlaw Karate is the record of my attempts to create a style of Karate that could be done in one year. A black belt in one year really is a heady concept.

And the last book, Buddha Crane Karate, begins going into matrixing concepts.

I haven’t listed as an encyclopedia (though I did at one time), and that is because these five books were written over a twenty year period. They have different software programs, different technologies, and, taken together, they are ragged. So I list them as separate books, but they are an encyclopedia of Martial Arts. They are all technique, not a lot of words, just the actual moves.

You can find the Encyclopedia of Martial Arts on this page.

http://alcasebooks.com/martial-arts-books-2/encyclopedia/

Wing Chun Karate is Interesting…

Wing Chun and Karate?

Wing Chun and Karate, seemingly opposites, but not. Actually, I found more similarities between Wing Chun and Karate than almost any other martial arts.

Wing Chun, of course, is the Chinese Martial Art that has soft blocks, which is to say guiding blocks, and hard strikes. It has been around for hundreds of years, and it is quite sophisticated. A person who has actually reached the ‘inner circle’ of this Chinese Martial Art is quite untouchable, can fight blindfolded, has a full range of sixth senses having to do with anticipating attacks before they happen, and so forth.

The main difference here is the direction of the blocks.

Wing Chun blocks tend to come back towards the body.

In Karate blocks tend to go away from the body.

In either art, if you are moving the block sideways, you are doing the block wrong, for there is no body, and therefore no possible body alignment behind the block.

And, yes, whether you are blocking hard or soft there must be body and alignment of structure behind the blocks. You can’t overwhelm the attacker’s strikes (as inKarate) if you don’t have this body and structure, and you can’t effectively guide the attack if you don’t have this body and structure.

Now, that all said, take a look at ‘Wing Chun Kung Fu,’ by James Yimm Lee, and you will find a section on the eight gates and four doors. Is this not perfectly transferable to Karate?

And, once you understand this, and if you are in a real style of Karate, you will understand how the concepts of grounding and deep stances must be used. And, if you are in this style of hung fu, and come across Karate, you may realize ho more effective, especially the early training, would if you deepened the stances and worked on the grounding and alignment.

Thus, these styles of Japanese Martial Art and Chinese Martial Art do have more than surface similarities, and it is even of high benefit to study both systems. You must not try to blend them however, past what I have said here. That would muddle either art, cause confusion, and detract from both Wing Chun and Karate.

If you wish to go further with the concepts outlined in this article on Wing Chun and Karate you should examine Matrixing at MonsterMartialArts.com, a specific course that would apply would be the Master Instructor Course.

Are Old Time Martial Arts Better?

Was It Really Better in the Old Days?

You always hear the term about ‘the good, old days.’ And, in the martial arts, this is really true. I always hear people thinking back to when men were men, and sheep were…you know.

But it is a legitimate question.

On one hand, you have the great arts coming out of the orient. I was studying back in the sixties and seventies, so the main arts were judo and karate, with a smattering of Kung Fu. We studied in in dirty dojos and did manic drills. We brooked no nonsense, and we were patient with beginners.

On the other hand, you have designer water, contracts and classes in the Y, at the gym, down on the corner, and in every friend’s garage.

So, my personal opinion is that the martial arts were better. I started at a McDojo, then went to a classical korean Karate school (Kang Duk Won).

The McDojo was the state of art to come, with thick mats and air conditioning and tournament freestyle and contracts and good looking chickies.

The Kang Duk Won had a mat that had been ripped and stitched so many times it was like walking across Frankenstein’s face. The bag went to the cobbler’s every week. We packed out own bags for better texture and weight and resistance to our endless kicks. Warn’t no chickies allowed.

The McDojo had shiny trophies, high fives for points, and you pressed your gi before class.

The Kang Duk Won you did hundreds of kicks, you didn’t wash your gi, and you couldn’t press the clutch down because your shins were so badly bruised.

In modern times we have scientific achievements that enable one to get more strength in the muscle.

Of course, modern times has a lot of junk science and internet gimmicks, so…?

Now, it’s pretty obvious which way I am biased. I was there, I don’t think alzheimer’s has obscured my memories of those old work outs, and I have seen modern schools that teach 18 arts on their front sign, but are a jumble of bags and exercise equipment inside.

But, nobody made me God, and if you think otherwise, then go ahead and tear me a new one. Heck, I might even learn something!

And, if you are old school like me, then feel free to leave your memory. Heck, it might just become legend!

If you want to read more about old time martial arts and the Kang Duk Won, try KangDukWon.com!

Congrats to New Martial Arts Master Instructor

Taken from newsletter 625,
go to Monster Martial Arts to subscribe.

Hello and great day to you ALL!
And a great work out,
which will make you smarter and faster and stronger
and lead you to your dreams.
It’s true.

Congrats to Master Instructor Luis Lista!
Here’s his win…

Hi Al,

Thank you for this amazing course!

I had to watch the DVD 3 or 4 times, and I realize there are still a
lot of things that I understand intellectually but have to practice
further to make them natural.

But your statement was true. One cannot watch this DVD and read the course book seriously without having some huge realizations about the Art, and the way to practice it.

I’ve been able to correct my own stances and sharpen my “good
reflexes” in a dramatic way! I still have a lot to learn and
practice, but wow what a change, a true “mind-shifting process”!

And frankly that is not the best of it. I share the practice of your
Matrix Karate System with some people of my neighborhood, and I noticed that I can now see way better their eventual mistakes AND I’m able to propose simple and direct solutions AND show them why and how they work. That is fantastic!

At my small scale this as been the most beneficial course for helping people learning the Art… and for helping me structure the way I share the practice.

I even could make some valuable suggestion to a friend who is a master in a traditional Japanese Koryu… even I was surprised! Suggestions came by themselves because I was just seeing things you showed and explained in your course.

And I now this is a course that will follow me trough time, I’ll have
the opportunity to return to it and evaluate and learn regularly from it… what a joy!

Al, I must sincerely thank you for your wonderful work of
dissemination of Martial Arts!

Luis L.

Thank you, Luis!
and thank you for sharing with others.

Sometimes I don’t think people truly appreciate teachers,
but teaching others is how mankind actually progresses.
No teachers = no evolution.

You know,
I’ve said it before,
but perhaps it is time to say it again…
how,
exactly,
I came up with this course.

I studied,
and I wrote things down,
and I made connections,
and I thought everybody was doing the same things as I.
I didn’t think I was doing anything unique,
I thought everybody did the martial arts the way I was doing them,
I thought everybody had the same realizations,
understood about how the physics worked,
and so on.

I think the first person who abused me of this was Mike Baron.
He was my partner in one of my schools,
and actually pushed Monster into happening.
He said,
‘You know, Al, nobody else is doing the things you’re doing.’
As I recall,
I just grinned.
I thought he was just unaware of everybody else.
Then we released a couple of courses,
among them was the Master Instructor course,
and the wins started coming in.
It blew me away.
Far away.
People with lots of experience,
were telling me how
they finally understood the martial arts,
how everything had been obscured and mixed up and jumbled,
and they were finally able to see how the martial arts worked.

I was surprised,
to say the least,
and it changed the way I was doing things.

And,
it is changing the way other people are doing things.

So,
thanks Luis,
and thanks to all for being part of the martial arts.
And,
that said,
let me explain something about the martial arts.

The Martial Arts are the only field
that deal with the actual force and flow of the universe.
School and religion certainly don’t,
they just talk about dry facts,
or esoteric theories,
but don’t relate to the fact that everything in the universe
is an object that has trajectory.
And,
Martial Arts are the ONLY field on this planet that actually deals
with the force and flow of objects,
and thus with the whole universe.

This leads directly to awareness.
People who don’t study the martial arts are car crash victims.
Life happens to them,
and they don’t understand why.
Martial Artists see the way objects fly,
from the fist to the car to the whole darned planet,
and they are trained to handle the flow of objects,
and the potential collisions.

And,
even more importantly,
the martial arts provide a discipline
which leads down the path
to greater awareness.
This happens no where else.

Go to school and your intelligence actually goes down.
This is true by actual, tested statistic.
People in school study facts
until the flow of objects in this universe is obscured.

But people who do the martial arts
have quicker and cleaner intellects.
They have good health,
they handle problems as they come,
stay away from drugs,
help people learn how to be aware.

Do you understand how valuable you are?

Well,
forgive me for ranting,
but it is true,
and you really should know how special you are.

So thanks to all,
and thanks to Luis,
and here’s the URL for the Master instructor Course…
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4-master-instructor-course/

And everybody have a great work out!
Al

Karate Puzzle makes for Incredible Martial Arts Learning Experience!

Speed up Learning with a Karate Puzzle!

The Karate Puzzle is the brainchild of Andreas Sturm.

Now, unfortunately for non-Germanic speaking people, the website is written in German. A wonderful language that I can’t speak.

Andreas Sturm, inventor of the Karate Puzzle

However, a little work with the google translator, and it is easy!

The puzzles themselves are sliding images, and all you have to do is figure out which button to click to mix up the images, then slide them back into place!

Now, I found this quite interesting, and it did tax my poor brain. Even after doing the forms for over forty years, I found myself having to sort through the pictures to figure out the sequence.

And, sorting them in this fashion will help your ability to learn the forms and do them faster.

It really is ingenious, and one of those things where you slap your head and think, ‘Why didn’t I think of this?’

But you didn’t, and Andreas did, and well done to him.

There are seventeen kata on the puzzle page, a full range of the Shotokan forms. This will keep you busy into the wee hours, so when you can’t get to the dojo, you can simply open a soda pop, go through the various forms, and get yourself an armchair work out that actually works!

As for Mr. Sturm…he began his study of Karate in 1995, and began instructing in 2002.

Though the website is in a foreign language, using the translator I was able to read it pretty easily, though a bit slower than I am used to. It is a good website, fileld with solid information, and, of course, there are the puzzles.

Interested in visiting the site? It is at Karate Puzzle.

This article was written by Al Case, for more information on fantastic martial arts training methods like the Karate Puzzle, visit him at Monster Martial Arts.

How to Do The Classical Karate Horse Stance Form

The Iron Horse Kata

Tekki One, also called the Iron Horse, and other names, is considered a pivotal form in Karate.

Gichin Funakoshi, who is considered the father of modern day Karate, thought the form good enough that he spent ten years doing it.

Sure, he did other forms, stayed well rounded, but his real focus was on endless repetitions of the Tekki Form.

Power in a Horse Stance

The Iron Horse is not a long form. Maybe a dozen moves, depending on your variation or school, but it is an energy heavy form.

All that time spent in the horse stance builds amazing amounts of pure energy. Simply, being that low, the legs have to work, and the tan tien has to work, and the result is oodles of energy, or ki power, as they call it.

The iron Horse is also not a technique heavy form. Actually, the techniques are just an assortment of odd blocks, useful in odd situations. The real thrill, however, is learning to go sideways in stance.

This is actually pretty important, as one should be able to move fast, and still drive his weight into the  ground, if he wants to develop any serious combat abilities with the art of Karate.

The things to remember when doing Tekki are simple.

First, keep your stance low and your weight down.

Second, keep the hips low and level.

Third, let the hips turn when you move, don’t jam up the body by trying to move the legs sideways without the benefit of aligned hips.

Fourth, focus on breathing.

Fifth, focus on the loose-tight aspect of the hands.

And, there’s a lot more, but these other factors will become apparent if one just focuses on these beginning five concepts.

Now, as to where the form came from, that’s an interesting question.

My instructor told me that it was so people could fight in rice paddies, so they could move side to side in the slick earth. I think that’s a pretty good one, but probably a myth.

Another one I heard is simply to enable a student to fight while on the back of a horse. But horses were scarce back then, and, hmmm. Sounds a bit mythical, too.

Personally, I think the form just evolved, maybe from some instructor who had limited room to work out in.

You can pick up Tekki One, and a thousand variations on youtube. These versions, however, are usually tailored to tournament, and will lack a lot when it comes to instructions. My advice is to pick the simplest version you can find, and stick to the basic principles I have outlined here.

The Meanest Taekwondo Kicks You Can Ever Develop!

Want Hard Kicks?

Out of all the great kicks I have ever witnessed, and this includes all my practice in Karate, Taekwondo and Kenpo, the ones Ted launched were the best. This was back a ways, back in the last century, and training methods were just becoming known. And the things we did were often extreme, to say the least.

Practicing Kicking in 1974.

We often didn’t have hanging bags, so we would kick mailboxes and telephone poles and whatever else came to foot. The crucial item to this, however, was good form, and the number of times you threw a foot while practicing. I tell you the truth when I say that how much you practiced was the key to it all.

Ted was known for throwing lots of kicks. Most of the budding kenpoka would throw a dozen kicks each side, not all the kicks, and consider that they were breaking a sweat, so they must have really worked out. Do you understand?

Ted would saunter into the dojo a couple of hours before class and begin work. He would start with yoga, do a full regimen of stretching, and then he would start his work out. Two hundred kicks for each side for each particular kick.

I know what you’re thinking, they were only airkicks, right? Nada. He would start with air, move into bag work, and by the end of his workout he was really pounding those bozos.

Most important was his attention to detail. He was obsessed with his hips being just right, the arc of his foot being perfect, and the shape of his foot upon impact. He was a perfectionist, to say the least.

One day he was driving home, got behind somebody sleeping at a stoplight, and he tooted his horn. This big, huge, monster got out of the car and stomped back towards Ted. Ted stepped out, raised his hands for peace (a perfect ready position in the martial arts), and tried to move back.

The monster drew back a gnarly fist and started to punch. Ted launched a rather perfect and speedy wheel kick to the chest. The bully sat down on the asphalt and stared up in shock.

“I don’t want to do this, man!” But the bully got up and charged. Ted executed a perfectly arced, full hipped, ball of foot wheel kick to the man’s chest.

The fellow collapsed to the ground, and Ted got into his Ford and drove off. And the message here is pretty easy to get. No matter which art you do, Karate, Kenpo or Taekwondo or whatever, pay attention to detail, and practice like you mean it.