The Secret of Karate Footwork

Newsletter 631

The Secret of Karate Footing

Good evening!

It is evening as I write this,

so I still have time for a work out.

Actually,

my favorite time for working out is past midnight.

The world is silent,

no distractions,

and I frequently close my eyes

and work on my sense of which way I am facing.

It improves hearing,

inner senses of where the body is,

and more.

Anyway,

I didn’t want to talk about that…

I wanted to talk about footing.

Before I do,

however,

as I said last newsletter,

computer crash,

lost a LOT of stuff.

But,

oddly,

I feel good about it.

I lost of lot of baggage I’d been carrying around,

stuff I’d collected over the last couple of years.

Feel lighter.

And,

you may have noticed,

but my computer started sending out notices.

I don’t know why,

but when I resurrect notification of payment,

it gets sent out as new mail.

Really odd.

But,

so what.

The first time I got into footing was long before Karate and the martial arts.

I was in sixth grade,

and I wanted to run faster,

kick the ball further,

so I used to just sit and analyze the foot.

How the arch gives spring,

and the best way to put the foot down

to achieve that spring.

Which way to point the toes

whether and how to roll the foot

and, of course,

how to set the foot for the most traction.

Years later,

this stuff came back to haunt me in the martial arts.

I used to analyze the bend of the leg and the turn of the foot

for traction and spring in the sprint takeoff.

Well, what the heck is a stance,

but a sprint takeoff!

Not to run fifty yards,

but just to leap a couple of yards

close the distance

and take out the opponent before he could block.

I did this at Kenpo,

and it was great.

Got good at freestyle,

went to tournaments,

thought I was pretty good,

then I went to the Kang Duk Won.

The Kang Duk Won was a hole in the wall.

I’ve described it before,

but here goes again…

such a fond memory.

It was a box office of some sort in the front.

Front window cracked and held together by duc tape

Seating section was a picnic bench.

Rugs were losing threads all over the place.

Mind you,

it wasn’t dirty,

just worn.

You walk back past the mat,

which was ripped and stitched and duc taped.

And it was very dark in places,

from the pivot of a thousand gnarly feet.

In the back was more thready rug,

a bathroom with an old toilet that slanted probably 30 degrees.

A water heater that didn’t work,

and a hole in the ceiling over it.

Ah, paradise.

Now this thing with footing.

At the kenpo place we had a big heater for the winter,

and real air conditioning for the summer,

and thick mats so cushy to the tootsies.

Veddy cumfutable there. Doncha know…

At the kang duk won we had no heater,

and no air conditioning.

In the winter we warmed the place up with our sweat.

It didn’t take long, we worked hard because

we knew we would freeze until we warmed it up.

In the summer we just worked.

But, here’s the thing.

In the winter the mat was cold,

our feet were cold,

and there was no traction.

I always remember my feet slipping until I began to sweat.

And the way I stopped the feet from slipping was to think downward.

And I had to,

because if I didn’t think down,

push with the legs

and get the heck moving,

some other guy was going to be running over me.

And stopping,

once started,

was always an adventure.

In the summer it wasn’t so bad,

but when the mat got soaked by our sweat,

it was a whole new realm of problems.

So I learned to ground.

To brace against the ground for launch.

To screw myself into the ground to block.

And I had a hell of a funtastic time!

You can tell,

forty years later and I still think about the lessons there.

Not a polite place, except for the human beings.

A rough place,

a ghetto for the feet,

but it taught them something.

Now,

when I have the mothers lift their nostrils

at the idea of their little precious

getting a bruise,

or not hydrating properly

(designer water only, please),

or,

heavens to Betsy…

a bloody nose.

I laugh.

I keep it on the inside,

but I laugh.

And I think of the times when it was snowing,

and I ran out in bare feet to work out.

Or working out on gravel,

or on some lawn slick with dew…

it’s the ability to sink my weight,

and I didn’t learn that at the kenpo place.

I learned a lot,

but the true grounding happened at the Kang Duk Won,

where it was man against elements,

and if you didn’t learn…

the elements kicked your beautocks.

Oinkley donkey,

I wrote a bit more at the Church of Martial Arts

about the first level (postulant, or seeker),

got the whole line up for the first level,

but it will be a week or so before I get donation buttons up there.

If you are interested in the Church of Martial Arts,

I suggest you subscribe.

And if you’re not,

then don’t mess with it.

Just keep going with Monster Martial Arts,

and have a good time.

If you are interested in learning things about sinking the weight,

and the original Kang Duk Won system,

then head for Kangdukwon.com.

Let me make a brief point here…

when you take a lesson at a normal school,

you are shown the moves,

and not given much in the way of why the movement is the way it is.

You memorize the moves,

and the science consists of…

if you hit his head his head will go back so kick him in the…

Or,

if you kick him in the peanuts then he will lean forward and you can hit him in the face.

That’s about it for real instruction.

Think about it.

Most schools, that is exactly the way it is.

It’s exciting,

and they make it sound like a science,

but it’s not.

A real science involves actually learning,

lectures about scientific reasons,

discussions of physics,

how the body works,

how the bones twist,

and why.

That’s what I do,

but a lot deeper than that.

I get into the why of the why,

why this is how it works.

It’s a whole new level.

That said,

Kang Duk Won has a whole bunch of bonuses on it.

Check it out.

And,

have a great work out!

Al

http://kangdukwon.com/

I Got Your Karate Lessons Right Here…Only $2!

Karate Lessons for Only $2?

How much Karate can you learn for $2? Eh?

Well, maybe a lot, especially if you have $2 to spend on the Best Online Karate Lessons in the World.

This Karate Lessons are actually a course, and it takes a person right from white belt through black belt.

This guy hasn’t heard the news!

The question is…is it worth the money.

Consider the contents of the first of the karate lessons, the white belt to orange belt level. On that lesson you get a check list to go through. The checklist is thorough.

You get a section on how to do warm ups.

You get a link to a section on Karate basics, all done in video.

You get advice on how to do Martial Arts Katas and techniques.

You get a part on how to do the first Karate Kata, or form.

You get a section on how to do the applications so they will REALLY work.

And, you get a BONUS section on how to translate the movements into the methods used by the original founders of the art. This BONUS section itself is worth gold! It takes you back to how and why Karate was invented, and what the original moves had to have been.

And, the thing makes so much sense that you can’t argue!

And, even if you are slow to think and do wish to argue, you can’t stop thinking about this totally original take on what Karate is!

Now, with this much quantity, and, to be honest, this much quality, why is the price so low?

Because there are a lot of people out there who a) believe you can’t trust the net, b) believe that you can’t learn the martial arts off the internet, c) that the thing is a scam!

But who can argue if it only costs two bucks to find out?

The good news is that this lesson isn’t a ‘cheapie’ to entice to learn and then gouge, it is representative of a sequence of prices that are UNBELIEVABLE!

And, the ulterior motive here?

To teach people good, solid Karate. To make them think, to realize, to get strong and powerful.

To make the weak strong, and the bullies into non-bullies.

And, who knows, you might get to loving this spectacular art so much you order other courses!

Of course, it’ll cost you $2 to find out.

Al Case has near 50 years of Martial Arts experience, and was a writer for the Martial Arts Magazines. This course can be found at $2 Karate Lessons!

Best Online Karate Lessons on the Planet!

Here’s a Course on Original Karate!

Oinkey Donkey
slop the hogs and shave the chicken,
I have something GRR-REAT for you!
I set up a website specifically for taking a person through Karate.

Now,
if you have Temple Karate
or the Kang Duk Won (from Evolution of an Art)
Then you have the working pieces of this site.

I simply took Temple and Kang Duk Won,
broke them down into lesson format,
added check lists
articles,
and included various other items.
So,
buyer beware,
I don’t want to get caught out
accused of just ‘re-packaging.
So I am telling you now,
it is repackaging.

You might want to get it anyway,
because it is in lesson format.

Now,
you go through the belt levels
one belt at a time.
First belt only costs…
$2!

Then you add a dollar for each level.
You download the check list,
you read the material and watch the videos,
and you work out.

Now,
this thing is complete with original drills and exercises.
In fact,
you get some pretty AWESOME bonuses!
As you go through the course
each belt level will have a bonus.
For instance,
the Imperial Karate form applications are on each of the first three levels.
Other BONUSES include…
The Punch (with Kick and Candle)
The Master’s Handbook
Amazing Fighting Drills
The Kang Duk Won

And,
at the end of the course,
free test for Black Belt!

Now,
there are all sorts of other little things,
so you should just check out the site,
see what’s what.

And,
let me tell you,
this price is ONLY going to be for a while.

I am just taking a short time to check all links,
make sure all paypal buttons work,
tweak the text and whatever,
get some feedback and wins,
and then the price goes up.
I don’t know if I’ll go to two bucks every level, or five,
or some other scheme.
But it will go up to about $120 for the whole thing,
which is what the course and all the BONUSES add up to.

And,
as stated,
the course is Kang Duk Won.
This is the original Pre-Funakoshi,
not slanted for tournaments,
not slanted for commercial dojos (McDojos)
not arranged for school children,
Karate!

Do it the way I list on the check lists,
follow all directions,
and you will be visiting Kang Duk Won Karate
the way it was taught to me almost fifty years ago,
just a couple of teachers removed from the original Karate
that existed before Funakoshi.

So,
that is the big announcement.
Head on over and check it out,
and remember,
when the prices go up,
they go up for everything,
no matter where you are on the course,
so…
don’t waste time.
Dedicate yourself.
Take advantage of…
The Best Online Karate Course in the World!

Here’s the URL…

http://kangdukwon.com/introduction/

So I’ll tell you more about this later,
but,
right now,
I have to get to work and get this site on the map.

So,
have a great work out!
And I’ll see you over there.

Al

Bak Mei Will Kill You, Dog!

Five Volume Technical History of Karate!

Funny thing, I was putting Martial Arts books up on Kindle, and I realized that I had a history going on. Here is the way the history works.

1. Vol one Pan Gai Noon
2. Vol two Kang Duk Won
3. Vol three Kwon Bup
4. Vol four Outlaw Karate
5. Vol five Buddha Crane Karate

Do you know this Okinawan Karate Master?

Now, the first volume deals with martial arts in China that went to Okinawa. This is where the Bak Mei of the title of this blog comes in. He was supposed to be a renegade priest from the Shaolin Temple. Started his own style, and even killed a bunch of Shaolin priests. Supposedly. Anyway, he is big in fiction, go look at Kill Bill part two and Gordon Lui plays the nefarious Bak Mei. Or White Eyebrow, as the name translates. Anyway, this volume is not about Bak Mei, but about Pan Gai Noon, which may have come from Bak Mei.

The second volume deals with the Kang Duk Won. This is Karate as it was taught before it left for Japan. This is the style as it was taught to Funakoshi before he took it too Japan. Very interesting to see the differences, and, i have to say, this is where the internal power comes in. If I had studied Shotokan, or one of the Japanese styles that have been altered for tournaments and such I would not be able to put out a candle from a foot or so away with a punch.

The third volume deals with Kwon Bup. Kwon Bup is Karate after it came from Japan to the US. Specifically, it is the art developed by the only man in America to have ever mastered the one finger trick. The one finger trick is when you thrust your finger into a board and don’t break it, but, rather, leave a hole. True.

Did he help Karate? Or hurt it?

The fourth volume, Outlaw Karate, is my attempt to separate the two arts of Kang Duk Won and Kwon Bup, which were taught to me at the same time, and to recombine them into a more powerful and smoother art. It is the first time I ever taught a black belt in one year, and it led me to a tremendous bunch of realizations, all of which brought me to Matrixing.

The fifth volume is called Buddha Crane Karate. It was actually bundled in with my Create Your Own Art course, as it is a perfect example of how to create your own martial art.

Now, that is the history, and a sampling of the arts it took to come up with Matrixing. I say sampling because before I came up with Matrixing I learned every form and technique from Shotokan, Isshin Ryu, Shito Ryu, Goju Ryu, and Uechi Ryu. And, I learned a lot of other forms from other styles of Karate. And I studied Aikido and Wing Chun. And  northern and southern shaolin. And many styles of tai chi chuan and pa kua chang. And I studied weapons, usually from Japan or Indonesia. And so on.

So, I did my homework, for those who think I am a dabbler, a get rich quick schemer, or some other nefarious sludge.

And, I left written records so that people could understand things about what I studied, how I studied, how I was effected, and how I actually managed to come up with some of the martial arts courses I offer.

Look, to be honest, mine is probably the largest and most comprehensive study of martial arts in history. And I say this because I was able to avail myself of things the ancients didn’t have. Magazines, books, VHS and other video formats, and, of course, computers.

Now, I have no doubt that others will be able to study more, the internet is growing after all, but I lived in unique times, when the information blossomed, but was still caught in something called ‘Closed Combat Systems,’ which means that the information of the martial arts systems hadn’t been muddied and confused by other systems, but was still in a relatively pure state.

And that’s the story behind my five volume technical (the books show forms and techniques, not a bunch of yak) History of Matrix Karate.

After one has done Matrix Karate, they should look into the history, examine the classical influences, and expand themselves.

Or, if one has no interest in matrixing, but is just eager and anxious to explore as many martial arts as possible, the five volume History of Matrix Karate is on Amazon on Kindle. don’t know where, exactly, but a little googling and you’ll find them.

Have a great day.

Martial Arts Maniac with 300 Guns!

How to Survive a Maniac!

Weekend coming!
Yeehaw!
Time to…
work out!

Let me start out with snippets from a win!

Hi Al, I hope this e-mail finds you well. Was looking thru e-mails and enjoyed your last one very much (re: working out leading to the ‘blue bolt’ of knowing vs. simply slowly gaining knowledge of oneself that’ll do as well 🙂
I wanted to tell you that our relatively limited time working out together has led me to several ‘bolts’ of my own; some of them gentle (I can defend myself and confront evil), some of them dramatic (I will live forever. Oh Crap, now I have to take responsibility for my actions!)
Anyway, thanks for helping me remember things I already knew from before this lifetime (simple?) yes. Powerful? Very! Blasphemous? Hardly.
My enjoyment of the martial arts has increased exponentially with the expansion of my knowledge and awareness of them (Thank you)
This has led to my recent increase in enjoyment of so many other arts, aesthetics, and pleasures across so many dynamics. Music ties into Painting, which leads to the appreciation of some stranger’s physical beauty, the sound of my child’s voice conveying profound questions, even answers, the feel of mist from a mountain stream on a hot day. Sometimes it’s all so beautiful I think I could weep for joy! Somehow the stupidity of our social and political climates seem further from reality, and, without the response of fear and panic, easier to confront.
sincerely Rick Mooney

Thanks Rick.
I’ll be calling you,
talk to you then.
And,
this is quite a win,
and it makes me fell PFG.

Sort of appropriate,
as I am finally starting to get Monkeyland back up,
and the point is this…
as you well know,
the martial arts is about more than fighting.
A LOT more.
It is one of the four paths of enlightenment,
and to treat it as merely punch and kick knock people down
is more than a shame.
Life is passing before your eyes,
and you have to grab it
and shape it as you will.
You ARE the sculptor,
and life IS your creation.

So thanks Rick,
I know your words will touch somebody somewhere,
and the eyes will open.

And,
thought I’d tell you a story about living
in the face of death.

I was studying kenpo
I was nineteen years old,
and didn’t have a clue.
Not a Fg clue.
So one day I called up my best friend (Alex),
got his brother on the line,
and he happened to be a Hell’s Angel (T).
Now this was before I went to the Kang Duk Won,
this was before I worked out with bikers
and I was in awe.
And during the course of our conversation
I mentioned I was coming over to see Alex,
maybe I’d bring a bottle with me.
End of conversation.

The next day I went to visit Alex,
and he was in the back of the house
in his brothers (the Hell’s Angel) room.
So T asks me if I have ever seen his gun collection.
I say no.
He opens up the closet
and there are over three hundred guns.
They are jammed in there,
pistols and fully automatics,
military assault rifles,
as I recall,
he even had a grenade launcher.

I had never even touched a gun,
and he hands me some big sucker
I ask,
“Is it loaded?”
He laughs,
“All my guns are loaded all of the time.
You never know when you’re going to have to shoot somebody.”
I ask him,
“Have you ever shot somebody?”
He says,
“I shot a guy trying to repo my car last week.
Got him in the shoulder.
Bad shot.”
“What did the police say?”
“He was on my property,
stealing my car,
what could they say?”
He takes the big gun back,
turns around and sits in the closet.
Alex is somewhere else,
a look crosses over his face,
the room gets really cold,
and he says,
“Where’s that bottle?”

The look on his face,
the aloneness in the room,
I suddenly realize that I am facing a maniac
who is sitting in the middle of over 300 fully armed weapons,
and who has just been talking about killing people.

And the look in his eyes is DEAD serious.

I am suddenly a fly with a pin sticking into the middle of my back.
I am fixed in place,
no way to move,
nothing to do.
My friendly neighborhood Hell’s Angel
has suddenly gone from happy go lucky
to kill crazy.

He knows I don’t have a bottle
and he is pissed.
Enraged.
A rifle is across his lap,
and he has a gun in each hand.
Fully loaded.

So I did what prey do
when they are confronted by overpowering force.
I froze.
Carefully, I said,
“I didn’t bring it.”

I was speaking slowly,
every word a potential to mayhem,
every word being offered in the safest manner possible.
Oddly,
I knew there was more danger of him jumping up
and beating the crap out of me,
than of him shooting me.
But,
shoot or beat,
I was never closer to being dead meat
in my life.

He began to lecture me
on never breaking your word,
a man is only as good as his word,
I should never break my word.

I didn’t say a thing,
I didn’t point out that my offer to bring a bottle was a maybe,
I just took my lecture
and knew that as long as he was talking
he wasn’t killing me.

Alex came back in the room,
picked up on the smell of potential violence and death.
“What’s happening?”

“Nothing,
we’re just talking,”
T started polishing a rifle with a rag
and looked away from me.

As soon as I could safely do so,
I carefully mentioned that I had business elsewhere,
and left.

I’ve had violent encounters,
I’ve had people point guns at me,
but that was the closest I’ve ever come to dead,
and possibly the most educational.

The idea of freezing in place as a viable self defense technique,
even though it was a mark of my helplessness,
actually grew into some of my neutronic meanderings.

And,
when I was studying at the Kang Duk Won,
I worked out with Hell’s Angels and other bikers,
even went to a couple of parties,
but I never let my guard down around them after that,
I always remembered that they were a half grin away from psychotic.
Wonderful fellows,
funny and engaging,
but…dangerous.

And,
I guess the point of it all,
of all the bikers that I worked with at the Kang Duk Won
none of them ever made it to Black Belt.
None of them ever was virtuous enough
to get the bolt from the blue,
to make that statement of self
that is the mature soul of a real martial artist.

But,
an oddity,
many years later I did make black belt,
and a fellow visited the school.
His name was Ted
and he was a second black.
He had stopped studying
and become a Hell’s Angel.
And he wanted to work out.
I was the only black belt there,
and we went to freestyle.

In that few minutes
I faced a fear of hells angels
and faced a psychotic human being.
We freestyled,
and I can honestly say that he threw punches harder
than anybody I had ever freestyled with.
He came straight in,
and it was like facing a raging tiger.

I faced him,
I blocked everything,
and I hit him.

Not hard,
certainly not as hard as the punches I was blocking.
But the training I had received had changed me,
no longer the not a Fg clue kid,
but a man who could face psychotic human beings,
and win.

And,
of course,
it goes without saying,
that I wish everybody in the world
could face down the nuts
and live a safe life.

Anyway,
let me plug the Kang Duk Won
real quick.

This is the stuff that was taught to three different Imperial Palace Guards.
(Okinawa, Korea, Japan)
And,
this is the stuff from before Funakoshi.
And it is different.
The Japanese college kids tended to change Karate,
make it violent for tournaments,
but the Kang Duk Won I learned
was much more pure.
Really became a journey of soul,
verses a how to fight primer.

And,
I include it in the Evolution of an Art course.
Three arts,
Pan Gai Noon, Kang Duk Won and Kwon Bup.
Three complete arts,
including one of the most pure and original
styles of Karate
you’ll ever see.
Scores of forms,
hundreds of techniques,
a complete evolution of the art of Karate,
from Kung fu to America innovation.

Here’s the URL…

http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Evolution_of_an_Art.html

Now,
you guys and gals have a WINderful weekend,
work out lots,
because it is the route to your soul.

Al

The True Martial Arts Power of Classical Karate

Classical Karate Makes for True Martial Arts Power!

When I said true martial arts power in Classical Karate, I should have included other classical martial arts like Kung Fu, or Kenpo, or other form based arts.

That said, the more pure the martial arts system you study the more power you will have. If you have trained in a system that is pure, you will know of what I am saying in this article. If you have trained in one that has fallen to fighting and tournaments and that sort of thing, chances are you will not.

You don't have to fight if you know classical karate!

I first experienced true power while at the Kang Duk Won, and it was in the oddest manner. Years of learning classical karate, sweating through the forms, enduring the never ending string of bruises from applying what I had learned in bunkai (form applications) and kumite (freestyle, or free fighting), and one day I was put in a position where I was going to have to use what I had learned.

I was working a night shift and catching a few winks in the afternoon. Suddenly I was awoken by shouting voices and barking. I looked out the window and saw two big guys trying to kick my dog. A little girl was holding her little dog and standing to the side.

“Hey!” I yelled, and the confrontation began, and a few gruff sentences later ended with…”Come down here and we’ll kick your ass, too!”

So I pulled on some pants and went out to meet the foe.

Now, I had figured out that my dog had jumped the fence, and I wasn’t happy about that, but two guys kicking my dog?

So I went out the gate, turned left, and they stood some twenty feet away, tightening their fists, hunching their shoulders, and trying to look tough.

One of the things I had learned at the Kang Duk Won was that looking tough meant nothing. All that mattered was the meat and bone you were willing to put into the action. So I wasn’t cowed, I was determined, but…I began to analyze the situation.

I had been trained to get calmer in combat, not m0re excited, and I now took note of the little girl. My dog had jumped fence, tried to play with her dog, she got scared, two bully boys had come to her rescue. Ha!

I began to walk slower, and I began to look, really look, at the bullies.

They had thought they were going to beat up some guy and save the day, but they hadn’t figured on the Kang Duk Won.

Let me tell you something about true Karate, or kung fu, or whatever pure–note that I said pure–martial art you study.

The martial arts are a community of men that stretch back through time. They are a motor, a generator of awesome energy and power. The more pure your study, the more you are able to tap into that power.

As I walked slower and slower, my eyes focused more and more, things got calmer and calmer, and the power behind me began to build.

Oh, it was me, just me–with about a hundred thousand, placid-faced, eyeball boring orientals behind me.

The two guys began to shake and sweat. By the time I was ten feet away their legs were noticeably giving way, and I knew that I had gone too far, and that bad things were about to happen to them. Down deep, in the psyche.

I stopped, and I…smiled.

Oh, the relief that came off them.

“Did my dog get loose?”

They tried to hold on to their tough guy persona then, babbling about how my dog was picking on the little dog, and all that, but it was over.

I turned to my dog, a big German Shepherd, and scolded him, “What a knucklehead! Get back in the yard!” And, glory to the gods, the mutthead actually obeyed me, slinking like he thought I was mad, and went back along the walk and through the gate.

Then I turned to the fellows and thanked them, said nice things to the little girl and her doggie, and we all parted friends.

But that was the day that I learned that the study of classical karate resulted in true martial arts power, and how that power could be used not to fight, but to end fighting.

True Martial Arts Power

Finding A Good Martial Arts Teacher

I can’t emphasize the value of finding a good martial arts teacher.

I began Chinese Kenpo Karate back in 1967. The instructors were good, there was a lot of awe for how deadly this guy was…we talked about it all the time. He was so quick and slick…then, through a series of odd incidents, I wound up at the Kang Duk won.

People didn’t talk about how deadly Bob Babich was, they just spoke softly and politely around him. The reason they spoke softly and politely was because he was soft and polite.

I noticed other martial artists come to visit, some of the big names in the area back then, and within moments they were standing like school boys, hands clasped in front of themselves, speaking softly. And there were always choppers out front because the Hell’s Angels had discovered him. Yet, when those burly bikers entered that dojo, they suddenly became soft and polite.

And when he did speak, he didn’t say much. Tell the truth, I only remember him saying a dozen things to me over the seven years I studied there. I only remember three of them. ‘There are many ways to the top of the Mountain,’ ‘A tight fist is a heavy fist,’ and ‘How’s work?’

But, here’s the odd thing, when he stepped onto the mat you felt it. It would be really bizarre, but I would be working with somebody on the far side of the mat, and I would feel a sharp tingle go up my legs, and my head would jerk around…Bob had just bowed and placed his foot on the mat.

And I did hear stories. The time somebody threw a shotgless at him, and he knocked the shotglass out of the air with his own shotglass. My friend presenting him with a square of particle board, and him striking it with one finger and leaving a hole in the board. And other stories.

But stories, even when they came from my best friends, are always suspect. Fortunately, I experienced events. That’s the only thing to call them, events.

Having him touch my arm and feeling it go numb. Being tossed around like a ragdoll. Most incredbly, however, was when he decided to point you in freestyle…he would just focus his eyes, shuffle forward, and it was like a buttered sword slipping through the karate you thought you knew.

The most important thing about all this, however, was that he wasn’t alone. By that I mean that his students didn’t just get soft and polite like him, they began to show his abilities. The higher black belts would work with you, show you, teach you, give of their all, but…when they focused their eyes and decided to point you in freestyle, it was like a buttered knife slipping through the karate you thought you knew.

And, importance of importance, the individual newbie could feel himself getting better. We could feel ourselves becoming like greased butter, we could see through attacker’s, and we could feel this ‘electricity’ growing within.

Now, why do I tell you this.

An old man thinking back to his youth? Ha. Because of Karate I may be old, but I am still a youth. So it’s not that.

It’s because I want you to have the ability to see through an opponent. I want you to ‘feel the electricity’ in the real martial arts. I don’t care about tournaments and all that foolishness. That is man beating man.

I care about you, and that’s what is at the bottom of the true art.

If you want to follow this path, you should check out Evolution of an Art and Temple Karate. They are at MonsterMartialArts.com.

How to Do Karate with the Hells Angels

Yes, I learned how to do Karate with the Hells Angels. I mention that fact every once in a while, but I rarely get into it. But it was an interesting experience which deserves a nod.
I studied at the Kang Duk Won, which was a form of Korean Karate, very pure, very pre-funakoshi, back in the sixties and seventies. I would drive my Volkswagon bug up the street, and there would be a row of choppers lined up at the curb in front of the karate dojo.
Took some getting used to, I was a white boy from suburbia, knew nothing about the world, and I was walking on to the mat to do martial arts, to learn Karate, with a bunch of certified murder-cyclists.

Well, the truth, they were about the most polite people I have ever met.
And there wasn’t any bushwah or two faced nature to them. They shook hands, and unless you started acting weird, they treated you pretty darned good.
Of course, when you started to practice your karate moves with them it got pretty intense.
You were expected to hit hard, to put everything into your punch that the face could stand, and not one ounce over.
What was of extreme interest was the reality of the techniques. There were quite a few times I would be practicing a technique, and one of them bearded psychos would grumble up to me: “That ain’t gonna work.”
“Why not?” Blinking, all innocence.
“‘Cause I tried it last night. Didn’t work worth S***. But if you twist the arm when you’re pulling, he’ll fly right through the plate glass window.”
And then I would see a big happy grin, and I would know that somebody really did fly right through a big plate glass window.
Oddly, the things that sort of made me wonder, was that none of these guys ever made it to Black Belt. A couple of them made it to brown belt, but no further.
This was interesting, because you just know that to do Karate you have to be tough, right?
Well, there’s tough and then there’s making a statement. You see, when you do the martial arrts there comes a point at which you make a statement of self, where you sort of blink inwards, glow outwards, realize that ‘I am,’ and then your life is different.
And the different life had to do with virtue, honor, that sort of thing.
I’m not saying the Hells Angels don’t have virtue, amongst themselves there is nothing but virtue. But it is a different type of virtue, a quality that enhances the human being and makes him more than a man.
Unfortunately, the Angels I met couldn’t make this statement, so they never made black belt.
They were good, though, real good, and I remember that my experience with the outlaw bikers, when I learned how to do karate the real way, was one of the richest experiences of my life. You can learn about the karate system we studied at Monster Martial Arts.

Martial Arts Corrupted until There Ain’t No Martial Arts!

Robert J. Babich...Kang Duk Won

Now here’s a thought that nobody will like. Just how badly are the Martial Arts corrupted?
Let me explain where I am coming from, and see if you agree.
I began martial arts in 1967. There were only a half dozen dojos in the whole San Francisco-Bay Area. I admit, i went to one that was only a mile away, but it wasn’t long before I gave that dojo up and moved on.
Why?
Because the martial arts that they taught were for tournaments. And then I met a fellow from a school which was not for tournaments. I walked into that dojo, smelled the sheer, raw, dripping power, and that was it. I had fallen in love.
I quit my old dojo, a mere mile away, and drove fifty miles a night to attend my new martial arts school.
I thought my first dojo was tough. It was creampuff.
My new school left me so badly bruised I couldn’t press the clutch pedal. I often drove home my matching motor speed to tranny, and shifting without the clutch. (Love those old V-dubs!)
I walked out of class drenched in sweat, and my muscles were so fatigued my whole body was shaking.
And I learned.
You see, and here it comes, I wasn’t in a class with people who had to be signed to contracts, and then entertained.
I was in a class with people who wanted to learn the art, and were willing to do anything to learn it.
Big difference.
Now, I am not just looking down memory lane here.
I am saying that instead of doing a few push ups, slaughtering a couple of forms that aren’t very good because nobody understands them…we would kick till our legs fell off, do forms until we could barely stand, and then we would fight.
And I mean fight.
Yet, good control, all friends, but fanatical die hard attitude was the only way to survive.
If a fellow survived that school he was good for four or five years of training.
And, here is the thing, it wasn’t mindless exercise, there was a point to it all. The things we did, they resulted in knowledge. You just had to suffer through the process, and you were guaranteed a different mindset. Heck, a different mind.
You lost emotions like anger, and replaced them with a level gaze that inquired.
You listened to people, and thought about what you were saying.
You gained respect for life.
You stopped being a meat body high school yak yak, and started being a human being.
Big difference.
Now, how much have the martial arts been corrupted?
I can’t even start to tell you the ways, and this by observing forms and applications.
But it all starts when people study out of convenience, and because it is cool, and not out of some gut wrenching something that drives them, and is different from 99.9 per cent of the people out there.
Well, think about it.
And the straight goods, the stuff I learned some forty plus years ago, is available at Monster Martial Arts. I’d check out Temple Karate. That’s where I show what it was, and a few slight changes I’ve made over the years. Pretty pure stuff. Have a great day.

If You Want a Powerful Kick in Karate or Taekwondo

The tricks I’m going to tell you here are easy, but they take work. I say Karate andTaekwondo, because I studied the Kang Duk Won, which was Korean Karate, then became Taekwondo many years ago when TKD was first borning.

First, make sure you get a high knee. Kick over a chair or something. Lifting the leg high means you have to push it on a straight line, and this means you are going straight in to the target, and not sliding off the face of it.

Second, turn the foot slightly and sink the weight. Turn the foot so that the hips can align and lend their weight to the technique. Sink the weight so that you are firmly connected to the planet.

Third, tilt the hips slightly so that, again, the alignment and weight can be put into the strike.

Fourth, and this is the kicker, do a couple of hundred kicks per foot per kick per day. Now there, is nothing wrong with fancy kicks, but I concentrated on the bread and butter kicks. I would do 200 right front kicks, 200 left front kicks, 200 side thrust kicks, 200 right side thrust kicks, 200 right wheel kicks, and 200 right wheel kicks. Then, depending on the time, I would pick out a spin kick or oblique kick or something and work on that.

Further, I did these kicks in the air, against bags, with those big rubber bands for resistance, and so on.

The idea here was not just to get used to hitting lots of thigns and moving lots of things, but to get to the point where I was using my feet with the agility of the hands (and I was also training to use the hands with the power of the feet).

Now, the first few weeks you do this training regimen you are toast. Your legs are noodles, tired, weak, silly things. After a few weeks you get used to it, and you realize something: you can walk on your legs all day, so why shouldn’t you be able to kick with your legs all day.

Now, I have included the kicking clip I did a while back. Mind you, my form is no longer young and snappy, but the training I put into the legs stands by me, so when I kick my partner, even by accident, he just folds up. Check out the video, then work on developing a powerful kick the way I did in Karate (taekwondo). And make sure you drop by Monster Martial Arts. I have a free kicking program bundled in with my Matrix Karate course.