karate applications | Matrix Martial Arts

What makes a good martial arts technique?

Actually, it is easier to ask what makes a bad martial arts technique.

I think I’m going to write a bit on this on future blogs,

but let’s start with what I call a ‘poser.’

First, before I give you the facts,

go on youtube and ask for bunkai,

or martial arts techniques,

or form applications.

Now,

have that page open while you read this newsletter.

The prime example of a poser technique is

when the defender punches,

then waits for the defender to do his technique.

This flaw,

this ‘stop-motion’ in the middle of a technique

is the quintessential definition of a poser.

In a real fight people don’t throw one punch and stop.

Does a fellow stop in the ring after he punches?

Now,

take a look at the technique open on youtube.

Does the attacker stop motion after a punch?

If he does,

no matter what,

no matter how august the art,

or prestigious the artist,

that is a poser technique.

If it’s a really bad poser,

if the attacker is frozen for a long time

it’s fun to take a stop watch to him.

Now, here comes the bad news.

Film yourself doing techniques,

or just watch other students do them.

How many of your techniques are posers?

The answer is a lot.

Most arts are about 90% poser.

In my art we train extensively

with a matrixed form of Lop Sau.

In this perfect exercise

the techniques we practice are in use.

They are not slices of a form

designed to teach you something abstract

that is not necessarily useful in a real fight.

We train so that you segue directly into counters,

so you can handle the secondary attacks that MUST happen

because of the body position you are in

and the techniques you are using.

Anyway,

the point is that you must examine your art

no matter how much you love it,

and define and eliminate all poser techniques.

To not do this is to invite a beating.

Okay,

obligatory ad.

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my ‘perfect drill for fighting,’

check out

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Okay,

guys and gals

thanks for being martial artists

you make the world a better place…

Have a great work out!

Don’t forget to check out the interview

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 12 ratings for 5 stars.

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

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

‘The Book of Five Arts’ has 8 ratings for 5 stars.

‘The Science of Government’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.

‘Chiang Nan’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.

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

That’s a lot of good ratings

so hopefully you’ll find the book that works for you.

How to Fix Karate:

A Karate Training and Workout Book

(Two Volumes)

Are Karate Kata a Waste of Time?

This story, or what happened to me while learning Karate Kata, is absolutely true.

I was a first brown back about ’72, and one day a bunch of us young belts were talking about whether Karate Kata worked. The instructor, a fellow name of Ron Maletti, who nobody has ever heard of, heard us talking, and he got a tight grin.

Endless blocking drills backed up our Karate Kata.

He lined us up and freestyled us, one at a time, and said he would only use applications from the Pinans. For the next fifteen minutes he hit us, kicked us, threw us, using nothing but EXACT applications of the form. Maybe a wiggle of motion to set up his response, but he used only applications exactly as we practiced them.

Then he said, “This is too easy. Name a karate kata.” So when we freestyled we would bow, name a form, and he would defeat us using an exact application from the form we named. Pinans, sip su, kima chodan (horse form or tekki), or whatever, he knocked us down and laid us out, and at the end of the time he wasn’t even breathing hard. And two things to note: one, he had maybe five or six years experience, and was a third degree black belt. And, he wasn’t the best upper belt in the school. He just happened to be the one to hear us in our heresy.

So, do karate kata work?

They do when they are taught properly by people who know what they mean, who know the drills that go along with them, who are dedicated to learning the system and don’t bother with all the new stuff coming along. Unfortunately, I don’t see the martial arts being taught in this manner, and people have pretty much forgotten the drills and real applications. Guarenteed, this is a true story, it happened to me personally. Have a great work out! Al from MonsterMartialArts(dot)com.

That’s the way it was at the Kang Duk Won, and that’s the system this site is dedicated to. The real system that resulted in real power, fantastic fighters, the ability to take a strike anywhere…and it was, is, FUN to do!

Click here to check out why you should study karate kata.