Relaxing into the Original Style of Karate

Newsletter 893

The Original Karate

Thanks, guys,
Both the ten book series
‘The Biggest Martial Arts Lesson of All,’
and
Professional Martial Arts Instructor,’
are selling.
Thanks.

Okay,
had a real interesting email the other day,
BW had some interesting observations and expeeriences,
regarding heat in the body,
chi circulation,
and so on.
So here is the skinny on all this…

Chinese martial arts have been around a long time.
And,
they have evolved into Tai Chi,
among other internal forms.
All of which says…martial arts evolve.

When they begin,
they frequently use muscle.
Nothing wrong with that.
Except energy is more efficient,
much stronger.

Ever have a baby clutch your finger?
Won’t let go?
Their ‘strength’ is all out of proportion
to their size and development.
They haven’t developed muscles,
so they use energy,
which needs no development to use.

Before you go crazy on that last statement,
let me make a point:
when we learn muscles (as we grow)
we give up energy.
We simply lose that intuitive ‘chi strength’
that we are born with,
or at least know before we get muscles.
Then,
if we want energy,
we have to learn it all over again.
And this means attaining the understanding that a baby has.
What understanding does a baby have?
He understands how to relax.
Energy,
of course,
flows better through what is relaxed.
Which brings us around
to the idea of Tai Chi.
Learn to relax.

Now,
BW was more concerned with experiencing heat in the body.
Karate was giving him much heat.
Here’s the difference…
Tai Chi is slow,
it is ‘suspended’ energy.
You suspend your body in space,
and that takes a very slow drool of energy
which I call ‘suspended energy.’

Karate explodes.
Both types of energy,
suspended and explosive
create heat.
But Karate creates it faster.

Although,
if you wish,
you can dedicate your TCC to the production of heat,
and your body can get amazingly hot.

Okay,
we have two points here,
relaxing and creating heat/energy.
Let me get to the point.

When Karate came from China
it was taught with an eye to chi power.
People relaxed more in the form,
figured out how to make the tricks work effortlessly.
Then, as the martial arts grew,
people and schools lost that ability.
The Japanese in particular
were obsessed with power,
and that often meant muscular power,
and not chi power.
And example of this is actually given,
though inadvertently,
in the book ‘Moving Zen,’
by CW Nicol.
Mr. Nicol relates the story of a TCC man
who was pounding on a pillar under a huge house.
The house shook,
the karate men couldn’t make it shake with their punches,
and there is a conclusion in there.
But you have to have an open mind to make it.

Anyway,
speaking for myself,
How do I know that what I tell you here is true?
Because I learned a style of Karate called Kang Duk Won.
And it was only a couple of generations removed from China.
Byung In Joon to a couple of Koreans to Bob Babich to me.
Not a long time for it to get corrupted.
Mr. Babich, in particular,
was incredibly light and whippy.
He was like a father that weighed a thousand pounds.
The other people in our school used muscle,
and were in awe of Bob.
I watched Bob,
and tried to figure out what he was doing that was different.
I probably wouldn’t have figured it out,
except that I read a lot of books on zen.
And the secret was:

emptiness.

Space.

Doing nothing until nothing is left undone.

To relax,
even in the middle of form,
even in the middle of technique,
even in the middle of freestyle.

And,
when you relax…
chi flows.
And Chi can create,
among other things…
heat.

Now,
the final thing I want to say,
give you a chance to grok all this,
has to do with being ‘on,’ or ‘off.’

BW observed the difference between his art
when it worked light and whippy,
and…other times.

When you relax your body totally,
when you make ONLY the fist tight,
then you will get a result snap that is incredible,
and different from the art
that all the power mongers out there
want to sell.

But it takes patience,
no resistance,
an emptiness of the mind.

It’s easy to do,
but so easy it’s hard.

Seems like there is always something there to distract you.

Okley dokely.
Nuff said,
I wish you success.
You can check out the Kang Duk Won in my book of the same name,
it’s on Amazon.
Or at the KangDukWon.com site.
Or you can check out what I’ve done with some of the forms here…

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

Temple Karate has an amazing amount of material on it,
including some data on how the art was really formed,
and what for,
and how it was really meant to be used.

So have a great work out!

Al

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

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

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

How Does MMA Stack Up Against the Best Martial Arts?

Newsletter 877

Have You Beaten Up a Mixed Martial Artist Lately?

Happy freedom to all!

Got an most interesting email,
So interesting that I started to respond,
and couldn’t.
In spite of the fact that the writer sounded like a nice guy,
and appreciated Matrixing.
The statement he posed
just didn’t fit.

He wanted to know if I had trained anyone
to use matrixing against MMA.

On the surface,
it’s a pretty harmless question,
sort of interesting,
should be easy to answer,
right?

Except that matrixing is about putting logic into the martial arts.
It is about learning enough about the martial arts,
all martial arts,
that you understand how they fit together.

It is about the martial arts as one art.
It is not about the martial arts as separate entities
that oppose one another.

Yes,
one could learn enough martial arts that one could defeat an MMA stylist.
Or a Kung Fu stylist,
or any other specific style of art.

But that isn’t the point!
And I certainly don’t want to get embroiled
in that question that divides all martial arts…

‘Which is the best martial art.’

which question rapidly transitions into…

‘My art is better than yours,’
or
‘this art is better than that,’
or
‘my daddy can beat up your daddy.’

Heck,
the best martial art is the one you study,
and when you change arts,
when you look further afield,
when you expand your thinking and viewpoint,
then your new martial art
is the new best martial art.

Look,
if you study matrixing,
figure out the logic behind the martial arts,
you become intuitive.
You become a better fighter.
You become a better martial artist.

The point of matrixing is to help you
appreciate your martial art as the best martial art,
to figure it out so there are no mysteries,
so that you understand everything about it.

And to figure out everything about the next art you study,
and then to put them together until…
your art is separate and unique.

You see,
the martial arts are taught by style and system.
But the real martial art is the one that grows in you.
All those styles and systems contribute
to the unique take you have on the martial arts.

Matrixing just makes that happen,
the point of matrixing is to build you,
to help you create your own art,
taking the pieces from all others,
to make an art that is perfectly suited to you.

So I can’t handle the question
that poses one art against another art.
All arts are good,
you just have to explore them
find out all about them
then put them together your own.

Matrixing is the science that helps you do that.

Matrix Karate is just a piece of it,
a logical slice of certain concepts.
Matrix Kung Fu,
same thing.
And so on,
through all the arts I teach.

Is there a Matrix MMA?
Of course there is.
But I don’t know it because I haven’t studied MMA.
But somebody,
one of you,
has.
And that person will assemble the techniques using matrixing,
will write a matrix,
or compile some graphs,
so that MMA is logical and easier…
and faster…
to learn.
But this will not happen if people hold to the idea that MMA
is part of an arena of the martial arts.

It will only happen if somebody realizes that MMA
is a slice of the whole,
and studies enough arts,
and enough matrixing,
and enough MMA,
to figure out how it all fits into the scheme of things,
and can appreciate the whole picture of the martial arts
from the MMA point of view.

Anyway,
that’s probably what I should have answered,
but,
as you can see from the rant here,
I was just too boggled
by the spirit of the question.

So go here…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/evolution-of-a-martial-art/

This has three arts,
kung fu through classical karate through modern karate,
read these three arts,
do these three arts,
then check your understanding of Karate.
Guaranteed,
you will be bigger and better,
and you won’t be guilty of the silliness
of thinking one style of karate is better than another,
and that is a heck of a good way
to start your study of the real martial arts,
the complete and total martial arts,
that includes ALL martial arts.

Have a great work out!

Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/evolution-of-a-martial-art/

http://www.martialartsinstructortraining.com

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

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

New Martial Arts Book/Complete Martial Arts System

Newsletter 825 ~ Subscribe now!

Tiger and Butterfly Martial Arts Book

The new Martial Arts book is called
‘Tiger and Butterfly,’
and it’s pretty darned good.

click on the cover!

If you look at the title,
and you have done any matrixing,
then you can see that I have used
portions of the Matrix Karate course,
and portions of the Shaolin Butterfly.

This was interesting,
because I didn’t want to fall into the trap
of having systems disagree.
I wanted the concepts to build on each other,
not work against each other.

In a way,
there is a certain similarity
between Tiger and Butterfly
and the MCMAP books I wrote.

The similarity is in the arrangement of material.
This had to be,
because when you make a system,
certain things have to be done,
certain rules have to be followed,
certain principles have to be included,
and all the way up the belt levels.

One of the reasons I wrote this book
is because I visited a few schools,
and I saw how the modern schools
have let forms and techniques fall by the way.
They work on freestyle,
on fighting.
The students get better,
but they can’t do certain things.
For instance,
they don’t understand how to take a punch.
And,
they have limited knowledge
concerning what happens
when you complete the circle (cycle) of a technique.

The system has eight belts,
white
yellow
orange
purple
blue
green
brown
black

There are no degrees.
Each belt is designed to be done
in about three months.
Brown belt might take longer,
but the material on the brown level
is pretty advanced.

When done,
the student will have those liquid kicks,
those floating kicks that look so light,
but knock down a elephant.
They should be able to take any kind of a punch.
They will be able to freestyle with authority,
and make a grab art out of any technique.
They will have knowledge.
Real knowledge.
Not just the fast reflexes of freestyle,
but a complete body knowledge,
how the body is constructed,
how to tweak it for more energy,
how to construct it for total effectiveness.

I want you to think about something.
When you study matrixing,
there are several courses,
and I recommend that you do them all,
that you get the complete picture,
from striking to locking
to guiding to manipulating
to predicting to taking down…
and more.

But,
I can’t reach everybody,
and some people don’t understand
just how big the martial arts are,
and that you have to understand them as a science.
They are locked in ‘hit and punch,’
‘ground and pound,’
and don’t see or understand the bigger picture.

This book is for those people.
Hopefully it will get them excited for the big picture.
But even if it doesn’t,
it will afford a massive education,
and do a lot towards bringing these people
who are studying arts that have degraded over time
into the real art.
They will appreciate it as science.

And,
even if they don’t,
if they do the book,
not just read it and say…
‘oh, I knew that,’
or…
‘we have that in our system,’
but actually do the book,
all the drills and techniques,
all the forms and fighting drills,
then they will be doing the true art.
Whether they were stupid and didn’t even understand
what I am talking about,
if they do the drills and exercises,
they will end up doing the true art.

For instance,
at a certain point,
a certain belt,
I teach a type of kick.
It’s a floating kick,
then you turn the hips over and slam the energy
down into the ground
as you strike.
The point is…
you can’t do that kick
unless you use the tan tien
in a certain way.
You simply can’t.
So they will practice it,
get it,
and stumble over the concept,
whether they understand what is happening or not,
and they will end up with classical power
in a certain mode.
And the whole system is constructed
so that one mode leads to the next.

Okay,
spoken enough.
Simply go to Amazon and enter
‘Tiger and Butterfly,’
or
‘Tiger and Butterfly martial arts’
or
‘Tiger and Butterfly Al Case,’
or something like that,
and watch it pop up.

Remember
it is unique,
matrixing brought one more step forward,
and it is REALLY potent!
It is a COMPLETE martial arts system.

have a great work out!

Al

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

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

Hey Mate! What’s Yer Kenpo? Eh?

Maybe you remember that great part in Enter the Dragon where the bad guy asks ‘What’s yer style’ of Bruce Lee? As over the top as that statement appears, it points up the differences of arts, and how confusing such a thing as lineage can be. In no art is this as true as in the art of Kenpo. Check out the video, then I’ll tell you about the real history of Kenpo.

Many martial artists think Ed Parker created Kenpo, but he actually only popularized it. And, to be honest, he added to the confusion of the art. He had something like five different versions, and he drew from Karate and Kung Fu and whatever happened to strike his fancy.

Kenpo began in Japan. There is some confusion as to the correct spelling, some people saying Kenpo, and some saying Kempo. Kenpo usually refers to martial arts stemming from China, and Kempo refers to the more Japanese oriented arts.

There is some confusion on this point as there is not agreement. Further, there is not always common lineage. That said, Kenpo, although believed to mean ‘Fist Law,’ is actually ‘Quanfa,’ which means Kung Fu.

The main branches of the Kenpo in the United States come from Master James Mitose. Mr. Mitose is sometimes a controversial teacher, for he was convicted of murder and extortion. He served his sentence in Folsom Prison.

Mr. Mitose taught Master William Chow, who taught Ed Parker. Mr. Parker, as has been described, popularized the art of Kenpo. Students of Mr. Chow include Adriano Emperado, Ralph Castro, Sam Kuaho, and others.

Names of the arts taught by these people (and others) include Shaolin Kenpo, Kajukenpo, American Kenpo, Kara-Ho Kempo, and so on. There are a legion of secondary students. Kenpo has also continued to grow as an artform, drawing from many other arts for techniques, forms, applications, and so on.

Though Kenpo grew fast, and though the lineage is sometimes in a mix, as is the art itself, there is much value in it. Many people get their start in the convenient ‘Strip Mall Dojos,’ and then branch out. Still, to define the true kenpo, and to list the roots and influences can be a daunting task.

If you want a thorough and scientific analysis of Kenpo, to the tune of 150 techniques broken down and fixed, take a look at How to Create Kenpo Karate.