-Thank you for writing this! I found this easy to follow and understand. I’m very happy I took a chance this.
-This course was a win! The biggest win I had in this course is it solidified for me that I have been right all along in my methods than others “more experienced” because of a “rank.”
-The reality is, a lot of the material I already knew. However I never had anyone explain it in a technical and mechanical way. The examples of the 4 powers and the 6 tools to me were damn near mind blowing. It was the smack on the forehead “oh yeah that’s right” moment.
It cleaned up a lot of the “clutter”. Now, as I mentioned a lot of this material I knew. I was very fortunate to train with Master John Wesley Shepherd who was trained by the late GM Sherman Harrell who was directly trained by GM Tatsuo Shimabukuru, the founder of Isshinryu. He used to explain things in a similar fashion. Sadly, he was never around enough and we were mostly taught by his big brother Billy who is an excellent practitioner but as a teacher………. you get the idea.
We spent a lot of the times teaching ourselves. Because of this, maybe we ourselves stumbled onto these lessons when you combined grown men from different occupations and backgrounds. Fast forward years later after our school closed down, I begin training in Escrima de Cuerdas, an art founded by a simple carpenter the late GM Liborio Heyrosa who couldn’t read or write. He was subsequently trained directly by the late GM Venancio Anciong Bacon (founder of Balintawak) and Nene Rosales a famous Filipino fencer.
– It (this course) helped me tremendously because regardless that the Philippines is a former U.S. Commonwealth, sometimes there is a bit of a language barrier. Some of these lessons did not translate. Your lessons created the bridge. Now everything made sense. The part that also helped tremendously was as we were all taught that it should be one continuous motion or no wasted motion but you explained it and demonstrated in a way that made sense…
The other thing that opened my eyes the most was the body testing. In Isshinryu for us this is common…….when performing Sanchin. I’ve never seen this done while throwing a basic straight punch. Heck, I never even thought of it myself. This to me is the highlight of the read/videos. I’m sure some will say I’m nuts but that’s what it was to me. I can’t wait to try this on everything but it also helped to perfect every technique within a kata. I now see each movement as unique.
Can’t wait to download the Matrix Karate Course! And also, thank you!
Thank you, Craig.
And well done.
Interestingly,
Craig says he knew a lot of the material before,
he is exactly the SECOND person who has said this about the course.
This is after me selling the course for 15 years.
what is of interest is that Craig says
they ‘spent a lot of time teaching ourselves.’
This is actually one of the reasons I figured this out.
My instructor hardly ever said anything,
and in the silence I had to figure things out.
My father was an engineer
and I was raised with an eye towards physics and mechanics,
and that is probably my secret.
You see the martial arts have been handed down
mostly through oral tradition,
and that is a fine way to build up mysticism.
The result is teachers use examples that are unique to their culture,
and fail to impart the actual mechanics and physics of the art.
Anyway,
Again,
congrats to Craig,
and well done.
Now,
thank you to those who have purchased the book courses on Amazon.
Started matrixing back in the 80s.
Been a long time.
Formalized it around 2007.
Taught a lot of people,
but here’s the thing…
matrixing is VERY subtle.
You do the first courses,
maybe you get a blast of realization,
especially if you’ve spent some time in the arts,
have a good database that needs to be organized.
Then the real work starts.
Time.
Time passes
and the seeds gestate within.
The initial blast of logic fades a bit,
but it keeps working.
Sometimes you don’t realize it
but you are looking at the world differently.
logically.
Life becomes smoother.
things other than the arts make sense,
are made logical by the matrixing going on inside you.
When you go to school
you are told to shut up and learn.
It’s all behavior modification.
Teachers can’t control the classes
unless they can control the masses.
So shut up and do your work.
Doesn’t matter that the work isn’t logical,
doesn’t have much to do with life.
Shut up and do your work.
They even go after you after school.
Do your homework.
No rest.
Get trained (modified)
so you can be a cog in a factory.
And here’s the thing…
there isn’t much real learning.
Mostly,
it’s memorizing.
When was the battle of Bull Run.
Who cares.
Memorize that algebraic function.
Even though you will never use it in life.
And,
when a lot of people graduate
they are in one of two modes…
a robot ready to man a desk somewhere…
and learning sucks.
Yeah,
school teaches you that learning can be boring,
meaningless and stupid.
So people come out of school thinking that learning sucks.
I did.
And I’d probably still think that learning sucks,
if it wasn’’ for martial arts…
and then matrixing.
There are things in school,
underneath all the drivel,
that do mean something.
Learning how to write,
what all that grammar stuff is,
is incredible.
But they don’t spend a lot of time on that.
Better to modify your behavior.
Underneath that algebra,
is a whole method of learning and analysis
and critical thinking…
but they slide over that quick,
too hard to explain.
And speaking of critical thinking…
schools don’t go anywhere near that.
Kids might start thinking for themselves,
and then where would the behavior modifiers be?
I started learning when it came to the martial arts.
I wanted to understand it.
I wanted to figure it out.
And I started thinking.
I started analyzing it,
being critical in my thought concerning it.
I started doing things that school never prepared me for,
and never wanted me to do.
Matrixing.
A quick way to line up all the data,
to make sense of it
and apply it.
And the carefully arranged rigidity of my mind
started to shatter.
Unfortunately,
it doesn’t work that way for everybody.
I was lucky,
had a couple of good schools,
an instructor who didn’t say much,
but could do a lot,
but who wanted us to figure it out for ourselves.
I remember once,
when a couple of the students went to Bob (my instructor).
They showed him two techniques
and asked him which was better.
He said,
‘I don’t know.’
But it was obvious he knew!
But it was also obvious he wanted to think for ourselves,
to make up our own minds.
To look at the techniques,
try them out,
mix them up,
analyze them,
synthesize them,
and…
understand them.
That is something that almost no teacher,
in todays schools,
martial arts or otherwise,
wants you to do.
No critical thinking for you…
you have to stay a bozo.
Okay,
I’ve ranted enough,
and it’s up to you.
Be a carefully crafted
‘do what I say’ person,
or start looking.
Get critical,
get analytical,
start matrixing,
look for understanding,
and,
here’s the real deal…
start having some fun.
Guaranteed,
when you finally figure out what I’m saying
you’ll understand something that teachers may talk about
but don’t know how to make happen…
fun.
I’ve written often about
what a black belt is,
what the requirements should be,
and so on.
Let me say some unpleasant things here.
I volunteered my time
at a local martial arts school.
One night I was sitting with a half dozen MMA instructors,
and the talk turned to black belts.
One fellow had 22 years experience,
but was not a black belt.
Had no plans for testing.
Was quite happy to be a lower belt.
The other fellows accepted this as normal,
but it really made me think.
The fellow had the qualifications,
he knew what he was doing,
but there was some sort of mystique
concerning the longer you wait the better you are.
I asked one of the fellows later
about his promotion to black belt.
He said he had studied for some 20 years,
and suddenly realized that he wasn’t going to get any better.
Oh, he would get smarter,
pick up a few more sly tricks,
but he was now descending,
his body getting older
faster than he could learn.
So he went to the school owner
and told him that he wasn’t getting any better
so he better get his black belt while he was still any good.
He was given his black belt.
Now,
I’ve given you the data,
and maybe you’ve read some of my writing
about a black belt being ‘expert,’
so what does all this tell you?
To me it says that there is too much emphasis
placed on winning,
and not enough on structuring MMA
so that people can be properly evaluated.
That in the MMA (and this includes many brands of Jujitsu)
people are more concerned with who they can beat,
rather than mastering the distinct body of knowledge
that MMA is.
And this is what makes MMA a sport rather than an art.
Look,
being a sport is not bad.
It just sounds bad here because
it is coming through the filter of Al Case
who promotes art as best.
But,
really,
it is all up to you.
Interestingly,
I approached the head of the school I was volunteering at.
I suggested we categorize techniques,
make it easier to teach,
make the body of knowledge succinct and precise
so that we would better teach it.
He agreed,
and it actually fit into his plans for the school,
but every time we started to do something
he found an excuse,
disappeared,
changed the complexion of our meetings,
and so on.
As a sports man
he was unable to become an artist.
And here’s the funny thing,
he had trained in many of the classical arts,
he knew where I was coming from,
even agreed that I was right,
but at heart,
in the core of him,
he was a believer that might makes right,
that beating people up
was more important than teaching them methods
that would create distinct methods resulting in art,
the ability to classify ability,
and so on.
Simply,
it was more important to win a tournament,
than to do an art.
Well,
I’ll leave you fellows and gals
to figure out the worth of what I have said here.
In the meantime,
one of the most exact studies I have done
on what ranking and abililties are
was in the Outlaw Karate book.
Here is the Amazon page for it…
OUTLAW KARATE
There is a complete art in it,
complete with tests,
but see if you agree with how I analyze belt rankings.
Matrix Martial Arts 