Using Mental Ability in the Martial Arts!

A Funomenal day for a work out!

And I ain’t kiddin’!

Before we get into today’s headline,

remember,

the newsletter will be ending.

Go to

https://alcase.wordpress.com

if you want to keep getting it.

The sad truth is that though I like Mailchimp

(a newsletter distributing service)

they are getting too expensive for me.

So,

back to the basic wordpress blog format.

Okay, secrets of the universe time…

To understand what I’m saying

you’re going to have to realize that the mind

is just a bunch of memory.

You don’t use it.

It’s just a data base that,

ideally,

you just draw data from.

So what are you using?

There is the body

which is meat.

There is the mind,

which is memory.

Then there is you,

which is spirit.

Most people confuse mind with spirit.

Most people think the martial arts are about beating people up.

If you study a good martial art,

you‘ll be past that in a few months, 

maybe a year,

two at the most.

The first step is to learn how to stare at something

without being distracted.

I love a good candle.

But other things will work.

I don’t recommend objects like diamonds

or other such shapes.

You use this is in freestyle,

focusing on the opponent so that there is only him,

and you ignore distractions.

It took me a couple of decades,

but I ended up looking at an opponent

as if through a tunnel,

and I could then predict

what he was going to do.

it shouldn’t have taken so long,

but there were no instructions

and I had to figure this out for myself.

What is happening is that you are

unconfusing the blend of mind and spirit

and viewing the opponent without the distraction

of the body or the mind.

YOU are looking at the opponent,

and you are not confused by having to look 

through the meat mechanism of the eyeballs.

That is one way to use the mind in the martial arts.

The second way is different,

and there’s no way to train for it,

except through a rounded and intense

practice of the martial arts.

You are walking down the street

you suddenly step to the side,

don’t know why,

just do,

and the attack misses.

ESP,

sixth sense,

whatever.

Here is the weird thing,

you don’t get this unless you have

no concerns, no stress, no bothers.

If you are stressed

you don’t have this ability.

If you are not stressed,

just bopping through the world

happy as a clam,

it works every time.

I started having this ability

after I got my black belt.

Three and a half years in the Kang Duk Won.

When I did start doing this

I redoubled all my efforts

at living a stress free life.

I’ve lived in dangerous areas,

done dangerous things,

and I always made it through

by being happy,

greeting everybody cheerfully,

and staying away from a-holes.

But it all starts with dedicated practice,

intense practice of the arts.

And you MUST have a good art,

and your progress will be ten times faster

if you understand matrixing

and apply it to your martial arts.

I usually recommend an art at this point,

shameless advertising,

don’t you know,

but I’m having a BOGO month.

Buy One and Get One (free)

So head over to the Monster and pick an art.

Buy the art,

then email me at aganzul@gmail.com,

and tell me what art you would like for your freebie.

monstermartialarts.com

Have a great work out!

Al

Remember to vote for Angelo!

Don’t forget to check out the interview

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6L5DSD1?ref_=pe_3052080_397514860

And volume two is at…

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 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 7 ratings for 5 stars.

‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.

‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 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 that useful

find the book/course that is right for you,

and matrix your own martial arts.

BOGO Martial Arts!

What a fantastic morning!

Especially for a work out!

I haven’t said it recently,

but I’ve always felt that

a form is a like a prayer.

It just cleans out the body,

soothes the spirit,

and makes the mind sharp!

So,

you all know what a BOGO is, right?

That’s right.

Buy On Get One (free)

I’ve always felt that they should include the F

BOGOF.

But then people would read it like 

Bug Off!

So…BOGO.

If you buy a course,

you get another one 

(of equal or lesser value)

FREE!

The way it works is this…

you head over to MonsterMartialArts.com

and select two courses.

I don’t care which two

as long as they are about the same in price.

Then you order one of the courses,

and email me at aganzul@gmail.com

and tell me what your second course would be.

Email me if you have questions…

So,

why am I doing this?

Why am I giving stuff away free?

Because it’s the end of an era.

The newsletter,

in its present form,

is ending.

No big deal,

to get the newsletters all you have to do

is sign up for my blog

https://alcase.wordpress.com

You know, 

I’ve got over 1060 issues of the newsletter.

That’s a lot of newsletters.

I’m sure I’ve written a few clinkers,

maybe offended a few people,

but I’m pretty proud of the quantity and quality of the newsletter.

I’ll put out a couple of more issues,

just to let everybody know.

But,

right now,

remember this offer…

BOGO

Buy One and Get One (free)

monstermartialarts.com

Have a great work out!

Al

I beat you this month, Kumar.

Don’t forget to check out the interview

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 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 7 ratings for 5 stars.

‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.

‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 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 that useful

find the book/course that is right for you,

and matrix your own martial arts.

Ban the Martial Arts Now!

Okay people!

Dust off your nunchuks

and carry them proudly on the street!

They are no longer illegal!

In 1974 New York politicians made nunchucks illegal. 

Which, of course, made people want to buy them even more.

And, if you’re a student of the 2nd amendment…

was an entirely unconstitutional law.

Fortunately,

people recognize that politicians are a danger to the country,

and that they should be outlawed,

and it is very easy to get nunchucks and practice with them.

That said, let’s talk about James Maloney.

In 1981 he was arrested for using nunchuks in a demonstration.

He graduated from law school in 1995

and set about challenging the law.

He’s 60 now, and he was successful.

Judge Pamela K Chen ruled that nunchuks

were protected under the second amendment.

WAY TO GO JAMES!

You know,

I am reminded of a bumper sticker.

When guns are outlawed,

only outlaws will have guns.

Yowza!

When nunchuks are outlawed

only outlaws will have nunchuks.

And…

when politicians are outlawed…

we will all be a little safer.

But,

I did not call you here to rant political!

But since you are here…heh heh…

IF…somebody breaks into your house,

and IF…they allow you one phone call,

and IF…the 911 operator isn’t too busy,

and IF…the bad guys don’t leave before the police get there

(five to ten minutes on a good day)

then you better pray you know martial arts.

And, I would be remiss if I didn’t point out that

the best courses in the world

on how to do the martial arts

are at Monster Martial Arts.

It’s true.

Your Attacker will have a Weapon!

Snuck that ad right in there…didn’t I?

Okay, guys and gals,

time to hit the home dojo

and crank out the punches and kicks

and become a better person!

Have a great work out!

Al

Hi, Kumar.

Don’t forget to check out the interview

https://anchor.fm/dale-gillilan/episodes/S1E10—Al-Case-e12e3np

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 11 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 7 ratings for 5 stars.

‘The Science of Government’ has 6 ratings for 5 stars.

‘Chiang Nan’ has 5 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 that useful

find the book/course that is right for you,

and matrix your own martial arts.

Beating Up a Crowd of People!

Have you ever wondered what you would do

if you were caught, or targeted, by a mob?

This is actually not an inconceivable situation

considering the antics of such as BLM or Antifa,

In 2020 these groups caused:

$2 billion in damages

rioted in 140 cities

caused the injury of 2000 cops

resulted in the deaths of 25 Americans.

There weren’t any congressional hearings on this

nor any real reporting from the media,

but these are the figures

as far as I have been able to figure.

And it is a distinct possibility

that such riots could happen again.

So,

the question…

what would you do if you were caught up in, 

and especially targeted by

a mob of crazy people?

I took Aikido in the early seventies,

and I was fascinated by the videos

of people doing multiman combat.

I also had many situations during karate classes

where we would fight multiple attackers.

Eventually, basing the material on Aikido

and on certain karate concepts,

I filmed the ‘Matrix Aikido’ course.

This is a great course, 

as it is based on concept

and not memorizing endless techniques.

One day I was visiting one of my student’s classes.

There were about 20 young men (age 18-25) in the class.

I was asked many questions,

and the subject of fighting large numbers of people 

was brought up,

and the students’ challenged some of my assertions.

‘Okay,’ I said.

‘let’s see if I can make my theories work.’

I always remember the surprise on their faces,

they asked me how many of the students

should attempt to lay hands on me

I said, ‘Everybody.’

Man, they were blinking,

then they looked at each other and grinned,

and the melee was on.

It was some ten minutes

before anybody laid a hand on me,

and I will tell you EXACTLY what I did.

Mind you,

I was theorizing and training in pure concepts at the time.

First,

there are three directions

that a punch will take

generally speaking,

and this tended to hold true

for my situation.

First,

 the punch might hit you.

Second,

if you move back,

it will pass in front of you.

Third,

if you move forward,

it will pass behind you.

There were a few kicks,

but I just used the same theory,

but adapted it for kicks.

I then attacked.

Yep,

you heard me right,

I went forward,

into the mass of twenty men.

They were trying to create enough room

so they could punch (kick) me.

This moved them away from each other

just enough so I could slip between.

I wouldn’t always recommend a charge,

but we were in a big park

and I had plenty of room to maneuver.

As they turned to chase me

they were now in each other’s way.

As I recall,

Aikido holds that three people

is the worst scenario for people attacking you

because they have enough room.

More than three and they get in each other’s way.

Now I had only two concepts in mind.

I moved in and grabbed their bodies and ‘danced’ with them

and flung them away.

Or,

I slowed down as the punch came in

pushed their punch across their body

then they were tangled and I pushed them away.

And I kept throwing them in front of each other 

At all times I went forward.

This gave me the initiative.

I never went backwards.

Everybody chased me

and was constantly having to step around bodies.

It was one of the easiest fights I had ever had.

Now,

the only other thing of interest in this

is that when I started I noticed one person looking at me.

I knew he was going to be the one to get me.

I made it my strategy to always avoid him.

But at the end,

he got close and tagged me in the back with a punch.

Now,

what I did was that simple.

It was not complex.

If I had tried complex maneuvers

they would have got me in the beginning.

Though, as I progressed

and figured things out,

I did mix in specific techniques,

appropriate to the ‘punch in front or punch in back’

that I was conceptualizing.

And,

I knew what I was doing 

would hold true for clubs and such.

It might even hold true for firearms,

but there would be considerable limits

on what I could do in that situation.

Which brings us to the Antifa/BLM riots.

Buildings burning,

people with guns

and

Kyle Rittenhouse

Kyle wasn’t trained in the martial arts,

he was only trying to get away,

and only the fact that he had a gun 

enabled him to do so.

If he tried to get away and hadn’t had a gun

he likely would have been killed,

at least severely maimed.

If he hadn’t had a gun,

of course,

he might not even have been attacked.

But that is a probability I wouldn’t bet on.

So,

imagine yourself in that situation.

Do you understand the concepts I outlined,

always attacking,

stepping in front of or behind the strike,

how to adapt it to kicks

or to weapons like clubs or even swords.

What is most interesting is seeing how many techniques

you can come up with from the 

‘punch in front, punch behind’ concept.

This will define an entire martial art.

It will be logical,

and you should avoid poser techniques.

And,

if you find fault with my method,

or think it won’t work,

what can you come up with?

Anyway,

have fun with this.

And thanks to Kumar for asking.

Here is the link to Matrix Aikido

where I give a seminar and show

the actual conceptualizing of Aikido.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/matrix-aikido/

Have a great work out!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’ve got nothing but five star reviews on 

The Science of Government.

It’s really nothing more than applying matrixing to politics.

Matrixing + Politics = Sanity

I told you matrixing works with anything.

Here’s the link…

How to Fix Karate! (volumes one and two)

volume one is at

And volume two is at…

Neutronic Fighting in the Martial Arts!

Good morning!

Hi to Kumar and Jerome this week.

A quick announcement,

I’m not going to be issuing certificates any more.

Just don’t have the time.

In fact,

going to be changes around here,

and I’ll let you know of them in the coming weeks.

The book is done,

just waiting for proofs.

Proofs are copies just for the author

so he can see what the book looks like.

So, a couple of weeks and the book will be out.

Been a saga,

and I’ll talk about that on the official release newsletter,

but the thing that I want to talk about here

is more neutronic,

and how neutronic relates to fighting.

I believe I have said some of this before,

but it’s worth a second go around.

Neutron means nothing.

No weight, no mass, no intention, no direction.

It is the frame of mind you want to achieve.

And,

specific to the martial arts,

no emotion.

When somebody wants to fight you

they have to come for you.

I’ve actually stopped people from being aggressive with me

by simple saying,

‘You’re coming towards me.’

And who would come towards me in an aggressive manner?

The most obvious ones were people who,

when I was a teacher,

were upset about their child.

Parents can be really obtuse and mean.

But,

the thing is this,

there are actually two waves of attack.

Three if you count the idea of attack.

So,

first a guy gets the idea of attack,

second the guy has the emotion of attack,

third the guy attacks.

The thing that screws people up is this emotion thing.

Nobody understands emotion.

Especially not the psychiatrists

and the so called mental health ‘experts.’

Emotion is motion inside the head.

So the guy decides he wants to beat you up,

he throws rage at you,

then launches his body.

The rage is designed to intimidate you,

and to bolster himself.

The rage hits you

and you are slowed,

and the fight,

as your emotion starts to ratchet,

becomes a wallow through the currents of emotion.

I can’t tell you how to wallow through emotion.

That would be like telling somebody how to swim without water.

BUT,

you need to take emotion out of the equation.

Let the emotion wash past you,

not touch you,

observe without receiving his emotion,

or mounting any of your own.

This is one of the reasons people

should study such things as Yoga,

meditation,

or the martial arts concept of 

motion without having emotion.

(Mushin no shin ~ Mind of No Mind)

Don’t get angry.

If a guy throws a punch at you it is a gift.

He is communicating with you.

Rejoice,

look at it,

enjoy it,

handle it.

If you’ve got emotion going on yourself,

 it is difficult to handle other’s emotions.

Oddly,

I learned how to do without emotion by fighting.

I would do freestyle and focus on the opponent so hard

that I ended up in a sort of a tunnel,

looking at my opponent.

This put me out of my head

and out of emotion.

BUT…

I couldn’t have done that with fighting

if I hadn’t studied the forms first,

and learned the peculiar discipline that goes with that.

You can fight all you want and never get into the tube.

But once you dedicate yourself to learning about forms,

and about your form (your own body),

it becomes surprisingly easy.

It only took me about 20 years.

BUT…

with matrixing you can probably do it within a year.

Maybe even faster.

Matrixing aligns all the data,

arranges your understanding of incoming force

so that nothing surprises you.

Matrixing educates you as to how the body functions,

and about ten times faster than classical karate.

BUT…of course,

don’t give up that classical karate.

There’s gold in them thar hills,

especially once you have the pick and shovel of matrixing in your hands.

Here’s the obligatory ad…

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

Okay, everybody,

I hope you’re working out every day this summer!

It’s the only way to get where you’re going!

HAVE A GREAT WORK OUT!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’ve got nothing but five star reviews on 

The Science of Government.

It’s really nothing more than applying matrixing to politics.

Matrixing + Politics = Sanity

I told you matrixing works with anything.

Here’s the link…

All the Styles of Karate!

What’s with all the different styles of karate?

I get asked about styles every once in a while,

and this is a tricky question.

It’s tricky because there are no styles.

Oh, there is the appearance of styles, especially for a beginner,

but a kick is a kick,

a punch is a punch,

and they can be fixed with an accurate application of physics.

So what are all these ‘styles?’

They are different methods for becoming expert…

and beyond.

Up to the point of expert a person is often enamored

with styles and differences.

Past expert,

if he really is an expert,

he realizes that no art is better or worse,

there is only better or worse training.

There is only better or worse application of the self to training.

Methods,

or what we call ‘styles,’

are just the means by which we get to expert.

Or beyond.

This idea,

that there are no styles,

is mentioned by old masters,

especially in Okinawa before Karate was exported,

Kanken Toyama states it directly.

Also, Jesse Enkamp has a nice episode on the subject.

One time I was talking to my instructor,

Bob Babich,

He had just left the Korean Karate Association

and was no longer allowed to use the term ‘Kang Duk Won,’ 

so he changed the name to Kwon Bup.

I asked him what Kwon Bup meant.

He had a book on his coffee table,

written in Korean,

which language he couldn’t speak or read.

He pointed at the book and said that his instructor gave it to him

and that the title was ‘Kwon Bup.’

Which means ‘Fist Method.’

So he decided to relabel his art ‘Kwon Bup.’

I asked him what the difference was between ‘Do,’ ‘The Way,’

and a method.

He shrugged and said,

“Is there one?”

He didn’t care about organizations (politics)

or styles or labels…

he just cared about the most efficient way to learn the art.

I hope that illustrates what i’ve said here.

Here’s the obligatory ad…

Blinding Steel!

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/3a-blinding-steel-matrixing-weapons/

Because your opponent will probably have a weapon!

Okay, everybody,

summer is around the corner, so start now!

HAVE A GREAT WORK OUT!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’ve got nothing but five star reviews on 

The Science of Government.

It’s really nothing more than applying matrixing to politics.

Matrixing + Politics = Sanity

I told you matrixing works with anything.

Here’s the link…

Little Karate Things

Good morning!

It really is.

I don’t have a central theme today,

so just let me give you a couple of things

that I have been thinking about 

in the recent past.

.

Emptiness.

I first began to understand emptiness

when I realized that I had to relax totally, 

being in one position,

then I had to be in another position.

I didn’t move from within the body,

I moved from without the body.

I realized this way back in Kenpo days (1967-68)

.

Who stops you.

Two people can stop you.

Either yourself,

or somebody else.

But for somebody else to stop you

you have to let them.

You do not move the hips 

You move the legs,

and the legs move the hips.

This is the secret of ‘pulsing power.’

You push with the legs,

turn the hips,

strike.

.

When a sniper shoots

he relaxes,

and lets his breath out.

When the breath is totally gone,

everything will be still.

In that stillness

he should make the crook of the finger

the smallest thing in the universe.

This is the secret of the martial arts.

.

There is motion

easily seen,

there is emotion

easily felt.

The secret is to see the motion

and ignore the emotion.

To do this,

however,

you must negate emotion within yourself.

.

Anybody who approaches you wants something.

When you approach somebody you want something.

.

And,

let me give you a bigger slice of thought.

One of the most important things I ever read,

came out of a paper written on yoga (raja?)

back in the twenties.

The writer said a human being is encased in sheathes.

There is an emotional sheath.

There are cultural sheathes.

There are sheathes for beliefs,

for education and work and what people tell you…

and so on.

He mentioned several specific sheathes,

and I understood that these sheathes were the filters

through which I viewed the world.

I had understood something of the concept previously,

but this presentation was unique

made me look at the world differently,

and I started doing karate (and the martial arts) 

with the idea of breaking sheathes,

of destroying those things which surrounded me

made me what I am

and imprisoned me.

I found this paper on Gutenburg,

but I sure don’t remember anything more about it.

.

Here’s the obligatory ad…

Matrix Kenjutsu

http://monstermartialarts.com/matrixing-kenjutsu/

When you fill the space around you with weapon,

you extend your awareness into that space

and become a bigger person.

.

A thanks to Kumar this newsletter.

I’ll try not to be such a slackard after this. ;o)

And…everybody…

HAVE A GREAT WORK OUT!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’ve got nothing but five star reviews on 

The Science of Government.

It’s really nothing more than applying matrixing to politics.

Matrixing + Politics = Sanity

I told you matrixing works with anything.

Here’s the link…

Newsletter 1038

13 Reasons People Degrade the Martial Arts

You survived Thanksgiving!

And now it’s almost time for Christmas,

or as I call it,

HanaKwanMass!

Happy HanaKwanMass!

Okay, let’s talk about people who degrade the martial arts.

I’m not talking about people outside the martial arts,

we all know they are idiots,

talking about something they know nothing about.

I’m talking about people inside the martial arts.

People who say things like,

or hold the opinion that…

My art is better than your art.

That art sucks cause it wouldn’t work in the ring.

and,

of course,

the dreaded…

IT’S A MCDOJO!

So I was just sitting around

and popped out 13 quick reasons

why these people say bad things about the arts,

or other martial arts.

Here they are:

1. people who have not studied it completely
2. people who have not been able to make it work
3. people who received inadequate training
4. people who received an incorrect form of the art
5. people listen to other people and aren’t able to think critically about what they hear
6. people of low character (negative people)
7. people who have been trained/influenced by negative people
8. people who think you have to beat somebody up (joy of combat)
9. people who have studied a little and think they know something
10. people who have a need to be ‘the’ authority
11. people who practice putting other people down to make themselves ‘bigger’
12. people who are general malcontents (disgruntled)
13. people who are ignorant and can’t think

Of course,

some of these reasons overlap,

and there are doubtless more reasons,

but they boil down to one basic thing.

People who speak ill

of others, of other arts,

are ignorant.

Go on,

read the list again

and you will find that common denominator.

Haven’t been trained enough so they ignorant…

haven’t gotten a true version of the art so they are ignorant…

can’t make it work so they are definitely ignorant.

Now,

what do you do about ignorant people?

What’s that old saying?

You can’t live with them but you can’t kill them.

So the choices you have are two,

and only two.

First,

if they can be educated

you can educate them.

Sit down, talk with them,

show them where they are wrong.

This one,

quite honestly,

doesn’t work.

First,

you are talking to somebody who is so ignorant 

they are holding on to their ignorance like it was a banner.

Here’s the thinking behind that:

I’m right and if you try to educate me

then you are attacking my rightness and I will kill you.

Go on, 

read that again.

If you try to smarten me I’ll hurt you.

That’s a mantra for idiots,

and yet it is prevalent in the world.

It is probably,

if you think about it,

political rule number one.

But don’t get me started on government.

So,

the first solution,

while it is the preferred,

is only rarely able to be applied.

And that leaves us with rule number two.

Now,

I’m going to speak French here,

just to let the easily offended know,

so they can plug up their ears.

But,

my personal solution,

the way I get through life while surrounded by idiots is

Stay away from assholes.

There it is,

I think this is the first time in over a thousand newsletters

that I have used bad language.

Sorry.

But we can transcribe that to English…

STAY AWAY FROM IDIOTS!

Simply,

if you rub elbows with idiots,

with the truly ignorant,

you risk getting their ignorance all over you.

You will get involved in all sorts of unpleasantness

as they hang on to their ignorant ‘rightness’

and try to hurt you.

Now,

why do I speak of this here?

First,

because people should learn how to survive

the stupidity of this world.

Second,

there might be an ignorant person reading this.

Right now.

And I am really hoping

that they scratch their head,

wonder if I could actually be talking about them,

and perhaps even start the arduous journey

to the land of critical thinking.

Okay,

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it’s HanaKwanMass

everybody deserves a present,

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HANAKWANMASS!

And have a great work out!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’ve got nothing but five star reviews on 

The Science of Government.

It’s really nothing more than applying matrixing to politics.

Matrixing + Politics = Sanity

I told you matrixing works with anything.

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The Zen of the Martial Arts

Good morning!
I’m going to go all zen on you today,
so check out now if you think philosophy is garbage.

It’s funny,
probably the best definition for philosophy I ever heard
came from Bill Cosby.
He was asking the question,
‘Why is there air.’
All the philosophy professors would ask this
and that would lead them into a discussion of the cosmos
and God,
and life and everything.
And he said it’s a dumb question,
Just ask any coach and they’ll tell you
‘Air is so we can fill up balls.’

With that bit of droll humor in mind,
zen is supposed to be very philosophical.
It isn’t,
but we’ll just let that sit for a while.

So when I was about 15 or 16
my brother comes home and he tells me a joke.
He asks:
‘What is the difference between a duck?’
I look at him blankly,
it makes. no sense,
I shake my head
and he says:

‘One leg is both the same.’

And he walks off laughing hysterically.
Idiot brother.
Probably doesn’t even know what a ball is for.

But here’s the funny thing.
When I think back over my life,
that 73 long years that went by in a snap,
I don’t remember the jokes I heard.
I must have heard THOUSANDS of jokes!
But none of them were worth remembering.
But that joke about the duck,
and one leg being both the same,
it is vivid,
seared into me.
and I can’t forget it.
So my brother’s joke has had incredible impact on my life.
Which makes it the greatest joke of all time.
At least for me.
And,
it has zen implications.

After all,
the most famous zen saying of all time
is probably
‘what is the sound of one hand clapping.’
Tell me that doesn’t make as much sense as:

‘what’s the difference between a duck?’

And,
let’s translate that zen ‘joke’ to the martial arts.

‘What is the difference between a martial artist?’
And there are two very distinct un-zenlike answers.
And the answers,
applied to life,
result in two types of people.

The first type of person is one who needs to be entertained.
The second type of person is one who doesn’t need to be entertained.

And what the heck does that mean?
A lot, thank you, and here we go…

People are either creators,
or they are created.

People either search out something to entertain them,
or they produce.

This isn’t an absolute,
of course.
It’s one of those scales like:

to the degree that one produces
to that degree he doesn’t need to be entertained.
And,
to the degree that one is entertained,
to that degree he doesn’t produce.

I look at kids today,
needing to be entertained by a brainless video game.
and I would be disgusted,
except I used to bury my head in a book.
I needed to be entertained.

Where this would have gone I don’t know,
because I discovered martial arts,
and,
as you all know,
the martial arts seriously warps personalities.

But,
instead of needing to be entertained,
to read the latest book,
to go to the latest movie,
to waste time chattering over the latest stupid joke,
I started working.

I worked out,
learning and doing forms,
repeating them endlessly,
looking for some odd concept called…’perfection.’
Could I turn the hand right,
could I snap the foot perfectly,
could I perceive the attack before it came.

It didn’t happen fast,
it was more like a slow cook,
but I stopped needing to be entertained.
I started creating.
Instead of reading books
I started writing books.
Instead of wanting to be absorbed by a movie,
I wanted to be absorbed by a form.
Instead of needing to be entertained,
I entertained myself…by producing.
I became a totally and utterly different human being.

What a weird metamorphoses.
Hopefully you now understand the point,
you see the zen of it all.
Don’t play,
work.
The end of life comes too fast
and you need to hurry to get everything done,
but you won’t get anything done
if you’re sitting around trying to be entertained.

And that’s the difference between a duck.

have a great work out!
Al

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https://anchor.fm/dale-gillilan/episodes/S1E10—Al-Case-e12e3np

BTW
I’m always pushing my novels,
did you know I write other stuff?
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why we have riots and why idiots keep getting into office,
why the government seems to do the exact wrong thing
almost ALL the time…
then check out:

THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT!

http://monstermartialarts.com/matrixing-kenjutsu/

The Essence of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune

I wrote

a couple of newsletters ago

about the essence of Bruce Lee’s Art,

Jeet Kune Do.

Let me expand just a bit on that.

Bruce was concerned with the initial point of contact,

the entry into the fight.

So he figured out that there were five places

where you could ‘attack an attack.’

And that one concept

really sums up

The Way of the Intercepting Fist,

right?

You can interrupt an attack before it starts,

you can stop an attack on the way in.

You can attack and attack at the point of contact.

You can attack when the attacker is on the way out.

You can beat an attacker after the attack.

Obviously, each one of these points

has certain considerations.

Number five, for instance,

attack after it is over.

That’s like saying start anew,

but i fully understand Bruce putting it

with the five points of attack.

Now,

his attack could be summed up 

with three steps,

kicking, punching and kneeing/elbowing.

So his basic drill was

kicking,

punching the pads on the way in

and closing for the knee elbow.

Now this is simplicity,

and it is genius for its simplicity.

So where do I differ from him?

I analyzed lots of arts like he did,

but I decided the essence of the martial arts

was not to obsess on attacking.

Yes,

you have to throw the punch

or do the throw,

but you should see it coming

before it happens.

This idea,

seeing something before it happens,

was a product of the karate style I studied.

It’s very zen.

I often wonder 

if Bruce had studied Karate,

I mean in a ritualistic setting,

he would have come up with similar idea.

Maybe.

But the point is this,

I decided that the time to handle the attack 

is when it reaches a certain physical point,

and that point would be when it enters ‘slapping’ range.

I structured Monkey Boxing around this idea.

Don’t charge in a fight,

rely on the sla[ping distance.

Part of it was that I’m 6 foot and 200 pounds,

so I encountered smaller guys

who were faster.

When I stopped trying to get them,

and relaxed and waited for them,

then I started winning.

I was no longer the big ‘sitting duck,’

but a guy who’s punches they ran into.

Now,

obviously,

there are many different ways

of looking at this matter of fighting.

Bruce isn’t right or wrong,

neither am I.

We’re just people with strategies,

tactics,

and preferred methods.

And the real point is that you

have to look into each art

and play with the techniques

until you understand the concepts,

then put what works for you together.

The martial arts are not a set in stone methodology.

They are a changing, adapting tactic.

Now,

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Check it out.

Okay,

one last thing…

I get wins from people all the time,

and ometimes I like to share them,

hope somebody else’s wins 

can inspire oyu.

So here is Justin Harris…

I just had a hell of a workout with my Matrix Karate forms plus House 1, House 2, and Moon form. The interesting thing about a matrixed form is how well it stays in memory. I hadn’t practiced these in a while but I busted em out today and let me tell you they are so natural and intuitive, they just flowed right out of me. I can’t remember many classical forms I learned years ago. But the interesting thing is that the logic of a matrixed and organized form sticks in the mind and body better than random stuff. Not saying classical forms are bad, I do quite a few of them sometimes but logic and a clear sense of how to make the art True makes things so much easier. 

Many thanks!

Sifu Justin Harris

Dragon Palm Tai Chi and Kung Fu

Thanks, Justin,

I appreciate the kind words,

and I love it when Matrixing works for people.

Now…everybody…

have a great work out!

Al

And don’t forget to check out the interview

BTW

I’m always pushing my novels,

did you know I write other stuff?

If you want to know the truth about government,

you will find some startling matrixing going on in

THE SCIENCE OF GOVERNMENT!