Five Martial Arts Books Written over Twenty Years Make an Encyclopedia

I Wrote an Encyclopedia of Martial Arts

There are five books in the Martial Arts encyclopedia, and they cover Karate from China to America, from the first transmutations of Kung Fu to the latest scientific innovations.

Pan Gai Noon, is on of the more important Chinese Arts that influenced Karate

Kang Duk Won is a pure form of Karate before the Japanese went power crazy on it.

Kwon Bup is an American version, very powerful and straight forward.

Outlaw Karate is the record of my attempts to create a style of Karate that could be done in one year. A black belt in one year really is a heady concept.

And the last book, Buddha Crane Karate, begins going into matrixing concepts.

I haven’t listed as an encyclopedia (though I did at one time), and that is because these five books were written over a twenty year period. They have different software programs, different technologies, and, taken together, they are ragged. So I list them as separate books, but they are an encyclopedia of Martial Arts. They are all technique, not a lot of words, just the actual moves.

You can find the Encyclopedia of Martial Arts on this page.

http://alcasebooks.com/martial-arts-books-2/encyclopedia/

The Ultimate Karate Encyclopedia!

From Gung Fu to Matrixing

Thanks to all who have ordered Kwon Bup!

I appreciate the support.
And, let me explain about the books I am coming out with.
I mentioned it last week,
an encyclopedia for the faithful.
Five books of Karate,
from Kung Fu to Matrixing.

Pan Gai Noon
Kang Duk Won
Kwon Bup
Outlaw Karate
Buddha Crane Karate,

Now,
a warning,
these books have not been available in kindle,
as Kindle can’t handle large numbers of photographs.
BUT,
they have been part of the courses I have offered.
Kang Duk Won, Kwon Bup, and Pan Gai Noon
are available in digital format
on the evolution of an art course.
Buddha Crane Karate,
because it has to do with Matrixing,
has been available on the
Create Your Own Art course.
Outlaw Karate has been available
on the outlaw karate course.

But,
these books have only been available digital,
so I was pretty happy to start putting them in paperback form.

The warning is that if you have these courses,
you may have the books,
so make sure before you buy twice.

And,
if you want the video that goes along with each book,
email me at aganzul.
They’re only $10 each
for the instant download.

Now,
I spent a good couple of decades researching and practicing,
and over the years I would write books
describing the system and techniques,
so these books were written over time.

You aren’t going to get a lot of philosophy,
except for the hard core matrix explanations.
You are going to get the forms and techniques.
This is an encyclopedia of actual practice.

Pan Gai Noon
deals with the Chinese influence,
the forms sanchin and seisan.
There isn’t much known about this system,
but Matrixing shows that sanchin (for instance) is not about
technique (Hangetsu version Japanese)
breathing (Goju version)
dynamic tension (Uechi version)
It is about building energy,
and while it taps into the subjects of the various versions,
it is not what those systems are teaching.
Those are taught so conceptually different,
that even when they coincide with my version,
they might as well not be considered sanchin.
And Seisan is the technique form.

Kang Duk Won has the least amount of theory.
It is a version from before Funakoshi,
possibly influenced by the gung fu of the fellow
who brought it to Korea
(Byung in Joon)

Kwon Bup is a very powerful and linear Karate.
It was designed by Robert Babich,
who is, I believe,
the only America to be able to do
the one finger trick,
which is to thrust a finger through a board,
and not break it,
but leave a hole.

Outlaw Karate is my attempt
to take KDW and KB
and put them together into one system.
I took the techniques that worked best,
aligned them in more logical and easy to learn forms.

Then I made my breakthroughs in Matrixing,
which brings us to Buddha Crane Karate.
My first attempt to matrix a system.
You can see the obvious matrixing concepts
and I write about them,
so it is a unique look into matrixing,
and the development of that science.

Now,
a couple of things.
The graphics are different from book to book,
because computer technology was changing.
On one book I would use a poser program,
on another you’ll see photos,
on still another
you’ll see the figures drawn out with an appleworks program,
thousands and thousands of sticks and curves,
compiled into human shapes
doing martial arts forms and techniques.

Really,
I look at that one
(Buddha Crane)
and I feel like I am studying hieroglyphics
on the wall of some Egyptian pyramid.

And,
as one reader has correctly observed,
there is some need of editing.
The sad fact is that
it is difficult for a person to see his own mistakes.
Double sad,
since I am the one that says
‘Man learns best from his mistakes.’
But if there is a mistake in the artwork,
too bad,
that software is long gone.
If the problem is with the writing,
I can correct it,
but,
it takes a lot for me to recall a book, do the reuploading,
and so on.
So,
a few mistakes,
but not as bad as one might think.
I was a professional writer,
I did do my own photography
when I worked for the mags,
so,
not bad.

And,
the main point,
even if you do come across an error,
it does not stop the understanding.

You might blink when I spell reality railty,
or something stupid like that,
but it won’t stop you,
or obscure the understanding.

Now,
all the books are not in print…yet.
Over the next month or two they will be.
And,
I will probably be fixing the covers
so they say ‘encyclopedia on them somewhere.
It’s just a matter of time
and having enough gigabytes.
Up here at Monkeyland,
while there is no shortage of…cow stuff,
there is a shortage of gigabytes.

Don’t get me started,
but did you know verizon charges $50 for 5 gigabytes?
And dish charges $25 for 10 gigabytes?
I am sitting right between two verizon cell towers,
so that means,
it costs twice as much to pick up a cell signal
as it does to bounce data off the moon.

Scream. Pull my hair.
Rant about corporate unfairness and gouging.

Anyway,
you didn’t come here to hear me rant,
but to get your mind wrapped
all around the martial arts.

So,
five books,
not all out yet,
but
‘The Ultimate Karate Encyclopedia:
from Gung Fu to Matrixing.’
A true encyclopedia for the faithful.

Heck,
get them before I have a chance to correct the covers,
and make them say encyclopedia,
and you might have a collector’s edition
in your white knuckled and gnarly martial arts mitts.

Okay,
I wanted to give you this update,
give you the whole picture.

And thanks to Sandra for mentioning the editing.

Now,
I want you guys and gals
to have the most AWESOME workout
imaginable!

Talk to you later…
Al

you can also find the books on Amazon, but here are the ‘createspace’ addresses.

Pan Gai Noon ~ https://www.createspace.com/4579584

Kwon Bup ~ https://www.createspace.com/4617449

Buddha Crane ~ https://www.createspace.com/4577595

New Kwon Bup Karate Book

Karate Encyclopedia Going Great Guns!

Got a new martial arts book out.
Actually,
it was available in Evolution of an Art,
but I couldn’t get it on Kindle,
and I finally managed to get a real, live paperback version!
So
click on the side bar cover image on the Monster, or just go to

http://www.amazon.com/Kwon-American-Karate-Alton-Case/dp/1494995549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391376085&sr=8-1&keywords=kwon+bup+al+case

Now,
a few words about what Kwon Bup is.

When I went to the Kang Duk Won
it was pretty unique.
The owner,
Bob Babich,
had walked on on tournaments,
caused a ruckus that did,
everybody wanted to push the tournament,
a lot of community spirit,
and Bob just stood up and walked out,
and all his students followed him.
Why?
Because it was bogus.
Not real.
Decisions made by favoritism,
decisions made by people
who wouldn’t know a real technique if they saw it.

And,
because of this and other things,
such as the fact that Bob taught outlaw bikers,
gave him a ‘bad’ rep.

And outlaw school.
a rogue school.
Only bad people go there.
Yet,
on any good day,
you would see people from other martial arts schools
come down to see the class.
I was shocked,
one day,
when Ralphie Vallederez (sp, sorry)
the guy who had won the California Karate Tournament one year,
and who happened to be the big gun at my Kenpo school,
showed up to watch a class.

And,
for those who think we were crazies,
unwashed and disrespectful,
Bob studied with Don Buck,
who happened to be Mas Oyama’s favorite American student.
And when you walked into the dojo,
you bowed,
you were polite,
and you never lost your temper,
period.

It was quite the sight,
to see all these Hell’s Angeles,
standing so polite,
talking to Bob.

Not because he was a brutal a-hole who would knock the crap out of you.
But because when he started getting more polite,
you perked up,
something was wrong.
When Bob was upset
(almost never)
he would speak softer and softer,
almost whispering,
could’t hear him,
but you suddenly felt like your bowels were going to loose.

I remember one time
I was on the left side of Bob
during a class,
and Mud Car was ont he right.
Mud Car was our resident crazy.
He was just loopy,
looney tunes.
I’ll tell you about what a wacko he was some time,
but
during that class,
Bob really into it,
pushing,
and every feeling the push,
getting the pure art
worked into their bones,
really in heaven,
and suddenly Mud Car says,
“Hey Bob,
I have a pain right here,
on my shin.
Doesn’t hurt a lot,
but it comes and goes,
pinches,
really.
Do you know what I can do about that?”

POOF!
The magic evaporated,
everything went.
The plug was pulled and the intensity disappeared.

And,
believe me,
this really was a spiritual moment crushed.

And Bob turns to me and snarls,
“You could hit it with a lead pipe!”

He didn’t say it to Mud Car,
because it would have been wasted,
and maybe because Mud Car deserved to be knocked down,
and Bob wasn’t that kind of guy.

But I,
feeling the rage of that moment,
was absolutely frozen.
Couldn’t move.
Not terrified,
just so stunned I was incapable.

Bob continued,
and I managed to somehow move,
after everybody,
not even knowing what I was doing,
just copying somebody,
stunned and brain dead.

I never wanted to see him mad,
ever.

And,
that was the only time I ever saw the tip of that iceberg.
I saw him talk soft,
and that wasn’t so bad.

One time I used poor control,
after class he came up and spoke softly to me,
“Your control wasn’t good.”

Man,
I turned into a blithering idiot,
I could feel the weight of the world on me.
“I’m sorry,
I got excited, I–”
He stopped me with,
“Don’t worry. Just watch yourself.”

I have watched myself for forty years because of that whisper.

Anyway,
I could go on and on,
really golden times,
but…

After I left the Kang Duk Won
I started a project
of recording the art.
But,
after teaching for a while,
and realizing certain things,
and coming across variations of the Kang Duk Won,
I realized that I had been learning two arts.
One was the Kang Duk Won.
The other I called Kwon Bup.
It was the art practiced by Bob,
developed by Bob,
and put into the Kang Duk Won.

Now,
it is said that only a person with several decades experience
can hope to make an art.
And then,
that person has to be of rare quality.

Bingo and bingo.
Aside from a politeness
that made gentlemen out of Hell’s Angels,
Bob had the most immaculate technique I have ever seen
and I have seen a lot in nearly fifty years of studying
every martial art I could.

So I wrote the Kwon Bup book.
It is the forms and techniques
of the best martial artist I have ever seen.
This is a guy who could thrust his finger through a board,
and not break it,
but leave a hole.

Very few people have ever done that,
and I don’t know of any in America.

So,
now you know what I am pushing,
higher abilities,
politeness,
a very rarified realm of Martial Arts.

And,
I’ve got a few more books coming out
in the next couple of months.
The ones I’m working on right now,
however,
are in the vein of evolution of an art.

Pan Gai Noon for the china to Okinawan connection
Kang Duk Won for the pure Karate pre-Funakoshi
Kwon Bup for the American translation
Outlaw Karate for work I did on synthesizing KDW and KB,
and Buddha Crane for the Matrixing breakthrough.

A complete history,
not in talk,
but in technique.
An encyclopedia for the faithful.

Okily donkey,
there you go,
hope you like it…

http://www.amazon.com/Kwon-American-Karate-Alton-Case/dp/1494995549/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1391376085&sr=8-1&keywords=kwon+bup+al+case

Now,
while you’re looking at that,
I’m getting back to work.
Have a great work out!

Al

Trying to Shut Down a Karate School..and Getting Shut Down Yourself!

The Black Belt Who Tried to Shut Down Kang Duk Won Karate School

Speaking of Black Belts, I once met one who had actually walked into the Kang Duk Won and tried to shut that Karate School down.

I met him at the place I worked, a plastics factory in Sunnyvale, when I discovered that he knew Karate.

The Man who couldn’t be shut down.

We talked, and he told me that he had been made a 3rd degree black belt because he could ‘fight so good.’

I know he knew one form, the horse stance form, but I don’t think he knew any others.

He claimed that he knew the Mu Duk Kwon, or the Oo Duk Kwon, or something like that. It’s been a long time, and we only talked about it briefly.

So he had a black belt, and he said that he and his teacher used to go to karate schools, sign up for a free, introductory class, and then pick a fight with the instructor and beat him up.

True.

He named several karate schools, one of which I knew had gone out of business.

Then he told me about the time he walked into the Kang Duk Won to get a free class and shut it down.

This interested me, because this was my school.

He and his teacher walked in, and were greeted politely. They talked for a few minutes, but the teacher, Bob Babich, didn’t say much, and his eyes started squinting, and he started staring at them.

That’s it, just getting intense. No warning, ‘no howdie do what art ya study,’ just…a look. A look that penetrated right through the two fellows.

The two fellows began to feel uneasy, then downright queasy.

This had never happened to them before, and suddenly, the teacher decided they should leave.

After hearing the story I decided to do some checking of my own, so I went to the top black belt, who had actually been described as present at the time of the confrontation. His name was Ron, and he described the incident, without prompting, exactly as the black belts had.

He said that Bob Babich (the owner of the karate school) had suddenly gotten real tight. Just looked at those two fellows so intently that even Ron wanted to back away. And he was just an onlooker, off to the side.

Now, interestingly, I always remembered that story, and years later I had my own karate school.

One day this fellow came in, walked up to my partner and started talking.

I saw it a mile away. I saw it in the way the guy was twisting himself for the punch. The way he was mentally setting himself. The way he was edging the conversation.

He fully intended to cold cock my partner.

I moved in from the side and took a position. When he punched I was going to hit him. And I could feel this manic glee, and I had a vision of this fellow flying through the wall and into the accounting office next door.

I was about to tap into my art big time.

He started to move, and I shifted.

He looked at me.

Back to my partner, he started to move, and I started to move.

And this happened a couple more times, and the guy gave it up.

I had split his intention, and destroyed his purpose, simply by understanding it, and moving into it.

Not as good as Bob, but it certainly stopped a fight and saved my partner.

Interesting people, these fake black belts, they think it is about fighting, when it is not about fighting at all.

Have you looked into studying the Kang Duk Won yourself? This is simply the best online Karate course in the world, filled with videos, rare books, and some pretty darn amazing instruction.

This has been a post about a Black Belt trying to shut down a Karate School.

Bob Babich, Mas Oyama, and the Kang Duk Won

Behind the Scenes at the Kang Duk Won

This post concerning Mas Oyama, Don Buck, and other early pioneers in American Karate, was actually written by Master Instructor BJ. I didn’t know some of this, and there is no way I can compete with the original words presented here. I suggest you do a little googling of the names involved to pad out what you’re about to read. It is well worth it. The original post appeared on KangDukWon.com.

The Story of the Kang Duk Won in America

Sifu Al, you probably know this already but when teenage Don Buck started training with Duke Moore in 1946 fresh out of the US Navy where Don was the US Navy Pacific Fleet 137lb Champion and also wrestled and studied Combat Judo & Defendu.

From the Hawaiian Karate Museum, John D. Pell collection. John Pell, Don Buck, Mas Oyama, Gosei Yamaguchi.

By the Mid-50s Don Buck was a Body Building champion and San Francisco Cop in addition to being a black belt in Moore’s Judo & JJ.   Buck & Moore started studying Shorinji Ryu Karate with one of Duke’s teachers, Richard Kim.  One of Kim’s Korean student’s came to the US to work as a Pro Wrestler.  Of course I’m talking about Mas Oyama.

BTW, Mas Oyama’s Karate and Masahiko- Gracie JJ Defeater- Kimura Judo workout partners in the Early 1950’s were Tak Kubota and Taiji Kase!  In fact the gnarled hand on one of Mas Oyama’s early books- ghost written by Don Draeger- was actually Kubota’s.

After WWII Kimura worked as a Pro Wrestler in Europe and N&S America.  He hooked Mas Oyama up with some wrestling promoters here in the US and Mexico so Oyama could make some money.

Mas Oyama set his US base up in San Francisco where he could continue his training with his Sensei Richard Kim.  While not wrestling Oyama lived with Kim’s JJ student Duke Moore and taught/worked out with Duke Moore and Don Buck everyday he was in San Francisco for 4-6 hour workouts.

After a little over a year Mas went back to Japan and promoted both Duke Moore and Don Buck to their Shodan ranks.  Buck opened his own Dojo in 1957 where he only taught Kyokushin Karate making his Dojo the first Oyama Style Karate Dojo to open in the US.  ***Please note that Bobby Lowe has the distinction of opening the first Kyokushin dojo OUTSIDE of Japan.***

Mas Oyama showing impeccable breaking technique.

When Don Buck opened his Dojo doors in 1957 one of his first students, and Black Belts, was one Robert Babich. A year of two later Richard Kim had a skinny Korean Black belt fresh off the boat from Korea show up at his San Francisco Dojo.  As Kim was about to leave for Japan so he sent the young Korean to his student’s, Duke Moore, Budokan dojo where Moore promptly sent the Korean to Don Buck.

The young Korean didn’t speak much English but Don Buck told him to go change into his Dogi.  When the Korean returned Buck noticed a patch with a fist on the Korean’s uniform.  Don Buck asked what the patch said and young Korean replied something like, “Kang Duk Won Kwon Bup Kong Soo Do.”

After sparring and defeating Buck’s students he squared off with Buck himself.  Buck knocked the Korean down a few times but the Korean kept getting up and he finally knocked the much bigger and stronger Buck across the dojo floor and down.  Buck got back up smiling and told the Korean, “Your hired! What is your name?”  The young Kang Duk Won fighter said, “Norman Rha” and bowed slightly to Buck!

Buck was opening a couple of new Dojo locations and he hired Rha (Rha Jong-nam) and assigned Robert Babich to assist Rha with running the new Dojo.

However, the soft whip-like Tong Bei style punching and much deeper Chaun Fa stances of Rha’s Kang Duk Won Kong Soo Do were so much different than Oyama’s power punching that sometime after Babich earned his Shodan from Don Buck it was decided that Babich should open just his own dojo with Rha so as not to create differences of style with the Kyokushin students.  So they left Don Buck’s American Kyokushin Dojo’s to open their own KDW school.

As Rha was a poor Medical School student he and Babich shared an apartment with the agreement that Rha would teach Babich KDW in return for help learning English.  It should be noted that anytime in the 60’s and early 70’s Babich promoted students to Black Belt the Tracy Brother’s would try to hire the new KDW black belts to run one of their Tracy Brother’s Chinese Kenpo Schools.

The Tracy’s only hired the BEST fighters, both as teachers and Association School Coaches (Joe Lewis & Al Dacascos for example),  as school challenges were common and they didn’t want to loose their schools students, $$$, to another challenging school.  Babich’s KDW academy in San Jose, CA had a reputation of turning out some of the toughest fighters on the West Coast.

It is interesting to note, at least for me,  that Babich didn’t include Sanchin or Tensho in his Kwon Bop Karate that he taught in the 1970’s and 80’s until he closed down his San Jose Dojo.  Why I don’t know???

Note:

Thanks, BJ, for this wonderful bit of writing.

The reason Bob didn’t include Sanchin and Tensho, in my opinion, is that there are two styles of Karate, one fixed and one fluid, or Shorin and Shorei. Bob was not a large man, he was thin and whiplike, and the heavier sanchin style stances didn’t suit him, perhaps even worked against the fluid motions he was developing through the Kang Duk Won.

If you want to find out what the truth behind the Kang Duk Won, check out the first Karate form and applications, and the bonus material on historical uses of Karate.

This has been a page about Don Buck, Mas Oyama, and the early beginnings of the Kang Duk Won Karate.

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.

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 I Learned that Karate was the Art of the Hard Fist

Robert J. Babich...Kang Duk Won

My Karate Instructor had large hands. Really, he was only about five foot six, but his hands looked like gallon jugs. This ties in with his having a hard fist, and him being the most polite man I have ever met.
We were working out, and my partner wasn’t getting it right, and my instructor moved in to show him the right way. I was the dummy.
It was a move from Pinan Two, as I recall, and my instructor said, “See, it sets up the front kick,” and he raised his foot gently.
His toes touched my elbow, and a shock went through my arm, and my arm dropped uselessly.
My instructor knew he’d made contact. Even though it was a mere touch, he knew. “Are you all right?”
I lifted my arm back up to the ready position and said, “Sure.”
But, man, he had just touched me, and it was like somebody had zapped me with a numbolator. There wasn’t even much of a shock, just my arm dropping, rendered out of my control, done.
Now, he said his abilities came from doing the forms. And he was right, but it was because he did the forms right…and because he was virtuous.
He did the forms right because he analyzed them for workability.
He was virtuous because when he talked to people he actually care what they said. I mean, he actually listened, and he always tried to say the right thing.
Virtue and politeness. The same in a way, yet requiring different skills, presence of mind, character, and an extreme attention to detail. I remember that when I try to make my hard fist, and especially when I teach. Check out Kwon Bup, it is the art my instructor created, and it embodies the skilla nd character that he possessed. My site is Monster Martial Arts, and you can pick up a free book on the home page.

Going Insane When You Get Your Black Belt!

Robert J. Babich...Kang Duk Won

What a great way to start the week!
Eh?
A work out!
Usually I do Yogata,
then Tai Chi,
then whatever.
When I am done,
I’ve already done a days work,
so the rest of the day gets real easy.

So,
the Journal is out,
came out on the 15th,
http://www.monstermartialarts.com/MonsterJournalDNLDpage.html
Download yourself some good stuff,
get yer martial arts fix right here!

Now,
something I haven’t talked about
for a long time.
Fact is,
last time I talked about this
was back in the nineties.
Let’s talk about
going insane when you get your black belt.

Now,
there’s all types of insanity,
but they are usually the same thing,
you reach a point
where you can’t take anymore.
Basically,
the influx of data
threatens to overwhelm,
so,
to survive,
you get with the program
and overwhelm yourself.

Basically,
it’s better to overwhelm yourself
than to get overwhelmed by something else…
Now,
let me tie this together
with getting a black belt

At the old Kang Duk Won
a lot people studied,
but they didn‘t all make it to Black Belt,
Most of them quit at two places.
They quit whithin a week or two of starting,
realized martial arts was hard work,
and went away.
No big deal.

Now,
the other place they quit was 
right before they achieved black belt.
And this was a big deal.
They would study for three or four years,
get right up to the big achievement,
and leave.

Now,
there were many excuses,
many ways of leaving
before they got overwhelmed…
they got married,
got drafted,
got hurt in a car wreck,
went to another school,
started missing lots of classes,
school,
family emergency,
all sorts of excuses,
but,
the bottom line…
they just disappeared.

Now,
what was the influx of data
that was causing the overwhelm,
causing the situation
that they just couldn’t take?

The influx of data was…
losing their mind.

Yep.
They whittled away at their mind,
got it to be less and less,
lost their reaction time,
started seeing ‘in the now,’
and,
they just couldn’t take it.

There is a silence,
an emptiness,
a revelation of what the self really is,
fair frightens people right into insanity.

Now,
this didn’t happen for all martial arts schools,
all schools didn’t push you into 
that zen emptiness sort of thing.
Most schools didn’t come close.
They taught on the surface
and didn’t touch the soul.

Nowadays,
it’s even worse.
So much technique,
so little silence.

Okey dokey,
here’s the deal,
I wasn’t all that good.
I was okay,
but there were a lot of guys better than me,
but most of them quit.
They got up to the edge
and couldn’t jump off,
couldn’t look at themselves,
couldn’t stand the silence.

For all my faults,
and there are a lot of them,
I did have one strength.
I love silence.

Silence is a direct reflection of the power of the human being.
It is a measurement and a self realization.
Silence is a truth
wherein you cannot deny yourself,
and the more silence you create,
the more you there is,
the more truth there is.

Whereas other guys quit and left
stopped right right before their black belt test,
I hit that test running,
didn’t slow down,
and when I hit the silence
it was like a warm cocoon
that I wrapped around myself.
I love silence.
Karate gave me silence.
The Martial Arts enhanced, and polished that silence.

Insanity?
Sure,
when I hit my black belt,
I went totally and utterly insane,
lost my mind,
started seeing the world as it was,
and not as a fantasy,
or a wish,
or something else,
and I have never felt anything so good and worthwhile
in all my lifetimes.

When I do a form,
it feels like I am floating in outer space
creating energy like a sun,
creating a solar system of planes and geometries
and intricate shapes and…
and the silence grows.

Now,
why am I telling you all this?
Well,
there is the interesting little factor,
got something coming,
should drive a lot of people insane.
The power will be immense.
Gonna change everything.

Knowing what I say here
will make it all easier.
Simply, the more you understand,
the less chance
of you being overwhelmed.

So,
check out the journal,
meander around the site,
read everything you can,
if you can,
got Matrix Karate or the Master Instructor Course.
Those two are crucial.
And,
get ready.
Here’s the Master Instructor URL
to help you out.
The Master Instructor Course

Okey dokey,
have a great and amazing work out,
spread love and cheer,
and I’ll talk to you later.

Al
=o)

Man Knocks Himself Out with a Flying Side Kick!

This actually happened to my instructor, which is quite interesting because he was the best martial artist I have ever seen.

This was back in the late sixties, early seventies, and kicks were all the rage.

Truth, kicks were a new invention. Taekwondo was a word that people heard, and front, side and wheel kicks were the basic bread and butter of lower level martial arts.

Then Chuck Norris came along, people started discovering the taekwondo flying kicks, and, zingo bingo, Evolution of an Art.

Now, my instructor was actually trying to do a jumping, spinning kick. We barely had jumping kicks, and spinning kicks were just raising their ugly heads, and he was just putting it together.

So he jumped up, spun, extended the leg and…hit his head on a branch. That’s right, he chose to do the kick under a low flying tree, and he knocked himself out.

He was just getting up when one of the students found him, dazed, rubbing his head, and wondering what had happened.

Well, it happens to the best of us, and we all chuckled. What the heck, if the tree has your number…

Check out MonsterMartialArts.com. Got some new methods, and some old arts. And knock yourself out. Heh.