Getting Rid of Reaction Time

I had the most interesting letter the other day,

the fellow described his problem like this…

‘When I freestyle

these young guys dart in and punch,

then get out before I can get them.’

Now,

who among you hasn’t encountered this?

And it points up to a truth of the martial arts.

The purpose of the martial arts

is to deliver a force or flow

without receiving a force or flow.

In other words,

dart in and hit,

then get the heck out of Dodge

before you get hit.

Now,

what is the cure?

I know,

a lot of people will say,

‘train harder!’

And they are right,

but there is something else you can do,

that will make your training more efficient

and get you there faster.

Consider what time is.

I think I mentioned this a newsletter or two ago,

but…

TIME IS DISTANCE

Specifically,

time is used to measure distance,

or how fast you can go from point A to point B.

So these guys who are darting in and hitting

have ‘faster distance.’

I know.

It’s weird,

but here is the secret.

When people launch strikes,

they punch to where the person is,

and that is a HUGE mistake.

They should be punching where the person will be.

Think about it,

if you punch to where he is,

by the time your fist

travels from point A to point B,

the opponent has moved from point B to point C.

Your fist whistles through the space

where the fellow was.

And he hits you,

darts out,

and…sheeesh!

He gets the point

and you get the frustration.

Now,

let’s look at this problem a little.

The problem is not that he’s slow,

or that he needs oodles of training,

it is that he is punching to

where the fellow is when he gets hit by him,

and by the time his punch gets there

the guy is gone.

This is called reaction time.

And the secret of the martial arts is that you must train

until you don’t have it.

You move when he moves,

not after he moves,

and that means not to where he was

when he punched you.

I know,

it seems complex.

But if you think about it for a while

it turns really simple.

So here is what this fellow should be doing,

anticipate where his attacker is going to be

and punch there.

Anticipate.

Ah,

what a wonderful world.

What it means,

the function here,

is that you punch when the guy is moving forward.

Not when he sinks his weight and punches,

and certainly not when he is darting out.

Now,

this is incredibly simple,

but it hinges on something that nobody does.

Nobody actually looks at what they are doing.

They get in the game,

they build reaction time,

and they don’t lose reaction time

by…LOOKING.

Watch some people freestyle.

Study them, and see if you can tell

when they are going to strike.

Do they bounce a certain way to set up?

Do they dip their shoulders?

Do they sink their weight?

Do they shift the focus of their eyes?

There are a THOUSAND tells (hints, clues)

as to when a fellow is going to move.

So if you take the time to LOOK at somebody,

and learn what the ‘tells’ are,

then you can punch when they move in,

and they will,

at best,

run into your fist.

At worst,

they will become gunshy.

Remember,

they are darting in because they don’t want to get hit,

which is to say they are scared of getting hit.

On some level,

they are scared,

and you attacking without waiting

is going to rock their boat.

And,

a last word on this…

watch a boxing match,

or an MMA match where the opponents are into punching.

Study the moments

before the knock out comes.

Watch,

and you will see the guy who is going to lose

get tired,

or in some manner…

stop looking.

That’s the proof, right there.

And,

where did I get this idea?

From freestyling for over 50 years,

and I wrote a matrix for timing,

which is a matrix for distance,

in Matrix Kung Fu.

But the course is not about time and distance,

it is about jointlocks and takedowns and such.

But when I put these things together

I was faced with the problem of developing entries,

and that’s what started me on the path

of figuring out what to do 

with the simple equation…

time is distance.

Okay,

here’s the obligatory link…

MONKEY BOXING (MATRIX KUNG FU)

And,

have yourself 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!

Pulsing Energy to Make Your Power Punch a Weapon of Mass Destruction

Making a Power Punch is core to the martial arts. After all, the martial arts are really only a couple of things: kicking, punching, blocking, throwing. That’s it, that’s all of it. Of course, grin, the devil is in the details. But that said, how do you put the power in your punch?
I’ve written a full book on it, and you’re recommended to read that, but let me give a little hint, and perhaps guide your thoughts towards that book. Here’s a little video about putting that kind of pwoer in a nice, light, little kick, then I’ll tell you more about the chi energy involved.

First, plant the feet firmly. Yes, dancing like Bruce Lee and going ‘woop, woop!’ is cool, and I’m not going to deny that there is some power in that kind of punching. However, that is more of a boxing type of punch. In the more classical martial arts, like Karate, Kenpo, Kung fu, and that sort of art, you plant your weight. Then you turn your hip, which turns your body weight into the punch. Then you pulse energy up your arm.
To pulse energy you need to breath to the tan tien as you sink your weight, the resulting glow of energy in the tan tien can be directed up the body and into the punch. Now, picture one of those big cannons shooting, and see the recoil of the barrel. Now reverse that image of recoil, and put it into the punch with the pushing of the shot up the barrel.
Weird, eh?
But if you have the image in your mind, if you start pushing your arm as if something is traveling up the inside of the arm, that is what happens when you pulse energy.
Now, it takes a lot more than that, and there are a lot of little hints to help you get that. But this should start you. Work on it. Do it slow, do it with your eyes closed and use your imagination, and you will be on the road.
And, i hope you feel something of the energy that I am talking about, and then remember that this is only a hint, and that the full data is in my book Matrixing Chi, which is available at Monster Martial Arts. Guaranteed, read that book and you will understand everything there is to know about pulsing energy in order to make your power punch a weapon of mass destruction.

You Might Be Tough, But Do You RallyThink You Are Bruce Lee Tough?

Martial Artists like to think they are tough. They break a few bricks and swagger around and make grunting sounds. But once you read the following list of feats, you are going to know that these martial artists aren’t anywhere near Bruce Lee tough!

Do you want to be faster than a snake taking a does of steroids? Try placing your hands at your sides and striking. Bruce Lee could manage a punch from this relaxed stance in five hundredths of a second!

You think those cannon balls you call biceps are a big deal? Try holding a dumb bell against your chest, then extend your arms straight out. Bruce Lee could hold 75 pounds extended for 20 seconds!

Oh, you don’t have a 75 pound dumb bell hanging around? Okay, let’s try something easy. Bruce could do 50 one armed chin ups!

In fact, it is likely that Bruce Lee had more power in his fingers than you have in your whole body! He could do one arm push ups on a thumb and pointing finger. Remember, we’re talking about push ups on only one hand here!

Bruce Lee’s fingers were so powerful he could stick a finger through the side of a filled soda can! And this was back in the day when cans were real! They were made of steel, and not this thin, aluminum crap!

Here’s one of my favorite Bruce Lee tricks, a trick that would make any magician hang his head. If you placed a dime in your palm and held it out, Bruce Lee could snatch the dime…and leave you a penny! Now that is freakin’ fast!

Now, I know you are looking at that one inch pine board you just broke and are doubting yourself, but don’t. Bruce Lee was a unique human being, and he got where he was by incredible hard work. So, instead of feeling like a weak sister, just get to work and make your own self…Bruce Lee tough!

If you want to get tough, head on over to Punch ‘Em Out. That’s where the power is!