The Evolution of the Shaolin Martial Arts!

Most people say the Martial Arts

came from the Shaolin Temple.

Undoubtededly,

the Shaolin Temple is a big influencer.

But,

my own theory is slightly different.

Originally

I wrote a short column about ‘Og and Bog.’

Og steals Bog’s apples by conking him on the head,

Bog imagines a defense for getting conked on the head,

and we have a technique

and the birth of the martial arts.

Which is to say

from the very first time

one man raised his fist to another,

martial arts have been developing.

Verbal history,

not a reliable thing,

says that Bodhidharma came to Shaolin from the east,

trained the monks in meditation,

and when they proved too weak to meditate properly,

he gave them the martial arts.

But when you look at the exercises credited to Bodhidharma

they look like calisthenics.

So how do simple calisthenics

become martial arts?

Let’s create a possible scenario

to present my theory.

Warlords reigned,

they conscripted peasants,

and taught them how to fight.

How to use the spear,

how to do basic ‘boxing’ (kung fu).

The peasants who survived the battles

might retire to home,

and go to a temple to pray,

maybe even feel a bit of remorse

 about the deaths they caused

and join a temple.

At the temple they want to stay in shape

so they use the basic calisthenics they used in the military.

They even use some of the fighting routines.

But the essence of the temple isn’t in fighting,

and if one is in daily meditation

and begins a regimen in fitness,

it is conceivable that the exercises they did

begin to take on the form of meditation.

No, not every monk is a warrior,

but if even one soldier takes refuge at the temple

translates his military exercises

into meditation…

that might have great influence.

So we have a sort of a criss cross here

between meditation and physical combat.

It’s a maybe,

but a logical sort of a maybe.

Now let’s talk about what happens if a person

 practices a routine for years,

and especially in conjunction with meditation.

He becomes aware through meditation,

and as he focuses his meditation on his calisthenics,

he achieves a different type of awareness in his calisthenics.

He starts to feel this thing called chi,

a ‘breath energy’ circulating through the body.

He finds this thing called chi is difficult to explain,

but if a person is dedicated to motion,

and to the calm and breathing techniques of meditation…

he can achieve a certain degree of awareness of,

and control over this somewhat invisible energy called chi.

And all this backs up various religious theories.

The interesting thing is that Shaolin happened,

and it is so far back

that all we’ve got is theories.

But we have another art that isn’t thousands of years old.

It is influenced by Shaolin, but…

Tung Haichuan

back in the 1800s

apparently knew some kung fu.

He went into the mountains,

met some monks,

and they taught him how to meditate by walking the circle.

Tung Haichuan supposedly combined

the circle walking and the kung fu

to make Pa Kua Chang.

People immediately invested PKC

with all sorts of religious theories.

The eight trigrams,

all that sort of thing.

A good example of a ‘calisthenic’ being adapted to kung fu,

and kung fu becoming more meditative,

just as what probably happened

thousands of years ago at the Shaolin Temple.

And!

If you look at Karate,

it was a martial art designed by and for palace guards.

Heavy duty self defense

and hard core fighting.

In just a bit over a hundred years it has become

heavily infused with zen concepts.

A martial art expanding awareness

through dedicated and repetitious motion,

until it becomes,

in its purest form,

a source of enlightenment

and spiritual development.

AND…

A good question here is

could MMA become spiritual?

I would guess probably not,

and this simply because the techniques are

more dedicated to destruction than control.

The practitioners might even laugh if 

a student wanted to find the zen

behind an arm bar.

Hey,

it may have taken MANY generations

for Shaolin to become more than

a physical calisthenic for ex-warriors,

and to become a method of awareness and control

and not simply an excuse for destruction.

So that’s my theory,

if you feel it is full of holes,

or you feel some other possibility is probable,

leave comments.

I do want to say that when I developed the 

The Last Martial Arts Book: Nine Square Diagram Boxing

I was trying to create movements

that would have meditative aspects

as in  Tai Chi Chuan and Pa Kua Chang.

I wanted to create a degree of spiritual awareness,

and yet have the art be totally workable on the street.

I want the meditation, the control, the spirituality,

but not at the cost of losing the destructive potential of the art.

Check it out on Amazon,

and if you decide to get it,

make sure you…

GET THE EDITION WITH THE 5 HOURS OF VIDEO LINKS!

Give yourself a present,

and don’t forget to give me five stars!

Have a great work out,

and have a great and profitable New Year!

Al

Don’t forget to check out the interview

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 12 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 8 ratings for 5 stars.

‘The Science of Government’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.

‘Chiang Nan’ has 6 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 the book that works for you.

How to Fix Karate:

A Karate Training and Workout Book

 (Two Volumes)

Everything in Life is Karate!

I think it was Gichin Funakoshi

who said that

‘all life is karate.’

So what does that really mean?

It means that you put a filter over your eyes

and view everything through karate.

As a professional writer I came to learn that

you can compare language to forms.

The motion of the body is a verb

that ends with a punctuation punch.

Basics are letters.

Techniques are words.

Forms are sentences.

I believe Kenpo has also stated this.

Music is particularly well suited to the karate analogy.

Timing is an exquisite sense of how to fool the listener/opponent.

The shape of your hand as you play notes and chords…

Dance…the comparison is obvious.

They are both body motion.

If you ride a bike,

the bike is the form,

the ride is the freestyle.

Running a business

is strict adherence to form,

implementing techniques

with the occasional freestyle

as individuals have their own bright ideas

that aren’t so bright

or somehow go against the master form.

Driving a car,

sailing a drone,

marching, running, climbing trees,

dealing with people so that all win,

Everything in life can be reduced to form,

to technical deviations,

to freestyle applications.

Now,

the cruel trick is this:

all Karate is done wrong.

All karate is based on blocks, kicks and strikes.

Which are good foundations,

but the real secret of karate

is in the ‘slap/grab technique.

That is a technique which precedes all motion.

Yet nobody teaches it.

A few arts come close,

but nobody has ever actually broken down body motion

and understood the subtle implications

in the motions leading up to blocks.

Try it.

Try making slap/grabs in every technique.

You’ll find that the techniques suddenly work.

and they actually work in freestyle.

It wasn’t that the founders hid things,

though they did

in a secret meeting back about 1900.

It was that they didn’t understand this subtle implication

of the motion of the body

before and leading into virtually every technique

in karate,

and virtually all other martial arts.

Go ahead,

try it.

Find the slap/grab.

Find the slap,

or the grab,

or the slap/grab.

Once you see it,

you’ll be amazed.

And for those who wish to see how

I extrapolated this little motion,

check out the

How to Fix Karate Books

(two volumes, you have to order them separately)

on Amazon.

They’ve got about five hours of video links,

and they show how I use the slap and the grab

and the slap/grab,

all the way through.

Okay,

that said, it’s time to say…

Have a great work out,

and HanaKwanMass to all!

Al

Don’t forget to check out the interview

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 12 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 8 ratings for 5 stars.

‘The Science of Government’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.

‘Chiang Nan’ has 6 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 the book that works for you.

How to Fix Karate:

A Karate Training and Workout Book

 (Two Volumes)

Congrats to New Master Instructor!

Congratulations to Amerus Guffey!

Here’s his win…

This is Amerus Guffey, I’m here to speak on the course I took and what I got from it. First off I want to start by saying how amazing that was. Most Dojos and gyms I’ve been too ALWAYS sugar coat it. They teach [how] to move and can only explain so much, or they will teach all the moves but can’t explain anything about why or when to use the technique.

I’ve spent 18 years doing daily meditation and training in all types of arts and with energy I even have my Master Certificate for Universal Reiki healing. So I 100% agree and know for a fact about everything [about] breathing that you spoke on and the importance of it. What I found to be intriguing to me is that a lot of the things you spoke on and explained I already do without having being taught. Day in and day out I think martial arts, how to improve and learn about the human body and the mechanics…and naturally things clicked in my mind of what to do how to do it and how it would work.

The two portions of this course that I truly enjoyed was was [the section on teaching] …and it’s really cool to see someone else understand me in a way, that’s how it feels. Seeing you do and explain was not only a Honor but it also made me see that I’m not the only one who actually lives this life style. Most gyms and dojos [where I live] run only 2 days a week for 1 hour a day. And what they teach isn’t truth they just want the money.

The 2nd part I loved was ‘The 6 Tools.’ The 6 tools are not only what I do but you gave me another way to break it down and understand it, to be able to explain to my students. Even tho I know what I’m doing and what’s happening with the body I can’t put it into words like you did in this portion. And for the price!! You can’t beat it. ~ Amerus Guffey

Well done Amerus

and congratulations.

Amerus was badly overlooked in his training,

in spite of the fact of being accomplished and dedicated in his training,

it seemed that promotions were refused him.

I don’t promote much anymore,

but I do recognize Master Instructors.

It was an honor to recognize him.

And what is a master instructor?

A black belt is expected,

at the time of his testing,

to be in top notch physical shape.

And karate training is often a boot camp of physicality,

But an instructor is not judged on his physical shape,

he is judged on his knowledge.

Here’s the cruel fact.

Schools that make instructors do not have tests 

that make the instructor demonstrate his knowledge.

Or if they do have tests, 

they are questions on things like history or lineage

and don’t deal with the exact physics

that make the martial arts work.

They rely on time,

or politics,

to make an instructor,

let alone a Master Instructor.

The master instructor course is a precise book,

illustrated by video,

of the EXACT knowledge necessary to be a master instructor.

When I ask for people to tell me what they gained from the course

I am simply making sure they read it and understand it.

I’ve only had a couple of people,

out of thousands,

who claim they knew this knowledge before the course,

and even then they were grateful.

I have a gift as a writer,

and as Amerus said,

I can’t put it into words like you did

And, 

I don’t charge for the certificate.

You buy the course and send in the win,

there are no extra charges.

I just appreciate the fact that there is one more person in the world 

who actually understands what he/she is doing.

Again,

thanks Amerus,

you did well.

And link is here…

The Master Instructor Course

Have a great work out!

Al

Don’t forget to check out the interview

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’ has 12 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 8 ratings for 5 stars.

‘The Science of Government’ has 7 ratings for 5 stars.

‘Chiang Nan’ has 6 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 the book that works for you.

How to Fix Karate:

A Karate Training and Workout Book

 (Two Volumes)

Muscle Memory in Fighting!

Muscle Memory in the Martial Arts!

Good morning!

Every kata is a prayer.

It is a moment in time

in which I summon up energies

built by the repetition of moves

over over 55 years.

Let’s talk about muscle memory.

One trains to make the muscles move in a certain way.

This is a path, a circuit of nerve impulses.

A to B to C to…to Z.

As one gets better and better

he stops using this ‘muscle memory’ path

and goes from A to Z.

You see,

if you subscribe to the muscle memory theory

then you are saying that your body is doing the fighting.

But it is you that is doing the fighting.

The muscle moves

because the impulses travel through the nervous system

and who gives the nervous system the command to move?

I ask people this sometimes

and they give me some amazing answers.

‘My brain.’

That’s a common answer,

and it shows that people don’t understand the brain.

The brain is, at best, a switchboard.

And if the brain moves the nerves moves the muscles,

who commands the brain.

‘My mind!’

That’s a great one.

Except the mind is just a bunch of memories.

It doesn’t do anything except react.

And if one is going to get to the heart of the martial arts

one must do more than react.

They must act.

And,

to get to the heart of the matter,

who gives the mind the command

to make the switchboard brain

tell the nerves to work,

to make the muscles move?

Okay.

The answer.

‘You.’

And here is the secret of the martial arts.

If you do your ‘prayers’

(your martial arts moves)

long enough…you will go back through

these body and mind systems

and find…you.

You are the creator of your life.

You make the choices.

You are not meat muscle,

you are not nervous twitches,

you are not the switchboard brain,

or the memory mind.

You are you.

And,

obligatory advertisement…

you’re going to find you a lot faster if you matrix.

Try 

‘The Last Martial Arts Book’

It has the meditation of Tai Chi,

the power of karate,

the easy and simple modular method

of pa kua chang.

(And, by the way,

get the one with the five hours of video included!

The one without the videos has all the five star ratings,

but $5 more gets you five hours of video instruction.)

End of advertisement,

so get back to your ‘prayers.’

And have a great work out!

Al

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.

Things to Know in ‘How to Fix Karate!’

Sales on ‘how to Fix Karate’ are picking up

and I thank you all.

With that in mind I should probably explain

a couple of things about the book(s).

If you haven’t got the books

this will still be interesting,

but…you need the books.

The book is big,

two volumes,

and it’s got a LOT of data in it.

But the basic principles are very simple.

First, 

the Pinans are taken apart,

every move is dissected for application,

and things that were missing are explained.

Things that were wrong are corrected.

But the Pinans are still random

and missing things.

Sure, there’s gold in them,

but when you look for workability

you look for two forms.

The first one is a Matrixing form

and it replaces Pinan one.

The second one is Sanchin.

I give you enough forms to make a system,

and to round you out as a martial artist,

but the essence is in those two forms.

Matrix One provides basics.

The Matrix of Blocks

makes those basics workable and intuitive.

The student gets a solid stance,

learns how the basics work,

and becomes strong.

He becomes like a tiger,

which is the animal symbol for karate.

Sanchin has been revised, too.

Yes, you get the power by sinking your stance,

but you don’t kill yourself

with blocks and getting beaten on.

You already learned the blocks in Matrix one,

instead,

you learn the real technique behind this form,

a slap and a grab function.

This is easier to learn than Matrix One

and the Matrix of Blocks,

but it won’t work without

the fundamental strength and blocks

of the matrixing form.

When you do the slap and the grab

you end up progressing naturally

into joint locks,

and secondary joint locks

and so on.

And it all works when you do

the freestyle method in the books!

So here’s the way to remember it,

Matrix One is like the Tiger

Sanchin,

when done the way I do it,

is like the Dragon.

The freestyle methods

work from a distance,

to a closer distance

to a closer distance.

The trick is to learn how to shift

from one distance to another.

Now,

that is the simplicity of the method.

Not endless years

trying to learn forms which are missing pieces

or are ill arranged.

Not two separate arts,

freestyle and the forms.

Not a glut of forms.

Just a couple of forms,

with abundant secondary forms

to teach you 

but not confuse you,

Not random techniques,

but a cold, hard logic

which can be learned in a couple of hours

and will change you into an intuitive monster

who can see what is coming

before it is even launched.

I hope this clears up

any misunderstanding

concerning

How to Fix Karate.

The book is massive,

and chock full of stuff,

but I wanted to give you this data

so you can better understand it,

and more easily learn from it.

Here’s the link to the first book,

How to Fix Karate (Vol One)

And the second book.

How to Fix Karate (Vol Two)

If the links don’t work

just use the Amazon search engine

(How to Fix Karate Al Case)

Make sure you email me

if you have trouble with the video links.

They all work,

but I believe there is some trouble with 

different computers or browsers.

Have a great work out!

Al

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.

Breeding Intuition in the Martial Arts!

Intuition is a sixth sense.

It is more than just hair standing up

on the back of the neck.

I was working in a factory,

when I was a young lad.

They all knew I studied martial arts,

some thought it cool,

others thought it was a joke.

One day one of the guys asked me about sword fighting.

We went into a storage room, very poor lighting,

and I was showing him how to grip the sword

how to stand, and so on.

I was using a piece of door track for a sword,

and it had a very jagged end.

Suddenly it felt like a huge hand was turning me around,

pulling the sword down.

One of the guys who thought my martial arts was a joke,

a fellow named Eddie,

thought he’d ‘get me.’

That was his exact thought,

I later found out,

when he was sneaking up behind me.

I turned and cut

right before he cold jump me.

Only the fact that I was resisting this big force

that was pulling me around,

did I managed to avoid slicing open his face.

As it was I cut a big gash in his chest.

Blood all over,

very nasty.

That was my sixth sense.

I cultivated it through the martial arts,

and it was like a big guard dog

watching over me,

attacking to protect me

whether I saw the threat or not.

It is actually very easy to cultivate that sixth sense.

You just practice your techniques.

Endlessly.

Seeking perfection.

BUT!

You will get that sixth sense ten times faster

if you matrix.

Look,

Matrixing is like that chart you had

up on the wall in second grade.

1 + 1

1 + 2

1 + 3

and so on.

Just a big chart with numbers down one side

and across the top,

and you get all the answers if you just read the chart.

No missing answers,

no wrong answers,

no extra answers.

You figure out the numbers,

practice them endlessly,

and suddenly,

one day,

you know the answers,

as opposed to having to think about them.

That is the same concept you use

when you matrix the martial arts. 

You just have to use this same method

with the martial arts.

Why does it take so long in regular ‘un-matrixed’ martial arts?

Because the techniques are random. 

They are not in order.

They don’t make sense when you view them,

not by themselves or as a whole.

You are practicing martial arts

without the context.

Period.

It takes ten or even twenty years

to develop your sixth sense 

doing the martial arts the regular way.

The odd thing is that you don’t have to give up your old method,

you just have to view it through the ‘matrix filter.’

It’s funny.

I’ve been pushing matrixing since 2007

and people still refuse it

call me a charlatan,

they don’t even have the brains

to look at it.

Anyway,

check it out at

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

Have a great work out!

Al

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.

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.

Highest Level Martial Arts!

Good morning!

I’ve always felt that

Karate is like chess

and boxing is like checkers.

They are played on the same board,

or in the same ring.

In essence,

they are games that analyze motion.

The motion of the body

the motion of the limbs

the motion of the opponent

In boxing,

the motion is dedicated to 

collisions of the fist with flesh.

In karate,

and the majority of other martial arts

the motion is dedicated to 

collisions of the fist and foot with flesh,

entangling limbs to trip, lock, throw, etc.

Some arts specialize more than others.

But,

still,

it is all about the analysis of motion.

And here we come to something interesting.

The highest stages of martial art

are dedicated to non-motion.

Simply,

you analyze motion

until you enter a state of non-motion.

The easiest example of this

that I can think of.

You and Joe Blow are playing soccer.

You are racing for the ball.

You are running next to each other 

at the same speed,

and you notice that you and Joe are motionless

compared to the background moving behind you.

You and Joe are in your own world.

Strange things happen when you are in your own world.

Time can be manipulated.

Between the two of you

you can agree to a passage of time

that is different from

the passage of time in the ‘real’ universe.

Now,

if you practice long and hard

you can create this sense of time without Joe.

You just look at an opponent

and different rules apply.

Motion becomes different.

it becomes uniquely adjusted by one person

agreeing for both people.

Read that one again,

it’s so damned simple it’s difficult.

It took me decades to find that reality,

that different sense of time,

that place where my sense of self

was strong enough to affect

the universe outside myself.

So,

how do you find this place?

First,

meditate through forms.

Second,

meditate through form applications (techniques).

Third,

when you freestyle with somebody,

eschew violence for staring at them so hard

that you end up feeling like you are in a tube.

One day I asked my instructor

if he had ever had any mystical experiences.

He said that one day

he was working out

and was looking down a long tube at his opponent.

He said the tube felt like it was 60 feet long.

He could see everything before it happened.

He even knew what his opponent was thinking.

When I was in my fifties,

some twenty years ago,

I had that experience.

I only felt like I was about 10 feet from my opponent,

but it was a stable experience,

not a one time thing.

At that time I started doing a mental drill.

And I think it helped me.

I would do forms,

often with my eyes closed,

or in a dark room,

and visualize myself as fifty feet above myself;

looking down ast my body.

I would tell my body,

 way down there,

how to move.

This brought an incredible sense of peace to myself

and I truly felt like I was expanding

as a martial artist,

and as a human being.

Have fun with this.

And, have fun with this little video clip.

MB 114 slap grab options

And don’t forget to drop by

http://www.monstermartialarts.com

Have a great work out!

Al

Hi, 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.

And don’t forget to drop by

http://www.monstermartialarts.com

Have a great work out!

Al

Hi, 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

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.

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

!!!OBLIGATORY ADVERTISEMENT!!!
Go to…

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

Stop being entertained by fake movies
and learn how to use a real weapon

And don’t forget to check out the interview
https://anchor.fm/dale-gillilan/episodes/S1E10—Al-Case-e12e3np

BTW
I’m always pushing my novels,
did you know I write other stuff?
If you want to know the truth about government,
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/