How is Kung Fu Power Different that Karate Power?

Newsletter 881

Comparing the Power of Karate to the Power of Kung Fu

The instructors in Karate and Kung Fu
don’t tell you what I am about to tell you.
The reason is simple,
they don’t know,
or if they do know,
they don’t really understand.
Which is to say they surround it in mystical terms.
With Matrixing,
of course,
there are no mystical terms.
There is only the real science of the martial arts.

So,
power in karate comes from:
sinking the weight
thrusting the weight
turning the hips

This is simple stuff,
most instructors might know one or two of these things,
never all three…
AND THEY DON’T KNOW HOW TO USE THEM TO CREATE THE FOURTH POWER!
chi.

But this is covered in depth in The Master Instructor’s course.
For here and now,
let it suffice to say
that every move should have these three items,
and in the proper mix.

Now,
power in Kung Fu is similar:
dropping the weight
thrusting the weight
turning the whole body

It’s funny,
the two arts have the same principles
but they are different in a super major aspect.
That aspect is turning the hips (karate)
versus turning the whole body (Kung Fu)

Karate tends to turn the hips in a tight area.
putting the body weight into the strike very efficiently.

Kung Fu turns the whole body,
which includes the hips,
in a larger area.

Now,
don’t get me wrong,
there are going to be some arts
some techniques,
which overlap in this analysis.
And there is a simplicity here
which might be misleading.

But if you look at Shaolin on youtube,
and I use Shaolin as the example because it is considered
(by many)
to be the grandfather of the martial arts,
you will often find the body spinning in a large circle.
Sometimes it will end in a stance with an explosion,
but the power was generated by spinning the whole body,
then condensing the power manufactured in the spin
and sticking it into the technique.

I have come across descriptions of Shaolin
which talk about the axis of the body
(the centerline of north and south pole,
or crown and anus)
spinning,
and the rest of the body being a ‘flag.’
And this then gets real mystical.
I recommend Tai Chi Touchstones,
if you are interested in deciphering this.
Touchstones is not totally scientific,
but being translated by a westerner
(Douglas Wile)
it is couched in terms that can be taken as scientific.

Anyway,
we are talking two different methods here,
but based on the same principles,
with one of the principles expanded.
Which one is right?

They are both right.
You just have to know how to develop each method of power,
and then know when to use them.

So,
I usually just say
go check out the Master Instructor course.
But let me give you the two arts discussed here.
The whole arts on the courses,
forms, techniques, theory, everything.
You can easily develop the two types of power.

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

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/6-shaolin-butterfly/

Check them out,
they are easy to understand,
because they aren’t written mystically,
but rather scientifically.
Matrixing, ya know.

Have a great work out!

Al

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

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/6-shaolin-butterfly/

http://www.martialartsinstructortraining.com

http://www.amazon.com/Binary-Matrixing-Martial-Arts-Case/dp/1515149501/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1437625109&sr=8-1&keywords=binary+matrixing

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:

https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,

Google doesn’t like newsletters,

so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!

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

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

The Greatest Strategy in the Martial Arts

Newsletter 821 ~ sign up now!

What’s with All the Bowing Stuff in the Martial Arts?

“Politeness is the greatest strategy.”
Al Case

The most polite man i have ever met
was my instructor in the Kang Duk Won.
He was also the best martial artist I ever saw,
which leads to an interesting possibility:

Politeness goes hand in hand with competence.

Think about it,
if you are polite,
honestly polite,
then you won’t be scared,
you won’t have hidden demons driving you,
the martial arts will have expunged you of all that.
You will be honestly competent.

So practice politeness
as well as seek competence.

Now,
with that in mind,
what is the purpose of bowing in the martial arts?
Aside from my little diatribe on politeness,
why should people keep bowing and bowing all the time?

On one level,
it is a sign of respect.
I respect the work you’ve done,
the level you’ve reached.
And under that is the implied question:
will you teach me.
And the teacher bows to show respect
to those who have come seeking his instruction.

On another level,
it is merely saying hi.
hi to everybody in the school.
Hi to everybody who contributed to the school,
even if they are passed on,
a simple greeting to your friends.

With those two viewpoints in mind,
here are the times you would bow.

Bow when entering the school.
Bow to senior classmates.
Bow to junior classmates.
Bow when stepping onto the mat.
Bow to the instructor,
especially when asking a question.
Bow after receiving instruction.
Bow at the beginning of class.
Bow at the end of class.
Bow before you engage in any drill,
be it sparring, form, etc.
Immediately disengage and bow
if an injury has occurred
as a result of something you’ve done.

AND,
bow to a classmate outside of school,
or,
if not considered appropriate,
give him/her some sign of greeting.

AND,
whenever entering another school,
always bow,
show that you have studied the martial arts,
and that you are aware of martial etiquette.

Sounds like a lot of bowing,
yes?
Well, it is,
but let me offer an insight.
I can’t imagine not bowing,
I strive to bow the most,
to set the best example of being polite.
I am constantly running into students
who are surprised when I bow to them.
But,
it encourages them to bow.
And,
it makes you feel good.

Imagine walking into a school gymnasium,
or an auditorium,
with 500 people present.
Imagine yelling out…
HI EVERYBODY!
And having them all yell to you…
HI, AL!

After near 50 years in the arts,
that’s what it feels like to me
when I bow.

And I like to think
that maybe I’m as competent as I am polite.
One can hope.

Here’s a link to the martial arts
I have been studying for near 50 years.
Take a look,
and see if I’ve made any inroads,
if the changes i have made from the classical
have value.

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

have a great work out!

Al

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

go to and subscribe to this newsletter:
https://alcase.wordpress.com

Remember,
Google doesn’t like newsletters,
so this is the best way to ensure you get them.

You can find all my books here!
http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

The Difference Between Tai Chi Chuan and Karate

Tai Chi Chuan vs Karate

One of my work out partners,
way back in the Kang Duk Won,
decided he was going to do Tai Chi Chuan.
He figured it would be easy,
because of his karate conditioning.
He threw his back out so badly
it took him two years to recover.

Soft, flowing Tai Chi Chuan,
and it was too tough for a young karate guy.
What’s wrong with that picture, eh?

What is wrong is simple,
when Bruce, my friend,
did Tai Chi he thought he could just do a karate kick slowly.
But karate is fast and explosive,
the leg is out and back,
in Tai Chi the muscles have to strain to keep the leg up.
And I mean a whole sequence of muscles.
Bruce’s muscles,
though karate powerful,
couldn’t support the leg for an extended period of time,
and the result of his attempting to do such a thing
disrupted the muscles
all the way back to the spine..

Now isn’t that interesting,
tai chi chuan has more ‘weight lifting’
in its moves.
Karate has the fast explosion,
and the muscle tightening (focus)
builds the muscles.
But those muscles are built
at the beginning and end of the move.
In Tai Chi the muscles must support the weight,
throughout the move,
for a long(er) period of time.

A simple difference,
but it leads to an important concept.

Karate is explosive energy.
Tai Chi is suspended energy.

The difference manifests in movements,
in timing,
in focus of concentration,
in emptiness,
in energy.

Now we could actually analyze these differences
from different points of view.
But what I’ve said here is probably the best point to start.

Not speed,
not sensitivity,
though those are important,
but defining how energy is actually used.
Because how energy is used
defines the other terms.
This concept is core.

This is not to discourage you from trying,
but to caution you,
and help you make the transition.

If you do your karate forms slowly,
and round out the edges of your motion,
you can get Tai Chi power.
Just take it easy when you begin.

If you do your Tai Chi forms fast,
you can find Karate power,
and pretty easily.
But you do have to adapt to a different mind set.

Explosive and slow
two sides to a coin,
two sides to the martial arts.
And there are many more sides that these concepts can lead to.

Here’s the link to the Five Army Tai Chi Chuan course.

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/five-army-tai-chi-chuan/

Have a great work out!
Al

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/five-army-tai-chi-chuan/

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

Are Old Time Martial Arts Better?

Was It Really Better in the Old Days?

You always hear the term about ‘the good, old days.’ And, in the martial arts, this is really true. I always hear people thinking back to when men were men, and sheep were…you know.

But it is a legitimate question.

On one hand, you have the great arts coming out of the orient. I was studying back in the sixties and seventies, so the main arts were judo and karate, with a smattering of Kung Fu. We studied in in dirty dojos and did manic drills. We brooked no nonsense, and we were patient with beginners.

On the other hand, you have designer water, contracts and classes in the Y, at the gym, down on the corner, and in every friend’s garage.

So, my personal opinion is that the martial arts were better. I started at a McDojo, then went to a classical korean Karate school (Kang Duk Won).

The McDojo was the state of art to come, with thick mats and air conditioning and tournament freestyle and contracts and good looking chickies.

The Kang Duk Won had a mat that had been ripped and stitched so many times it was like walking across Frankenstein’s face. The bag went to the cobbler’s every week. We packed out own bags for better texture and weight and resistance to our endless kicks. Warn’t no chickies allowed.

The McDojo had shiny trophies, high fives for points, and you pressed your gi before class.

The Kang Duk Won you did hundreds of kicks, you didn’t wash your gi, and you couldn’t press the clutch down because your shins were so badly bruised.

In modern times we have scientific achievements that enable one to get more strength in the muscle.

Of course, modern times has a lot of junk science and internet gimmicks, so…?

Now, it’s pretty obvious which way I am biased. I was there, I don’t think alzheimer’s has obscured my memories of those old work outs, and I have seen modern schools that teach 18 arts on their front sign, but are a jumble of bags and exercise equipment inside.

But, nobody made me God, and if you think otherwise, then go ahead and tear me a new one. Heck, I might even learn something!

And, if you are old school like me, then feel free to leave your memory. Heck, it might just become legend!

If you want to read more about old time martial arts and the Kang Duk Won, try KangDukWon.com!

Muscle Memory versus Martial Arts Training

Martial Arts Reaction Time…

I find that there is vast misunderstanding in the martial arts as to what mushin no shin is…people usually and incorrectly compare it to reaction time.

Now, to be precise, when people talk about mushin no shin they mix it in with not just reaction time, but especially muscle memory. The idea they are coming from is that if you do something long enough then it becomes intuitive, and even ‘on automatic.’

Mushin no shin…free from the restraints of the physics of the universe

Mushin no shin means mind of no mind. Another way of saying this would be time of no time.

Which is to say that there is no mind, or memory in this case, involved.

When you train in reaction time, when you build ‘muscle memory,’ then you are building memory, and memory is based on time.

But mushin no shin refers to no time…to perceiving things as they are, and not through the artifices, or demanding the reaction time, of muscle memory.

Now, the real world difference is this.

You feel a tap on the shoulder, you spin, you chop, your grandmother, who was offering you a plate of cookies, goes down for the count.

That is reaction time. It is not intuitive, it is knee jerk reaction.

Or, you feel a presence behind you, or, better yet, without feeling the presence behind you, you turn in concert with the tap of the finger to your shoulder.

There is no contact because you have merged with the action. There is no reaction; there is no moving after the fact, or moving violently because of something.

That is mushin no shin.

The first time I ever experienced mushin no shin I was 16. I was at a bowling alley, and one of the bowlers put a pencil on the slanted desk, and it started rolling.

I watched it, and watched it, and time started to stretch out and become inconsequential…I was ‘in the moment,’ free from reaction time.

The world glowed, and I felt this delicious sense of freedom. I realized that I had total control over the flight of the pencil. I could move any way I wanted to, and there were no boundaries or limits.

The pencil fell, and I reached out and plucked it out of the air.

A fellow there said he had never seen such fast reaction time in his life.

But it wasn’t reaction time…I was moving in between moments of time. I wasn’t using muscles to make motion, I was making motion directly, as an Awareness, as an ‘I am.’ And this was without any martial arts training; years before I ever started training in the martial arts.

Now, a quirk of the moment, was that experience, and the real problem came when I tried to make it happen at will. Couldn’t do it. I needed the training.

And, even with the martial arts training, it took me nearly 20 years before I started experiencing these things as a matter of course.

The point here, however, is that it is not muscle memory, or reaction time. Muscle memory trains the body, but not the awareness, and that is knee jerk out of control. Reaction time means something has to happen before you act. Neither of these are mushin no shin.

Mushin no shin is when you are aware of life as it happens, without the interference of muscle memory, or reaction time, or training, or anything.

People who are asleep use the term muscle memory, or reaction time, to describe phenomena they don’t understand.

What makes it really confusing is when you get some fellow who trains for years, then tries to explain what he is experiencing. in the western world we fall back on the inadequate descriptions provided by science, a science which, I might add, has never adequately explained such concepts as are manifested when a person is showing mushin no shin.

Terms such as ‘reaction time,’ and ‘muscle memory,’ are offered by western science for concepts they do not understand.

The term mushin no shin is used to describe a person who is free from muscle memory, has no reaction time, and is in a realm beyond the simple physics of the universe. He is in a second set of physics, the physics of sixth senses and intuition and dreams and all sorts of things.

Mushin no shin is used when a person is not confined by his memories, and other such limitations to the human spirit.

Here are some articles which touch upon the procedure for waking the person mired in Martial Arts reaction time, and endowing him with muslin no shin.

Karate Puzzle makes for Incredible Martial Arts Learning Experience!

Speed up Learning with a Karate Puzzle!

The Karate Puzzle is the brainchild of Andreas Sturm.

Now, unfortunately for non-Germanic speaking people, the website is written in German. A wonderful language that I can’t speak.

Andreas Sturm, inventor of the Karate Puzzle

However, a little work with the google translator, and it is easy!

The puzzles themselves are sliding images, and all you have to do is figure out which button to click to mix up the images, then slide them back into place!

Now, I found this quite interesting, and it did tax my poor brain. Even after doing the forms for over forty years, I found myself having to sort through the pictures to figure out the sequence.

And, sorting them in this fashion will help your ability to learn the forms and do them faster.

It really is ingenious, and one of those things where you slap your head and think, ‘Why didn’t I think of this?’

But you didn’t, and Andreas did, and well done to him.

There are seventeen kata on the puzzle page, a full range of the Shotokan forms. This will keep you busy into the wee hours, so when you can’t get to the dojo, you can simply open a soda pop, go through the various forms, and get yourself an armchair work out that actually works!

As for Mr. Sturm…he began his study of Karate in 1995, and began instructing in 2002.

Though the website is in a foreign language, using the translator I was able to read it pretty easily, though a bit slower than I am used to. It is a good website, fileld with solid information, and, of course, there are the puzzles.

Interested in visiting the site? It is at Karate Puzzle.

This article was written by Al Case, for more information on fantastic martial arts training methods like the Karate Puzzle, visit him at Monster Martial Arts.

In Karate Pain Can Be a Good Thing!

In Karate Pain is Not Necessarily Bad!

Karate pain might be good, and it might be bad. It depends on the circumstances.

I know, we’ve all heard the saying, ‘No pain, no gain,’ but that isn’t what this is all about.

In Karate Pain can be an instruction

You see, there are two types of Karate Pains.

One type of Karate Pain is the real injury. The broken bone, the accidental punch in the nose or poke in the eyes. These injuries, these types of Karate pain are real and should be attended to.

If you’re bleeding, stop the durned bleeding. If you’re nose is broken, see a doctor. A poke in the eye could result in all manner of eye problems.

So you take care of it.

The thing here is to be able to tell the difference between karate pain that is real, and karate pain that is in the mind.

A bruise isn’t usually serious. So just inspect it, take care of it if you have to, and move on.

A dislocated joint, better get that sucker looked at.

A bone bruise…hmmm.

Bone bruises, especially when they are the result of some fast and intense sparring, can be quite painful.

I remember a blocking exercise which kept me in bone bruises for years.

I remember overextending punches, and suffering bone bruises inside the elbow joint where the bones slapped together. That was painful for a long time.

But, bruises, even bone bruises, are just something you go through.

The karate blocking exercise I spoke of, it was called the eight step blocking exercise, and we did it every class, and we all had constant bruising of the forearms.

BUT, after a couple of years of this we would be doing freestyle, do a block, and our opponents would yelp in pain. Simply, we got used to the pain, started ignoring it, and got the abilities that we wouldn’t have gotten if we hadn’t persisted in our karate classes.

And there were other exercises, some quite painful, that gave us abilities that people who don’t take karate, or other martial arts like kung fu or taekwondo, would never get.

The ability to grip somebody with a hand and bring them to their knees simply by squeezing.

The ability to get calm and focused when terrible things are happening and everybody else is going into a state of panic.

There is a saying, you don’t make an omelet without breaking eggs. Man, is this true.

For seven years I broke eggs. I still have bumps on the bones in my forearms from the durned eight step blocking exercise.

But when it comes to getting things done, I’m the go to guy.

Simply, I have faced pain, and now no the difference between real pain, and fake pain, the kind of pain one should just ignore and go ahead with his work.

This is something that is not taught in school.

And, truth, this is something that makes people great.

Pioneers of America had this quality. There was nobody there when they broke a wagon or got shot with an arrow or whatever, and so they had to fix everything themselves.

In recent times this ability, to forge ahead when the going gets tough, has been weaned out of people. But the martial arts, especially exercises that result in the karate pain i describe here, bring this ability out again.

Here’s a great article on the toughest Martial Arts class I ever taught. And if you are seriously interested in finding out more about this Karate pain type of thing, and how it can help you, check out the Evolution of an Art course at Monster Martial Arts.

How to Do The Classical Karate Horse Stance Form

The Iron Horse Kata

Tekki One, also called the Iron Horse, and other names, is considered a pivotal form in Karate.

Gichin Funakoshi, who is considered the father of modern day Karate, thought the form good enough that he spent ten years doing it.

Sure, he did other forms, stayed well rounded, but his real focus was on endless repetitions of the Tekki Form.

Power in a Horse Stance

The Iron Horse is not a long form. Maybe a dozen moves, depending on your variation or school, but it is an energy heavy form.

All that time spent in the horse stance builds amazing amounts of pure energy. Simply, being that low, the legs have to work, and the tan tien has to work, and the result is oodles of energy, or ki power, as they call it.

The iron Horse is also not a technique heavy form. Actually, the techniques are just an assortment of odd blocks, useful in odd situations. The real thrill, however, is learning to go sideways in stance.

This is actually pretty important, as one should be able to move fast, and still drive his weight into the  ground, if he wants to develop any serious combat abilities with the art of Karate.

The things to remember when doing Tekki are simple.

First, keep your stance low and your weight down.

Second, keep the hips low and level.

Third, let the hips turn when you move, don’t jam up the body by trying to move the legs sideways without the benefit of aligned hips.

Fourth, focus on breathing.

Fifth, focus on the loose-tight aspect of the hands.

And, there’s a lot more, but these other factors will become apparent if one just focuses on these beginning five concepts.

Now, as to where the form came from, that’s an interesting question.

My instructor told me that it was so people could fight in rice paddies, so they could move side to side in the slick earth. I think that’s a pretty good one, but probably a myth.

Another one I heard is simply to enable a student to fight while on the back of a horse. But horses were scarce back then, and, hmmm. Sounds a bit mythical, too.

Personally, I think the form just evolved, maybe from some instructor who had limited room to work out in.

You can pick up Tekki One, and a thousand variations on youtube. These versions, however, are usually tailored to tournament, and will lack a lot when it comes to instructions. My advice is to pick the simplest version you can find, and stick to the basic principles I have outlined here.

The Meanest Taekwondo Kicks You Can Ever Develop!

Want Hard Kicks?

Out of all the great kicks I have ever witnessed, and this includes all my practice in Karate, Taekwondo and Kenpo, the ones Ted launched were the best. This was back a ways, back in the last century, and training methods were just becoming known. And the things we did were often extreme, to say the least.

Practicing Kicking in 1974.

We often didn’t have hanging bags, so we would kick mailboxes and telephone poles and whatever else came to foot. The crucial item to this, however, was good form, and the number of times you threw a foot while practicing. I tell you the truth when I say that how much you practiced was the key to it all.

Ted was known for throwing lots of kicks. Most of the budding kenpoka would throw a dozen kicks each side, not all the kicks, and consider that they were breaking a sweat, so they must have really worked out. Do you understand?

Ted would saunter into the dojo a couple of hours before class and begin work. He would start with yoga, do a full regimen of stretching, and then he would start his work out. Two hundred kicks for each side for each particular kick.

I know what you’re thinking, they were only airkicks, right? Nada. He would start with air, move into bag work, and by the end of his workout he was really pounding those bozos.

Most important was his attention to detail. He was obsessed with his hips being just right, the arc of his foot being perfect, and the shape of his foot upon impact. He was a perfectionist, to say the least.

One day he was driving home, got behind somebody sleeping at a stoplight, and he tooted his horn. This big, huge, monster got out of the car and stomped back towards Ted. Ted stepped out, raised his hands for peace (a perfect ready position in the martial arts), and tried to move back.

The monster drew back a gnarly fist and started to punch. Ted launched a rather perfect and speedy wheel kick to the chest. The bully sat down on the asphalt and stared up in shock.

“I don’t want to do this, man!” But the bully got up and charged. Ted executed a perfectly arced, full hipped, ball of foot wheel kick to the man’s chest.

The fellow collapsed to the ground, and Ted got into his Ford and drove off. And the message here is pretty easy to get. No matter which art you do, Karate, Kenpo or Taekwondo or whatever, pay attention to detail, and practice like you mean it.

How Karate was Ruined 60 Years Ago!

Martial Arts Horror Story!

Hello and Good morning!
A wonderful work out to you!
That’s what it is all about…
working out
day after day
letting the results build up
until you become unstoppable!

It’s true.

Do you know this Okinawan Karate Master?

Okey donkey,
want to talk to you about what karate is.
Remember,
as you read this,
that you could well be asking
what kung fu is,
or what taekwondo is,
or any other martial art.
All martial arts have their own horror stories.
This happens to be the Karate version.
Well,
one of the karate versions.

Karate was invented in Okinawa.
Came to Japan in the 20s – 40s,
caught on with the rest of the world,
and everybody started assuming that Karate was Japanese.

Nope.
Karate is Okinawan,
and it has roots in China,
but techniques were taken from everywhere
put together in Okinawa,
and became one of the most powerful
closed combat systems ever.

People could shatter bricks with a punch,
twist green bamboo until it splintered,
and sorts of other things.

Now,
the most powerful political Japanese Karate association
is the JKF
Japanese Karate Federation.
They decided that Karate should
be done in gis,
should adhere to a belt rank system,
systematized terminology
set up a competitive format
and so on.

Some of these things are good,
some are bad,
some are mixed.
so let’s talk about the Shitei kata.
(Shee-tay)

Shitei means ‘specified’ form,
and these kata are required
before anybody is allowed to be in any tournament.
You must do them in a certain way,
with specified technique, rhythm, stances, timing, and so on.
There is NO room for personal interpretation.
The shitei kata are

Seienchin & Bassai Dai (Shito-ryu)
Jion & Kanku Dai (Shotokan)
Saifa & Seipai (Goju-ryu)
Seishan & Chinto (Wado-ryu)

So these kata have shaped and formed Karate
for quite some time.
Not just the kata,
but doing them EXACTLY as you are told to.

Here’s the interesting thing…
in 1981
20 Okinawan masters complained about the forms.
These were the best Karate masters in the world,
and they wrote a letter to the JKF
and said such things as
‘the forms were in miserable condition’
‘weren’t pure and traditional’
‘were done for sport and competition’
‘took too long to master’
‘no Okinawan master had ever been consulted on the forms’
‘were incorrectly named’
and so on.

The letter was politely stated,
and ignored.
Oh,
there was a response,
but it was basically
‘we know better,’
f u very much.

Now,
the buzz is up
because the forms were finally discarded.
After some 60 years somebody realized
that these forms were nothing but
some wannabe Japanese masters favorites.

So,
politics.
Sheesh.
And for some 60 years
Karate has been shaped along these lines,
and stupid people bowed and went along with it all.
Here it is 2012,
I am so glad I studied the Kang Duk Won
and never studied the bastard versions
of that incredible art.

Yes,
you heard me.
Bastard versions.
Versions without parents.
Versions that ignored
the hard work of hundreds of years
of collecting and perfecting
a closed combat system
of incredible power.

So,
here we are now,
and I ask you…
what is true Karate?

Matrix Karate is the truth.
It is based upon logic that cannot be argued with.
It is simple and easy to remember,
it is easy to learn and apply.

How many of you have studied systems
with dozens of forms
hundreds of techniques,
and no logic.
Just put together whimsical stuff.

Man,
you can still feel the power,
but…
20 years to learn?
30?
Where’s the joy?
Eh?

And,
not just karate.
The People’s Republic of China
rewrote
from the ground up
Kung Fu.
All Kung Fu.
You would be hard pressed to find
real Kung Fu these days.

Oh,
you can still feel the power,
but unless you have roots
to systems outside the PRC,
from people who fled the communists,
you aren’t doing real Kung Fu.

And every system is like that.

What’s the solution?
Study Matrix Karate,
or Shaolin Butterfly or whatever Matrix course interests you
then,
from the basis of logic,
you can see what has been done to your system,
and you can rewrite it
so that it is true to the original.
Sometimes better than the original.

If you want to know the real martial arts,
if you want to know what the masters were doing
back when they first came up with this stuff,
you have to matrix.
You just have to.

Okay,
I had to write this stuff,
sorry for the heavy handed ad,
but the news that JKF is
at last
admitting that they might have gotten it wrong…
that is powerful news
and deserves to be passed along.

If you want a good article
on one technical fix
for Karate,
google

‘the back stance mistake that ruins karate’

You’ll get an idea of what I am talking about in this article
and how you can fix karate.

And,
the URL for Matrix Karate is…

http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Matrix_Karate.html

You guys and gals
have a great work out
and don’t forget to party hearty this weekend!

Happy Labor Day!

Talk to you later.

Al