New Book on Nine Square Diagram Tai Chi Chuan!

What a beautiful day!

For me, what mades it so is the one form I do.

I start off the day with this form,

and I end the day with this form.

Oh, I still do Sanchin (including Seisan)

and my matrix forms,

but the one form that geets my full intention

day after day,

is in my new book

Advanced Tai Chi Chuan for Real Self Defense!

In this book I get rid of ALL the mystical bushwah,

and I focus on the dozen postures.

The moves that actually work, and can be used in freestyle.

The form is done on the nine square pattern,

it is short, 

and I do it with closed eyes.

This aids in visualization

and really starts the energy flowing.

There are about 30 techniques taken directly from this form,

and I have a section on Lop Sau,

which helps understand how the moves can be translated from

the perfection of form

to the discipline of application

to the chaos of freestyle.

The book is 108 pages,

has included some matrixing theories,

and…

I do it every day.

Rain or shine.

I do it slowly,

Tai Chi style,

And it is the only form in the art of 

Nine Square Diagram Boxing!

SO,

check it out…

Advanced Tai Chi Chuan for Real Self Defense!

And 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)

The Five Armies of Tai Chi Chuan!

I say Tai Chi Chuan,

but these five armies. are usable

in every martial art.

The five armies are:

the wrists

the elbows

the shoulders

the waist

the feet

It’s pretty simple,

actually.

If you understand a little push hands

it will really make sense,

but even if you don’t,

there is a logic here that can’t be denied.

If somebody grabs your wrist simply roll it.

This escapes all wrist grips,

and provides wrist twist counters,

and opens up a LOT of other doors.

If somebody pushes on your forearm,

simply fold it back.

The idea is to let the person fall past

and circle your arm to strike him.

If the person is closer

and pushes on your shoulder, or your upper arm

so that it affects the shoulder,

circle the shoulder.

If somebody is pushing on your body,

turn the waist.

If somebody has penetrated past the waist,

simply shift back,

let him pass.

Okay,

this is designed for push hands,

but push hands is designed for martial combat.

So you don’t have to be in push hands mode,

if somebody is pressing an attack

on one of the five areas,

or zones,

or whatever you want to call it,

just use one of the five armies.

Shift back and:

roll

fold

circle

turn

shift.

If you can do all of them that is great.

That is applying CBM

(Coordinated Body Motion-using the body as one unit)

to the technique.

Now,

if you stop thinking about him coming in,

and start thinking about you moving forward,

you end up with the total strike.

You push with the feet

as you turn the waist

and circle the shoulder

and unfold the elbows

and snap the wrist.

So you can apply the Five Armies concept

to defense or offense.

Or any combination of attack and defense.

This concept is demonstrated for Tai Chi

in my

Five Army Tai Chi Chuan course

I would also recommend,

if you are more into Karate or the striking arts,

my book on

Chiang Nan

The point isn’t that this stuff hasn’t been done,

it’s just never been explained in a clear and concise manner

the way I do it.

Check them out,

and have a fantastic work out!

Al

How to Fix Karate:

A Karate Training and Workout Book

 (Two Volumes)

(There is a version with five hours of video

but you have to hunt for it on Amazon)

And don’t forget to give me five stars!

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 that useful

find the book/course that is right for you,

and matrix your own martial arts.

Turn Up the Heat on Chi Development

Newsletter 740
Turning Up the Chi Heat

Listen,
here’s a bit of data that not many people know,
and don’t understand if they do.

The word tan tien,
the hieroglyphics that make that word,
have to do with a fire giving off heat.
Some linguist can take me to task,
but that’s my understanding.
The tan tien is an oven giving off heat.

New Gung Fu book!
Click on the Cover!

Now,
here’s the funny thing,
most forms of martial arts
do not cause the tan tien
to generate heat.

It’s true.

Yes,
a little heat.
But there is so much emphasis on correct posture
that people miss the ‘incorrect posture’
that is necessary for giving off heat.

I know Karate is that way,
most Kung Fu styles are that way,
and I know that even I
sometimes misrepresent it.

But the reason I misrepresent this fact
of the tan tien giving off heat
is because learning proper alignment
is more important.
At least,
in the beginning.

So let’s assume you aren’t a beginner,
and want to learn about
the real alignment necessary
for your tan tien to give off heat.

Be subtle when you do what I am about to tell you.

Tuck the hips,
and round the back.

In pa kua I refer to this as
‘turtle backing.’

And,
you will find this posture
in arts such as pa kua and using i.
Not so much Tai Chi,
though some instructors will note it,
but not normally the Yang instructors.

Now,
do your form with tucked hips
and rounded back.
Make sure your body is relaxed,
and you tighten only your fists.
Make sure you are properly grounded with your feet.

After doing a half dozen forms,
or repetition of a form,
go sit down somewhere and wait.

Sure enough,
if you’ve done it right,
you will feel a sensation of heat
rising up through your body.

And,
the sensation can get QUITE strong.

So,
what do we do with this?

Well,
heat is a manifestation of energy,
so if you are generating heat,
you are generating energy.
Simple dimple.

Now all you have to do is think of your fists
when you strike from that ‘back rounded’ position,
and the energy will start to go into your fists.

And,
a note,
proper body alignment,
taking into account
that it is now okay to round the back
and learn how to line energy through it,
will increase energy to all parts of your body.

Okay.

Want more?

Check out
Matrixing Chi
on the Monster website.

4c Matrixing Chi Power

And,
a good bet is the book on
The Punch.

4d The Punch

Okely dokely.
I’ll try to get in some kind of groove here,
I’ve been late and missing on putting out the newsletter,
but I can only get better,
eh?

Now,
have a great work out!

Al

Learning Tai Chi Sword Secrets

The Tai Chi Sword Illuminated

As far as swords go, it is a loser. It is skinny and thin, not able to take the bashing of force like a sabre. It only has curve at the tip, not able to slice through armor like a samurai sword.

Yet, in the skinny is the strength. And in the lack of curve is the art. Indeed, the tai chi sword may be the ultimate weapon.

Learn Five Army Tai Chi Chuan

Skinny, it is light and quick, more like a knitting needle than a sword. Yet a knitting needle carves the most beautiful garments. And to watch knitting needles in the hands of a practiced granny is to see the twinkling of art come alive.

Down the length of steel the tip curves, a mere inch of cutting surface. Yet, who among us has not experienced the scratch of needle tip. Indeed, a mere scratch can leave jagged wound that is unwilling to readily heal.

The real point here is that such a delicate instrument is not meant for bashing or massive slicing any more than a doctors scalpel. It is meant for reaching in and tipping. It is meant for the delicate move which slides in under, over and past the basher and the cutter.

A delicate insertion, a quick flick of the wrist, and art is attained. This art is an appreciation of the space around the practitioner. This appreciation of space is at the heart of the art.

Cutters and bashers are fence painters, splashing indiscriminately, and ruling by force. The wielder of the tai chi sword, however, is a an artist, a sculptor, a doctor. He rules by intelligence.

For he who holds the tai chi sword must hold sway by exercising the intelligence to perceive, and thus undo, the force of the basher and the ruthlessness of the cutter. He must undercut brute force with intelligence to prove himself. Therein is the striving, the accomplishment, and the art, for the true artist to behold.

Matrix Tai Chi Chuan is the quickest and most combat ready Tai Chi Chuan art in the world.

How to Matrix Meditation

This is how you Matrix Meditation in the Martial Arts

I want to give a win from Justin Harris.
Justin is one of the best martial artists I have seen,
and he really understands the matrixing.
For instance,
here is his win,
his matrix
on meditation.
I have always sidestepped meditation,
except for some specific advice on just learning
not to be distracted,
to extend intention
as a manifestation of awareness.
He goes a lot further than I
and in a lot fewer words.
Here go…

The first and only science of the martial arts…matrixing.

Meditate with this advanced form of Tai Chi Chuan…

Hello Al,

I hope everything is well with you. I have studied the mind and self hypnosis and meditation and qigong and other such mental disciplines since I was about 9 years old. Well after going over the Master Instructor course again in a very thorough fashion it hit me to solve these meditative disciplines and well. It worked. I identified three basics of all meditative disciplines.
Focus, Visualization, and Receptivity (Better Known to most folks as Relaxation or Letting Go).  Every meditative practice (including qigong and martial arts) uses these three basics.

Focus is simply holding awareness on a given thing.

Visualization is creating a thought or image

Receptivity is relaxing and listening or trance state work etc.

For example in martial arts as meditative practice one could:
Focus on an aspect of the practice
visualize energy, applications, etc.
Or practice the forms and be aware of the body and how it moves.

This demystifies meditation in an incredibly useful way. There are three skills to work on. No more saying I focus on my third eye and chant the proper mantra because this is how we meditate. Rather a clear precise aim for gaining the benefits and skills of meditation without needlessly being lost in the mire of traditions and forms. A Western Hermeticist can focus on Kabalah, the Daoist can do Qigong and martial arts, or the Christian can meditatively read the Bible but the inescapable truth is all these seemingly disparate arts only differ in focus and intention NOT in the skills used.

Well I’ve chewed on your ear long enough. I’d like to hear your take on all this stuff. Take care and thanks again for all the help and education!

Chewed on my ear.
Ha!
I love it.
If you are into meditation,
take a look at his words again,
he sums it up perfectly.

And,
as a martial artist,
if you do forms,
you are meditating.
Many people don’t realize this,
think they are just exercising,
body building,
and so on.
But the truth of the matter is
when you are doing a form,
you are focusing awareness
on precise moves.

You are therefore meditating.

You have to invest your body with intention,
which is the focus of awareness,
and you have to make the transition
from posture to posture
without losing sight of the focus.

That is all meditation.

Perhaps you understand what I mean
when I say martial artists are a hope of the world.

Through this meditative practice
they become more focused,
more aware,
which is to say smarter,
more able and competent.

So I thank Justin for his win
and his way of putting it in words,
and I hope it helps.

Oklay dokelay
Here’s a link

2ba Matrix Tai Chi Chuan

Tai Chi is one of the best of the arts
to learn and understand the process of meditating
through martial arts forms.
Takes a LOT of focus
to do a Tai Chi form.
In Matrix Tai Chi Chuan
there are 25 different ways to assemble the basics of Tai Chi.
These qualify as ‘silk reeling’ exercises,
and they give a LOT of understanding
as to how to use Tai Chi for combat.

Interestingly,
learning how to focus awareness,
even in the middle of combat,
is a very high form of meditation.

S,
enjoy,
and,
Have a great work out,
and…

Hanakwanmass!
Al

 

2ba Matrix Tai Chi Chuan

Iron Fist, Iron Body…the Truth

Get Yer Iron Fist Right Here!

We’ve all heard the Kung Fu stories, guy hits the master and hurts his hand. Knives are blunted upon the master’s body.

The Age of Kenpo Karate

And, during the Boxer Rebellion, bullets bounced off bodies. And, over the years, most stories have been proven full of crap.

People died in the Boxer Rebellion, victim to bushwah propaganda and fantasy. And, if there are any fellows out there who would like to blunt the tip of my Cold Steel, send me an e-mail and a release form.

However, bushwah aside, there are very real gains to be made from developing iron bodies, fists of steel, and so on.

We all want more effective blocks and strikes, and some of these methods do have incredible value. The question, of course, is which method works the best?

Chinese Kung Fu preach various iron palm potions, if you soak your hands before and after working out, the tissue remains pliable and yet still retains the value of the work out. Thus, you can pound on beans and sand and pellets of iron until your cup runneth over.

My only problem with this method is that I believe in methods which don’t rely on the body, I prefer methods which use the power of the mind. Tai Chi, for instance, speaks of a pliable body which whipcracks with power, soft on the outside, hard on the inside.

I think this is probably preferable to bruise potions, but one would have to spend a lot of time studying the various Tai Chi arts to attain what one is seeking. Be prepared to study Chen for power, Yang for workable posture, Wu for subtle motions, Sun for twisting effects, and so on.

Now, to be truthful, just doing karate forms is going to give you an ‘iron body.’ The problem is that most people do the forms wrong, the actual technology of doing karate forms the correct way has, for the most part, been lost.

But, if you can find the correct way of doing forms, then you can, within the space of about two years, learn how to maximize energy within your body to withstand a strike, and concentrate energy into your hands for striking.

The best way of developing power, not needing esoteric knowledge or magic potions, is simply to set up a stand which supports a brick, and drop the palm on it.

Place a folded wash cloth over it to protect the palm, and don’t strike too hard, and just drop the palm. The trick is to be willing to do it for an hour at a time.

I know people will have other methods, and I am always fascinated by what people prefer in this matter. The things I have said in this article I have formulated over four decades and through a variety of experiences with a variety of arts. So feel free to respond to this article, or to write your own article and offer your own opinion.

About the author: Al Case has near 50 years experience int he martial arts. Check out his book, ‘Matrixing Chi,’ at MonsterMartialArts.com.

The Bigger Picture of the Martial Arts

Let me make a few martial arts connections here…

The secret of the martial arts
is that it gives you the discipline
to create more awareness.

This awareness occurs when you transform your art
from obsessing on things like explosions
and finding the silence in your art.
Loose-tight.
Tightening just the fist.
Becoming aware of the space of your body
and how different moving the space of your body is
from moving your body with muscles.

How long does it take to earn a black belt?

In Tai Chi I used geometry.
I became aware of the geometry
my hands made in each motion
and I focused my awareness
on being aware of my hands
throughout each geometry.
A curve,
an arc,
a transitioning spiral from one movement to the next,
staying aware as I did so.

Now, here’s the funny thing,
it all depended on not having corners in my motion,
not jerking,
or otherwise going unaware
in my motion.

The constant awareness
through each motion
became THE biofeedback device
that drove me forward.

As I did this,
as I accomplished more awareness
strange things happened.
I became aware of the various motors
that my body was composed of.

The motor of air to energy (chi)
separated by the diaphragm.
This lead to an understanding of how the body works
that isn’t anywhere in western culture,
and which understanding is obscured
by poorly defined Chinese terminology
when it is understood at all.

The motor of potassium and salt,
which define the cells of the body.
This led to a complete understanding
of such things as nutrition and diet,
that is available nowhere else.
Did you know that you can change
the nutritional values of food
merely by understanding this factor
and doing certain things in your martial exercises?

The motor of the brain
and how it has virtually nothing to do
with real thought.

Now, to be very forthcoming,
you need to get the basic elements of the martial arts functioning.
This means a complete understanding,
not just doing…but understanding why you are doing,
of such things as breathing, relaxing, grounding your weight, and so on.
Coordinated Body Motion, not spoken of at all by other martial arts,
is key to this process.
Then,
you have to understand concepts in specific arts you practice.
In aikido you have to create the same size sphere as your partner.
In Karate yoou have to reach intuition of movement.
In Tai Chi you can travel through the door
by creating geometries of energy,
and then using those geometries to make your awareness pure,
so that it never breaks.

And, you have to do these things,
understand the tradeoff between these concepts from art to art,
and how to Coordinate all of the concepts.

That is how you forge yourself through the martial arts.
And most martial arts merely have you ‘monkey see monkey do,’
never explaining the connections here,
how every thing is related and dependent.

Never explaining that the arts aren’t different,
only separated by people who don’t understand
how they fit together.

Kenpo and Aikido,
for instance,
share the same concepts,
but they are misaligned
and so appear to be different.
And the same is true for all arts.
Wing Chun and Karate.
MMA and Tai Chi.
Krav Maga and MCMAP.
All just different and dumbed down slices
of the one big and true art
that is the properly aligned and fit together of all arts.

Anyway,
didn’t mean to rant,
I tend to get excited that way.

I’ll be signing books at the Martial Arts Museum
in Burbank on OCT 18.
Hope to see you there.

Here’s an URL if you are interested in
checking out the Tai Chi Chuan aspect of the martial arts.

2c Five Army Tai Chi Chuan

Have a great work out!
Al

Making the Four Decisions of Martial Arts Freestyle!

Winning at Martial Arts Freestyle

To be victorious while using martial arts in a fight it is necessary to make the decision to win the fight. Without that decision, simply, there is no way you are going to become victorious in freestyle, or kumite. Thus, you have to practice making the decision, and then implement a plan so that the decision becomes reality in your martial arts freestyle.

Amazing new book! click on the cover!

There are five decisions you must make to back up the decision to win a fight. This combat strategy is found in every fight. This is the strategy you must understand and master if you are going to be able to deliver the original decision.

The first decision, and the most important, is that there is going to be a fight. Interestingly, you don’t have to get in a fight if you refuse to make the decision to be in a fight. Even if the other person has made a decision, unless you agree with his decision, you don’t have to fight.

The second decision involves distances involved in the fight. You should understand , at this point, that a fight is going to collapse in distance. And, you must understand that if you can control this distance, and even change collapsation into expansion at will, you can control and win a fight.

The third decision has to do with which side of the bodies the fight is going to occur on. One out of eight people being left handed, a fight will usually occur with right hand, and the bodies will turn to fit the hands, and the fight will be on that side. If you can control that decision, as to which side the fight will be on, then you are going to win that fight.

The fourth decision is going to be whether you are on the inside or the outside. What this means is that if he punches with a right hand, you must block/push/whatever so that his right hand misses you on the outside, and you see the inside of his wrist. And, if he punches with the right, you must block/push/whatever so that his right hand misses you on the inside, and you see the outside of his wrist.

There are other decisions in a fight, there can be millions of decisions, literally. Do you wish the fight to be conducted at a specific distance, such as foot, or fist, or elbow, or whatever. Or, do you wish to control the decisions so that the fight collapses or expands in distance as you wish, from foot to elbow to knee to throw to fist to foot to whatever, your choice, and so on.

The point, however, is that to control all the other decisions, you must control the first four decisions. If you can understand and create drills to back up these decisions, then you can win any fight. Of course, as I said in the beginning, the first decision, that you are going to win that fight, is the most important.

The Matrix Karate course will enable you to figure out ALL the decisions one has to know how to make in a fight.

The Pa Kua Mystery

Do enough Pa Kua Chang and something really weird happens. Pa Kua, as many people know, is that martial art where you walk in a circle endlessly.

Circles where you find loops within spirals within circles. To explain this really weird thing that happens in Pa Kua Chang, let me explain a couple of things first. Understand these things, and you will find that weird is normal in this universe, and normal is weird. Okey dokey?

The circle must consist of eight steps from beginning to end. This is about one good leg sweep, or six feet in diameter. And, of course, the beginning is the end, and the end is the beginning, and so on.

Long time Pa Kua students claim that if you explore various positions of the palms as you walk the circle, that the positions stand for various phenomena. Fire palms, water palms, lightening palms, thunder palms, and so on.

By following this analogy they have created a separate and entire universe. While this universe can occupy a student for a lifetime, there hasn’t been a good explanation for what is happening, up till now.

When you create this Pa Kua universe, you should understand that the body is a machine. Just like alternating current, power goes down and up the legs. You should confirm it with a good dictionary, at this point, that power is energy, and energy is the capacity for work, and the capacity for work is how much weight you can lift.

Energy of the body is credited with being created by the tan tien. The tan tien is a point a couple of inches below the navel. The tan tien sends the energy down and up and the legs and back into the tan tien. What happens is that the body becomes a capacitor, a storage device, and the energy can be stored for later use. But also, and most interesting, is that after walking the circle sufficient with the idea I’ve detailed here, you will experience actual lightening going up and down your legs.

You will also, as you explore the potential of the palms in conjunction with the storing of the energy, experience a barber pole type energy swirl up and down your arms. Pa Kua is not mystical, it is common sense physics, but it does take a dedicated practitioner and a calm mind to experience what I have explained here.

For the body to start acting as a capacitor one must tell the body to do so enough times and with enough sincerity, and this while walking the circle enough times. If one learns to believe that this universe is not a trap, but a journey, what I have told you here is not only possible, but even easy.

Check out the Butterfly Pa Kua Chang at MonsterMartialArts.com

How to Create a Motor in the Martial Arts

Here an old post that deserves a new read…

One of the more profound mysteries in the martial arts is the concept of Chi. Chi is a mystical energy that pervades the universe in mysterious ways. And, chi is supposed to be a mystical energy that after a lifetime, you can use to do superhuman things. Unfortunately, proof seems to be sadly lacking for these claims concerning Chi. Maybe there are a few people who can do things, but most people can’t, and just a few exceptions here and there don’t prove the truth of certain theories concerning the subject of Chi. Fortunately, there is a theory that will result in Chi, that is not mystical, and that will work. A motor is two terminals which result in tension. Everything in the universe can be defined as a motor. Every tension in the universe is the result of a motor. An atom has a proton and electron interchanging to create energy. A cell has sodium and potassium interacting to create energy. Everywhere in the universe that you find two terminals opposing, you will find energy, and you will find a motor. And, when you take a martial arts stance with the human body, you have increased your weight, and this causes energy to move between the body and the planet. When you shift the weight from leg to leg, from stance to stance, the weight moves up and down the legs, and this excites the tan tien, a spot two inches below the navel which generates energy for the body. Thus, there is energy, and the body is a motor, and you can call this energy chi. Here’s the problem: everybody concentrates on making the body strong, and so creates only the low level chi required to operate the body. What people should be doing is focusing awareness on the procedure. If you build the awareness it takes to create the energy, you will build the energy that will result in the ‘superhuman’ potential that people look to Chi for. Thus, do your form, build awareness, and concentrate not on the violence of action, not on building the body, but on becoming aware of what you are doing. Feel the energy going down and up your legs, feel the energy building in the tan tien, and feel your connection with the planet. Do this and you will shortly become aware of energy building in your body in a surprising way. Energy that tingles a body part just by thinking of it, energy that warms the palms upon mere thought. Energy that can be channeled throughout your body and into the various body parts, and can even be felt outside your body. Once you have started building energy in this manner, then you can start searching for more spectacular ways to use it.