Category Archives: learn karate at home

Making Use of Martial Arts Concentration to Rule the Globe

Martial Arts Concentration!

I had been studying Karate for a while, and I was fascinated by the concept of martial arts concentration drills. I had heard of esoteric meditation concepts in such arts as Shaolin Kung Fu and Tai Chi Chuan, and it most certainly did seem like something I would like to do. Heck, one book I browsed pointed out that if an individual can focus on simply one thing for as little as 3 minutes he could rule the planet!

martial arts concentration

Learning Karate Changes Even Bullies

 


3 minutes? Heck, that was absolutely nothing!

And if I did it I would definitely be the most effective martial artist in the planet! I could quite possibly knock over walls, be a wafting, disembodied intelligence. No wall could control me! No changing booth could be immune from my kung fu powers!

At the time I was working in a plastics factory in San Jose. Being rather burnt out with making heat shrinkable tubes, I made a decision that the day had actually come when I would certainly understand martial arts concentration and command the planet.

Lunchtime, and I walked out to the parking lot and into the orchard next door. I picked a round stone for my one thing, and sat down on the curb. My thoughts filled with plans for exactly what I would probably do when I had actually controlled the globe, I consumed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and psychologically equipped myself.

Done with sandwich, I positioned the round stone on the ground and sat cross-legged just before it. I could not do a zazen sitting posture, or a yoga lotus asana, or anything like that, so I figured sitting Indian fashion might probably need to do it.

I gave myself a shake, lowered my gaze, and concentrated on the stone.

It was round. Possibly I touched on that, however I did observe that it was round. And the shade dirt. Well, of course, I had actually gotten it from an orchard and … I psychologically shook myself and required myself to cease thinking. I needed to concentrate, be a laser, command the planet. My eyes stared at the rock.

A short time passed. I speculated just how I was expected to realize when 3 moments passed. It sure was a very long time. I tossed that thought out of the way and stared at the stone once again.

After a while, I was sure 2 minutes had actually passed. I proceeded, awaiting the heavens to open, anticipating God to bow down, awaiting the cosmos to open and enjoy me as their rightful ruler.

And, 3 minutes … at least I think it was 3 minutes … I was bored. Absolutely nothing was occurring.

I picked up the rock, tossed it over my shoulder and back into the orchard and … I all of a sudden understood something. The rock had not been dull … I was boring. The rock was merely sitting there, doing nothing, it was me that had actually made it, and reality, and life … boring.

I stood then, and life was never ever the same after that. I was never ever bored ever again. I often speculate where that round stone is. Heck, if I could possibly locate it I would certainly be up for an additional 3 minutes of martial arts concentration… the things I could possibly find out!

A Good Karate Punch will Knock Anybody Out!

Karate Punch Knock Out Power!

If you desire to knock out a person Karate is a great device, however it does take a bit of understanding.

Real Karate Punch

Initially, you can easily knock someone out with a karate punch to the body, and I really encourage it. I’ll go into that 1st, and explain the very first knock out method.

85 % of the people toss a right hand to the face. This is normally an ill become pregnant round home punch, and it is predictable and quickly stopped. So you establish for a really good, challenging punch to the face, then you drive a straight line to the intestine.

Mind you, this is a thrusting punch, and you would like to lock your arm and go all the way with the fellow.

The majority of fellows do not have exceptional conditioning, and so the body support system collapses, and they are down, and can also be absolutely unconscious. It takes a heck of a wallop, however it can easily work. Practice driving your punch with a heavy bag every day for an hour. Get the idea that you just can’t be ceased. Watch the bag bounce away.

The additional and more confident knock out, is the punch to the head. When you punch the head you are attempting to rattle the mind inside the head. To really make it slosh from side to side so challenging it flattens out on the inside of the head, and the fellow you hit drops unconscious.

And, yes, you can easily thrust through the head, the same as if you thrust through the body.

However, the far better technique is the light flick of the karate fist. It takes no energy, is mounted by a solitary clear and to the point notion, and it explains the ‘invisible punch,’ that Mohammed Ali made use of to knock out Sonny Liston. Individuals thought that the punch didn’t connect, that Liston took a dive, however, actually, Ali merely flicked a fist easily, you can easily see Liston’s head duck down somewhat, then he is simply falling.

To do this punch you need to be light and simple and easy. You must hang a rate bag and float by it, and merely snap your hand like you were snapping a dish towel. You wish the bag to rattle from side to side like rocks in a can. The fellow will not see it coming, or he will certainly dismiss it as light-weight due to the fact that there seems to be no mass behind it. However, when it connects, bingo, lights out!

In closing I will definitely state that it takes work to make this kind of speed punch work, and I might encourage that one discover ways to break bricks with excellent karate punches if they wish to truly master this karate procedure.

Karate Breathing Makes for Tons of Chi Power

Try Karate Breathing–Make Chi Power

The capability to produce beams of energy, though I have actually never ever seen nor become aware of it went over, is at the heart of karate breathing discpline. I consist of pressor or tractor or any other kind of beam in this conversation.
zen karate breathing

A beam is a line of energy drive outward from the body of the martial musician, and this beam is generally created upon a line, though it need not be.
It can be stated that your style of karate is not a real karate unless it develops the capacity to develop a beam of energy at will.
Many martial practices on world globe are intended towards constructing muscle, or the shabby pretext of stimulating body parts. The reason of this post is to awaken the reader to the capacity of generating beams of energy.
The first thing to be recognized is that the body is absolutely nothing greater than an equipment. It is a natural equipment created of meat and bone and numerous connecting systems. Definitely, to the individual unused to a body, it can easily appear like a Rubic’s cube, however, in fact, it is remarkably easy to utilize.
To make use of the body as a beam electrical generator one need to engage in classic forms, and comprehend the value of classic postures.
To engage in the classic postures calls for work, which work warrants the production of energy in the Tan Tien, which is the one point, which is absolutely nothing greater than an energy power generator on a body/machine degree.
This work must be enhanced by breathing in accordance with the development or contraction of the body.
To posture, to work, to breath, to focus interest along the pathway of the arms, to envision. It is creativity that sets us apart from the beasts, and it is creativity that is essential to produce the concept of a beam of energy coming out of the body. You have to engage in till the mind is calm then it will certainly have the ability to think of.
To check your capacity to beam it is essential to utilize a straightforward and frequently over looked trick. Set up a candle and face it, punch, and cease your fist an inch from the flame.
Do not trick flick the flame by leaving the line of the beam, however focus, and keep the line of the beam as straight as feasible. With success over time, cease your fist 2 inches from the flame, then further. Enhance distance till you can easily put out the flame from throughout the area. At some point, with wonderful determination and want, you will certainly have the ability to just consider the flame and make it go out.
There are those that laugh and such practices as detailed right here are of little significance, and there are those that will certainly not linger, however look for the instant gratification of straightforward battling. Then there are those that will definitely find out the depths of their being with this straightforward physical exercise.
The distinction between the two is faith, view in yourself, and the want to awaken your real capacities, and therefore awaken yourself, and this is at the heart of the Neutronic idea behind developing a beam of energy through karate breathing discipline.

How to Knock Yourself Out with a Karate Kick

Karate Kick KO!

Knocking somebody out, with a karate kick or a kung fu punch or whatever, takes a bit of practice. Getting knocked out, be it by Kenpo chop or taekwondo ax kick, is probably not a good thing. But knockign yourself out with a karate kick…that has to be low on the bucket list.


Karate kick
I was playing baseball with a bunch of guys one day, and we were all horsing around, having a good time, and in between plays I was practicing my rear spin heel kick.

A spin heel kick is not a normal kicking technique. For a rear kick, or spin kick, you turn and drive the foot. But for a spin heel you keep the leg straight and let the foot go on a long arc.

Anyway, we are fooling around, and I’m out at second base spinning in the dust, and the dust wasn’t too stable, and suddenly my foot gave way and I fell on my, uh, fanny.

Oh, I wasn’t knocked out, that comes later, but I was laughed at. And I did grow an appreciation for the art involved, the balance needed, and so on.

Knockign himself out with a kick honors actually goes to my sensei. On a beautiful summer day he was outside practicing his jump spinning kicks, and he put together a leaping beauty of a kick…right under a low hanging tree.

That’s right, he jumped and spun, and smacked his head on a low flying branch, and it was lights out in skullville.

About a half hour later one of the students found him, staggering around and rubbing his head. He was dazed and confused, didn’t know what had happened, and we had to tell him.

Yes, you were practicing jump kicks under a tree. And the tree won.

And that is the real skinny behind how you can knock yourself out with karate kick.

The Progression of Technique in the Heian Karate Form (Pinan Karate Form)

Heian Karate Form…Pinan Karate Form

I noticed something very interesting when I was learning the Heian Karate Formsequence. And I was taught them when they were still known as Pinans.

heian karate form

Mobility is its own power



Pinan one was just a basic form. But Pinan two and four seemed to be a progressive variation. The first move with the hands mid level and high level, the technique used on the return steps of the form, these seemed like interpretations of the same concept.

And, if you compare pinan three and Pinan five, you have the same thing occurring.

But it was many years before i actually started to see the similarity of technique, and to understand the basic concept the creator of this form used.

The concept is a back stance concept.

Now, the form is called Heian these days, and it is the Japanese who have deviated from this concept.

When  Japanese karate students do these forms they tend to widen the back stance, making it a half a horse stance. This immobilizes the stance, and splits the intention; which way are you setting up to go? To the side…or to the front? And there is no way to do a front kick with the front leg off a stance arranged this way.

When the Heians were Pinans, however, the back stance was narrower, which enabled one to set up the legs so they would both contribute to the forward motion. This also allowed for more traction on the launch. And, one could kick effectively with the front leg out of a back stance.

These three reasons make for a superior art. Launch faster and be quicker by using more body, more leg, more traction. This would enable one to shuffle forward to throw the whole body into a technique. The Japanese, in this specific, prefer shifting into a forward stance. But a forward stance has very little ability to kick with the front leg, or either leg, and the stance is too rooted to be mobile.

For these reasons I have always kept to the ancient stance set up in the heian Karate Forms, or, as I like to call them the Pinan Karate Forms.

 

High School Punch Outs and Learning Karate

Learning Karate made a HUGE Difference!

I was in a wrestling class once, and this one guy got pissed off.  I don’t recall why, some sort of frustration. He was a big guy, won a lot, but suddenly he was mad and shouting, and I, silly fool, said, “Relax, there’s no fight here.”

learning karate

Learning Karate Changes Even Bullies

 


“And I’m going to beat the **** out of you once I finish with him!” He was staring at me and almost foaming at the mouth.

Well, the coach put him up against the wall, talked into his fight, and he never bothered me. But he used to glare at me all the time. Really wanted to mess with me.

Then I start karate. Studied hard. Became an instructor. And one day this wrestling class bully boy walks into the dojo.

Interestingly, he had started karate at another school. And, there was no glare in his eyes.

One, he had had the hate weaned out of him.

Two, one look at me and he knew there was no victim.

There was still some anger in him, he wouldn’t talk to me. Buthe wouldn’t mess with me, and I didn’t need any high school wrestling coach to put him up the wall and put a bit of fear in him.

That’s Karate for you. It works you out so hard you get over the anger. You get on the mat and realize that you have no reason to be scared, or bullyish, or whatever.

I always chuckle when I hear about people and guns and the old Colt ‘Equalizer.’ It was a gun that made all people equal…anybody could pick it up and be deadly.

Well, anybody can pick up karate and be deadly. But, they might find out that they have more friends than enemies.

I mean, it’s all in the mind, whether we be bullies and problems, or be liked and have friends. It’s all in the mind, and the mind can be changed by learning karate.

When Bruce Lee Killed Karate!

Yes, Bruce Lee Killed Karate!

It’s funny, Bruce Lee came to the martial arts publics attention when he wrote the article ‘The Classical Mess,’ and common opinion was that Bruce Lee killed Karate.

bruce lee workouts

Bruce Lee Killed Karate!


At the time, everybody thought it was a death blow to Karate. It was an attack upon the forms method of teaching. It was the deathblow. It was predicted that karate schools everywhere would pack up and fade away and whimper.

Actually, he drove people into the karate schools at an astounding pace. I don’t believe there has ever been a surge into the martial arts schools like the one he started.

Now, what was the classical mess thing? He was merely in favor of more reality based training.

And, his ideas weren’t bad. Karate guys everywhere read them, liked them, and karate changed.

One of his ideas included less technique and more drilling. I remember learning sticky hands and seeing what he meant. It was great.

Another of his ideas had to do with kicking heavier bags, because people weighed more than the bags that were out there at the time. That was another fine idea. And, today we have heavier bags.

The main thing, however, was for the student to wake up, to be aware in the moment, not to be bound by the things he was learning, and by the limitations of practicing a static technique. In this one, he was right, and he was wrong.

He was right, the Karate student does have to wake up. He has to be in the moment. But, the idea that form training doesn’t lead there is in correct. When one does forms one is building a circuit in the body and mind. Eventually, once one has practiced the circuit long enough, it suddenly disappears.

It’s true, practicing a technique until it is a circuit, and then further, and the circuit just disappears, and the student is left with…open eyes.

Now, one could argue that Bruce didn’t understand this, but he had practiced in Wing Chun long enough that he should have.

Personally, I think he was just so excited by all the arts he studied, and he was seeing how they all connect together, that he spoke a little too quickly. Considering how much he gave us all, he can be forgiven.

At any rate, as I pointed out, though he disagreed with certain karate training methods, he offered enlightenment that we could change such methods as we needed to. And, in the end,  it’s not true that Bruce Lee Killed Karate…he helped it become better.

Kung Fu Freestyle is the Next Step!

Accelerating Karate into Kung Fu Freestyle

Good morning!
A happy work out to you.
Lots of happy work outs to you.

krate freestyle

The True Power of Karate!


Thanks for the response to the Rolling Fists video,
this newsletter is going to be about Rolling Fists,
but let me meander a bit,
there’s a lot of stuff on the course,
and I want to make sure people understand
what I am doing on it.
Here’s the URL,
before I go on.
http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Learn_How_to_Fight.html

It’s funny,
I’ve got large martial arts sites,
have been selling courses for half a dozen years,
and this is the first course to really go into fighting.

Yes,
just about every course has its freestyle method,
and Matrix Combat is a very thorough overview,
but…it was time I did this.
I probably need to do this for each step
of the freestyle method
outlined in Matrix Combat.

Incidentally,
before I go on,
Matrix Combat is offered free
when you order Rolling fists.
The first few orders it will be mailed separately,
but it is all coming together now.

Anyway,
The problem with most freestyle methods
is that they devolve into fighting,
people get jumpy,
and how you going to learn
when you don’t trust your partner?

So,
let’s go…

Most important,
learn to do freestyle
in a method which builds trust,
doesn’t fall into a contest,
then data can be exchanged,
and absorbed,
and the learning process can take effect.

Next,
the Freestyle method I do on Matrix Karate
is large,
works at the entering distance of a fight,
builds responses,
and creates intuition fairly fast.
The next problem,
is how to close up the distance,
which decreases the amount of time
one has to respond,
and keep and enhance the intuition.

The way to do this is to build and hold
to a distinct concept.
Concept training is always
ten times faster than normal training.

Normal training you have to repeat something ten thousand times
searching for this thing called ‘muscle memory,’
which is actually a false concept.
To call a reaction a muscle memory
is to say that the body did it.
But intuition is when you do it.

Anyway,
on the Rolling Fists video
we close up the distance,
speed up the hands,
and present the concept.
It is so logical
it is absorbed almost instantly by the student.

Now,
there are lots of things I go into on this course.
The concept
the pieces of the concept
retaining and building intuition.
and so on.

One of the most important things I go into is
is increasing impact by lessening effort.
This is an odd concept
which seems to be the reverse of normal teaching,
but which is the essence of the true art.

Think about it this way…
muscles don’t hit,
you hit.
The key is to get out of the muscles,
get out of the body,
and throw the body at somebody.
Throw the body
and focus the impact in a smaller area.

This is a hard concept for some people,
they have been sold so much bushwah
on the importance of muscle.
Yes,
muscles are important,
nothing wrong with a good,
physical work out.
But remember:
It is the mental game that is most important.

Now
the message here
is that to understand what I have said so far,
you should know more than one art.
Remember,
when I was teaching EW this stuff,
I was teaching him a second art.
I was teaching him
the Shaolin Butterfly.
The thing is,
if you have more than one art,
then you likely have enough the degree of polish,
which means…
the amount of refined control,
to understand and apply this second stage of freestyle.

Make no mistake,
it is an accelerated freestyle.
Once you have done it for a few months
you are going to find that it is pretty extreme.
in the beginning,
it looks like just a simple exercise,
but as your perceptions increase,
as you become more able to see what is happening,
and to use the concepts in ‘regular fighting,’
you will suddenly note
that you have made yourself
a huge and distinct advantage
over Joe Normal,
and even over various systems
that claim to have the best freestyle methods,
but are missing the Rolling Fists piece.

And the Rolling fists is missing.
I named it Rolling Fists,
and avoided the name lop sau,
because it goes so very much further
than that drill ever went.

Guaranteed,
it is a method of freestyle that you have never seen
except on my courses.
And,
guaranteed,
it works ten times faster
to make you twice as good.

All right,
I’ve rambled enough,
hopefully made a few points,
and i thank you for the opportunity
to explain these things.
I hope what i have said is timely,
and encourages you.

So,
have yourself a great and wonderful week,
and here’s the Rolling fists URL again
http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Learn_How_to_Fight.html

and I’ll talk to you later.

Al

kung fu freestyle

 

A Guy Who Knows Karate Kung Fu-ed (Not)

Karate Kung Fu is Cool!

I got my Karate Kung Fu-ed the day this kung fu guy came to work for my company.

karate kung fu

Karate Freestyle is a special type of discipline


This was back in the seventies, and martial arts were all the craze. Chop sockies were hitting the drive ins, and stores were popping up with ‘Karate Kung Fu’ written on their faces.

Now, to be sure, I had been doing Karate for six or seven years, and all these new guys were coming in off the Bruce Lee craze. Some of them would stick, some of them would drift.

Anyway, I walked up to where this new guy was talking to the boss. This was a factory and we were all young and loose guys, just working and having fun.

Now, in fairness, I was exuberant. When I placed my hand on the kung fu guy’s shoulder there was a message there. It was friendly, it was silent, but he and I, even though he hadn’t seen me physically he knew who it was, knew it was a friendly ‘what ya got’ type of thing.

He spun, his arms outstretched. It was a windmill sort of kung fu double chop, one hand to my arm, and one arm to my neck.

I realized what he was doing, it was very different than how I had been trained, and I stepped back.

He managed to get my arm, and missed the neck, but he took it was a win. And it was. It was Karate Kung Fu-ed, and that was okay with me.

Heck, if I hadn’t been trained I would have been dead meat.

As it was, I had more experience, I could figure things out, I didn’t have that momentary gap of thinking when figuring out things, but he displayed good kung fu form, good kung fu technique.

So we grinned, I knew he would go back and tell his sifu how well his martial art worked, and that was fine.

And, as for me, I was struck by the difference of kung fu to karate. Over the years I would study kung fu, lots of it. Shaolin, pa kua, tai chi, exotic styles one nevers about. But I would always hold to Karate as a base art. As a fighting art it was superior. It is more explosive, straighter, and more efficient. There are other things to be gleaneed form Kung fu, and these things can’t be found in Karate, the way energy works, odd technqiues that make a difference.

Still, I hold to karate for basic self defense and fighting. That first experience, me, my karate kung fu-ed (not), has proven true over the decades.

What The Well Trained Mind Truly Observes In Karate Freestyle

With all the excitement of the UFC MMA type of fighting, most people have not seen the incredible qualities of Karate freestyle. When one undertakes training in traditional Karate or one of the old Kung Fu methods, certain things happen that are beyond human understanding. This article will go into what actually occurs when one trains enough to gain a ‘zen mind’ in combat.

karate freestyle

Karate Freestyle is a special type of discipline


First, it should be known that fighting is fighting. If one is training to learn just by fighting, they will not come into the qualities I will be talking about here. There is a difference, you see, between training oneself to enjoy combat and beat an opponent, and gaining the ability to stay aware, and grow even more aware, in the middle of combat.

Thus, one should study classical forms, learn the subtleties of body motion, and calm the mind down. Further, one should learn how to do karate freestyle through the taking of progressive steps. This is the only way to get to the zen state of mind I am talking about here.

When ones training takes effect and they start to appreciate a calm mind in combat they will observe that freestyle is not a matter of frantic reaction, but of reflection. One sees what is occurring, and a plan pops into the mind. This plan is often an image, of what is happening, and what is to be done.

The trick is to be able to recognize this picture when it occurs and to pay attention to it, rather than to thrust it away. The picture might be a quick snippet of an image, almost too quick to see, or it could be an actual cartoon overlaying reality. One must then focus on relaxing, no matter what is about to occur.

Many people, especially when first seeing a vision before a fight happens want to do something. They want to make a response before the action has happened. But if you move before the action has happened, the opponent may not do the action.

So one has to be patient, and this frequently involves ‘pushing down’ an energy building in the chest. The body wants to get going, but the mind must stay sane. The key is for the person to tell the mind to sit still, and to tell the body to wait.

So when does one go? If they are relaxed and secure in their vision, if they have a calm mind, they will move in accord with the action, and not before and not after. This takes some practice, but that is what training the mind in karate freestyle is all about.