Category Archives: karate bunkai

The Secret Behind the Hardest Punch in the World!

Posted on July 28, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Within the Karate Punch is Great Spirit

I remember reading that Chuck Norris had 600 pounds per square in in his kicks. I always use this kind fo data when trying to figure out the secret behind the hardest punch in the world, or the hardest kick, or whatever.
You see, the idea is to get more weight in a smaller area.
If you swing a mallet with a big head, maybe three inches across, you are putting weight to nine square inches. So if you put ninety pounds into your swing, and you get ten pounds per square inch. This dissipates the force, spreads it out, and weakens it. You swing a screw driver, and maybe put only thirty pounds in it, but the force is into an eighth inch square. That means 64 times 30 pounds, and you are striking with 1920 pounds per square inch!
That’s why a screw driver penetrates, while a mallet flattens.
Now, you think there would be more to it than this, and, you’d be right. You see, time also enters into the equation, and you’ll find that this has a lot to do with a punch.
The longer the amount of time a fist is in contact with a target, the more some of that weight will go back up the arm.
So, if you punch somebody and the punch is a thrust, and travels through, and is in contact with the striking surface (his face) for a long time–let’s say a full second, which is not real, but it is a good number to illustrate what is happening–then one second times 60 pounds of weight equals sixty pounds of impact.
That’s cool.
But if you are in contact for 1/2 second, 1/2 times 60 = 120 pounds of impact! And if you get down to 1/8 of a second, then you have 1/8 times 60, which equals 480 pounds of impact! The force of the punch, you see, has less time to travel back up the arm, and more weight is left in your poor opponent’s ugly face!
Now, that is the physics, and that is the secret of the hardest punch in the world. All you have to do is understand these physics, and then do the exercises in The Punch (a book I wrote) and your punch is going to be able to knock down a freakin’ elephant! The physics are the secret, you see, but they are just the start. There is so much more to them, and so much you can do with them, once you understand them and what you are trying to really do with your punch. So check out The Punch at Monster Martial Arts. You’ll be glad you did.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in Goju Ryu, Isshin Ryu, Karate, karate bunkai, karate DVD, karate lessons, karate techniques, kenpo, kwon bup, kyokushin, learn karate at home, Okinawan Karate, Shito Ryu, Shotokan, Taekwondo, Uechi Ryu, Wado Ryu

Tagged , , ,

Handling the Sword Attack with a Karate Technique from Pinan Five

Posted on July 21, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Mind you, a sword attack is not likely these days, but if you know the karate technique from Pinan Five then you can adapt pretty easily for other types of attacks. After all, a club is a short sword with no edge, a knife is a really short sword, and so on.
Pinan Five, also called Heian Five, has a move in it, about halfway through, where you raise your crossed wrists upward. This is the self defense technique we are looking at.
When doing this technique you must rush forward and make sure you apply it to the attacker’s wrists. Pretty silly to block a raw sword blade with your bare wrists.
You catch the attackers arm and push upward on the elbow and pull down the wrist. Then will translate into an armbar or elbow roll, and he will be pretty much at your mercy.
This is a real meat and potatoes technique, works for all sorts of stuff. After a while you will find yourself moving in and just grabbing and twisting the attacker’s arm. This is good. But, if you ever have trouble, you should have practiced the individual pieces, as prescribed by the Karate Form Pinan Five. Knowing the pieces will allow you to master the whole of the technique.
Check out this video, in which I teach this technique.

If you want to know more about the Karate techniques from Pinan Five, more than the sword attack I have just outlined, then drop by Learn Karate Online and check out the Kang Duk Won. This is a download and you could be seeing all the old, tried and true methods for self protection in less than a minute.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in free karate, free karate online, Isshin Ryu, Karate, karate bunkai, karate DVD, karate kata, karate lessons, karate techniques, Korean Karate, learn karate at home, learn karate free, Martial Arts, Shito Ryu, Shotokan, Wado Ryu

Tagged , , ,

Karate, Kung Fu and How to Handle Zombies!

Posted on July 16, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Using Karate and Kung Fu to handle Zombies, sounds like I’m getting ready to rib you, doesn’t it? Well, glad to disappoint, but there’s some s traight goods coming at you. I’m going to tell you about one of the best books on tactics for handling large crowds of people, call ’em zombies if you wish. Before I do so, check out the video, I’m using all sorts of different arts to handle a couple of guys. I’m controlling the distance, locking and block and…taking names. Watch, and then I’ll tell you about a book that might be better than the Book of Five Rings, or The Art of War.

The Book is called The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks. It is written tongue in cheek, many would say over the top, but it is the best and most concise overview of battle tactics I have seen. Look let me give you a scenario.
Food shortages are happening all over the world, some people say they will come to a city you live in. When that happens a couple of weeks and people will be out of food. At that point they will start wandering the streets, breaking into houses, looking desperately for a crumb.
Isn’t that how a so called ‘zombie’ works? Wanders the street looking for brains? Brains being a code word for people who have had the smarts to store up and hoard food.
So, when the starved come calling, do you know how to fortify your house so it can withstand attack? Do you know the tactics for not letting the zombies know when you are cooking? Do you know how to set the sombies up when you want to wipe out a bunch of them?
Now, this book goes everywhere, for every eventuallity, and it is better than any military manual I have ever read for straight forward urban survival.
I know it may be mean (politically incorrect?) to call hungry people zombies, let alone treat them like an enemy, but when the mob is at your door, you’ll be glad you read this book.
And, that said, there is one mistake that nearly all people who have read this book make…they don’t study the martial arts. They are reading it for a hoot, they are stuck in fantasy land and don’t know the way out.
If you really want to survive food shortages, riots, even attacks by the police (you think they won’t be hungry?) then this is the book for you.
This book, and karate or kung fu, or some other martial art, will help you handle any zombies. So get the book, and head on over to Learn Karate Online and get some absolutely FREE Karate Training. A zombie attack might be right around the calender, and Karate is the art of choice for laying waste to hordes of the undead!!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in free karate, free karate online, Isshin Ryu, Karate, karate bunkai, karate DVD, karate lessons, karate techniques, kenpo, kyokushin, learn karate at home, learn karate free, Tae Kwon Do, Taekwondo

Tagged , , ,

Joey Gives the Karate Kick to Two Bullies!

Posted on July 11, 2011 by | Leave a comment

A Powerful Karate Kick Can Save Your Life!


Joey was coming home late. The reason he was late was because he had stayed extra to help his karate teacher clean the dojo. Mops and brooms, wiping windows, even cleaning the bathrooms…it was small price to pay for his karate lessons.
He had just turned on to his street when he caught sight of Buck and Sammy up ahead. Joey groaned inside. They were bullies, and they liked to pick on him. Of course, that was before they got picked up for petty theft and went to juvenile hall for a few months. And, that was before Joey started his Karate training.
“Hey! Lookie lookie! It’s our old pal!” Buck was always the first to talk, the one to start the bullying. He tried to get a reaction, and then his larger friend would move in with the taunts and pushes.
“Hi guys,” Joey responded. “Glad you’re out and about.” He was determined to try to be polite and friendly. It was something his instructor always told him. Fists end a fight, but manner don’t let the fight happen.
“Ooh, he’s glad we’re around again. Ain’t that neat, Sammy?”
“That’s neat,” grinned Sammy.
Joey tried to move past, but Buck moved in with him and put an arm around his shoulder.
Sammy moved in behind, and Joey knew what the large wannabe gangster was going to try.
A simple trip was his favorite fight starter. He would kick at Joey’s foot, try to get him tangled, and when he stumbled, Buck would be all over him.
Knowing what was going to happen was half the game. Training was the other half. Joey knew what was going to happen, and his instructor had drilled him on sneak attacks.
As Sammy kicked at his foot Joey lean forward and executed a picture perfect rear kick. It caught the oaf in the belly, and Sammy was shoved back.
Buck had started to move, he was trying to get a headlock.
Joey simply knelt, Buck was moved forward, and Joey, now slightly behind the thug, brought his ridge hand up between the loud mouthed bully’s legs.
Buck opened his mouth, dropped to his knees, and groaned. Then he started to upchuck. Streams of green fluid, fast food and a bit of beer, spewed forth onto the sidewalk.
Joey stood up and turned. Sammy, the tougher of the two was up and moving towards him.
“I don’t want any trouble,” said Joey, backing away.
Sammy muttered a dirty word, then threw a haymaker.
Joey knew about haymakers. They were the tool of the uninformed, easy to see a mile away.
Joey leaned back and the punch whistled past, then the youngster simply stepped forward and launched a perfect Karate Snap Kick to the groin.
Sammy was the tougher of the two thugs alright. He didn’t fall down. But he did follow the example of his friend…he began to hurl the contents of his stomach. And he hurled them all over the back of Buck’s head!
“Sorry, guys,” Joey backed away from the puke splattered duo. “I really am glad you’re out, and I really don’t want to have any trouble with you.
From that day on, Joey never did have any trouble.
Got a couple of bullies on your block? Karate is the best, fastest, and easiest way to deal with them. Head over to Learn Karate Online and get a free lesson!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in free karate, free karate online, karate bunkai, karate DVD, karate lessons, karate techniques, learn karate at home, learn karate free, Tae Kwon Do

Tagged , , ,

The Karate Black Belt…What You Have to do to Get There!

Posted on July 10, 2011 by | Leave a comment

A lot of people try, and a lot of people fail. To be precise, out of a thousand people that start the journey to a Karate Black Belt, only 1 or 2 will make it. Check out the video, and then I’ll tell you how to be sure that you make it!

So, how do you make sure you are going to make it?
First, pick a good school. Not a make money trophies in the windows school, but a long time hole in the wall that has a record of good, solid martial arts, and the students to prove it.
Second, dedicate yourself. Put a picture of Bruce Lee (or some other martial artist that you admire) on your front door, and bow to it every time you go out. Make it a reminder that you will make every single class. And, if ever you feel like not heading out to the dojo, pick yourself up by the scruff of the neck, and GO!
Now, that is really all there is to it. Dedicated school, dedicated student, and the martial arts will seep into your soul like chicken soup into the belly of an invalid.
Of course, there are a few more things you can do.
One, read everything you can, and not just on Karate. Read about every martial art, think about how they will fit together. Bring the techniques to your school and ask others about them. You will get an education far beyond your wildest dreams. It’s creative thought, man, and that is what an art is about.
Two, haunt the internet. Don’t buy the bushwah, don’t get involved in the internet hype, just learn how to tell when a fellow is serious, and when he is just an internet marketer trying to grab your bucks. The more you look at, the more educated you become, the easier this will be. Once you know the difference, examine what other legitimate artists are doing. Learn their moves, see how you can use those moves in your own art.
Finally, work out, work out, work out. Be at school early, and stay late. Help beginners, and you will find the advanced students will help you. That’s just the way the universe works in a real karate school.
Now, if you do what I have told you here, you will make it. The only thing you have to understand is that rewards go to the sincere, the dedicated, the honest and hard working. All others quit and go to the movies and think about how great it would be to be a karate black belt. They will wonder about what you know. Now go for it, and may all the skill on earth be yours. Go to Learn Karate Online if you want some free lessons to get you started!

→ Leave a comment

Posted in free karate, free karate online, Karate, karate bunkai, karate lessons, karate techniques, kenpo karate, learn karate at home, learn karate free, Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do

Tagged , , , , ,

The Hardest Thing to Overcome in Karate Training

Posted on June 9, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Karate Traininng Will Make a Man Out of You!


I’m speaking as a martial arts teacher here, but I trust you will be able to use my data concerning the hardest thing to overcome in Karate training, or any martial arts training.
I’ve had people come in my school and tell me what I was supposed to teach them. They would lay out their curriculum, and then disappear.
And, if you think this is an oddity, consider the old Japanese zen parable (made famous by Bruce Lee), you can’t put more tea in a cup that is full…you must empty your cup.
One guy came into my school and all he wanted to do was find a temple on the mountain and kneel at the feet of the master and learn all the really secret things. It was obvious that he had been reading too many comic books; he just wasn’t connected to reality. Heck, if I had told him to do a horse stance for five minutes he would have cried and wailed like a baby.
The main thing these days is the youtube martial artist. This is a guy who has poured over youtube, looked at all the martial arts, done what he saw on the screen. He actually isn’t toobad, except that he has no idea what he is doing. The snippets on youtube, no matter how extensive, are not instruction, they are advertising clips designed to lure the unwary and easily excitable.
What? You thought you were going to find the secret of the universe on the internet? that you could just google ‘Secrets of the Universe’ and they would just flash onto the scree…instant enlightenment and all the martial arts downloaded into your brain like Neo?
Empty your cup, grasshopper, then learn how to sweat. The best things in life are not necessarily free…they have to be earned with sweat and bruises and a humble attitude.
Pickup a Free Martial Arts Book ar Learn Karate Online. In Karate training, or with any martial arts, it’s best to start at the beginning and dedicate yourself.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in ed parker, free karate, free karate online, karate bunkai, karate forms, karate techniques, kenpo, kyokushin, learn karate at home, Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do, Taekwondo

Tagged , , ,

Martial Arts Cross Training is The Way To Get Good!

Posted on June 8, 2011 by | Leave a comment


Okay, I do a lot of cross training in the martial arts. When I was doing Karate I did some weights, some running, basics calisthenics type of stuff.
When I did Kung Fu I did running and swimming and yoga type stuff.
And, as I went through arts, I was always looking from some new game to play, some way to wake up my muscles and find better ways to control them.
Baseball, loved baseball. Ping pong, billiards, skating, even pogo sticking and stilting.
Simply anything and everything was fair game. Wake the body up, have fun, relate it to martial arts.
But martial arts was the mainstay, this because the martial arts exercises every single muscle in the body.
And, there is a point to it all. Survival.
Now, I have to tell you I feel sorry for people who do exercises, but not martial arts. They play for a while, then they get old. I always come across old people who talk about how they loved to dance, but no longer do it. Or they loved to hike, but they no longer do it.
Do you see it? There is not only the whole body approach, but the purpose, and the desire to survive right through your old age.
Anyway, I know this is meandering, but if you aren’t doing the martial arts, start doing them. Find an art, any art, that appeals to your desire to live and love and play games and…survive. That’s what Martial Arts Cross Training is all about. Pick up a free book at Learn Karate Online. Best way to start.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in free karate, free karate online, Goju Ryu, karate bunkai, karate kata, kenpo karate, Korean Karate, learn karate at home, Martial Arts, Shito Ryu, Taekwondo

Tagged , , ,

Uncovering The Mysteries Of The Iron Horse Karate Kata

Posted on June 6, 2011 by | Leave a comment


Tekki Kata, also known as Haihanchi, is one of the best forms in all the martial arts. Many people refer to it as The Iron Horse. As this name indicates, it is a horse stance form, and the karateka moves from side to side while performing it.

The power generated by this Okinawan Karate form is absolutely awesome. The deep stance works the legs, and the tan tien starts to pump up, and one feels the chi power course through the frame almost from the get go. It is usually taught around black belt level in systems such as Kyokushinkai.

When I first learned Naihanchi I would practice while facing a partner and having ‘kata races.’ We would mirror each other, and go back and forth, building our speed and perfecting our moves. Eventually, we would find a harmony of motion that one will not see in many martial art patterns.

When I asked my instructor about it, he said it was designed for fighting in rice paddies. The footwork enabled one to grip the ground no matter how muddy. The sideways motion paralleled the earthwork in the rice paddies, where other foot patterns would result in loss of footing.

As my studies continued I came across the concept that the form was designed for riding a horse. Even if a warrior lost his weapons while riding a horse, he could keep fighting while gripping the horse with the leg strength built up by the form. I found this a fascinating notion, but it didn’t ring quite true.

In time, I happened across the book ‘Shotokan’s Secrets,’ written by Dr. Bruce Clayton. The good doctor claimed that the kata were actually designed for actual fighting in the Imperial throne room of old Okinawa. This theory at first seemed odd, but the more I thought about it the more sense it made.

Imagine the scene: invading troops attempt to capture the king of Okinawa, and the front row troops use the movements from the Pinan forms (Heian katas) to create confusion. Meanwhile, the advanced bodyguards move sideways across the back of the room while the king is hustled through a rear door and to safety. This theory not only made sense when analyzing the specific movements, but in the historical and psychological sense, too.

What the truth is will be debated as long as Karate is taught. Of course, it doesn’t matter as long as that fabulous form generates good, old fashioned ‘chi power’ by the bushel. Call it Naihanchi, Tekki, or just the Iron Horse, this is one Karate Kata that is good for the ages.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in free karate, free karate online, Isshin Ryu, karate bunkai, karate DVD, karate forms, karate kata, karate techniques, Korean Karate, kyokushin, learn karate at home, learn karate free, Okinawan Karate, Shito Ryu, Shotokan, Wado Ryu

Tagged , , ,

Tekki One…Kima Chodan…the Iron Horse…They are the Same!

Posted on June 6, 2011 by | Leave a comment

Karate Power

Karate Secrets...hidden for all to see!


On of my favorite kata was Kima Chodan. It has several other names, Tekki, the Iron Horse, and so on. It was also the favorite of Giochin Funakoshi, he spent ten years playing with it.
The reason it is so great is that it is a power form. Getting low in the horse, stepping back and forth, just powers up the tan tien like nobody’s business.
One of my favorite things was to face a partner and mirror the form. We would race, find harmony, critique each other endlessly. A mirror that actually talked…how cool was that, eh?
For those who would like to go extreme, it’s fun to put a heavy weight vest and go crazy, or to hold dumbells and go crazy.
After a while the power jacks up, you start feeling like nobody in the world could stop you, and man, ain’t life a hoot!
Anyway, here’s my version of it. I learned it forty years ago, and I haven’t tweaked it much, so it’s a pretty pure version. Comes not through the Japanese lineage, but direct to the Okinawa Masters who taught Gichin Funakoshi. If you want to learn more about the old Karate forms surrounding Kima Chodan, or Tekki or the Iron Horse or whatever you call it, check out Temple Karate at Monster Martial Arts.

→ Leave a comment

Posted in free karate, free karate online, Karate, karate bunkai, karate forms, karate lessons, karate techniques, kyokushin, learn karate at home, learn karate free, Okinawan Karate

Tagged , , , , ,

Exploring Karate Chi Power Through a Variety of Arts

Posted on June 5, 2011 by | Leave a comment

I just wrote a post for one of my other blogs about energy. The post is at…
http://alcase.wordpress.com/2011/06/05/the-different-chi-power-manifestations-of-the-martial-arts/
I was sort of loose in that post, so let me nail it down for your progress.
Oh, check out the video first, then I’ll tell you.

Karate is one of the best places to start energy manifestation (chi power and all that), because it starts with a simple explosion. Once you can explode, however, you need to figure out what to do with the energy that you have exploded.
Shaolin might turn and roll it, Pa Kua might spiral it, Tai Chi will suspend it, and so on. Every system has specific things they do with energy. Even the same systems will emphasize different progressions of this thing called Chi power.
That said, it can take too long to develop chi without Karate. And it can take too long to develop chi power even in Karate unless you have proper matrixing. Matrixing is logical and will enhance all progress and speed of progress.
The most important thing,however, is to change courses when you learn how to explode. You must ‘go backwards,’ learn how to empty yourself, and try different manipulations of the body if you want to find different manifestations of energy.
A Karate student who just keeps doing the same old same old will tend to stagnate. You know a lot of people drop out of Karate after getting their black belt in that hard art? They know, intuitively, that karate, once so wild and wooley and invigorating, has become a stop point. They know that they must seek elsewhere to continue their upward progress.
Anyway, that all said, stop by LearnKarateOnline (dot)net if you want to start your journey in that basic and yet most advanced art, or if you want to revitalize the things that you learned long ago, but which you need to pick up again in order to progress onward.

not all systems explode

→ Leave a comment

Posted in free karate, free karate online, Karate, karate bunkai, karate forms, karate instructor, karate techniques, kenpo karate, kwon bup, kyokushin, learn karate free, Martial Arts, Shotokan, Tae Kwon Do, Wado Ryu

Tagged , , , ,