Category Archives: karate kata

Great Mental Space is Available With Karate!

With Karate, every work out is a prayer.

Let’s talk about what a work out really does.
I mean,
I keep telling you to work out,
and you know you get stronger and faster,
more smarter,
and people even like you more,
but…
why?
So let’s talk about EXACTLY what happens in a work out.

with karate

Learning Karate Changes Even Bullies



The human body is a motor,
and the human mind is like a radio transmitter.
I know,
sounds weird,
but it’s true.

At first,
you are working out
and the motor gets stronger,
faster,
and so on,
and that’s all good.

Somewhere along the line
the radio transmitter,
the mind,
starts to lose static.
All the chatter and bushwah
going on in the mind
gets less and less.

Mostly,
this is hard to perceive,
it’s not like muscles,
where a month later
you notice that you are stronger.
With the mind,
it’s like a year or two later,
you just feel better,
are calmer,
hold your own in conversations better,
and that sort of thing.

Now,
when you do a form,
or a technique,
you are deliberately trying
to get rid of distractions.
You want to do the move without extras.
You want to do only the move.
You want to be pure in motion
without thought.

The purpose of the form is to get rid of thought,
so that only that single thought
that creates the motion
is manifest.

Read that again.
The purpose of a form is to get rid of useless thought,
and manifest only that thought
which initiated the action.

The beginner has to move his feet,
his body lurches behind,
he’s not sure which muscles he’s using
and halfway through the move
he starts daydreaming.

Well,
maybe not daydreaming,
but he is not holding on to the single thought
which created the move.

For myself,
I used to get SO-O-O frustrated
because there was so much happening in my mind
when I did even a simple step and punch move.

But,
as time progressed,
and the step and punch moves accumulated
my mind stopped chattering
and I started focusing
on only one thing,
on only the move I was doing.

Have a thought and make it happen.
That’s what the whole procedure is…
have a thought and make it happen.

Now,
after some twenty or thirty years
your mind gets fair calm
and you actually start to see what the other guy is doing.

I know it sounds funny,
twenty or thirty years,
and who would want to take that long,
but take it from me,
when you start seeing what the other guy is doing…
BEFORE HE DOES IT
it is worth a hundred years of forms.
Even a thousand.
There is simply nothing like leaving the mind
and all its bushwah chatter,
and entering into
A GREAT SPACE.

That is the only way I can describe it.
When the mind disappears,
becomes so small it is negligible,
it is like you are in a great space.
You have so much room,
so much time.

When somebody starts to move,
you have the time and space
to yawn, create a counter,
and implement it.
You have Great Space.

Now,
what I have described here
is exactly what happens
when you do forms for some thirty years.

You start with a mental radio transmitter
that is rusty and clogged with static.
By forcing yourself to focus,
to concentrate on one thing,
the chatter goes away,
the static goes away,
and you become able to actually have a thought
and make it work.
And,
you start to see other people,
and you actually perceive their thoughts,
and you have this Great Space
in which to act.

Life becomes a big, empty jewel,
sparkling with happenings,
and you feel this incredible compassion for people
and you realize the truth of brotherhood.
Not politics,
or some bushwah belief system,
but the actuality
of perceiving your fellow man
on the deepest level,
where he lives,
in his soul.
Or…
to perceive the soul that he is.

Now,
do you understand why
I want you to learn faster?
Why I want you to accumulate this wisdom
in a year or so,
as opposed to thirty years?

I want you to clear out the radio transmitter that is your mind.
I want people to experience the Great Space
that is their true reality.

I want the orifices that are politicians
and petty dictators,
and bad bosses,
and nagging wives,
and snapping and snarling mad dogs…
TO KNOCK IT THE FUCK OFF!

Pardon my French,
Swearing is the mark of an untrained mind,
but I really wanted to make my point.

So,
do you like Karate?
Here’s an URL
to help you grow faster,
get smarter quicker,
and connect with the truth
of yourself and your fellow man.

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

Do you like Kung Fu?
Check out the Shaolin Butterfly
on the Monster Martial Arts site.

Maybe you’re one of these mystical whiz kids,
take a gander at
Butterfly Pa Kua Chang
at the Monster.

Or weapons or chi building or…
whatever you want,
whatever it takes to get you to take the next step,
to put aside the ancient and slower methods.

Do you understand?
The planet is undergoing a meltdown,
and you are needed.
You are needed to take up arms,
so that you may put down the inner beast
that is in yourself
and in everybody.
And it is a simple matter of
doing what you love.
Doing the martial arts.
Making yourself focus on one thought.
Making yourself stronger and smarter.
Making yourself into a spiritual entity
that can bring peace to the self
and the world.

With Karate we can actually create a better and more harmonious world.

 

Making Powerful Karate Kicks

I say Karate kicks, but the training tips of this article hold for Taekwondo Kicks, Kung Fu kicks, or whatever. There are two things that we need to analyze when figuring out the best way to kick somebody’s butt. One is holding to the basic kicks, and the other is the mechanics of the kick itself.

Karate kick

Use the whole body when kicking!


When doing Karate kicks one can get carried away with a lengthy list of flashy kicks. This includes jumping, spinning, and even acrobatic leg maneuvers. These, however, while fun and even a benefit to the student, will not work in a street altercation. Thus, when doing martial arts kicks one should stick to the four effective fighting basics: front, side, wheel (roundhouse), or spinning rear kick.

When practicing these leg tricks make sure that you raise the knee. Raising the knee involves the hips and commits the whole body to the kick. A good training tip for doing this is to practice kicking over a chair.

Always use the correct part of the foot when striking. This would be the toes, the ball of the foot, the instep, and the heel. When selecting which part of the foot to kick with, remember that the smallest striking area will focus the greatest amount of force.

Always turn the hips when kicking. Turning the hips commits the whole weight of the body into the action. This must be done liquid and whiplike, all pieces moving together.

Do not hold your leg in the chamber position. One must be like a liquid whip, up from the earth to the target, and back from the target to the earth. To hold the leg halfway between is to bleed power out of the kick, and to break it into segments.

Always do your kicking at the right distance. Just as you shouldn’t try to use a fist when at kicking range, don’t try to use a foot when at fist range. The better strategy is not to try to make something work at the wrong distance, but to get so good at the basics that you can’t be stopped.

Most important rule of all: do hundreds, even thousands, of kicks every day. The fool who thinks ten kicks per foot per kick per day is enough is just that…a fool. Only by dedicating oneself, by going fanatic and mad dog in your training, whether in Karate kicks, or whatever type of leg movement you are practicing, will you hope to obtain the best benefits that your martial arts discipline has to offer.

There are some great articles on kicking at FreeMartialArtsOnline.com

The Truth About Yoga, Karate, And Your Right, Big Toe

When it comes to Yoga Karateka can get great benefits.  Before you get benefits, hower, you have to understand why Yoga works. It’s an interesting question, and one which I have never heard answered. In fact, some youngster puts the question to some oriental sage type, and I see a lot of justifying and circumventing and philosophizing…and no real answer.

yoga karate

Learning Karate Changes Even Bullies


I was trying to make yoga work the other day, and I was listening to some gal on a Yoga CD course and trying to relate it to the karate that I knew, and the gal on the CD suddenly said something that made me blink. Smugly, she stated, ‘It took me three years to be able to do this yoga asana.’ I paused the CD, and ruminated over her statement.

It took her three years of discipline to make her body hold a pose. She was proud, which is okay, but is still probably the sinful version of satisfied. And I don’t think she really knew or understood Yoga.

She was stretching and being a contortionist. She wasn’t talking about becoming aware as a spiritual being, but rather being prideful about being able to pretzelize her body. What she was saying had to do with holding her body in a posture, and nothing to do with the spiritual side of the discipline.

One of my more odd martial arts tricks is to practice my karate kata in a dark room with no lights and my eyes closed. I do this because Karate means ’empty hands,’ and I recognized that you couldn’t have empty hands without developing an empty mind. I am merely trying to reduce extraneous sensations, and develop awareness aimed at the single and concentrated practice of the martial arts form.

To understand this in Yoga, shut your eyes and become aware of your right, big toe. You must be aware of your right, big toe without the use of body perceptions. You must become aware, not be aware through body perception devices (eyes, taste, hearing, and so on).

If you can hold the body motionless, reduce sensation, and just become aware, then you are on the track of real yoga. If you can understand the different between being aware through body perception tools (sight, smell, etcetera), and just being aware, then you are on the track of real yoga. If you can become aware of yourself as a spiritual being apart from the body, then you are doing real Yoga.

You don’t have to force your body through rigid postures. You need merely assume a pose…doesn’t even have to be an official yoga position…and stop looking through your senses, and let awareness flower. The difference between perception and awareness, this is why yoga works, why karate is great, and your big toe is so cool.

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!

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.

What You don’t Want to Do to A Karate Black Belt!

Karate Black Belt is Looking Good!

I earned my karate black belt in 1974. Back then we didn’t have all the karate equipment and martial arts supplies and stuff.

I was in Chinese Kenpo Karate at first, and we received neat, new belts with each promotion. I had an Orange Belt and a Blue Belt and Green Belt and all the other rank symbols.

karate black belt

Peter Urban properly dressed

 


Then I went to the Kang Duk Won, and belts weren’t the issue there. Knowledge was the point of it all.

I had gotten a white belt with my uniform, and my sensei told me, when I got my first promotion at the Kang Duk Won I was told to dye it.

So I put it in a pot, added dye, and the thing shrank a litte, but it was still workable.

For some belts we had to go into ladies fabric shops (blush) and get iron on strips of cloth.

By the time I reached Black Belt I had a beaten up short strip of belt that looked like it had been through the ringer.

So, I admit it, I bought my first real belt. It was long enough, it looked good, but it was…stiff.

Well, I had done enough already, actually buying a belt was a bit proud, so I just worked out hard and hoped nobody noticed the overly prideful guy with the NEW belt.

And it eventually work it’s way into a comfortable rag.

Speaking of rags, I should tell you about the artificial aging of belts. Some guys bought belts, and to make them look old, they would take a razor blade and shred the edges of the belts. They would have half a dozen belts, all artificially aged and cool looking.

Unfortunately, the karate these guys practiced wasnt’ aged, and it looked artificial.

And there were guys who would drag their belts in the dirt, scuff them by walking on them, and so on, just to look cool and official and aged.

I actually don’t wear a belt anymore. And my classes are so small that I don’t need to have people wear belts. So we actually practice in street clothes, which is what we would wear if we were attacked on the street.

Still, I remember my bouts with pride, and my first karate black belt, and the honor it was to wear it.

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.

 

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.

Learn Monster Karate Now and Live Through the Coming End of Days!

Monster Karate and the Coming Apocalypse!

I just know that if I started a Monster Karate martial arts school I would get incredibly rich. I could teach all the secret martial arts techniques that the lmonsters use to rip the beating and dripping heart out of some fool who can’t run very fast. I could teach people the secret monster karate techniques that…maybe I should tell you where I am going with all this?

monster karate

The True Power of Karate!

My wife just knew that I was totally destroying my sons’ fragile, eggshell mentalities. We would perch on the sofa for hours and eat popcorn and watch monster movies. And then I would show them the secrets of the martial arts.

What she didn’t know was that we were learning several things which were vital to learning the martial arts. Specifically, we were looking at the use of wires and make up. Analyze these two things and it will change the way you look at the martial arts, and it will even educate you as to the less than beneficial effects of Hollywood movie makers.

First, we would spend long hours dissecting the methods by which Hollywood creates its special effects. How did that vampire soar across the rooftops? The answer, we would find, would be wirework, or a blue screen, a trampoline, and invisible platforms pasted onto the background.

This led to attempts to do certain stunts, with me holding onto the back of the pants, assisting the flip, or otherwise seeing if something could be done. This led to the boys understanding the need for people who actually knew how to spot (grin) and proper instruction before trying to do those things they do on television and tell you not to do.

The second special effects factor was makeup, and while we didn’t start roaming the streets dressed in monster drag at midnight, we did get in an educational analysis of how make up could be used to enhance death. If you bent the head just right, put a metal plate against the neck, you could set off a small charge and make it look like a throat was being exploded. Cool!

And, the method for inserting knives, bullets, spears, or whatever the weapon of your choice into the body part of your choice was quite educational. This led to analysis of how the body might really react when various weapons hit it. Nice!

I know this is a strange bit of writing, and I know that people may not like the way I raised my children. But my kids are not taken in by Hollywood special effects, don’t get bothered by a little fake blood, appreciate good movie making, know that no actors were harmed during the making of this movie, and understand better how reality functions. So maybe you should think about learning a little Monster Karate, that way maybe you’ll stand a chance of surviving when zombies rule the streets.

The Secret of Light Kung Fu and How to Walk on Water

Light Kung Fu is one of those ancient myths that has a lot of substantiation. There are directions in old textbooks concerning the discipline, and every once in a while you see something really astounding that makes people think that such things are possible. This article is going to be concerned with directions for reaching that high Kung Fu ability.


light kung fu

Creating the Sphere of Chi Eneregy

Basic instructions for learning light kung fu, and being able to do martial arts techniques like jumping six feet straight up, are usually childish, or esoteric. The childish are usually consist of directions like, ‘dig a hole and jump out of it one thousand times. Take one cup of dirt out of the hole every morning, and in ten years you will be able to jump out of a twelve foot pit.

Let’s see: one inch a day, 365 days times ten years, 3650 inches divided by twelve…guy should be able to leap over 300 feet vertically. Maybe it was a cup of dirt every week? But that would still be over near 30 feet vertical.

The more esoteric directions consisted of things like breath to the tan tien while you do the dragon farts move. The second chakra must be engaged on year three, and the sixth chakra will awaken on year eight. Meditate to Mohammad constantly while you do this.

The childish and the esoteric out of the way, more confusion is often introduced by scientists. I came across the following directions for light kung fu on a karate forum. Gigong is just the ability of transition of body weight between the two feet in such a way that the body weight never gets enough time to rest its fullness on to any of the legs in any period of time…and the paragraph goes on to analyze shortening the cycle of stepping.

This last description is most interesting, but there is always a problem when somebody tries to describe something that is beyond physics with…physics. What I mean by this is that physics describes how the universe works, but it doesn’t really tell you how the mind can manipulate it. I know scientists will argue with what I have just said, and try to inflict their reasoning on the phenomena, but science can’t define the supernatural, such as light kung fu, raising the dead, or, say, walking on water.

I had a student who managed to walk on water. His method was to run across the corner of a swimming pool. He would get a running start, do a couple of things with his mind, and run over the surface of the water without dropping into the drink.

What is of interest is what he was doing with his mind. Gravity can be measured, of course; it can be described by science, but it is still an idea that you must believe in for it to function. We are raised up to make physics work (trained by schools slanted towards the scientific method), but the secret of light kung fu is to untrain your mind, to overcome the idea of gravity, and that takes a lot of kung fu discipline.