Category Archives: karate lessons

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.

 

How to Use Karate Strategy to Walk Through a Mob

Use Karate Strategy to Defeat Chaos!

A bit of cross training and you can build and use karate strategy that will enable you to walk right through a bom. Following is the article.

use karate strategy

Adapt and use the art of Gichin Funakoshi to walk through a mob!

 

I was reading a martial arts journal several years ago, I think it was Black Belt, and I stumbled upon this anecdote involving Morihei Ueshiba. O Sensei would go to different towns and put on Aikido exhibitions. I have no doubt the exhibitions were spectacular, however the thing that inspired the heck out of me was the story his uchideshi (inside student) offered regarding O Sensei’s crowd walking strategy.

When traveling across a train station (for example) O Sensei would simply walk straight forward, radiating his chi, and the masses would part. Individuals might turn and stare at this imperious titan, then the masses would close up. The Uchi deshi, packed with trunks and bags, would struggle through the closing people.

The thing that awed me about this relating of event was not that a man could easily emanate effective chi and sweep back a masses, but that it reminded me of my very own crowd walking experiences.

When I was in eleventh grade I used to love to run through groups. I would probably be late for class, or simply playing tag with someone, and unexpectedly something would come over me and I would be in complete sprint. The halls would certainly be jammed, and I would be turning on the nickel, scrambling full tilt, not able to be tripped (and a few of the teenagers would certainly make an effort). Young women might gasp and also offer little shrieks as I ran full tilt towards them, then turned and spun around them. The ground resembled a magnet to my feet, I never ever slipped, it was like I was flash, yet with magic glue on my soles.

O Sensei’s crowd walking blew me away, however it was so different from mine.

Exhibiting chi like he was a walking heating system. It was the start of my martial arts calling, and control of chi in such splendid way was yet a dream. Still, I had my very own technique.

As time went on I acquired the capability to exhibit chi, though not to the degree of O Sensei, yet, fascinatingly, I started to hold my very own procedure up as possibly not so scruffy.

The key, of course, was in engaging in Pa Kua Chang, in walking the circle. Especially, I would focus on walking EXTREMELY slowly. I would feel the chi go up and down the legs, and I started to recognize a few things.

One, there was even more finesse in my strategy than simply turning it on and blasting individuals back.

Two, Pa Kua Chang really didn’t instruct individuals to crowd walk like I was doing it. Classic Pa Kua Chang was more into tricky hands, and not into fine tuning the walk itself. Walking slowly, concentrating the knowledge on the generation and control of chi in the legs, made lightening in the legs. And this lead to the next understanding.

Three, I could show individuals ways to walk through crowds ten times more quickly and effectively, and there was a TON more fulfillment in the teaching.

Chi blasting a group is entertaining, however it is pretty much a bully method.

Understanding ways to worm through the people at high speeds thrills the creativity, it is subtle, it needs more entire body strategy. And this last is fascinating, and actually important to the expanding martial artist.

Contrast it to a musical instrument. Chi blasting such as O Sensei did is comparable to the opening chords of’ 2001: A Space Odyssey.’ (Thus Spoke Zarathustra). Crowd walking such as I explain and instruct with my particular Pa Kua Chang resembles playing Flight of the bumblebee.

One is spectacular, the other is elaborate. One is amazing, the other is subtle. One is overpowering, the other is shading subtleties of hue unto infinity.

And, of course, when it pertains to crowd walking martial arts procedures, one should master both. Have the ability to be subtle, and blast at a second’s notice.

This has been an article on how to use karate strategy to walk through a mob, check out Pa Kua chang at MonsterMartialArts.com.

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

Beat Up a Karate Teacher for World Peace!

Yes, You Can Beat Up a Karate Teacher!

A 37 year old man entered a Fort Wayne Karate school and tried to beat up a karate teacher.

The unnamed man carefully disguised himself before entering the martial arts school. He ripped up a batman tee shirt and draped it about his face as a mask, then entered the school. A ‘Karate kid’ class was being conducted, but that did not sway the alleged ‘beater upper.’ He strode to the center of the mat, apparently to give a message of world peace.


karate instructor

The owner of Bowles Karate Academy politely asked the belligerent to leave, but the man refused. Instead, he held out a hand with a secret message on it. The owner refused to take the note, and instead elected to guide the man off the mat and out of the school. The man immediately swung a quick fist and punched the school owner in the face.

Big mistake.

The karate teacher quickly subdued the man. It was not stated whether he used a simple jointlock, threw the man down and sat on him, or kicked him in the, uh…juncture at the top of and between the legs.

At any rate, the man was subdued, and the sensei and one of his assistants held the man in place while the police were called. It is unknown whether the martial artssensei lectured the children on proper jointlocks, holds, and submission techniques while he perched aboard the intruder.

The police shortly not too long afterwards, and the man was passed over to them to be handcuffed. When the police asked the man why he had come into the school, the man passed them the secret message. The note said, ‘Stop the Violence.’

The police began laughing, then everybody in the school was laughing, and the attacker hung his head in shame.

The man was arrested on misdemeanor charges of battery and criminal trespass.

The teacher was cheered, and so goes the attempt to beat up a karate teacher.

 

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.

Make a Karate Wooden Dummy

A Karate wooden dummy is a great piece of martial arts equipment. It strengthens the arms and the fists, and even the legs, and it is an opponent that never quits but always loses. The cost of a wooden playmate is sometimes high, so here are a couple of alternatives to help the wooden dummy aficionado meet his opponent.

Karate kick

Use this on a karate wooden dummy!

 


The Wooden Dummy is popular in many martial arts, but Wing Chun Ving Tsun) Gung Fu is the best known. This art has practiced with the wooden fellow for the longest amount of time, and even has a complete form for dominating it. There is no reason that karate can’t utilize the dummy, also.

This writer recalls watching the Kung Fu wooden dummy in Jackie Chan’s great kung fu flick Rumble in the Bronx. Watching the air become thick with dust when Jackie lays into it is a great moment. Possibly the best flick to show the wooden training Partner is the movie Ip Man, with Donny Yen.

In the beginning the Karateka will become competent at training on kicking bags and speed bags, and perhaps strengthening the mitts on the makiwara. It won’t be long, however, until the karateka or kung fu zealot puts a couple of rug samples on a pine tree and starts tougher hand conditioning exercises. A nice trick, however, is to get the wooden limb to move towards you so you can block it.

This writer made a simple striking tool by wrapping a towel around a pole, and then having people jab at him with it. This rapidly turned into an advanced form of freestyle, where the block had to be done, and the distance to the pole holder closed. It is quite challenging to dash three or four feet in a moment to negate the distance the pole offers.

The next step might be putting a pole on some sort of swivel device. Sink a four by four, then place a moveable pole atop it. On can block the limb, and block it again when it comes around, and even get into ducking and blocking.

Eventually, one will want to get a length of a log, drill a few holes, then arrange some arms and legs. One can then move around, block the wooden arms and legs, and pretend that one is defending against a real attacker. What is really nifty is to place some large springs on the arms and legs so that they become more realistic.

The cost of wood being what it is, or perhaps the difficulty of procuring a log in a city, one might consider alternative materials. PVC might work, if one could find thick enough plastic that won’t break, or perhaps even some sort of metal. This type of material would require towels or other material being wrapped around it to protect the arms and fists.

In closing, there are many ways to set up a false attacker, and the martial student is limited only by his imagination. Watch movies, read instruction manuals, and start inspecting the materials that you might use. Guaranteed, a karate wooden dummy will provide you with many hours of happy martial arts training.

Discover more about <a href=”http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Art-Dearming_the_Arm.html”>Kung Fu Wooden Dummy</a> forms of training. Head to <a href=”http://www.monstermartialarts.com/Master_Instructor_Course.html”>Monster Martial Arts</a>.

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.

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.

Should Karate Student Learn Pa Kua Chang

Marital Arts Cross Training…Karate to Pa Kua Chang

Well, we all believe in cross training, but isn’t karate and Pa Kua Chang trying to mate the dog and the cat? I mean, they are different martial arts, are they not? One is the straight line, and the other is the circle, and never the two should meet. Right?

bruce lee workouts

I like to learn ALL Martial Arts!

 


Well, an interesting bit of martial arts history might be appropriate at this time.

Karate was put together over hundreds of years on Okinawa. There was a heavy Chinese influence on this development.

One of the four major karate systems that came to Okinawa fairly intact and wasn’t put together, was an art called Pan Gai Noon. This art became known as Uechi Ryu.

If you examine the history of Uechi, and of Pan Gai Noon, you come up with three distinct animal (concepts). These are the tiger, the crane, and the dragon. And, you come up with the influence of several Chinese martial arts, among which is…pa kua chang.

So, should a karate student study Pa Kua Chang? He should if he wants to know more than the surface techniques. He should if he wants to delve into the background and history and actual source of his art.

And, the pa kua chang student might be advised to learn karate. After all, to know only the circle is to know only half the art. One should know both the circle and the line if they are to consider themselves complete.

The true martial artist must know both the circle and the line, the hard and the soft, both the internal and the external, if they want to make it to the top of the martial arts world.

This, incidentally, is one of the reasons I wrote The Neutronic Motors of Pa Kua Chang. To help martial artists to be complete. The book is a study in how to develop chi power int he martial arts. To be exact, it is a complete system, and it is the absolute fastest and most efficient method for building chi power in the world.

So, if you are a karate student, you should study pa kua chang, and vice versa, and my book is a wonderful way to make this happen.

bagua zhang