Category Archives: karate techniques

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

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>.

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.

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.

It was Unique Karate Back Then

Unique Karate, that is the name for it

The reason it was unique karate was because it hadn’t flipped for the solely physical.

I remember going to class and doing karate exercises. I was quite fascinated when I had my first student go out on his on and tach, and when I visited his class I found him teaching calisthenics.

Robert J. Babich

Bob Babich


Push ups and sit ups. Running around the room.

I don’t think I ever did a sit up or a push up in karate class. Karate was a calisthenic in itself, you didn’t need to do calisthenics to do karate calisthenics. Heck, lifting the knee to do the kick a few hundred times was better than sit ups, so why not just do the kicks?

Karate got americanized in there somewhere.

People started thinking about how they wanted their body to look, instead of what they could do with their body. And they certainly lost sight of the mind and the spirit.

It became calisthenics and fighting.

This isn’t true for all, of course, but virtually all have been corrupted in this fashion.

I guess we had push ups and sit ups in PE in school, so we figured we’d make this karate thing better with good, old American know how.

Didn’t work.

And the result has been a downslide in such things as timing, speed, and things that the karate calisthenics build naturally.

Instead, we have people taking supplements so they can beef up.

What does that have to do with Karate?

Weird.

My advice, to somebody who wanted to learn karate the old way is simple.

Stretch, and do the classical forms.

The only other thing would be to study Matrixing, because that would help you understand what you are doing.

Well, it’s interesting. Because if somebody did actually manage to learn karate the old way they would find that other arts didn’t work too well against them.

You’d find Karate making a come back in mma training. You’d find people studying the linear, hip twisting loose-tight punch of Karate.

If somebody could get over how they looked, and would start obsessing on creating a unique karate again.

unique karate

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.

If You Think Your Mind is a Mess…Try the Karate Mind!

The Karate Mind is a Way to Fix the World!

Speaking of the Karate Mind, a friend of mine recently made the observation that his mind was a mess. But I knew that he had got it wrong.  You see, it’s the world that is a mess, and the mind is just reflecting that mess. Actually, his mind was doing a pretty good job of reflecting what was out there.

karate mind

The Karate Mind Can Fix the World!



So how do you get rid of the mess ‘in your mind?’ People think there is something wrong with their minds. Uh uh. Not even. My mind is fine, and don’t you go playing around with it.

But, if you do want to make your mind reflect accurately, and without being disturbed by the mess it is reflecting, then you should learn karate.

A heaping helping of forms and freestyle will go a long way. You learn to concentrate, to focus your thoughts, and, interestingly enough, the mind starts to become immune to the mess that is the world.

You focus your attention, you still see the world the way it really is, but the world doesn’t matter. You get the power to say no to car salesmen, yes to good looking girls, no to that one drink too many, yes to that adventure that is right around the corner and is going to change your life.

And, interestingly enough, as you change your mind, you will notice that the world changes along with you. The world, you see reflects you….once you take charge of your mind.

So if you think your mind is a mess, I suggest you reconsider. The mind is not the mess, it is the world that it is a mess. You can, however, gain control over your mind, and make it work better, by simply practicing martial arts, and that will change the world.

Sports are good, theater is fine, but only in the martial arts do you really face real problems. You face that punch and learn not to look away. You feel that destructive energy, and you ward it off and move on in. Now that is the way to handle life, the mind, and just about anything else that comes your way.

This has been an article on fixing the world by achieving the karate mind.

 

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.