Category Archives: Taekwondo

High School Punch Outs and Learning Karate

Learning Karate made a HUGE Difference!

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

learning karate

Learning Karate Changes Even Bullies

 


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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.

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.

Karate Kiai and Discovering The Enigma of Kotodama

Karate Kiai Defeats Attacker Without Touching Him!

Karate Kiai means ‘spirit shout,’ and it is the deadly scream that karate practitioners utter when chopping an opponent’s head off. Well, maybe I overstated that a bit, grin, but there is a truth to the karate shout that is unarguable and leads to some rather rare and mysterious knowledge. I am referring to the subject of Kotodama, which means ‘Word spirit.’

spirit shout

The True Power of Karate!

The idea behind a Karate kiai is to put all energies into one moment, one attack, and thus to enhance the power of the strike. The idea of scaring an attacker is somewhat secondary, but still very significant. Both of these ideas lead to rather interesting conjecturings and mysterious realities.

Kotodama is generally directed at the notion of creating soothing sounds, which sounds can engender a more spiritual feeling in a person. There is, of course, the flip side of this subject, the bad word belief, in which a sound is used to harm somebody. Either way, the study of kotodama results in the notion of kotomuke (soothing speech to bring peace), and kotoage, which is a way of invoking magic.

My first experience with the kotodama comes directly from a decades long study of karate, kung fu, and other martial arts. This gave direct experience with the power of screaming at an attacker and weakening him. In one case I used the power of the karate kiai to defeat a would be mugger…and he turned around stumbled down the street, his body shaking uncontrollably.

Experiences like this, which were brought about by the faithful practice of karate forms with correct emphasis on Karate kiai, brought me to a profound appreciation of the subject. Of interest in this is the speech mannerisms of salesmen and mentalists, and others of that sort. Observing how such people conducted themselves, the tones they used, the pitch of sound they used, brought me to the realization that we are talking about the subject of vibrations.

Vibration is commonly acknowledged to be the source of the universe. Between the idea of an Eternal Spirit and the rather short termed and solid life of objects (of which the universe is made), is vibration. This idea is true on the atomic level of protons and electrons, and on the larger scale of whirling galaxies and entire universes.

What we are more interested in, however, are the vibrations possible to us in our day to day lives as human beings. Can a person speak in such a way as to cause a vibration which can move the universe? The answer to this is as sharp and distinct as the phenomena of an opera singer singing a note that cracks a glass.

The method for achieving this ability is just as clear cut. First, one has to know, through the simple practice of virtue, that they are spiritual in nature, and that they can create vibrations which not only shatter glass, but which can rattle objects on tables, and, more easily, cause comfort or discomfort to their fellow human beings. Second, one has to discover and adhere to the exact disciplines which create this ability…then the result is that a simple Karate kiai can become Kotodama, can become a mystical spell or chant which has the power to harm or heal.

 

Three Secrets of True Shaolin Kung Fu Training

True Shaolin Kung Fu Training Methods!

The gains people get from true Shaolin Kung Fu training are absolutely incredible. The key to gaining all these benefits is to train in the correct manner. After all, you could have the sweetest piece of steak in the world, but cook it improperly and you’ll have a charcoal mess.

shaolin kung fu training methodsWhen one is learning Kung Fu one should always move the body as one unit. Six Harmonies Boxing proposes that one should move the hand with the foot, the knee with the elbow, and the hips with the shoulders. This is technical and sound advice, which tends to isolate body parts even as it unifies them.

As for the hands and feet, one should step or twist into a stance in conjunction with the starting and stopping of the hand movement. For the knees and elbows, one should properly align the body when doing any movement. For the hips and shoulderes, move them together and you will be putting all your body weight into whatever motion you are doing.

The second of the three secrets of Shaolin Kung Fu training is to use the waist when turning the body. This is something that people begin to learn naturally after understanding the points about moving the body as one unit. The advice here is to use the waist to make the body turn, don’t turn the arms first and expect the body to follow.

If you move the arms first, the body weight is going to be trying to catch up, instead of projecting weight and energy, and this tends to separate weight from action. Separating weight from action will delete real power from a move. If one studies this concept carefully they will end up developing the true chi power of Shaolin Kung Fu.

Lastly, one must focus on proper breathing. There is a commonly held principle that one should breath in when the body contracts, and out when the body expands, but there is more to this principle than just that. One must breath, and use that breath to guide awareness through the parts of their body.

To make this happen one should ‘swim with awareness’ when doing the movements of their kung fu patterns. This means to push the hands through the air as if moving great weights, this sometimes makes it look like one is swimming through molasses. Of course, this tends to be more true in the internal manifestations of Shaolin Kung Fu training, but that is fine.

To summarize, these are three very important points that many people neglect, or simply just don’t appreciate. Yet they are key to progress in the martial arts. Make the body parts work together, use the whole body, and put breath awareness into your motion, that is the simple and plain secret of true Shaolin Kung Fu Training.

shaoin training

Martial Arts Quiz to Find your Martial Smarts!

Take the Martial Arts Quiz now!

This Martial Arts Quiz will let you know how much you know in the martial arts. The questions cover a range of martial arts, and instructions for grading are at the bottom. Begin now and write down the answer to each question.

karate quizWho was the Chinese movie star named ‘The Little Dragon?’  What was the significant Samurai martial art learned by the founder of Aikido? What was the name of the brothers who built a national chain of Chinese Kenpo Karate studios?

Who was the founder of the Chinese martial art wherein the practitioner spends his time ‘walking the circle?’ Who was the first American President to take Judo instruction? What was the title of the movie that Bruce Lee didn’t finish before his death?

Which Karate system received the official blessing of Master Gichin Funakoshi to spread his style of karate (it was not Shotokan)? What is the name of the World Taekwondo Headquarters in Seoul? Who was the Taekwondo instructor behind the martial arts in ‘Billie Jack?’

What is the title of the book penned by the Samurai who killed sixty people and lived the last years of his life in a cave? What martial art trains one in the use of the weapon called a Parang? Who was the first owner of Black Belt magazine?

What length of time did it take Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace to achieve the rank of black belt? Which athlete did Bruce Lee watch the movies of in a mirror to make sure he got the movements of on both the right and the left sides? What was the title of the first book the founder of Chinese Kenpo wrote on the martial arts (listed in wiki)?

Who was the ‘spy’ who wrote the first book on Shaolin to receive widespread attention in the US, and what was the name of the book that he wrote? What was the name of the first chop sockie flick to really make it big in the United States? Who was the Chinese actor to kill a villain in a Chinese movie made in the late 70s, and then play that same villain in the movie ‘Kill Bill?’

To find any answers you don’t know do a google search. To figure out your score take the number of questions you answered correctly and divide by 18. Don’t worry if you didn’t score high, for now you know all the answers to this martial arts quiz and are a smarter person.

martial arts quiz

Bruce Lee Workouts And How to Have Amazing Strength-Part Two

Bruce Lee Workouts Resulted In Massive Speed and Strength!

When people do Bruce Lee workouts of some sort they have no idea what they are getting into. They see the movies, they read the books, but they don’t know what Bruce Lee was really capable of. They don’t know just how powerful he really was.

bruce lee workouts

It wasn’t just that he was a martial arts true believer, he could actually do superhuman feats. I’ve listed a few of the things he could do in this bit of writing, and you should think about them seriously when you do your Bruce Lee workouts. It’s more than just push ups and sit ups, it is a different and fantastical realm of physical capability.

First, the sheer speed coming out of Bruce Lee training routines is astounding. He could deliver a punch in five one hundredths of second…that’s 0.05 seconds. Try timing that on your stopwatch!

Second, Bruce Lee could extend a seventy-five pound barbell straight out for several seconds. That is a unbelievably difficult. Go ahead, pick up a cinder block and hold it straight out, and that is no where near 75 pounds.

Here is your sleight of hand, magician’s trick-The Little Dragon could snatch a dime out of your open palm and leave a penny. Man, that is faster than a banker forecloses! It’s hard enough to just snatch a coin, let alone leave some change!

Fourth, think you can do a pretty good push up? Try doing one with just the thumb and index finger! His fingers were stronger than your whole arm!

And this one will send the posers packing, Mr. Lee could do 50 one arm chin up repetitions! Let me say that again…that’s FIFTY one hand pull ups. How would you like to have a python as strong as his arm wrapped around your neck?

Sixth, and this is for all those pretty boys out there who do a few kicks and call it a workout, Bruce Lee could kick a 300 pound kicking bag and make it hit the ceiling! Now that is elephant busting power! Interestingly, Bruce had to have his 300 pound martial arts kicking bags made to order.

Seventh and last, Bruce could hold an elevated V-sit up position for 30 minutes. I would think that that would actually qualify him as a yoga master, in addition to all his other accomplishments. At any rate, think about some of these things when you are doing your own brand of Bruce Lee workouts.

The best way to build a perfect and strong body like Bruce Lee had is Yogata. Click to Monster Martial Arts.

Karate Kick Harder: 7 Training Tips that Will Put the Power in Your Kicks!

Karate Kick Harder by Kicking the Right Way

Karate Kick Harder doing these seven simple tricks. Most Karate students you see, don’t really understand how to execute a proper leg kick. These students are told to kick air, or kick a bag, and that’s not much of a Karate lesson.

Karate kickFirst, you must lift the knee and thrust the foot in on a straight line when you execute a Karate kick. The foot will then travel into the attacker’s body on a straight line. It’s like hammering a nail into a wall, you have to make sure the force travels straight into the spike.

The second tip is to tilt the hips slightly upward. You don’t have to tilt them a lot, but they have to tilt enough so that energy can run between the tan tien and foot. A good karate kick will have the whole weight of the body in it..

Third tip is that you must rotate the hips slightly, making sure that the whole body goes into the kick. Your Karate kick will be harder, and and it will even be a bit longer. Not turning the hips tends to jam the kick and make it less useful.

Fourth thing you must do is turn the foot you are standing on. Turn it so that the whole body moves as one solid unit. Very important, when doing a karate kick, because using the body as one unit puts more intention into the kick.

Number five on this list is that you must sink your weight down the leg you are standing on and into the ground. Dropping your body weight while doing a hard kick will give you added solidity. The body is a motor, and it must be bolted in place to work efficiently.

Sixth karate training trick, bend the leg you are standing on. People who straighten the support leg are exploding energy the wrong way, actually ‘unbolting’ the motor from the ground. You need to send a ‘tractor beam’ down the leg to fix the body solidly in place.

Last martial arts training tip, relax all of the body except the foot being used. There is obsession with creating rigid energy, but this is a tremendous waste. If one wants to do a karate kick harder they must learn how to use energy in the body, and energy travels easiest through that which is empty.

There is a free kicking course bundled in with the Matrix Karate course, and it will make your Karate kick harder…make it hard enough to knock over an elephant. A big elephant.