Tag Archives: karate

Teaching the True Art of Karate

Spreading the True Martial Arts

I want to talk about something,
not everybody might like it,
but it has to do with growing the martial arts,
and growing your income.

Look,
here is the straight skinny,
the country is having probs,
incomes are down,
and wouldn’t you like to have a few extra bucks?
And,
wouldn’t it be nice if those few extra bucks
came from teaching Karate?

teaching martial arts

Learning Karate Changes Even Bullies

It’s one of my pet projects,
encouraging people to teach.
The thing is
there are a lot of teachers out there,
many aren’t really qualified.
They might have credentials
from big name organizations,
but that doesn’t mean they have the knowledge.
It takes a precise knowledge
of how to teach Karate.
I discovered this with one of my first black belts.
He went out and started teaching,
and when I got over to look at his karate class,
he was teaching calisthenics.
There were a few martial arts thrown in,
and he was good,
but he opted for teaching…calisthenics.
Push ups, sit ups,
a few kicks,
running around the room.
And,
finally,
as an after thought,
he might teach a karate self defense move.

Now,
why he did this,
I don’t know.
But I do know that I checked on his school a couple of decades later,?when it was under one of his students,
and it had gone to full contact karate.
Basically,
fighting and…calisthenics.

So,
I understand that martial arts change,
especially when people don’t understand the underlying reasons.
I can only conclude
that the degradation of his karate school
was my fault.
I taught him,
I was young,
I hadn’t figured it out,
I taught him well,
he was good,
but…he didn’t understand the underlying reasons,
so his school degraded,
didn’t die,
just degraded to the point
where it was teaching people how to fight.

So,
I offer underlying reasons,
and I try to fix schools that have degraded.
And…
I encourage people to teach karate, and other martial arts.
I know that the people who have done my martial arts courses
are going to understand why a technique is,
how it works,
and,
more important,
how to get the student to understand.

Want to know something interesting?
I’ve got a book
‘How to Start Your Own School,’
and when somebody write me and asks me about teaching,
I usually give them that book for free.
It’s part of the Master books,
I could sell it Kindle for a few books
(and I probably will)
but I give it away to people who say they want to teach.

Look,
the difference between man and beast is the fact that man understands.
Animals don’t.
They just fight,
and make up a reason for fighting.
Silly animals.

Anyway,
the point of this rant is that if you are hurting economically,
a victim of the money crunch happening in this country,
you can do something about it.
You could order the Master Instructor Course,
do it,
know that you know more than ANY martial arts instructor on the planet,
and then you could head down to the YMCA,
see if they need a karate instructor.
You can put up cards at a local gym.
You could gather a bunch of neighborhood kids.

You can start out low,
$10 a month for kids,
you can go high,
charge good bucks at the gym.

YOU CAN START YOUR OWN CLASS.
Be it Karate or kung fu,
aikido or pa kua,
or whatever,
and using the data that is inside
The Master Instructor Course,
you could teach that art better than it has been taught
since whoever founded it was teaching.

Spare time.
Saturday afternoon.
Evenings.

You could build it into something large!

Do you understand?
The martial arts are a blessing.
They make people better.
They make strong bodies,
increase awareness,
and they are a fist in the face of the bad guys.
But we need people who understand what they really are.

Oinky Donkey.
I hope my rant has helped.
I don’t want you poor,
and I want everybody healthy and happy,
So…think about it.

Let make a couple of other announcements
before I close off.

I’ve got a new site up.
It’s about Bruce Lee.
Can you find it through google?
It’ll be tough,
but it’s out there.
Next week or two
it’ll be easy to find,
but right now…
can you find it?

And,
we’re waiting on word of escrow
for Monkeyland.
Escrow,
120 acres on a hilltop,
and start building a temple.
And I will let you know as soon as this thing comes true.
Pics and everything.
you’ll be blown away.
incredible site.

Okay,
that’s…ooop!
I almost forgot.

If you have a website,
or a functioning blog,
let’s trade links.
I’ve got three different sites
that are chunking pretty traffic,
a link might bring you a little traffic,
and google likes links,
so they might send you traffic.
Just email me at aganzul@gmail.com
and ask about linking up.

Okay,
now that is it.
You guys and gals
enjoy the heck out of this week.
Have lots of work outs,
do what you want to do,
and live life like you were meant to!

Al

And don’t forget to go to…

http://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/4-master-instructor-course/

This has been a page about teaching karate…and other martial arts.

The Truth is that Taekwondo is Really Karate!

Karate became Taekwondo!

Interesting statement, but it is true: Taekwondo came from Karate. Consider the history of the five Kwans.
Chung Do Kwan (Blue Wave School) was begun in 1944 by Won Kuk Lee. Won Kuk Lee studied Shotokan Karate with Gichin Funakoshi, and he used the same forms and called his school Tang Soo Do.
Moo Duk Kwan was started in 1945 by Hwang Kee. Kee actually studied tai chi chuan, then studied with Won Kuk Lee, but he claims he learned the shotokan forms that he taught from Funakoshi’s book.

karate punch

Karate…Taekwondo…just hit ’em!

 

Song Moo Kwan was begun in 1944 by Byung Jick Ro. He studied shotokan, and called his school Tang Soo do.
Kwon Bop Bu/Chang Moo Kwan was begin in 1947 by Byung In Joon. Joon studied Karate with Kanken Toyama, who was a classmate of Gichin Funakoshi.
Yun Moo Kwan was founded in 1946 by Kyung Suk Lee (judo) and Sang Sup Chun (Karate). While this school was original judo and Karate, after the Korean War it began teaching Shito Ryu Karate.

These were the top five schools, and they were all Karate based.
The lesser six schools were all derived from these original five.
Comes the question, how did Karate become Taekwondo?
The answer is that Korea is a very nationalistic country, and politics plays a large part. Thus, Gen. Choi Hong Hi decided to bring all the schools under one banner, and to call them by the generic term Taekwondo (Way of the hand and Foot).
Thus, some of the schools still teach the old forms from Karate, and some teach later forms. There were actually a couple of evolutions of these later forms, and so there is confusion in Taekwondo because of this.

Interestingly, probably the school with the greatest claim to being pure Taekwondo would be The Kang Duk Won. This is because the style is based upon the teachings of Kanken Toyama. This kept the system more of a pure link to Okinawa, the birthplace of Karate, and away from the Japanese influence. Japanese Karate is good, but it has been altered to fit certain cultural facets of Japan.

Interested in learning the system that came through Kanken Toyama? Go to MonsterMartialArts.com and look for Evolution of an Art. Evolution of an Art contains three complete styles of Karate, from inception to interesting and extreme variations.

I Use Karate to Kill People!

Using the Martial Arts to Dismember and Maim?

I got the idea for this title from a fellow who said, ‘What do we say when people ask us why we study karate?’

Well, I gave sound advice, tell them it’s good for you, tell them it gets rid of your hostility, tell them whatever, but who cares…you do them because you love them.

karate punch

A fast Karate punch…the only cure for a zombie!


But…inside my insidious cranium, I was thinking something else. Tell them you do karate so you can more effectively hurt people. Tell them you like pain. Tell them it’s better than a knife or gun because you won’t leave evidence.

And then I started thinking about Zombies.

The zombies are big on TV today (walking dead), and World War Z is coming up on the big screen, hmmm.

When I was a kid zombies were slow moving. You could outrun them by breaking into a fast walk. But now, zombies are hyped up druggoids that can outrun a cheetah and are stronger than an elephink.

But what if they new Karate, too!

I mean, that would be killer diller zombies! I mean, the human race would be blotto in the time it takes wind a solar watch!

So now, when people ask me why I study Karate and all them other durned martial arts, I tell them it’s because of the zombies! I know the zombies are learning karate, so I figure I better learn Karate better! You know?

Zombie Karate, where your fist becomes so fast it is like a bullet to the brain!

Zombie Karate, where your kicks are so powerful you knock the head off a zombie!

Yowzer!

Anyway, I don’t say those things, when people ask me why I learn karate, but…I should!

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.

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.

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.

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.

 

What The Well Trained Mind Truly Observes In Karate Freestyle

With all the excitement of the UFC MMA type of fighting, most people have not seen the incredible qualities of Karate freestyle. When one undertakes training in traditional Karate or one of the old Kung Fu methods, certain things happen that are beyond human understanding. This article will go into what actually occurs when one trains enough to gain a ‘zen mind’ in combat.

karate freestyle

Karate Freestyle is a special type of discipline


First, it should be known that fighting is fighting. If one is training to learn just by fighting, they will not come into the qualities I will be talking about here. There is a difference, you see, between training oneself to enjoy combat and beat an opponent, and gaining the ability to stay aware, and grow even more aware, in the middle of combat.

Thus, one should study classical forms, learn the subtleties of body motion, and calm the mind down. Further, one should learn how to do karate freestyle through the taking of progressive steps. This is the only way to get to the zen state of mind I am talking about here.

When ones training takes effect and they start to appreciate a calm mind in combat they will observe that freestyle is not a matter of frantic reaction, but of reflection. One sees what is occurring, and a plan pops into the mind. This plan is often an image, of what is happening, and what is to be done.

The trick is to be able to recognize this picture when it occurs and to pay attention to it, rather than to thrust it away. The picture might be a quick snippet of an image, almost too quick to see, or it could be an actual cartoon overlaying reality. One must then focus on relaxing, no matter what is about to occur.

Many people, especially when first seeing a vision before a fight happens want to do something. They want to make a response before the action has happened. But if you move before the action has happened, the opponent may not do the action.

So one has to be patient, and this frequently involves ‘pushing down’ an energy building in the chest. The body wants to get going, but the mind must stay sane. The key is for the person to tell the mind to sit still, and to tell the body to wait.

So when does one go? If they are relaxed and secure in their vision, if they have a calm mind, they will move in accord with the action, and not before and not after. This takes some practice, but that is what training the mind in karate freestyle is all about.