Beat up the World with Karate and Make Peace Now!

Good Karate Throwing Technique

I usually talk about Karate forms and applications here, or other stuff that is juicily violent, but let me move to an area that explains why we must be so violent.
We must be violent so that we won’t be violent.
Get it out in the dojo, and what’s left is peace in your soul when you walk around.
But, it’s deeper than that. Let me go whole hog here, and explain the actual process that is working here.
You have heard me say before: control the body to control the mind, control the mind to control the spirit. It’s true. But this is actually a condensation of the five circles surrounding a human being.
You perceive, but what is it that perceives? It is the ‘I am,’ the awareness of awareness unit that is you.
And you have dressed yourself with mind, emotion, body, and chaos.
Chaos is fighting, that’s the outermost circle, that is the world. A buunch of idiots running around and threatening and shaking their fist and getting in trouble.
Train the body and you instantly move out of chaos. You have a plan, an idea, and you are no longer subject to, or perhaps I should say victim to, the violence of a world gone amok.
But, as you train the body you begin to gain control over emotions. You stop getting angry, you lose fear, and you start being happy most of the time. And when you aren’t happy you simply move through and get happy.
Controlling the emotions is the start of controlling the mind, and now you are on the verge of controlling the world. The world, you see, will adhere to somebody who has control of their mind. Simply, the people who can’t control their mind look for some way to get their mind back under control, so they rub up against the sane.
From the mind we move into spirit, and I’m going to stop explaining now, because once you get there you won’t need any explanations.
The point here is that that is why you study the martial arts, not to beat people up, but to get rid of the desire to beat people up, and this has far reaching effects. Think about it, world peace by practicing your karate forms and elf defense moves. Now we’re talking. Drop by Monster Martial Arts if you want to dig into your sanity and learn the truth about the Martial Arts.

The Big Thing Wrong with Classical Karate Training

You know, Karate sometimes gets a bad rap these days. You see all the MMA guys trashing their opponents, and you wonder why, if Karate is so good, you don’t see it in the octagon. The reason, of course, is the problem with Classical Karate training methods.

In traditional karate classes students are lined up in a mass, and they kick and punch and do everything as one unit. This is fine, for beginners. The sad fact, however, is that one rapidly travels through being a beginner, and then needs to have a different teaching method.

Class exercises are fine to warm up, but there is no real exchange of information going on between teacher and student. Oh, you think that everything is in the forms, that you just need to do the forms and enlightenment will burst upon you? Well, true to a certain extent, but there is also the fact that if you hold to this opinion too hard you are saying that karate is for stupid people.

Oh, I’m serious. Look, Karate, be it goju or shotokan or uechi ryu or whatever, depends on physics. And, once a person has mastered the first set of physics, there is a second set of physics pertinent to the mind and the spirit. But, because of antiquated training methods, methods that were used to control unruly children (not teach them) nobody in the martial arts really knows what the second set of physics is.

Let me take one point and blow it up a bit. I had a student who had the most terrible form, and he had taken a year of classical martial arts training. He was terrible, but-smile in the eyes of his teachers-he was rigid.

So his shoulders overextended, his body was always turned the wrong way, his punches wouldn’t hurt a six year old girl, but he was deemed good because he was rigid. All his muscles locked into place at the execution of technique. And, you can see this same tendency on any number of youtube Karate videos.

Now, one of the first rules of combat is, ‘a sitting duck is a dead duck.’ Heck, the reason that bully told you to stand still and face him was because he wanted a stationary target. And this goes against the real karate somebody would learn if they could get past the rigid, no information instruction that is offered in nearly every karate class in the world.

Real Karate is liquid, and the focus points are so short they can’t be perceived, and the karateka is able to move in any direction without preparation or telegraphing. True Karate is like a whip, and only the fist tightens, and that momentarily when it smacks through some fool’s face. Karate is a study in motion, not in rigidity, and that is just one of the problems with Classical Karate Training.

If you want to see some excellent karate, check out my Temple Karate DVDs. I’m old, I’ve been doing classical karate for over forty years, but I’ve still got some liquid left in me. There are eleven forms, with TONS of self defense applications.

Making the Right Karate Form

I was watching Karate on the youtube last night, and I was struck by how little people know about the correct form of the martial arts. Check out the vid snip right below, This is how I explain how you get good form, then continue with the article.

They turn their feet out at the wrong time, they separate their body into pieces, they do so many things that dissipate energy and lessen intention.
And I am not talking beginners here, I am talking about people with decades of experience.
Now, it wasn’t always that way. When I started the martial arts were fresh to the shores, and we bought everything we could, read everything we could, and were thirsty for day.
And, we thought about what we were learning.
What has happened that has destroyed the martial arts is the fanatic desire to have ritual.
If I do what teacher says, I don’t have to think, and then I will learn.
Do you see the corruption of logic here?
How can you learn if you don’t have to think?
Why do you think colleges are turning out people who can’t learn?
Because they memorize in ritual, instead of learning how to think.
Question, man, you have to have a question.
And not a questino as to the next piece of the sequence of the kata, but a question as to how it works, why it works, what’s the best (better) way to make it work.
Argh!
That’s all I can say, Argh!
Frustration for a society that prefers to go blind.
Well, the way to not go blind is to ask questions, demand answers, and not be satisfied with what you are taught.
I tell you this,
your teachers have already bought into it,
so be careful of your teachers.
If they can’t give you good reasons for what you are doing,
good scientific, sound, logical, technical reasons for why the form is constructed the way it is, the best way to make a technique work,
all the secondary techniques off the first technique, and so on,
then you are following the blind.
And, don’t believe me.
Check out my sites, see if I make sense, and then you will know whether my words here can be believed.
Monster Martial Arts is one site. Got oodles of stuff on it. Articles, courses, everything.
Or, check out Learn Karate Online. Got an actual free lesson or two on it.
Go on, see if I make sense.
I understand why people are leery of the net, there’s so much crap out there. It’s the same old same old. Well, I tell you, this is the brand new brand new, but you aren’t going to see it if you don’t take a look, and you won’t get it if you just shut your mind up and stop asking questions.

Half a Year of Karate!

Do you know how much you can get done in Karate in a half a year?
The reason I say this is because the year is half over. So if you can remember what you were doing at Christmas, or New Years, and any resolutions or things, then you could have made a lot of things happen since them.

If you are studying a classical art, you could have gone through a belt rank or two. You could have a couple of martial arts forms, had a ball doing lots of kumite, and generally be fit and healthy, and your mind would be calm.
Now, if you had been studying my Matrixing program, you could actusally have your black belt by now. Serious. It’s a three month program, but it takes a lot of work. But six months is enough time to do a lot of work. So you could actually be there.
And, here’s something interesting, if you slacked off a little the last few months, maybe been distracted by the news or something, you can realize that every moment you live and don’t do what you love is a moment wasted.
Hey, if it’s not Karate, then what is it? Kung Fu? Yoga? Ballet? If you love it, then why aren’t you doing it?
Got a dream? You’ve had six months to pursue it. Didn’t do it? It’s not too late, so get yer fanny in gear and get going!
Don’t you understand? I’m telling you to ignore everything that gets in your way, everybody that slows you down or distracts you. I’m telling you that you should pick a goal, and having a black belt is an absolutely incredible goal, and GO FOR IT!
Now, do you want to go waste another night drinking beer, or do you want to be somebody? Do you want to be strong and fit and quick in the mind?
Okay, I’ve enjoyed this rant, and especially because I know it is so right and valuable. So spend the time between now and the end of the year working out and finding the real you. If I can help you reach your goals in Karate, if I can help you get to Black Belt, drop by my site, Monster Martial Arts. My email is there, and I answer all emails. See ya.

The Secret Behind the Hardest Punch in the World!

Within the Karate Punch is Great Spirit

I remember reading that Chuck Norris had 600 pounds per square in in his kicks. I always use this kind fo data when trying to figure out the secret behind the hardest punch in the world, or the hardest kick, or whatever.
You see, the idea is to get more weight in a smaller area.
If you swing a mallet with a big head, maybe three inches across, you are putting weight to nine square inches. So if you put ninety pounds into your swing, and you get ten pounds per square inch. This dissipates the force, spreads it out, and weakens it. You swing a screw driver, and maybe put only thirty pounds in it, but the force is into an eighth inch square. That means 64 times 30 pounds, and you are striking with 1920 pounds per square inch!
That’s why a screw driver penetrates, while a mallet flattens.
Now, you think there would be more to it than this, and, you’d be right. You see, time also enters into the equation, and you’ll find that this has a lot to do with a punch.
The longer the amount of time a fist is in contact with a target, the more some of that weight will go back up the arm.
So, if you punch somebody and the punch is a thrust, and travels through, and is in contact with the striking surface (his face) for a long time–let’s say a full second, which is not real, but it is a good number to illustrate what is happening–then one second times 60 pounds of weight equals sixty pounds of impact.
That’s cool.
But if you are in contact for 1/2 second, 1/2 times 60 = 120 pounds of impact! And if you get down to 1/8 of a second, then you have 1/8 times 60, which equals 480 pounds of impact! The force of the punch, you see, has less time to travel back up the arm, and more weight is left in your poor opponent’s ugly face!
Now, that is the physics, and that is the secret of the hardest punch in the world. All you have to do is understand these physics, and then do the exercises in The Punch (a book I wrote) and your punch is going to be able to knock down a freakin’ elephant! The physics are the secret, you see, but they are just the start. There is so much more to them, and so much you can do with them, once you understand them and what you are trying to really do with your punch. So check out The Punch at Monster Martial Arts. You’ll be glad you did.

Three Types of Flux Motion in the Martial Arts

Analyze Everything...Leave Nothing to Chance!

There are three specific types of motion in the martial arts. Mind you, I am not describing energy manifestation, merely the flux of the body itself.
The first type of motion is fast motion. Karate, Taekwondo,Kenpo, these are explosive and fast. Not much middle ground here, just move fast and beat the other guy to the punch. The trick is, of course, to expand your awareness so you can see the other fellow coming. By going slower you can increase awareness.
I used to do my karate forms slow, I could see them and learn from them. Then I found Tai Chi Chuan and things really made sense.
The second type of motion is the slower motion. In this type of flux you inspect the changing of your body position, checking out the angles and making sure the energy flows just right. This causes much awareness, and this awareness will reverse engineer back into the harder arts. The softer (slower arts) are such as Tai Chi Chuan, Pa Kua Chang, and so on. Mind you, any art can be slowed and awareness inserted, and you will find amazing amounts of perception, which will grow amazing amounts of energy.
The third type of motion is no motion. Stopped. A held position. This is the gold mine from which all else comes. To take that posture and just look at it, to concentrate not on the motion, but the awareness, that is the key.
There is something people should understand about all this…life is motion, but awareness is no motion. And only by exploring all three motions with this in mind will the being awake, will the martial art come to fruition, will the martial arts enter the golden age of which they are on the cusp of. Check out my site, Learn Karate Online, and see if the free lesson makes sense. It is crafted with concepts such as you will find in this blog, and it is designed to lead you to other motions.

The Golden Awareness of Hard Core Karate

Don't be a Weakling! Learn Karate Online!

I was stopped at a traffic light today, and the guy in front of me, with his right turn light on, wouldn’t turn. Just sat there, waiting for green. And I was struck by how hard core karate makes you more aware.
This person was probably from a different country, didn’t speak the language, didn’t fully understand traffic and the laws we use to navigate our streets with. And, hate to say it, didn’t understand common sense.
So they sat there, victim to a red glow, totally stopped in life, watching time, and life, pass them by.
Now, why don’t we get stopped if we study Karate, or taekwondo or kenpo or aikido or any of the various martial arts out there?
Because if you stop you get hit.
Now that is a lesson, isn’t it?
If you don’t move somebody tags you, point! And you realize that if it was ‘real life’ you would be dead. Or, at the least, unconscious and broke.
Now, here is the funny viewpoint of this: our streets are filling up with unconscious people, spending half their lives waiting at traffic lights, picking their nose and glad to be in ‘Murica.
Oh, lord, save me from the huddled masses.
Can anybody spell zombie out there?
Well, if you’re a martial artist, if you study the forms and technqiues of freestyle of kenpo or taekwondo, of Wing Chun or Mantis, of drunken fist or monkey style kung fu, then you know what I mean.
And, if you don’t, if you just go to school/work/welfare, then you are going to be one of the hopeless ones, sitting at stop lights, wondering why the mailman is late, wondering why you keep stepping in that brown stuff on the lawn. You are going to be the zombie, the victim, the guy with his finger up his nose at the traffic light.
You know, that’s why I started my website. There are just too many stupid people, too many wannabe zombies out there, graduating from school and standing in the breadline, all stopped up and nowhere to go. I figured if i could get a few to take a few free lessons at my site, maybe they would get more, maybe they would get excited and head for a dojo somewhere, maybe they’d do something…anything! Anyway, if you are a zombie in training, head on over to Learn Karate Online and get a free karate lesson. I mean, I don’t mean to be rude, but…take that finger out of your nose and get your butt in gear! There’s a life out there, and it is just waiting for you to wake up.

What is Real Karate?

So many systems, which one is right? Which one is the Real Karate?
Well, let’s see. The Americans created their versions from Japan, for the most part.
The Japanese created their versions from the Okinawans, for the most part.
The Okinawans created their versions from the Chinese, for the most part.
Hmmm. Could their be no True Karate?
Well, there is, but it is not what you think. See, if you render Karate into simple moves based in physics, then you end up with MAtrix Karate, and from that one could extrapolate all versions.
That’s right, Matrix Karate isn’t a version. It is the scienctific breakdown of all Karate systems, and the result is something slick and sweet and easy to learn.
Don’t believe me?
First, check out the video right below. It shows me dissecting Pinan Five, maning sense out of a form that people say you have study for years to understand.
Next, head over to my site and take a free lesson. See if what I say is simple and easy to do…and makes sense. If it does, then you know you’re in the right place. The name of the site is Learn Karate Online, and it is the home of Real Karate.

Free Karate Lesson Online Nearly Done!

Been working hard on this Free Karate Lesson Online. Check out the video, it’s a good example of how I take things apart so you really can understand them, and then I’ll tell you about the free Karate…

I wanted to cover stances, blocks, footwork, and get the student to actually do a small form. The trick is to keep it simple, and make sure the steps are quick and easy.
After all, people want to do the bam and slam of UFC type sports, and I want to convince them that Karate, as an art, has more to offer.
You don’t want to wrestle on the street.
You want to maximize your blocks and strikes.
You want to build some of that famous knock out power that Karate power is famous for.
On this last, you can’t develop this while wearing gloves. Gloves stop the transmittal of energy, and thereby the hands are demoted to mere bludgeons.
Anyay, check out the free lesson at my site, Learn Karate Online. And it really is free. I don’t even ask for your address. I’m figuring that the benefits of the lesson will be so obvious that people will want to sign up for the newsletter, or just order right on the spot. That’s Learn Karate Online.

You Feel the Karate Power! You can Kick Butt! What Then?

Within the Karate Fist is Great Spirit

Karate makes power. Karate is power.

You do those forms and you feel the power start to take hold, you feel your body energize and get stronger and stronger. Finally, you have the power! You can explode with instant energy that is unstoppable. What now?

Well, what now is that you need to take a second step. The second step is not more power.

What? You don’t like that answer? But you’ve already got enough power…what do you need more for?

Let me ask you a question, if you had to fight ten guys, would you fight ten times as hard?

Nope.

You’d fight one tenth as hard for each guy.

So you don’t get more energy and violence and move faster and faster…that just wastes you. What you do do is learn to be efficient, to create the effct of more energy with less effort and less motion.

So when you get your black belt, start to look around. See if other arts will compliment this concept. Look at yourself, see if you can hit softer…and yet create greater effect. There are methods, you know. It is possible…you just have to break out of the method you’ve been trained in and…reverse your path.

Yeah,

you read that right.

Once you hit black belt…you have to  train in the opposite direction, get softer and softer, until people can hardly even see you.

I used to train with some of the toughest guys in the world, outlaw bikers. But they all bowed quickly and stood silent in the presence of the most polite man in the world. What he knew in gentleness was far greater than all their massive muscle.

Well, think about it, and while you’re thinking about Karate power, head over to Learn Karate Online.  If you have always wanted karate but never went for it, this is your chance. If you started, and, for whatever reason, dropped out, this is your chance.