[I:http://quickandeasydiets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/AlCase3.jpg] I was working in a tubing factory a few decades ago, and wordspread that I was training in the martial arts. A Philippine co-worker came up to me at one point, and he said, “You no study martial arts, martial Arts bad…bad, ” then he shook his head and walked away. From this quick meeting I ultimately realized how the martial arts were invented.

As one might expect, I was intrigued by my co-workers attitude, the Philippines were renowned for their martial arts, and so I tracked him down and questioned him further. “Why are the martial arts bad?” I asked him. This is the story he told me.

“One day I decide I need martial arts, so I go outside and chop tree. I chop like this (he did a downward chop, as if hammering down on somebody’s head), and a I chop and I chop. I practice this karate two hour a day for two year.

“One weekend my neighbor have crazy, wild party, and three in morning I go ask him to stop music. He just laugh, so I chop him. I chop his face and he turn upside down, so I tun home and worry I kill him…that why Karate so bad!”

I didn’t laugh, because he was serious, he really thought the art was bad, and didn’t understand that his unique ways of self training, and his own lack of control, might have something to do with ‘being bad.’ But his tale led me to wonder where the martial arts came from. I mean, they are the world’s second oldest profession, so where did they come from?

They were invented because some person wanted to take something away from some other person, and they came from somebody wanting to stop somebody from taking something away. This is nothing more than the source of all lawyerism, but applied to the actual hit and punch that occurs when talking breaks down. Over time, the concept of stealing from somebody, or having to protecting what you own from somebody else reached the magnitude of whole armies and weapons of mass destruction.

The idea that what you own belongs to me, and I don’t have to pay you no stinkin’ money…that is where the fighting arts originated. And people train to war, and steal money and property and wives and whatever else they think can get away with. And, oddly, as my previous words gave hint, the solution to this avarice and bastardization of art is…in the study of the true art.

You study the art to protect yourself, and in that practice you discover the truth of yourself…you discover your self worth, and the idea that you are honorable and don’t have to fear others, or that they might take from you. On the day that everybody on earth knows the martial arts, on that day the immorality and war stop, and on that day everybody will know where the martial arts originated. They come from inside, from the spirit, from the honor that motivates every beat of your heart and every breath you give.

Find the true arts at Monster Martial Arts. Whole arts, faster training methods, a logic that has never been seen in the combat disciplines. Mouse on over to Monster Martial Arts. A-1

[I:http://quickandeasydiets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/AlCase7.gif]Didn’t know that Johnny Cash could fix Martial Arts systems, did you? Well, actually, his advice is for fixing cars, sort of, but it translates directly to the fighting disciplines. And it is sound advice indeed.

Johnny sang a song almost forty years ago called ‘One Piece at a Time.’ In the lyrics he has a factory worker, who will never be able to buy a Cadillac, sneak one off the assembly line ‘one piece at a time.’ Unfortunately, the bits of auto were smuggled out over a 20 year time span, and the assembled vehicle was quite the mess.

1956 hub caps over 1969 tires. 1958 tail lights with a 1971 rear end. The thing was a mess beyond proportion and propelled by rediculosity, and that brings us to the martial arts.

That cross grip flip throw you learned in Taekwondo, it’s actually a Japanese technique built for Samurais. That pressure point for bringing ‘em to their knees, it’s actually taught better in Tai Chi Chuan classes because…uh, well, because. And that combination you just learned at Shotokan freestyle class, it looked better in Ed Parker Chinese Kenpo Karate.

You see, every martial arts school in existence, all of them, are cobbled together out of the bits and pieces of different nations, different religions, different mindsets. The kata and patterns are really frankenstein abortions. The techniques are a hodge podge put together out of whatever fell out of the sky.

Look, I’m not speaking ill of the animal, on the contrary, I think that people did an incredible job. Unfortunately, no matter how sterling the basic concepts in one’s art, they are a melting of many metals, prone to come apart at the worst time. And the real concepts have been obscured, transformed, melded to fit another concept, and the true martial art is not in sight.

People, you see, for more centuries than you can count, have assembled tricks into arts, and this jury rig of art has confused and made obscure the real truths of the combative methods. Consider the reality, for thousands of years people have made art, driven a vehicle, as it were, and not once has anybody ever stopped and tried to take it all apart, shine the pieces up, and put them back together in the right method. And there is a right method; there is a true art.

The true art is defined by physics, but not just your normal physics, rather a physics that has to do with bodies in motion, combat, and the descending of an apple out of a tree. A physics that is not plain to see for the simple fact of being too close to the face. At any rate, if one did actually take apart and fix the various Martial Arts Systems they would end up with faster reaction times (no reaction times), because all the data would be simple and straightforward and more easily understood, and entire arts that could be taught much, much, much faster.

Al Case is the only person on the planet that actually fixes Martial Arts systems. Head over to his website, Monster Martial Arts, and pick up an absolutely free ebook.

[I:http://quickandeasydiets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/AlCase16.jpg]Black Belt rankings were originated by Master of Judo Jigoro Kano. Master Kano is supposed to have created his system based on rankings used by swimming clubs. Karate clubs throughout the Land of the Rising Sun borrowed his ranking system.

The original karate system is rumored to have had two belts, white belt and black belt. As classes grew larger two more belts were used, green belt and brown belt. Eventually Chinese American Kenpo was developed by Ed Parker, and the number of colored belts expanded greatly.

Belts of color were setup in the following ranking: white, orange, purple, blue, green, three stages of brown, different stages of black. As the belt ranking systems expanded, legends having to do with the significance of the colors grew. Each martial arts school seemed to have a different reason for the belt colors.

White and black, when they were first utilized, didn’t have much significance, as there were so few students and the promotions were pretty easily understood. White meant beginner, and black belt meant the student was pretty much recognized as an assistant instructor. As the belt systems grew ever larger this notion was augmented by instructor rankings.

White, green, brown and black were rumored to relate to the spring, summer, fall and winter of a student’s martial arts life. This also correlated to beginner, intermediate, advanced and expert status. This concept, while valid, gave way when more colors were introduced.

The full range of colors introduced by Chinese Kenpo Systems was related to a full spectrum of achievement. Rightly or wrongly, a Kenpo student was assumed, when he made it to black belt, to know everything in the spectrum. This concept began to decline when red belts were introduced.

At first, red belts were used to honor high ranking masters, these were sometimes politically motivated belts, though there were some legitimate rankings. Then, because people tend to promote themselves to the highest rank possible, the red belt replaced the black belt in many peoples estimation, and the spectral system broke apart. This was aided by the fact that some systems, especially taekwondo systems, began replacing the brown belt with the red belt.

In modern times, while colored belts are said to be of great use in motivating students, the fact of the matter is that there has been some abuse. Many commercial martial arts schools have elongated training time to align with the increased rankings to keep people at their schools, and this has extended the length of time it takes to learn the martial arts. It is hoped that understanding the real information of Black Belt rankings, as described in this bit of writing, will help potential students when they analyze possible arts to learn.

Click on over to Monster Martial Arts for the true facts concerning belt ranking systems and how long it truely takes to learn the martial arts. x-4

[I:http://quickandeasydiets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/AlCase14.jpg] Morihei Uyeshiba, O Sensei of Aikido, is the one who experienced enlightenment. It is he who codified his martial art, thus, the aikido Ueshiba created is the true Aikido. Sort of.

This question, what is the Real Aikido, is the question that concerns practitioners of Japanese Aikido, budo aikido, and all the various branches. There are so many styles, you see, and they can’t all be the one and only truth, right? And this question, of there being many interpretations and schools, does itself question the validity of the Aikido of all styles, for if the founder was right, then how could there be deviation?

The question, of course, is easily resolved if one considers the real truth of the universe. Morihei Uyeshiba, you see, experienced the truth of the universe from his sole viewpoint, and he did an amazing job of presenting that singular truth with his art. But if one considers the truth of the universe as a pure piece of information one can approach the art from a personal viewpoint of enlightenment, and not just from one man’s experience of enlightenment.

Just to reassure you, I mean no disrespect to the founder of Aikido, indeed, I hold him in the highest regard, and I believe he would want me to question, to consider, and not just robot the moves. He was not one to robot the martial arts, after all, he was a creator of genius magnitude. I think he would want practitioners to emulate him on that level, as well as the level of endless and dedicated practice.

That all said, the truth of the universe, as imaged by the yin yang symbol, and stated in Neutronic text, is: for something to be true the opposite must also be true. We can take this statement and dissect it forever philosophically. The art being one of action, and action ultimately revealing the truth of the universe, we must consider this truth as it applies to techniques, from the aikido basics up.

When an attacker launches his aggressive move, the defender must perceive the move. To perceive the move not as just an incoming missile, though that is necessary, but as a completed motion in his own mind. Thus, the defender must see the entire picture of the motion, must possess the entire sequence of pictures in his mind.

Once the picture is complete, and at the same time as execution, the defender must mirror the attack. Right to right or right to left, the mirror of action will fit the attack as a tailored glove will fit a hand, and the defensive attack will envelope the actuallity of the attack. If this is accomplished, then you are doing the Morihei Uyeshiba Aikido as perceived in his moment of enlightenment.

There is perfection in this method, you see. Perfection of action, and of mind, and of technique. The good news is that this procure can be applied to the art of Saito Aikido, Aikido Aikikai, or any other variation of the founder’s vision, the founder’s viewpoint was that close to perfection.

The best DVD for exploring the concept presented in this article is Matrix Aikido, which is available at Monster Martial Arts. 2

[I:http://quickandeasydiets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/AlCase9.jpg]I know, kickboxing karate isn’t real, but it is a translation of arts. When you go from karate to kickboxing, or from kickboxing back to karate, you can win every single contest you are in by knowing the three things I am going to tell you here. We are dealing only with the fists, mind you, so you have to control the distance to make sure that you stay at punching range.

If you are going to try to use this strategy with the feet we would have to create an art called karate tae kwon do…grin. Or, if you were going to use it with fancy arm closing tricks we might call it JKD Karate. Call it anything you want, the concepts will work, but you might have to tailor them some.

Before we get started I should tell you about the set up for the three techniques. The set up is to have the hands extended, palms facing outward, elbows about 135 degrees, so that the hands are in front of the shoulders. This, incidentally, is a universal peace sign, an ‘I don’t want to fight,’ which is a good thing because it is better to avoid a fight in the first place.

The basic principle here is that two objects can’t occupy the same place in space. Go on, shove one chair through another chair. You’ll just end up with kindling.

First Technique, he is going to have to go around your fist and arms, and you can defend with a hard block and punch. This isn’t a counter strike, this is done simultaneous with a slight body shift/sidestep maneuver. You will have taken the initiative of the fight and can follow up with an attack on the inside line.

Second technique, he is going to try shifting to the front of your hands and leading with a jab, and you can just let him pass and punch on his body as you wish. With either of these two movements your opponent is trying to go around you, and this will set him up by shutting his weapons down, or opening targets up for you to hit. Either way, yo’re going to have the advantage.

Third technique, and this is the one we want to really go for, is when he tries to go between your hands. He can be stopped easily, and, the potential for trapping him, simply by bringing your hands together, is large. You push his elbow and his wrist and develop an arm bar, and when he tries to back out, or otherwise escape, you elbow roll him, and you can work elbow spikes and secondary punches, all while keeping him trapped and unable to fight back.

This kumite technique can further be improved by shifting the body or changing the distance between the fists, thus encouraging your attacker to do exactly what you want. In other words, you will know what he is going to do, and nobody is easier to beat than a fighter who is predictable. So, there you go, that is how you actually apply matrixing concepts to the initial entry into a fight, and when you win that battle just tell everybody you were doing kickboxing karate…heh.

You can get more combat principles that work, and find out about Matrix Martial Arts at Monster Martial Arts. Pick up a free ebook about Matrixing while you’re there. 2

[I:http://quickandeasydiets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AlCase37.jpg] To rebuild Karate as a True Art, and this would include Shotokan, Goju, Uechi, or various other types of the art, one should always look to the techniques. The applications are the kata made real, they are concepts made to work. They are the heart of the animal that is The True Art.

The first step, in making your art work, is to make your stance work. The forms teach how to get into stances from a variety of directions and previous postures. So one should practice the movements of the kata until this concept of transitioning from stance to stance can be done without thought.

The second step, if you are going to make the karate forms real, is to make sure your limbs are set in positions that are functional. There are many arm positions in the martial arts techniques where your limbs cannot support weight, and therefore can’t really make the technique work. You must examine your patterns and altar arm positions until they become functional in real world situations.

The third step is to have proper body alignment between the floor and the target. The body is a chain of muscles and bones from earth to strike (block), and you must make sure that every piece of the body is properly aligned. The old wisdom, a chain is as strong as its weakest link, is certainly important here.

The fourth step if you are going to make karate moves mean anything, is to focus on your breathing. Breathing should be relaxed, but aimed upon keeping the abdomen tight, especially upon hitting, or getting hit. Breathing simply for breathing sake, such as in Goju Ryu Karate, must be examined for real function, and possibly altered if you are going to have real martial arts self defense.

The fifth and final step, and ultimately the most necessary, is that you must have Coordinated Body Motion (CBM) when you use your body. You must harmonize all motion, taking into account the length and mass of every muscle and limb, and the entire torso. You must understand how this all relates to timing, and you must make your body motions utilize this harmonious timing.

An intriguing tidbit of data is that martial arts fighting has very little to do with finding The True Art. As a matter of fact, fighting tends to disrupt the mental processes that are necessary to put the pieces together that will resurrect your martial art. This piece of information is something that the old masters understood, and not just because they were old.

At any rate, any art can be a great art, but it requires a great instructor, and a great student. The purpose of this bit of writing has been to encourage students to be their own great teachers. Ultimately, you are who is responsible for your progress, and if you understand that then it will be easy to use Karate techniques to find the True Art.

You can get a lot more information on how to make your art perfect through the use of techniques at Monster Martial Arts. Pick up a free ebook while you’re at Monster Martial Arts 4

[I:http://quickandeasydiets.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/AlCase7.gif]I doubt whether most schools, be they Kung Fu or Wudan or Aikido or whatever, have ever had a crazy guy in their school like Mud Car. We called him Mud Car because that’s what it said on the license plate on his car.That car, more than anything else, summed up Mud Car.

He had attached parachute webbing across the insides of his car because he felt that that material was most excellent for holding his auto together on the inside. He had fire extinguishers screwed to every surface. He had a dial on his dash to give extra juice to his brake lights, and he turned it whenever he faced away from the sun so that drivers behind him could see when he braked.

This was just the surface of Mud Car, though. The most impressive thing that Mud Car did was commit to memory the times of all the stop lights in the whole town of San Jose. He could travel across that large town without ever having to stop for a light.

Unfortunately, when it came to Karate, he was just as crazy. He couldn’t stretch, couldn’t control his body, and, because he had no control, it hurt to work with him. Just being around him you could feel the sparks in his mind shooting into the cosmos.

One day, in class, he interrupted the instructor to complain about a pain in his shin. “It doesn’t hurt, but it keeps bothering me, do you know how to make the pain in my shin go away?” My instructor looked at me with rage in his eyes, I suppose he didn’t want to look at Mud Car because he would murder him, and he said, “Hit your leg with a lead pipe…that’ll make the pain go away.”

I suppose the ability to drive the people around oneself crazy is the deciding factor in this matter of whether a person is crazy or not. At any rate, Mud Car was never promoted to Black Belt. He just didn’t have the maturity.

One day, however, a new instructor took over the school, and Mud Car was promoted to Black Belt within a month…and then he left the training hall. He had gotten what he wanted, and that was all he wanted, and the new instructor knew that was the best and most efficient way to get rid of Mud Car. Sadly, I missed Mud Car.

He was nuts, but so is the guy who attacks you on the street, so if you could last a session with Mud Car without getting hurt, you knew your art was effective. Furthermore, there was a shift of standard here, for Mud Car had been given a black belt because he could drive people nuts, not because he was good. Finally, I think that is where the True Art started disappearing from the martial arts training halls…schools, even schools like traditional Karate or Tae Kwon Do or classical Wudan, did not administer soothing discipline to the insane, they just promoted them to get rid of them.

If you want to go crazy through the martial arts…drop on by Punch ‘Em Out. If you want to go sane through the martial arts…try Monster Martial Arts. 2