As a species we don’t have claws, or smells, or quills, or jaws, or any particular physical attribute that would help us survive, except that beasty we call a mind. It is the mind that solves problems, it is the mind that helps us adapt to any situation. It is this thing called a mind that we must learn how to control if we are to reach our full potential as humans in the fighting mode.

One must control fighting distances, by controlling distances we have choice as to what weapon we can use. The way to do this is to attach a string from your belt to his, and practice moving so that the string stays stretched but never breaks. Now, practice moving in this manner, and within a short time your body will move in concert with the other persons body because it likes the fact of harmony.

Second, we must control the harmony of the leg movements. The best leg positioning is when the legs match, which is to say his right leg is forward and so is yours, the second best position is when they oppose, which is to say his right leg is forward, and your left leg is forward. The way to train yourself to always have matching stance is merely to walk with the string, and practice matching your stance to his.

We must control how the arms move, again, in a matching or opposing sense. No string needed for this particular exercise, but you do have to be aware of distance, you have to match the movement of your partners arms as he closes distance. The way to do this is merely to control the set up of the stances and to practice matching arm motions.

We must analyze movement and positioning and discover what techniques work best for matching and for opposing. Yes, you want to have a matching stance, but whatever happens, you should be able to train yourself to work from within the situation. The trick is in a basic matrixing principle, to realize that whether you are in a matching or opposing mode, your arm will be either inside or outside of his, and you must find that technique that your positioning can grow into.

We must make everything work as if it was designed to work in unison. This would appear difficult, except that if you have worked on the individual exercises I have described here, then the whole thing comes together easy squeezy. The body, you see, even while it is being put upon, likes to work as a well oiled and harmonious unit.

Control the distances of a fight, control the arrangement of stance through positioning, control arms by understanding whether they are inside or outside, this is simple stuff, but entirely overlooked by todays MMA fighters. But if you do understand what I have said in this article, however then you will rise to the front of the pack, for you are putting awareness and the ability to think into reality. Whether you study Uechi or Krav Maga, kenpo or tae kwon do, Aikido or Arnis, the truths in this article, the hint of matrix martial arts that I have shared, will make you a better fighter…an immensely and fantastically better fighter!

Al Case has studied martial arts for 40 years. A writer for the magazines since’81, he is the originator of Matrixing Technology. If you want to learn how to fight like a thinking maniac visit Al at http://blindingsteel.com. If you already know how to fight, take advantage of his free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

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This method will work, it will tell you what kind of a fighter you are about to fight, and help you create a strategy to fight that fighter. However, there is a glaring weakness in inside this method, and, there is a glaring weakness in the fact of the method. Still, it is an important tool to have and be able to use if you are going to develop as a real mixed martial artist fighter.

When you face off towards a fighter, make a feinting motion and watch what happens. Before we analyze what that feint causes, consider the weakness of this movement. A feint is not a real motion, and while you’re feinting he might go real on you.

If the fighter starts to back away, he is a runner. This means that you are going to have to chase him and catch him. You are going to have to develop a strategy which cuts him off, backs him where you want him, and sets him up for the kill.

If the fighter charges you, then he is an aggressive attacker. This means you are going to have to slip to the side or just downright stop him. You are going to have to take advantage of his tendency to over reach and develop a strategy which negates him, which slips his aggressiveness.

If the fighter makes as if he is going to block, then he is not going anywhere. This means he is going to stay where he is and face you, and you are going to have to penetrate him. You are going to have to develop a strategy which interchanges overwhelming with darting, or whatever else it takes to penetrate his shields.

These three observable combat tendencies are excellent for establishing a structure within the chaos of combat, and highly usable. However, the glaring weakness of the method became obvious the first time somebody tried to use it on me. The fellow faked, and I moved with him, but did not flee nor charge, merely duplicated his motion such as it was.

I knew his motion wasn’t real, and I was interested in matching what he was doing, mirroring his actions, and finding a real time solution. Checking the way a fellow reacts to something is not in real time, it is in fake time. Thus, this method falls apart when somebody is not reacting, but moving in real time, is letting The True Art move him and detail his responses.

Al Case has practiced the martial arts 40 plus years. You can see him make The True Art work, and see first hand what he is talking about in this article, at Blinding Steel. A Free ebook is available at Monster Martial Arts.

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This, of course, means that the bully boy attitude of many instructors is going to have to go out the door. The idea that you have to be a man to do something needs to be put aside. Really, to grow up in this society means that the ability to think takes precedence over the use of muscles.

There are three stages in this martial arts related thinking process, and, unfortunately one of them is unknown. The three stages are Coordinated Body Motion (CBM), matrixing, and mushin no shin, which I shall explain later. Of the three, nobody even knows what Matrixing is.

CBM is the concept of using the body as one unit. This means that all parts of the body must be used at the same time, starting motion at the same time, and stopping motion at the same time. Mystical in the past, one need merely evaluate the range of motion and the mass of the body part and so on of the various body parts and go about integrating them through analysis of simple motions inherent in the martial arts.

Matrixing is the analysis and handling of force and flow (direction). Matrixing relies on a simple graphing procedure, and it reveals all the things that one doesn’t know in the martial arts. Hidden techniques and mysterious moves all come to light once one starts to Matrix his martial art.

Mushin no shin is Japanese for Mind of No Mind. I have also referred to it as Time of no Time, and it means that the person has managed to ignore all the chaos and static of the human mind and begun analyzing reality as it is, and in the here and now. Interestingly, in spite of the fact that Matrixing has been unknown, a rare few people have managed to achieve Mushin No Shin, but they have been unable to pass it on, for there has been no logic or science to perpetuate it as a logical method.

Matrixing is incredible important, as it stands as a way for the human being to overcome a mind that isn’t fully functioning and perceive, and have doings with, reality as it truly is. Once fully matrixed, a person will have no more illusions about what is actually happening in life. And, this means that you don’t have to use a rite of passage to beat somebody up to get him to learn something that, the faulty mind put aside, would be obvious.

Interestingly, I came across the graphing method of matrixing by making long lists of martial arts techniques, and searching for the most efficient method for crossing the lists and discovering all the tricks of the martial arts. What I didn’t know was that I was going to uncover all the potentials of motion that I did not know existed. Well, at this point you know ten times what I did before I began my study of matrixing, so give it a try, and let me know how it works.

Al Case has learned the martial arts for forty+ years. He has written dozens of articles and had his own column in Inside Kung Fu. You can learn more about his Matrixing Method in a free ebook available at Monster Monster Martial Arts.

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I know I have offended some MMA stylists out there, but these are questions that people should not hide from. After all, the ring looks like the final statement on fighting, but biting is a problem in a real fight. And getting your fingers broken or your eyes gouged is always a possibility when you fall on the ground and wrestle around.

No, it is better to keep a distance, be able to evade, manipulate, and even, in the extreme, trust your feet to run away. Yes, you have to watch what kind of a surface you are fighting on, but mobility in warfare is a critical matter. And talking about the ability to move around, we are in the realm of arts like Shotokan, or Shorin Ryu, or Kenpo.

The problem is that people have bought into the idea that it takes decades, a life time, to learn good Kung Fu, like Shaolin or Mantis. But it doesn’t. All you have to do is find a system which understands the most important principles and concentrates on those principles.

We are not talking Jeet Kune Do here, because we don’t want a grab bag of sample all and take what you need. What we want are the actual core concepts of the art. We want the truth of such arts as Hung Gar or Choy Li Fut.

The best way to do this is to learn how to Matrix your martial art. When you matrix your martial art, be it Wado or Krav Maga, it suddenly makes sense. And, making sense, it will suddenly be ten times easier to learn.

And here’s something most people have not understood in the martial arts, logic leads to prediction to intuition. Those sixth sense abilities of the martial arts are sometimes difficult to come into, but they don’t need to be. Once you start applying matrixing concepts to your martial arts, and I don’t care if it is tae kwon do or one of the Korean Kwans, your ability to perceive on a different level, your ability to understand and generate chi kung, sometimes called gi gong, will start to come to the fore.

Really, what we are talking about here is dragging the martial arts into modern times. We are talking about evolution when we are talking about learning how to Matrix. So, you walk behind that ox, or you can ride the race horse by learning the fundamentals of Matrix Martial Arts.

Al Case has studied martial arts for over 4O+ plus years. He began developing Matrixing in the 1970s, and he began writing for the magazines in the 1980s. He has written a manual on Matrixing, which is available for free at Monster Martial Arts.

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I explored Kenpo, and Goju, and judo, and all manner of the combative arts, and I found little trace of this mysterious energy. Mostly, you just kicked and hit the air, and I began to believe that ki might be more of a looney tunes than a reality. Still, I heard the rumors of little men in pajamas able to do the most incredible thing which, even though they seemed a bit muscular, touted this strange energy called Ki.

As years passed, and as I performed my katas thousands and thousands of times, a strange thing began to occur. I began to feel the world beyond myself. I began to see the world without eyes, and through intuition and a sense of myself that went beyond body. Slowly, I began to understand this ki thing, and to understand that circus tricks were the icing, and enjoyable, but that Ki was something else.

I studied Aikido, and Tai Chi Chuan and other internal arts. I began to feel a strange energy seep through me, and I began to enjoy a profound health which made me feel more spry than even when I had been young. And I began to realize certain things about this thing called Ki which should be understood, should people wish to really delve into the truth of the subject.

When you do your forms you must lower your frame, for this will create a better energy connection to the planet. A better energy connection means more real energy will pass through the legs and into the tan tien. And the tan tien is nothing but a simple generator of energy on the body level.

If you can excite the energy center through the use of forms, then you can cause an energy to seep upward through the body. This energy will excite a tan tien in the upper body, and then cause a person, through the excitation of the tan tien in the head, to view his body from outside his body. Thus, the body is filled and becomes a battery charged with supernormal energy which is called ki or chi.

The energy of the body can be used in many ways, and this provides a whole new education for a student of such things. To explore this education one should attempt to not use muscles, for energy locked into muscles stops the intention which drives the energy, and stops the emission of intrinsic energy. Instead, when striking, one should use ones body like a noodle, not even tightening the fist, merely driving it through the attacker, and occupying the space of his body, and to loosen the motion and sensitivity of the body so it is empty, and able to seek an imbalance of the attacker even in combat, and further the guidance of his energy in a profound and magnitudious manner.

Ki, whether it is called prana or pneuma or chi or intrinsic energy or whatever, is not mysterious. It is simple to find and define and use, if one only pay attention to the simple things I have written in this article. Whether you study shotokan or goju or uechi, whether you practice yoga or tai chi, this thing called ki is available to you, and it is The Path of The True Art.

Al Case has researched the martial arts for forty years. He has written dozens of articles for the magazines and had his own column. You can find out if his Ki is worth a darn by getting his free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

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Chi, that mysterious vapor that the ancient masters used to defeat attackers without touching them. A secret force of the body that enables people to live long and healthy lives. Heck, there is even evidence that Chi was behind the success of the Jedi Knights…grin.

Lots of mystery surrounding Chi, lots of things that people don’t understand. Yet, it has to follow rules. If it manifests in the universe, then there are ways to define and describe the way chi functions.

Chi is all around us. Have you ever heard of the glow of good health? Have you ever finished a task and stood back in satisfaction and noticed that the world is just a little more relaxed, a little brighter.

The trick is to make this feeling last all through your life. Tai Chi can enhance your the state of your health immensely, and this will make you glow. And, if you can throw yourself into work and avoid distraction you will feel immense satisfaction, which ability is immensely enhanced by simply doing the form.

Chi is not something that is not perceivable, it is merely not seen by those who haven’t honed their perceptions. One can easily detect this energy if they hone their perceptions, and perceptions are easily sharpened through the practice of tai chi. When practicing the tai chi form, for instance, one creates a separate universe about themselves, and this universe is quite extra sensory in nature.

As one grows and cultivates this separate universe they begin to perceive within it without using the normal senses. People sense what is occurring, feel, like radar, the movements of the world about them. This is an appreciation of how life works on the level of chi perception.

Chi is made simply, by the simple act of breathing, and relaxing, so that the body can function the way it was designed to function. Do you see a tiger performing calisthenics? The reason is that he does movements that are relaxed, and which allow his body to function the way it was designed to function.

There should not be a lot of mystery concerning the subject of chi. Indeed, chi responds wonderfully on a levels that are quite mechanistic. Chi is one of the most empirical concepts in the universe, the problem is that people don’t know how to appreciate it on an empirical level.

With over over 4O years in the martial arts, Al Case has thoroughly solved the puzzle of chi. You can begin tapping into his method by getting a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts

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First things first, ask yourself what is going to glow. Well, there is the body, the tan tien, which is the energy generator, which is going to start up and that is going to cause your body to glow. This will not be very noticeable, though you could make it so, and it really doesn?t matter except as an ignitor.

You see, if you make the body glow, then the techniques and the discipline make you glow. You might be asking what is you, at this point. Good question, and if you have the correct answer you probably do not need to be reading this right now, and you can move to the head of the class.

Second things second, you aren?t going to glow if you are leading a life of guttersnipe quality. If you aren?t virtuous, then you aren?t going to be able to reach ignition, so you have to study what virtue is and how to make your life a virtuous one. It does not really need to be said, but a dark soul leads a dark life.

Third things third, have somebody push on your frame when you are doing the martial arts. This is called resistance training, or body resisting, and it is key to what we are going to do here. The person pushing must push lightly and so that the force travels through the body and down into the ground.

As the energy goes through the body it ignites the energy generator, and, zingo bingo, we have lift off. Let me repeat, the push must be light, we aren?t engaging in body building here, we are merely building peaceful, relaxed resistance. And, the body must be arranged for max resistance with least effort, which is to say that the parts of the body must be in proper alignment.

Now, here is the secret to it all. If you are using great effort, then you aren?t resisting in the proper manner. You must resist by not using the muscles as much as possible.

You are going to need someone to help you when you do this drill, and herein lies the key. You thought you were going to glow all alone, sitting in the dark and eyeballing secret scrolls without no stinking light bulb? No, you need real, live human beings, you need the human give and take for this method to work, you need humanity, and that is no secret.

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There are a lot of teachers out there teaching the martial arts these days, and a lot of them call themselves Master, or give themselves other presumptuous titles. Of course, there is a big difference between the fantasy and the reality. Many of these so called masters are, quite simply, not masters of much.

Master is a word that has come to signify that one has power and authority over a particular field. It is a term that has come to mean something in the English culture, and it has such meaning in other and ancient cultures. Heck, seems like somebody is always trying to be a master and have power and authority over something…somebody…whatever.

So lets consider our modern society and these people who call themselves masters. Lets take a look at whether they really have what it takes, or whether they are just a load of…hot air. Lets consider what a Master needs to know to be called a Master.

First, a Master needs to know something about something. Doesnt matter if it is the technology of rock gardening or the technology of the martial arts. They have to have technical knowledge of the field they profess mastery in.

Unfortunately, the technology of the martial arts has never really been developed and codified. All those kids in the schools, all those military men, all those housewives and UFC watchers studying their hearts out, they dont know the technology because, quite honestly, the technology has never been actually put down on paper. And it has to be able to be scribed on sheets of paper because, as the master musician once said, if it cant be written on paper, it isnt really music.

Yes, we know what passing the guard is, and the spinning rear kick, and all those other terms. We know they relate to certain tangled up body positions and destructivity, and we know what they can do. But…why do they do what they do?

What are the physics that are actually involved in the creation and implementation of the successful technique? What are the physics necessary for the successful entry into the technique? What are the physics of the mental state that a person must have to make the technique work?

It is not enough to say twist this or pull that, there has got to be a description able to be written in physics, and, unless the master knows these physics, he isnt a master. Whats worse, is that this is only the first item of two that need to be known for a person to be an actual and bona fide master. Ill tell you the rest in part two of this article.

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A fellow is told to practice the horse stance. He is given horse stance forms to do. And, after a few years, sure enough, he becomes able to grip the ground pert good.

But…why wasn’t he just given the data necessary to create an energy beam that could penetrate the earth? Yeah, channel your breath to the tan tien and make the energy grow. Now, shoot beams down your legs and connect with good, old mother earth.

And, if he has trouble, give him more data on the subject. Show him how to twist the legs so as to push energy into the ground. Show him how to push the legs so as to pull energy from the ground.

oh, I forgot, the old Chinese didn’t have the knowledge of modern physics necessary to describe what an energy beam was and how to build it with the body. Uh, I guess we should tell the truth, they didn’t have any physics at all. They had some pretty good mysticism, though, they did have that!

The truth, however, is that mysticism is made up reasons for things you don’t really understand. Mysticism comes from mystery, you see. And the methods of the ancients, shared by well meaning instructors, are based on the things that they didn’t understand, or at least lacked a language to describe.

Oh, people still get the teachings of the martial arts, in a manner of speaking. But it takes a lifetime or two or three. It takes a lifetime, but if the student doesn’t have the ability to differentiate the tricks of language, he is going to pass on the same old tricks that enlighten a few of the fortunate, and befuddle the many that aren’t fortunate.

So, new methods of passing on the martial arts are needed. Real understanding is the goal if you are going to master this mysterious beast called the martial arts, and move on through the mystical realms described by the ancients. Sup to you, do you think you can find me?

Al Case has analyzed martial arts for 4O years. You can inspect his free ebook concerning his modern methods at Monster Martial Arts.

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Now, to be truthful, if you just want to fight, I recommend going to a boxing club for a few months. You’ll get in shape, you’ll learn what it feels like to get hit, and you’ll learn how to hit back.

If you think there is something more to life than fighting, if you’ve been to the boxing club and are ready for the next step, then you must look to the martial arts. You must believe that life isn’t just a constant and odious struggle for survival for the fittest, but that there is a point to the whole thing. You must believe in yourself as a human being, and you must believe that you can actually transcend to higher levels of awareness.

The first step is to build a structure for containing that which you will learn in the martial arts. This is why you should explore the patterns of movements called forms; this is something that boxing does not teach. This is the mechanism which will enable you to ascend as a human being to higher levels.

Second, you must achieve discipline. I don’t mean the discipline where you get a belt on the bottom as punishment. I mean the discipline of doing something every day because you love doing it, and for no other reason.

Third, you must study a system that has logic. The reason for this is one of expedience. You don’t want to spend decades sorting through the bushwah. You want to get there while you are still young.

Fourth, you must not stop doing the art for a single day. Drill those basics patiently, open your eyes and look at what you are doing. You must not just work out in the physical sense, you must invest your awareness into your art.

The fact of art, you see, is a manifestation of your true worth as a human spirit. It is your awareness filtered through the layers of your logic and shining like a light bulb for all to see. Life can truly be a paradaisical experience, you know, but only if you learn how to isolate the art within your soul and turn it on bright and loud.

Al Case has been thrashing bullies for 40 years. You can learn how he does it, and get yourself a free ebook, at Monster Martial Arts.

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