Tag Archives: karate

To Find and Define the True Martial Art! 

Defining the Martial Arts

The following data is applicable to all arts: Aikido, Kenpo, MMA, Kung Fu, whatever. Simply, it doesn’t matter what martial art you study, to be successful, to reach the pinnacle of your discipline, you must do the following.

1)  Realize that you are an ‘I am.’ Know that you are a spiritual entity.

2)  Create space. Do not generate staticky thoughts.

3) Focus your awareness on one thing. Learn to concentrate awareness, and you will find unlimited abilities.

4) Do not be positive in your action, do not be negative. Simply maintain distance and learn to be aware in the middle of chaos.

5) Realize that: For something to be true, the opposite must also be true. This defines the universe as a motor, and everything in the universe as individual motors.

6) Understand that you are not the screen for the universe, but rather the projector. The universe does what it does in response to your specific thoughts.

7) Treat others as you would be treated yourself. Recognize them as spiritual entities, help them learn to create space, and all the other items of this missive.

8) Practice your discipline every day. No matter if it is Kenpo, Karate, Krav Maga, or whatever, practice, and use that practice to focus the points of this missive.

9) Align yourself. Align your body with the physics of the universe, align your mind so that there is never contention, either from within or without, and then you will succeed.

10) Always step outside of your established patterns; find the ‘new you’ by refusing to do the same old same old; seek new methods, new ways of thinking, new everything.

And, it goes without saying, that the true art will manifest quicker if you are studying a matrixed martial art, or are matrixing your martial art.

Have a great work out!

About the author: Al Case is the inventor of Matrixing Technology, the only true science of the martial arts. His books and videos may be seen at MonsterMartialArts.com, ChurchofMartialArts.com, and various other sites on the internet. 

The Zen Simplicity of Martial Arts

To Be or Not to Be Martial Arts Style

To the beginner the martial arts, and this includes Karate, Kung Fu, Aikido, Tai Chi Chuan, and all other martial disciplines, can be less than simple. There is simply an overwhelm of information, a ‘disgruntlement’ of the mind at the massive influx of new materials.

The simple truth, however, is that the truth is simple.

martial arts discipline
The answers are in you…if you have the discipline to look.


 
Why these subjects, be they karate or jujitsu or whatever, would not be simple, once once absorbed, is merely the result of engaging the mind to try and describe what is ‘not mind.’

For instance, in the beginning one must wade through instructions concerning physics, anatomy, history, philosophy, and so on. This is made more complex as different arts propose different structure and on many levels, and then often disagree.

The harmony of Aikido is similar to the absorption of Tai Chi Chuan, but there is sufficient difference to argue the terminology.

The striking methods of Wing Chun and boxing, though at heart still just a strike, can be argued ad infinitum.

But in the end, proven by simple and direct experience, a human being is constructed of flesh (body), mind (memories), and spirit (awareness). Thus, all physics, which is the heart of all sciences, can be rendered to a fine simplicity.

The fact is that the discipline of the martial arts focuses on doing to the exclusion of the mind, and thus is achieved enlightenment. Enlightenment is considered, from the unique viewpoint of an accomplished martial arts discipline, to be aware of the self as awareness.

And, yes, the above statement, so simple, is the summation that can be applied on any and all levels of all martial arts.

To do a single act, a kata or technique, a kick or throw, until there is no thought (no interference from the mind), and is intuitive, opens the door to enlightenment.

For once one looks at a fist approaching the face in terms of simple survival, one will begin to look at the approach of the universe in the same way.

Not an overwhelm of factors to be adjusted through eternal tweakings of computations, but a simple ‘Is it going to hit me or not.’

Followed by a simple, ‘Do I block or get out of the way.’

Not complex at all.

The unfortunate truth, however, is that man insists on his own significance in the universe by creating endless paradigm for his actions.

Thus we have reasons of physics, disagreements of anatomy, descriptions of philosophy, and all filtered through the various misunderstandings inherent in unaccomplished and divergent martial arts.

And these are all justifications for one’s existence.

‘To be or not to be,’ placed in endless loop.

But the simple truth is if one practices the discipline, and this of widely varied arts such as Karate or Aikido,Tai Chi Chuan or Kenpo, then one is engaged in ignoring the mind; one is functioning in an emptiness of reason and a purity of awareness.

Survival blots out psychological ramifications, and puts an end to philosophical meanderings – and justifications – of the awareness trying to look at itself, but so very unable.

To sum, it is not all the reasons, but the source of reason, the ‘I am,’ that is responsible for conundrum, and the resolution therewith.

The easiest way to cut through the fog of the martial arts, to ignore the mind and to find the truth of the self, is through the logic of matrixing. To matrix the martial arts is to rid the art of silly significance, and to place all the elements and pieces in the correct and easily assimilate-able order.

Matrixing can be found at MonsterMartialArts.com. Further juxtapositions of martial arts philosophy, real as opposed to the justifications of students mired in the endless mirrors of their own minds, can be read at ChurchofMartialArts.com.

What Kind of Snakes You Should Kill at Monkeyland?

Up here at Monkeyland…

…snakes are God’s Critters, and you have to be careful which ones you kill.

Rattlesnakes you kill. They have triangular heads, precise diamond markings on their back, and rattles on the tip of their tails.

I killed one yesterday. Didn’t have a gun with snake shot (a bullet with little bee bee shot), or even a knife. So I laid a board across it’s neck and beat the head off with a stick.

martial arts snake style
If I didn’t, it would kill my dog, or cause the cows to run and break legs, or whatever.

Sorry, tree huggers, I love nature, but I live in a place where nature doesn’t always love me.

A bull snake you don’t kill. They look a bit like a rattler, which causes mistakes, but they don’t have rattles. I killed one the first time I saw it, out of panic, then found out I had made a grievous error. Grievous because bullsnakes will kill rattlers. Yikes! He was my friend!

Garter snakes are totally harmless. Long and skinny, with yellow lines running the length of their bodies.

And so on.

And, I saw a six foot rattler, with 9 beads on its tail, crawling into a hole in the dam. It was going after ground squirrels.

So, do I kill it? The ground squirrels are destroying the damn, which is vital for the cows during the summer. So a bad guy is doing me a favor. Do I kill it?

Unfortunately, yes. Measure the good v the bad, and make a decision. And that’s life up here at Monkeyland.

This newsletter is going to the guys who have subscribed to this blog. They have an interest in Monkeyland. Martial Arts and beyond, they are searching, or at least considering.

So, if you are reading this newsletter, order any of the matrixing courses, and that means any of the first twelve courses on this page, https://monstermartialarts.com/martial-arts/, and I will give you, FREE, ‘Matrixing: The Master Text,’ which is going for $30.

Order the course, then send the paypal receipt to me via email, and tell me you want to take advantage of the MTMT offer. Offer good through May of 14.

Have a GREAT work out!

The Sin of Martial Arts Pride

My martial arts hubris, and how I overcame it

Guest blog by Alaric Dailey

In my other articles I started that my original karate dojo may have been the best thing that ever happened to me.  If you haven’t read them you might find them interesting, especially the ones on Dojo-kun and Do vs Jitsu.

butterfly pa kua chang
Click here to learn Butterfly Pa Kua Chang

 
Among other things that I rarely see in other schools, each belt test consisted of kata, punching and kicking, hojo-undo etc, but they also included reading a book and a verbal book report.  The very first test was, like many styles, a yellow belt.  I will never understand having a rainbow of colors that DON’T get darker as they go…

That first test was quite an eye opener for me though, Sensei had added his own requirement, because he was not about making money, nor was he interested in having half-hearted students, nor students that would leave.  He wanted people that were going to forever be changed, and continue to practice for the rest of their lives.

The requirement he added?  Go to another martial arts school, and take a minimum of one class with them.  Give a verbal report.

This requirement, was a bit baffling, why take anyone just starting in your school, and require them to go try another school and possibly lose them?  Because it makes sure you are in the art that you will stick with.

For my yellow belt test, I took a 3 day introductory course to Tai-Chi, knowing nothing about any other martial art I made the mistake to trying to compare it to what I knew.  To give you some idea of what kind of apples and broccoli I was trying to compare, I was taking Pangainoon, and the first form you learn is Sanchin and the school I went to was doing Yang Tai Chi.

I made all sorts of uninformed, biased assumptions, I loved karate with a blind passion, and wanted to impress upon my sensei how much karate meant to me.  Thus I took the classes looking for what I perceived to be flaws and weaknesses in the art such as

* no application of technique – never did I get any instruction of “this is a block, this is a strike, this is what you are defending against”
* the stance was too wide – I was not given any explanation for a neutral bow, or why it would be a good stance.  In my mind Sanchin was the ultimate fighting stance.
* No power in their techniques – I had no understanding of chi power, even though Pangainoon teaches it, I hadn’t really even gotten an introduction.

I wilfully and with eyes open wide walked into a trap that ensares so many others.  I blinded myself to the benefits of other arts.

I was lucky that I didn’t entirely discount everything I learned. I continued to keep in contact with the Sifu, and shortly before he left for China, I had the opportunity to witness him do Tai-chi very fast, it was amazing.  Suddenly all the soft flowery techniques appeared to have power, and were obvious as to blocks and strikes.  At this point, I had also had enough Pangainoon to understand some of the techniques and chi.

I was lucky for many reasons, I was lucky that my Sensei had the confidence to send us other places. I was lucky that I choose a school that was so different that I was forced to re-evaluate what I was learning (even if it was only in the back of my mind).

Luck aside, my own belief that my karate style was the only “good” style, quickly crumbling down.  I wouldn’t have been able to overcome this false pride, had I not had these opportunities.

If you run a school, you will do your students a massive favor if you encourage them to go practice with other schools.

If you are a martial artist of any style, you can benefit from swallowing your ego and practising at other schools, especially those that are radically different than yours.  For example, if you do Tai-chi, you might want to try a boxing school, if you do Wing Chun, try Judo or Jujitsu, etc.

You never know, you might might new friends, you might learn something new.  As I often say “more bodies, means more opportunity to learn, especially when they are doing something other than you are doing”.

Alaric Daily began practicing the martial arts in 1992. Martial Art she has studied include Pangainoon, Karate, Kenpo, Wing Chun, Krav Maga, Judo, Jujitsu, Aikido, Bagua Zhang, and Tai Chi Chuan

In the Martial Arts Men are Robots and Women are…

Do Men and Women Really Understand the Purpose of the Martial Arts?

I posed a question for a martial arts forum a couple of weeks ago, self defense I think it was, and it got a lot of interest. The precise question I asked was: You Killed Him…Do you Turn Yourself In.

A lot of interest, and let me tell you, what I say here may seem cruel, but that is not my intention. It’s just that I was struck by the responses of some very intelligent people, and my conclusions may seem harsh.

Martial Arts men
Are you seeking enlightenment?

Let me preface this piece by recounting an incident that happened to me back about 1974.

A bunch of us black belts were sitting in a bar called ‘The King’s Table.’ Wonderful place for winding down after intense work outs where you were pushed past the limit…of spirituality.

One of the fellows asked my instructor, a fellow name of Bob Babich, what Karate was really all about.

Bob didn’t even hesitate, ‘Karate is about survival.’

We all sat and sipped our drinks (no sissy beer for us) and pondered his answer.

Oddly, though he had been fast in his answer, I didn’t think it was the kind of thing he ever thought about. He was a fellow who did. Didn’t talk much. And I just didn’t think he had thought about it, and I realized that this was likely one of those rare instances when you saw the forms at work. Simply, his intense study of Karate, especially through the forms, had afforded him that intuitive, innate answer.

Yet, I thought the answer wrong. At first I didn’t know why, but upon reflection over his answer I finally, after many months, realized what it was.

I believe that Karate is to seek existence as. Survival is fine, but that doesn’t necessarily lead anywhere. Animals survive. We should expect more of ourselves as men.

So I came to believe in Karate, and the martial arts, as a method to seek existence as…as awareness.

Decades later I posed the question for a forum: You killed him…do You Turn Yourself In. The responses reminded me of that long ago conversation, my purpose in the martial arts (to create more awareness). The responses to my question in the forum were often of two varieties.

The ladies engaged in a deep discussion regarding teaching people with ADHD. Very interesting. Not Bob’s purpose, not my purpose, but a purpose intended to aid thedisadvantaged. Noble, but…interesting. But it made sense because women are of the nest, and men are of the spear. A generality, I know, but a truth of mankind. Though I should say that this generality held true more before the introduction of the pill.

The men seemed to slant off into what the law was.

purpose martial arts
Fighting? Or freedom?

But the intent of the question I posed included the condition that law had broken down and was not to be trusted.

But the men kept spouting things about what the law required, and so on.

I was struck by how far from survival the Martial Arts had become, and dismayed by how far from ‘to seek existence as’ (awareness) they were.

Now, you can check out the discussion on linkedin, it is quite interesting, and you can see if you reach the same observation as I did, or even dare to make the same conclusions as I.

But let’s get to the point of this little diatribe. Or, prepare for the left turn.

We can divide mankind into three classifications.

Sub human.
Human.
Superior human.

A subhuman is going to be a criminal type, one without morals. Very unaware, except as to how to twist the moment to his own advantage, and then he might or might not be incredibly brilliant.

A human is your average go to work oaf. He makes payments, he votes as he is told to, and he is mired in normalcy bias (loosely – hold to the least threatening path). The odd thing is that, because he removed from the immoral survival level of the subhuman, he is often (but not always) less aware.

A superior human is going to be a fellow or gal with morals, an upward plan, and the personal drive to make that upward plan work. He is going to be aware, or at least on the path to awareness. Enter the Martial Artist.

Now I don’t have much argument with the ladies. They rise above culture and its expectations, and though I think the martial arts used to reach ADHD students is far afield, who can fault their motivation?

But the men…when the question posed calls for survival…they argue over what the law says. And here is a point of fascination for me.

The law is a bunch of made up rules so men can get along. To temper their ‘spearlike nature,’ as it were.

Now I know this could possibly just be my disagreement, and you are certainly free to hold to your own opinion as to what the purpose of Karate, or whatever martial art you study, is.

And you could even attack me for being anachronistic…having trained with men who dated women ‘before the pill.’

There would even be cause for that.

But to allow yourself be bound by any law can become immoral itself.

Yes, law is a bunch of rules to allow warlike oafs to live in some semblance of peace. But laws can be immoral, or immorally applied, as was implied in my article. In which case it is actually one’s duty to rise above the law.

Not in mob, but in individual initiative and action.

Can you see yourself achieving perfection?
Can you see yourself achieving perfection?

Anyway, while you grok with that concept, or not, let me return to my thesis, my purpose, that the purpose of the martial arts is to seek existence as.

My specific, as intimated, is ‘to seek existence as…awareness.’

When one does a Karate Kata, or a Gung Fu pattern, or any such type of exercise, one is building a circuit in the mind.

Done not long enough, and the circuit is binding, actually slows one down, mires the person in automated responses that are not always even logical. This, incidentally, is why many people attack Karate, or like arts, as unworkable…it simply has not been done long enough to work.

Done long enough, however, and the circuit pops…disappears, and the person achieves enlightenment.

The enlightenment is sometimes qualified, slanted to a particular method of art, but it is enlightenment, and there is more awareness. Thus, one has sought, and achieved, existence as…awareness.

My problem is that if a person is a knock on wood, solid citizen, concerned with the law, that he is bound…and that means that he has not achieved the enlightenment offered by the martial arts.

And here is the tragedy, a person can be VERY advanced in the martial arts, and unable to break the binding, unable to pop the circuit, unable to reach enlightenment.

Why? Poor training. Poor instruction. Not enough time being instructed by a qualified person.

Usually achievement of enlightenment has to do with one of these three items.

Poor training, of course, includes any slant of the martial arts, such as for tournaments, for the training of children (sorry, ladies), commercialism, and so on.

Commercialism is the big bugaboo, of course, and I constantly wondered at how many of the people who entered into the discussion, who held to the law as so important, even over their own survival, were instructors.

But what were they instructing?

A system based on the memorization of random techniques. Circuits.

Yet they had not broken through their own circuits!

One of the things that matrixing a martial arts does is break through the circuits, and it does this by the simple fact of introducing logic. Putting the techniques in order, causing understanding to happen.

Understanding always breaks a circuit.

But here is the cruel trap. A person still in circuit will hold to the circuit no matter what. He will resist logic and all other intrusions.

Well, of course he will. He has invested time and money in the devil…a belief system. And, believe me, most belief systems are the devil. They are like The Law, binding hopelessly, not to allow men to live together, but to control them.

You’ve heard of the Golden Rule? He who controls the gold rules?

The more insidious cousin is: he who controls the rules rules.

Do you seek to understand yourself as awareness?
Do you seek to understand yourself as awareness?

That bit of juice observed, and under threat of wandering far afield, let me return to the point of it all.

Normalcy Bias is when a person holds to his path tightly, no matter the signs of impending doom, because…because he can’t deal with the coming disaster.

Yes, it’s a prepper term, but it holds true in this instance because, for person to devote his life to seeking enlightenment, and then to get sidetracked with concern for the law, or tournaments, or commercialism, or even the raising of children, is a tragedy.

Simply, you must not stop seeking existence as (awareness) for any reason. That would be to stunt your growth, and return you to Human, or even Subhuman existence.

A person guilty of normalcy bias will not see his own normalcy bias, and will not complete his search for existence. He has become comfortable as a superior man, without ever making the final leap to that exalted status, and will become nothing more than (he will return ‘down’ to…) a normal, knock on wood, do your job and vote as you’re supposed to oaf.

Thus, I was struck by the responses to my article. Sometimes gratified, even surprised by the depth of perception and the proof that individuals were seeking existence as.

But I was also dismayed by people who held to the rules, could not think outside the box, were obviously still ‘in circuit.’

Final word, remember, Matrixing WILL teach you to think outside the box. It WILL create more awareness. It WILL break the circuits of the martial arts and allow you to understand the martial arts, and life, to an enlightened extreme.

Remember, it takes discipline in the proper method to achieve enlightenment. Random discipline, as in current martial arts, takes twenty or thirty years, if it can be done at all. Logic, through matrixing, can speed up the process by as much as ten.

But to hold to the current course, doing random series of techniques with no logic, and certainly without the understanding that understanding the whole picture that logic brings, is to risk disaster…a lifetime spent spinning your wheels and never achieving enlightenment. Never achieving an existence as…awareness.

Please, if I have stepped on toes, apply lineament and remember that my purpose is good…to seek existence as awareness, and to cause others to find that same purpose.

Have a great workout!
Al from MonsterMartialArts(dot)com.

MonsterMartialArts.com for matrixing.

ChurchofMartialArts.com for further enlightenment.

Old, decrepit, but still searching…and able to put out a candle from over a foot away without using force. This is one of the many incredible things matrixing can do.

Greetings from Monkeyland!

Monkeyland is Now Open!

I’m here! At Monkeyland! The Church of Martial Arts has actual physical presence and location!

I’m sitting in a small cabin, the wind is howling hard enough to blow monkeys out of the trees, if there were any monkeys in the trees. Heh.

Martial belief system
Official Emblem of The Church of Martial Arts


And, I have no clue what is going to happen.

I just knew I had to get here, had to have a perfect place to work out. Had to have a place where there weren’t any low grade human beings, and only the faithful to train.

I know what Mas Oyama felt like when he disappeared into the mountains for two years to train himself.

I know what people who removed themselves from the world to pursue the ideal of perfection felt.

But, enough about me. I’m not one of those ‘me, me, me,’ personalities. This is about you.

Do you want perfection? Do you want the real martial arts? Do you want…Monkeyland?

So what’s stopping you?

Heck, hop a plane for a couple of hundred, live cheap, work hard, and dedicate yourself to training.

You know, I don’t want to just turn out martial artists…I want to turn out people who can train martial artists.

There’s one of me and millions of martial artists. I need help if I am going to spread the true arts, fix the corrupt arts, and elevate the martial arts to the highest level on this planet ever.

Heck, if you live in California you could come for a weekend.

If you’re out of California you could fly/drive/swim in over the weekend, spend a week in heaven, and leave the following weekend.

Seriously, this is the best deal, monetarily and martial arts wise, you could ever find.

How much does it cost you to live for a month? $1000? So spend half as much and live here!

I’ll work you, I’ll train you, and you will walk out a matrixed human being. You will walk out with a complete system or two, totally jazzed, and wide awake!

So, seriously…what is stopping you?

Here’s a series of articles that will tell you about the Martial Belief system at the Church of Martial Arts.

The Madness of the Martial Arts Plan

The Martial Arts Plan of Monkeyland

Speaking of a martial arts plan, what a great day in the morn! eh?

The nice thing, this past few days and newsletters and blogs and articles and such, is that people are starting to see the overall grand scheme of Monkeyland, they are seeing the culmination of this martial arts plan.

There is the announcement of the land acquisition, and then there is the outline of the curriculum, and things are just coming together in this martial arts plan.

martial artist
Can you slay your enemies and make…life?


You can see the direction of the martial arts at Monkeyland, and you can understand why Matrix Karate and Temple karate are so important, and you can understand why I focus on them so much.

Matrix Karate simply changes the way you think about the Martial Arts, put that together with the Master Instructor course, and you have a real one two punch.

The complete Matrix Karate package will probably include the small Perfect Karate, the Matrix Karate course, the 120 lessons to Black belt, and maybe a couple of other things.

The point being that if you don’t understand Matrixing, through Matrix Karate, before you come here, that’s going to be the very first thing you have to study.

And, Temple Karate, as presented at KangDukWon.com. An in depth checklist covering an amazing amount of material. You understand the important of Temple Karate because if you can do the first two levels before you even get to Monkeyland, then we simply check you out, award your certificates…gold sealed to indicate that you actually were promoted at the Church itself, and continue on with official monk studies.

So if you don’t have those courses, you’d better. It’s part of the overall martial arts plan.

Now, let me give a slight picture of what has happened so far.

I matrixed, and discovered neutronics, and decided that the world would be a better place if everybody knew the martial arts…the right martial arts. Fixed and corrected martial arts that impart all the real abilities that you read about, but rarely see. So I came up with a plan.

The plan was simple…

Write books and courses, which courses were, for the most part, already done.

Then write websites, selling matrixing courses, and getting people ready for Monkeyland.

Then find some land.

Then start building and create a paradise of martial arts.

So, technically, we’re on step three. And step four should officially begin in the next couple of weeks.

To me the really interesting thing is that every fit together, even the work I had done early on, before I started Matrixing.

And the more I do, the more it fits.

Honestly, some of this I don’t plan, it just fits.

Like the people I talk to on the web.

I don’t plan it, but when something is going haywire, when i need some data badly, somebody suddenly writes me off the internet, gives me direction, clarifies what is happening.

So the conclusion is this: life is an art.

Yes, the martial arts are an art, and you can see how they work.

But life is an art, living life the right way, making things happen that fit into a grander scheme, this is all an art.

So we live, and life is the canvas, and when we are done…is our life a masterpiece? Or is it a shambles?

A martial artist usually understands this, or easily accepts it, because he has already seen how life in the dojo, the mini-universe of the dojo, shapes up as a work of art.

Now, can you accept the larger picture?

Monkeyland is dedicated to the fact of this larger picture, of making life an art for all who come.

So you there!

Al

Thsi has been a page about a martial arts plan.

Restructuring the Martial Arts from the Black Belt Up

The Need for Black Belt Standards in the Martial Arts!

When I started the martial arts I wanted to be a black belt in the worst possible way. I thought that was mecca, the ultimate, better than anything in the world

So I went to work. I signed up at a Karate school and I put in the time. Interestingly, I was to learn that it took more than time. It took a precise bit of knowledge.

perfect karateTo be precise, I spent a couple of years in one system (Chinese Kenpo), then several years in another system (Kang Duk Won Korean Karate), before I achieved Black Belt. When I got it, however, it was better than I had ever imagined

Interestingly, as the years passed, I realized that I had struck it rich, that all Black Belts were not the same, and that I had lucked out.

You see, the standards of what it took to reach Black Belt were all over the place. One fellow I knew got a black belt cause he could fight good. Another got it because he lent the instructor money. Honorary black belts were passed out to people who didn’t even study the martial arts. To be honest, real black belts were actually, in spite of there being so many of them, a rarity.

Eventually, in spite of hype and glamour, being a black belt didn’t mean much.

Oh, it meant somebody had sweated a lot, maybe, if they were lucky, but there was no single standard whatsoever.

Now, when I achieved a Black Belt in the Kang Duk Won, that system was directly derived from the instructors BEFORE Funakoshi. It wasn’t infected by the folly of tournaments, the shame of politics, or put together with other arts to corrupt its pure workings.

When I achieved Black Belt, when I studied at a specific branch of the Kang Duk Won where the art had not been corrupted, something happened to the students who made it. Simply, they changed.

They achieved something I called CBM, or Coordinated Body Motion. When this happened they began to move their bodies in totally different ways, and there was a feeling of massive energy within. This was usually accompanied by other phenomena, such as dreams, intuitive experiences, and so on.

All of what I have said here has guided me to establish a different standard for Black Belt.

monkey kung fuTo be sure, if somebody CBMs, I consider them a Black Belt in the old sense. I value that, I prize that. I consider that art of the highest form.

But, interestingly, I don’t make that the thrust of my teachings.

You see, so many people can’t make that step, or, at least, it will take them too long. They don’t have the proper teacher or teaching, even if they are a good student.

So, in putting together my temple (Church of Martial Arts dot com) I am focusing on making sure the student has the knowledge, and therefore the best possible chance, before I start pushing him towards any kind of CBM focused study.

I know that some will disagree with my path, but consider the alternative: 999 out of a 1000 students not making it, being shunted into some weird idea of what a black belt is, putting the emphasis on winning trophies…versus the forging and perfection of character that the Martial Arts are.

Thus, consider the steps necessary to progression in the Church of Martial Arts.

A Postulant is somebody who seeks. This is a fellow who is casting about, and frequently doesn’t even know for what. He encounters Monster Martial Arts or one of my other sites, is intrigued and orders a course or two. If he is ready, if he is a seeker of the true martial arts, something will ignite in his soul. I always know these people, even if only by email, because they start ordering more courses. The courses are inexpensive, they are usually whole arts, and the student starts to ‘drink’ them.

bagua zhangSometimes people write and tell me what is happening, and sometimes they remain aloof and afar, yet their interest is flaming. Whatever the type of student they are, they are learning the truth about the how and the why of the martial arts. They are learning the physics, and many write to me and tell me how they have changed their art, restructured it, in piece and in whole format, to make it make sense.

And sometimes I receive letters telling me of experiences they have had that let me know that, whether they know it or not, they have CBMed.

Oddly, I get a big kick out of this anonymous relationship we have. I don’t have to be standing over somebody’s shoulder, and by this I mean I don’t need a big organization, to make sure that they are getting the truth of the martial arts.

The art is an art, and though we often, and especially in the beginning, study it as a group, it is a personal undertaking. You are becoming an artist, you are becoming something more than human. You are forging and perfecting your character.

These people who ignite, who begin ordering courses and learning the truth of the martial arts, I call Novices.

A Novice, or novitiate, is a beginner. More important, he is not now a seeker, for he has found the truth; now he is running up the path of the martial arts to the truth of himself as fast as he possibly can.

Now, if a person was to visit me, study under me, and by this I mean at the Church of Martial Arts, the course would be quick and to the point. They would be put on a list of martial arts forms and techniques that are all and completely matrixed

If a person doesn’t have the opportunity to study with me, they need merely go through the eight original Matrixing courses.

Do you see what I have done here? I have resolved the martial arts not to a random, whimsical study of what somebody thinks is cool, or has a bit of workability for an odd variety of people, but to a comprehensive and complete body of knowledge.

Knowledge. Art becomes science. The Way becomes a series of steps that are complete and to the point.

Once a student has completed either of these two methods, either the checklist at the church or the eight matrixing courses, they are considered a monk.

And, a person who has completed novice training in the Church of Martial Arts has a sure and certain knowledge of the complete martial arts, and this includes Karate, several varieties of Kung Fu, Pa Kua Chang, Tai Chi Chuan, and more.

The standard here is in the comprehensive knowledge that can be found nowhere else, and certainly not in the speedy frame of time I recommend.

At any rate, once a person has become a monk, and having a thorough knowledge of the martial arts on the whole, he is ready to pick his specialty. Perhaps he will delve into esoteric Kung Fu, perhaps he will concentrate on Karate, perhaps he will shift into weapons, or some other field of martial arts.

Whatever the Monk chooses to do, he will be well prepared, and he will be assured of his success in his further studies.

For a list of the eight original Matrix Martial Art courses go to MonsterMartialArts.com