Category Archives: kyokushinkai

Winning Martial Arts!

Posted on April 4, 2016 | 1 comment

Newsletter 803
Make Your Day with a Martial Arts Win!

Great Afternoon!

I was teaching this morning,
and it is almost impossible to describe
how wonderful one feels
after sharing the martial arts.

Sharp,
quick,
strong,
happy.

Hey,
I thought I’d share a win.
I get wins all the time,
and if I’m a little busy,
so what…
I can still share a win,
right?

Before I do,
however,
google is figuring out
how to send newsletters into Spam folders.
So put me in your contacts,
or just go to
https://alcase.wordpress.com
and sign up.
The newsletters always end up there.

Now,
here comes a win from Jason W.

I’ve trained on two continents officially hold 1 black belt, and unofficially am that level in 2 others. I am currently working through the purple belt level in your Kang Duk Won course. I have to say that the workout is as tough as anything I did in Hapkido, but I am slowly getting there. The KDW material is filling in all the holes I had in my training. It’s really amazing how much stuff the instructors leave out or don’t even know. About a year ago I was at the place where you started in developing matrixing. I was looking for ways to bridge all my training into a logical system apart from the individual styles. I am lucky I found your site. I saved myself about 40 years of headaches! Just keep up the good work.

Thanks, Jason.
I appreciate kind words,
I love your win.

Jason is doing the course at
KangDukWon.com.

I wrote it in attempt
to keep alive all the material
I learned at the original Kang Duk Won.

So,
have a win,
and share the arts,
and if you have a win,
send it in.

If you want to beat the blues,
read the wins.

Okley donkley,

you guys have a GREAT work out,
and I’ll talk to you later.

Al

KangDukWon.com

And don’t forget to sign up for the newsletter at
https://alcase.wordpress.com

http://www.amazon.com/Matrixing-Tong-Bei-Internal-Gung/dp/1507869290/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1423678613&sr=8-1&keywords=tong+bei

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Posted in boxing, free martial arts books, hsing i, isshin ryu, karate, karate books, kyokushinkai, martial arts books, shaolin, shito ryu, taekwondo

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Munio Self Defense Keychain is a GREAT Martial Arts Product

Posted on December 1, 2014 | 3 comments

Munio Self Defense is Great Martial Arts Equipment!

Munio means ‘I defend,’ and it is the next great martial arts tool designed specifically for self defense.

kubotan self defenseThis is my personal favorite! Click on the picture and you’ll get taken to the store and can choose from LOTS of models!

Once every year or so somebody asks me to do a review, of a book or a martial arts product, and I get very picky. I’m not about to put my name on something just for the heck of it, or to get a free sample, or whatever.

That said, when the honorable and never to be maligned Phil Ventrello pointed to one of my blogs and said that he had a product that was in the spirit of that blog, and would I be interested in reviewing his ‘Munio,’ I jumped at the chance. The product he was talking about, you see, was a self defense key chain, and I have carried one for decades.

I have hung my keys on a Kubotan for a lo-o-ong time, and I have been kicked out of more airports and hospitals than you can shake a keychain at. Simply, I hate being told by those TSA gropers that I have to go back to my car, take my keys off, and then come back.

I mean, what? I’m going to hijack an airplane, or kidnap a kidney patient, using something that looks like a blunt pencil?

Furthermore, I often work late at night. I need a Kubotan, and I am serious about my protecting Mrs. Case’s son’s body.

Phil sent me two of the Munio self defense keychains, and I am glad he did. I tested one, and figured if it didn’t pass my test then I could throw the second one away. And, if it did pass the test, I had a brand, fresh, spanking new one to slip my keys on.

What is the Al Case Munio self defense key chain test? Heh heh! It is fun.

First I went out to the garage and picked up a hammer. Then, using martial arts skills honed over near a half a century, I bashed the holy crud out of the thing.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Aw, no dents.

So I turned it sideways and bashed it some more.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

What? Still no dents?

Then I put it in the vise and hit it sideways, trying to break it in half, or at least bend it a little.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Darn! Still no dents! In fact, the thing looked like new! So not only did it pass my test, but now I had two keychains that look brand, fresh, spanking new!

Okay, that was the physical part of it all. Lots of fun, but there are some things to consider about this Munio thing.

The card that comes with it says it is legal in all states, and is TSA acceptable. Perfect!

Made of unbreakable polycarbonate. Yup. Al Case tested and vouched for.

No risk of electrical shock or chemical discharge. Sounds funny, but this is important. What this is referring to are the liabilities of using a stun gun, or some sort of pepper spray.

I am not a fan of stun guns. Zap some guy with a heart condition and you will be supporting your local undertaker.

And with pepper spray you have to get it out, aim it, and then it isn’t always effective. When I use a big, old spray can for bugs or paint I always miss with the first shot.

Furthermore, consider the bulkiness or awkwardness of stun guns and pepper spray, and the Munio comes out a clear winner. This key chain is svelte, cool looking (I selected the ‘dragon’ model for my personal favorite), and easy to carry.

Okay, those are the real considerations you have to take into account when using something like the Munio Self Defense tool. But what about the other things that aren’t mentioned?

For instance, how does it compare to a Kubotan?

Mind you, I have carried a Kubotan for more than 20 years, and I swear by them.

First, the Munio is slightly shorter. But do you need a long keychain?

No. Because the Munio is fitted to your fist.

Will it hit as hard as the Kubotan?

It will hit harder, because it has a smaller impact surface area.

The only area the Kubotan is better in is the grab art aspect. But, I have to tell you, being able to do grab arts with a Kubotan does take a certain amount of practice and knowledge. And, to tell you the truth, even with all my experience, if somebody comes up on me late at night while I am fumbling with my keychain…I’m basically a hack and stab kind of guy. I believe in inflicting as much pain as possible, and walking away or calling the cops or whatever. And that, my friends, is why I am putting my name on a recommendation for this product.

The Munio Martial Arts Self Defense Keychain: slicker looking than a painting by Dali, tougher than Chuck Norris’s chin, and the latest and greatest when it comes to fun and neat Martial Arts Self Defense.

About the author: Al Case began martial arts in 1967. He became a writer for the martial arts magazines in 1981, and had his own column in Inside Karate. He is the inventor of Matrixing and Neutronics, and he can be contacted through his website…MonsterMartialArts.com.

The Munio Self Defense Keychain can be found at http://www.munioselfdefense.com. Check it out!

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Five Steps to a Perfect Martial Arts Kiai!

Posted on May 5, 2014 | Leave a comment

Making your Kiai a real ‘Spirit Shout!’

All too often people describe it as a “spirit yell”, but this only scratches the surface, and it is a horrible translation. If we look at the word in kanji, you will see that it is made up 2 characters.  The first is Ki ( ? ), this is the character for energy, whether you call it chi, qi, or prana.  The second is Ai ( ? ) meaning harmony. Some of you may notice something here, those are the same 2 character as Aikido ( ??? ) but in a different order.  Thus “fighting yell” doesn’t enter into a proper translation.

So, a kiai, isn’t a fighting scream, but rather any sound that brings your energy into harmony with the situation.  Nobody ever talks about it anymore but this could be a sob, a laugh, a sigh, or scream to bring all your force to bear in a fight.

Kang-Duk-Won-side-ad
Since nobody ever has to explain how to laugh or cry, let us turn our attention to the application of “bringing the force to bear in a fight” or spirit yell.

If you visit enough other places you will no doubt see people, saying the word “kiai” or “kiup” (the Korean pronunciation) with no more enthusiasm than a yawn.  This is useless, utterly useless.

Kenpo says there are 5 reasons to do a Kiai

1. make sure you are breathing when you are executing a technique
2. distract your opponent
3. attract attention
4. tighten your muscles, thus protecting your body.
5. bring power to your technique.

Numbers 2, 3, and 5 will not work AT ALL if you are wimpy and quiet.

When you watch the old martial arts movies, you don’t see people giving a kiai, like a child who is in trouble being asked to confess.  It is loud, bold and proud.

More than once  people tell me “it is embarrassing to scream”, to which my response is “SO WHAT!  If I have to defend myself, I will give a kiai, and if the bad guy laughs at me, I don’t care.  Regardless how they respond, whether it is shock, laughter, or they turn to run, that is going to give me my opening”.

Did Bruce Lee care about what people thought? No!  He said (paraphrasing here) “every technique should have a life of its own, part of that is giving it a unique sound.”  This is why he was making sounds, that even other martial artists thought, were weird.

A good kiai comes from the Dan Tien (Tanden), if it helps, think of it as coming from the diaphragm. In theater, they call this “projecting” so the people in the nosebleed seats can hear you.  To go along with what Bruce said, it can be any sound, but “kiai” is not an Onomatopoeia, so please don’t use that as your sound.  Even the 1970s corny movie “hi-ya” is less annoying than “kiai”.

My Sensei says “if a Kiai is done correctly, you don’t go horse”.  This is true, but if you aren’t doing a proper kiai now, it will likely take a bit of practice to figure out how to be all “heavy metal concert” on it, without hurting your voice.

Here is a REALLY good article about what it means to bow in the martial arts.

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Martial Arts Influences on the Kang Duk Won

Posted on August 17, 2013 | Leave a comment

What are the Martial Arts Influences on the Kang Duk Won

kang duk wonThere are extraneous martial arts influences on every art, and the Kang Duk Won is no different.

Sometimes the martial arts influences can be bad, sometimes good. In the case of the Kang Duk Won  Continue reading →

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Using the Karate Kiai to Discover the True Power of Kotodama

Posted on February 6, 2012 | Leave a comment

Can Karate Kiai Actually Cause Death?

Karate Kiai is a Japanese idea meaning ‘spirit shout,’ and it is the deadly yell that karate practitioners scream when chopping an opponent’s head off. Well, maybe I went overboard with that description a bit, grin, but there is a truth to the karate yell that is unarguable and leads to some rather mysterious knowledge. I am referring to subject of Kotodama, or ‘Word spirit.’

martial arts yellThe notion behind a Karate kiai is to commit all  of ones energies into one moment, one karate technique, and thus to enhance the power of the strike. The idea of scaring a somebody is somewhat secondary, but not to be discounted. Both of these concepts lead to rather interesting belief systems and mysterious realities.

Kotodama is the practice of creating soothing sounds, which sounds can engender a more spiritual feeling in a person. There is, of course, the flip side, the bad word phenomena, in which a sound is used to hurt another person. Either way, kotodama results in the practice of kotomuke (soothing speech to bring peace), and kotoage, which is producing magic.

My first experience with kotodama came from a decades long study of karate, kung fu, and various internal martial arts. This gave direct experience with the power of screaming at an attacker and rendering him impotent. In one case I drew upon the karate kiai to vanguish a would be mugger…he turned around shambled down the street, his body shaking and shivering.

Experiences like this, which were brought about by the faithful repetition of karate patterns with correct attention to Karate kiai, brought me to a profound appreciation of the subject. Of interest in this is the way of speaking of salesmen and mentalists, and other individuals of that type. Watching how such people conducted themselves, the tones they employed, the pitch of sound they utilized, brought me to the notion that we are talking about vibration.

Vibration is generally understood to be the source of the universe. Between the notion of an Eternal Spirit and the solid life of objects (of which the universe is made), is vibration. This concept holds true on the atomic level of protons and electrons, and on the gigantic scale of spinning galaxies and whole universes.

What we are more interested in, however, are the vibrations we can make in our day to day lives. Is it possible to cause a vibration which can move the universe? The answer to this is as simple as the phenomena of an opera singer projecting a tone that cracks a glass.

The way of achieving this ability is just as simple. First, one has to realize, through the projection of virtue into their lives, that they are spiritual in nature, and that they can create vibrations which not only break glass, but which can shiver other objects, and, more easily, cause comfort or discomfort to their fellow humans. Second, one has to discover and follow exactly the disciplines which bring one to this ability…then the result is that a simple Karate kiai can translate into Kotodama can morph into a mystical spell or chant which has the power to harm or heal as one sees fit.

 

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Bruce Lee Workouts And the Real Way to Build Strength-Part Two

Posted on January 20, 2012 | Leave a comment

Bruce Lee Workouts were incredible, and they resulted in incredible strength!

When people do Bruce Lee workouts of some sort they have no idea what they are getting into. They see the movies, they read the books, but they don’t know what Bruce Lee was really capable of. They don’t know just how powerful he really was.

jun fan gung fuYou see, it wasn’t just that he was a martial arts fanatic, a physical cultist, but that he could actually do superhuman feats of strength. I’ve listed a few of the things he could do here, and you should consider them seriously when you do your Bruce Lee workouts routine. It’s more than just push ups and sit ups, you see, it is going beyond the limits of the body.

First, the sheer speed one builds doing Bruce Lee training routines is more than just faster than the eye could see, it is faster than the mind can comprehend! He could punch an opponent in five one hundredths of second…that’s 0.05 seconds. Try moving your thumb that fast on your digital stopwatch!

Second, Bruce Lee could extend a seventy-five pound barbell straight from his body-arm for several seconds. That is a incredibly difficult. Go ahead, pick up a cinder block and hold it straight out, and that is only a few pounds.

Here is your sleight of hand, magician’s trick-The Little Dragon could snatch a dime out of your open palm and leave a penny. Man, that is faster than a banker forecloses! It’s hard enough to just snatch a coin, let alone leave some change!

Fourth, think your push ups are pretty nifty? Try doing a push up on the thumb and forefinger! His fingers were more powerful than your whole arm!

Or, and I love this one, Mr. Lee could do 50 one arm chin up repetitions! Let me repeat that…that’s FIFTY one hand chin ups. How would you like to have a python as strong as his arms choking you out?

Sixth, and this is for all those tough guys out there that think they can take a kick, Bruce Lee could kick a 300 pound kicking bag and make it hit the ceiling! Now that is launch power! Interestingly, there aren’t a lot of 300 pound martial arts kicking bags around, and Bruce had his made special.

Finally, Bruce could hold an elevated V-sit up position for thirty minutes. I would think that that would actually qualify him as a yoga master, in addition to all his strength and martial arts accomplishments. Think about some of these things when you decide to do some Bruce Lee workouts.

The best way to make a perfect and strong body is Yogata. Head to Monster Martial Arts to find out more.

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Martial Science of Neutronics Handles the Mugger!

Posted on December 19, 2011 | Leave a comment
Martial Science or Martial Art?
Martial Science is what it is,
but everybody thinks it is a Martial Art.
So what is the science behind the science?
What is the Neutronics behind Matrixing?
Matrixing is the analysis and handling of force and direction.
Actually
it is the analysis of the direction of force
so that you can handle it.
Neutronics is the study of motion.
martial artsOr,
to be precise,
it is the study of motion
from a fixed position.
Neutronics is based on three things
Protonic (going towards),
Electronic (going away),
Neutronic (nothing happens).
There is nothing else.
Now,
a guy is walking down the street
and nothing is really happening.
There’s nobody around,
he’s alone,
nothing is happening.
Then
a mugger appears,
does our hero go protonic or electronic?
Fight or flight,
our hero decides to be smart
and starts running.
But the mugger runs faster.
So our hero must zig and zag
and do everything in his power
to make sure
that distance doesn’t close.
He can’t run away,
he doesn’t want to run towards,
so he must maintain distance,
he must make sure that…
‘nothing happens.’
But it is a different level of ‘nothing happening.’
Our hero must control the universe
through his protonic or electronic maneuverings
to create ‘nothing happening.’
Can you do this?
Can you study enough martial arts
so that you have enough knowledge
so that you are creating ‘nothing happening’
and enjoying it?
The mugger is swinging a club and screaming,
and you are laughing and playing.
Eh?
Okay,
so you don’t have a mugger coming at you.
But,
the boss wants to cut your pay
the wife is so irritated she is burning the potatoes,
and the kids are playing with junkies in school…
can you move towards or away
from each of these people
in such a  manner that
not only do you laugh and play,
but they start to laugh and play?
That is neutronic.
That is maintaining a distance
so that everybody wins.
That is real Martial Arts,
that is knowing the martial arts so well
that they take over your life,
and that is going Neutronic.
And a correct study of the Martial Arts
is the only way to do this.
Now,
the sequence is this.
One,
you must learn enough martial arts
so that you have a discipline to hold yourself firm,
that you become a fixed position in space.
Two,
you must matrix those martial arts
so they make sense
and become intuitive.
Three,
you must understand how to use Neutronics.
Simply,
you must understand one and two
so well
that you no longer need the physical,
that you can just use the mental
to do your analysis and handling
of force and direction
and control the universe.
This is how you play with the mugger
get the boss to laugh while he gives you a raise
manipulate the wife’s irritation into joy
and go to the principle’s office because your son just beat up a drug dealer in school.
Okay, okay,
so maybe we missed it a bit on the kid,
but,
hey,
it’s not a bad miss,
right?
Grin.
Anyway,
that’s Neutronics.
It is an actual science
based on the motions of the universe,
and it is the science
behind the science of matrixing.
You can check out Matrixing at
ChurchofMartrialArts(dot)com.
But,
make sure you have enough martial arts discipline
to hold yourself firm,
and enough Matrixing to make it all logical.
Here’s the Matrix Karate course,
it has the basic Matrixing tables,
and the core theory to matrixing,
and will fix any other martial art.
All you have to do is take the matrixing tables
and plug your art into them.
And if you want to start your matrixing
in another art,
that’s okay, too.
Study what interests you.
That’s about it,
not much more to  say,
and it’s time to go work out.
Next newsletter is the infamous,
Monster Night Before Christmas,
so i’ll talk to you then.
HanaKwanMass!
Al
(Don’t miss the Monster Night Before Christmas! Sign up for the Monster Martial Arts Newsletter at…where else…Monster Martial Arts!)
This has been a blog about Martial Science.
martial art

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Posted in boxing, free martial arts books, isshin ryu, karate books, kyokushinkai, martial arts books, pa kua chang, shaolin, street fight, uechi ryu, ultimate fighting championship

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Your Martial Art Doesn’t Work, And Then The Hells Angel Showed Me

Posted on December 13, 2011 | 1 comment

A Martial Art and a Hells Angel

outlaw martial art

I had studied Chinese Kenpo Karate for two years. I was an instructor, and I had written the training manual for my school.Then I ran into a Hells Angel.

The story actually started when the restaurant I was working at hired a geeky looking kid. I didn’t like him much, but then one day I saw him kick a wall. The wall shook like the 1906 earthquake, and I knew that he knew something I didn’t.

So I got to know him, and he said he studied Kang Duk Won Korean Karate. He said he didn’t know it well, which I found hard to believe because I had seen him kick a wall harder than a donkey kicks a pervert. He said, however, that his brother knew a lot more than him, and let’s go talk to him.

So that night we drove to Sunnyvale to meet his brother. As we pulled up Alex turned to me and said, “I should tell you that my brother is a Hells Angel.” I blinked, but, heck…I knew Chinese Kenpo Karate, right?

His brother was just under six feet tall, a little shorter than me, but he had the outlaw look in his piercing eyes. We talked about Karate for a while, and then he stated, “Your Martial Art doesn’t work.” He twisted two of the gnarliest fists I had ever seen into my shirt and told me to work my best technique on him.

I went into action. I locked his fists with one hand and brought my other hand up to break his elbows, I struck his wrists with my radial paralyzing downward chop, and when I went to chop him in the throat he threw me through a wall. Yep, all the way through a wall.

He laughed and gave me a hand up, and then he told me to grab his shirt front. I did, and he showed me the self defense technique that he learned at the Kang Duk Won. He reached over and popped a fist into my chest so hard that…that’s right, I went through the wall.

This is a true story, and being tossed through a wall twice changed my life, definitely changed the way I was learning martial arts, and prompted me down the road to other martial arts and how to really make them work. I spent over a half dozen years at the Kang Duk Won Korean Karate school, worked alongside all manner of people, including hells angels and other outlaw bikers. Included in my education was why a martial art doesn’t work.

The things that martial arts instructors add to their martial art, the slant towards tournaments and making money, there’s no end to the gimmicks that have messed up the art. That’s why I came up with Matrixing, so martial arts instructors could fix all that kind of stuff. Click to Monster Martial Arts and see what I came up with.

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DISCOUNT MARTIAL ARTS SUPPLIES!

Posted on November 26, 2011 | Leave a comment

DISCOUNT MARTIAL ARTS SUPPLIES!
I made a deal with Denny over at Karate Supply. He gave me a code to pass on. Order anything you want, put this code in when you check out, and you get a percent off! I’m not sure how much, but it is worth looking into. So if you need a new uniform, weapons, anything at all…go to KarateSupply.com and type in the code AC789, and get your discount. On anything…on everything…NO LIMIT!

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Martial Arts Website Plan to Make Money!

Posted on November 16, 2011 | Leave a comment

yoga kataI always said I would never monetize my martial arts website. And, for years, I haven’t. However, times change, and the Great Matrixing Tour is in the works, and I need money to make that happen. Unless, of course, some millionaire out there wants to make a donation.

Before I get into the money making stuff, I should explain what the Great Matrixing Tour (GMT) is.

I began selling courses on Matrixing the martial arts back in 2007. If you read the wins on my website (MonsterMartialArts.com) you will note that there is high regard for the matrixing science, and this is because it is a science. Karate, Aikido, Tai Chi, all the other arts, are arts. But matrixing puts forth actual scientific principles. This makes the art easier to learn, faster to learn, more efficient, and so on. Simply, the wins people are having are incredible.

Now, being the ‘inventor’ of this method, I want to see how it is being applied throughout the world, or at least the US and Canada. So the GMT is me and the wife traveling around the United States and visiting people who have ordered courses from me.

It’s sort of funny, it is the greatest example of quality control in the history of the world. Somebody buys a $30 course and I come out to make sure it is working. Ha!

So, to make this happen, to make sure that Matrixing is being learned correctly, that there are no problems, and, let’s face it, to get info for more courses, I need to have dollars. So, alas, I finally start the monetizing process.

There are my own courses, of course, and you can find them on any of my sites or blogs. Any contribution is welcome.

But now i am starting to sell other things, and even to put in adsense and Amazon.

I have no idea how these things will work out, but, heck, life is an education, right?

So, check out those sidebars, if you see a uniform or a kicking bag or whatever from Amazon, click over and help support the GMT.

And, if you are interested in monetizing your own site, check out the Internet Source Book I have in the sidebar. I have spent years putting this together, there are thousands of dollars of courses reflected in this book, but the real blessing is this: I am a professional writer. I am not a computer guy trying to explain about computers, I am a professional writer, with the ability to explain things so you understand them.

So that’s it. Check out my sites, if you see a good deal, great…and if you don’t, enjoy this fine martial arts website I’ve put together.

Real Karate

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