One of the most important things a superior martial artist can have, inside the ring or out, is the gunfighter mentality. The best fighters, like BJ Penn and Rashad Evans, have this intuitively in their personality. The second place guys don’t.

Interestingly enough, the Gunfighter Mentality used to be part of the training in the classical martial arts. I remember training back in the middle of the last century, and everything we did was geared towards this ability. While there were many factors involved in the death of this principle, people like Bruce Lee probably drove home the spike.

Bruce Lee added circling and bouncing to the martial arts. The Gunfighter Mentality depends on stillness, being coiled like a snake, and here was this fellow acting like Mohammad Ali, circling and jabbing and destroying the mindset of the Gunfighter. Now Bruce Lee would have won most any fight anyway, but a generation copied him, and they gave up the deadly zen stillness of the Gunfighter.

Now stillness is what it is all about when it comes to true martial arts, and there are several good reasons or this. There was much interchange between karate and zen principles in Japan, and people practiced zen for long hours began to see the benefits of sitting, waiting, and cultivating silence. In the silence ones perceptions worked better, and their intuitive nature could take over.

When one is silent, just sitting, when one just relaxes, the senses begin to work better, and the world begins to open up. Try it, just sit in a chair comfortably and just relax for a while. The world will start to make itself known, tell you things, and you will become brighter, sharper, calmer.

Once the student begins to appreciate that his perceptions, and thus reactions, will work better, the real work can begin. In the silence we used to corkscrew our stance downward, into the ground, and search for the best set of the leg, the best position to spring from. In the silence we would examine the angle of the hip and the turn of the foot, trying to make every single part of our bodies into totally responsive and explosive mechanisms.

Freestyle matches, instead of moving all around and wasting energy, would be subtle shifts of the body and edgings toward the opponent. Instead of throwing a hundred punches, most of which missed the target, we would set up to throw one punch, but every ounce of our might would be instilled in that one punch. Most important, we left the training hall as different people, aware people, patient people.

The Gunfighter Mentality in the martial arts is pretty much unknown now, and it is too bad. I believe that if the fighters of today began building the characteristics of a good Gunfighter the Martial Arts would take a turn for the better. This might not be good for mixed martial artists in such places as the UFC, however, as the techniques might become too dangerous to be used.

Al Case has examined martial arts for forty years. A writer for the magazines, he is the originator of Matrixing Technology. You can get his free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

I know, the question is a bit bogus, as one should be comparing arts such as Karate and Aikido merely so as to make them compliment each other. Thus, with that statement made, let us discuss how the fist should wiggle into the glove. No pow and bam, just an honest, up front viewpoint for your edification and enlightenment.

Karate is supposed to be a linear martial arts, and Aikido is supposed to be designed for the purity of the circle. Yet, if one looks at Karate one will see that perfection of linearity is loose, at best. If Karate could actually adhere to the linear concept, considering how the bones, joints, muscles and so on fit together, the body would probably explode, or, at least fall apart from stress.

And, on the other hand, if Aikido tried to adhere to the perfect circle, except in the most theoretical of classes, the art would not work. And, to be honest, aikido is not your best art for down and dirty combat. While Aikido is pure and wonderful, and can evolve the practitioner to high levels, one should use a martial art like Karate to enter the fight, then apply aikido.

Think about it this way, distance collapses in a fight. The circle being made by foot and arm the lever of the extend arm is too long and unwieldy. However, if you use karate to work your way to the inside of the fight, you will find a shorter lever.

Instead of stepping in and trying to make a three foot arm circle into a wrist lock, try a middle block, slide in and begin turning. As you turn, bring the arms up to catch the elbow, shove your shoulder in and go with the flow. Go ahead, try this technical adaptation, even gaze at a little youtube to get the idea of the geometries involved, and you are going to find an instant blend of karate, even the hardest of karate, like Kyukoshinkai, with even the purest forms of Aikido, even the soft form espoused by Morihei Uyeshiba.

Now, the above being detailed, the big weakness of Karate is that it is limited, in most modern formats, to destruction. It has been tailored for tournament, gloves put on for more violence, and given over to fighting for fighting sake. But while there is an art to destruction, the true art is in control.

Thus, a study of Aikido, with the advices I give you here, will enable you to confront the fiercest violence, and transmogrify that violence into the most magical and wondrous of techniques. You kick, you punch, maybe soften the fellow up, then you simply embrace the arms and learn how to go with the flow.

A last word about all this, don’t mistake the throws of Aikido for the throws of judo or jujitsu. While techniques of the ju variety are quick and workable, we want to move from hard to soft complete, and a certain amount of hard is still needed to make most ju techniques work. That all said, I wish you the best with your new art, whether you call it…karido…aikate…your choice.

Al Case has researched Karate and Aikido, and other arts, for 4O+ years. A writer for the magazines, with his own column, since’81, Al is the originator of Matrixing. You can learn more about combining arts, and Matrixing, by getting his free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

One of the biggest mysteries come out of the eastern arts is internal energy. Wudan arts, like Pa Kua Chang and Tai Chi Chuan and Hsing i claim it. Supposedly it takes lifetimes to create this thing called internal energy, but when you get it you can defeat attackers with just a sigh and a wave of the palm.

Atually, the fact is is that internal energy is in many arts, and if it is not, it can be invested into any martial art easily. The principles of internal energy, you see, are very simple and logical, though they take a certain amount of patience. So if you study kenpo or tae kwon do, or even boxing, then get set to step up to the next level, this article is going to give you a hand up.

First, you have to have phenomenal basics, not just good, but phenomenal. What this means is that you must drop your weight when striking or blocking, and do so with such awareness that you actually create a beam of energy down your leg. You must align the parts of your body so that they form an unbroken line of intention, but are relaxed, very important that they are relaxed, because intention and energy will flow easier through a body that is relaxed.

Now, you must make sure that you move the parts of your body in a harmonious fashion. Everything starts at the same time, and everything stops at the same time, this is called Coordinated Body Motion. Analyze your body so that all of the pieces are moving in harmony when it swings into alignment.

Now, you’ve got basics, and here comes the internal energy. Fill a pipe half with sand and cap it. Move that pipe in such a way that when you stop it all the sand strikes the inside of the pipe at the same time.

This is what internal energy is and does. It is energy swirled on the inside of your body in such a way that it hits the inside of the block, or strike, or foot, or whatever, at the same time. We used to develop this type of energy in karate all the time, but we didn’t call it internal because it didn’t have any undue significance, it was just the way you moved.

One thing that helps is if you move slowly, creating an awareness of the motion of energy inside your body. And, to be truthful, the internal Wudan martial arts have arranged their forms so that this movement of chi is easier to detect and make grow. But you can feel it in Karate, or tae kwon do, or any combative method you happen to study, if you have patience and are willing to become aware.

The real key is that this method, and, to be truthful, all methods, rely on awareness. It is an idea that moves awareness, and the path of this awareness can be called Chi, or Ki, or Prana, or pneuma, or intention. Now, the real question here is whether you can take the time to invest your movements with chi, or intention, or whatever you want to call it, do you have the patience and the awareness to make something significant out of your martial art.

Al Case has examined martial arts for over 40 plus years. This includes TCC, PKC, Aikido, Shaolin, etc. He is a writer for the magazines, and the inventor of Matrixing Technology and Neutronics. You can find out more about Internal Energy, and get a free ebook at Monster Martial Arts

When you learn the truth of Karate kumite, there are certain truths about how to fight. One of the truths is that the mind shuts down during combat, and survival mode kicks in. Adrenalin junkies would have you believe this is good, but it is not, it is the worst thing that could happen.

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

One must control the distance in a fight, by controlling distance we have choice as to what weapon we choose to use. The way to do this is to tie a string from your belt to his, and practice moving so that the string stays taut without breaking. Now, move in this fashion, and within a short time your body will move with the other persons body because it likes the fact of harmony.

We must control the fact of the leg movements. The best leg positioning is when the legs are in a matching stance, which is to say his right leg is forward and so is yours, the second best position is when you are in an opposing stance, 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 striving to always stay in a matching stance.

Third, we must control the movement of the arms, again, in a matching or opposing mode. No string needed here, but you do have to be aware of distance, you have to match your partners arms as he comes in. The way to do this is merely to assume a matching stance and practice matching your arm motions to his.

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

Reaction time is one of the biggest and baddest, if not the biggest and baddest, scams ever foisted upon human beings. The idea that you must wait for somebody else to move before taking action is a trick of a blinded mind, and will get you killed. The whole concept, and I dont care if you are a practitioner of Hung Gar or Wing Chun or Shotokan or whatever, is designed to make you a victim.

Now, the problem is that this concept of reaction time has become common to all arts, and basically corrupted those arts. One of the reasons is that the martial arts have been designed for children, and children dont have enough sense of themselves to deal with reaction time except in the most victim manner. Thus, you have to avoid classes taught for, or evolved for, or designed for, children.

Another problem is that the mixed martial arts phenomena that is currently the wow in society has driven people to training methods that utilize nothing but muscle and brawn. How strong are you, how fast are you, and not how can you harmonize with your opponent. Again, the method creates victims of time, moving after somebody else has moved, and it does not create people who move in The Now.

For example, watch one of the latest UFC bashes, the fighters miss as much as they connect, yet the time involved should be faster than somebody can move their heads. The reason this is happening is because people are moving in response to action, and not in concert with it. Or, and this is really worse, they are moving without having any real idea of where they are moving, striking out blindly and hoping to win the lottery.

On the other end of the scale are fighters who dont miss much, who are aware in the middle of combat, and come out of the fray unscathed and yet with a knock out to their credit. Watch the last fight with Anderson Silva Silva, the one against Forrest Griffin. Anderson seems lazy as he exists at the edge of Forrests punches, and yet he is never touched, and instead loops a lazy, little punch in that knocks Forrest into the middle of next week.

But Forrest was already in the middle of next week! Forrest, you see was trying to hit a head without knowing where it was, which is obvious if you analyze the trajectory of his punches. Forrest was not capable of being in The Now, or of predicting in any fashion where Andersons head would be.

So here is the question that I have been getting up to, if a person is in reaction time, punching because of and not in concert with the action, where is he? The truth is that it doesnt matter where he is, what matters is that he is victim to the trap of reaction time. He is not in charge of the fight, he is living some other time, he is living in the past, he is victim to reaction time.

Well, it should be fair obvious that the world has gone crazy, and we all knew that, but we can uncrazy it by undoing this trap called reaction time. Simply, you must seek out training drills where you move in concert with your opponent, and because he moved. Whether you study Choy Lee Fut, Kenpo, Krav Maga, or whatever, you must research what reaction time is, admit when you have it, and remove it from your life.

Al Case, 4O years martial arts, hundreds of articles for the mags and his own column, has designed methods which will undo reaction time and de-corrupt entire martial arts. You can take advantage of his free report at Monster Martial Arts, and you can see him moving without reaction time at Blinding Steel.

The subject of Martial Arts is one of the foremost gifts of Asia to the world. Who will forget Bruce Lee and the fact that he was first and principally a martial arts competitor before being a motion picture star? Martial arts pictures are a huge hit with the escalating popularity of Asian movies like ‘Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon’ and more recently ‘The House of the Flying Daggers’.

The Chinese are the first nation that come to mind when it you think of such things, but the Japanese are just as sporty with a rich heritage of body contact sports in their past. Modern Japan still gives honor to the martial arts by holding tournaments and promoting their martial arts abroad,

One of these is Aikido. It is important to realize that the word comes from three Japanese characters from which one derives the meaning of the one word. Ai signifies ‘joining’, Ki signifies ’spirit’ and Do means ‘way’. From this we can understand why Aikido lies beyond only the physical skills of it students, especially since its first proponent, Ueshiba, focused on the spiritual and philosophical improvement of his students.

In Aikido, one is not taught aggression instead, one is trained to be in harmony with the adversary so that you are able to defeat him more easily. This might seem strange but it really works. In approaching an opponent, the aim of the Aikido practitioner is to be one with the opponent so as to be able to attack him where he is weakest and in so doing, divert or put him out of action, but never to kill him.

This is where Aikido becomes an art form. Art is something delightful to look at and something constructive and Aikido is all that. At least one of the contestants involved in the combat is searching for concord and concord can only be achieved if there is grace in the actions. The moves may be premeditated, but there is an air of finesse in carrying out these movements. Not a feminine grace, but a grace that emanates peace. The ‘art of peace’ is what they call it in Aikido and it is one of the most affirmative influences of Aikido on its students and to everyone else who decides to find out about this Japanese martial art.

Some of the techniques in Aikido embrace the following.

Ikkyo is the first technique. Using this technique, you manipulate an adversary by using one hand to hold his elbow and one to hold near the wrist. This action is supposed to allow you to pin your opponent down to the ground.

Nikyo, the second technique, is when you perform a wrist lock that allows you to turn the arm of your opponent which will in turn cause nerve pressure.

Sankyo, the third technique, is a technique that creates upward-spiraling tension throughout the arm, elbow and shoulder. There are many other techniques but the first three are enough to give you a basic insight.

In studying Aikido, it is important to remember that, together with building physical strength, you will need to develop your mind to be able to overpower your opponent. Just like in any art form, it takes a great deal of training and discipline to reach the summit of the art of Aikido. The important thing to remember is, that anyone who wants to get into the art, should have the willpower to give honor to the art by performing it in the best way possible.

If you are interested in the fairly modern Japanese Martial Art of Aikido, please click a link to visit our website at http://aikido.the-real-way.com

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The martial arts are often held up as a rite of passage. Rite of passage is a common concept amongst societies of a tribal nature. But, the current society doesn’t really need rites of passage, rather, it needs a logical approach to make the martial arts easier to learn and more effective.

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 thinking process, and, unfortunately one of them is unknown. The three stages are CBM, which means Coordinated Body Motion, matrixing, and mushin no shin, which I shall explain. Of the three, nobody even knows that matrixing exists.

CBM, Coordinated Body Motion, is when the body is used as one unit. This means that all parts of the body move at the same time. Mystical in the past, one need merely judge the mass and range 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 matrixing graphs 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, and open up a universe that I did not know existed. Well, you know ten times what I did before I began matrixing, so give it a try, and let me know of your success…and there will be successes.

Al Case has practiced 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.

To watch the Mixed Martial Arts fighters there is only one way to take an opponent down, and that is by rushing in low, grabbing the legs, and dumping them. Yes, this is the time honored way of doing things, but there are other ways. Truth, if you are fighting Joe Blow on the street, who has not concentrated on learning the attack and defense of that particular maneuver, there are lots of different ways of taking people down.

Actually, there are too many ways to list, and they are combat ready for the street. We can, however,organize the takedowns, as I have done in my Forty Monkeys Course, but there is an even easier and simpler way to take a person down. This is the method of inserting intention into the person’s space.

When you take a person down you need to circle a joint. Circling a joint requires leverage, just as a steersman would turn a Captains Wheel. Thus, one must enter the space of the opponent and find the levers extending from the wheel that he might effectively turn the opponent–upside down.

There are only a couple of spokes on the human body. They are the head, the arms, and the legs. Thus, to turn the body one must insert their arms past the spokes.

Insert an arm over the opponents shoulder, press forcefully against his neck as you lift his arm, and you will find he will flip to the ground quite easily. Of course you must make sure that the opponent doesn’t twist out of the hold, and this means you are going to have to be ready and quick to counter any of his counter motions. The main thing is to realize that smacking an elbow into a cheek, or pressing fingers in the neck, is going to make the person move in a manner that can actually feed the technique.

Insert an arm under the opponents arm and you will find a chance to create a sort of a wrong angle armlock. Or, you might bend the arm the other way, and find a figure four armlock, or a chicken wing, which threatens to wrench the whole thing off at the shoulder, or to snap the arm off at the elbow. If the opponent doesn’t want to go along, you can do a shock and lock to him by digging a hard elbow point into his torso.

You can go between the legs, on the wrong side of the head, anywhere. Your arm will be a lever, and a little twisting will manipulate the nearest joint in ways he certainly won’t like. The idea, of course, is to project your intention along with your arm.

To extend your intention is the key to making this work. Intention is desire is will is chi is ki is…your wish made concrete. Once one understands this concept all sorts of secondary takedowns, locks, and throws become second nature.

Al Case has been throwing people for forty ++ years. You can get his free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

The martial arts, if you want to be really honest, were developed in third world countries. Of course, a few centuries ago, let alone a millennia or two, every country was a third world country. The unfortunate truth this fact of reasoning leads to, however, is that the martial arts are taught using old, ancient and outdated methods.

The budding student is told to practice the horse stance if he wants to make it. He is given forms with horse stances in them. And, after a few years or a decade or two, he becomes able to grip the ground pert good.

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

And, if he has trouble, give him more data and create more understanding. Show him how to twist the legs so that he can make energy reach the ground. Show him how to push the legs so so that he can make energy come 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 is that mysticism is nothing more than made up reasons for things you don’t understand. Mysticism is based on mystery. And the methods of the ancients, transfigured through well meaning instructors, are based on what they didn’t understand.

Oh, people can still understand the teachings of the martial arts, sort of, and in a manner of speaking. But it takes a lifetime or four or five. It takes lifetimes, but if the student doesn’t have the ability to see beneath the tricks of language, he is going to pass on the same old tricks that enlighten a few of the fortunate, and befuddle the masses that aren’t so fortunate.

So, new methods are needed. Real understanding is the goal if you are going to master the martial arts, and move on through the mystical realms described by the ancients. Sup to you, can you 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.

That is probably the number one reason most people get into the martial arts. Everybody has had that bully in their background. Everybody would like to feel bigger, stronger, free from the threat of violence.

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 than fighting, however, then you must look to the martial arts. You must believe that the world isn’t just a struggle for survival, but that there is a point to it all. You must believe in yourself as a human being, and that you can actually ascend to higher levels of awareness.

The first step is to build a structure for containing the knowledge of the martial arts. This is why you should explore forms; this is something that boxing does not teach. This is the mechanism which will elevate you as a human being.

Second, you must achieve discipline in your life. I don’t mean the discipline where you get a belt on the bottom as punishment for doing wrong. I mean the discipline of doing something every day for the simple reason that you love doing it.

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 the human spirit. It is your awareness filtered through the layers of your logic and spread across the heavens for all to see. Life can be heaven, you know, but only if you can isolate the art within your soul and allow it to shine.

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