The ability to express and control Yi (Intent) within the body is the single most important skill that needs to be mastered for any practitioners wanting to train their art internally.

The Internal Arts themselves can be categorised as either Hard or Soft. By expressing Soft we are not only referring to a state of higher relaxation, but also to increased power over an opponent.

Traditionally, the specific methods of training was normally only reserved for the closest and most trusted students, as a result the information though widespread is still not common knowledge.

It has to be stated that although we cannot measure levels of internal power in the conventional way but just like external power, it still registered as physical by the other person.

By using the power of intent we are able to involve groups of muscles that otherwise would not be utilised. Also strategically changing and re-directing focal points of power that are delivered, enables us to deliver more exerted power when compared to brute force alone.

The reason why there is a mystical attachment to this type of training is due to the fact that we are dealing with the power of the mind and as such the expressions are not tangible. Without focussing the mind we would not be able to create Intent.

However, there are limitations in its use, for example we cannot use this method to increase our speed. Nor can we increase our ability to lift inanimate objects that are not exerting power against us as there would be nothing to manipulate our intent against. In order to express Soft power, it must interact with a live person.

In Kung Fu exhibitions we sometimes have Soft power demonstrations where we see the elderly master uprooting a younger individual of a larger stature with seemingly little effort.

In order to develop Internal power we must first train the movements at full power or at full tension. That means the moment we switch over into the Soft state, we not only have to be more relaxed but there must not be any loss in the power being delivered.

We normally understand body strength as a combination of structural alignments of our lower and upper body along with focused intent. At the first stage of internal awareness, for example if we are applying force on someone then we need to focus the intent of the mind on the pushing action, but instead of focussing power only at the point of contact, we maintain forward momentum but also deliver/exert power through the wrists, elbows, shoulders, and hips.

Then finally when we are able to relax and send these separate force vectors into a flow of co-ordinated power/energy using conscious intent, we now have the beginnings of Internal Power.

What is a martial art?A martial art can be defined as any skill that can be applied in warfare. The word martial means “military.” So traditionally, a martial art is a military art. The first things that usually come to mind when discussing modern martial arts are leaping, kicking, punching, blocking, inverting elbows, twisting necks, throwing, and weapon fighting. But also horsemanship, javelin throwing, archery, spear fighting, halberd fighting, wrestling, knife fighting, rifle, shotgun and pistol shooting, demolitions, logistics, and battle strategy can all be described as the field of martial arts. Anything that a soldier might do in battle is a martial art.By martial art usually it is meant aikido, arnis, boxing, capoeria, chow gar, choy la fut, hapkido, hsing’i, hun gar, jeet kune do, jow gar, judo, jujitsu, karate, kempo, kick boxing, krav maga, kung fu, pa kua, penjak silat, praying mantis, savate, shaolin, tae kwon do, tai chi, white crane, wing chun, wu shu and more! As you can see the list is quite long and it is actually quite amazing how many martial arts systems there are and how many methods of self defense can be formulated.Often within a martial arts school it is taught that ‘this particular system is the best system and it was created to beat all the others’. Of course every martial artist would have the viewpoint their style is the best because that is the style they have chosen to do, but in reality what they are saying is ‘this is the best style for me as it suits my temperment and I like the teaching environment’.The changing of the artsThroughout this history and development of the martial arts and all the combat systems of man our training tools have played a vital part in evolving and perfecting these systems and techniques.All the martial arts have been effected by the role that mechanical devices play whether it be weapons, dojo mats, breaking boards or even the uniforms we wear – all these paraphanialia indentify the martial arts into their systems and style.The main players in shaping our new martial arts would be the traditional wooden dummy, wing chun rings, iron palm ointments and even the system of using forms and karta have developed the martial arts into their current form.Even today modern training tools are common and again the martial arts are under development with new training products such as the Wavemaster, the BOB training dummy, the Focus Master. All with one thing in common, to create a well rounded combat system.Ideally a martial arts solo training tool should be workable for all and based on sound theory and through constant practice develop into sound physical application. The ideology and theory would have to take into account all the history of the combat technology of man and give this competition and street application.The Martialarm Combat Training PartnerIn a martial arts career you can occationally find your self with no school to go to or no one to train with and so out of neccessity the martialarm solo training partner was born. The Martialarm is a Martial Arts training machine used to develop the entry and trapping skills of any martial arts system. It is designed to actually test any techniques so to improve the ability to trap and control your opponents hands and arms. This can be done because the Martialarm moves and reacts like a real opponent. The Martialarm moves and twists up, down, left and right just like a real opponent would – so it can spring forward and it does strike back!.The Martialarm Combat Training Partner was designed and developed on the following theoriesMartialarm Theory#1) Safety – You must maintain 100% safety when entering into the opponents attack range, this means to limit any variables that could occur by covering them. (Methods of entry must be sophisticated yet simple, fast as well as safe!)#2) Attack – You must have the ability to attack at will, with no concern or hesitation. The attack should incorporate a total control of the opponents weapons. (Attacks must be structured to have within them a 100% defense!)#3) Adaptability – Techniques, attacks and defenses must flow but not necessarily at a constant pace. Adaptability to choose what’s next is key!Whatever martial arts you choose just be sure you do look at a few before you decide and enqire with the school what martial arts equipment they utilize to get the best from your training.

In order to learn Wing Chun, it is important to understand the history behind it. There are many versions of how Wing Chun came into being. Some say it was started by Ng Mui, a Buddhist nun who developed it over 300 years ago in southern China and named it after her student, Yim Wing Chun. While others believe it was started by a Shoalin monk in the early to mid 1700s.
Wing Chun was almost unheard of anywhere else but China until 1950 when Grandmaster Yip Man began teaching in Hong Kong and his students grew in number. One on these students was the late Bruce Lee who became a master of the form and used Wing Chun as the basis for Jeet Kune Do or the Way of the Intercepting Fist, the style of martial arts he used in his ever popular movies. I can still remember being enthralled by “Fists of Fury” and “Enter the Dragon” with Bruce Lee using amazing skills of balance, graceful and agile movements and lightening fast strikes. His movies captivated a whole generation and encouraged many to study a martial art in one form or another.
I believe many women learn Wing Chun because of its simple form, relying on position, the use of energy and angles rather than size and power. With short explosive blows by the hand and very low kicks, people of small stature find learning Wing Chun a remarkable form of self-defense. You can be effective without any massive strength at all. You actually learn to use your attacker’s strength against them. When you learn Wing Chun, you will gain better balance and speed, you will learn about how to position your body and how to refine your movements to their best advantage, mostly getting in close to your attacker. In Wing Chun the principal of the closest point between two points is a straight line holds true. Wing Chun is generally used for defence rather than attack and when first developed strikes were meant to be fatal and pointed at areas such as the throat, eyes and stomach. Many countries have their elite military personal learn Wing Chun, not only for self-defense but also for the quiet execution of the movements in arm to arm combat.
It does not take long to learn Wing Chun, in fact it is quicker than most other forms and you can learn to defend yourself in a fairly shot period of time, but true of all martial arts you can practice it for the rest of your life. When you learn wing Chun you also gain health benefits as the meditative side of Wing Chun is a great stress reliever as Wing Chun is also about using your mind, learning to control impulses, relax into the movement and sense your balance, strength and power. As your fitness levels improve so to does your overall health.
Whether you learn Wing Chun for self-defense, sport or simply as an exercise and meditation tool it will be a valuable asset for the rest of your life.

The danger today – You!

When the World Turns VIOLENT! I bet you run.

What to do if someone wants to fight you!

Help me, Im fat, lazy and afraid of a bully.

The enemy may be next door – afraid to look?

Can you even throw a punch?

Are you martially in danger?

All titles to bring on that chilling fear inside and solicit a response – so read on..

ITS DANGEROUS OUT THERE

Its dangerous out there and especially for you..

The enemy may be next door and you dont know it but you got to have the guts too look. What can you really do once you see some violence or get scared or worse because you receive a bashing or king hit – do you hide in your room?

Were are you on the scared meter of life? Are you out there amongst it or a bit of a shy body or house mummys boy?

You know that given a situation to be a hero and stop a crime, terrorism or violence you’ll be able to step up or chase after them etc – or maybe you’ll cower or be the victim.

TV today scares the shiit out of many people as it promotes violence and turns the meek yellow and nervous.

The danger today is maybe not too obvious to you but you better hone your sensors or youll get hit without seeing it coming.

PHYSICAL COMPETANCE

Have you ever seen raw assault or someone getting ‘owned’? Just search google for “martial street fights” – “martial owned” Watch those movies and cringe!!!

http://www.google.com/search?q=martial+owned

http://www.google.com/search?q=martial+street+fights

Kung Fu, Boxing, dancing, balley, incompetance? What will you present to your attacker?

Today we are lazy, probably fat too.. Go look in the mirror and skip for ten minutes, then check your image again and what do you see?

Can you throw a punch or even stand steady on one leg? can you do a round-house or even give a kick to the knee? Ever heard of a combination?

I can judge I am probably half the strength and endurance form 10 years ago, how about you?

MARTIAL KNOWLEDGE

a martial art is defined as – 1 : of, relating to, or suited for war or a warrior 2 : relating to an army or to military life 3 : experienced in or inclined to war : WARLIKE

http://www.martialarm.com/information/martial-arts-definition.html

a martial art is defined as: various forms of self-defense, usually weaponless, based on techniques developed in ancient China, India, and Tibet.

http://www.martialarm.com/information/martial-arts-definition.html

Do you even know the diffference between kung fu and karate? Do you think wing chun is a chinese dish?

The different styles can even be related to shapes or geometry – squares, triangles and circles.

Because karate, judo, kung fu, and tae kwon do have been more prominent than other forms in popular culture, from film to sporting events, many people mistakenly believe that all martial arts are Asian in origin. In fact, diverse cultures throughout history from Europe, Africa, the Americas, and the Middle East have also given birth to their own martial art forms.

Or a combination of triangles with small circles as can be seen in chinese trapping, wrist locks or Aikido entry and endings.

Despite the array of martial arts and styles, most of them share common techniques, and so they can be organized into broad categories that facilitate understanding. The primary way of classifying martial arts is by the basic physical technique they use: striking or grappling.

If you’ve never studied a martial art, your awareness of them most likely starts at Bruce Lee movies and ends with the stylized theatrics of The Matrix. If that’s the case, you may not realize from what you’ve gleaned onscreen that there are an estimated 200 unique kinds of martial arts, and within these, thousands of different styles. Karate, judo, kung fu, and tae kwon do are among the most popular and well-known of the martial arts in the U.S., but there are numerous others.

MARTIAL TRAINING TO LIVE

Training is hard..really hard. The most hard is to get started and its down-hill easy from there. What you need is a martial arts machine – something new and exciting to get you off your fat ass.

Search for it – martial arts machine – http://www.google.com/search?q=martial+arts+machine

Whats important now is to do something, start with brief excercise, get into stretching, shadow box, then step up and train hard.

Or find a martial arts school in your area – http://www.google.com/search?q=martialarm+schools+directory

GO to the local phone book and look up kung fu or karate. Then give them a call, go along or take your kid.

Everyone knows someone who knows how to fight – with fists, knives, weapons, guns, tactical, sensless, whatever but START!

CONCLUSION IS ACTION

Life is not scarey but maybe your lack of skill, self confidence and personal competance is making you scared.

Be pro-active and look, then choose and participate in action whether alone with a martial arts training machine or go to a dojo.

If you are not liking what you see in the mirror, afraid to go down a dark street, scared of a potential confrontation then train now.

Be pro-active and look, then choose and participate in action whether alone with a martial arts training machine or go to a dojo.

Life is not scarey but maybe your lack of skill, self confidence and personal competance is making you afraid.

We cant all be Bruce Lee but you also dont want to be an emotional and physical punching bag do you?

There was a time when the karate man was looked upon with respect and feared. A time when, if someone said they were a black belt, it caused others to be impressed. You can say that karate has become outdated. But what has really happened is that karate has become exposed. There has been an interesting development in the martial arts in the late 20th Century and into the 21st. Martial arts have evolved and become much more true to life than ever.

If you are one of those people who like to question things then maybe this thought has gone through your mind. Why are there so many different martial arts systems in the world. We all have two arms and two legs don’t we? So why all the different systems of self defense? I know that systems were usually born out of a need such as one group of people having to fight another group who were better armed. So they developed systems to fight those men who used certain weapons a certain way. Unfortunately these men thought their system more effectual than they should.

So let’s look at what we have in the world without going into a deep history lesson. You basically have karate and ju-jitsu from Okinawa and Japan. You have a multitude of kung fu systems from China. You have Tae Kwon Do and a few others like Tang Soo Do from Korea; boxing and wrestling from Europe of course. Of these there is every variation under the sun. You name it and someone has tried to develop it into a fighting system. But what do we really have. The fact is that all we really have is three men out there. It all boils down to THREE. You have boxers or people who fight predominantly with their hands, kickers who like to use kicks as their main weapon and grapplers who like to take people to the ground and finish them there. That’s really it. Just those three. Now there are people who are good at one, two or even three of those methods. Those guys are now known as mixed martial artists.

Someone once asked, what is truth? I think we can ask that same question here. I mean how can the average guy deal with someone who is skilled in one or even three of the main fighting methods? You know, the grappler who can kick and box. If the guy is good at all three methods then do I have to be good at all three methods, too? Do I have to fight in the same manner? I know karate won’t do the job. Definitely Tae Kwon Do will not do. How about adding a self defense class or two. Will that help? I don’t think so. What about kung fu and all the various animal styles? No. You can pretend to be an animal but that won’t beat the skilled boxer, kicker, grappler. So how do we deal with this guy. It can’t be using his own methods. You can’t box a boxer and expect to win if he’s really good at what he does. Let’s just assume this guy is a really good mixed martial artist who happens to be a thug and wants to rob and maybe even kill you. What’s the answer if you don’t have a weapon at hand?

The answer is elementory yet intricate. In order to effectively deal with a skilled thug you must first put away all your preconceived ideas about what real combat is. Forget the ring. Forget what you see on TV. How can an older man; say middle-aged, defend against a group of younger, stronger and faster opponents. It will not be by speed and power. If he is to win; and he must, he has to do something all together different. Yes the older man is a master of self-defense. But his system is highly evolved. He relies on a core group of concepts rather than techniques. Of course he uses proper technique but it is all grounded in his core principals. He also has the amazing ability to fight in a very apropos manner because he is guided by highly developed contact reflexes. In other words, if he is touched by an aggressor, the older man instantly knows all about him and deals with him in proper time with super preparatory application. That means he stops the first attack and all future attacks immediately. He also uses skeletal alignment to enhance his power. He is able to hit much harder than his younger counterparts who use muscle to deliver their blows. The skilled older man delivers his strikes with his bones which feels like being hit with the end of an iron rod.

The answer is to unite with the opponent’s energy. No struggling or resisting but moving according to “the now”. To be able to discharge a highly potent “motion martial art”. Not static or choppy, muscular movements but relaxed yet aligned motions that can deal with an attack as if it were just a crude language. Yes, the answer is to have a highly developed and fluent martial language as a complete and elaborate communication. Yes, self defense can be like this. The only martial art I know that achieves this elevated dexterity is Wing Chun.

If a person truly dedicates him or herself to only doing and developing a system that is fit for the 21st Century real world self defense, then he must use external defenses guided by internal faculty. A system that encompasses the most effective techniques a person can deliver with the most advanced internal concepts one can make manifest. Now I mentioned Wing Chun earlier but not every Wing Chun teacher has developed in this manner or to this level. It is rare to find people who have this high level skill. But they are out there.

If you really want to get involved with a martial art and want to find verity, then take a few steps back. Get back far enough away from what is traditionally known and taught. Take an honest look around and see if the martial art before you justifies itself intellectually. Ask the hard questions. Will it work against the boxer, kicker, grappler guy? Can it be done effortlessly? What makes the most sense? Study and do research before you join a school. I can tell you right now, forget karate and Tae Kwon Do unless you just want to do a sport. Don’t be too reverent with any martial art system. Be honest with yourself and hopefully you’ll find a good teacher.

What do you think of when the term “self-defense” is used? Most commonly, a woman associates self-defense with protecting oneself against violence by becoming more aware of one’s surroundings and learning to strike an attacker to get away. Because of the serious nature of self-defense, self-defense is not an activity that a woman would necessarily seek out to improve one’s health and fitness on a long-term basis or use as a stress-reliever. Instead, it is an activity that a woman commits to on a short-term basis such as a 2 to 4 – hour seminar or limited weekly sessions. In contrast, women may join yoga and pilates on a long-term basis. Both activities improve one’s core strength and flexibility and make women feel good about the positive changes in their bodies. Consider this – a self-defense system which increases a woman’s confidence to deal with “what comes at you” by incorporating core strength, flexibility, speed, and a strong body structure. This is done by training one’s reflexes through ReVat training It is a novel self-defense system which has its fundamentals from wing tsun kung-fu, and this system teaches a woman to learn how to use reflexes efficiently and successfully.

Research has shown that learning self-defense skills not only increases a woman’s ability to defend herself but also raises her confidence and self-esteem immediately after classes. In addition, effective self-defense training, similar to yoga and pilates, provides a woman with greater awareness of her body. She learns to utilize her core strength in creating power. She learns how to maintain balance as she coordinates her footwork while using her arms, elbows, and fists to defend and attack to disable her attacker.

In Wikipedia, a reflex is defined as “an involuntary and almost instant movement in response to stimulus.” Acquiring muscle memory for a reflex requires repetition of a motion over and over again until the body automatically responds in a certain way. Key to learning self-defense is the ability to act instinctively and to react immediately. In any situation, the time to react in an attack is less than two seconds. During those two seconds, the woman may freeze which wastes valuable time in getting away or she can defend and launch her own counterattack. To do this, the woman has to mentally commit to defending herself. A woman can learn many techniques but if the commitment is not there, the fight is already lost. Next the woman needs to have the physical training to get her reflexes responsive. However, what does it take to train one’s reflexes? How does training one’s reflexes benefit the woman in an attack situation? Below is one example of what we teach in our ReVat training to integrate the mind and body.

For women who have never participated in any self-defense training, there is usually a hesitation initially to punch an individual. One of the reasons is that women have been raised traditionally to be polite. To achieve the goal of teaching women to punch effectively and reduce their fear in punching, we use first use form training to show the proper positioning and structure of a punch as well as other arm movements. Form training in the beginning stages requires no movement of the legs so that the woman can concentrate on how to maximize a punch by learning proper placement of her arms in relationship to her body. The fist is in a vertical position as this position follows the natural line of the arm. Therefore, energy efficiently goes straight from the body through the arm through the fist and into the attacker.

Next we introduce the concept of chain punching. In chain punching, the fists are in a vertical position and the power of the punches come from the elbows. The right punch goes over the left wrist followed by the left punch over the right fist, and so on in rapid fashion. Therefore, every punch is immediately followed by another punch without hesitation. The person faces the opponent and each punch hits the opponent with equal force. We encourage women to practice this form of punching in the air to better understand the mechanics. With practice over time, women find that their bicep muscles become more toned and they become faster and bolder in getting effective punches out. Chain punching exercises are also integrated in other regular exercise routines as well, such as punching while doing squats or punching while doing sit-ups.

Finally, another component in the training of punches is that the women work with other male and female partners in various punching drills. These exercises teach women how to feel and understand different energies and speeds that come from different people of different heights and weights. These exercises are effective in reducing one’s reaction time to punches coming from another person. Thus, over time, the skill of punching becomes second nature to a woman and more importantly, is a skill that can be applied instantly, reflexively, and with assurance.

Want to learn more about Revat? http://www.TheRevatBook.com

Iron vest coaching is generally considered’closed door’ coaching at most kung fu faculties, meaning that is not typically taught to just anyone, but instead is held in reserve for sophisticated scholars who have proved themselves not only vis skill development but also apropos character development. Remember that in the olden days, a kung fu sifu ( teacher ) also wanted his students to be of good morals and values. Iron vest ( also occasionally called’iron shirt’ ), is a training system designed to give protection to the consultant from strikes that managed to get through his defenses. As anyone that studies a martial art knows, even if you’re awfully skilled in obstructing and dodging, you may still get hit from time to time. Iron vest protects you from these strikes. In truth, some people who practice this kind of training will do demonstrations where they permit themselves to be hit in the torso with a sledge hammer to show that they can take the enormous blow without being hurt. Iron vest is a mixture of internal and external exercises. The internal aspects involve special breathing and qigong routines, while the external aspects involve holding certain postures and stances and performing certain movements for a set amount of sets or reps. There will also generally be a portion of training that is composed of standing meditation, often at the end of the training session. at the start, iron vest will protect just the middle of the scholar’s torso from strikes. Over time, as he practices longer and develops more skill, the protected area will slowly begin to spread till almost the entire torso is resilient to strikes. It’s best to practice this type of coaching under the direction of a well informed kung fu master, as practicing incorrectly can most likely cause damage to the organs. Learn about Kung Fu, Bak Mei, Wing Chung family geneology (tree), top kung fu school.

Matrixing, to put your fevered mind to rest, is the analysis and handling of force and direction. Everything in the universe has a direction, and everything in the universe has lots of potentials for collision. Thus, the study of Matrixing becomes crucial if one is going to understand things like Shaolin kung fu. Now, to set this article up in the proper manner, let me say that the martial arts are taught through the memorizing of random strings of data. This is like somebody memorizing a dozen pieces on the piano, and thinking he is the next Mozart. Obviously, one has to break through the memorizing process and start finding the structure of his art, and how to arrange that art before he can lay claim to being a master artist. So, let us consider this thing called Shaolin. Shaolin has a few thousand years of history, and every master and his sister has made their contributions, and thus the logic of the art has become mixed and impenetrable. There is a vast variety of these strings of random data, you see, and there single arrangement of principles with which to make sense out of it. If one studies Shaolin kung fu like Choy Li Fut or Hung Gar, one thinks that the art is filled with deep horse stances, windmilling arms, and a mangling of concepts which pop out at you at the oddest times. One thinks that one must beat up students right up to the head abbot if he is going to find the sacred scroll, and one must meditate and beat his fists into heated iron pellets for a dozen years to get the real kung fu. The sad fact is that this is a small subset of concepts, and it does not penetrate the True Art in any meaningful fashion. If one studies Wing Chun, one thinks that he has to stand squarely, close the eyes, and absorb attacks with antennas called forearms. Three sequences of mystical data, a daunting wooden dummy to beat your arms, and never the idea that everything is just random strings of data, and not the True Art. Thus, Wing Chun is phenomenal, amazing, gives true ability, yet it just touches lightly upon the True Art. Then, of course, there is that insect called the Mantis, speaking of antenna arms, and circling motions that manipulate an opponent to his discomfort and destruction. But, if you look at it, it is almost like Hung Gar or Choy Li Fut and Wing Chun have been added together. Thus, the principles slosh and interchange and interbreed into fresh bastards, and the True Art is obscured in a dense fog of amazing ability and astounding art. This all said, Shaolin would be easy to matrix, and come to the truth of, as would Hung Gar or Choy Li Fut or Wing Chun. But I chose Karate to present the principle of Matrixing, and to expose the world to the concept of analysis and handling as a logic. Simply, the mountain was smaller, the history was shorter, the cloud of obscuring fog more transparent, and it could be defined. There is a true blessing in my selectio of karate as a matrixng vehicle, however, for if youmatrix karate, you can use that matrixing as a template for Shaolin. All you have to do is plug the pieces of Shaolin into Matrix Karate, and, voila, you have instant true art. Doesn’t matter how much fog, who cares how tall the mountain is, it can all be resolved into an easy to learn slices of True Art, and thus open the door to the whole of The True Art.