World Of Swords

Taekwondo Kick Harder than your attacker by doing these seven simple tricks. Most Taekwondo students you see, whether they are doing karate kicks,or kung fu kicks, don't really understand the physics necessary to execute a proper leg kick. These unfortunate martial arts students are told to kick air, or kick a bag, and that's not much of a Taekwondo lesson.

First, you must lift the knee when you execute a Kung Fu kick. This makes sure that the foot travels into the attacker's body on a straight line, and doesn't arc up or slide. It's like smacking a spike with a mallet, you have to make sure the force travels straight into the spike.

Second, you must tilt the hips slightly. You don't have to tilt them much, but they have to tilt enough so that there is a line through them to the tan tien. This insures that the whole weight of the body is transmitted into the karate kick.

Third easy tip is that you must turn the hips slightly, making sure that the body turns into the kick. This makes your Taekwondo kick harder, and also gives a bit of extension to the leg. If you don't turn the hips you might find your space a little crammed, and your kicks might even be negated.

Fourth you must turn the support foot to the proper angle. This can be a small turn or a large, but it must be done so that the whole body moves as one unit. Very important, when doing a karate kick or a taekwondo kick, that you do this, as using the body as one unit releases more intention into the kick.

Fifth you must sink your weight down the support leg and into the ground. Sinking your weight while doing a hard kick will firmly attach you to the ground. The body, after all, is nothing but a motor, and an efficient motor must be bolted down.

Sixth, you must bend the support leg while you sink the weight. People who straighten up the support leg are exploding energy out the support leg, which is the opposite direct energy should take. Energy should be going the other way, sending a 'tractor beam' down the leg to grip the ground and make the body solid and stable.

Seventh and last Kung Fu training tip, relax the upper body; relax all parts of the body except the foot itself. People get obsessed with the feeling of rigid energy, but this is a tremendous waste of energy. If one wants to do a Kung Fu kick harder, or a good karate kick or taekwondo kick, they must learn how to use not just the body, but the energy in the body, and energy travels easiest through that which is relaxed.

Taekwondo Kick Harder! Keep 'em back and knock 'em down with good, Hard Kicks! Click to Monster Martial Arts and find out about a free kicking DVD.

Karate chop him, screamed the girl, and I had to chuckle. This was a flick where neither the actor, the writer, the director knew the martial arts. See, people used to think that a karate chop to the neck would kill people in their tracks.

When I first began studying Chinese Kenpo Karate I was told that a spear hand to the solar plexus or the neck was the deadliest martial arts attack on earth. Just stick those stiff fingers in the soft areas and watch 'em die. This was better than a karate chop, but only by a little.

Then I heard about the Dim Muk, or what is commonly called The Death Touch. You touch a person on a special spot somewhere on their body and they drop dead. Of course, it would take twenty years to master the Chi Power, learn all the pressure points and times they were vulnerable, and by that time I'd be ancient and too slow to do such a thing.

One evening a student was walking past my Karate instructor holding a square of thin particle board. He suddenly grinned and held the board up to my instructor. Break this, he put forth in a mocking challenge.

My instructor's name was Bob Babich, and he was a short, thin fellow. Given the target, he dropped his weight, twisted his hips, and snapped a single finger out. A single finger, and when he withdrew it, there was a nice, neat, little hole in the particle board.

Many people think I am telling tales when I repeat this story, but the fact is that the single finger trick could be done by no less than fifty people on the Island of Taiwan back in the fifties. Many of the kung Fu masters from across China had gone to that little country to escape communism, and they were able to do things. Unfortunately, there were not enough students, the gene pool was not as large as China, after all, and the single finger trick has pretty well disappeared.

Interestingly, one of the fellows who nibbled at the single finger trick was Bruce Lee. He could stick a finger in a soda (beer) can and leave a hole, and this was back in the day when cans were made of real metal and not this cheap aluminum stuff. This was good, and one wonders whether he would have mastered the single finger trick if he had lived longer.

At any rate, when students ask me what the deadliest karate trick is I tell them about the single finger. It is not a story, it is the result of real and dedicated training in the martial arts, and that includes karate, kung fu, or any other legitimate martial art that has stood the test of time. And, as for the karate chop, that is a good karate technique, but it is only the first step.

Before you learn the one finger trick you have to learn The Secrets of The Punch. Mouse to Monster Martial Arts for that.

The Bubishi Martial Arts Manual, the one having to do with White Crane and Monk's fist Boxing kung fu, was compiled sometime over the last few hundred years in Fuzhou Province. Fuzhou province (Fukien) is where Shaolin Kung Fu was practiced, and which kung fu became the inspiration for Naha-te, which martial art became Karate. There is no doubt that it is one of the most influential martial arts manuals in recorded history, and indisputably the bible of All Karate.

The Bubishi is actually a lengthy work of art, jam packed with poems, anatomical drawings, and so on. In writing this article I decided to concentrate on the eight phrases which were pivotal to the inspiration of such arts as Goju Ryu Karate and Uechi Ryu Karate. The meaning of these phrases, which are named Kempo Hakku (Eight Rules of the Fist), can be found by examining them through the Science of Matrixing

The beginning phrase is, 'the mind exists as one with heaven and earth.' This is a realization that the universe is dichotomous, that there is the realm of the spirit and there is the realm of material universe. This means that the universe is nothing more than a machine built between the two terminals of spirit and matter.

The next phrase is, 'the circulatory rhythm of the body is like the cycle of the sun and the moon.' A smaller example of the universe, the body is a minor universe. This means that, the same as the larger universe, the smaller universe of the body is a machine.

The next phrase is, 'the method of inhaling and exhaling is simultaneously hard and soft.' Breath out when the body grows larger, breath in when it grows smaller. Always keep the belly slightly tight and ready.

The next phrase is, 'act relative to time and change.' This means that when the universe changes, you must change with it. One will find that the universe actually mirrors the intentions of the person, and gives one feedback on the deepest levels as to his personality and worth.

The fifth line is, 'techniques will occur in the absence of conscious thought.' This is an advice to practice your techniques until they become intuitive. On a deeper level, through the practice of the martial arts (Karate) a person will, in the end, find themselves incapable of hiding in their mind.

The next phrase is, 'the feet must advance and retreat, part and meet.' This looks like a principle of fighting strategy. But if one learns how to control distance they can control the combat, and ultimately they will be able to harmonize with an opponent.

The next phrase is, 'the eyes miss not even the slightest change.' One should use the martial arts as a tool to grow their awareness. The superior human being does not let his awareness so much as blink.

The last phrase is, 'the ears listen in all directions.' One must travel beyond the need for physical senses. Find out who you are, for the spiritual being is far beyond the physical.

The Bubishi is truly a Bible of Karate. To understand this work of art, one should take the Master Instructor Course. Head to Monster Martial Arts for this Martial Arts DVD course.