GrandMaster Art Mason's Martial Musing

Great news for everyone interested in further study of the pressure point system know as Kyusho Jitsu. My advanced study eBook is almost complete. I am expecting to start officially selling this eBook (pdf format) on August 15th, with a Spanish Edition to follow very soon after wards.

This book is intended for anyone who has completed the Novice programs, or is just interested in learning more! So what is cover in this eBook? Here are a few samples.

• Alarm Points
• Associated Alarm Points
• Advanced 24 Hour Cycle
• Advanced Cycle of Destruction
• Colour
• Sound
• Emotions
• Much, much more!

Yes this is really only the beginning, this volume is full of theories and methods to take your pressure point study to a new level. But here is the great news! From now until the release date you can pre-order your copy for ONLY $25!!! That is 50% off the regular price of $49.99! To pre-order simply hit the order button below. Once the eBook is compete you will be sent a link for download. The book will ship no later then August 15th 2010.

Order today and get this amazing eBook before anyone else does!

When I do Kyusho Course in my school, the novice session is 12 3 hour segments lasting a year in time. We meet once per month. My success rate with these groups getting to Black Belt is very high, but there is a reason for it. We follow certain laws that pertain to learning a new skill or any skill for that matter.

There are 4 major areas we will talk about.

1) Who to listen too. There are many people on the internet who are claiming high ranks and understanding of the art. How do you decide? Find someone who is doing the things with Kyusho you want to learn to do. That simple, but often overlooked.

2) Am I teachable? This is an important question to ask yourself. How badly on a scale of 1 to 10 do I want to learn this information and what I am will to do, change or give up to do it!

3) Technical Balance - There is a certain amount of technical skill needs to be balanced with the information processed from Kyusho Jitsu.

4) Putting it together. There are 4 knowledge states to be considered. Your goal is to the reach the forth. This takes time and much word to achieve.

a) Unconscious Incompetence- This is not knowing you don’t know something
b) Conscious Incompetence – This is know that you do not know
c) Conscious Competence – This is know that you know something
d) Unconscious Competence – This is doing something you know without thinking about it. This is the ultimate place to be in any martial art or skill.

If you apply this these skills to anything you are learning you will find great success in the field in question. Kyusho is a great example of this. If you would like to know more about learning Kyusho Jitsu visit on Kyusho Online Course Website

When you watch one of the great masters of old you can sense the calm in their every movement. It is a thing of beauty to behold. Has this calmness gone from today’s martial artist or is it just hidden beyond our line of site.

Training today in many martial arts has become more and more physical, and less and less spiritual. Today we train hard, stressing our bodies to unimagined levels of fitness. Yet we often neglect the mind and spirit. True martial arts is not only physical, it is also a conquest of the mind.  The body is first honed with training and repetition to develop skills that will respond within a seconds notice.  What we forget is we are using our mind to train the body, therefore we cannot neglect training the mind also.

When we train the mind, we are also honing our physical skills because they are all connected. We are not robots receiving pre programmed information. The mind must respond to the external circumstances and put our bodies in motion.  The best result will come from a centered and calm mind.

The training of the mind does not come from a focus target, nor does it come from hard physical practice.  The mind is trained by the Spirit that is who we really are.  Meditation is the only way to calm the mind, and truly prepare it to deal with the physical body and itself. The most important element that must be overcome for the martial artist is that of the ego. Overcome is really not the correct term either, transcend is much more accurate. When the ego is not in balance the martial artist depends on physical conditioning, age and speed. If the ego is in balance these factors do not matter. Technique becomes only movement with the outcome not being a consideration.

The next time you train try doing a 20 minute breathing meditation first. The difference in your abilities will be a pleasant surprise for you.

This screen capture illustration is squres within squares. The tiny square or box in the center represents someone new to martial arts training. In this case we will say a Yellow Belt. The blue square will represent the 1st Dan Black Belt and the gray square a 2nd Dan Black Belt. These squares represent the knowledge of the techniques at each level.

The white square with the red around it shows inside what the Yellow Belts understands about his or her training. At this point most motivational specialist will tell you that you need to think outside the box.  This can be very true, but thinking outside the box means taking what you know and understand and using it differently. That is not what we are talking about today.

If we look at the red square around the white square of the yellow belt, this area represents what the Yellow Belt does not know or understand, but can still see. He or she cannot see to the white outside the gray area, that is too far away in the learning cycle.  The red area represents this Yellow Belts ignorance, or what they currently do not know.

The 1st Dan’s blue box is much larger. He or she has started to accumulate a lot of techniques and knowledge.  The grey area to 2nd Dan represents the 1st Dan’s ignorance. Notice it is much, much larger than that or the Yellow Belt.  When the 1st Dan looks at this and understands how much they do not know, then they become open and humble enough to grow and realize more of the art they have dedicated themselves too.  The same then applies to the 2nd Dan, then the 3rd Dan and onward.

At 7th Dan my box of knowledge of the art is very large, but the area outside is much larger. I am fully aware of just how much more there is to learn and understand in the martial arts. I have the true joy of being ignorant of many things, but I am also willing to eliminate resistance (ego) and learn more.

Socrates once said ” Wisdom is understanding you know nothing.”

Today cross training has become an important element in the martial arts. I have done this myself with several arts. But now I want to offer a warning for those who are considering following this path.

First you need a solid, strong foundation in a root art. This is what I mean by Master of None. Often times as a teacher I will see someone come in and want to train for a few weeks to pickup something new to add to what they already have. Usually they have nothing because they spend too much time ‘art jumping’.

To evolve as a true martial artist you need roots. You can build by cross training once the foundation is set in stone. Otherwise you might know a lot of techniques, but application will not happen when it is needed.  Natural physical skills won’t help you either. Only understanding will. Martial Arts and Self Defense training are 90% mental and 10% physical.  Like meditation these skills take much time to develop.

My advice is to Master your root art, then look at expanding your knowledge with other things.  Especially when it comes to other styles that are very different in context. Some are complimentary which is fine, but others will actually cause you to regress.

Perseverance in your root art is a must.  It is all about the training.

Last night I was happy. I had a class that was well attended by my Black Belts. With this in mind I gave them something to think about. The first thing before we began to move was to discuss the current trend in the martial arts for reality training. I have been watching and have participated in some of these trainings over the last few years. My presence has been mostly as an observer however.

The physical aspects of different martial arts technique have very similar veins running in them. There are only so many ways to strike, kick, and manipulate or throw an attacker.  The reality based systems work on simple techniques which can be easily learned and muscle memory created ( approximately 3000 repetitions).

As I have watched some of the masters of these system works I have to wonder what is going on in a physiological sense. What is their blood pressure and heart rate doing during training. How much stress is being created in the body as they train and fight for a reality we all hope will never happen. They are meeting aggression with aggression.

We then set our to do our training. Our self defense training requires a live attack and response. There are certainly restrictions placed on the attacker, but this is only for the purpose of training in the 3 ways of attack (Push Grab Punch). In this case we were punching. I told the students to imagine doing this at a testing, this will help to increase the anxiety level a small amount. I told them to carefully watch and judge how they did. Success or failure and how often.

Next we sat in a meditation on breath for several minutes. A breathing to calm the mind. We resumed the training. With the calmer mind the students were faster and much more successful in their movement.  Now one of the things I teach in self defense is to disconnect from the attacker on a mental level. You cannot take the attack personally and become emotionally involved with it. We train physically based on rules. If you apply rules to the situation and not to the attacker you will be successful. Remember the pilot who landed his plane in the Hudson River? He did this by remaining calm in the face of death and following the rules that he was taught. No different here.

The improvement in movement was at east two fold. I demonstrated some movement for them. I asked my attacker (Uki)  what it was that he was seeing. He told me he was focused (as in real life) on the object of his attack, in this case my head. I asked the students what I was looking at. Most replied ‘the attackers eyes’. Next was the question what the ‘observers’ were watching.  Several answers, the correct answer was my feet. Students tend to focus on the instructors hands. When they do they miss a lot.

What was my (defenders) focus on? Nothing and everything. Seeing without looking. This is sometimescalled soft vision. When everything is see almost like periferal vision.  From here my  movement only comes when attack is started. There are no coutesty warnings or Kia’s. Full out attack. The movement of no mind is effortless, it just happens.

My students began to work on it. It takes time because the harder you try the poorer the results.

I had a discussion with one of my Black Belts last night about doing the basics. He was commenting on how tired he gets practicing what he refers to as beginners stuff.  His response is certainly not unusual but he lacks understanding mostly because of his age. Our talk inspired me.

At this point I decided that the class that night should really focus on the basics or foundation of the art. The adult Black Belts in attendance were shocked at how much there really was to learn.  First I have to add that there are no advanced techniques. Movement is movement, striking is striking, locks and throws are locks and throws.  There is only advanced thinking which results in advanced movement.

When a beginner starts with the basics he or she will learn to step, strike with the hands, do some kicks.  To the beginning mind these are all separate things. This is of course normal in the learning process. As the student progresses they learn to step and punch or kick. They develop flow between the 2 halves of the body. Power and coordination develop as they approach and pass the Black Belt mark. From here if the ego is under control and it must be, they are ready to progress with the basics  into advanced and master level thinking, and seamless movement.

The beginning of this stage is when the Black Belt learns to move the entire body as a whole, not as separate parts of the whole. As this happens the need for power and timing disappear making the art ageless and timeless.  This comes from conquering the mind and the body.  All you do is move and the attacker creates the openings and then moves right into them.  The founder of Aikido Morihei Ueshiba was a perfect example of such ability and movement.

Much to the suprise of the Black Belt student all this comes from the basics they get so bored practicing. Advanced martial arts practice, whether a hard art or soft is the study of the self. As Bruce Lee loved to say, “All knowledge is Self Knowledge”

The Plateau

Often times Martial Artists reach a sort of “Plateau” in their training.  It may feel like your ability, fitness level or even your interest level is not going anywhere… maybe even backwards.  This is a very normal thing to have happen; I’ve had many plateaus in my training.  Sometimes people just quit thinking they can’t get any better, or that they’ll never be interested again.  This is one of the reason Martial Arts teaching us Perseverance!

When you hit a plateau it’s actually when you will see some of the best improvements you have in a very long time.   When you feel like your techniques, flexibility isn’t getting any better you tend to push and work a little harder, often out of frustration.  This will lead to improvements in leaps and bounds!  This is not to say you should get frustrated easily because you can’t get a specific technique to work or that you should look forward to being bored… it’s just a natural thing that is sure to happen.

Children will usually have this happen more than adult students, simply because they’re kids!  A child’s ability to stick to one thing is not very strong yet, and their interest levels will always have peaks and plateaus… sometimes changing day to day depending on their motivation levels and mood.

Here are some Tips for keeping up your motivation levels in even the deepest Plateau.  And YES these work on kids and adults a like… they even work on me!

1. Martial Arts Movies – This is probably my favourite… Nothing inspires me more and gets me excited like a Martial Arts movie… even some of the cartoon ones like Kung Fu Panda!
2. Get to Class – This is vitally important, especially on the days where you REALLY don’t want to go.  Make the commitment to yourself and get to your class, you’ll feel great afterward and is an awesome way to develop your self-discipline!
3. Get a Friend or Parent Involved – Having someone to train with is a great motivation tool.  They will be able to help keep you going even when you’re not up to it, and visa versa!

By Master Curt Mason
6th Dan Black Belt Hon Sang Mu Sa Hapkido
4th Dan Black Belt Kyusho Jitsu

Understanding the flow of the opponent is one of the most critical things in advanced martial arts training. Because an attacking opponent is committed to his movement, this movement can be redirected and controlled. This is the basis of our art Hon Sang Mu Sa Hapkido. At no time should the defender try to resist the movements of the attacker.

Often reality based martial arts and combat systems will talk about ‘fights’ When 2  or more people chose to fight, it is a conscious decision on both parties.  To win a battle such as this is far different than a ‘self defense’ situation. In a self defense situation only the attacker has agreed to do battle.  The defender is in a different mind frame.  A fight is Yang vs Yang, Self defense in Yang vs Yin.

The attacker will see only the target while in a state of tunnel vision. The defender trains to remain calm in these situations and to focus on the entire body of the attacker, not target areas.  The defender will move using the angles of the octagon, move to a 90 degree on each attack. Then when the time is right the defender will move at a 45 and deliver a blow or throw to the attacker depending on the situation.

How do you get to such a level of movement. While you are training in class begin by watching the feet of your master instructors. Don’t focus all the time on the hands, watch the feet and leg movements. This is were the foundation of the art lies.  As I said this is advanced movement and takes time to master.

There must be a starting point for everyone that decides to become involved with martial arts training.  Formally we call this white belt, but it lasts much longer than this.  This beginning is based on movement and technique.

As you first begin your training you learn many, many different technique. Sometimes I think as a teacher I am teaching far to many of these. What is really needed is learning how to move. We have all learned and practiced technqies that work on some, then not at all on others. Yet the master seems to be able to always make them work. This can be very frustrating. Depending on the student sometimes I will tell them what is going on, other times I leave it to them to think about.

One thing the student tends to do when a technique is going bad is revert to using force or power to try to finish it. The problem with this is that you are now fully committed to the movement, and there is no way out.  What is needed is continuous motion.

The concept is simple, application is more challenging.

The student will often ask at this point “what about stances?” Stances are transitional points, not finishing events.  Continuous movement, through the varying stances for the particular application will yield a great result. The body cannot defend against such movements.

Students watch your instructor carefully over the next few months. See exactly what he or she is doing to make things work. Martial Art is about movement, and movement will make you successful.