Three Levels Necessary to the True Martial Arts
Posted: Saturday, February 06, 2010
by Al Case
http://www.alcasebooks.com/
If you are into the Martial Arts just to fight, to beat people up, to beer over the latest UFC results, this article is not for you. If, however, you think the martial arts are a vehicle to become not just physically stronger and mentally more awake, but maybe even enable you to evolve as a human being, then this is the article for you. This is a straightforward and logical look at the three major steps of the martial arts.
To make if from the first level to the second level, however, one needs to accomplish something called CBM. In the past masters would refer to this as using the body as one unit, which was correct, but lacking in working description. CBM means Coordinated Body Motion, and it is when you use all the body parts together.
With CBM all body motion starts at the same time. And, all motion stops at the same time. And, all motion from start to stop must take into account and relate the size, mass, length, arc, and so on of individual parts and motions.
When one accomplishes CBM, especially through the traditional forms of most traditional systems, one's intention is realized. Intention is your will, your desire to achieve something, the working part of the essential idea of whatever goal you are aiming for. This is the thing that is commonly, and with varying degree of error, labeled Chi. That chi, or intention, can be described from so many different viewpoints on the various levels of the martial arts is what makes it so confusing.
When one has achieved Coordinated Body Motion with one's body, the next level is to CBM one's art. This is the process which I call Matrixing, and Matrixing is an actual science of motion. When one starts to apply matrixing concepts to their martial art they must examine all techniques and kata and follow certain scientific principles to align their art. Like CBM on the earlier level, one must take into account the relativity of all movements and align them to the concept of the form.
One could say that CBM is for inside the body, and Matrixing is for outside the body, and while they wouldn't be entirely correct, there is a sizable amount of truth in the statement. The Martial Arts, you see, while they work, could work a lot better. There has been so much intermingling of cultures and vested interests and viewpoints and so on, that the martial arts are a bit mixed up.
When one accomplishes the second step of the martial arts, and matrixes what he is doing, the true beauty and glory of the martial arts opens up. Senses expand, people see what they were unable to see before, and the blind man awakes. CBM, Matrixing, human desire to strive and accomplish, these are at the heart of the martial arts, and these are what the true martial artist must seek to understand and employ on his journey to enlightenment and the truth of his soul.
Having studied the martial arts for 4O years, Al has written for the magazines and had his own column in Inside Karate. If you want to find out about Coordinated Body Motion, or how to Matrix the Martial Arts , Al has written a book which you can get for free at Monster Martial Arts .
This Article has been viewed 154 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.