The Concept Of Breathing In Martial Arts Training

By Gabriel Lozen

One of the most crucial elements of martial arts training is breathing correctly. This is important because the underlying philosophy is that proper breathing results in your body getting cleansed from within. All toxic wastes such as carbon dioxide get eliminated due to this cleansing and are replaced by fresh oxygen and nutrients.

If you are just starting to discover the importance of breathing in your martial arts training, you will find the following exercises very useful.

The most basic methods of learning how to breathe properly are Attention Breathing and Abdominal Breathing.

While practicing either of these techniques make sure you focus on breathing through your nose. Normally just breathing through the nose is difficult when you are practicing martial arts exercises. However, for the purpose of these breathing techniques it is essential you use just your nose. While breathing, imagine you are creating a closed circuit by breathing in through your nose and then again breathing out the same way. Every time you breathe through your moth, the circuit gets broken and the energy gets dissipated.

You need to be aware of the fact that everyone does not breathe in the same manner. Children breathe differently from older people. When people are excited they will tend to breathe more rapidly as compared to when they are depressed. When you are at peace, your breathing will be deep and slow.

The Attention Breathing method is about focusing your attention on the natural flow of your breath. You do not need to do anything to change it. You only need to take note of the way the breathing process is occurring within your body. You can do this by feeling the air when it enters your nostrils, then circulates through your lungs and finally gets exhaled. As you concentrate and feel the movement of the air through your body, your breathing will become smoother and more even.

If you feel your concentration waning, try and focus back. Practice this method for at least five minutes at the same time every day. Once you get used to this, try and practice it at other times during the course of the day. Gradually, without your realizing it, this awareness will become integrated into your life.

Abdominal Breathing is one of the easiest breathing techniques to master as it is actually different to do it incorrectly. The basic concept behind this method is to fill up your lungs with air completely. This is important since we usually tend to breathe with just the upper half of our lungs. The Abdominal Breathing method helps in expanding the capacity of your lungs.

To practice this technique, breathe in through the nose. Expand your abdomen slowly and allow the air to fill your lower lungs. Do this in a smooth and gentle manner. Once your abdomen is full, breathe out through the nose and keep pulling your abdomen in slowly. As you inhale, your abdomen should expand and with each exhalation your abdomen should contract. Repeat this method in sets of ten. - 31497

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How to Use Matrix Martial Arts to Read Minds!

By Al Case

There are times in life when it seems as if you have actually looked into someones mind. Maybe you just blurt out the phrase at the same time, or have the same thought on a hamburger stand. Sometimes, however, it is as if you have looked into somebodys mental process and know exactly what they are thinking.

The martial arts build this ability, and a good martial art does it in a quite speedy fashion. Indeed, if you aren't effectively looking into minds after a couple of years, there is probably something wrong with the martial art you are studying. If this is so, you should look into applying some principles from Matrix Martial Arts and tweaking your art so it enables you to read minds.

The first time you realize that you can look into somebody elses mind is usually during freestyle. You intuitively know what technique your opponent is considering using, and, as time goes on, you begin fitting intuitive responses to whatever he does. Many people think this is because of the freestyle, but it is really because of the forms that you have been perfecting in your martial arts.

Yes, freestyle provides the situation where you can realize your abilities, but forms provides the energy and context for developing those abilities. Without forms, you won't be able to read minds in the martial arts, except on the lowest level. Give up doing your forms, and you are left with fighting, and fighting does not lead to reading minds.

When doing a form one learns how to control their body, making it do things one couldn't make it do before. Then, one learns that it is the control of the mind that is really enabling him to control the body. Lastly, one starts to understand that behind any action in this universe, there must be a thought.

The universe is nothing but a space filled with objects that float around. Being able to read minds, you see, is being able to predict the path of objects. Predicting the path of objects just means that you start looking further out in space to see them coming.

What the matrixing procedure does, as practiced in Matrix Martial Arts, is organize the data so that one can see beyond the confusion. Matrixing analyzes and handles force and direction, and thus, one can take in more space, and analyze and handle more force and direction. Once one can do this through the practice of the martial arts, one can begin doing it to the rest of life.

Want to get a better deal when you trade in your vehicle, or maybe get the girl of your dreams? You can do so if you use matrixing to analyze and handle the forces and directions involved. And whether you study a form of kung fu, be it fut ga or tong long or monkey boxing, or whether you study karate, such as wado ryu or kyokushnkai or whatever, you can use Matrix Martial Arts to align it, and to align life itself. - 31497

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Brock Lesnar To Defend UFC Heavyweight Title Against Shane Carwin

By Ross Everett

Brock Lesnar will make his first defense of the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 106 against another college wrestling standout, Shane Carwin. The event will take place at Las Vegas Mandalay Bay Events Center on November 21st, and will also feature the return of Tito Ortiz to UFC action against rugged veteran Mark Coleman.

Lesnar defeated Randy Couture at UFC 91 to become heavyweight champion, and avenged an early defeat to Interim heavyweight champion Frank Mir at UFC 100 to unify the belts. Lesnar, a former WWE pro wrestling superstar, has enjoyed a meteoric rise to the top of the UFC heavyweight ranks"his defense against Carwin will be only his sixth professional fight. Though hes relied greatly on his wrestling ability and overwhelming size and strength, the 63 265 pound Lesnar has improved as a fighter every time out.

Making this matchup very intriguing is the fact that Carwin has the size and strength to match up with Lesnar. Working in Carwins favor is his relative experience (hes 11-0) and an excellent training infrastructure provided by Greg Jackson, considered by many to be the best trainer in the sport.

Much of the promotion for the fight will revolve around the personality differences of the two men. Lesnar became the biggest heel in the UFC with an unsportsmanlike display following his UFC 100 victory.

Carwin, on the other hand, is one of the more likably humble fighters in the sport. He earned a degree in engineering from the Colorado College of Mines and until recently worked fulltime as an engineer while pursuing his fighting career. Hes been highly critical of Lesnars behavior ever since UFC 100, and depending on who you ask may also have some personal animosity that goes beyond that. At any rate, its the sort of storyline that makes for box office and PPV gold.

Dana White announced the matchup with the following statement:

Brock is ready to go now and wants to fight. Carwin makes the most sense. Gonzaga destroyed Cro Cop and he (Carwin) totally destroyed Gonzaga. Plus, he hates Brock Lesnar. Its going to be two huge guys going at it. Hes got the power to knock anybody out and hes got great wrestling, too. Hes one of the guys that has the size to match up with Brock, too.

With two fighters that are physically and tactically mirror images of the other, anything can literally happen. While Lesnars fans might not know much about the relatively low key Carwin, hes a definite threat to take the UFC heavyweight title. It'll be the proverbial 'unstoppable force' meeting the 'immovable object' with it being anyone's guess as to which fighter will prevail. - 31497

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Kung Fu - Martial Arts

By Tony Garrudo

Kung Fu is seen primarily as a form of self defense, but it can also be used as a form of exercise and is seen as a cultural artform. This martial art is common around the world, it can be called 'Kuo Shu', 'Wu Shu' or 'Gung Fu'. It is similar to Karate, in the way it applies foot and hand movements. Along with being a popular martial art, Kung Fu has been around for a very long time, it is amongst the oldest of all martial arts.

With origins that trace back to the widely known Shaolin Temple, a few variations and styles of Kung Fu, are more popular than the rest. Although there is much popularity in the Kung Fu styles rooted in the Shaolin Temple, individuals may not realize that many years prior to the construction of the first Shaolin Temple, people were practicing Kung Fu.

Self defense is usually seen as the primary role of all martial arts, especially Kung Fu. Self defense is indeed one role of Kung Fu and other martial arts, but what you may not know is Kung Fu should be used for a lot more than simply fighting technique. Kung Fu helps to focus the body, but along with it the mind and soul.

Kung Fu doesn't teach students to overcome others, as it teaches students to look within themselves and learn to have complete and total control over their emotions. Kung Fu is an art of harmony, that teaches to students to remain at peace and avoid confrontations. If a situation threatens bodily harm to the student, then he must rise to the occasion - becoming the warrior and defending himself.

In order to be able to master the appropriate movements and techniques, Martial arts students, including those practicing Kung Fu, learn to utilize the balance essential for such skills. Just as the Chinese ascribe to the belief that there is a balance required between heaven and earth, Kung Fu relies upon the same balance to execute the techniques of this martial art. It is believed that by totally freeing your mind of any outside diversions or interference, you will be able to attain this balance.

Kung Fu is a martial art that can be learned by anyone. It does take a strong desire, just like any other martial art. It has a rich heritage, and a proud legacy. Kung Fu is indeed a deadly martial art, if used in the wrong ways. There are variations of Kung Fu as well, which include the infamous five animals - Tiger, Dragon, Eagle Claw, Crane, and the Snake. - 31497

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Incorporating Weight Training Into Your Martial Arts

By Ryan Stiller

In the past, practitioners of martial arts discouraged weight training. Present day trainers have realized however that weight training makes your body stronger and more resistant to injuries. Weight training if done properly, complements martial arts training and helps in improving technique.

Here are a few basic weight training tips for martial arts students.

Before starting on your weight training, warm up for about 15 minutes on a treadmill or other equipment. Warming up prevents injuries. If you want to build your strength as well as your endurance, then you should work out as hard as possible. If your aim is just strength building then a light workout is sufficient. A typical regimen should comprise exercises involving the bench press, pull ups, dumbbell curls, dips, squats, hamstring curls, calf raises, crunches and hyperextensions.

Complete one warm up set and two working sets for every exercise. Start with the most difficult and the heaviest exercises and gradually move on to the lightest ones.

While doing squats, make sure your posture is right. Your knees should remain firm and not wobble during the exercise.

Each set of exercises should comprise 8 to 12 repetitions. Keep exercising with a specific weight until you are easily able to do more than 12 repetitions with it. Now increase the weight and start off doing 8 repetitions. Slowly increase the repetitions to 12 before moving on to the next higher weight. It is advisable to use free weights when you exercise. Use machines only if you have injuries.

You should keep yourself well hydrated at all times during your workout. This will prevent cramps and muscle tears. You should keep your energy levels up during your workout by eating a small, carbohydrate rich snack. Once you finish exercising, wait for an hour before eating a meal loaded with carbohydrates and proteins in order to aid recovery.

Do not stretch the duration of your workout to more than an hour. Else you will tend to tire yourself out. Normally weight training once a week is enough. In the initial stages you will experience quick gains in strength. This will slow down after a while so don't get alarmed. Do not exercise the same set of muscles every day as this will lead to injury. Respect your body and eat and rest well to get the maximum benefit out of your weight training regimen. Neglecting any of these aspects will lead to injuries and hamper your training. - 31497

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Learning The Art Of Karate

By Robert Smith

Martial arts can be used for numerous things, they can simply be used as exercise, meditation techniques, maybe a bit of fun. More often than not they will be used for self defense however. There are a number of martial arts that are used all over the world.

Bruce lee can be credited with making martial arts specifically popular and famous. Jeet Kune Do is the fighting style created by Bruce Lee, the essence of this style is lightening fast striking with exceptional counters. When Bruce Lee became well known, people were amazed at his speed and became interested in martial arts.

There are different styles of martial arts. Depending where you study and who trains you, will depend on which style you learn. Each country will usually have its own specific form of martial art. In Japan you will find Karate, Brazil has Brazilian Jui-Jitsu, Muay Thai will be found in Thailand and China has Shaolin, with France having Savate. Each style is different from the rest, and as such offers different experiences.

Most people think of self defense when they contemplate martial arts, however this is not the only thing martial arts are useful for. There are plenty of competitions and tournaments involving martial arts, there are also shows and demonstrations such as brick breaking and the such. You can test your skill against fighters around the world in all sorts of tournaments.

In general, all martial arts will teach you how to defend yourself and above all else - help you develop self control. Once you begin to study a martial art, you'll quickly start to develop a much better state of mind. No matter what style of martial art you study, the instructors will drill self control into your head.

Those of you who have a bad temper or just need to learn self control, martial arts can be very beneficial to study. Not only will you learn self control, you'll also learn how to defend yourself in the most drastic of situations. Self control is very important, as martial arts can be very deadly if they are taught to the wrong person - with the wrong intentions. - 31497

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Getting Out of Your Body with Classical Martial Arts!

By Al Case

If you are studying a well established martial art, especially karate based, and often shaolin based, then you may experience being out of your body. The odd thing is that many martial artists don't know they are getting out of their body. They shift their viewpoint, are out of their body, and think they are the same as everybody else.

By getting out of your body I don't mean giant brains floating through the universe. I merely mean that you are a little outside your head, not quite sure where your viewpoint is, but know that it is not from your eyes. This often leads to increased intensity and martial abilities that are beyond the normal human being.

The surest way to make this happen is to just keep doing your forms. Like a truck driver who lets his mind wander while doing a long drive, the karateka, or kung fu stylist, just gets comfortable, and slowly starts looking at the world in a different way. He starts looking at his body and realizing that he is not his body, that his arms are a little longer.

What has happened is that in learning to control his body, making it accomplish finer and finer motions, the person has gotten out. Some body movements just require that the person be outside his body to really make them work, and as the martial artist makes his moves work, he doesn't even realize that he is sliding out of the body. Then he starts doing things differently, doesn't realize that he has made some sort of a change, and life goes on.

The problem, of course, is not that this happens, the problem is to make it happen faster. Being slightly removed from your body makes you a better martial artist, and better in many other ways. Your karate or kung fu or whatever becomes more improved, and there you have the source of legends, and an better version of human beings.

I started using Matrix Martial Arts to accomplish this speeding up. The reason matrixing works is because it is logical, scientific, and takes into account all potential body motions. Simply, if you can see the whole picture, when it comes to moving the body in the martial arts, then it is easier to take control of the body.

The first step in matrixing is to learn how to use your body as one unit. I call this CBM, or Coordinated Body Motion. It is when you start all motion at the same time, end all motion at the same time, and regulate all factors of size, mass, muscle, and so on of the movement being done.

Once CBM is realized you are ready for the next step of Matrixing. Having harmonized the movements of your body, you are now in a position to harmonize the art itself, and you start to move back from your body at a quicker speed. Whether you do a form of Karate, or Shaolin, or whatever, the matrixing method in Matrix Martial Arts is going to everything happen much faster, and you will reach the true art in years instead of lifetimes. - 31497

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