The Practice and Use of Chi in the Martial Arts

By Al Case

When it comes to building that thing called chi energy, tai chi kung fu is one of the best. What's interesting is that the principles used in that martial art can be used in Karate, taekwondo, aikido, or whatever. The central principles being utilized, you see, are pretty universal.

One of the first drills one might encounter, if one finds a good tai chi chuan system, is 'holding the bowl.' This is an easy drill, at least for the first couple of minutes...smile. One simply assumes an hourglass stance, back very slightly rounded, and positions the arms as if holding a large pot.

The first challenge in this stance is that of the mental aspect. One's mind starts to have thoughts, and these thoughts are a distraction. Once one has dedicated himself to getting past this phenomena, the mind thoughts start to disappear.

The second challenge in doing this drill is physical in nature. After sixty minutes or so, the body tends to get riled. It doesn't want to run energy through it, it doesn't want the discipline, and it will shake and shimmy and and even try to get sick.

So you ignore the mind, and you ignore the body, and you concentrate on the stillness of the mind (listening to the universe around you), and moving energy through the physical body. After a short while in the holding the bowl posture one will start to feel energy, and there are many things you can do with this energy. You can move it around the bowl, you can channel it through the major meridian running through the center of the front and back of the body, and you can do other things.

What is of importance is that this exercise has martial arts effects. After becoming practiced at this posture, doing the karate pattern called Sanchin will show amazing amounts of chi power. One's martial arts abilities will truly start to grow and manifest.

This posture, incidentally, is one of the major ten hands positions, as outlined in 'The Perfect Technique,' (Quality Press). Thus, it becomes a centerpost for advanced martial arts studies. The concept of this book is that there are only ten positions the arms can be in that will 'run' energy, and that the position of the arms in the 'holding the bowl' posture, as practiced in tai chi Kung Fu, is the first and possibly the most crucial of these arm positions.

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Learn the logical way of making Chi Power through arts like Shaolin and Tai Chi Chuan. Go to Monster Martial Arts, and make sure you pick up a free martial arts book.

Mixed Martial Arts: A History

By Nolan Barias

While it might seem as though mixed martial arts is a new sport, the roots of this sport date back to the ancient Olympics of Greece. The sport then was known as pankration, a fierce combination of striking and grappling skills.

During the 19th Century, there are numerous examples of MMA-style fights that incorporated many different types of wrestling and fighting styles taking place throughout Europe. In the United States, one of the first recorded instances of a mixed martial arts-style fight occurred between champion boxer John Sullivan and champion Greco-Roman wrestler William Muldoon, with Muldoon slamming Sullivan into the mat in just minutes. From there, there are many instances of professional boxers and wrestlers meeting in the ring for fights that combined multiple fighting styles.

As the sport progressed, there are records throughout the Pacific Rim, Asia and Europe of mixed-style fights. In Brazil, the Gracie family was hugely influential in the beginnings of vale tudo fighting, which included their own signature form of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. These vale tudo or "everything allowed" fights included Jiu Jitsu as well as many other styles of fighting.

Although many assume he was mainly a Kung Fu fighter, Bruce Lee is often hailed as the father of modern mixed martial arts. He created his own philosophy of Jeet Kune Do, which combined Kung Fu with many other fighting styles. He believed that a fighter should be able to use many styles of fighting, including kicking, punching, and grappling. This well-rounded fighting style has evolved into the style of mixed martial arts that we see today.

MMA gained a mainstream following in the early 1990s with the creation of Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC. UFC has become the largest MMA promotion company in the world, with many of the world's top fighters on its roster. The group rose to prominence after the first UFC championship, when legendary fighter Royce Gracie defeated three other fighters in just five minutes. From there, interest in the sport grew exponentially, as well as concerns about the general lack of regulations within the sport. In 2000, the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts were created, which are used throughout the United States.

In addition to UFC, there have been several other groups that have been created for the purpose of holding MMA competitions, most notably Strikeforce. Strikeforce originated as a kickboxing organization but evolved into mixed martial arts. In 2006, Strikeforce's first large-scale MMA event, Shamrock vs. Gracie, broke MMA audience attendance records. This record would stand until UFC 129 in 2011. During 2011, Strikeforce was purchased by the company that owns UFC; however, the owners have stated that two will remain separate entities.

About the Author:

Nolan Barias likes blogging about mixed martial arts benefits. To get more info about MMA lessons in San Diego or to find a boxing gym San Diego, please visit The Arena MMA site now.

Advantages Of A Martial Arts Association Member

By Erna Gutierrez

Martial arts is said to be and art of waging war, or an art of combat. It consists of movements both for offensive and defensive purposes. There are several types of martial arts namely, Tae Kwon Do, Tai chi, Kung Fu, Karate and so on. It could also be characterized in three categories, depending on its major movement, striking such as Muay thai, Grappling like Juddo, and weaponry such as Kendo. There are countless of movement and types of it which made it quite necessary to form a Martial Arts Association.

Those that practice such tradition fighting movements are called martial artists. There is a wide variety of movements actually but it can be separated into groups such as strikes, weapons training or grappling. With strikes it can include kung fu, muay thai, taekwondo, capoeira, savate and wing chun. Weaponry includes, fencing, jukendo, eskrima, kendo, gatka, kali.

On the other hand, grappling are movements that are very prominent in judo, jujitso, aikido, hapkido, glima and so on. There are still many types of fighting movements that are not listed here. And one of the main purpose of forming the organization is to unify all the artist, regardless of the movements they are very passionate about and preserve the tradition.

It is one way to destress both mind and body usually resulting to rejuvenation. If you feel like you need to be a member of a certain organization while you are learning some moves, then you may certainly do so. These organizations do not mind whether or not you are a beginner or probably own a couple of black belts already.

You will be able to receive regular invitations for training courses, workshops, conferences and championships. Nowadays, it could be pretty hard to attract students to learn some judo or karate. Especially when an xbox 360 or the internet is constantly nagging them to just stay indoors and sit in front of their computers for hours.

Other advantages of being a member includes receiving invitations for conferences, training courses, seminars workshops that will help you improve your skills. Membership benefits could also include discounts for such programs and sometimes in house conferences are actually given for free. Such benefits are in a treat.

When looking for an organization, be wary of those that seems to compete with other organization. Not only is that lame, but it also disqualifies the main purpose of forming an organization and that is to to retain the tradition and promote camaraderie. Look for an organization where members are down to earth individuals.

Searching for an organization need not to be hard. Find out what organizations are near to your area, gather information about such organization and take time to personally visit. Find an organization whose principles match perfectly with yours, if not then you will surely end up not liking the organization in the end.

The several Martial Arts Association are there to remind us that it is here for keeps. It adds formality and improves respect for this old tradition and it continues to inform people the benefits of learning a few movements.

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