This is sort of an interesting question. Nobody has ever come up with a good answer for it, and yet people have tried virtually everything in the world to keep those errant students. I mean, they were doing good, they were blown out and excited, and then they disappeared.

The answer for this problem, and a way to keep enrollment high, and to even better it, is possible through something called Matrix Martial Arts. Matrixing is a technology that was designed for the martial arts. The fact of discovering why students drop out became known almost by accident.

To understand this problem of student drop out we must understand that there is a problem with the martial arts themselves. I don’t care what you are teaching, be it karate or kung fu or wudan or that rare form of Kenpo, the fact of the matter is that you are teaching by having students memorize random strings of data. With respect, I offer that this is the most inefficient method of learning that there is.

Memorizing random strings of data is an oral tradition that worked in feudal times, when people couldn’t read nor write. Now, how ever, the written word has come into its own, and people can avail themselves of such things as computers, mind mapping, and good, solid logic. This thing of logic becomes recognizable when one uses Matrix Martial Arts.

Matrixing is the analysis and handling of flow and force. It is a method for laying out a gridwork of martial arts techniques, and being able to quickly and efficiently sort through the techniques until you have the exact and only answer. It is so efficient that people who learn matrixing achieve intuition with their art within months, not years, as is common with the traditional arts.

When matrixing methods are established, when students are enabled to view all the martial arts in logical fashion, one thing becomes plain, there are a lot of blank spots in the martial arts. No matter how many random strings of data one memorizes, it can’t compare with being able to see all the data. And, obviously, students who could see all the data were able to progress much faster.

And, students who left early in their training were found to be confused by the blank spots they had encountered in their studies. Learning the martial arts were like learning languages with half the consonants gone. The data ceased to make sense, so they departed.

The truth of the matter is that students aren’t going to stick with what doesn’t make sense. No matter how much incredible fun they are having, the brain rejects the data, the hardware loses the software, the student refuses the martial arts, simply because the subject has become confusing, and has not been made logical and simple. In a word, no matter whether you teach karate or kung fu or that rare and esoteric style of Tai Chi, you will not be able to keep students unless you matrix your art, and matrix your students, and, the fact of the matter is…you , too, may someday feel like hanging up your gi.

Al has 40 plus years  experience in a variety of arts, and is a writer for the magazines. You can find out about matrixing, ow to keep your students, and lots of other things by getting his free ebook at Monster Martial Arts.

This concept, that working Karate does not resemble the Karate that people are taught in schools, is actually true throughout the martial arts. Shaolin done in combat does not look like wu shu taught in the kwoon. Forms Kung fu doesn’t resemble fighting kung fu, and so on.

The reason for this is that there is pretty, and then there is functional. A fellow teaches, or learns karate, and the instructor shows him something that looks good. Once one starts applying force to the technique, however, the technique must sometimes change to work.

Take a look at the classical kung fu back stance. The stance is so low on the back leg that the ankle is unable to support the weight of most attacks. Thus, one must change the shape of the form in order to really make it work.

Or, take a look at the basic middle block as done in most Karate schools. It swings from the side and there is no real weight behind it. The correct way to do this block is to shoot it out from the center of the body, which would put structure behind the move.

The examples I have just given you, incidentally, represent the reasons why many classical arts fall apart in the Mixed Martial Arts ring. The artists have been trained to look good, and not to make it work. To make something like Karate work in the MMA, or the UFC, one is going to have to change the whole structure of the thing.

Changing the structure of a martial art, if it makes the art work, is not bad. Unfortunately, many teachers will protest loudly, and one has to wonder why. After all, the fact that an art now works should be good for all.

I suppose what is behind some teacher’s inability to change is the love of the mystery. What is happening is that they don’t understand what they are doing, but they have become convinced that if they just keep doing what they are doing, they will, eventually, understand it. Thus, they become blind to change, and, sadly, to what works.

The good news is that most martial artists I have encountered are not so resistant to change. I show them basic principles from Matrix Martial Arts, for instance, and they embrace the change. Thus, hold to the past only so long as it works, change to the modern when the old fails, and watch the True Martial Arts explode in the dojos of the planet.

Al has 4O years experience and his website is Monster Martial Arts. Go there and pick up a free book on Matrixing, Find Out if Matrixing is for you.

The very first move of Karate, as demonstrated in the first form, called Heian One, or Pinan One is a step to the side with a low block. The fact of the matter, however, is that Karate was not designed for blocking. Yes, there are blocks in the art of Karate, and it can be adapted to blocking and striking, but it was not designed for blocking except by the way.

Karate was designed to guard the king of Okinawa. The Imperial bodyguards were trained to use their art in a room filled with warriors from different countries. Soldiers with different weapons and ways of fighting, while the Okinawans had to remain unarmed.

Thus, would you really use a high block against a samurai sword? Would you try to shunt a bullet aside with a shuto? Because these were the types of weapons that the Okinawan bodyguards had to confront.

Consider also that the first order given to troops in such a situation, if they were to attempt to kidnap the king of Okinawa, would be to restrain the bodyguards. This means that samurai would step forward and grab wrists, perhaps preparatory to tying the hands of the bodyguards, or merely moving them from the throne room, or otherwise controlling them. And this means that the first defense of the bodyguards, as described by the first technique in karate training, would be to step in, dropping the weight and arm, thus escaping from the technique, and possibly head butting those who tried to grab them.

That’s right, an evasion for a wrist hold, then a violent step forward to close with and punch and shove the samurai, or whoever the warriors were. This would disrupt the attackers. This would allow the king to be removed from the throne room.

Now, take a close look at the form. This is the only application that really makes sense. This is the start of what the Okinawans who created Karate-do had in mind.

If the samurai drew a sword, the bodyguard had to close with the samurai. This is the reason for the big steps in the form, to enable the bodyguards to get so close that the samurai couldn’t draw their swords. This explains the moves of forms that have been adapted to block and counter moves that, really, don’t make sense in such a situation.

If a samurai attempted to close with a bodyguard and restrain him, the bodyguard had to break the grip, head butt, then push forward. This is the truth behind the first technique of karate, and this is the start of how the art was designed to work. Thinking about the movements in this manner reveals an art that is true beyond belief, but only if you can put aside the way you were taught and believe in the true art known as karate.

Al Case began his study of karate forty years ago. He has been a writer and columnist for magazines. He uses the science of Matrixing to uncover the Truth about the Martial Arts. Get his free ebook about Matrixing Technology at Monster Martial Arts.