# Your opinion, she stinks.



## The Master (Jun 16, 2007)

*Your opinion, she stinks.*


I have traveled on these web boards for over a decade now, and long have the arguments raged over who is doing "it" right, and who is doing "it" wrong. Insults are slung, mud is thrown, and otherwise intelligent individuals behave like grade school kids at a food fight. A pity, for it is said the arts develop ones character. In fact, they simply bring it to the forefront. The honorable man shines more brightly, and the boorish cad, shows his true self. Many have these arguments been, and many have they been fought through the safety of the computer screen. This salvo will be another volley, certain to annoy many, but perhaps enlighten a few.

Today the subject is kenpo. Another time it might be presidential candidates, but for todays fire, it shall be the beast known as kenpo.

First question.
What is kenpo? This seemingly simple question has a dozen answers. Some will say "Parkers art", others will trace it back to Hawaii, others to Japan or even China. Some will say "Not what X does that is for sure." while others may enter the semantically realm. There is no one answer. There in lies the problem of the following questions.

Second Question.
Which kenpo is the right one? Someone who trains with Al Tracy might answer that his is right. A Larry Tatum student will point at his and say "his". Some will mention Ed Parker, often times with a reverence usually reserved for Elvis, the Beatles and occasionally God. Others might point at Cerio, or Mitose, or a hundred others. You are right, you are wrong, and you are both. Because the first question is unanswerable, the second becomes incomprehensible. 

When one cannot find an answer, one is left with the educated guess, which is more often than not, merely an opinion with some facts behind it.

Take for example here this person known as Ed Parker. Ed Parker had an opinion. He called it kenpo. When he changed his opinion, he released a new version of his kenpo.  Some people liked his opinion, to a greater or lesser amount, and added their own opinions to his. Today, you have dozens of important opinions on kenpo, and you call them by names like Planas and Trejo and Tatum and Mills and whomever. 

Reality however, doesn't care about your opinions. It simply is. By simply ising, it forces itself upon you.

The human body can only move in so many ways. The combinations are finite. No opinion of the fighting arts however, covers them all. They cannot, for some combinations don't work for everyone. Some don't work at all. Some only work under certain circumstances and at rare occasions. Why?

Because the human body can only move in so many ways. It is limited. It has a finite number of possible movements. Because each of us is different, what our own bodies can do is but a mere subset of what a perfect body could do under optimum conditions. When are conditions ever optimum? So we build our own opinion from the foundations of anothers opinion, grafting in our own limitations and modifying the concepts and theories to perform within our own limitations and limited subset of abilities and capabilities.

In the end, we express our own opinion of kenpo. And regardless of whom we have based our foundation from, we will always fall short, because our subset is not the entirety. Only in a perfect world, which does not exist, could we not fall short in some way.

Therefore, our opinion, she stinks.

It may be a big stink or a small stink. In the end however, stink it still does.

So, worry less about who is right and how many degrees you point your toes at and who teaches 'true' and who teaches 'not true'. Instead, work at de-stinking your opinion and reaching to expand your subset to be closer to that unreachable perfection.


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## Sukerkin (Jun 16, 2007)

A thoughtful post that is equally applicable to any martial art :tup:.


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## IWishToLearn (Jun 16, 2007)

Nice rant.


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## Hand Sword (Jun 16, 2007)

I totally agree. All of the bickering in the arts is the biggest pile of crap! It comes down to each individual ultimately. No matter what your needs are or were for taking up their study, if you are benefitting positively, and making whatever work for you, it's good! Based on that, every individual has their own ways, none are superior to any other's, are more or less  "legit", or are the true way(s).

So much for all of the preaching and teaching of HUMILITY and RESPECT in all of the arts.


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## tellner (Jun 16, 2007)

As Guru Chas (the teacher of my first Silat teacher) puts it: "You put a bunch of martial artists together and a fight breaks out. _Quel surprise._ 

The sad thing about martial arts politics is how little it takes for us to become contemptible. Everyone has triggers, but really. It's not like we're talking significant amounts of money, exotic young women with large breasts (or exotic young men with broad shoulders), fine horses or a position in the Sultan's Court. Those might be worth some serious fighting or at least bickering. When it's "Is he a _real_ Grand Master or just a Master?" or "Your badly dubbed kung fu is really very good. But it is no match for mine," or "You play with him and I don't like him, so I won't play with you," we've left the adult world and retreated to fourth grade.

Martial arts is supposed to make you humble, egoless and philosophical and give you a sense of proportion. Seems that the message hasn't reached a lot of practitioners...


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## LawDog (Jun 16, 2007)

Tellner,
You are so correct.
:argue:


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## MJS (Jun 18, 2007)

IMO, there are so many different answers, is there really a right or wrong one?  I mean, the roots can be traced back to Hawaii, China, etc., thus, giving the various systems, ie: Kaju, Shaolin Kempo, Hawaiian Kempo, Parker, Tracy, etc.

Which is the right one?  I'd have to say the one that met your needs best.  I started with Shaolin Kempo, and moved onto Parker and now Tracy.  While the SK may not be on everyones top ten list, I try to give credit where its due.  For myself, I found that the arts I trained in after SK met my needs better.  I found more things were addressed and the way they are addressed is more effective to me.  Could I have 'missed out' on something? Sure, but we all have a path to follow, and I followed mine to where I'm at today. 

People will argue over who teaches the 'true' system...Tatum, Chapel, Palanzo, etc.  Is there really a right answer?  Don't know.  I think they all have something to offer, but again, it all comes down to what your needs are, IMO.

Its all Kenpo, just from a different branch of the tree!

Mike


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## Kenpojujitsu3 (Jun 18, 2007)

Everybody knows that what I do is the best, I cover all the bases. End of discusssion....LOL.

Now on a serious note. Good post, good points and unfortunately I fear the message will never really sink in.


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## KenpoDave (Jun 18, 2007)

The Master said:


> *Your opinion, she stinks.*


 
Well, that's YOUR opinion...

:mst:


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## jks9199 (Jun 19, 2007)

tellner said:


> Martial arts is supposed to make you humble, egoless and philosophical and give you a sense of proportion. Seems that the message hasn't reached a lot of practitioners...


 
Since when?

In which martial art?

Not all martial arts share the same philosophical, ideological, or ethical goals.  Many of the Eastern arts (especially the ones with links to Buddhism or Taoism) do indeed have a goal of developing humility and submitting one's ego -- but many Western martial arts are much more directly about simply fighting.  

Do many skilled fighters, whatever their arts origin, develop some humility?  Sure.  But it's not because of the ethos of their martial art; it's because they've learned that there is always someone out there who can beat you, and this understanding encourages a certain humility -- in my opinion.


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## Shotochem (Jun 19, 2007)

jks9199 said:


> Since when?
> 
> In which martial art?
> 
> ...


 
I agree.  The humility and morality preached in some MA are merely a suggestion and preference for how that particular system percieves a person should strive to act.

Duty, honor, morality, humility and any other attributes one would find appealing in a good person IMO, stem from a persons upbringing.  Your parents, aunts, uncles, preacher, rabbi, witch doctor, friends or who ever you prefer will ultimately shape you into the person you have become.

I find it a little hard to believe that the partaking in a hobby, sport or whatever we consider our respective MA to be for X amount of hours a week will transform us into ideal human beings. 

After a little introspection I discovered.............
I may even be more of an idiot now than before I have taken MA.  :uhyeah:
(if you don't believe me ask my wife.)

-Marc-


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## Rabu (Jun 19, 2007)

Nice post, well written.


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