# 10 laws of kenpo?



## watching (Jun 19, 2018)

I'm curious what the other kenpoists think of this. I found it online and I agree with much if it. I haven't heard about there being "laws" of kenpo before. Though, I have heard many of these teachings in class over the years. I hope the link works...


10 Kenpo Laws Every Martial Artist Should Know » Black Belt Magazine


----------



## Flying Crane (Jun 19, 2018)

I’ve never heard of kenpo laws, and honestly I’m not impressed by how this guy presents what he has to say.  It just smacks of someone trying to elevate what he does to a position above the rest, while having no clue as to what the rest even do.

I hate to say it, but I see that kind of thing in the kenpo community.


----------



## Monkey Turned Wolf (Jun 19, 2018)

Disclaimer: I read each of the 'laws', and skimmed the bits about them. Not enough to notice _how_ he described them.

Never heard of kenpo laws, but all of them (besides 6 and 10) are things ive heard numerous times from kenpo practitioners. More just general philosophies a lot of kenpoists seem to follow.


----------



## Headhunter (Jun 20, 2018)

The whole title is bit of a weird title because kenpo translates to fist law or law of the fist (I've heard both) so really the title is 10 fist law laws or law of the fist laws


----------



## punisher73 (Jun 21, 2018)

I wouldn't call them "laws", but almost every martial arts system has most of those.  About the only "law" that there may be a difference of philosophy on would be the "multiple strikes".  Some hard styles train and promote a one strike/one kill mentality.  Even in western boxing, they promote multiple strikes through the use of combinations based on human reactions.


----------



## Buka (Jun 22, 2018)

Never heard them mentioned in any Kenpo class anywhere.


----------



## Headhunter (Jun 24, 2018)

The one I seriously disagree with is the no block one....kenpo has loads of blocks the first thing you learn is blocking set 1. In every form there's blocks in most techniques there's blocks.


----------



## jobo (Jun 24, 2018)

Headhunter said:


> The one I seriously disagree with is the no block one....kenpo has loads of blocks the first thing you learn is blocking set 1. In every form there's blocks in most techniques there's blocks.


HE  says as much, but then advocated moving rather than blocking if you have the choice, the skill and the room,
I made a similar point, in a thread a short while ago, and was shouted down,


----------



## geezer (Oct 8, 2019)

jobo said:


> HE  says as much, but then advocated moving rather than blocking if you have the choice, the skill and the room,
> *I made a similar point, in a thread a short while ago, and was shouted down,*



That hostility was probably due more to _your charming manner_ than because you were thought wrong, Jobo! 

Anyway, most of those rules could equally apply to the Wing Chun I train. Except #8, the mobility thing. Old school Wing Chun is typically only mobile over very short distances.  One of the things JKD changed. On the other hand Wing Chun really emphasizes "not blocking". So I agree with all you guys who say that this stuff is pretty generic.

Personally, the most objectionable part of this was the intro which read like a total sales pitch and didn't ring true anyway. I mean, check this out:

"For decades, _kenpo_ has been renowned in the West as one of the most effective and efficient martial arts in existence, and for hundreds of years before that it enjoyed a similar reputation in Asia."

The Kenpo I know of doesn't go back "for hundreds of years" in Asia. I always thought it was a modern martial art with multiple roots created in the middle of the last century in Hawaii. Did I miss something?


----------



## Flying Crane (Oct 9, 2019)

geezer said:


> That hostility was probably due more to _your charming manner_ than because you were thought wrong, Jobo!
> 
> Anyway, most of those rules could equally apply to the Wing Chun I train. Except #8, the mobility thing. Old school Wing Chun is typically only mobile over very short distances.  One of the things JKD changed. On the other hand Wing Chun really emphasizes "not blocking". So I agree with all you guys who say that this stuff is pretty generic.
> 
> ...


You did not miss something.


----------



## punisher73 (Oct 9, 2019)

geezer said:


> That hostility was probably due more to _your charming manner_ than because you were thought wrong, Jobo!
> 
> Anyway, most of those rules could equally apply to the Wing Chun I train. Except #8, the mobility thing. Old school Wing Chun is typically only mobile over very short distances.  One of the things JKD changed. On the other hand Wing Chun really emphasizes "not blocking". So I agree with all you guys who say that this stuff is pretty generic.
> 
> ...



"Kenpo" was used in Okinawa as a generic term for their empty hand arts which were derived from China.  For example, Choki Motobu's book was called "Okinawan Ken/mpo" that detailed kumite techniques from karate.  

In the US, the word kenpo is heavily associated with the martial art taught and refined in Hawaii.  James Mitose and William Chow instructed and was made famous by Ed Parker.  On the east coast, the Kempo was an off branch from Kajukenbo.


----------



## isshinryuronin (Oct 9, 2019)

watching said:


> I'm curious what the other kenpoists think of this. I found it online and I agree with much if it. I haven't heard about there being "laws" of kenpo before. Though, I have heard many of these teachings in class over the years. I hope the link works...
> 
> 
> 10 Kenpo Laws Every Martial Artist Should Know » Black Belt Magazine


  These 10 "laws" of Kenpo are valid considerations for, but certainly did not originate with Parker's Kenpo.  Most all can be found in the teachings of the traditional Okinawan masters.  Motobu was not adverse to preemptive strikes, meeting circular attacks with linear counters and visa versa is a strategy expounded by various traditional sources, the absence of high kicks is typical many Okinawan styles, and the concept of "no block" I think has bee an misinterpreted by the author - "There are no conventional blocks in karate." is a well know maxim amongst advanced Okinawan practitioners, etc., etc.  Possibly the only "law" that can be strongly tied to American Kenpo is the concept of a series of fast, reciprocal, economical motions to forstall and set-up the opponent.  Other than that - nothing new to see here.

This article seems to me to be just a rehash of generally accepted principles, randomly chosen and thrown together.  I am surprised _Black Belt_ would publish such an uninspired piece.  Of course, the magazine is no longer a source of information to the serious practitioner is once was in its earliest days.


----------



## JowGaWolf (Oct 9, 2019)

isshinryuronin said:


> These 10 "laws" of Kenpo are valid considerations for, but certainly did not originate with Parker's Kenpo.  Most all can be found in the teachings of the traditional Okinawan masters.  Motobu was not adverse to preemptive strikes, meeting circular attacks with linear counters and visa versa is a strategy expounded by various traditional sources, the absence of high kicks is typical many Okinawan styles, and the concept of "no block" I think has bee an misinterpreted by the author - "There are no conventional blocks in karate." is a well know maxim amongst advanced Okinawan practitioners, etc., etc.  Possibly the only "law" that can be strongly tied to American Kenpo is the concept of a series of fast, reciprocal, economical motions to forstall and set-up the opponent.  Other than that - nothing new to see here.
> 
> This article seems to me to be just a rehash of generally accepted principles, randomly chosen and thrown together.  I am surprised _Black Belt_ would publish such an uninspired piece.  Of course, the magazine is no longer a source of information to the serious practitioner is once was in its earliest days.


You nailed it.  Black belt mag does not have the same quality as it did 10+ years ago.  I have some old magazines and I can tell that the focused and purpose have shifted.


----------



## ShortBridge (Oct 9, 2019)

I thought the first law of Kenpo was "Don't talk about Kenpo."


----------



## Buka (Oct 9, 2019)

A couple of associates of mine ran Kenpo schools that we used to visit on some sparring nights. They were hard, aggressive fighters.....

Which led to the first Law of American Karate that was taught to our students...

Keep you hands up, fellas, or you be eating a whole lot of punches and kicks.


----------

