# After Training Kenpo/Kempo What Style Did You Do Next



## Stargazer (Oct 9, 2013)

For kenpo/kempo martial artists who left to study something different, what type of martial art did you pick next?

For those with black belts or a lot of expertise in kenpo/kempo, what styles are most complementary?  What helped take your training to the next level?


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## Blindside (Oct 9, 2013)

I went into Pekiti-Tirsia Kali, it wound up taking over my martial path, and I would argue that it made my Kenpo better.  At one point as an experiment I constructed a curriculum that examined teaching the kenpo system through the kali drill framework and I was very happy with it.  I believe that if I ever went back to teaching Kenpo regularly I would probably do it that way than the technique format that kenpo uses.


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## Takai (Oct 10, 2013)

I went with Aikido initially. Now I train in Wing Chun. Taking core basics and understanding with will help with any transition to a different art. Just remember to keep an open mind. Just because you learned to do it one way don' t let that interfere with what you are learning now.


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## billc (Oct 13, 2013)

At the Kenpo school I was training at, I initially went here because they were the only school in the area that taught Modern Arnis,in fact, my instructor was on the cover of Remy Presas' book,Modern Arnis.  I focused on Kenpo while I was at that school and became one of their instructors.   After leaving that school I started taking FMA at the Degerberg academy and worked at Lameco Escrima with one of their instructors and Pekiti Tirsia win another local instructor...I haven't trained in Kenpo since then...


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## MJS (Oct 15, 2013)

Stargazer said:


> For kenpo/kempo martial artists who left to study something different, what type of martial art did you pick next?



Kyokushin.  Kenpo was my first art and I do still enjoy it, although I no longer train in it, but making this change was for the better, for me at least.  



> For those with black belts or a lot of expertise in kenpo/kempo, what styles are most complementary?  What helped take your training to the next level?



Arnis.  Actually, any of the FMAs really.  I have my Black Belt in Arnis, and I've found that it transitioned very good with Kenpo.  I'd say to round things out, a solid grappling program, ie: BJJ, Judo, etc, would also be a huge plus!


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## marlon (Nov 16, 2013)

Still a student of my first love kempo, however, judo is a great compliment for me and taiji has elevated my understanding of kempo and skill set enormously and kajukenbo was a great eye opener for me as well....I want to learn the sticks but time and opportunity have not collided for that way yet.


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## almost a ghost (Nov 18, 2013)

Did Shaolin Kempo with USSD. Did a month of Shaolin Kung Fu a coupe of years later, which was the school's Sifu's mix of southern and northern styles he learned over the decades and then eventually the student would move onto learning North Praying Mantis as the primary style. Moved on from that as I liked the school, but just wanted to learn one style from beginning to end. Found Wing Chun in 2001 and that's been my only style since then.

Why did I go for Chinese arts twice? I always liked the more kung fuey kempo forms and techniques.

Why Wing Chun? I always like that Kempo was a primarily a hand heavy system. Wing Chun was the next logical step.


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## OLD DOG NEW TRICKS (Mar 28, 2014)

Hello, I did the opposite, I started with hard style korean tang soo do and aquired my 2nd Dan BB, then started American Kenpo, wow, Kenpo is a great addition to my base and a superior system in my view. 

NOW THE INSTRUCTOR BECOMES THE STUDENT. A Black Belt is a white belt, who never quit!*
HAPPINESS IS WANTING WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE.**
"For evil to flourish, all that is needed is for good people to do nothing." WWW.DRFUHRMAN.COM WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE. MARTIAL ARTS MAGAZINE ( KENPO)*
Kenpo Karate is a self-defense system based on the natural movements of the body, the basic law of science that for every action there is an equal reaction.
Kenpo is absolutely the most ferocious style of martial arts today. Kenpo is the best and most scientific self defense system in the world at this time. 
The style emphasizes incapacitating your opponent quickly so you can be ready for another attack.Kenpo training emphasizes a scientific approach to combat and features techniques
influenced by various Chinese, Japanese and Hawaiian arts. Many rapid-fire hand techniques and combinations are used.
The more frequently one trains and becomes proficient at the martial arts, the more one discovers that they have less to defend against. Confidence begins to replace fear. 
Defensive skills become internalized resulting in one&#8217;s ability to walk life&#8217;s path appreciating its simple pleasures rather than be blinded by its daily perils. 
*&#8220;Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.&#8221;*
- DEAN WORMER (John Vernon) in National Lampoon&#8217;s Animal House (1978)
*I am become death, the destroyer of worlds.
J. Robert Oppenheimer* (1904-1967) American physicist, known as the "Father of the Atomic Bomb"


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## Randy Strausbaugh (Mar 30, 2014)

I went to Taijiquan, to rehab an injured shoulder.  It was, to say the least, a huge adjustment.  In the long run, though, I feel it was worth it.


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## AAMelendez11 (May 13, 2014)

I studied Kempo at USSD for six years before moving to TKD. I eventually returned to Kempo as an instructor and my instructor studied Israeli Haganah, which really worked well with the Kempo. My instructor modified some of the Kempo curriculum to include aspects from the Haganah system and that made the Kempo even more useful. Long story short, I have once again left Kempo and returned to TKD once again!
I love both Kempo and TKD. As a "traditional" martial artist, Haganah wasn't my cup of tea, but was very practical, no doubt.


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## OLD DOG NEW TRICKS (Aug 27, 2022)

Stargazer said:


> For kenpo/kempo martial artists who left to study something different, what type of martial art did you pick next?
> 
> For those with black belts or a lot of expertise in kenpo/kempo, what styles are most complementary?  What helped take your training to the next level?


If I was a younger man I would start ju jitsu or shoot fighting next.


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## Tony Dismukes (Aug 27, 2022)

OLD DOG NEW TRICKS said:


> If I was a younger man I would start ju jitsu or shoot fighting next.


You’re 50, right? That’s not too old for jiu jitsu.


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## ardimo77 (Oct 4, 2022)

I trained Ed Parker's Kenpo throughout the 1990's and then in 2000, I splintered off and trained Judo for a good ten years and then in 2014, I began Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.  Which is what I am training today.  Kenpo is great and practical, but some of its techniques especially those that deal with head locks and bear hugs and what not, do require some tweaking.   I personally like Jeff Speakman's approach and feel that if Mr. Parker were alive at the turn of the century he would have incorporated grappling into the system, but that's just my opinion.  I could be wrong.


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