OP
twinkletoes
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- Thread Starter
- #21
2 last ones:
--While I'm thinking of Matt Thornton, let's group Kenpo's methods according to his "3 I's" method.
Introduction: This is where a move is introduced, and the student practices it for proper form. This includes hitting focus pads or heavy bags. This develops correct technique, and builds attributes like power, speed, follow-through, and accuracy.
Isolation: This is where the move is developed through [alive] drilling, so that attributes of timing, distancing, and a sense of appropriateness is developed. For example, maybe one partner needs to work his side kick: he can't seem to get it to work in sparring. So his partner puts some gloves on and throws only basic attacks, like backfist-reverse punch (jab-cross) or other kicks, and his parner uses only the side kick, so he learns when to use it. Slowly they increase tempo or add things that the trainer can do until the student feels comfortable using his side kick in an alive situation.
Integration: Spar, and employ the skill while sparring.
If we look at basic moves from Kenpo, they are obviously trained in the Intro stage, and probably the isolation and the integration stages. HOWEVER pre-scripted techniques and katas fall ONLY into the introduction stage. They can't be isolated in alive training because they are not alive patterns! And I can tell you right now that I personally cannot use my techniques or katas "move-for-move" in sparring.
If we are aiming to teach spontanaeity and improvisation, why don't we train it?
--Lastly, the reason I am on here bellyaching about it is really this: The school where I teach is not my school, and I don't make pretenses that it is. I'm probably about 5th in the chain of command out of about a dozen active instructors, and I've been a black belt for almost 7 years (teaching assistant for years before that). I don't have any desire to change this school: it's not my school, and that's not my place. The school is a wonderful school and they do great things for their students, but it's the curriculum that I have a problem with. It's the product I disagree with, not the service.
However, I am planning on opening my own school in the next couple of years, and it was sort of shocking to me when I realized I didn't want to teach Kenpo (I teach other styles, including BJJ and Modern Arnis). I thought for awhile about ways to "trim" the curriculum or tailor it towards alive drilling and improvisation, but every time I go to flesh it out, in the end it looks like this:
Learn and develop basic strikes, takedowns, etc.
Develop skill in using them in an alive setting.
Gather experiences in different ranges.
Integrate the skills of all of these alive methods.
Eliminate kata and other prearranged, cooperative movement sets.
This comes out sounding like a JKD curriculum (and frankly, it is). That brings around my other initial question--doesn't Kenpo theory eventually imply JKD?
(We (kenpoka) want improvisation and spontaneous reaction-->so we train that way-->sparring and alive drilling-->experience in a variety of unscripted environments-->JKD)
<Whew> Keep the responses coming--I enjoy hearing from you all.
~Chris
--While I'm thinking of Matt Thornton, let's group Kenpo's methods according to his "3 I's" method.
Introduction: This is where a move is introduced, and the student practices it for proper form. This includes hitting focus pads or heavy bags. This develops correct technique, and builds attributes like power, speed, follow-through, and accuracy.
Isolation: This is where the move is developed through [alive] drilling, so that attributes of timing, distancing, and a sense of appropriateness is developed. For example, maybe one partner needs to work his side kick: he can't seem to get it to work in sparring. So his partner puts some gloves on and throws only basic attacks, like backfist-reverse punch (jab-cross) or other kicks, and his parner uses only the side kick, so he learns when to use it. Slowly they increase tempo or add things that the trainer can do until the student feels comfortable using his side kick in an alive situation.
Integration: Spar, and employ the skill while sparring.
If we look at basic moves from Kenpo, they are obviously trained in the Intro stage, and probably the isolation and the integration stages. HOWEVER pre-scripted techniques and katas fall ONLY into the introduction stage. They can't be isolated in alive training because they are not alive patterns! And I can tell you right now that I personally cannot use my techniques or katas "move-for-move" in sparring.
If we are aiming to teach spontanaeity and improvisation, why don't we train it?
--Lastly, the reason I am on here bellyaching about it is really this: The school where I teach is not my school, and I don't make pretenses that it is. I'm probably about 5th in the chain of command out of about a dozen active instructors, and I've been a black belt for almost 7 years (teaching assistant for years before that). I don't have any desire to change this school: it's not my school, and that's not my place. The school is a wonderful school and they do great things for their students, but it's the curriculum that I have a problem with. It's the product I disagree with, not the service.
However, I am planning on opening my own school in the next couple of years, and it was sort of shocking to me when I realized I didn't want to teach Kenpo (I teach other styles, including BJJ and Modern Arnis). I thought for awhile about ways to "trim" the curriculum or tailor it towards alive drilling and improvisation, but every time I go to flesh it out, in the end it looks like this:
Learn and develop basic strikes, takedowns, etc.
Develop skill in using them in an alive setting.
Gather experiences in different ranges.
Integrate the skills of all of these alive methods.
Eliminate kata and other prearranged, cooperative movement sets.
This comes out sounding like a JKD curriculum (and frankly, it is). That brings around my other initial question--doesn't Kenpo theory eventually imply JKD?
(We (kenpoka) want improvisation and spontaneous reaction-->so we train that way-->sparring and alive drilling-->experience in a variety of unscripted environments-->JKD)
<Whew> Keep the responses coming--I enjoy hearing from you all.
~Chris
I was starting to wonder if I was the only one who had experienced this. I love BJJ: train hard with partners who fight back. No theory, just results.
