Dr John La Tourrette

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

My American Kenpo instructor trained under "the Doc", and had nothing but praise for the man and his teaching methods. I no longer train in AK but still trust his judgement.
--Dave


:asian:

Thank you Dave.

Who was your instructor.

I've trained thousands in Kenpo Karate over the past 37 years and I do lose track of my good black belts.

Which is one reason I went and taught at the 2007 GOE.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

Yes you are. I am not trying to be rude, but what you lack is experience. I am not stating that Mr. LaTourette is not talented nor that he has not trained some good fighters, but I am stating that what he is doing is basically a trick.

I find it amusing that my "tricks" work so well on almost everyone.

Even on high ranking long time black belts.

I think that the world is flat. LOL.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

No, he means its a trick in the manner that Mr. L tells you how to stand and where to put your hands, he then exploits your imposed limitations, with one of any number of counters. Its his game, you played, and were played. As I stated before, shoot off the line of attack instead of trying to clap your hands toguether, and you might beat his action.
Sean

Sorry, wrong again.

It's actually Zero Perception and...

...a relaxed hand that bypasses the contraction, relaxation, contraction cycle.

Plus many Master keys, ie. elbow placement, place of other hand, blab, blab, blab.

I find it so amusing that you who know nothing about me or my skills are continuing to condemn them and find fault with them.

Why don't you learn them?

Then you'd know they work.

Just a thought.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

Speed hitting may be a reality, but it belies a problem Kenpoka have spent years trying to overcome. Mr. Parker was phenom at blasting off high-speed combos with enough force to crack your noggin if he nailed it. Well-meaning students sought to emulate him by shortening the path of momentum of movements, and kenpo became a "slap art", with tournaments and belt tests full of people hitting themselves more ineffectively than they could hit another. It is easy to sacrifice strength and power for speed. It's impressive, too...your moves look cleaner, and you can rifle them off more quickly, making you look that much better than the guy you're standing next to. But it's a farce. Hitting faster DOES NOT equal hitting harder.

Interesting note: In Mr. Parkers black belt classes, he would demo a technique with wide, heavy-handed arcs that landed like hammers, then ask the class to do the same tech he just demo'd. Looking around, the attendees would perform the series correctly, with shortened slappier versions of what Parker did. Did they really think they were doing the same thing? His palm-heel to the chest would knock me back, up into the air and against the wall behind me (I weigh 225); theirs would hit me hard enough to interrupt a train of thought, maybe. But it was quick.

Speed-boy has yet to enter into the body of evidence that his trickery is anything more than the sacrifice of one advantage -- power -- for another -- speed. I would rather stick my chin out to take one from him, than from a slower, larger, and more intense Mike Tyson.

Watch him on video or in person again, and notice how little momentum energy (power) sits behind his strikes. See someone responding like they've been thumped? Remember the Aikido problem...you only get lobbed around the room if you're stupid enough to hold on to the wrist...the recipients are conditioned to comply.

Actually I'm a man well into my 60's that has been doing Kenpo Karate for 37 years with the best out there.

And I'm a power hitter from way back, even you don't think so.

Watching what you know nothing about is NOT the same as training at the skill.

I suggest you train at the skill and then make your comments about my skills.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

I could see where that comes from and agree. I've had a chance to see several of his tapes and he is hard on his guys to the point of being degrading. I trained with a LaTourrette 6th for about 5 years who wasn't like that. The two consistant factors were fighting and speed. We fought a lot. I heard from several high ranking belts that said many of the LaTourrette guys they've met weren't that knowledgable in the principle and concept department, but they were definitely tough fighters.

SGM Parker gave him a 5th so he couldn't have been that bad I'm guessing. At any rate his books have at least helped to create an interest in Kenpo for some, whether they were self serving or not, it's more than many have done.

jb:asian:

Yep.
I've seen my tapes and I do come across real mouthly.

I find it amusing and so do my students.

And my students are real tough fighters.

Isn't that whats it all about.

Thank you.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

Well,

You know we've had this discussion on this very subject at length for years so I do know. I'm just teasing. Of course SGM Parker brought people on, but I doubt that he ever recruited (I could be wrong) my guess would be that people approached him to join his group. Everybody wants to be on the winning team or with the group with momentum.

But I would wonder if that nickname was used in context after LaTourrette put out the unauthorized Kenpo book that basically used (stole) all of SGM Parkers info. repackaged or if it came in the context after LaTourrette decide to break off from the IKKA and continue with his own AIKKA (American International Karate & Kung fu schools of America).

My old instructor told me about the meeting that took place in the early to mid 80's where people were given the choice to stay with LaTourrette or continue with the IKKA. Of that group the only one that publically stepped away at that time was Berry Benedict (sp), a hard nosed fighter, who now trains under Mr. Sepulveda, as I understand it.

jb:asian:

Actually I kicked Berry Benedict out because he pissed me off.

And it was not Berry's fault, but my fault.

That was a bad mistake on my part.

Barry was a great student, and I should NOT have done what I did to him.

And the above story about the "non-approved" kenpo book is wrong.

I wrote Mental Training of a Warrior in 1978. I wrote Secrets of Kenpo Karate in 1980. While in Eugene OR I was talking with Mr. Parker and he told me that he only wanted "him" to write books on Kenpo. I told him "fine". In 1981 I wrote Master's Kicking Guide and I did receive my 5th degree black belt.

Mr. Parker wrote the preface to both the 1978 book and the 1981 book.

I left Mr. Parker because of a conflict with his wife, and I never had a conflict with Mr. Parker.

There is more to that story but that is enough for this list.

I find the rumors "interesting".

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

What Billings said below is basically, Well. right ........!



Every case was different. He was multi-dimensional about promotions. First off, he never put much weight in any belt..... but rather "THE PERSON" wearing it. That being said, he also had a unique way of putting certain individuals on the "hot seat" by promoting them and then watching them either "step up to the plate" or "try to survive" at that rank when in the presence of another person who was possibly the same rank or lower but obviously had much more skill or knowledge than he/she. It was his way or trying to either motivate, humble, or try to make the individual realize that the "BELT" is worth "NOTHING" unless it is supported by "SOMEBODY" in it that is worth something.

Some actually asked him for rank (something I was taught you NEVER did). There were many reasons/factors such as "It would help my status in my region", "I have students close to me that will need promoted soon", "I am a leader in my area in Kenpo but all the other Instructors at local studios (TaeKwonDo, Hapkido etc.) out rank me as if our art is 2nd rate", etc, etc. I could go on and on and tell you a hundred reasons that people told him.

Well, being an extremely trusting, kind-hearted, generous and loving man, he promoted many with the intent to 1) Advance American Kenpo (trusting that the individual would responded with gratitude, loyalty and actually become super motivated to learn HIS system as he intended & surely keep training and promoting Kenpo which would be an asset), 2) Help out the individual with his needs 3) Lend Credibility with his endorsement thus increasing competitiveness in the general business market increasing Assn. numbers, which would benefit everyone worldwide.
Sadly, it rarely worked out the way that he had hoped for, and then of course he passed away and could no longer keep working with some of these "projects" as he called them, to finish what he alone had started and he alone could finish. Most of these individuals know who they are and when Mr. Parker passed away, rather than band together with other Seniors, most chose to encapsulate themselves and their groups and created their own persona saying that they Studied with Ed Parker (which they did most for only short periods of time) and thus giving credibility to act as independents and become instant Masters.

There are several individuals today that are wearing high ranks that do not get the respect normally rendered or expected, due to exactly "HOW" they acquired their rank. Today in Kenpo the 10th Degree Black is an abomination! Due to what many have done to our system. It is unfortunately a Joke and an embarrassment.

That being said, I am not implying that several of those individuals are not highly skilled, excellent fighters, excellent teachers, have exceptional knowledge on some aspect/s of Kenpo, great individuals, or have been around for many years, or paid many dues, for several have tremendous merits. On the other hand, some are bogus, low ranking, greedy, unskilled opportunists, liars, thieves, that are lacking much knowledge and true credibility. Many have treated Mr. Parker & his system with disrespect and are not deserving of any levity or support. They know who they are and so do most by the popularity they receive when their names come up in conversation.

At least that's my opinion...... I might be wrong.

:asian:

Mr. Parker had a heart of GOLD.

I really liked and respected the man.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

 

[Touch Of Death]

Wow this is an old thread I hardly remember posting. I'll have to get back to you on what makes sense but. Being off the line of attack does eliminate the need for blocking in some states.
Sean

 

[Cruentus]

Dang Doc. That's quite a few consecutive replies

For those interested, here is a recent youtube video:

Hilarious to watch the Uke. Poor guy! :lol: I laughed out loud when all of a sudden he appeared with headgear on about a minute and a half into it.

Anyway, not really what I do (I tend to box, break, stab, and shoot people), but Dr. La Tourrette is very fast with what he does, and one can see speed principles and principles of neurological overload/shutdown at work.

It seems that critics might be a little too hard on you, Dr.? I don't know Kenpo politics or history here, so I can't say. But nice job on the video clip...

With respect,
C.

 

[still learning]

Hello, Dr. John La Tourrettee ..."the faster hands alive" ....still have one of the early video tapes of him...how to hit 18 times in a second....WOW"

Mr Ed parker had learn some of his skills from "Willlam Chow" ....known as "lighting chow" from Hawaii....

Master Chow....was the fastest hands....He art Hara Ko was past on (see Hara Ko)

Dr. John La Tourrettee....made it more famous...the lighting strikes of kempo......His natural flows works coming and going...with speed and power added!

Want to improve your skills? ....suggest you get his videos, and programs or sign up for his classes?

He is always "fun" to watch...and learn from........Aloha ( Hawaiian time is always slower...)

PS: The difference between ON time and Hawaiian time is about 12 minutes slower....Hawaiian time..

Hey I meet you at "ten" ....actully 10:12...

 

[Gentle Fist]

Wow this post came back from the dead. Pretty cool video. I would be interested to see this concept full speed on a totally resisting opponent. (Attempting clinch or with a good boxing guard) My only quirk with most kenpo stuff, is that the guy is just standing there. But then again this was just a demo.

BTW. Welcome to the board John.

 

[arnisador]

I would be interested to see this concept full speed on a totally resisting opponent. (Attempting clinch or with a good boxing guard) My only quirk with most kenpo stuff, is that the guy is just standing there.

Yes, I agree! Standing still is useful for demonstrations but the occasional full-speed, guard-up, resisting demo is convincing, and all too often the Kenpo demonstrations are guilty of posing the person just-so. On the other hand, there are many self-defense situations that are not analogous to free-sparring and so the fact that it mightn't be easy to pull it off when squared off with a boxer doesn't mean it won't work when someone comes forward to choke you.

Welcome to the board John.

Yes, definitely! Is it Dr.? Where did you go for a Ph.D. in this? Was the speed-hitting part of your research?

I enjoyed your books that came out in the late 70s-early 80s...I still have 5 of them on my bookshelf!

 

[tshadowchaser]

Sir
welcome to the forum
We are usually pretty relaxed in the way we address each other here so may i ask how you wish to be addressed on the forum (not saying all will go that way but I will ask)

sheldon

 

[D.Cobb]

Thank you Dave.

Who was your instructor.

I've trained thousands in Kenpo Karate over the past 37 years and I do lose track of my good black belts.

Which is one reason I went and taught at the 2007 GOE.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette

Hey Doc. My instructor was Mr. Tony Angus. I believe he got his Black belt under your instruction. When he got back here to Australia, he opened his own school.

These days I believe he is under Jeff Speakman.

--Dave
:asian:

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

I enjoyed your books that came out in the late 70s-early 80s...I still have 5 of them on my bookshelf!

Thank you.

The book market changed drastically around 87, so we went to videos.

And with the videos (now on DVD) we wrote manuals for.

Like that short thing my son put up for kenpotalk on youtube a few months back.

Someone asked me a question (over there) about some specific waza's we taught our students to develope their hand speed. So I got one of my clients and put that up in about 10 minutes...a demo of specific waza's to develop hand speed. NOT to spar with. NOT to wipe their butts with. Not to kill mercenaries with. NOT for taekwon-do "lock-out" people to look at and miss-match.

The funny thing was, my own clients then wanted more explanations of the Master Keys used...

So, for them, I took a couple of days and wrote a 104 page manual going over the REAL Master Keys of speed (some of them) that were in that 5 minute youtude demo.

They loved it! And then they took the DVD and matched the "what they saw/feel" to the notes and THEY actually learned something.

I was proud of them. And it was fun for me and my students to do.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette
www.realspeedhitting.com
www.mentaltrainingsecrets.com

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

Hey Doc. My instructor was Mr. Tony Angus. I believe he got his Black belt under your instruction. When he got back here to Australia, he opened his own school.

These days I believe he is under Jeff Speakman.

--Dave
:asian:

Yes Dave,

Tony was a good student of mine back in 83-86 in Colo Spg, CO, when I was under Ed Parker. He did earn a 1st Dan under me.

I was hoping to see him at the Gathering of Eagles, 2007...

I've some pictures of him and I up on the wall in my home workout area.

I wish him all the best.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette
www.mentaltrainingsecrets.com
www.realspeedhitting.com

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

Wow this post came back from the dead. Pretty cool video. I would be interested to see this concept full speed on a totally resisting opponent. (Attempting clinch or with a good boxing guard) My only quirk with most kenpo stuff, is that the guy is just standing there. But then again this was just a demo.

Yep.

It was just a demo. I've given the reasons for that demo already.

I also agree with you somewhat on "is that the guy is just standing there"...

...Which is a part of learning the 5 levels of Competency on any new task.

The memorization part always starts on a non-resting uke so that the steps, Master Keys and targets can be learned at a slow speed.

But that is the FIRST step. There are MORE steps for Mastery.

Thank you for the welcome.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette
www.mentaltrainingsecrets.com
www.realspeedhitting.com

 

[Dr John M La Tourrette]

Dang Doc. That's quite a few consecutive replies For those interested, here is a recent youtube video:

Hilarious to watch the Uke. Poor guy! :lol: I laughed out loud when all of a sudden he appeared with headgear on about a minute and a half into it.
Anyway, not really what I do (I tend to box, break, stab, and shoot people), but Dr. La Tourrette is very fast with what he does, and one can see speed principles and principles of neurological overload/shutdown at work.
It seems that critics might be a little too hard on you, Dr.? I don't know Kenpo politics or history here, so I can't say. But nice job on the video clip...
With respect,
C.

Yep,
I've not posted much here. I was spending my time with kenpotalk (I was their #1 poster this year with 2,500 approximate post) until I had a falling-out with their global moderator there. He thought I was not polite enough to him or some of his moderators. He privately told me I was "taunting the moderators" and it would NOT be tolerated.

Of course he was openly bad-mouthing my friend Al Tracy, because of his own hurts and agendas.

One of the moderators said that Popeye was as wise as Plato. I couldn't resist replying to that.

Yep.
We did the hear gear thing so the watchers could still see the uke get knocked out. Plus I was feeling a bit sorry for the fellow. We gave him a bunch of punishment.

Yep.
I also boxed, in fact I did it first, back in the 50's, before we knew about karate, and American kenpo had not yet been born. Then I was in the karate hitting power systems in the60's and early 70's. Knuckle training, brick breaking, bag work, thousands and thousands of hours.

Yep.
I've been bad-mouthed. Most of it is coming from one fellow that I kicked off my free yahoo groups 2 years ago because he was NOT polite to other posters. Since then he's attempted to infer that my PhD is not Totally Valid, that I'm not a 5th Dan (81) under Ed Parker, an 8th Hachidan (86) under Al Tracy, and a 10th Dan (95) under Jim Mitchell.

What is neat, is those people that have brains have found out through their own investigations, is that my PhD in Sports Psychology is valid (and so are my other MBA degree in Business Management and 2 BA degrees in Education, and Psychology) and Calif. state approved and that I do have all those credentials (plus many many more).

So even though I was totally retired when the bitching by him stated, we made more friends and sold more products last year than any other year since I totally retired in 97.

If anyone has something they want to know, and I can help them, cool. I'd like to do that.

I am very busy since I came out of retirement last Jan 2007, but I still sit down at the computer and write a bit every evening when I can access a computer.

Thank you for welcoming me here.
Dr. John M. La Tourrette
www.mentaltrainingsecrets.com
www.realspeedhitting.com

 

[D.Cobb]

Yes Dave,

Tony was a good student of mine back in 83-86 in Colo Spg, CO, when I was under Ed Parker. He did earn a 1st Dan under me.

I was hoping to see him at the Gathering of Eagles, 2007...

I've some pictures of him and I up on the wall in my home workout area.

I wish him all the best.

Dr. John M. La Tourrette
www.mentaltrainingsecrets.com
www.realspeedhitting.com

I'll pass your wishes on.

--Dave

 

[arnisador]

What is neat, is those people that have brains have found out through their own investigations, is that my PhD in Sports Psychology is valid

In fairness, so many people in the martial arts world have bogus credentials that I am not surprised that someone would ask for documentation. A doctorate is only one of many titles people tend to take onto themselves.