Originally posted by jbkenpo
That is a huge compliment, because you've come across some old school guys that were very physically gifted at that time as well, right? Tommy Chavis, Steve Sanders (goes without saying), and many of those old BKF guys that will remain forever nameless...
jb:asian:
Well JB that is true, but to be honest I don't consider BKF to be "Kenpo" as most of us would mean it. You see they do not subscribe to any of the basics, principles, or concepts of kenpo and teach none of it's techniques, forms, or vocabulary. It bares no resemblance to any of Ed Parker's interpretations and it's teaching is completely unique in the martial arts. It is so much of an anomolous art that it only bares the name "kenpo" because that is Steves roots.
But Steve comes from a time before the art had evolved, and because of his naturals skills at sparring, that is pretty much all he did and subsequently taught in a sport based interpretation. He was so good at it, that's all he needed to do, and subsequently teach to students, as well as compete as a member of the competition team at the time.
As Parker moved to the technique based system, Steve as a student in the Chuck Sullivan school continued to concentrate on sparring. And that was fine with Chuck Sullivan because he too was a "fighter." You could roam from Kenpo school to Kenpo school and do techniques, but everyone knew if you wanted to "thump" you had to go to the Chuck Sullivan school. It was common knowledge and was known informally as the "fighting school." When Steve began teaching on his own, he taught sparring and awarded rank unceremoniously for sparring ability and competition success.
That being said there were many very talented guys, many of which I was involved in their training. Most of the well known competitors came from other schools to learn to spar and did well. There was an instructor name Bill Short who ran a traditional school teaching what he called Kobayashi Ryu. Students like Earnest Russell, Ricky Heath, Gary Goodman left there and came over to train. Sammy Spain came form Tae Kwon Do. I recruited and trained Lenny Ferguson from my old Gung fu school at Grandmaster Ark Wong's. Alfred "Hot Dog" Harvey, Vontrea Moss, Kraiguer Smith, came from Shorin Ryu, Frank Wilson who came from Chicago and studied with John Keehan, etc.
Unquestionably the fastest guy on earth was Frank Wilson. I saw Jim Kelly throw a side kick at Frank in a tournament. Frank dropped under the side kick to the floor and threw a sidekick from the floor up to his groin with perfect control, and when Kelly retracted the kick, Frank was back on his feet and Kelly never saw that he "wasn't "there" and questioned where the point came from.
Ricky Heath was also incredibly fast. A nice man who toured as a bassist with "The Brothers Johnson" (for those old enough to remember) and ultimately became a Sheriff's Deputy.
The most prominant in the speed category was Lenny Ferguson. I saw Lenny at the IKC angle off and throw a roundhouse kick at his opponent and knock him off his feet. As the opponent fell, Lenny recocked the kick in the air and adjusted it's trajectory and kicked him again, both with full power.
There were a lot of very talented guys but only a couple ever tackled Ed Parker's "system."
