"Cross training? In modern terms applied to the martial arts, that has become a "sport concept" that should not apply to the arts as I understand them. Over the years I've studied and managed to pick up a 9th Dan in Karate-do from the World Federation directed by the late Ed Hamile, a 9th Dan in Okazaki's Dan Zan Ryu Jiu-jitsu, along with blacks or equiv in Hap Ki Do, Shotokan, Slapping Hands Gung fu, Silat, etc. Yet I still embrace my "porous" kenpo."
That may seem like a contradiction, but in fact it is not.
The subject of cross training is very interesting and its influence
in Kenpo seems to be a major part of this whole thread. You
have some advanced rankings outside of Kenpo which indicates that you have trained extensively outside of Kenpo. You have:
10th Black in American Kenpo
9th Dan in Karate do
9th Dan in Okazaki's Dan Zan Ryu Jiu-Jitsu
Black Belts in Hap Ki Do
Black in Shotokan
Black in Slapping Hands Gung Fu etc
Black in Silat
Cross training has had absolutely no influence on my Kenpo what so ever. In fact everything I have ever examined actually reinforced my Kenpo philosophies.
Any one of these arts could take a life time to master yet you
have advanced black belts in many. This indicates to me that you
have worked very diligently at cross training because I am assuming these are not honorary in nature. Even though you say that cross training is a sport concept it seems to be something that you yourself have embraced.
No not really. In the fifties and sixties before commercialization, it was not unusual to sample what everyone was doing, and in fact it was encouraged by Ed Parker to do so. You could go from Shotokan, Okinawa te, San Soo, Kenpo, Hap ki do, jiu-jitsu, Aikido, Goju Ryu, Five Animal Gung Fu, Tai Chi, Hung Gar, Choi Li Fut, etc all within 10/12 miles. They all had open door nights where anyone could come in and train. The number of people involved in the arts was so small, there was little of the commercial (read money) bickering seen today.
Why would you spend so much of your time working at these other arts if you have discovered there are no holes within Kenpo and there is nothing missing from what Mr. Parker gave you?
In the beginning it was curiosity, and I was already studying various Gung fu and karate methodologies when I met Parker so it wasnÂ’t unusual. After that Parker began to actually explain what I had previously learned in terms I could understand, the rest was not that difficult.
Again maybe these are honorary in nature but for the moment I am assuming that you have trained and earned these titles through hard work? How have these other systems influenced what you do in your Kenpo?
They really havenÂ’t influenced my Kenpo at all, except to validate my course of study. What my Kenpo training allowed me to do is decipher other arts and make them rather simplistic in comparison. Understanding true physical principles and concepts of execution allows me to look at any art and beak it down to what is useful. Much of other arts is ritual, cultural, or philosophical as opposed to practical. Ed ParkerÂ’s strength is he understood others arts as well or better than they did.
Although I was not given any rank intended to be “honorary”, I personally consider ALL rank honorary. It is only knowledge and skill that matters. Rank stripes and belts are more about the “business” of the martial arts, and for me really have no place in the teaching of true “martial Science.” Of course most of my black belts disagree to some extent.
My point is at a certain level, all legitimate arts are the same. The only differences are philosophical and/or cultural. You’d be surprised at the similarity of Kenpo and Pentjak once you get beyond cultural filler. All manipulations arts ultimately, have a physical imperative of functionality. The rest are “disciplines” that concern themselves with cultural mandates of dictated sameness for consistency of the discipline itself, and function is a secondary consideration if at all. So it is by staying with one credible art that has given me the insight to make other arts simplistic in the long run. Had I jumped around attempting to fix one art with another, I would not have the great overall perspective given me by a truly credible and imaginative teacher.
"cross training" is a modern philosophy, that may have validity for an individual, but not for an overall art. Don't project what you do for yourself beyond your own personal experiences, because that's all they are - your experiences. The art itself doesn't need it or you to contaminate it. There are very few people qualified to "fix" any art, but everyone can adjust their own experiences.
Nuff said.