Clark Kent
<B>News Bot</B>
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When rubber meets the road...
By Dr. Dave in da house - 04-01-2013 07:45 PM
Originally Posted at: KenpoTalk
====================
The other day, I’m talking to my long-time buddy (one of my black belts) about the fact my 8-year old is starting karate at an after-school program, and how I’m planning on supplementing his training with some boxing lessons and clean-up drills. He asks, “Are you going to teach him kenpo?”. Without thinking or pausing, I reply, “Hell no. Kenpo’s for killing, and no 8-year old boy needs to know how to kill with his hands.”
In that moment of hearing myself say that, it was clear to me what I train for. Extremes. And as my buddy noted, there are lots of arts out there for various purposes, but really the only point for training kenpo religiously is to be able to end and attackers onslaught with extreme prejudice, in a very brief encounter. It's a theme so embedded in me, I can't drop it when I try to: I'll get busted in the mat for aiming club strike into the throat, when they're supposed to be targeting the abdomen.
I can teach him Muay Thai, JKD Modified Kick-Boxing, Judo and BJJ, and he will be able to whup most of the people, most of the time. In my mind, kenpo is for disarticulating human beings. It’s for going hunting, when I don’t have other tools to rely on. It’s for when I need to drop someone fast and hard, but left my boom-shooters and sharp-shinies in my other shorts.
Folks say things like, “My kenpo is for self-defense”, without (IMO) having really thought through what that means. If you find yourself in a position that justifies the mayhem of shredding another human, that means you have been out-gunned, out-numbered, out-classed, and they are going to kill you. Or someone you love. Are you mentally prepared for the intensity of that moment? Can you respond past the paralysis of mind-numbing shock and disbelief that comes with being assaulted with that ferocity? Can you live with the memories after-the-fact, of seeing your hands peel open another person in a blended combination of rage and fear? Has your training been intense enough, challenging enough, hard enough, and grueling enough to really prepare you to hit someone hard enough to render them unable to continue their adrenaline-fueled mayhem against you?
I have my kenpo gloves half hung-up, because as I age I’m seeing fewer reasons to keep this paranoia-fueled level of preparedness up. I’m more concerned about getting out of student loan debt, than I am about being ready for the ninjas in the parking lot.
How about y’all?
Read More...
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KenpoTalk.com Post Bot - Kenpo Feed
By Dr. Dave in da house - 04-01-2013 07:45 PM
Originally Posted at: KenpoTalk
====================
The other day, I’m talking to my long-time buddy (one of my black belts) about the fact my 8-year old is starting karate at an after-school program, and how I’m planning on supplementing his training with some boxing lessons and clean-up drills. He asks, “Are you going to teach him kenpo?”. Without thinking or pausing, I reply, “Hell no. Kenpo’s for killing, and no 8-year old boy needs to know how to kill with his hands.”
In that moment of hearing myself say that, it was clear to me what I train for. Extremes. And as my buddy noted, there are lots of arts out there for various purposes, but really the only point for training kenpo religiously is to be able to end and attackers onslaught with extreme prejudice, in a very brief encounter. It's a theme so embedded in me, I can't drop it when I try to: I'll get busted in the mat for aiming club strike into the throat, when they're supposed to be targeting the abdomen.
I can teach him Muay Thai, JKD Modified Kick-Boxing, Judo and BJJ, and he will be able to whup most of the people, most of the time. In my mind, kenpo is for disarticulating human beings. It’s for going hunting, when I don’t have other tools to rely on. It’s for when I need to drop someone fast and hard, but left my boom-shooters and sharp-shinies in my other shorts.
Folks say things like, “My kenpo is for self-defense”, without (IMO) having really thought through what that means. If you find yourself in a position that justifies the mayhem of shredding another human, that means you have been out-gunned, out-numbered, out-classed, and they are going to kill you. Or someone you love. Are you mentally prepared for the intensity of that moment? Can you respond past the paralysis of mind-numbing shock and disbelief that comes with being assaulted with that ferocity? Can you live with the memories after-the-fact, of seeing your hands peel open another person in a blended combination of rage and fear? Has your training been intense enough, challenging enough, hard enough, and grueling enough to really prepare you to hit someone hard enough to render them unable to continue their adrenaline-fueled mayhem against you?
I have my kenpo gloves half hung-up, because as I age I’m seeing fewer reasons to keep this paranoia-fueled level of preparedness up. I’m more concerned about getting out of student loan debt, than I am about being ready for the ninjas in the parking lot.
How about y’all?
Read More...
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KenpoTalk.com Post Bot - Kenpo Feed
