My Experience at the KFCI Homecoming Event

[Thesemindz]

I went to the Karate for Christ International Homecoming Event this morning here in Springfield Missouri and had a great time. There were a lot of seminars and I tried to take notes on everything we covered. I may have missed a few things here and there, but I tried to include it all. Maybe anyone else can fill in whatever blanks I leave. I also tried to include the actual names of techniques where I could, but several I had to simply describe. If anyone has any questions I'll try to answer them if I can.

We got started with a light stretch and warm up that included shoulder rolls forward and backward, jumping jacks, and wrist, arm, ankle, and leg stretches. After that we got started with the morning session of seminars.


First Seminar – Judo (Hapkido)

Sankyo (wrist lock) to takedown / defense with rolling escape
Standing Ude Garami (bent arm lock) from lapel grab to takedown / defense with rolling escape
Ground Ude Garami from lapel grab to submission
Ground Guard Pass from Open Guard by using one of the feet to press out one of the opponent's base knees and rolling to Mount
Double Outward Pulling Arm Bar from High Closed Guard
​

Second Seminar – Judo

Deashi Harai (foot sweep) moving laterally left and right
Deashi Harai advancing
Deashi Harai circling
O Goshi (large hip throw) set up / defense with Yoko Guruma (side wheel throw)​

Third Seminar – Taekwondo

Middle Stance
Front Stance
Back Stance
Horizontal Punches
Outward Handswords
Upward Blocks
Front Kicks
Round Kicks
Side Kicks​

Fourth Seminar – Japanese Jujutsu

Sankyo to rearward takedown
Ikkyo with Elbow Control to forward takedown / defense with rolling escape
Nikyo from lapel grab to takedown
Nikyo + Head Control to takedown and finish with Gooseneck Arm Lock / defense with rolling escape​

Fifth Seminar – Youn Wha Ryu (Adaptive Martial Arts)

Warm Up with Cross Leg Jumping Jacks, Switching Lift Leg Pushups and Switching Side Plank Pushups
In Place Repeated Hooking Parries against Horizontal Punches
In Place Scissor Switch Stance Transition
Step Kicking – Front Kick Advancing, Spinning Crescent Kicks
Inside Defense against Lunge Punch (block to inside/3 strikes to centerline)
Outside Defense against Lunge Punch (block to outside/3 strikes to torso and head)
Outside to Inside Defense against Lunge Punch (block to outside/circle arm low to inside position with lead handsword counter to neck)
Wrist Grab Escapes for Straight and Cross Wrist Grabs and Counter Striking to Centerline​

Sixth Seminar – Hapkido

Offbalancing Activity – facing partner across five feet using belt for “tug of war” to get opponent to step
Double Lapel Grab defense with Wrist Grab/Step to Centerline/Cross Elbow Trap/Outward Elbow to Head
Add Inner Wrist Lock to Straight Standing Armbar
Add Linear and Circular Takedown from Straight Standing Armbar
Add Gooseneck Arm Lock Finish
Inside defense against Lunge Punch to Circling Folding Arm Throw
Inside defense against Lunge Punch to Circling Elbow Trap to Ude Hishigi Waki Gatame (armpit armlock) to takedown and control
Tenchinage (heaven and earth throw) practice from kneeling position​

Seventh Seminar – Filipino Knife (Kenpo)

Angle 1 Cut (inward downward) defense with lead side cross body forearm parry/low circle pass/rear side jam to elbow/lead side cross strike high
Add wrist grab/rear step and armpull/underhand wrist lock to reorient the weapon facing the opponent/strip or drive knife into opponent's lung
Angle 1 Cut/Angle 2 Cut (outward downward) combination strike defense with lead side cross body forearm parry/low circle pass/rear side cross body forearm parry/low circle/lead side palm strike high
Angle 3 Cut (low thrust) defense without side downward deflecting projection​

Eighth Seminar – Taekwondo

How to teach a Kid's Class Discussion
​

Be emotive/Have Fun​

Disguise Repetition
3 Rules of Focus (focus your eyes/focus your ears/focus your mind)
3 Listening Positions (cross legs seated, parade rest, attention stance)
Teaching Life Skills and Discipline​

How to teach an Adult's Class Discussion​

Be Professional/Be Knowledgeable​

Use Class Plans
Promote/Model Excellence
Keep Training
Know Anatomy
History of TKD as descendant of Silla Empire Martial Arts
Benefits of Forms Training (power, breath, form, repetition, combinations)
Developing Destructive Power (action and reaction, breathing, balance, speed)
Difference between being a great fighter and being a great instructor​

Ninth Seminar – Hapkido

Driving the Opponent to Cause him to step back/Sweeping the stepping foot before it can plant
Outside Punch Defense to Driving Cross Over the Shoulder Rearward Takedown
Add Spinal Lock to prevent Opponent from stepping out of takedown attempt
Setting Large Hip Throw by stepping in and replacing Opponent's center of mass with own while pulling on to back and lifting with the legs​

Tenth Seminar – Kenpo

Kenpo Principles – realistic attacks, canceling/manipulating the opponent's height/width/depth/time
Four Ranges of Contact – out of contact, contact, contact penetration, contact manipulation
Repeating Mace
​

parrying/elongating the opponent's width/bringing target to weapon/contact penetration​

Sword of Destruction
​

blocking/framing/canceling forward momentum/knee checking/3 points of contact​

Thrusting Salute
​

double factor blocking/anatomical repositioning/marriage of gravity/negative body posture​

Obscure Wing
​

realistic grabs(grab/push/pull)/stealing the opponent's balance and position/rearward body slams/body alignment/obscure strikes​

Sword and Hammer
​

obscure zones/stepping behind the opponent's legs to prepare to off balance his stance/recognizing close and far range opponents from obscure zones by sensing opponent's body position through contact points​

Passing it Down (lining up by rank and passing down backnuckle strikes to the torso)

​

That's it. It was about nine hours of karate training, with a few water breaks and a break for lunch in the middle of the day. It was awesome. Everybody was really great. My experience with the Karate for Christ organization and the people involved has always been a positive one, and this was no exception. Everyone had a great attitude, and seemed to be really enjoying themselves and open to all the different seminars and approaches being presented.

For those who have concerns about the religious elements of the event, there were several prayers and some evangelizing and several mentions of Jesus and Christianity. That being said, I knew going in that I was attending a Karate for Christ event held in a Church, and everyone was really great. The religious discussion always came from a positive place of sharing, and no one ever asked me what I believed or what my religion was or made any effort to convert me or testify to me personally. I really believe that anyone who was confident in their own beliefs and accepting of the beliefs of others would have no problem at all in this environment. I really don't think you could have a problem here unless you were looking to be a problem.

After training all day they went out to dinner but I couldn't join them because I had to pick up my wife fromwork. I came home and immediately started having muscle spasms and cramps, so I got out the hot bean bags and have been basically laying under a pile of heat pads for the last five hours in between getting up and stretching. I'm sore, tired, and bruised. We did A LOT of throwing and rolling today, which was great, but slamming into that mat all day was exhausting. I started drinking water and taking ibuprofen the minute I got home, and I'm glad I did. I'm sure I'll be stiff tomorrow.

One of the really interesting things about today was how similar all our different approaches really were. The general theme of the seminars was back to basics/you're only as good as your basics. But the more we practiced the more people were saying, “hey, we do the same thing, only we enter like this, or we finish like this, or we do it from this stance.” By the end of the day everyone had caught on to the similarities and the seminars started being, “remember that thing we did three hours ago? Now we're going to do it from a different position with a different entry. See how it's the same thing only upside down and backwards?” It really tied together. It was awesome. As a kenpo guy, we cover so much in our attacks and defenses that I had a point of reference for almost everything we covered today, but even outside that we all just kept marveling at how familiar all the practices were. I had a lot of discussions with different instructors today about the universality of what we were doing.

Honestly, I had so many great experiences today with so many great practitioners from so many great arts that I couldn't possibly include them all. Everything was awesome, everyone was awesome. It was almost entirely black belts, but there were several underbelts as well and everyone was respectful and inviting and excited to do karate. I really can't say enough good things about the experience. If any of you ever get a chance to attend one of these events I highly recommend it. I know I'll be making the effort to participate again in the future.

I'd really like to thank Chris Stewart for informing me about this event and for being so welcoming when I showed up there. I'd also like to thank David Dunn for putting the whole thing together and South Haven Baptist Church for letting us use their space. All the instructors and all my training partners and all the great martial artists who were there to give advice and coaching and encouragement. It was definitely a day of training that I'm going to keep with me moving forward. I feel like I really learned a lot and I'm sure I'll learn more as the lessons of today sink in over time. Now I just need to rest and heal up!


-Rob

 

[oftheherd1]

Sounds like you had a great experience. No matter how good a shape we are in, if we start doing things our muscles aren't used to, that is usually using muscles we aren't used to utikng, we are subject to get cramps and/or sore muscles. Now you have new things to practice to be in better shape.

Glad it was such a positive experience for you.

 

[Tez3]

What a good idea to have discussion on how to take classes! It's always good to swap and learn techniques but having a discussion on teaching sounds a great way to pick up ideas whatever style you are. A good way to pick others brains.

 

[Thesemindz]

Sounds like you had a great experience. No matter how good a shape we are in, if we start doing things our muscles aren't used to, that is usually using muscles we aren't used to utikng, we are subject to get cramps and/or sore muscles. Now you have new things to practice to be in better shape.

Glad it was such a positive experience for you.

Yah. I woke up this morning feeling like every part of me had been beaten with a two by four and then rung dry. I'm a little stiff and a little sore, but it's not too bad. We did A LOT of falling and rolling, which as a kenpo guy I have practiced extensively but don't actually do a lot day to day. I was really glad I'd practiced it though. My falls and rolls were all clean, I only had one semi-jarring fall and it really wasn't too bad. A bunch of the seminars were judo or jujutsu though and those were sometimes just falling and rolling for forty five minutes while you took turns executing the lock/takedown on your training partner. Which was awesome, but a little outside my wheelhouse. Really gives me an appreciation for how other people train. Like I said, I was really glad I knew what I was doing going to the ground. I always tell my students breakfalls are the single most important skill to learn and the one you are most likely to use, well it sure was the skill I used the most yesterday! All that going down and getting up really wore me out though. I'm used to being a lazy kenpo guy!

I'm feeling pretty good today. I'm sure once I get moving I'll feel even better. My wife took care of me last night. She got me the pain killers, heated up the bean bags, and made me herbal tea. She's the best.


-Rob

 

[Thesemindz]

What a good idea to have discussion on how to take classes! It's always good to swap and learn techniques but having a discussion on teaching sounds a great way to pick up ideas whatever style you are. A good way to pick others brains.

That seminar was taught by Buddy Duke from Texas, and I thought he really had a lot of good information to share. I'd taught kids for years in the past, so I was familiar with a lot of it, but it's still good to get a refresher. My only problem was that it was late in the day and I was already getting sore and then we sat on the floor and listened to a lecture for forty five minutes. My back and hips really started aching and my muscles all got cold, so they started to stiffen up. Still though, it was another good seminar, and once we got moving again I was fine.


-Rob

 

[Thesemindz]

Today I was inspired by one of the TKD seminars from the KFCI event I attended over the weekend. Mr. Bobby Teague, 2nd Black Taekwondo instructor from Arkansas, led us in a hard sweaty series of basics training. I like to think I spend a lot of time practicing basics, but I usually try to mix it up and work them in combinations while moving. He stuck us in a fighting stance and had us punching, kicking, and blocking for over half an hour and when it was done I was drained. It gave me an increased respect for the way his guys train, and so today during my own training session I decided to spend my time working on my own basics in the same fashion.

With that as my guiding concept, I practiced 67 basics including foot maneuvers, hand strikes, foot strikes, blocks, parries, elbows, knees, sweeps, stances, and grapples. I practiced 20 repetitions of each basic, with each hand or foot, 10 with the left side forward and 10 with the right side forward. I did these in sets of 5 basics at a time, with one extra basic during two of the sets, and a light stretch between each set. This took me right at an hour, and by the end I was gasping and staggering and soaked and exhausted. But even at the end when I was running out of fuel I focused on proper form and made sure each basic was correctly executed. This was a tiring workout, but when I was done I felt great about it.

drag step
step drag
push drag
rear crossover step through
front crossover step through
step through

diagonal punch
hook punch
uppercut punch
inward handsword
outward handsword

backnuckle strike
downward hammerfist
half fist snapping punch
straight palm strike
downward claw strike

front snap kick
rear thrust kick
side snap kick
thrusting sweep kick
front stomp

pulling sweep
inverted pulling sweep
rear sliding leg sweep
180 degree reverse spinning sweep
180 degree forward spinning sweep

downward heel of palm strike
raking hammerfist
inward middle knuckle strike
inward inverted handsword
outward inverted handsword

side stomp
lifting knee
thrusting knee
upward heel hook
flip wheel kick

upward block
inward block
outward block
outward extended block
downward block

inward crescent kick
outward crescent kick
front scoop kick
rear scoop kick
horizontal heel hook kick

inward heel of palm
inward elbow
upward elbow
outward elbow
downward elbow

neutral bow
cat stance
forward bow
close kneel
concave
convex

inward parry
outward parry
hard crane parry
soft crane parry
windmill parry

circling arm lock
downward vertical folding arm trap
straight arm bar
guillotine choke
pull down check

That's 2680 repetitions of basic techniques in one hour, give or take. 67 basics * 20 reps * 2 sides. I really believe and I teach my students that you are only as good as your basics. If repetition is the key to skill, which I also believe, then after a training session like this I should be a lot better. And that's why we do what we do.


-Rob

 

[Yondanchris]

Wow now just seeing this post, glad you had a great time! Hopefully I should be back for next years gathering!

Chris