Shaolin Kenpo Castro's not Villari

[MarkC]

Yeah and honestly I prefer it at the brain overload speed. I would be really bored if they only taught me my current curriculum

I would suggest you if you'd be bored, you haven't really learned what you think you have.
Again, no offense intended.

 

[shima]

Well, I've been a black belt for 24 years myself, and can learn forms pretty quickly myself, but I think the rate she's learning is a little fast and I wonder about the true understanding she's gaining of what she's learning. Many people just learn the movements, and often even fail to eecute the way they should, but still move on anyway.
No offense intended, just my thoughts based on my experience.

I learn all the attacks at the same time as I learn the forms, so I know exactly how every move applies to hitting/blocking on a real person.

You're entitled to your own opinion and I'm entitled to mine. I've been a black belt for 7 years myself, and I disagree with your opinion that I'm learning too fast. I've always been a fast learner who crams knowledge in quickly. I did my Bachelors degree for example in only 3 years.

 

[Twin Fist]

Marc, in the castro kenpo system, the kata are learned as a two man exercise, attacker and defender, so the application is taught from the get go, not just the moves. it is the only system i know of that does that, so you would normally be right.


Shima,
if you were learning shito-ryu kata, i would agree with him

 

[MarkC]

I understand what you're both saying, but I'm not talking only about the application of the movements, I'm talking about the movements themselves. The stances, blocks, strikes, etc.
The actual mechanics of the body.
Again, my opinion, you are, of course, free to learn as many forms as fast as you and your instructor like.

 

[James Kovacich]

A bit of a ramble... please bear with me...

My Kenpo Instructor was (infamous) Master Jack Long -

Years back I spoke with .. man I am drawing a blank.. this guy was the Senior Martial Artist of the bay area... everyone was junior to him, even Professor Castro.. maybe his name will come to me later.. wait... Al Novak? YES.. this is him (I just looked him up) http://youtu.be/hMzwwuPYWnc

Anyway, Master Novak told me that Master Long trained for a time under Professor Castro. He also told me that Master Long also trained under Master John Keehan (also infamous).

Anyway, I was just going to say that our forms were different from Professor Castro's..

These days I suppose it may surprise some here, but since I started training with Master Long when I was about 10 years old or so... and then met up with him when I was in my late 40's... and NEVER did I ask him about his lineage. It just never occurred to me.

So I have no idea where what Master Long taught us came from.

I can say that Master Long abhorred weapons... never used them (except for one strange little thing he used that looking like TINY nun-chucks)..

Anyway - aside from his really obvious personality and moral flaws, Master Long was / is an astounding Martial Artist.. so I just took what knowledge he was willing to give, and for me, that was enough.

By the way.. I think I remember Bill Grossman from tournaments back in the 80's in the SF bayarea. I hope no one is offended by this question - but I'm trying to remember if the guy I remember is Bill Grossman.. does he have an artificial leg (lower leg I think).

Sorry for the rambling post.

I remember Al Novak way back in the '70's at the judges tables at the SF Bay tournaments. I think his school was in the Niles District of Fremont.

It's hard for anyone to get credit for being "the senior" but he is definately "A" Bay Area MA pioneer.

 

[tinker1]

I remember Al Novak way back in the '70's at the judges tables at the SF Bay tournaments. I think his school was in the Niles District of Fremont.

It's hard for anyone to get credit for being "the senior" but he is definately "A" Bay Area MA pioneer.

Well... Master Novak was always center judge at any regional or national competition that was in the area. Professor Castro would sit junior to him... as did everyone else. For me, that alone is enough to tell me he was the senior guy.

edited to add:
Yes his school was in the Niles district near Fremont / Newark. He had an old movie theater that his school took over.. it was a bit strange because the floor was sloped....

 

[James Kovacich]

Well... Master Novak was always center judge at any regional or national competition that was in the area. Professor Castro would sit junior to him... as did everyone else. For me, that alone is enough to tell me he was the senior guy.

edited to add:
Yes his school was in the Niles district near Fremont / Newark. He had an old movie theater that his school took over.. it was a bit strange because the floor was sloped....

Niles district isn't near Fremont, it's in Fremont. I don't remember Niles having a movie theater but it is possible that he had the old Charlie Chan silent movie location. Charlie Gaylord had an old roller skating rink in Irvington Dist., Fremont. Are you thinking of his school?

 

[Yondanchris]

Chris: They're talking about Ralph Castro's Shaolin Kenpo. Aren't you from the Villari lineage Shaolin Kempo?

Yes that is true, my fault for not reading the entire thread!

 

[shima]

Went to my first tournament in 8 years (and first tournament where I did a kenpo form as well). Got 1st's in sparring and forms but not really because I had to do anything, I was the only one in my division for both. Got to compete for grand champion as a result, didn't win either. Had a lot of fun though!

I did Iron Fan + Ripping Tiger for my competition form. Here's a video of my kata and sparring:

Next tournament I'm able to go to won't be until September (I have a scheduling conflict with the August tournament coming up) but I'm planning to do Galloping Horse for that one since I'll have enough time to finish perfecting it. I only recently learned Galloping Horse so I didn't have enough time to get it tournament ready for this tournament.

 

[Twin Fist]

pick one kata combination and stick to it, remember darlin, kata is about performance, and that means rehersals. Your kata is fine, just remember to hold the position on every move that have a kiai. For at least one second, let the judges see that good stance, make them notice that power. rushing through it it all blends together, thats one disadvantage kenpo has in kata competition. at a tourny, flow can actually hurt your scores....lol

your fighting was nice, timing good, just nervous. great kata and fighting!

 

[shima]

I know it's all about practice and I want to do Galloping Horse for the long term in the tournament circuit, I just didn't have enough time to learn it before this tournament. There's nothing wrong w/ these two kata's I did, but I don't want to be doing forms that 70% of the kids all like to do in the underbelt divisions as well. Galloping Horse is a great black belt level competition form so I've been working on that since I started learning it a month or two ago.

I agree the kicks and kya points need to be slowed down, watching myself after the fact I felt that part was a bit fast, but my instructors said my hand speed was great because they say that's a crucial part to kenpo (The fast hands) so they encouraged me to keep those portions fast but slow down the kicks/kya points.

 

[Twin Fist]

exactly right, lock out each kick, even if it is supposed to be a snap kick, for a fraction of a second to show off the position.ya galloping horse is an awesome kata for BB divisions.

 

[shima]

exactly right, lock out each kick, even if it is supposed to be a snap kick, for a fraction of a second to show off the position.ya galloping horse is an awesome kata for BB divisions.

Yeah and I need to lean backwards a lot more in my side kicks, got some feedback on that as well from my instructors and the judges. Hadn't even realized until I watched the video afterwards how upright I had been staying for my side kicks.

 

[shima]

Been quiet in this thread

Anyhoo I tested for purple today. I've been working on perfecting galloping horse as well lately for when I compete again next year once the gold cup tournaments start up again. Keeping busy at the dojo, that's for sure

What's everyone else up to?

 

[Twin Fist]

practicing my kajukenbo when i can, galloping horse? isnt that the LONG form for 5th black? its awesome thats for sure

 

[shima]

Yeah it's really long, 32 count form... I think we do it for 1st degree black belt. Due to my other black belts in different styles, I compete in black belt division, so they taught me that to do at tournaments and I've been working on perfecting it

 

[shima]

Haha, no one has posted in this thread in a long time...

I'm testing for my 3rd degree brown in Shaolin Kenpo on June 22nd. I've learned a lot past that though since I was out of the country for the last brown/black test (I got married in December and we had our ceremony/honeymoon in South Africa). So although missing the test this past December, I've still continued to learn "what's next" and that's been great since to me it's not about the belt it's just about the knowledge and ability to defend yourself at the end of the day. Knowledge is power. A belt is just a pretty thing to show off to friends and family, but it's not the goal of training to me. So I've currently learned up to almost all of the 1st degree brown material in the past year. It'll be great whenever I do finally test for those higher ranks since learning the material early is really giving me a chance to master it better than if I just learned it "well enough" to test. So yeah 3rd degree brown end of this month is coming up! I plan to test for 2nd degree brown in December (we only have brown/black tests twice a year)

 

[Twin Fist]

awesome....you videos show you are making great progress!!

 

[marlon]

Yeah and I need to lean backwards a lot more in my side kicks, got some feedback on that as well from my instructors and the judges. Hadn't even realized until I watched the video afterwards how upright I had been staying for my side kicks.

Interesting, we teach NOT to lean back with the side thrust kick. Upright and even leaning into the direction of the kick...

 

[shima]

Yeah we teach leaning away from the kick, versus my last school I would kick leaning slightly forward. At the end of the day, if it's effective then that's what matters, right?