First let me say that they put together a nice spread for you..and it was good to see some of the guys I've actually met (i.e. Mr. Perez and Doc Murdock) and to see others still at it..(is Sandep Rahi the guy that was a Blue belt testing in that vid you sent my yrs ago..if so he would have been the last in line and had Mr. Humphrey (the front of the line) as his uki...). Anyway, good to see them all the same.
Yeah, I seem to have a problem getting rid of guys. I have never lost a student to another teacher. Some get caught up in life, job, family and slow down, but they come back or not at all with anyone. IÂ’m shooting the next installment for the magazine this week. It will be an anti-grappling piece.
First question..pg 48. 5th paragraph..."...and subsequent improvements." It seems to me that you have "improved" on the base standard the SGM Parker taught you to a great degree.
Well actually I have done a great deal of work the last 13 years since Mr. Parker passed. When he was alive, I wasnÂ’t writing as much because in many ways he hadnÂ’t decided what he wanted exactly. Lots of experimentation on his part.
Many of the concepts you speak of now weren't even "defined" in the material we discussed 4 yrs ago (i.e. Negative Body Posture, Timing & Breathing Signatures, etc...)
Much of it was in my own notes and ideas and had not yet implemented. but you must also remember Parker and I studied with some of the same Chinese masters, although not at the same time.
and the execution of techniques seem to have "evolved" for lack of a better word.
The problem is the same one Parker had. You cannot evolve a curriculum if you donÂ’t have Black Belts that know and can support it. I hold back material until I have enough guys that understand and can teach it, so the support system has to be in place if it is to survive. ThatÂ’s why expansion is slow. You canÂ’t just certify someone unless they really know what they are doing. Otherwise, IÂ’m just doing what everyone else is doing from a commercial perspective. Parker had the same problem.
Heck, you even added at least one technique on the yellow chart
Actually IÂ’ve added 6 to even the charts out and to address some things I felt were necessary at that level.
and this is not including the long gun stuff you've incorporated or your CMA's.
Yeah I forgot I shared some of that with you. The long gun techniques were absolutely necessary and needed to be addressed. Shot Guns and rifles are probably more common in some areas than handguns. For the record I saw Ed Parker teach long gun techniques to white belts 30 years ago so it‘s not my original idea, but something we knew we needed to address for our law enforcement projects.
So my question is in the last 13 yrs just how much has changed in the way Dr. Ron Chape'l executes the Kenpo SGM Parker showed him.
Well to be honest the way I execute hasnÂ’t changed much. My students look at video of me from 15 years ago and see the same thing (just a tad thinner) in my execution. But if you go back to the mid-seventies I see a difference.
What has changed substantially is what I teach and when I teach it. My current staff is learning thing now that my beginners will learn next month. They complain all the time that I “change” things. The same complaint some had about Parker. But like I said previously I just find ways to codify what I do, and then it can be taught specifically and the staff can support the instruction. If you stay away from me for a year, you’ll be surprised when you come back.
Are you quickly (or slowly) reaching the point where you've extrapolated more from your SL-4 equation formula and the Keys you were given, than what you were originally shown?
I know what you mean but there is no “equation formula” in a strict curriculum, and there really are no “master keys” either. It’s just coming to an understanding of certain information and applying it in a functional manner. Than you have to figure out how, and when to convey it to your students. Then you have to codify the curriculum so it makes sense and put it in a course book at the appropriate level. You really begin to appreciate it when you don’t have the “Old Man” to go to and say “Hey Boss, remember what we worked on yesterday. How did that go again, my notes don’t make sense to me. Fortunately he taught me how to “think” and he placed a great emphasis on extrapolation. But remember some things I couldn’t ask him when he was here because he wasn’t sure what he wanted himself sometimes.
Are YOU now doing only 10% or what SGM Parker originally taught you?
Honestly IÂ’m probably doing more than he taught me physically, but thatÂ’s because I now understand what IÂ’m doing. Intellectually IÂ’m still working on it and a lot IÂ’ve created based on what he gave me. So I always give him the credit. Some would like me to take more credit for what IÂ’ve done but without him it would have never happened. HeÂ’ll always be the man.
on Pg 50, last paragraph before, "Psychology of Confrontation". "by definition, control manipulation is not a part of Motion Kenpo and is not included in the four ranges of combat as found in Ed Parker's "Encyclopedia of Kenpo".
Yes thatÂ’s true. He purposely excluded it from the four (4) ranges he defined for the motion commercial version of his art. Eeryone knows there is so much missing from the commercial art by necessity.
Edmund mentions on viii of EOK "the terminology....is not cast in cement".
Absolutely. Parker was adding, and dropping stuff all the time. But more important he had very specific guidelines for creating “terms.”
But control manipulation is defined on pg 33
Yeah thatÂ’s why I always ask people why isnÂ’t it in the four ranges? Good question.
along with control release mechanisms and control mainenance. Doesn't this refer to aspects within Kenpo (MK in fact)?
Actually yes, and no. Can they be there? Yes. Are they there? Not that IÂ’ve seen. But there are a lot I havenÂ’t seen. I just donÂ’t think so knowing where many of the modern guys come from. But then it can all boil down to semantics. IÂ’ve had a couple guys tell me theyÂ’ve been doing SubLevel Four for 15 years, or their instructor teaches it. Of course I know thatÂ’s impossible.
It seemed to me that if SGM Parker were referring to another art he might have said, "a term used in..." as with some of the other definitions.
Well that’s the point that bothers everyone, and you're right. What I do is not a separate art. When you came into town you recognized just about everything we did. I do what Ed Parker did, not what he generally taught. It’s fairly documented that he did a lot of stuff that his students couldn’t understand or do. I always mention the “slap-check.” He never wrote a single word about it, but clear as day you see him doing it. In his last manuals he wrote “positional check.” He never did that unless he was teaching a seminar and going slow. When he speeded up he couldn’t help himself. My students are taught “slap-checks” and know when and where and why, and where not as well. There are a couple guys that mimicked Parker but they can’t tell you why they do it or what it does, or why it can be dangerous if you do it wrong.
In the "level's" mentioned where do you CMA's come into play?
That is actually the fourth level where a student is compelled to learn “Control Manipulation” for about 80% OF ALL previously learned techniques. The techniques still contain all the misalignment technology as well as the nerves activations, but you must manipulate, and control the situation completely to a stand still. Physically it is the most demanding level and isn’t introduced (beyond attacks) until after Black. It truly is the higher form of the science.
At what point are "enhancements" accepted into the curriculum on a technique? or a "definition" accepted as law? Do you have the first, last and only say?
The techniques are heavily “enhanced” as is. It’s just a matter of how much you teach. Once something fits into place, I include it in our Glossary. Thee is no such thing as "basics." Only a basic understanding.
Have others contributed in the development of SL-4 principles and concepts (particularly Perez or Angell since I know they are your two main bangers), can you give an example?
I get suggestions from Perez and Angell because they understand it the best. Some are good some not. I have the last word, because I’m the only one that knows where I’m going and how it might “fit’ with other concepts. Terminology must make sense and cannot be subjectively inappropriate. Some create terms just to be different from Parker. Terminology should be descriptive of what you’re doing and have some basis in its reality.
I have had associates who look at what I have done and have made comments as well. People like my old friend Grandmaster Douglas Wong, or my late friend Dr. Bernd Weiss, or my old college room mate Senior Guru Cliff Stewart. Then there is (the late) Dominic and Helen Corrolo, etc. Jack Autry has sat on my tests, as well as Barbara Hale, and Steve Herring, and of course my student Dr. Lincoln Conti who is also on the tree first generation. (He actually met Parker about a year after I did). The consensus seems to be what we do is Kenpo the way the Old Man did it. But that is a luxury the commercial schools donÂ’t have, and neither did he actually.
Fourth, Have you put together a succession plan? Do you think the strict educational based model allows for the longevity of SL-4 existence?
Burying me already eh? Yes I am consistently working on my succession plan, and I actually have got 2 Black Belts on my staff into school who will be doctors in a couple more years, who are enhancing their knowledge specifically to bring to my teaching. One of them is Angell. Yes it will survive, but never on the level as the commercial Kenpo. ItÂ’ll survive because ItÂ’s knowledge and skill driven. I know thatÂ’s what everybody says but you met me so you know what I mean.
And will the boys be able to carry the torch the way you have when you step down from active duty?
I suspect they will be in similar shape when IÂ’m gone as I was when Parker left. But they know a lot more, and IÂ’ve taught them how to think. I always tell my students to never believe me. Always question and ask for physical proof. Every generation is supposed to move forward beyond their teacher. I expect nothing less. I feel sorry for them if they have to deal with my daughters.
Are any of the guys looking at expanding into their own schools? Is that encouraged?
Are you kidding me? I can’t get those guys to miss class for a week. I’ve asked them to go out and start a small program somewhere, and they all say the same thing. “But we’ll miss your class.” The student body ages range from 20 to 62. All of them are extremely intelligent, professional people, and very well educated. No matter what I say, no matter how much I jump up and down, they refuse to leave. The four extension schools instructors are diligent about their classes as well. One flies in from Arizona once a month. I can’t get rid of him either.
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but i have to say i leaned about this back in the late 70's and have been keeping it going in my school.:asian:
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