What “system” are we talking about here? Parker? Tracy? A little perspective is needed. Neither is a true “one way system.” Both have always been in a state of change, and regardless of school or lineage, what you get will always depend on the teacher. There are aspects to both lineages that contain methodologies that are not readily available to all in the same “system lineage.”
True system? What true system? Certainly William Chow didn’t have one. He had no set techniques, and others just took notes of what he was doing or wanted to teach. Even this changed over time, and with whom he was teaching. William Chow never wrote a system.
The same is true of Ed Parker. He switched around continuously finding his way and had at least 4 or 5 discernable distinctive shifts even in philosophy and methodology. None of them were “finished.” Everything was always in a state of change. This is one of the reasons he lost students. He was evolving, experimenting, and changing. Students wanted to learn one way and move on to rank.
No different than today. If you are with an instructor who is evolving, and you’re looking for rank, it can be frustrating. If you want rank you should study with someone who just teaches by the book, whatever that book is.
Al taught for Ed Parker and took a lot of notes. Parker took notes from Chow. None of these “notes’ were comparable because of the constant change. Al was caught in the transition from “Kenpo-Karate” brought from Hawaii, and the Chinese-Kenpo Parker was moving toward.
When Parker decided to make another major shift for reasons of his own, he broke away from the yudanshakai and organization he created to form a separate single entity lead organization to expand the business of kenpo. Al and Jim were left with the previous organization and continued to head up the Japanese based yudanshakai, while themselves beginning a Chinese-Kenpo era of their own. Ultimately they shifted lineage to the Mitose Line for reasons of their own. In the early days of departure, The Tracy’s were much more successful business-wise than Ed Parker. He often spoke of how much he learned from their business experience in deciding what and how he wanted to pursue proliferation.
It was Apple versus PC all over again. Parker was open source with his affiliate schools. They owned everything and looked to Parker for the “systems” of business and Kenpo, along with promotions, materials, and organizational association.
The Tracy’s were closed source in the beginning. Very successfully, they sold franchises for the then new “Tracy Kenpo,” and proliferated. They had a fiduciary relationship with the school owners teaching their system. In some instances they actually owned the schools and had employees all over the place.
Parker never actually owned more than two schools at anyone time. Additionally his fiduciary relationship with his schools in the early days was always “informal.” This allowed many to walk away and move on their own once they had learned enough Kenpo and the business from Parker.
But like the Tracy’s, Parker always remained cordial with the bulk of the defectors. Parker supported them, promoted them, and maintained as much of a business relationship as possible. They bought his patches, books, belts, promotion, seminars, and came to the I.K.C. In some instances, Parker even helped them write books.
But, let’s get back to the mythical system. Al was a smart guy, and knew what his own limitations were in the art. Whatever he wanted in the system that he didn’t have, he would pay a noted master to teach himself and his select people. I say selected because everyone didn’t get everything. Much like Parker, AL picked and chose who got what and when. To this day there are Tracy teachers who are light years away from other Tracy people of the same rank. No different than Parker’s people. Al was even smart enough to hire people for his fighting team in the early days, so they hit the ground running headed up by Joe Lewis. This also brought the Joe Lewis Fighting System to the Tracy’s, but I guarantee you, it is not integrated into all of Tracy kenpo, only where Al wants it and with whom.
Just like Parker’s commercial system, what you get in Tracy’s kenpo depends upon with whom you study, or studied with and when. Parker’s “System” went in multiple directions over the years, and so did the Tracy’s. Although they both used different methodologies, they both essentially did the same thing.
However, Parker chose to simplify a lot of material for commercial purposes because of the recommended structure of his affiliate schools. Parker used the Arthur Murray Dance Studio Business Plan that depended upon a few private lessons to ultimately sign, and integrate students into a massive group program. Al Tracy saw the value of private lessons and focused his schools on that method of selling their art.
So you see, no one has a true system. Neither Mitose nor Chow. All, including Parker and Al Tracy, have taught various evolutionary versions of their very diverse art(s) to various people at different points in time, and that continues to play out today. The “True System” concept is borrowed from Japanese Culture “way’' arts, and even they have their off-shoots and splinter groups throughout their history, all claiming the “pure system.” There is no such thing as a pure or true system. What is pure and true is what your teacher teaches you - today. Tomorrow it might be different.
Some suggest that because Tracy had more techniques, that it was more representative of older material, and that Parker dumbed it down for his “new” system. On one level that is true. On another Parker chose to philosophically address material with conceptual formulations of execution, while Al chose to memorialize each variation as a separate technique. Sam Ting, different stuff. In Parker’s commercial system if you began counting all of the prefixes, inserts, suffixes, additions, and alphabetical and mathematical re-arrangements possibilities, you have even more techniques than Tracy’s Kenpo. Parker chose to allow the student to make personal adjustments for purposes of self-defense. Al wanted to keep his available system more intact.
“What the Tracy's teach is Traditional Kenpo which is a simply a version of one of Ed Parker's (many) evolutions.”
I couldn’t have said it better. The efficacy of what you’re taught depends upon who teaches you, not what anyone chooses to call it.
This is not baseball. It’s a subjectively learned and taught art with as many variations as there are people who have learned its many diversions. Neither is better than the other, however some instructors truly are. Pick your poison and quitchabitchin.
