Originally posted by rmcrobertson
a) what kenpo offers isn't a "style," or a "synthesis of styles," but the essence of what all the other styles and systems have been up to all along. In other words, hapkido, judo, etc. are perfectly-valid subsets of kenpo.
b) this "big set" (again, I'm talking seventh-grade math, not judging quality) nature of kenpo is passed on through a teaching system that can pass on not only all the possible movements, but the concepts and principles that make those movements meaningful.
c) the stuff that, it is often claimed, "is not in," kenpo remains part of the system regardless, and can be learned via the techniques, sets and especially forms, PROVIDED that the individual practitioner works on pulling out the information, and trains enough that she or he can physically express it.
I realize that you are saying that these are verifiable, i.e., can in principle be falsified, not that they are necessarily true, but as an "outsider" here I have to ask--You all
do know how this sounds to us non-Kenpoka, don't you? It comes off as very pretentious.
I agree with your later comments about theories in science changing--it's part of what makes it hard to believe that the Grand Unified Theory of the Martial Arts has been found. The argument in some ways is analagous to the theory that Psychology is just Biology, and Biology is just Chemistry plus Physics, and Chemistry is just Physics, so all we need to do is study Physics to understand why Hillary stays with Bill. One might agree philosophically, but it's a rather useless point of view--not only at this stage, but because Physics is so abstracted from where Psychology might be applied. When Physicists make the claim that Everything is Physics and String Theory (as was suggested) or some other GUT will someday explain everything--the TOE, Theory of Everything--it's taken with a grain of salt.
Originally posted by Old Fat Kenpoka
Kenpo has exposed many previous methods as outdated, maybe useless--or at least impractical. High kicks and Karate styles with the hand recoiled to the waist are perfect examples. However, there are other styles that expose some weaknesses of Kenpo: The stick work of FMA, the leg kicks of Muay Thai, the takedowns of freestyle wrestling, and the ground control of catch wrestling and BJJ. Kenpo remains controversial not because it exposes the weaknesses of other styles, but because it has difficulty admitting its own weaknesses and embracing changes to correct them.
The description and analysis framework of Kenpo is very useful and I don't mean to disparage it--rather, I envy it! I might disagree about the Karate example as in Okinawan karate at least they would argue that it's a grappling technique and that that hand at the waist is gripping the opponent's wrist and controlling him. Many other, older arts have critiqued high kicks--most karate styles, for example--but perhaps not in as detailed a way.
Kenpo is one of the best self defense systems in existence.
I believe that a statement like this must always be suffixed with,
for the problem it is trying to solve. It wouldn't be of much help to a samurai--he needed a system of wielding the katana, and a jujutsu system focused on controlling the right (i.e., sword-drawing) hand of an opponent wearing wooden armour. Kenjutsu and jujutsu were better solutions.
You might say that that's a very academic example. (You might also say that the principles of kenjutsu are subsumed in Kenpo and hence a samurai could draw them analytically from Kenpo, I suppose, though I don't think that explains the variations between ryu sufficiently.) But I think it's still relevant to ask that question. If your belief is that, in your environment, 90% of fights will go to the ground, BJJ or the like may be a better solution. I think it's not only more time-efficient than drawing it back out of Kenpo principles, like it's more efficient to determine the atomic weight of carbon from the Periodic Table than by starting with the precepts of quantum physics and building up atoms starting from quarks--I think it's likely to lead to a better solution as it builds on a solid history of theory and experiment directed at that problem.
Kenpo's theories are a clear strength, but there is a saying:
What explains too much explains nothing. It's great to have that scientific approach as a base if you need to start figuring out how to face a new problem, like if the bullwhip became a popular weapon used by muggers and you need to work out a means of defending against it starting from scratch. But to declare all other arts a subset is to simply declare victory and be done with it. I don't buy it.
I might add, playing devil's advocate, that other arts have analysis in/behind them. There is much of it in JKD. More to the point, Systema benefited from extensive government resources and research by physiologists, psychologists, etc., we are told by its practitioners--and it comes to what seem to be rather different conclusions. With all that science, perhaps
they're the ones who have the more general theory? After all, they're a technique-free system, which seems to be even a step beyond Kenpo--pure movement, as they like to describe it, free from the constraints of technique, and infinitely adaptable, on the fly, to any situation.
<<Just teasing>>
