Universality of American kenpo ....

[arnisador]

The GUT/TOE seems relevant to me because I see that as the extreme form of the first claim--that all other arts are subsets of, or can be explained by, Kenpo. That's a very strong claim. It's one thing to call them hypotheses, but are they scientific hypotheses subject to scientific testing or are we instead in the realm of philosophy? I'm not sure how you'd test "In other words, hapkido, judo, etc. are perfectly-valid subsets of kenpo" experimentally--it seems like it would be more of an analysis.

I cannot believe such a test could be set up and run in a way that would compel all--kenpoists and non-kenpists--to accept the evidence and draw similar conclusions, as one expects in a (settled) area of science. Talking about testing things seems unrealistic, so I think we have the philosophical issue of "is it scientific in nature"/"is it complete" instead.

Incidentally, no joke or insult is meant by the use of "Kenpoka". I have heard it used before, though not as often as Kenpoist.

Some related threads:

Kenpoka:
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2136

Is Kenpo scientific?
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=8202

 

[pete]

I'm pretty sure the t'ai chi response would be that it's far batter to base your confidence on something real than upon illusion, and that fighting ability does in fact take years and years - rmcrobertson

sure, i've been training in kenpo for a while and began studying tai chi about 2 years ago. i now travel about 2 1/2 hours every month for private lessons with a master originally from shanghai. well, the quote above is quite true for both kenpo and tai chi. i have yet to see in either art where one trains to improve their fighting ability.

both arts seem to follow a pattern, albeit kenpo following a more direct (some might call "practical") path, to teaching one to defend themselves upon beong attacked. Neither places the martial artist in the position of being the aggressor, or beign a fighter. I've learned to (1) neutralize the attack, (2) take control the situation, (3) place either myself into a superior position, or the attacker into a defective position, (4) strike as necessary to eliminate the threat of a second attack, (5) remove yourself from the situation...ESCAPE, or as Monty Python would say... Run Away!

Because of my fascination with tai chi, i've found myself continually looking at how it folds into and improves my kenpo, such as in rooting (gravitational marriage), expanding (perimeter checks), coiling (rotational force), and most naturally yielding (which translates well into borrowed force).

many of the techniques have what my kenpo instuctor refers to as chinese roots, such as joint locks, traps, nerve strikes, etc. that are taught in their most basic form as "chin na" by my tai chi master. these things will take a long time, in either art, to master well enough to have the confidence that they can be applied to any attacker, in any situation, at will.

if someone wants to be a fighter, well, probably best off going out starting fights and learning from their mistakes. If ya wanna fight, lesson one is learning how to get hit! lesson 2 is learning how to get hit again.

hey, wait a minute, maybe this is the universality of tai chi? naaah.

pete