This is the complete article (before it was edited and printed in Black Belt Magazine):
AMERICAN KENPO'S NEW VOICE
First, let me clear up a couple of misconceptions that has brought much unfounded criticism from outsiders to the first American Martial Art, American Kenpo was taught as an incomplete art but, they, somehow KNOW, the complete art. Interestingly, these people all claim to be legitimized by a prior member of the Family Tree, but still teach the system that My Father had began to organize. The Mitose and Chow lineage systems are still around today, but if you compare the number of Ed Parker studios to any other you will see that the Parker lineage studios clearly out number any others. Mitose came to My Father in the early sixties in Pasadena with the idea of a collaboration between the two. The philosophical differences between them were significant enough for My Dad to decline.
As a child, My Father was always teaching me but, like most youth, I had different interests than Dad. I had a natural artistic talent, and ultimately went off to college to Hawaii to study Illustration. Upon finishing college, I was given the task of developing a computer system for the family business. As my graphic arts skills matured, I was ultimately pressed into service running the production wing of Dads publishing company. Supervising and working on every aspect of everything he did in print and video, forced me to understand American Kenpo like few others. Its true my physical lessons werent keeping pace with my intellectual progress, and I am not where I would like to be but, thats because I could get away from some of his impromptu classes in the kitchen or den but, I couldnt get away from work. Nevertheless, even against my own wishes, I was a constant student of the Founder of American Kenpo.
Recently I have become concerned with other people deciding what my fathers art is all about, and the direction it should follow. In some cases persons previously associated with My Father have been attempting to re-write history in their favor. Although I dont consider myself American Kenpos new Grandmaster, I do consider myself to be the Ambassador to American Kenpo, and what you could call, the extended voice of Ed Parker Sr.
After all, I am his only son and I have made it my business to remind people of what My Father would have said or would have wanted in certain situations. Sort of a Kenpo Conscious. In this area, no one is more of an authority than I am. Although now that Im a black belt, rank has never been important to me as it was to My Father. I know, no matter how much I progress, I can only be compared to My Dad. No one can fill his shoes. Certainly, I know I cant, and thats why I dont try. Fortunately, as I got older, my interest caused me to intensify my training, (to My Fathers delight,) before he passed. The only thing that surprises me is, I keep running into people who are amazed when they participate in my seminars. They always seem to say, I didnt know you studied Kenpo. I thought it was pretty simple. How could a son live with Ed Parker for thirty years, and not? I have studied with several of My Dads top Black Belts and been promoted by them. They have a wealth of knowledge and notes taken from My Father since the sixties, and are very helpful in several areas of training.
Historically, the state of the art taught by Professor Chow or James Mitose was extremely primitive in the fifties and sixties. What we call a technique today, did not exist at that time. Most techniques consisted of only two or three simplistic moves, which was fairly indicative of the state of almost all martial arts in the late forties, to the sixties. Ed Parker was a major contributor to the evolution of the Martial Arts through His theories and principles.
My Fathers first book on Kenpo Karate was published in the early sixties, and although devoid of principles, demonstrated techniques with three and four rather simple movements, and discussed pressure points and nerve strikes. It was considered both innovative and outrageous, (for being non-traditional,) at the same time. If you follow the paper trail of books and magazines, as well as movies, you can see how all arts, (not just Kenpo) have evolved slowly over the years. Bruce Lees crowd pleasing demonstration at the International Championships in 1964, would hardly raise an eyebrow today. My Dad often said the champions from his early tournaments would ...pay good money for... him ...to burn the film of their competition. Compared to contemporary students, they looked like poor white belts.
This leads to the next misconception. American Kenpo has always been thought by some to be this immense body of work with a beginning, middle and an ending. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ed Parkers American Kenpo has always been in a state of evolution. Any criticism aimed at His System, must specifically address a particular part of His System, at a particular point in time during its evolution. My Father said, Kenpo never changes, but it is always in a state of perpetual refinement. This contradicts those who teach the art, and choose not to change.
Indeed massive refinements were made to the System over time. Changes where made by My Dad as he discovered new concepts and principles, refined them, and integrated them into His System. His discovery of Reverse Motion in the sixties, virtually changed almost everything previously created. But, it did not invalidate His earlier work. So those who suggest elements of the System have been left out, can only address what the state of the art was when they learned the art from Ed Parker, and how long did they studied with Him. After coming to the mainland from Hawaii, He began instructing what Professor Chow was teaching at that time. Always being logical in his analytical approach, and as My Dad constantly discovered new principles and concepts, the art evolved and from then on became Ed Parkers System in progress.
Those who have seen his Black Belt Diploma know My Father was ranked in three arts. Kenpo, Jiu-jitsu, and Kara-Te. Undoubtedly He drew on all elements of the Martial Arts when he began creating American Kenpo. As an aside, it might be interesting to note My Fathers diploma was signed by William K.S. Chow, and no one else.
Ed Parkers system is a ninety-five percent conceptual product of the mind of Ed Parker, and is only superficially related to any of his previous training. This distinction is important because it removes those who have never studied directly and continuously with Ed Parker, to a position making any rational criticism of his art, at best, superficial and un-informed. Those who left in the sixties are uninformed with regard to newer material. Those who began training later are familiar only with the motion side of Kenpo and lack perspective. Almost no one transcends the sixties to His passing. There were many who were around. However, they were not part of the overall evolution process. My Dad used to say When you ask people how long they have studied, they tell you how long they have lived since they started.
The system contains many elements, with which, many might not be familiar. My Dad taught what he wanted, to whom he wanted. So, because you arent familiar with something, doesnt mean it doesnt exist. I have seen My Dad teach something, and the same day, teach the same thing completely different to someone else. He had what I call little laboratories all over the place. Giving different instructors different elements or experiments with their students was not unusual. He catered to the strengths of his instructors, based on their understanding of principles coupled with their physical abilities, personal preferences, and educational capabilities. How He felt about you as a person also played a major role. After all, who hasnt learned more when the instructor likes you. To My Dads credit, he made everyone feel like they were getting all the information. What they were getting was all the information he wanted to give to them. It brings to mind the old saying I taught you everything you know, not everything I know. We must all check our egos and let our Kenpo speak for itself. Everyone has worth.
Indeed, if one has read and understood all of My dads books (that I put together) they would have only scratched the surface of the depth of the mans thought process. Remember, those who took a lesson with him were taught what he wanted to teach them, and the System of the moment. We know what he taught was rather extensive and extremely demanding on its practitioners, both physically and intellectually as well as effective. But we must never forget, there is ineffective, effective, more effective, and most effective. We need to remove the word wrong from our Kenpo vocabulary. It invalidates, and is counter productive.
Very purposely, my Father limited most of His teaching to certain material in an effort to spread the art. The martial arts community short of seeing the Grandmaster in his physical and intellectual equinox has rarely seen His other levels of Kenpo. Many of us as students, have definitely felt the other levels of kenpo, but most could not relate to the intangable aspects of the art.
Motion Kenpo (also called Commercial Kenpo by me) deals only with the concepts and theories of motion as it pertains to the Kenpo System and, does not have a stated purpose beyond Elongated circles and rounded off corners. Doesnt this seem just a little to simplistic to encompass the many aspects of American Kenpo? After all, this phrase is devoid of any of the philosophical, humanitarian, mental, or even the spiritual side of American Kenpo. So, how could this simple phrase collectively define American Kenpos in its entirety?
Although there is no doubt the information My Father conveyed to most of his public and private students was indeed excellent and good information, it was only a precursor to what he would eventually teach, once he had accomplished his primary goal, spreading and making His Kenpo the International Art that it should be.
However, My Dad knew his time was short. He felt a driving compulsion to get American Kenpo out to the masses. He wanted His innovative system to take its rightful place in the world of martial arts, like so many other cultural, sport based styles had done. He criticized traditional styles for passing themselves off as self-defense or fighting systems to the public. He knew that given the opportunity to compare, His American Kenpo would prevail, even to the untrained American public.
In that process, My Father made many concessions for public appeal. He attached the word karate to American Kenpo because no one had heard of Kenpo, and Karate was the flavor of the month with the American public. Servicemen, after World War II, brought their training back to the United States, and the public was fascinated with this mystical oriental art. Even though Kenpo was Chinese in origin, he adopted the Japanese Karate-Do rank structure and uniform. He even stuck the word karate into his Kenpo Creed in his first Kenpo book. In those days everything was Karate. Chinese, Korean, Okinawan, Hawaiian. It didnt make any difference. Later on , he considered trying to undo some of those things but, they had become such a part of His System, he just decided to leave it alone. He did eventually decide to get his students into black uniforms, and created a major controversy. After all, the traditionalist all wore white.
The one area where My Dad was unbending was in language. He refused to use anything but the English Language. Were Americans! He would say ...and Americans speak English. He wanted people to feel familiar with things so he applied phrases like studio and school instead of dojo. Promotion certificates became diplomas, payments were tuition. Clearly he wanted to establish His Schools as an environment of learning, and not just a gym where you work out. As an educator, My Father was moving toward the legitimization of the martial arts academic process. We are still continuing that effort today. We have knowledgeable, and physically gifted black belts, who are excellent first generation students of My Dad, we feel were headed in a positive direction.
But, more recent students have made the mistake that many had made in the past. They failed to recognize the depth of the man and his knowledge of the martial arts. Not just his personal art, but everyones art. My Dad was friendly towards everyone, traditional and non-traditional. In fact the traditionalist dominated the first few Internationals, and over the years participated in large numbers. He truly cut across all style boundaries.
Mas Oyama stayed with My Father when he toured the west coast in the fifties. And so did Bruce Lee, learning much from My Dad about different arts while the Kahuna told stories of the great Judo Gene LaBell. This is the guy Dad called The toughest man alive.
Many others either crossed his threshold as friends, or took his council. Great masters like Bong Soo Han, Sea Oh Choi, Ark Wong, Wally Jay, Tadashi Yamashita, Tiny Laifiti, and The Great Tino from Lima Lama. There was also Dan Inosanto, (an early black belt of My Dad who contributed much to Bruce Lees Jeet Kune Do and a Filipino Arts master himself) George Dillman, and Ralph Castro, the Grandmaster of Shaolin Kenpo. These, along with Lou Angel, Peter Urban, Jhoon Rhee, Aaron Banks, Hidetaka Nishiyama, Robert Trias, and many others. There are much to many to list and please dont be upset if I cant remember everyone. You see, all of these people are my extended family.
But before I get off track and too deep into history. . . some Students of My Father felt they had the bulk of the information He had to offer, split and broke away. They obviously felt they didnt need him anymore. In my opinion, some of these people took advantage of his enthusiasm for his art and virtually stole what he knew of the art and business from him and went into business for themselves. Some did very well. However, My Dad maintained a cordial relationship with all of His former Students, and always gave credit to those who deserved it. He never publicly said anything negative about anyone. But, He never forgot who His real friends were.
Most of these same people now proclaim that a black belt from My Father in the fifties or sixties is better than a more recent product. For most, the evolution of American Kenpo has left them in the primitive dust. After all, would you rather drive a Ford Model T or that new Mustang? In most cases, common sense would indicate how wrong they are. Just as wrong as a surgeon who received his medical degree in the fifties and ceased studying. They would be in no position to challenge a current resident on a surgical procedure today. Which one would you want to operate on you? It defies logic that older is better. That is an Asian Culture influence.
Something My Father rejected if it got in the way of progress. Some have chosen to traditionalize Ed Parkers Kenpo and not change anything. After all the work My Father did to make people think, when he died, most stopped thinking.
One of the unique things about Ed Parkers American Kenpo is its advocacy of the principle of TAILORING. Tailoring has allowed thousands of kenpoists throughout the world to interpret and practice His innovative system with no fear of invalidation. My Dad felt that physical principles and sound concepts of motion form your basic knowledge, and any exploration that uses these guidelines couldnt be wrong. Once again, he encouraged all of his students to study His system, its principles, and to interpret them. He encouraged students to TAILOR and create their own style. One must realize however, not to Tailor out of laziness or ease. Lack of hard work to develop a move or technique does not constitute proper tailoring which leads to effectiveness . Tailoring does allow the art to be taught, and practitioners to train at whatever level they chose to study. My Dad felt everyone should be graded on the basis of his ability, potential, and educational background. This is what accounts for the wide disparity in Kenpo practitioners skill and knowledge today.
However, to this end, Dad was like a Kenpo University that was offering many courses. They included philosophy, ethics, physics, math, music, etc. as well as The Theory of Motion course. But His University was offering only one lab. This lab course was entitled The Study Of Motion . Think about it! Knowing that American Kenpo in its most simplistic form is advanced college course work, he was trying to lay a foundation for the next level. Without the understanding of motion and a firm grasp of body mechanics, he knew this would not be possible. He was trying to get students to understand the concepts of motion. He expounded on the Universal Pattern (a doctoral thesis in itself) direction, methods, paths, dimensions, and angles. Teaching tools such as these or the study of the offensive equation formulas of prefixing, suffixing, inserting, rearranging, altering, adjusting, regulating, and deleting movements, were only stones to the gaseous states of motion.
Everything was motion, motion, and more motion. Where was he going? American Kenpo has a very distinct purpose and goal, that contained the humane ability to control the level of devastation one could deliver at any given movement. Unfortunately, he never had time to offer this course to the majority of His students.
I often get upset when I hear people say this is how Ed Parker said this technique had to be done. Ed Parker NEVER told anyone a definitive way to perform techniques. As long as you use proper principles of motion, which produced the desired effect for the situation, it doesnt make any difference. He may have agreed with how you performed a technique, but only in principle. When asked how a technique should be done, he always said Show me how you do it. Then he would either confirm your principles, or make suggestions to get you back on track. He often asked Does this work for you? As long as the technique worked for you, and the principles were logical, it was OK! He often reminded students that techniques were only ideas. The ground breaking Technique Manuals he produced, and I slaved over, were only designed to keep people on track. They were not meant to be quoted like scriptures, mistakes and all. My father also included mistakes on purpose. He said that when you leave gaps, it encourages the avid pratitioner to use logical, practical, thinking to fill in the gaps. A large part of what my father was about was to encourage and enlighten the mind and help his students to think for themselves.
From this perspective, there is no one right way to perform American Kenpo techniques. Indeed My Dads greatest contribution was to liberate the martial arts from the age of superstition and heresy. With Mr. Parker, anything was valid if it was logical, and conformed to sound scientific physical principles.
Nevertheless, even if there are many right ways to do KENPO or perform its techniques, serious kenpo practitioners must ask themselves whether or not their particular style might be hindering them from taking their art to new realms of proficiency. If such is the case, they do not need to discard what they already know. However, they should begin to explore principles of other levels of American Kenpo, to allow their personal interpretation of kenpo to become stronger, and more vigorous. Elements that may not be general knowledge in the Kenpo Community.
As I perform seminars throughout the country, criticism has been leveled from those who find it hard to believe such ground breaking information was inherent in American Kenpo but, for some reason my Dad didnt share it with them personally. Well ponder this. Everyone knows He used Slap-Checks in the execution of techniques. However, you will not find any reference to a Slap-Check in any of his written works, (which I edited) nor did he specifically teach the use of Slap-Checks. So ask yourself the questions: Why not? What else might he have held back? I personally watched him place the term Positional Check in many places where a Slap-Check was appropriate. When I asked him Why? he said, The times not right. I believe he would have eventually began teaching other levels when he was satisfied with the current state of his writings, and the progress of the art and his students overall.
At the beginning of Advanced Kenpo, is Phase One of five separate phases of the Advanced American Kenpo Concepts, and Sub-Level 4 aspect of the Kenpo System. I think those who seek, read, study, and apply its lessons will agree Sub-Level 4 is a powerful tool for the experienced kenpoist. This is where we start to separate the casual student from the serious practitioner. This level does have a stated purpose. To dispose of your opponent at the base destructive level of Sub-Level Four while preparing to move to higher levels of destructive potential. But, as usual, there is a catch. All you learned in Motion Kenpo about re-arranging and inserting etc., now has to give way to a pre-set and pre-determined methodology that contains sequential movements, that may not be re-arranged without prior knowledge of Destructive Sequencing.
Sub-Level 4 derives its name from the 4 distances of combat outlined in the Basic Ed Parker Kenpo System. Knowledgeable individuals will immediately recognize Distance 4 is Contact Manipulation. (Distance 1 out of range; Distance 2 within range; Distance 3 contact penetration; Distance 4 contact manipulation). Nevertheless, the skilled kenpoist can enhance his or her prowess by learning a subcategory of Distance 4 (hence the term Sub-Level 4). This lesser know and misunderstood subcategory is Control Manipulation.
It is important we draw a distinction between Basic American Kenpo and Advanced American Kenpo, Sub-Level 4. Motion kenpos primary lesson is to understand the many aspects of motion and how it can be applied within anatomical constraints. This is the reason for the emphasis on inserts, prefixes, suffixes, and elongated circles etc. Although these are good lessons, it is easy to see with the exception of learning motion, these techniques are almost pointless and draw no final conclusions with regard to Kenpos true overall stated goal of Self-Defense. Obviously even Motion Kenpo has effective self-defense aspects. Thats why it has become so popular. It works! But, this is also why the extensions do not exist in Advanced Kenpo Concepts and Sub-Level 4. They were designed to explore the possibilities of continuos motion and created primarily as a learning exercise, as well as to flesh out the Motion System. The cool thing is, they still work.
In fact, a brief examination of the Basic systems techniques yields some startling information as to the true nature and characteristics of Ed Parkers Kenpo. For example, if you count all of the pushes, attempted pushes, grabs, attempted grabs, holds, hugs and locks, along with tackles, you will find that at least two-thirds of this system involves some type of grappling defense. In addition, much can be culled from My Dads Infinite Insights Volumes. In Volume Number Three (Chapter Two, Page 4), youll find the organizational chart of the basics of Kenpo broken down into 5 basic categories. The least known of all Kenpo basics is Specialized Moves and Methods. In addition, page 174 displays the categorical breakdown of Specialized Moves Within Specialized Moves or Advanced Sub-Level 4 Kenpo. Youll notice among these listings are joint twists, locks, throws, and others. Like it or not My Dads American Kenpo is as much a grappling system as it is a striking system. Its no wonder that the most difficult techniques for most kenpoist, are these same grappling techniques, because of the exclusion of Advanced Kenpo Concepts, and Sub-Level 4 Kenpo Principles. The category Other on the Categorical Breakdown Chart refers to Advanced Kenpo Concepts nerve strikes.
Sub-Level 4 encompasses all of these things and, is a series of finite principles working in consort with each other to produce what Dad called, The ultimate aim of the Advanced Kenpo practitioner. ....To completely dominate your opponent and to significantly control his bodily actions, over and above his control, and while doing so, have complete mastery of the level of destruction of the circumstance. Although Dad rarely spoke publicly in any detail about the use of Control Releases, Control Locks, nerve activations, or Energy Disruptions, etc. these are an integral part of the previously untaught Advanced Kenpo Concepts System. Advanced Kenpo Concepts also has the ability to integrate Cavity Presses with non-pain reliant anatomical joint manipulations for humane control of an opponent.
Although Advanced American Kenpo does not deviate from the Kenpo principle of tailoring, Important lessons learned in other phases teach destructive sequencing, and energy disruption principles. These principles must serve as a guide to proper execution, and sequence of execution of techniques. Techniques may be changed or re-arranged but, only if you have this knowledge. Also Advanced Kenpo doesnt make anyones style of Kenpo wrong. But, make no mistake, there is a tremendous difference between the many interpretations of Motion Kenpo and pure Advanced American Kenpo Concepts. Sub-Level 4 will introduce Kenpo practitioners to a level of Kenpo previously unavailable, and will enhance and invigorate their study. They will find their techniques become less abstract. They will learn that Kenpo techniques that might have seemed only marginally effective are, in fact, remarkably effective. In short, they will find that the study and mastery of Advanced American Kenpo will give credit to a self-validating system of martial arts, designed for everyday people. We who practice this level of Kenpo call it Martial Science
To reach these levels of execution, the techniques must be brought back to a specific sequential methodology. These constituent principles and concepts will ultimately allow the practitioner to transcend, into the truly Advanced Level of American Kenpo. Interestingly enough, when the self-defense techniques are executed properly, under the previously described guidelines, the nerve activations (to knowledgeable people) are quite evident. However, method of execution, timing, sequence, and circumstance play a major role in nerve and pressure point activations, and just knowing the technique is not enough. When you perform Advanced, Sub-Level 4 Kenpo, there is a specific way to execute the techniques.
If you examine pictures of My Father performing any technique that requires grabbing, youll notice the use of his finger tips to activate heart, lung, and other nerves on the associated meridians at the wrist. Most never knew He practiced nervous system disruptions, and He never explained these actions. Many struck by him during teaching demonstrations said it felt like being struck by lightening or they felt numb like from an electrical shock. Those of you familiar with his Menu of Death story where he suggests to would be antagonists they had a choice to die today, tomorrow, or next week, should think about what He was really saying. His students were overwhelmed by the power and effectiveness of his moves, but could not duplicate them. This was because they are only effective when the lessons of these other levels of Kenpo, have been properly incorporated.
Overall, Kenpo practitioners who study Advanced American Kenpo Concepts, and SUB-LEVEL 4 material will be challenged. In order to achieve Advanced Kenpo superiority, the Kenpo practitioner must master the particular sequential flow of the techniques outlined in Phase One. All of the Advanced principles can be executed within the sequential flow of the technique, or can be removed and executed singularly and independent of other movements. It literally allows many more options within the technique sequence, and moves the practitioner from Contact Manipulation to the level of Advanced Sub-Level 4.
Unlike others, I was with Ed Parker all my life, and my instructor, was fortunate to have continuously studied under my Dad from the 60s to his most untimely death in 1990. This in itself gives us a rather unique perspective. Although many of My Dads black belts maintained loose associations with him over this time period, to my knowledge none studied diligently and continuously, particularly after being awarded significant rank. Being a credential educator, My Dad knew the value of continuous education and tried to make others realize American Kenpos necessity for evolution and change. What was taught in the fifties rolled over to the sixties, which evolved to the seventies, and gave way to the eighties. We are passing thru the nineties enroute to the millennium. Where is your Kenpo?
I hope this will help you to see and understand how much more directed and dynamic your execution can be. The destructive level of your techniques can be within your control, and your techniques can have a theme, a sense of purpose and direction. You have, Im sure, also found how difficult it is to learn what must be felt from writings and pictures of Advanced American Kenpo Concepts, and Sub-Level Four. This is the true application of My Fathers ...to feel, is to believe. saying.
Written by: Ed Parker Jr. & Ron Chapel
I was in a sequence of photographs in this three part article. The photos that included me were of Ed Parker Jr. doing Checking the Storm on me. I was attacking him with a tonfa, if I remember correctly.
:asian:
