What Patch do you use?

[UKS]

Just curious on what Kenpo Crest patch or other that you use. Does your school have its own patch or do you use a generic Kenpo patch for your GI.

 

[Blindside]

Our school was a mixed lineage, so some of the instructors would wear a Tracy patch and others wore the Parker patch. We really weren't a patch happy school, certainly not compared to most of the AK schools that I have seen. I eventually just went with a small 3" round school patch.

 

[Doc]

While my instructor was alive I wore his Crest Patch, even though I hated it. Not because of its design, but because of its execution. The original patch was made by a company called "Standard Swiss Embroidery," located on 4800 block of south Vermont Avenue in Los Angeles. When the original patch was made there were significant limitations in duplicating the drawing Mr. Parker presented for the patch before the digital age. The drawing was an awesome patch, the embroidered reproduction bore little resemblance to Mr. Parker's vision, but it was the best that could be done at the time. Keep in mind, at the time, the Parker Patch was the biggest patch anyone had ever seen. Most were usually small and a simple circle shape. Parker's Patch was a monster to reproduce and cost a fortune in those days in comparison to the other existing patches. The end results were less than desirable but no one could do better. Subsequently over the years, the original kept product kept being duplicated even though technology had improved.

After Mr. Parker passed, the first thing I did was have my graphic design student Rod Perez, take the original drawing and create a digital version for computerized embroidery machines. Rod was in the business and was creating designs for athletic teams, and celebrity athletes, so I knew he knew what he was doing. The results was the shape of the patch was finally corrected and the fine detail was now visible and produced a really beautiful product.

My first generation patch remained essentially the same except for the removal of the words "Kenpo Karate," (because that was not my roots in the arts nor what I was actually taught by Mr. Parker), and included Mr. Parker's initials, "E.K.P." After 10 years had passed we replaced the E.K.P. with "SL-4." The next version moved the SL-4 up on the patch to the center of the circle. The next big change will come on the 25th anniversary of Mr. Parker's passing, with the addition of the official name change added to the patch of "American Chúan-Fa," taking me back to my origin with Ark Wong with the decidedly Ed Parker Flavor, (because he too was a student of Ark Wong), that made what I learned and taught so unique, while honoring both my primary teachers.

 

[tshadowchaser]

my Kenpo uniform still has the one worn by Mr. Parker's students in the ( 80's and 90's)

 

[Doc]

my Kenpo uniform still has the one worn by Mr. Parker's students in the ( 80's and 90's)

One question: "What color is the tiger?"

 

[Tez3]

Wow, big badges!

 

[tshadowchaser]

Doc, I'll let you know as soon as I figure out what box my wife has it packed away in. With luck I'll find it this weekend. This is what happens when you think you know where something is then discover cloths have been moved and packed by someone else. I had not looked for it in about a year so in truth I do not remember what color the dragon was

 

[UKS]

Thanks for that incite Doc, I like what you did with your design on the patch. One questions that I have wondered, how much studying did Mr. Parker do with Ark Wong?

 

[Doc]

It is my understanding he never stopped studying with Sifu Wong from the moment they first met around 1961, until Sifu's death in 1987.