Who will impact EPAK the most in the next 10 years?

[rmcrobertson]

Uh...I never knew what this, "ambassador," stuff was about to begin with.

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

Robert: From OFK's cynical alliterative dictionary...

Ambassador = powerless politician with a penchant for public politeness placed as far away from his country's (or art's) actual leaders as possible.

 

[KenpoTess]

*just thinking out loud...*

Of the listed in the poll... How would each impact Kenpo? Unless we are a TOTALLY UNIFIED System.. with an Active Unified Senior Council who Gave their all to upholding Mr. Parker's System.. Who were not concerned with who's better than whom, (all hypothetical thoughts here), A Group who would encompass Every EPAK Studio out there.. Not for a Profit purpose but to RELAY Mr. Parker's system to all AK's. To Keep all on the same page, To Solidify the Base of Kenpoists everywhere.
Can you Imagine.. All the Combined Knowledge of our Seniors come together as a whole? Phenomenal it would be..

It's like anything in life.. you take away stop signs and rules.. what happens? Chaos.. insurrection.. how many accidents happen in parking lots? Humanity needs rules to coexist, a Format to follow. Certainly we wish for freedom to do what we will, but we should see from our own pasts, without a strong base to guide us, we soon flounder and end up .. such as we are.

With Respect,

Tess

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

Tess: When the Messiah comes to redeem humanity, let us all hope Kenpo unification is on G_d's to-do list.

 

[pete]

Can you Imagine...

come together as a whole...

is somebody channeling John Lennon?

Maybe Helter Skelter would be a fair description? Well, I'm just sitting here watching the wheels go round and round...

 

[rmcrobertson]

I continue to be happy I now have a back yard, because in my back yard I will never have to give a rat's...uh, ear about who dreams that they're the boss of kenpo.

And while I realize this will not be oil on ripples, I cannot imagine why in the world I would want to join an organization formed by business, for business, and administered by people who are no more experienced in kenpo than I am.

 

[Michael Billings]

... that would actually have me as a member (as the old saw would say).

-Michael

 

[Seig]

The one thing I can say that I find good about the current state of Kenpo is that all the seniors have their own strengths. They work on their own strengths and their own points of view. This allows us to find someone who's strength's and points of view are similiar to our own. Most of the seniors are friends and communicate with each other. This allows us to sample from them and to discuss with our own instructors the differences. Some may be good, others not, but it allows for an open discussion and another learning experience.

 

[Nick Ellerton]

One thing i cannot seem to get my head around is the massive Kenpo following throughout the world and the fact that the infinate insights are no longer in print! I no i should be saying that in a different thread but yeah. And as far as someone having an impact on EPAK in the next 10 years i dont think one individual can do it. and i think its a matter of opinion as to who is more capable but just as long as we keep the flame burning i dont think it will matter, just as long as we have still got hold of Mr Parker's life dedication and always appreciate that then it will always live.

 

[Rick Wade]

As far as leading Kenpo, I would look at history.

Mr Tatum has put the tapes and DVDs out there But Mr. Mills has actually evolved the system much like GM Parker did with what he learned from Proffesor Chow.

Just my humble opinion.

Thanks
Rick

 

[Brother John]

Originally posted by Rick Wade
As far as leading Kenpo, I would look at history.
Mr Tatum has put the tapes and DVDs out there But Mr. Mills has actually evolved the system much like GM Parker did with what he learned from Proffesor Chow.

I agree Rick. That's a big factor in my estimation as well.
While all of these men are notable for one thing or the other, I feel that Mr. Mills leads not just the artists that seek his instruction/creation/inovations...but he also 'leads' the art that they seek to learn from him.
:asian:
Your Brother
John

 

[Touch Of Death]

Originally posted by Rick Wade
As far as leading Kenpo, I would look at history.

Mr Tatum has put the tapes and DVDs out there But Mr. Mills has actually evolved the system much like GM Parker did with what he learned from Proffesor Chow.

Just my humble opinion.

Thanks
Rick

I agree, Mr. Mills is or was a quick draw champion, and his methods of increasing speed and dealing with a person you know is faster than yourself are simply revolutionary.

 

[rmcrobertson]

Please define exactly what you mean by, "evolved the system."

I'd also be curious to know why being, "a quick draw champion," has anything to do with, "evolving," kenpo.

Thanks.

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

per Meriam Webster: Evolve from Evolution

Evolution:
Etymology: Latin evolution-, evolutio unrolling, from evolvere
1 : one of a set of prescribed movements
2 a : a process of change in a certain direction : UNFOLDING b : the action or an instance of forming and giving something off : EMISSION c (1) : a process of continuous change from a lower, simpler, or worse to a higher, more complex, or better state : GROWTH (2) : a process of gradual and relatively peaceful social, political, and economic advance d : something evolved
3 : the process of working out or developing
4 a : the historical development of a biological group (as a race or species) : PHYLOGENY b : a theory that the various types of animals and plants have their origin in other preexisting types and that the distinguishable differences are due to modifications in successive generations
5 : the extraction of a mathematical root
6 : a process in which the whole universe is a progression of interrelated phenomena

I think definitions 2 and 3 apply here.

Quickdraw champion only has to do with evolving as some of the AKKI principles/techniques are designed to improve speed.

 

[rmcrobertson]

I kinda suspect I know what the word means. I'm asking what, specifically, Mr. Mills "evolved," out of kenpo.

 

[Rick Wade]

Originally posted by Old Fat Kenpoka
per Meriam Webster: Evolve from Evolution
Quickdraw champion only has to do with evolving as some of the AKKI principles/techniques are designed to improve speed.

I would like to say that First; I have never met Mr. Parker.

Opinion: From what everyone (that was a student of GM Parker) has told me is that he was always evolving his system and GM Parker thought some could Students handle more evolution than others that is why he taught some students some things and others he taught other stuff.

Fact: He changed the number of Techniques per belt for example.

Opinion: I am not saying lets all join the AKKI but lets not just say that they are AKKI principles lets say that they are American Kenpo Principles. I was introduced to some of the timing principles that they use and it made an incredible difference. I think Mr. Mills is on the right direction. I didn't realize how much he had changed the curriculum until I took a couple of classes from one of his students and had some in depth conversations with Mr. Mills as well as his students. It is my humble opinion that Mr. Mills is making better Kenpo practitioners out of all of his students and their students.

Last Note: There have been very few American Kenpo studios that practice EPAK that I haven’t been impressed with at least on some level.

Humbly Yours in Kenpo

Rick

 

[Brother John]

Originally posted by rmcrobertson
Please define exactly what you mean by, "evolved the system."

I'd also be curious to know why being, "a quick draw champion," has anything to do with, "evolving," kenpo.
Thanks.

Hey Robert-
Here's a link to the AKKI website (which is really the best place to find out anything concerning the AKKI, go figure huh): http://www.akki.com/membership/akki_introduction.htm

That'll take you to a page that talks about some, but not all, of the AKKI 'evolution' that Mr. Mills has brought about.
Also, here's another link to another page from the site that lists some of the concepts and principles that Mr. Mills has codified and/or extrapolated on at length for the AKKI members:
http://www.akki.com/articles/akkiconcepts.htm

We have all new techniques, older techniques who's ideal phase has been modified and then some of the old standby's that are so good that they remain pretty much unchanged...as I understand it; except of course that the way they are executed/performed may be different.

New forms, new self-defense techs, new sets, new empty hand training drills, new groundfighting techniques and strategies
New weapons forms, new weapons sets, new weapons techs
new drills for weapons
Lots of good 'new' stuff...
lots of 'evolution'.

This all pertains to your first question, not the second.
I don't know if you have or have access to the book "The Journey", if you don't I highly recomend it...it's fascinating to read about many of the "elder-dragons" of Kenpo and their experiences in it!!! But in the section on Mr. Mills he talks some about how he put a lot of thought and research into how to develop greater speed (increadible/world-record speed) in his fast draw motion (which involves a great deal more than just the hand or even one arm). He talks about how Mr. Parker liked to analyze his motion patterns and his methods of developing greater speed and thereby help him achieve even greater results... Mr. Mills then took these lessons/concepts and applied them to the motion of Kenpo and with Mr. Parker's guidance created concepts and training practices that helped him capitolize on this same 'speed development' w/in his Kenpo techinques.
It worked, proof's in the puddin as they say. So the fact that Mr. Mills became a quick draw world champion doesn't really effect AKKI Kenpo nearly so much as what he learned from it and created as a by-product of it that he then brought into the Kenpo work itself. Kinda like the by-product technological benefits of the space race...things that though they help and aid us a great deal, their use now has little to do with space exploration.

What's more Mr. Mills has incorporated these same elements into his inovations with those things that are new or improved in the AKKI curriculum...thus he's able to engender tremendous results in those who practice it.

BUT: Speed isn't the only area of improvement that Mr. Mills has made for Kenpo...not by far. It's one element w/in a context of many others. But it (speed) tends to be the one that many people see and understand first; probably because it's so outstanding, visually obvious and the other things take actual study of his material in order to learn/be exposed to and thus appreciated.

I kinda doubt I did this subject justice. There's many many more in our association that could put it more plainly or with better detail... but I'm kinda outspoken, so I say what I know.
Hope I helped answer your question some.

Your Brother
John

 

[rmcrobertson]

Well, OK and thanks.

But evolution doesn't work by the simple generation of new forms. It works by the generation of new forms that are pro--or anti-survival.

I'm also still not sure why speed as such is all that big a deal. Of all my inadequacies in kenpo (we haven't time for the list), I can't even consider speed...

And I'd be curious to know what you think represents such an evolution, not just what the website says, though I'm gonna go look right now.

Thanks.

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

What? No votes for Frank Trejo so far? Didn't he revive the IKC's? Isn't that one of the single largest Kenpo (and Karate) events of the year? Doesn't that count for something?

 

[Brother John]

Originally posted by rmcrobertson
Well, OK and thanks.

But evolution doesn't work by the simple generation of new forms. It works by the generation of new forms that are pro--or anti-survival.

I'm also still not sure why speed as such is all that big a deal. Of all my inadequacies in kenpo (we haven't time for the list), I can't even consider speed...

And I'd be curious to know what you think represents such an evolution, not just what the website says, though I'm gonna go look right now.
Thanks.

You are welcome Robert. Glad I could help. :asian:
Maybe it's not as much that they are "new" as what they cultivate in those who practice them that matters. New doesn't always (or even often) mean 'better', better means better. That's my thought. They have had the effect of generating greater competency sooner, from what I've seen and experienced.
I'm not so sure about what you mean by pro or anti survival. Do you mean that they should be 'better'? I think they are, but that's just the opinion of one person....the one subject I'm a master in; my own opinion. Obviously there's at least 17 people who also voted in this little poll who feel similarly.

Like I said, speed isn't the end all be all of AKKI Kenpo... but it is an important element within Kenpo and the martial arts overall. Put it like this, if you had one million dollars to bet on a boxing match in Vegas and the fighters were exact equals in all ways but speed...wouldn't you bet on the faster person? What if one was MUCH stronger, but the other MUCH faster....wouldn't you still choose speed? Strong only matters if it hits, besides speed factors greatly in the generation of force. It also factors greatly in the number of times you can hit the other person as well as the speed with which you can avoid/excape being hit at all. But you are right, it's not nearly all of what Kenpo is all about... I thought I'd said something to that effect in my previous response...

BUT: Speed isn't the only area of improvement that Mr. Mills has made for Kenpo...not by far. It's one element w/in a context of many others.

Yeah...that's the ticket.

Later Robert...
Your Brother
John