History of The Perfect Weapon: The Sequel, Contracts & Speed script that got away

Testing day at Flores Brothers Kenpo Karate

Can you imagine walking into the dojo to test and this was your testing board?

Terrifying is an understatement. 

Is it Kenpo or Kempo?

(an explanation by Mr. Steven Resell from a recent discussion on Facebook)

KeMpo or KeNpo, 拳法, is simply the Japanese translation of the word “Chuan Fa” (quan fa), with the Cantonese romanization typically being “Ken Fat” / “Kyun Faat”, denoting self-defense systems with a Chinese origin.

In the West, it is often translated as “law of the fist”. However, the more literal translation is “fist method”. This should not be confused with Kenpo, the sword method, as it is written with different Chinese characters 剣法 but pronounced the same as Kenpo (fist method) in Japanese.

In Chinese, the typical meaning of the word “Chuan Fa” is “boxing” or ‘fighting technique’. From a Japanese perspective, when saying Kempo, it has an implied meaning of “Chinese Boxing” or “Chinese Fighting Techniques”.

Is it spelled with an N or M?

Then there’s the question in regards to spelling of KeNpo vs KeMpo. I’ve heard some argue that if they spell it with a “N” that it is of Chinese origin, while spelling it with a “M” denotes Japanese origin.

This is also an incorrect assumption.

It is simply a romanization “error”. It is the same characters in Japanese and is pronounced exactly the same. In “hiragana” (the Japanese phonetic alphabet) both Kenpo and Kempo would be spelled in this manner: けんぽう.

The romanization to KeMpo is from the traditional Hepburn romanization system, which was first used in the 3rd edition of the Japanese – English dictionary in 1887, and named after James Curtis Hepburn.

Why the difference between KeNpo and KeMpo then?

The “original” art of KeNpo popularized in Hawaii was by Reverend James Mitose, who taught Kosho-Ryu Kenpo Jujutsu at the Official Self-Defense Club in Hawaii.

And the primary reason for the variation of spelling from Kenpo to KeMpo in Hawaii was because of Professor William K.S. Chow. He wanted to separate himself from the earlier spelling of KeNpo as used by Mitose, and also separate his art from the spelling used by some of his other students on the mainland (who chose to call their art KeNpo).

As a side note, Professor Chow was apparently the first in Hawaii to combine the words Kempo & Karate… to form the now popular term “Kempo Karate” (Kenpo Karate), although the term “Karate Kenpo” had been used prior (to Professor Chow’s usage) in the book “Karate Kenpo” by Mitsu Mizuho in 1933.

Copies of this book were brought to Hawaii by Mizuho himself in 1933, and it had been circulated within the Karate community there during the 1930s.

Mr. Brian Adams interview on kenpo in the early days

(from brianadamsintegratedmartialarts.com)

Can you tell us where and when you first started your Martial Art training ?

I started my training in Kenpo at age 18, [1960 ] at the Pasadena CA. studio on Walnut. I was going to Pasadena City College at that time and majoring in Psychology and minoring in Sociology.  It was an exciting time . It was the 60’s. Lots of new things to explore.  Many students at Pasadena City College were enrolled at Ed Parker’s “Kenpo Karate Studios.” The night classes were huge, hardly any room to move some times. So I went to the day class [ it was pleasantly small ]. The first year I had several day time instructors. Jim Tracy was the most consistent then [ he was a technique technician } . I would from time to time have  Ed Parker , Dave Hebler , and John Mc Sweeny fill in for Jim. When the Tracy’s left and opened up their first studio in San Jose, Ed Parker became my main day time instructor.

What types of training gear did you have at the studio in those days?

The first thing I saw there was the Makawara board.  It was in the back, stuck in the ground and the top 8” was wrapped in burlap bag padding. It was tapered at the top and got thicker as it went down to the bottom and into the ground. It was a little springy when you punched it.  It was for building up calluses and calcium deposits on the knuckles etc.. we also had a inner tube filled Banana Bag [ hand held ].  

I worked the Makawara board for four months and my knuckles started the become changed, then one day it was gone. Ed said that “boards and bricks don’t fight back “ and that was the end of my gung-ho knuckle training. I recall seeing Al Tracy’s walnut size knuckles some time later and was glad I stopped when I did. Ed had kind of a pudgy hand and his knuckles were not so obvious.  In the early 60’s I saw Ed break bricks, boards and a very high stack of roof tiles.  He always broke on the first effortless try.  He was like the force of a locomotive going down hill. Unstoppable.  The only other training feature was the rice/straw Tatami matts we used to fall on.  They were used mainly for Judo rolls and for braking the “Leap of Death” dive landing and the “Back Breaker Technique” = fall on the back. We never saw or practiced any Judo through.

Wasn’t Ed Parker a Black Belt in Judo?

I remember when on one of our long car rides to a demonstration Ed told me he was a Brown belt in Judo. Now that story has morphed to “he was a Black Belt in Judo“.  But I will say this, Ed had a very advanced mastery over foot sweeps and entanglements from the knee down.

I heard you used to go on day time demo’s with Ed because you were a full time student and could usually be free to travel.

Yes.  Me and a few others … that were available would assist with the shows.  

Dave Hebler [became Elvis Presley’s Body Guard] ,

Steve Golden [became one of Bruce Lee’s favored students and head of the Bruce Lee Fan Club]

Jerry Meyers [went on to open a school in Pomona CA.]

Jim Grunwald  [opened a school in la Puente CA]

Tom Gow [starred on the cover of the Kenpo Basics Booklet]

John McSweeney  [became known as the father of Kenpo in Ireland]

Danny Inosanto [became Bruce Lee’s top J.K.D. Instructor and Heir to his legacy .

Also the most known F.M.A.. promoter in the world.

Deion Stickling , Jimmy Duarte, Bob Goya [classmates]

Tom Bleaker [managed Ed Parker’s school in Santa Monica and hosts Kenpo - Past, Present and Future on You Tube]

Chuck Sullivan [ has a large school in LA, CA., and was Ed’s business partner in early video Kenpo instruction movies, director of the first International’s in Long Beach Ca.}.                                                                     

One time we all participated in a large demo at “ Terry Hunt’s Health Club“ in Beverly Hills. We had lunch after ward with Jose Ferrer, Paul Newman, Mickey Hagarty [Jane Mansfield’s husband] and Blake Edwards [Hollywood producer] etc.  I did not know who most of these people were at the time. I have a picture of me doing the “Five Count” on Ed by the pool. I think Tom Bleaker took the shot.

How did things change after that?

I think Ed got a reality hit and became more business focused. He started considering some of the avenues for commercial endeavors that he had previously thought were not true to the old school Kenpo values in Hawaii… things like tournaments and the Tracy’s method of test requirements and standards [ test fees and colored belts etc. ].   Although these were brewing in the future schema of things to implement, they did not come to fruition until after I left to open my school in San Diego in 1964. 

One thing he did experiment with was the tournament. I was still a 4 Tip White Belt when Ed held an inter-school tournament at Brookside Park in Pasadena.  I won the tournament and was awarded a custom set of book ends. They were clearly poses of Ed Parker and Chuck Sullivan in combat stances.  The typical point system was not used to determine the winner but rather a point system based on the most creative personal individual style demonstrated.

During this period [ 1960-1965 ] Ed finished all of the new Kenpo forms we use today. Professor Chow had not taught Ed any forms, so he assumed Chow did not know any forms.   When I filmed Chow doing a form at Adrian Emperado’s S.F. Tournament [1966 ] , Ed said “Wow, I did not know Chow knew any forms” . I loaned Ed the unprocessed  film and I never saw it again. Also the self defense tech’s became more detailed and polished [due to the Chinese influence].

Chuck Sullivan introduced us to the Japanese style “ Thrusting Knife Edge Kick ” [ toes up ]. Prior to that we only used a”  Snapping Knife Edge Kick ” [ toes down ]. We did not wear cups in the early 60’s.  Chuck Sullivan initiated starting in a loose natural frontal standing  position when running the Technique line. Previously we would start from a front Horse stance. And another change about that time was to start out in a Neutral Bow instead of a frontal Horse when sparring.

The new Crenshaw School was Chuck Sullivan and Ed’s testing grounds for Chucks innovative teaching methods. They needed a qualified instructor when it first opened and I was available so I was hired to teach there during the week [ I was a Brown Belt at the time , 1964 ] and Chuck would teach some privates and some weekend classes. I got paid $50 a month to teach.

Also, the Japanese belt ranks went up to 10th degree Black Belt and Kenpo’s only went up to 6th degree Black. In order to get more uniformity between styles Ed created the I.K.K.A  and the governing body promoted Ed to 10th Black.

The Kenpo taught between 1960 and 1965 was the basis for all future Kenpo innovations . By the time Ed passed away he had taken Kenpo to very highly sophisticated state and he modernized it for today’s world and named it “American Kenpo” to distinguish his Kenpo from the old Hawaiian roots it sprang from.  He will go down in Martial Art history as an innovative genius.

I heard that testing and promotions were a lot different back in the early 60’s?  Can you tell us more?

To start with , we had no colored belts except Brown and Black.  As I recall , there were two ranks of white belt; and they were distinguished by a brown stripe for the first rank and the next white belt rank was a second stripe on the end of each belt. So each end could have up to two stripes on each belt end. And somewhere around 1961 or 1962 the tips as they were called got expanded to four tips . There was not any official test at that time. 

I remember one day seeing my name on a typed sheet of paper on the dressing room bulletin board.  It read: “Names of individuals promoted to one Brown Tip “.  So that’s how I discovered I had been promoted. There were no specific test requirements. Just a very large butcher paper sheet on the wall listing about fifty different self defense situations. There were headings like “Right hand lapel grab, Left hand lapel grab,  Right punch,  Left hand punch, etc.

Very few tech’s had a name. So we had to rely on our memories.  Many years later [ late 60’s ] Ed succumbed to pier pressure from other schools and from the Tracy Bros. who had upgraded you might say to a more organized commercial sales tool. Yes it was colored belts and the naming of the techniques for an easier word association for memory recall. When I left to open my first school in San Diego CA . [ 1964 ] Ed had still not  changed over to the colored belt system; nor had he developed a test requirement  chart format for each rank.

I was not happy with the existing Helter Skelter method he used so I made it a priority to create my own chart system for students for clarity and so that there was no favoritism in rank promotions.  I kicked it off at my new school in 1964.  All I had to do for my Third Brown was to perform Form Four and take a kick in the stomach.

Tom Bleaker and I were tested together at the Santa Monica school together.  Also I recall that we had just six ranks of Black Belt at that time. Karate ranks were still in their beginning stages of development in this country; and I don’t think any one had ever heard the term “Grand Master“.

Have the Kenpo forms changed much since the time period you learned them [ 1960 - 1965 ] ?

YouTube “Kenpo Form” videos I have seen often skip the original details I learned from Ed. Lately students have been asking me about the detail in the forms because they have seen the You Tube videos that are sometimes very different than the forms I teach. So I have videoed myself [ at age 80 ] doing the main Kenpo forms I learned in the early 60’s and that is what you’ll see on the videos posted below, just to show students of Ed Parker’s American Kenpo how it was done in the 60’s. Just for the historical record.

I’m not judging today’s versions of the forms but just showing the ongoing evolution of “American Kenpo“,  just for the record.  I know the reason for some of the deferences in form interpretations. The “Tracy’s” were too busy to leave their new enterprise to come back to Pasadena to learn most of the new forms Ed was developing when they left for San Jose. Ed gave Danny Inosanto permission to film the forms on Super 8 camera for the Tracy’s.  I know from personal experience that it is very difficult to learn any detail from a Super 8 film.  I’m sure that’s one of the reasons why there are many differences in the forms between Kenpo schools. And of course there is one’s own interpretation.

(link to watch kenpo forms videos)

https://brianadamsintegratedmartialarts.com/kenpo-karate-forms

Fact-check

 

The Medical Implications of Karate Blows by Brian Adams

How did your book “The Medical Implications Karate Blows“ become the first I.K.K.A. Black Belt thesis? 

I’ll  give you a little back ground first .  After I opened my school in San Diego, I was often asked about the legendary“ Dim Mak “Poison Hand“ [ Delayed Death Touch ] lore from China that was circulating in the Martial Arts community. I started doing my own research project to find out if the stories were true. I enlisted several M.D.’s and specialist to help in the search for scientific verification of these stories. I borrowed a stack of medical texts about 5’ high to search through. Three years later I had found no evidence of any thing even related to the Chinese delayed death touch lore. However I could see how this lore could be imagined from Chinese acupuncture theory.

I finished the manuscript in 1967 and showed it to Ed Parker. Then he said how can we use this to promote the I.k.k.a. and I said you can say it was originally a thesis for Black Belt. So that’s when the Black Belt Thesis was born. He then wrote a very nice endorsement which is in the first pages of the book. The simple Kenpo Tech.’s were influenced by my studies at Bruce Lee’s in China Town L.A. [ economy of motion principal ]. After a ten year hiatus it is available again at Amazon.

(from Amazon.com)

This is a foundational Kenpo book first written as a Black Belt thesis for Ed Parker and the IKKA. Medical line drawings and technical descriptions make up 24 chapters, each chapter examining a core technique of the Kenpo art. Martial artists from any style can benefit as these basic strikes examine anatomical effects of blunt force trauma throughout the body, as well as surface injury to sensitive areas. This information provides realistic learning for students and emphasis the importance of control, discipline, precision, and helps to inform early treatment or first aid. This book is not intended to be used as a treatment or diagnostic tool in replacement of professional medical personnel. It is for academic and reference use only.

https://www.amazon.com/Medical-Implications-Karate-Blows/dp/0998798312/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2R66I2JD1V757&keywords=the%20medical%20implications%20of%20karate%20blows&qid=1650647408&sprefix=the%20medical%20implications%20of%20karate%20blows%2Caps%2C278&sr=8-1

In honor of Grand Master Richard "Huk" Planas

Sadly Mr. Planas passed away this week. In memory here is a video of him and Mr. Parker doing some techniques back in the day.

Just once you've reached the end

 

The difference between forms and sets

(comments by Mr. Dave Hopper from a conversation on Facebook, November 2021)

The Chinese martial arts refer to forms as movement groupings that are designed to preserve style lineage, practice movement flow, and develop attributes such as extension, range, agility, transitions, balance, etc.

Sets are defined as exercise sets or combat sets (sparring sets) and seem more like what we would call drills. The emphasis in exercise sets, of course, being strength, endurance, power, speed; and combat sets focusing more on partner work.

Obviously there is overlap.

Based on that, I would submit that our weapons katas are sets because each section represents (in some sets) an exercise or “handling drill,” and in others, each section may be a combat application.

As I write, I’m thinking “set” is “a set of drills.”

That said, under that definition, our “technique forms,” seem to fit better under the definition of set, and the basics forms seem to be more “form-like.”

In Tracy’s, we use Tiger/Crane and Tam Tui. If you are familiar with those, I would call TC a form, and Tam Tui a set, much like our 18-section Punching Set.

I guess you could also move back and forth in the definition based on the intent of practice at the time.

Are you doing #4 for flow, transitions, range, etc., or are you focusing on the combat application of each separate technique?

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(according to Google's AI)

In martial arts, a form is a choreographed sequence of movements, often representing a combat scenario against one or more imaginary opponents, while a set typically refers to a series of repetitions of a specific technique or combination. Forms, also known as kata or taolu, are used for practicing and preserving techniques, improving physical attributes, and developing mental focus. Sets, on the other hand, are used to build strength, endurance, and muscle memory through repetitive practice of specific movements. 

Here's a more detailed breakdown:

-Forms (Kata/Taolu):

Purpose: Forms are designed to encapsulate a martial art's principles, techniques, and applications in a structured, flowing sequence. 

Content: They typically involve a variety of stances, strikes, blocks, kicks, and possibly even weapons techniques, all choreographed to create a cohesive and challenging exercise. 

Benefits: Practicing forms enhances balance, coordination, fluidity of movement, muscle memory, and provides a framework for understanding combat principles. 

Examples: Karate kata, Wushu taolu, Taekwondo poomsae, and Kung Fu forms are all examples of martial arts forms. 

-Sets:

Purpose: Sets are used to isolate and repeat specific techniques or combinations, focusing on building strength, speed, and endurance.

Content: A set might involve a series of punches, kicks, or grappling techniques performed repeatedly for a specific number of repetitions or time.

Benefits: Sets help develop muscle memory, improve speed and power, and build endurance for specific movements or combinations.

Examples: Doing a series of 10 push-ups, then resting, and repeating for several sets is an example of using sets to build strength. 

In essence, forms are like a complete martial art "story," while sets are like focused "chapters" or "paragraphs" within that story, honing specific skills and movements. 

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Mr. Hopper was pretty spot on well before Google's AI came out.

Mr. Parker, White, and Sahagun honored at the Shaolin Temple

(recently posted on Facebook by Alia White Cass) 

With great pride, I present the Stone Monument honoring Senior Master Bob White along with Grand Master Ed Parker, @kungfuphilip, and about 70 other North American Martial Artists.

"Respected Shaolin Monks, Masters, and honored guests,

It is with a heart full of gratitude and humility that I stand before you in this sacred place where discipline, wisdom, and spirit merge into a single, unbreakable force. To receive such an honor on behalf of my father, Bob White, is a moment I will carry with me for the rest of my life.

My father, like many, sought meaning in life through understanding the connection between mind, body, and spirit. He had a deep respect for the teachings of the Shaolin monks, for their unwavering dedication to mastering not only martial arts but the art of living with integrity, humility, and honor.

To have his name etched into the stones of this Temple — a place of such profound history and spiritual significance — is a recognition that transcends words. It represents not just the legacy of a single individual, but the shared values that Mr. White sought to embody in his own life: discipline, resilience, compassion, and respect for all living beings.

He was, in many ways, an eternal student — always learning, always growing.

On behalf of my family, I would like to express our deepest thanks.

Thank you, respected monks, for bestowing this incredible honor. My father would have been humbled by it.

May we all continue to strive toward harmony and balance, following the path of wisdom, compassion, and strength that you, the Shaolin monks, so beautifully represent.

Thank you."

Alia White Cass

Dr. Ron Chapél on the Alphabet of Motion

(from a recent conversation on Facebook)

When I met Mr. Parker in 63, my first lesson was on vocabulary and terms he had handwritten, and the "motion" concept probably didn't exist yet. He emphasized the importance of organization and language in communicating ideas.

It prompted me to be a Broadcast Communications Major at JC. I later realized that my personal training took me in a different direction, focusing more on the anatomical mechanical aspects of his and my previous training with Ark Wong before he created the system built on "motion.”

He described "motion" as more abstract and an extension of the dominant method of teaching at the time through mimicry. The Chinese taught "mechanics" over "motion" or proper "anatomical movement." This is a much slower, deliberate way that takes more time, but the rewards and results are greater and longer-lasting. Many from the "Chinese Kenpo" era didn't like the new "motion" system and never followed Mr. Parker into it beyond the business opportunities it created.

It caused a major split among black belt students, although many remained loyal to Mr. Parker, they refused to teach the new "system." Some strayed to Tracy's at first with the idea he was staying with the old method, but he, too, succumbed to the business aspect, creating even more techniques and franchising schools with anyone who had the money, black belt or not.

Many also either came over to, or came back to, Mr. Parker and helped with, and learned the modern system. Notable examples would be the LaBounty Lineage of Tom Kelly and Rich Planas. Chuck Sullivan didn't teach it either while remaining loyal, but instead chose to create his own "Karate Connection" based on his years of Chinese kenpo Training with Mr. Parker. Some, like Rich Montgomery, left and went with Jimmy Woo to continue in the traditional Chinese "mechanical method," while Danny Inosanto went with Bruce Lee to help him create JKD as his primary training partner. It should be noted that Danny came out of Ark Wong as well and knew the value of "mechanical over motion.”

As I said, the bulk of these people remained loyal to Mr. Parker while pursuing their own paths. This wasn't unusual at the time. The martial arts were relatively new and few, so everyone, on some level, cross-trained with anyone they encountered to expand their experiences. I did the same, while remaining close to most of the family, training with Mr. Parker, and eventually running the IKC for 12-14 years.

Rare pursuits

 

Dr. Ron Chapél on how to get faster with your techniques

(from a recent discussion on Facebook)

"Only go as fast as you can perform the stances and footwork." Speed will come over time, from physical and mental familiarity. It happens gradually, and if done properly, you will barely notice it.

A classic photo of Grand Master Nick Cerio

 (Still looking for a better copy of this photo however)

Dr. Ron Chapél on Mr. Parker breaking boards for a commercial

(from a conversation on Facebook about Mr. Parker breaking boards for a commercial promoting the International Karate Championships, see commercial here: https://kenponotes.blogspot.com/2016/09/ed-parker-breaking-boards.html )

The back story was, that Mr. Parker felt breaking boards was a useless activity and hated doing this publicity stunt to advertise the tournament. But just like adding the word "karate" back to the modern system, he gave the public what they wanted. He bruised both of his hands pretty good and his knuckles were really swollen afterward.

I remember that day vividly because his hands were visibly banged up, red, and swollen, so I asked because I worked and wasn't at the shoot. He wasn't happy about having to do it at all. But, he wouldn't let on to anybody he bruised his hands. It had probably been many decades since he broke a board. In his famous first commercial, he opened by breaking one board with a single punch and said, "Ever been attacked by a tree? Probably not." Breaking boards when we were Chinese Kenpo didn't make sense and led to one of Mr. Parker's sayings, "Always hit hard with soft, and soft with hard." Simply, Heel palm strikes to the head, punches to the body. Besides, despite the publicity garnered from board breaking, Mr. Parker thought the makiwara was stupid, and most never used it as intended. If you strike with the palm down, that is anatomically after the punch into its extension. The Chinese rightly focus on what we call the vertical punch, which then may be extended into the horizontal position as follow-through. Driving your hand into a makiwara in the horizontal position Mr. Parker called "jousting." He complained about the officials in tournaments who allowed points for doing the same thing. He said, "That's not punching. Points shouldn't be allowed for jousting."

Mr. Parker and Mr. White to be honored at the Shaolin Temple in China

1967 newspaper article about Mr. Parker and Long Beach Internationals - (rare photo of Mr. Parker)

 

Newspaper article from July 26th, 1967.

Most important is the top photo, which could be a never before seen photo of Mr. Parker. (unless you subscribed to Palos Verde Peninsula News and Rolling Hills Herald back in the day of course.)

44 % mental

 

Some thoughts on "Category Completion"

(from a a recent conversation on Facebook)

Category Completion is a teaching concept but more importantly, a constructive concept to allow the three-dimensional creation of the system and how concepts and principles interact with each other from any point of observation. Relationships build family groupings, families groups build sequential flow and position recognition during a confrontation.

Category flow builds a holistic kenpo system that fits the individuals needs.

Choice of what you like and don't like is made available to the student to make comparisons and choose what fits their body and emotional content. - Mr. Larry Tatum

Category completion is designed to make kenpo EASIER to understand, not complicate it. It is done to simplify the relationship between attacks, various techniques and cross referencing them. The phrase Mr. Parker would say often was "For every move, concept, principle of definition, there is an opposite and reverse". - Mr. Joe Rebelo

It teaches you position recognition and helps understand the system, which in turn makes you faster at responding once you have contact. - Mr. Jason Arnold

My teacher, Mr. Planas, often says “you learn to be spontaneous only by being spontaneous”!! I don’t think there is a better comment on the subject. To reiterate, Category Completion is not a magic pill that makes kick a$$ if you just memorize all the relationships in the system! There is NO replacement for quality basics drilled numerous times, and spontaneous training. Perceptual speed aside, where Category Completion is intended to aid is mental speed, by facilitating efficient motion within the Universal Pattern, as you respond to the attack. Strong basics should take care of the rest.

With regards to the Equation Formula, the Equation Formula tells you what to do, Category Completion shows you how to do it! But like Billy Mays used to say, “there’s more”. Instead of just showing technique modification, it addresses footwork, attack angles, strike patterns, opposites and reverses, etc. so to conclude, Category Completion combines concepts, such as Equation Formula, opposites and reverses, and so on, and puts them within physical context within the Universal Pattern. - Mr. Max Bychkov

From Bruce Lee to Chinatown: Sue Ann Kay reflects on her Seattle roots

(nwasianweekly.com Nov. 15, 2024)

“I’m 79, and in the Chinese calendar, you’re a year old when you’re born. So I’m using that I’m 80, because it sounds better,” Sue Ann Kay, a longtime Seattleite and Chinatown-International District advocate said with a laugh, during her recent Q&A with the Northwest Asian Weekly.

After Kay spoke at the Landmarks Board Meeting in September, advocating for the preservation of Bruce Lee’s first dojo on University Way preserved as an historic landmark (which the board did not approve), Carolyn Bick of the Northwest Asian Weekly caught up with her to learn more about Kay’s life.

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Tell me about your background, and your childhood. Were you encouraged to seek out new experiences and experiences not then typical for girls and young women?

Yes and no. I mean, in our family, my sister and brother got to go into music. And my mother put me into baton twirling classes and ice skating, which was a little different. Now I wish I had some music background.

We had a good childhood on Capitol Hill, and we always went to the Chinatown-International District. So, our childhood was filled with going there to eat out with family and see what was happening. And yeah, in those days, the Chinese Baptist Church there on 8th was sort of a gathering point. I was a church dropout. But yeah, my sister and sister and mother, yeah. So we’ve been around Seattle since, well, I was born here.

I’m a product of Stephen’s [Elementary] School, Meany [Middle School], and Garfield [High School]! I graduated in ‘63 from Garfield.

How old were you when you met Bruce Lee? How did that happen?

Let’s see, I was in high school, and my father hung out in Chinatown. And so he had heard about Bruce Lee and had seen him demonstrate. And [my father] was the Boy Scout leader, so he asked Bruce if he would teach the Boy Scouts.

Bruce did end up teaching at the Chinese Baptist Church there in the CID. There’s a picture in the Wing Luke Museum. I didn’t pay a whole lot of attention [at first]. That was before I joined and started martial arts. I think my brother was like 13, or younger. I don’t know—he was a Boy Scout, anyway.

My dad also invited [Bruce] over for dinner. He was sparring with my brother in the yard and showed me a few tricks. I guess I was impressed. And then he said that I could join the class on Saturday, just come. And I did, and I was hooked. I guess I didn’t really think about it, that I was the only female in the class. He just treated me like I was another student.

I became a fairly serious student. … Because he was a friend of my father’s, I think that he always treated me with a lot of respect—like I wasn’t any less of a student. 

I think what I’ve mentioned before in interviews is that I really appreciated that he taught me how to protect myself, before there were women’s classes. He used me to demonstrate to the rest of the class with an umbrella how to protect myself and use it as an extension of my arms. And I’ve never had to use it or really don’t think about that’s something that I would do. But I think that it does stick with you, and when you practice it, it becomes that your aware of your surroundings. And I don’t know if I could ever protect myself, but I’ve been exposed to what I could do if I had to.

You mentioned that you were hooked, after your first class. What specifically hooked you when you took that first class?

I think it was the Chinese culture. He introduced me to Yin and Yang, and he gave me that book, the Tao Te Ching. I just became interested in Chinese philosophy, although I’m not a real good student of anything.

But yeah, the culture intrigued me. And acupuncture—I got really interested in that… it was during a time when doctors at the University of Washington were calling it “voodoo.” Acupuncture wasn’t accepted here in the 60s.

So all of that was new to me, and fascinating.

My sister went through the university studying Chinese history and culture, but I didn’t, so I did get it a different way, I guess, and it was kind of a different group of friends … a lot of Garfield students—like Doug Palmer is one of them, wrote a book. (https://www.chinmusicpress.com/product-page/bruce-lee-sifu-friend-and-big-brother)

We’re all tied. You know, you run into people and then you find out about them and their backgrounds. Everyone had kind of a new awakening to something that wasn’t offered before. And Bruce was pretty charismatic.

Did your family support you studying martial arts?

They never questioned it. I just went every Saturday.

You mentioned that with Bruce, you were not treated any differently. Was that your experience broadly within the field of martial arts, or was Bruce really stand-out in that?

I have experienced sexism and racism through the years, and become more aware of it. But when I think back to that period, I was carefree and just open to anything. And I didn’t put up with a lot of negativity. It was a fun period growing up.

I didn’t do the competition round [in martial arts].

Part of the class was Tai Chi. And now, you know, there are Tai Chi classes and Qigong classes. I tried to go to see if I could keep it up, but I’m not really structured to do it on my own. I’ve never wanted to learn from someone else, after I learned from Bruce. I don’t know if that’s because of Bruce, or because I’m just not one to master anything. I just sort of dip in and see what it’s all about. 

But when you’re that young, too, it leaves a lasting effect—it was a lasting imprint. It’s like, “Wow, I got to really feel what the energy, the chi in Gung Fu was about, because in the classes we did the sticky hands. And I remember it was like an “Aha!” moment, because Bruce went around and did it with everyone in the class. And you do figure eights with your arms and you can feel the give and flow of the energy, so that if you were being hit and you connected to the arm, you could just deflect it. 

I didn’t really master any of that, but to be introduced to that type of an education—it was like another class that I had at the university, only it wasn’t at the university.

https://nwasianweekly.com/2024/11/from-bruce-lee-to-chinatown-sue-ann-kay-reflects-on-her-seattle-roots/comment-page-1/?fbclid=IwY2xjawJsk59leHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHsjG6La0tkAqwtwar7IrCyHaob2pbha5rzcOE_mP2zAHgNd286UoV1HJZ93N_aem_wosB3vuX7UePuKPHSjx96w#comment-2002403

Some nice training space at USSD's headquarters

 Looks like some ample training space at USSD's headquarters in Irvine CA.

"My Empty Hands" podcast

https://myemptyhands.net/

"I started Chinese Kenpo in the mid 90s. I have trained in Tae Kwon Do, Hapkido, Boxing, and Capoeira. I now train in American Kenpo, Hapkido, Muay Thai, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

I was inspired to start a podcast as I’ve been a life long fan of the martial arts and want to hear about the experiences of my fellow brothers and sisters in the arts."

Credit to Mr. Reggie Darden for all his hard work at creating and maintaining his "My Empty Hands" podcast. 

Started in September of 2024 he is now up to 55 episodes and has interviewed some of the biggest names in Kenpo such as Jeff Speakman, Ted Sumner, Dennis Conatser, Darryl Vidal, just to name a few. 

Check out his podcast and let him know with a comment what good work he is doing for the kenpo community. 

Seattle Landmarks Board rejects Bruce Lee’s first dojo for historical designation

(nwasianweekly Sept. 20, 2024)

After lengthy discussion that took up most of its Sept. 19 meeting, the City of Seattle’s Landmarks Preservation Board decided not to designate the site of what advocates call Bruce Lee’s first formal dojo as a historical landmark.

Seattle’s Bruce Lee Fan Club submitted the building for historical preservation designation. Located at 4750 University Way, the building was one of the last places Lee trained and lived before moving to California. While the building—which still holds apartments—has been modified since Lee’s time, a landmark designation would have protected the building from further change and development without specific authorization from the board.

The designation failed by just one “yes” vote, with six of the nine board members voting “yes.” A landmark is approved for designation by seven or more members voting “yes.”

In addition to sending in documents (a “main points” document and a more detailed document) supporting the designation, a handful of people showed up to advocate for the site, including two of Lee’s students, CID Coalition member and longtime Chinatown-International District (CID) resident Sue Ann Kay and Jun Fan Gung Fu instructor Abe Santos. Advocates said that the building is the site of Lee’s first formal dojo, which distinguishes it from his more informal ones, like the basement of Ho Ho Restaurant in the CID.

In his public comment period, Santos offered to open a school in the building, in order to preserve the site’s legacy. Santos remembered that, about 12 years ago, he and Taky Kimura—Lee’s best friend and senior student—visited the building. The owners at the time asked whether the pair wanted to start a school there, he said.

“At the time, I was very busy with Sifu Taky, and we said no,” Santos recalled. “But in order to preserve this building, I think it’s important to do that.”

Kay took classes from Lee in 1963. The self-described “80-year-old retiree” was 16 years old, when she started taking classes from Lee.

“What Bruce gave to me especially was just an aura of safety, and he taught me self-defense, which in those days was not popular,” Kay said. “He also taught me about acupuncture when the University of Washington doctors that I knew were still calling it voodoo. And the space in the University District is really special to me, because we first learned in the basement of one of the buildings in Chinatown.

Later, Kay would introduce Lee to Linda Emery. The pair would end up marrying. Kay herself later became one of Kimura’s top female students.

In their designation request, applicants included both the fact that the building is an example of Spokane-born William G. Morris’ mid century modernist architectural style, as well as its association with Bruce Lee. The Landmarks Preservation Board considers architecture on several merits, including its association “in a significant way with the life of a person important in the history of the City, state, or nation” and/or whether it “embodies the distinctive visible characteristics of an architectural style, or period, or of a method of construction.”

Deputy Liaison for the Landmarks Preservation Board Erin Doherty also said that the owner of the building currently has no plans to create a museum in the building or space.

Following significant discussion—about 90 minutes’ worth—the board ultimately rejected the site for a landmark designation. However, there wasn’t full agreement among all members on this matter.

Throughout the meeting, board member Lora-Ellen McKinney repeatedly stressed that she understood the building’s significance in Bruce Lee’s legacy.

Before voting yes to preserve the building, McKinney said that her original leaning towards a “no” vote was because she believes it’s important to connect stories with places. But this is “not a perfect tool,” she said, and because she could not find a good architectural reason to preserve the building, she said that if designating the building based solely on Lee’s association was the only option, “then I will do that.”

Roi Chang disagreed, though she admitted that she saw the merits of what fellow board member Katie Randall had been saying about the board being “too hard” on the building.

“But … what’s catching me is the ability for this building to face significance,” Chang said. “I think without knowing it, without any other stand-up form, I wouldn’t be able to recognize this building for its significance, looking at what it was then versus now, so I’m voting no.”

Following the vote, Seattle Bruce Lee Fan Club President Charlette LeFevre sent out a press release stating that the club directors were “extremely disappointed,” but would be looking into getting the building designated as a state and national landmark.

She also wrote that the club’s directors are “still strongly encouraging the owner of the University Way Apts and the City of Seattle to recognize a site for what they feel is a culturally important landmark.”

https://nwasianweekly.com/2024/09/seattle-landmarks-board-rejects-bruce-lees-first-dojo-for-historical-designation/

No high kicks in kenpo, unless you are Mr. Trejo

Recently it was discussed how Mr. Parker advised against attempting a high kick to an opponent's head, better to kick them in the groin first, then the head will be easier to kick.

(see post here: https://kenponotes.blogspot.com/2025/01/why-no-high-kicks-in-kenpo.html )

However, after seeing the above photo of Mr. Frank Trejo throwing a powerful high kick I'd imagine an exemption was made for him. 

Mr. Tatum on keeping kenpo from becoming traditional

(from a recent discussion on Facebook)

If you don't want the kenpo system to become traditional then use the Rearrangement Concept.

You can prefix, delete a move or moves, add to, rearrange, alter, regulate, suffix, or insert a move to any given base.

By doing so, you can end up with a new Base technique, with its own ideal phase, what-if phase, and formulation phase.

But make sure you adhere to the concepts and principles that make kenpo what it is.

The rebounding (or slapping sound) in kenpo

(a write-up by Mr. Larry Kongaika from a recent conversation on Facebook)

That's the rebounding and counter balance. You know you move faster and strike harder with the counter balance. It’s just how physics and biomechanics work

One of the most fundamental principles of physics—Newton’s Third Law (for every action, there’s an equal and opposite reaction). Using the pulling or retracting hand (hikite) to balance or counter the striking hand not only stabilizes the body but also channels that recoil energy to generate faster and more powerful follow-ups.

In traditional karate it’s referred to as the “hikite” and is often misunderstood as merely pulling the hand to the waist or pulling your opponent’s hand while striking but the principle goes beyond the obvious. It’s the same dynamic energy that, when applied correctly, enhances striking fluidity, improves timing, and helps maintain balance during multiple attacks.

Elastic recoil, or what some systems refer to as “trampolining,” is an advanced biomechanical principle that takes advantage of the natural rebound effect in the body to accelerate subsequent movements. In essence, by not fully arresting the motion of a strike but instead allowing it to redirect or spring back, you bypass the typical lag time between movements.

In Filipino martial arts (FMA), particularly in systems like Kali and Eskrima, the concept of gunting often employs a similar principle. Gunting typically involves deflecting or checking an incoming strike while simultaneously delivering a counter, and that fluid redirection can mirror the recoil effect.

In Kenpo and Kajukenbo, you see this concept in rapid-fire techniques where the initial strike retracts slightly or rebounds into a secondary movement, creating a continuous, flowing attack. It’s not just about retracting for balance but also about loading the next strike. You’ll often see it in techniques where the returning hand pulls or chambers while the opposite hand strikes, creating a whip-like effect to increase power and speed. These principles uses natural body mechanics to reduce wasted motion and accelerate combinations.

Karate commercials with Mr. Parker

Click here for Facebook video of old karate commercials with Mr. Parker

I read somewhere that Mr. Chuck Sullivan filmed these commercials for Mr. Parker and they were filmed at the West LA dojo.

Here is a YouTube link for the same commercials.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=poxlJxMyqXg

Bruce Lee - Who HQ Graphic Novel

Might have to pick up this graphic novel about Bruce Lee just to see if mentions the Long Beach Internationals or anything. It probably won't, but one can always hope. 

https://www.whowasbookseries.com/books/who-smashed-hollywood-barriers-with-gung-fu-bruce-lee/

Dr. Ron Chapél on John Keehan aka Count Dante

(from a conversation on Facebook about John Keehan)

He did train at Mr. Parker's Pasadena dojo, so there is some ligitness to Count Dante. Not sure if he trained directly with Mr. Parker or just with some of the other students. (original post)

There are always enough tales and myths to go around about the "Count," but Mr. Parker told me "Anyone who underestimates John would be sorry. He is a real-deal fighter." 

Personally, I always felt anyone that flamboyant talking crap in Chicago and surviving must have something going on. Mr. Parker's endorsement was enough for me to take him seriously beyond his marketing strategy. - Ron Chapél

Man, You Come Right Out of a Comic Book

In the early 1970s, the full-page martial arts instruction ads of Count Dante captured the imagination of a generation of comic book readers. But then, just two years after the mysterious death of Bruce Lee in 1973, this controversial fighter would also turn up dead under equally mysterious circumstances.

(from pacotaylor.medium.com)

It was in the early 1960s, way back in the day, that the popularity of Asia’s martial arts began an infectious spread across America’s then still divided racial and cultural landscape. In Los Angeles in 1961, Master Ark Wong of the Wah Que Studio became one of the first teachers of the martial arts to break the long observed “kung-fu color line,” which barred the teaching of China’s sacred fighting arts to anyone not of Chinese ancestry. Around that same time, Wong’s bold action was being mirrored by an unknown martial artist named Bruce Lee, who had started teaching kung fu to non-Chinese pupils at his Oakland, California studio.

But interest in martial arts was on the rise nationwide, and it was at this same time that the soon-to-be infamous martial artist known as Count Dante began teaching the karate techniques of Japan to the young roughnecks of Chicago.

 

-Black Belt-

A former US Marine and Ranger, Count Dante (born John Keehan) began the study and practice of the martial arts in the mid to late 1950s, training under Robert Trias, a former colonel in the US Army C.I.D. Reserves. Trias, who was credited with opening America’s very first karate school in 1946, was author of Hand is My Sword (1956), recognized as the first martial arts book published in the US.

Though trained primarily under Trias, Dante claimed to have also trained for a time at Bruce Lee’s studio around 1961 or 1962. A 7th dan black belt in karate, Dante was said to have been proficient not only in the Japanese, Chinese, and Okinawan open-hand fighting styles but also in judo, aikido, and still other fighting systems.

Count Dante was also an undefeated champion of numerous national kumite or freestyle fighting competitions, the only exception being a disqualification from the North American Championships, held at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

As early as 1964, while serving as the head instructor of Trias’ US Karate Association (USKA), Dante was lauded as being one of the top karate instructors in the United States by America’s premiere martial arts publication Black Belt. But he soon abandoned his position at the Trias organization under a heavy cloud of speculation. The fighter would later allege in an interview with Black Belt that the split with USKA was prompted by Trias’ “prejudicial bias” against his African-American students.

“It’s no secret that I have a great many blacks in my school,” the fighter reported. “That was the reason behind my rift with Robert Trias and the USKA. At that time, the USKA didn’t have any blacks in the organization, except mine, and Trias didn’t like that one bit. He even told me that I had promoted the second black in his organization. And, according to him, the first was by mistake. He told me that if he had known this fellow he had named a black belt in the Philippines was black he wouldn’t have done it. He told me that he slipped…the USKA did not award black belts to blacks.”

Acrimoniously separated from Trias, Dante would move on to become one of the principal organizers of what was then The World Karate Championships, and to also found the Imperial Academy of Fighting Arts and the Midwest Karate Yudanshakai.

In August of 1967, the popular fighter also promoted what was to be this nation’s first “full contact” martial arts tournament. And by competition’s end, he himself would be declared “Worlds Deadliest Fighting Master” by the World Federation of Fighting Arts Committee, for his (allegedly) having bested some of the world’s foremost martial arts masters in the no-holds- barred judo, boxing, wrestling, kung-fu, karate and aikido “death matches.”

But then, shockingly, Dante retired from the ring in 1968 and refused to take on any challenger for the coveted title that he soon widely publicize.

During his career, Dante authored a number of articles published by the martial arts magazines of the day, and three booklets, among them the widely advertised World’s Deadliest Fighting Secrets (1968), for which he was best known. Ads for the slim publication were seen by many in the pages of Marvel comics in the mid-1970s, where Dante was billed as the “Supreme Grand Master of the Black Dragon Fighting Society” and the “Deadliest Man Alive.”

On that pulse-pounding ad page, Dante loomed as a badass karate master. Garbed in a black martial arts gi, the fighter’s chiseled arms slithered menacingly from dark nothingness. His fighting stance was punctuated with fierce, fang-like fingers coiled tightly into the dreaded dim mak (death touch). Empty eyes bled down from sharply arched eyebrows, and a black beard, edged sideburns and a pointed widow’s peak ascended into the rounded crown of a faux Afro.

 In early photographs that accompanied articles in martial arts magazines like Black Belt, Dante appeared with a much lighter and clean-cut visage than the dramatic image presented in ads for the Worlds Deadliest Fighting Secrets. Surprisingly handsome for a fighter, Dante’s face exuded a boyish, even innocent quality. But under that visage lurked a violent mind that proved Dante to be much more like a wolf in a sheep’s clothing than the guitless boy next door.

 

-Deadly Hands of Count Dante-

According to writer Massad Ayoob, Dante held an “obscene fascination” with the most brutal aspects of martial arts. From that interest came the fighting system he developed in the late 1960s called Kata Dante (“Dance of the Deadly Hands” or “Dance of Death”). The system, which Ayoob described as teaching more of a fighting attitude than an actual fighting technique, was designed for street combat, and advocated explosive attacks, or counter attacks that oozed with ruthlessness and brutality.

Eager to prove the effectiveness of his fighting system, Dante issued challenges to a number of well-known fighters of the day. On July 28th, 1968, word of one such challenge made the headlines of the gossip rag The National Informer. Bravely — or insanely — Dante showed up at the South Side Chicago home of Muhammad Ali (then Cassius Clay) to challenge the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion to an unanswered duel.

Dante’s macho posturing and aggressive taunts lead to several heated verbal altercations between his and various other martial arts schools in Chicago. They quickly escalated into the windows of a number of area institutions being broken out, and then students — as well as some of their instructors — being jumped and beaten.

In July of 1965, Dante and associate Douglas Dwyer, an instructor at the Tai-Jutso School of Judo, were arrested in a failed attempt to dynamite rival school, Judo and Karate Center. Detectives spotted the men while they were in the process of taping a 40-inch dynamite fuse and blasting cap to a window at the school. While running in the dark to evade capture, Dante and Dwyer sprinted blindly into a dead end alley and were soon apprehended.

Explaining the incident to news sources, Dante described the attempted bombing as a “drunken prank,” and claimed that neither he nor Dwyer had any intention of hurting anyone at the school. Dwyer said that he and his would-be partner-in-crime had been drinking at a party before the early morning caper and that the act was a “crazy and stupid stunt.”

Convicted of attempted arson, Count Dante was sentenced to two years probation. But a short time after the man’s probation ended, he was once again involved in another stupid stunt, one that would take a very tragic turn.

On the night of April 22nd, 1970, Dante was embroiled in another of Chicago’s infamous “dojo wars” with Black Cobra Hall of Kung Fu Kempo. The battle was instigated by Dante himself and several of his disciples from the House of Dante.

According to students at the Black Cobra Hall, six unknown assailants entered the school with their leader, who flashed a deputy sheriff’s badge and claimed that the students of the school were all being placed under arrest. Dante then then quickly struck Black Cobra Hall instructor Jose Gonzales with an unseen weapon that nearly caused Gonzales to lose his right eye, and a violent free-for-all ensued.

Tipped-off by an anonymous source just minutes after the fight began, police officers arrived just in time to apprehend Dante and his fellow assailants as they were attempting to flee the scene. But officers would also find Dante’s close friend and student, James Koncevic, lying bloodied in a doorway, dead from a knife wound.

Jerome Greenwald, the Black Cobra Hall student charged with Koncevic’s death, told police that, while being pummeled by Koncevic, he grabbed a knife from the wall — one of several weapons on display — and jabbed the blade into his assailant’s abdomen. The Judge proceeding over Greenwald’s trial would rule the life-ending act to be one committed in self-defense.

Count Dante, identified as the man responsible for engineering the invasion, was charged with impersonating an officer, criminal damage to property, and aggravated battery. The incident would leave him branded as a dangerous shit starter for the rest of his career.

 

-Exit the Dragon-

On July 20th, 1973, both the martial arts and the entertainment worlds were rocked as reports emerged that kung fu superstar Bruce Lee had died in Hong Kong under a shroud of mysterious circumstance. Lee, suffering with an intense headache, had taken equagesic tablets (aspirin compound), a prescription painkiller given to him by Betty Ting Pei, the actress slated to costar with Lee in the unfinished film Game of Death. Lee lied down for a nap in Pei’s apartment, slipped into a coma and passed away in the night.

The coroner who conducted the autopsy ruled the Lee’s tragic demise as “death by misadventure,” and concluded that Lee had suffered severe cerebral edema, or brain swelling, in a strange reaction to one of the ingredients in the prescription painkiller.

Despite that ruling, throughout Lee’s adoring fan base , reeling from shock and unwilling to accept his tragic death as accidental ,a writhing hydra of speculation arose.

One popular rumor suggested that his death had been orchestrated by the Chinese crime organization known as the Triads in retribution for Bruce’s refusal to indulge them “protection fees.” Another suggested that Lee had been involved in a street challenge and was killed by an opponent’s use of dim mak, a mystical technique involving strategic blows to the body of an opponent, engineered to cause sickness, unconsciousness and eventually death.

On August 15th, 1973, nearly one month after his passing, Enter the Dragon, the film that Lee completed in April of that year, was released to US theaters. Boosted by the star’s even greater posthumous notoriety, the film earned a worldwide box-office take of more than $90 million and ignited rabid international interest in the martial arts.

Feverishly, film studios on both sides of the Pacific Ocean began searching for another martial artist who could fill the ravenous void left in Bruce Lee’s wake. Count Dante was said to have been tapped by Counselor Films to appear in a screen test, and flown to Hollywood for casting consideration.

According to Kata Dante disciple William Aguilar, however, Counselor’s attempts to capture his controversial mentor on film would prove “futile.” The man claimed that the cameras used by the studio somehow failed to capture Dante’s “brutal, lightning fast hand techniques.”

An additional claim is also made that the company’s insurance coverage was canceled after the Dante shoot — which actually seems to explains where the failure in the screen test occurred.

Apparently, the “World’s Deadliest Man” refused to pull any of his punches and kicks for the screen test, resulting in injuries to several of the martial artists hired by the studio for his shoot. And again, as it had so many times before, the brutality employed by Dante against others wound up working just as effectively against the man himself.

 

-Death Match-

Aside from his martial arts teaching, Dante also apparently dabbled in a curious assortment of career pursuits. He worked as the director of a wig and hairpiece firm, as a hair stylist and even as a beauty consultant. He also managed several car lots on Chicago’s South Side; one of two jobs that hinted a connection between Count Dante and the Chicago-based mafia.

By March of 1975, a year and a half after his almost brush with film stardom, Dante was hustling for bucks as an adult book dealer (another seeming mob connection), while also making guest appearances on the Massachusetts “Ku-Fu Death Match” tournament and exhibition circuit.

 On March 16th, 1975, Dante made an appearance at the World Fighting Arts Expo held at the Roseland Ballroom in Taunton, MA. The appearance would be one of his last. On May 26th, 1975 — as with Bruce Lee before him — death came for Count Dante as he slept.

On his death certificate, coroners attributed his demise to natural causes: ulcerative colitis — bleeding ulcers, in laymen’s terms. Dante’s wife, however, would state publicly her doubts about that ruling, pointing out how in the autopsy report coroners wrote that her husband’s “whole insides” had been strangely eaten away as if by cancer. “But they didn’t put that down on the death certificate,” she claimed.

And despite the official coroner’s report, rumors suggesting other, more provocative alternatives that explained Dante’s demise were passed though the proverbial grapevine.

One that circulated around Chicago for years after his passing suggested that Dante had himself been on the receiving end of a deadly dose of dim mak, and dispatched in a late night duel at the hands of a now nameless sensei from a South Side dojo–one of the many area instructors he had challenged over the years.

Another suggested that Dante had died under an order issued by the mafia, and killed by way of a sub-dermal injection of “cancer cells,” similar to a claim that had been made by Jack Ruby, the mob connected killer of John F. Kennedy assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald. Now five decades later, the aura of mystery surrounding the death of Count Dante remains.

Whatever the actual means to his end, it was also speculated by some that Dante was fully aware that his time was near, in that he publicly pondered near the time of his passing how he would be remembered after he was gone.

In a statement made to Black Belt a short time before his death, the fighter reflected on how a great many in the martial arts world had resented and feared Bruce Lee while he was alive. According to Dante, they only honored Lee’s breathtaking legacy after he was gone, because it was only then that “they weren’t afraid of him anymore.”

And then, invoking the legend of the samurai Miyamoto Musashi, Dante declared, “Look up his history,” as if seeking validation for — or vindication from — his more than checkered past. “Musashi is the hero of Japan, yet he murdered innocent men, women and children for money. He was a stone killer. They despised him when he was alive and canonized him when he was dead.”

“Mark my words,” he said with a hint of warning. “That’s what they’ll do to me.”

Some five decades later, the jury may still be out on whether the controversial Count Dante will be up for canonization in any karate of fame. But the distinct vision of the martial arts that he once wove into the pop cultural fabric of this country is undisputed. More than fifty years after his mysterious death, that vision resonates still.

Under Count Dante’s instruction, an untold number of highly skilled martial artists have been trained in martial arts dojos throughout Chicago, and cities in Massachusetts. Today, many of those students, and even the students of those students, continue training highly skilled martial arts students of their own.

In an article published the fall of 1975 in Marvel’s hybrid comic book/martial arts mag Deadly Hands of Kung Fu, author Val Eads eulogized Count Dante saying:

“Although his talk about deadly and crippling techniques embarrassed and angered many martial artists, there are also many who defended his philosophy as being necessary in face of the realities of life. There are also many people who witnessed Dante live up to the image he made for himself. Although he was controversial, for every martial artist who remembers him as a crackpot there is another who remembers Count Dante as a gentleman and a fighter.”

And in the mind of this Generation X writer from Chicago, Count Dante, forever immortalized in the ads of old school comics and martial arts magazines as “The Deadliest Man Alive,” is fondly remembered that very same way: as a crackpot, as a gentleman, and as a fighter.

https://pacotaylor.medium.com/man-you-come-right-out-of-a-comic-book-the-unbelievable-life-death-of-count-dante-b41b5521bf99

A story told by Mr. Sibora Chan

I remember when I was about 13 years old testing for my 2nd Class Brown Belt. It was a group of us from Flores Bros. where I originally studied Kenpo under Sifu Jesus and Sifu Refugio Flores and a group of Mr. Rick Avery’s students. 

The belt test was held at a park on top of a mountain in Goleta, California in the middle of June! Hot!!  A 100 degree plus! We’re in black heavyweight gi. The test was tough and long! It always was! 

You had to do everything from White Belt all the way up to the rank you’re testing for. All your Basics, Forms, Sets, Techniques (both sides, in the air and on a body), Spontaneous or Reaction Drills and Fighting! The last portion is questions and answers. Which the boards get to ask you questions on Kenpo. And you would answer. 

Anyway, somewhere in there during the test Mr. Parker asked me to do Form 4. Which was my favorite form at the time and I’ve used it for competition successfully for many years. So I felt confident that I would do just fine in front of Mr. Parker even though I was so nervous and my knees were shaking the entire time!! LOL. So I did my salutations and blast out Form 4 as best as I could! Done and saluted out! And felt pretty good about my performance. So I thought! 

Mr. Parker leaned forward from his chair and said, ‘Sibora, that’s was a good form. Very good form. But that was ’Long Form 3’! I asked you to do Form 4! NOW DO THE RIGHT FORM!’!!! I JUST DIED!!!

- but I did go back and did Form 4. And Mr. Parker gave me two thumbs up.

Mr. Jack Autry on practicing the basics with Mr. Parker

"Mr. Parker, the second to the last day of his life he was teaching the advanced class at his West L.A. school, I was there, and guess what he taught us? Basics, up and down the mat for 1 and 1/2 hours. 

Do you think that Basics were important to him?"

March 19th, Mr. Parker's birthday

"Confronting the Dragon" - the highest technique in Mr. Parker's master's text.

Some fan art to celebrate what would have been Mr. Parker's 94th birthday.

Wide Angle: Film, Fighting, and Philosophy: the Arts of Bruce Lee

(from dawn.com)

It is difficult to think of a person whose mannerisms, hair style, clothing, facial expressions, and even name have been copied to such a large extent as Bruce Lee (1940-1973). Arguably the most recognisable face of the past century, Lee is known primarily for his on-screen martial arts prowess. But Lee was much more than an entertainer; throughout his adult life and acting career he tried to impart something of the philosophies of the Far East, whether in his appearances on the American television show Longstreet (1971-1972), or in his last completed film Enter the Dragon (1973). It is the latter which introduced Lee to Western audiences on a wide scale, cemented his place in cinematic and cultural history, and changed action films forever.

Although Lee was born in the United States, he grew up in Hong Kong, and appeared in numerous films there as a youth. It was in Hong Kong that he began to study Wing Chun Gung Fu under the auspices of the master Yip Man, despite his fellow students demanding that he should not be taught because he was not pure Chinese (Lee had some European ancestry). Returning to the US in his late teens, he spent several years educating himself, developing Jeet Kune Do (his personal eclectic approach to combat), and teaching martial arts to Hollywood stars. He also sought to land significant parts in American film and television, but struggled to find meaningful roles in an industry that perpetuated stereotypical images of Chinese.

In the early 1970s, Lee decided to try acting in Hong Kong. The result was a trio of films which caused him to acquire immediate and massive renown in Asia: The Big Boss (1971), Fist of Fury (1972), and Way of the Dragon (1972), the last having been written and directed by Lee himself.

It was on the strength of this new-found fame that Hollywood took a more serious interest in Lee, and which led to Enter, the plot of which is rather simple. Lee, a member of the Shaolin Monastery, is solicited by a British intelligence agent to take part in a martial arts tournament held by the drug smuggler Han, where he is supposed to observe and report any illicit activity upon which governments may act to shut down Han’s operations. Of course, Lee takes things much further and, by the end of the film, has used fists and feet to defeat Han and dozens of his bodyguards along the way.

It is not important to recount the plot of Enter in detail, because it is largely irrelevant, and not as significant as the scenes featuring Lee’s explosive physicality. The film lends itself open to criticism on this point, but there is little difference between this action-serving plot and the similarly contrived narratives of innumerable musicals or westerns, in which the songs or climactic gunfights are the only memorable features. However, unlike most westerns or musicals, Enter is infused with philosophical ideas. For while Lee did not direct Enter, he was heavily involved in various aspects of production: the fight scenes were choreographed by him, he made script changes to include more accurate and more philosophical content, helped select certain cast members, and even chose the film’s title.

Lee’s involvement means that Enter is not easily dismissed as a mere action flick in the way that some of the James Bond films can be (screenwriter Michael Allin, who knew little of Gung Fu, wrote the original Enter script as a homage to Bond films). Granted, Enter does not evince the sort of craftsmanship that is traditionally associated with great cinema. But what is not in doubt is that the philosophy of Lee and his own inspirations are visible throughout the film, elevating it above the genre.

“Compared to a good kung fu film,” said the great German filmmaker Werner Herzog, “someone like Jean-Luc Godard is intellectual counterfeit money.” It is unclear if Herzog had a specific film in mind, but one could do much worse than Enter. The opening dialogue between Lee and a Shaolin monk reflects ancient Zen Buddhist doctrine. A scene in which Lee deflects a confrontation with an arrogant fighter is based on a 15th century samurai tale, signalling Lee’s disapproval of pointless violence. Lee was aware of his potential to “aestheticise violence”, as he put it, but he believed that cinema could be an educative force, and that art was a path to enlightenment and liberty.

But the martial demonstrations of Lee are philosophical in a way that a purely Western film could never be. Because Gung Fu and many other martial arts of the Far East incorporate Confucian, Taoist, and/or Buddhist principles in both theory and practice, they are philosophy made manifest. “Gung fu,” wrote Lee, “can be said to be the Chinese attempt to discover the mysteries of nature”. Thus, like the martial arts themselves, Lee’s films often exhibit both verbal and physical expositions of philosophical ideas. This would have been taken to new heights in Game of Death, which was to have been Lee’s second directorial effort, but he died before the project could be completed.

The unification of pen and sword has a long tradition in Far Eastern cultures, and it is not unusual to find historical figures linking thought and action. The 15/16th century Chinese thinker Wang Yang-Ming, for example, was both a military general and a philosopher. The 16th/17th century samurai warrior Miyamoto Musashi advocated that one train oneself in both the literary and martial arts. One can find analogous ideas in the lives and opinions of ancient Western thinkers, but Lee was well aware that modern Western philosophy was dominated by abstract thought. He had studied the subject (along with psychology) at university and was a voracious reader; his library contained more than 2,500 volumes, some of them quite rare. Indeed, so interested in books was he that at one time he considered becoming a secondhand bookseller.

Lee’s perspectives on filmmaking resembled his position on the martial arts. In both acting and in the martial arts, he strove for a combination of instinct and control: “natural unnaturalness or unnatural naturalness”, as he described it in an illuminating interview he gave for the Pierre Berton Show in 1971. In the martial arts he utilised whatever he thought would enhance unarmed combat: fencing techniques, the footwork of boxer Muhammad Ali, the exercises of the Pakistani wrestler Gama, and so on. In films he was influenced and inspired by numerous sources, from American comedian Jerry Lewis to Japanese actor Shintaro Katsu (of Zatoichi fame).

In the martial arts he devoured books on the subject, did not hesitate to criticise what went before, and pushed boundaries. In film he read books on cinematography and filmmaking, was critical of the cinema of both Hollywood and Hong Kong, and aspired to make films of higher quality than what had been produced in the past.

His first endeavour at direction was Way of the Dragon, an unusual production in that it was the first Hong Kong film to be shot in the West. Lee also commissioned a film score, an uncommon procedure at the time. And he was also the first Hong Kong director to view rushes in colour. Lee eschewed cinematic tricks which attempted to mask the fact that the actors were not experienced martial artists, and his martial feats are usually bereft of the magical or fantastical. He thus brought a new level of realism to the martial arts film. Of course, there is a difference between the more flamboyant and theatrical displays of Lee onscreen and his techniques off camera, but not so much that one cannot learn from watching him.

As Matthew Polly perceptively notes in his useful biography Bruce Lee — A Life, the duel between Lee and Chuck Norris in Way of the Dragon is not a random assemblage of flailing fisticuffs, but a Jeet Kune Do tutorial.

Something similar could be said about a melee in Enter, where Lee moves effortlessly from barehanded combat to fighting with staff, sticks, and eventually the nunchaku, demonstrating the ultimate fighter’s ability to battle with whatever weapons are available to him. Lee’s fluidity and skill is visibly genuine, so much so that, rather than speed up his moves to suggest quickness, Enter director Robert Clouse had to speed up the camera to 32 frames per second (instead of the usual 24) in order to capture his movements.

Lee was not the first person to infuse philosophy into a martial arts film — King Hu’s meditative A Touch of Zen had been released in 1970-1971. Nor was Lee the first fighter who wished to strip combat of its inefficiencies — the 16th century Chinese general Qi Jiguang, for instance, also condemned flowery posturing that was useless in actual battle. But neither before nor since has there appeared such a charismatic figure who straddled continents and disciplines in the manner of Lee, and it was because of this, coupled with his indomitable convictions and unrelenting desire to succeed, that he was able to reach millions around the world.

At ease in both East and West despite experiencing racism in both Hong Kong and the US, studious of ancient Chinese wisdom and modern American self-help books alike, Lee’s attitudes to life mirrored his approach to both martial arts and cinematic art. His interviews and private letters are suffused with philosophy. He aspired to perfection, and was not satisfied with mediocrity. He looked to himself for inspiration, rather than others: “The sacred journey is taken alone. Each man must seek out realisation himself. No master can give it to him.” And Lee had little interest in commercialism or identity politics. He married a white American girl, took as his students Americans of different ethnicities, and transcended styles and races. He considered himself, above all, a human being. In Way of the Dragon one can find a Chinese character saying that he doesn’t want to learn foreign fighting styles, but Lee chides him, saying that it doesn’t matter where knowledge comes from so long as it is helpful.

Since Bruce Lee’s demise, a number of Chinese actors have come to the fore. Jackie Chan and Sammo Hung, both of whom had small roles in Enter, have achieved considerable popularity in the West, as have others such as Chow Yun-Fat, Donnie Yen and Jet Li. All of these are talented individuals who have appeared in some fine films, but one wonders if any of them would have achieved such success if Lee had not destroyed the derogatory stereotypes of orientals that pervaded Western cinema.

Lee once opined that he could not possibly become an idol for the white man, but in this he was quite wrong. Unfortunately, he did not live to see the release of Enter, or witness how his stature would go beyond cinema and race. In 1995, the city of Mostar, which had witnessed intense ethnic warfare during the Bosnian War, erected a statue of Lee to symbolise the overcoming of ethnic divisions. “We will always be Muslims, Serbs or Croats,” said one of the originators of the idea, “But one thing we all have in common is Bruce Lee.” Boxers such as Sugar Ray Leonard have studied him. Film directors such as John Woo have been influenced by him. Bodybuilders such as Arnold Schwarzenegger have admired him.

Countless people have taken up the martial arts after being inspired by him; mixed martial artists often speak of Lee as the godfather of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. His likeness has appeared in video games and comic books — Marvel legend Stan Lee referred to him as a superhero without a costume. This wide-ranging influence is akin to that of religious figures. Not for nothing did the musician RZA say that, for him, Lee was a minor prophet.

It is therefore not a simple matter to categorise Lee as a martial artist, an actor, a film director, or a teacher. In the 2nd century AD, the Stoic philosopher Epictetus wrote that “the subject-matter of the art of living is each person’s own life.” Thus, in line with the title of a book about Lee, it would not be inappropriate to describe him as an Artist of Life.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1481050/wide-angle-film-fighting-and-philosophy-the-arts-of-bruce-lee?fbclid=IwY2xjawJDzcRleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHeHQaGWVCmhiHEWl-dripENtBXsoz27Ul8WrvgWbwmEIJ29iuFrIpKS8Mw_aem_jl0e4dbpjnyO_Ypy9mlMwQ