The Philosophy of the Guardian Angels

Black Belt Magazine interview with Mr. Bryan Hawkins

(blackbeltmag.com by Ian Lauer Nov. 8, 2023)

Today, we are talking with American  Kenpo Master Bryan Hawkins. He is the head instructor and owner of what was one of Grandmaster Ed  Parker’s most well-known American Kenpo locations, the West LA school. 

Thanks for joining us. Can you tell us a little about yourself? 

Well, I’ve been training in the martial arts for nearly 50 years, own  three karate schools here in the Los Angeles area, and have affiliates  across the country and abroad. I began my Kenpo training in LA in 1980  at the Ed Parker karate school. In 1987, Mr. Parker himself asked if I  would take over the operations of the West Los Angeles school and become  the chief instructor. 

How did your martial arts journey begin? 

I started martial arts in the mid-70’s in Modesto CA. I had been doing a  lot of wresting and dabbled in boxing. So, when I was 14 riding my bike  to boxing class, I would always pass a Shotokan karate school. And one  day, instead of continuing to boxing, I went into the karate school to  check it out. I never looked back.

After  training in Shotokan for a couple of years, that particular dojo  closed, so I started training in a dojo across town. It was a blend of  Kung Fu and Kenpo, but it was really heavier on the Kung Fu aspect.  

After a while, when I was 19, I decided to move to Los Angeles, and my  instructor at my school highly recommended that when I get to LA that I  find an Ed Parker American Kenpo school because that was the best  martial arts school around. 

So, how did you find your first American Kenpo school and was it what you expected when you saw it in person?

After being in LA for a bit and securing a job and place to live I  happened to drive by the Ed Parker West LA Karate school and walked in.  When I first walked in the door, I immediately noticed they were doing  something very different. 

Something I needed to learn. I saw two guys  sparring, guys fighting with weapons, guys working on forms even a  couple of guys doing a little grappling both stand-up manipulations and  on-the-ground wrestling/grappling. Something more was happening here  than in any school I was in before. What I immediately realized was that  Kenpo appeared to be much more comprehensive in its approach to  self-defense than my previous arts. 

One thing that  really stood out was that they were practicing against more than one  attacker. And not only that, but they were perfecting techniques against  attackers with various weapons like guns, knives, and clubs. They were  even doing spontaneous attack drills. 

I decided to  enroll on the spot, but what kept being reinforced was the uniqueness.  When guys would come from all sorts of other disciplines, they also  noted the differences in training techniques, tools, and philosophy. It  wasn’t just the physical training that was different, though more  hands-on or physical than other schools, it was the attention to the  mental aspects of the art that set it apart.

There was a great deal of  emphasis placed on preparing mentally for possible altercations. The  dojo didn’t emphasize sport karate because Ed Parker felt that created  the wrong mindset for street self-defense. The training mindset was  always to prepare for the worst, i.e., a surprise attack by multiple armed attackers or assailants. 

You’ve mentioned Kenpo being unique a couple times. Can you expand upon that? 

Most systems in Martial Arts deal with only certain stages of range,  certain weapons, and often only certain targets. So therefore, they are  not comprehensive by definition. Ed Parker saw that deficiency and  created a system that dealt with all the possible weapons we can form  with our body attacking all possible targets on an assailant’s body  through a method of efficient and effective delivery. 

By that, I mean to  say, if the attacker is slightly out of range, we are taught to use man  made weapons to reach them, i.e., a club, nunchaku, etc. If they are  within range, then we use our natural weapons such as the fists, knees,  elbows. If we get close enough to where our opponent is grabbing onto  us, we need to know how to throw and trip our assailant to the ground.  

Once on the ground, we need to have the skills to kill or submit the  attacker at that stage as well. And we need to be able to do all these  things while being aware of our environment, which is the number one  rule in American Kenpo, Environmental Awareness. 

Can you elaborate on the concept of Environmental Awareness?

Sure. The military uses a concept of Situational Awareness, which  basically is being acutely aware of everything going on around you. Ed  Parker’s definition of environment is everything that is in you, on you and around you.

For  example, if you’re ill or injured you know you can’t defend yourself to  the same degree as if you are healthy. That’s what’s in you. You have  to know that. 

For things that are on you, sports equipment, clothing items, are your clothes restrictive or can they be used as a weapon?

For around you, its other people, the flooring, furniture etc.

Ed  Parker would frequently use a belt or tie as an example. They can be an  advantage when used against an assailant, or they could be your  downfall. Keep in mind that these items may be on you or someone else.  You must be aware. 

You mentioned Master Parker asking you to take over  operations of the West LA School which you now own. What’s it like to  take over a school with such a rich history?

When  Ed Parker asked if I would take over that school, I knew it was a  decision that would change the direction of my life. But there was  absolutely no hesitation, and I accepted immediately. A few years prior,  around 22 years of age, I started a limousine and bodyguard service. I  regularly employed friends of mine from the karate school like Big Jim  Diggs, Jeff Speakman and Steve Moore. All the while, I continued to  train Kenpo as much as I could. But I realized if I wanted to achieve a  level of expertise in Kenpo, I needed to sell the limo service to put  more time into my training. I sold the company to the Bel-Air hotel with  the agreement that I would work for them when they had celebrities that  requested bodyguards. 

So, at the time Ed Parker asked  me to take over the West LA dojo, I was living quite an exciting life  bodyguarding many famous people and making more money than any other  26-year-old I knew. But, despite working with and rubbing shoulders with  some of the most famous entertainers, Ed Parker to me was still the  biggest celebrity I could think of. So, I jumped at the opportunity to  become his right-hand man. 

You mentioned  bodyguarding celebrities. That seems to happen a lot with Marital  Artists. Who was one of your most notable clients?

I would say Don Johnson from Miami Vice. At the time, he was one of my  primary clients. What is really interesting is how I got the contract  and how it circled back to Ed Parker and Kenpo. I got a call for a  meeting, and they butchered his name, telling me I was in consideration  to protect a client named “Doctor Johnson.” The whole time before the  meeting, I had no idea who the hell Doctor Johnson was and why he needed  a bodyguard. 

I was directed to the most expensive  luxury guest house at the Bel-Air hotel, and when I walked in, I came  face to face with Don Johnson, the actor, not to be confused with a  random doctor at Cedars-Sinai.

His manager conducted the  first ten minutes of the interview as he had for 20 other guys that  interviewed before me. Then Don Johnson excitedly took over the  questioning. He already knew of my Kenpo training, so he asked me if I  knew Ed Parker personally. I, of course, said, “Yes.” 

Now,  here’s where it gets good. His face lit up. He says, “Ed Parker was  Elvis Presley’s instructor as well, right?” I again said, “Yes.” And  then he said, “Ed Parker is Elvis Presley’s instructor and he’s your  instructor too?” I said yes again. Don stood up, smiled, shook my hand,  and walked into the other room. His manager then looked to me with a big  grin on his face and said, “You’re hired.” Had I not been in Kenpo or known Ed Parker I never would have had Don Johnson as a very lucrative client.

Isn’t that ironic? He helped get you into a great paying gig building  your business and then gave you the very opportunity that took you out  of it.

Well, actually, about that time I was  planning on continuing my bodyguard work but also starting my own dojo. I  happened to mention this plan to Frank Trejo and Diane Tanaka casually  and said of course I’ll have to get Master Parker’s blessing before  leaving. Unbeknownst to me, they mentioned it to Ed Parker, knowing that  he was looking for someone to take over the West LA dojo. A couple days  later, he called me up to his house, and everything fell into place  from there.

If people want to learn more about you or your schools where can they find you?

They can go to our site https://bryanhawkinskenpo.com/

Great. Before we let you go, is there a story from your time working  alongside Ed Parker that gives us a glimpse of the man that may not be  common knowledge?

Over the years, I met and came  to know many of Master Parker’s early students from the 50’s and 60’s.  Many of them are famous in their own professions, such as movie director  Blake Edwards, physical fitness pioneer Terry Robinson, Hollywood  columnist and screenwriter Joe Hyams. And all of them spoke of Master  Parker and even referred to him as a father or older brother figure. He  had a wisdom about him that seemed to be timeless. Some would describe  him as an old soul.

Master Parker was known for his  physical side. His dynamic movement. A brutal adversary. The speed and  precision, but what was really the most important part of his  contributions to the arts was his mind, not his physicality. He  developed a system of self-defense that made sense. Years ago, one of my  early instructors Howard Silva, asked Ed Parker if he could sum up  Kenpo in one word, what would it be? Without missing a beat, Mr. Parker  replied, “logic.” To me, that’s really the beauty of American Kenpo. It  is a sophisticated, comprehensive, and effective form of self-defense  based on the logic of thought and action.

JOE PALANZO: Triple Punch article

 

Mr. Parker, in memoriam

 

Deacon rolls with the punches

Hard work pays off for 69-year-old martial artist

(valleybreeze.com March 18th, 2020)

Just shy of 70 years old, Kim Deacon’s dedication to the martial arts has grown from a hobby to her life’s passion.

A rare feat, Deacon recently earned her 7th-degree black belt. Less than 2 percent of people studying the martial arts earn their black belt, the color associated with expertise.

Her journey began as the owner of a Woonsocket nightclub in the 1970s and 1980s, where Deacon said fists flew more often than at her martial arts studio. When Deacon was assaulted at her club, her friend Sharon gave her a three-month gift certificate to learn self-defense.

Uneasy, Deacon gave it a go. She hasn’t stopped learning since earning her first belt.

“I thought purple would look nice on a black uniform, so I earned my purple. Then I thought: a brown belt sounds impressive. Then: well, I’m so close to the black belt I’ll work for that,” she said.

In 28 years, she has earned black belts in three systems including Shaolin Kenpo Karate, Nick Cerio Kenpo and American Kenpo.

She described the American Kenpo system, in which she earned her most recent black belt this month, as far more “sensible and street smart.”

“There aren’t kicks to the head,” she explained. “It’s based on typical reactions that the human body would have in an actual fight.”

Instead of very exaggerated forms with big, wide stances, she learned that space is time.

“If you’re taking up too much space with your motion, you’re taking up too much time,” said Deacon, who lives in Woonsocket.

Deacon grasped an important lesson around her third or fourth black belt.

“I realized that it’s not the goal, it’s the journey I was in love with,” she said. “That changed my attitude about studying the art.”

She opened her own studio on Winter Street in Manville called Designed Defense and began teaching classes to children and adults.

“Every student comes in looking for something. Be it confidence, the ability to accept, coordination, the ability to interact with others … to look you in the eye. They may not know it, but I see it,” she said, adding that her goal is to help unlock the potential in her students. “It’s about personal growth,” she said.

Even Deacon is forever learning. “I’m humble enough now to realize that the more I know, the more there is to know,” she said.

Although Deacon was given a shiny new belt upon earning her 7th-degree black belt, she said she’ll continue to use her original black belt.

After decades of practice, the belt that started off black has since faded into a shade of white – the color students earn first. Deacon said it’s a physical sign of her practice coming full circle, remembering her foundations while expanding on her base.

“It’s been a journey that I’ve been so blessed to have been placed on and a path I wouldn’t change,” she said. Over the years Deacon has survived six heart attacks and four stints, but she’s still punching.

Decades after the assault at her club, Deacon said her feelings toward her attacker have faded from hatred to “deep and sincere appreciation.”

If not for him, and for her friend encouraging her to try, Deacon said she wouldn’t be where she is.

“For a few years I saw his face every time I threw a punch,” she said of her assailant. “I can’t remember his face now, but if I saw him again I’d take him to dinner and say thank you.”

https://www.valleybreeze.com/news/deacon-rolls-with-the-punches/article_9fce6814-10f6-55d1-8ad6-82c7ef7f06a5.html

Kenpo, Where Art Thou? (Black Belt magazine - April '79)

A Hurricane on the Loose

https://www.insidekungfu.live/articles/a-hurrican-on-the-loose

(article by Robert Fuhr insidekungfu.live 8-8-21)

Reprinted with permission from Ed Parker: On the Shoulders of a Giant, by Robert Fuhr. The book is available on Amazon. 

What always struck me about Ed Parker was the unbelievable contradiction of his existence. And this could take place in a fraction of a second. He goes from relaxed to the mat in a state that could have been described as complete collapse, then his upper body becomes erect, his posture becomes straight, and his shoulders are pulled back to the shoulder blades. It's as if he swallowed a stick. Then, however, when you take a closer look at the change, you see it was not a stick but a flexible steel rod in his back. Nothing seemed stiff, but everything rather tense. 

No question that the man was space filler, a natural authority, but there was something else that always opened up when he demonstrated a technique. 
In a fraction of a second, his friendly nature, his witty way of dealing with people became completely different. So perfect that one could have spoken of a second personality. But while Dr. Jekyll needed at least his elixir to turn into Mr. Hyde, the Master didn't need the help of any potion. He was a hurricane that broke loose so fast that the eyes could hardly follow, much less guess what was happening. It wasn't the individual hits that poured down on you like the rays from a shower. It wasn't even the severity of the hits. It was the feeling that your nervous system would collapse. 

A few 10ths of a second after the barrage, it was still. He was again the radiant, friendly, older gentleman. Always the entertainer. I always called it his demon that had escaped, albeit at his cry. Everything was deliberate, calculated, and precise in an incredible moment of violence, of apparent chaos, whose control seemed so impossible to me. I was just waiting for the moment to ask him. I would certainly do it at dinner. 

It was late in the evening when I began to wonder: Did I succeed or did he succeed again?

"What’s going on, Robby? You're so quiet; you asked 20 questions at most.” I smiled embarrassedly. “Sir, it’s not that I don’t want to ask the question; it’s just that I don’t know how to do it.” 

“Go right ahead, like you always do!” he said, laughing. ”Well, Mr. Parker, there’s something I can hardly explain. When I was a boy, I was irascible, aggressive, and angry. In those moments, I was beside myself. The anger was never really unfounded; it was always caused from the outside, never really from me. I have rather only reacted to my environment, certainly also overreacted. I could never really control the whole thing. It was more of a spontaneous outbreak of violence.”

He gave me a look of disbelief. “You? When you are always so controlled? Well, young men are like that, I was one of them, too. What made you so controlled?”

”Sir, I don’t really want to talk about myself, with all due respect.” He gave me a reassuring look. “I want to talk about you, because then we might find your question. What do you mean?”

I nodded and told him that Kenpo had disciplined me. The fear of having seen what could happen to you as a violent person once you have seen Kenpo in action is certainly responsible for this. 

”So, what was the question, Robby?”

“How can you control that: here and now, the nice man you are, then the beast you unleash on the mat? I had asked the question of all he questions. Now the answer of all answers had to come. He leaned back into a tasteless wicker chair with the colorful plastic cords, which would have looked better in a 1970s backyard barbecue, and said rather casually, “Oh, that’s what you mean!”

I was disappointed. I just asked an earth-shattering question and this is the reaction I got. I had no idea what was yet to come, but it changed my Kenpo forever. 

“I don’t make the technique, I don’t execute it, not its movements, not the choreography, but I think it, feel it, breathe it, am its spirit. I’m the idea for this moment! I am the technique!”

I was speechless when he explained it and even more speechless when I actually understood it. I see myself on video, but that’s not the truth; rather, it’s the truth of the camera. I am always a bit dissatisfied with myself, even if the camera tells me something different. Again I suspect an irreparable mistake of my character. The only thing that gives me real insight is my students’ eyes when I look at them for a technique during a thoughtless moment on their part. Then sometimes, I have the feeling that I understood what the Master taught me. The moment of technique is free of vanity, free of ego. You’re only with yourself, with the technology. I call it being free. When we left the bistro that day, the Master whispered in my ear, “The Japanese have a nice saying: ‘You don’t have to make the tiger aggressive, you just have to let him off the chain!’ ”

Kenpo and Crabs

Ed Parker and I stood in front of a group of Kenpoists who had traveled from many parts of the Germany. Physically they seemed to be in good shape, but their training consisted more of questions and discussions and less of concentration and sweat. The whole group was technically bad, which didn’t really amaze me. What I found much worse was the lack of will to fight. Even if they could execute a technique, I had the feeling that they could not enforce it on the mat, especially not in an emergency on the street. 

I walked around in the gym and tried to correct their movements. They recorded everything very intelligently—apparently. I greeted one twosome and went to the next couple. Again and again, until I had spoken with every seminar attendee. Eventually, I returned to the first set of students I had corrected, but they were still making the same mistakes. What could be the reason? 

I began to notice the noise coming from so many students in the seminar room. I missed it when I was teaching, but now I was becoming sensitive to the sounds. Surely people discussed, surely they were nervous because, with everything I tried to do, the Master was still in the room with this inimitable, almost physically perceptible aura. 

After all, this was also a test to determine my ability as a teacher. When my despair was greatest because I could transmit little of what I wanted to teach, I looked at the Master and he smile at me. No instructions, no intervention, just his smug smile. Feeling a “sense of inferiority”, I can't even remotely describe my feelings at this moment. Showing mercy he waved to me. “You think it’s up to you?” 

“Yes, sir,” I replied, certain that he would give me an absolution for my teaching assignment. But he did the exact opposite. “Yes, Robby, you’re right, part of it is at least your fault, part of it is…!” Shock! 

“What am I doing wrong, sir?” He pretended to think, then said, “You don’t listen to what people say. Now you just walk through the room, hear what they say, think, don’t comment and don’t try to make arguments. Will you take your fighter on the right path?”
 

Caught again. From today’s point of view, I cannot deny a certain fanaticism. At that time he saw how I thought and gave me some words of advice. “Is your way always the right one; is the way of the Kenpo always the right one?”

“Well, sir, I don’t know, but it’s my duty to do the best I can, isn’t it?” He nodded, “Sometimes it’s best just to listen.” I trotted away, disillusioned and a little grumpy. What I heard I could hardly believe: they discussed the techniques without having understood the idea behind them, without physically executing the technique. One asked what would happen if the attacker hit with the left instead of the right. They hadn’t even mastered the right punch of the defense. Particularly interesting was that the first negative argument was always followed by a second one with even more doubts. The first thing to do was to top the other, then one and one more, until there was nothing left of the technology, nothing left of the idea. Kenpo was intellectualized to zero. Every single question was meaningful, without exception, but not at that time, not before understanding the starting point. The negative loop of this discussion inevitably led down for the students, down for their knowledge. Now something else struck me: They were all much worse at Kenpo than the far less-intellectual “street dogs” of my group, who first trained with a lot of sweat. Only then did they ask questions. I thought of Johann Sebastian Bach, who once said that 90 percent of his inspiration was perspiration. I would never have taken those intellectuals to the streets in an emergency situation. I would have been confident in every confrontation with my first set of students. Hard, but hearty. The heart is always in the right place. I had the feeling that if I had told the “intellectuals” “Hand on your heart”; they would have had to search first.

I thought I understood. So I went to the Master and tried to translate what I had heard. The Master raised his hand to stop me: “Enough, enough, I know what they said!”

I didn’t understand. “Sir, did you learn German so quickly?”

“Certainly not, Robby, but I’ve heard it in many languages. They pull each other down, preventing knowledge. The worst are those who misrepresent what they think they have understood. They quickly invent new systems without knowing that Kenpo thought to the end…!”

I brazenly stopped the Master: “…without knowing that Kenpo could be the system of systems once you understood the basis.”

He smiled and looked me in the eye. No other response necessary. When I turned my back and was about to leave, he stopped me. The lesson wasn’t over, I was sure of that now. ”Hey, Robby, do you know how to catch crabs in Hawaii?”

”Sir, I don't even know how to do that in Germany!” 

He laughed loudly and held his cheeks with both hands. A tear ran down his right cheek, which he wiped with the back of his hand. 

“Then I guess I’d better tell you. We get a bucket to throw the crab into. The special thing is, we never throw a crab in alone.” I really didn’t know what he was getting at and I looked at him in surprise. “You think Hawaii is so rich in crabs that you always catch a lot?” he asked. He laughed again and wiped the tears out of both eyes. “No, Robby, no. The reason is a crab always finds his way out of a bucket, always. But if you throw a second crab in the bucket, she’ll pull the other crab down again and again.”

I couldn’t believe what I heard. I immediately understood what he meant and for the first time I understood my father’s sentence: “Never join the great army of the dissatisfied. Never go that way or you’re lost. I would have faced every confrontation.” 

Ed Parker would probably have said, “Never be like a crab!” I looked at the Master and asked, “Are we still talking about Kenpo?”

“Do we ever?” he shot back.

Today, the students are amazed at what they consider my “charming” barracks court tone. Some are certainly angry. They represent who they are outside the training hall. They are entrepreneurs, lawyers, doctors, family fathers, or whatever. Whenever I have to raise my voice because the group is too loud, I shout, “Run!” and hope that most will understand that it is for their own good. They are sacrificing the most precious thing they have to learn something, to learn Kenpo, which will stay with them for a lifetime. If they only knew it was all because of one crab or two! I laugh as I write these lines. Oh, yeah, I remember something else: Does intelligence, in the wrong place, make cowards out of us, maybe even fools? I work every day and will probably work on it until the day I die. 

Revolution Through Evolution—The Kenpo 5.0 Story

https://www.insidekungfu.live/articles/jeffspeakman

(article by Dave Cater on insidekungfu.live 5-28-19)

Only Jeff Speakman could turn a death sentence into a new lease on life. And he did it through his devotion to Ed Parker and his love of Kenpo.

Let’s face it: Ed Parker’s premature exodus from this earth 30 years ago was a body blow to the martial arts world. First, Parker’s heart attack at the age of 59 robbed us of one of the community’s brightest scientific and evolutionary minds. He had taken Thunderbolt Chow’s kick-ass island creation and made it both a usable and more importantly teachable, self-defense art for the masses. The Father of American Karate stood as a torchbearer for a generation of Kenpo practitioners well-known for their prowess on and off the floor. When you can count Elvis and Bruce among your followers, you must be doing something right.

But like many martial arts savants (the aforementioned Lee a prime example), his attention to the system came at the expense of structure. Within months of his passing, legions claimed belt rankings that would normally take decades to achieve. Fifth degrees became eighth degrees and eighths became tenths faster than you could say “Ed Who?”

Most surmised that Parker hadn’t thought about the future because this was still plenty to do in the present. But then there were others who believed Kenpo’s exalted Father knew right from the start which prodigal son would eventually assume the mantle of leadership. His secret weapon turned out to be “The Perfect Weapon”.

Parker’s personal revelation came on the heels of his art gaining worldwide recognition thanks to martial artist and actor Jeff Speakman, who showed how fast, powerful and devastating deadly Kenpo could be in his 1991 breakout movie The Perfect Weapon. Parker was on set every day there was a fight scene and the pair forged a deep, personal friendship.

“It was just us,” Speakman fondly remembers of his four years of weekly lessons at Parker’s house. “I became very close to him as you can imagine. He would tell me his dreams and visions, what he wanted for Kenpo and how he wanted it to move forward.”

Tragically, after the grandmaster’s death, only a handful of his higher-ranking members chose to follow in their grandmaster’s footsteps. Speakman reminded them about which direction Parker wanted the art to go. They told him he had no place in Kenpo’s future.

“They kept saying, ‘Who are you to change Mr. Parker’s art? You’re a subordinate, you’re a punk, you’re just a movie star,’ I got it all. And I got it from all sides.”

And so three years after that fateful night in Hawaii, Jeff Speakman left the organization Parker made famously and went out on his own. A daunting task for most, but just another chance to prove everyone wrong.

Like when he was in high school and wanted to be a champion diver. They all told him he would fail, so all he did was will himself into becoming an All-American in the springboard event.

Or when he wanted to be an action star but everyone told him he didn’t have what it takes. His seminal performance in The Perfect Weapon catapulted Speakman to an admirable run on the widescreen.

And finally, when they the cold was not a cold but Stage 4 throat cancer and that the best thing to do was get his affairs in order. He not only beat the biggest foe of his life but used the rebirth to give Parker’s Kenpo a ground fighting component.

The product of this “revolution by evolution,” as Speakman calls it, is Kenpo 5.0, a complete street-worthy self-defense system that gives every student the tools to protect himself in any situation. From his world headquarters in Las Vegas, Speakman guides an organization that boasts of franchises—not schools—in 18 countries around the world. He believes it is his charge, his life’s responsibility, to not only preserve one of our time’s great fighting systems but more importantly the memory of the man who made it all happen.

In this exclusive Inside Kung-Fu interview, Jeff Speakman talks about his personal martial arts journey has helped him find peace and satisfaction in his life on and off the training hall floor.

INSIDE KUNG-FU: How the hell did you survive Stage 4 throat cancer? JEFF SPEAKMAN: It was the first eight months of 2013. I was diagnosed in January of that year. My symptoms were masked by a cold that would never go away. So I had pain in the throat and trouble swallowing. Unbeknownst to me, the cold was actually cancer. When the cold went away and the pain didn’t they did a CT scan and it showed that there was a 4-centimeter tumor and it was Stage 4. And you know that Stage 5 and you're dead. By the time it had been diagnosed and we started treatment it had affected my voice. It’s really a tribute to the people at City of Hope in Duarte, Calif., that I am alive today. As soon as the news of the diagnosis came out and went to my students, the entire world came to my side. My students were there sacrificing everything to be with me. They wanted to let me know they were there to provide love and care and we were in this fight together. We had built an international organization based on that theme. It’s not me being the head of the organization and all. We do have our structure, don’t get me wrong. But we’re in this together. We built this together, we’re going to stand together and we’ll fall together. Someone loses a loved one and the entire world comes together. We’re really good at the Kenpo, but the thing that drives us is the love and the friendship and the affection we have for one another. And that’s the foundation of the whole organization. By way of example, the last weekend before I started my chemotherapy and my radiation treatment, which I did simultaneously for eight weeks, some of my black belts insisted on coming into town and going to the mat with me one more time. I asked them please, no. You know, if you’ve gone through this you want to climb back inside yourself. You want to be alone and you want to fight the demon on your own terms. So I fought their insistence to come one more time. Plus, it’s a deeply emotional time. You really don’t know if you are going to live the next few weeks or years. I gave in and we were all going to meet at our studio in Victorville, Calif. I know there are many people in town coming in for this. I’m emotionally prepared for that. I’m sitting there, there’s a test going on and the door opens and people start walking in who I have been close to for decades. And in through the door walks as husband and wife team from Bolivia. They sold what they had to sell to buy tickets. And knowing the sacrifices they had to make to stand by my side—the message it sent to me was that you did what you had set out to do Jeff Speakman, which is to matter. Before your life ends do you matter? Did you make a contribution to the common good? Did you have an impact? I had an impact because I had been a movie star. The message was that my life had been tremendously fulfilled because of those people walking through the door. They were my family.

IKF: Did martial arts teach you how to fight that personal battle? JS: In every way conceivable way, yes. There was a video made by the masters in the art and the one that mattered the most was from Benny Urquidez. A true living legend. This year was the 24th anniversary of my event and Benny Urquidez has been there every single year teaching at the camp and sitting on the testing board. On the video he made he said, “Let’s not just get over this, let’s kick the (bleep) out of it. Don’t just survive, fight. And fight until the end. And that was deeply meaningful. Internally I can tell you that there were two words that came to me with great clarity and great power. And they were, “not yet.” There will be a day that I don’t make it, as there will be for all of us, but the message was “not yet.” I’ve got great things to do and I wasn’t ready to die. And when I get out of this it’s no more Mr. Nice Guy.

IKF: Did you feel that once you got over this you had a renewed purpose in your life? JS: Enormously. And what I am going to tell you took me more than three years to figure out. It was 2013 when I went through this so we’re talking 2016. When I started to get my mojo back and it looked like I was going to make it the overwhelming feeling was, “I have no fear.” And it was clear as day. But that begs the question: what were you afraid of to have the feeling that there’s no more fear. It took me three years to get to that point. And the answer to the question was, “What am I out of fear of?” And with no more fear, it was time to take the position in the martial arts world and in the Kenpo karate world that I felt like I should take. You know, I am no longer constrained by being in deep consideration of what other people think of me or what my senior people who were critical of me thought. There were also many senior people who were not critical and were encouraging this change I made in Kenpo. What came out of the other end is that I no longer have fear of whether they like it or not. I’m going to do it and it’s on a big scale because I know what I’m doing and I know what Ed Parker wanted me to do. I know how he wanted his art to evolve and change and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

IKF: For this generation, which never had the opportunity to meet or train with Ed Parker, tells us who he was as a person and martial artist. JS: As you well know one of the titles he was awarded was, “The Father of American Karate.” To me, he was the Einstein of martial arts. Because even today the physicists that are working on dark energy can thank the functions of equations Albert Einstein created. Same here. Ed Parker was so brilliant that he created a system that could evolve and change over time. And 30 years after his death it has reclaimed the position as the most practical self-defense art for the street. Now, think of what that would have taken 30 years ago. The level of brilliance to put together a system whose nature is based on science and physics and geometry. The mandate was to evolve and change over time to keep Kenpo relevant. This was his entire life; this is what he wanted all of his black belts to do and yet none of them wanted to do it. I have no idea why not. You have to ask them but I got the message. And I got the system and I understood what he thought because I got so close to him. My first movie was The Perfect Weapon. And during that journey of doing that movie and going to his house every week for lessons for four years, I became very close to him as you can imagine. He was on the set during the filming of The Perfect Weapon every day there was a fight scene and the interaction we had—it was just us—and he would tell me his dreams and visions, what he wanted for Kenpo and how he wanted it to move forward. He had this amazing mind, so expansive, and everyone that knew him knew that. Ed Parker’s greatest asset was his intellect.

IKF: Yet, a lot of his black belts didn’t want to take it that way. JS: Here’s what stupefies me 30 years later. How can you be around such a great, brilliant, dynamic thinker like that and not understand who he was?

IKF: Describe what he was like as a man. JS: In a word, powerful. He did everything with a dynamic passion. He was the kind of guy, and I experienced it many times, where we’d walk into a room somewhere, like a restaurant, and the chemistry of the room would change. Everybody would stop and look at him. They had no idea who he was, but he had such “mana”, such presence of spirit. He was a very, very powerful man. You have to contrast that and look at the power and the dynamics of the art of Kenpo karate and its street application. It was brutal beyond measure. That man created that. And yet, here was this very loving, very intelligent man. So you have this yin/yang application. He was a 10 on one side and 10 on the other side. So what I enjoyed about that and about similar things in my life is that I have always sought the attention of people like that, whether it’s in financing or technology or banking or tennis or the gym. To try to be in the presence of really intelligent people and study them—understand what makes them so amazingly powerful that they can reach out across a desk or reach into a camera lens and still impact the world.

IKF: Did he ever tell you stories about training with Professor William K.S. Chow? JS: He did. And one of the things he also did was bring up (James) Mitose. He said that when he began studying martial arts he walked in—with an invitation—to Mitose’s school. He walked in, saw how Mitose was doing his Kenpo, and said, “That’s not it.” So he was never a student of James Mitose. But then he met the Chows and he went over there and watched them move and he said, “That's it.” Remember, he grew up in a low-income area of Honolulu. A streetfighter, tough guy and he knew what he was talking about before he walked in the door.

IKF: There are stories that Professor Chow would send out his students to test their techniques on the streets of Honolulu. JS: That is a part of the history of the art. I never asked Mr. Parker about it, but you hear about many people testing the techniques in the street. But you have to remember that we’re talking about America in the 1950s. Radically, radically different. Nonetheless, let’s assume a reasonable degree of those stories are true and that gives us a street-tested martial art. Whether you liked it or not, whether you liked the people who did that or not I think it was right or not, that’s a different conversation, but it yields an enormous amount of experience and practical application. I don’t need to go out there and do that to know this stuff works, like amazing. And of course, we took it to the next level where we evolved, adapted, and embraced grappling.

IKF: Let’s talk about that. You went from Kenpo 4.0 to Kenpo 5.0. It would be an oversimplification to say you just added ground fighting techniques because that’s what some of the stories say. But it’s a lot more involved than that. JS: It’s much, much more than that. First, let me explain when Mr. Parker was evolving the art—and this is not something we should just throw away—he was evolving the art continuously. This guy was digging deeper and thinking of this and creating a system. See, he created a system. I adapted from the system he created. That’s why he should be in the position of Supreme Grandmaster, so no matter how many “10ths” come under him he will be at the top. Even though there are students who have declared themselves 11th and 12th-degree black belts. But he still is going to hold that position because they wouldn’t be anywhere if it wasn’t for him. So as he evolved the system he would have 1.0, 2.0…He used those as major revelations. The art continued to evolve over time.

IKF: So there wasn’t so much birth of a system but rather a continuous transformation.

JS: As I’m telling you it was two years at least that I was working on this adaptation before I came up with the name Kenpo 5.0. Here I am rewriting the journal where every technique is written down in agonizing detail and up in the top right-hand corner I was doing what Ed Parker did, V 5.0, so I’m trying to think what am I going to call this thing. For months and months, I’m writing page after page putting V 5.0, V 5.0 in the top right-hand corner so I’m just working away because when Mr. Parker died, just the couple of years after he died, there had been a straight degradation of content quality. Not with everyone, not straight across the board but with so many self-proclaimed 10-degree black belts. Now, this is not just indigenous to Kenpo; it really is how martial arts has been distorted in the Western world. Everyone has experienced it. Unfortunately, after he died, Kenpo has been plagued with it. There are so many people who jumped rank and went from 5th to 8th (degree). They would go to another association and go to the next rank up—which you should never do—you should earn it. In our group you do, but they would jump two and three ranks. Okay, that’s 10 years. What good is your belt if you lie about a 10-year jump? 

IKF: Do you think because grandmaster Parker died so young that he didn’t plan for succession or did he want everybody to follow his own path?

JS: It’s one of those two, but more than likely it’s a combination of both. As I got to know him, he was much more the innovator and the creator; he brought science into art. He was more interested in bringing science to Kenpo and to evolving the art on this site and much less involved in the structure, the business the organization on this site. (Hands far apart) And so one side suffered and the other side was enormous. I am assuming that this was a choice he made. Now as an unattended consequence if you happen to check out early there’s nothing but chaos in the wake of your life. So as the years went on I saw this happen with Kenpo. I saw testing go so far south it was unbelievable, which is why I resigned from the IKKA two years after Mr. Parker died. I decided to create something different because I could see what was going on. So that’s when we came to this juncture—Kenpo karate. I had to change the name because I didn’t want to be painted with the brush that these guys are painted with because of what happened. And that’s when I realized that for months I had been writing Kenpo 5.0. And then I realized there’s the name because that’s exactly who and what we are. We have evolved the art—not just including ground fighting, yes, but there are several other innovations beyond the obvious one where we are fighting on the ground now. We have our own system of fighting called “5.0 fighter”, which is very much like a controlled MMA fight, including points for continuous fighting, points for stand up and on the ground. The tap-out is not the end of the fight but it’s the only thing you can get three points for. The groin is a full-contact target and there’s no striking to the face. That’s what makes us different and it’s growing exponentially. We now have franchise schools in 18 countries. And so it’s not just an organization, there are franchise schools in many countries. 

IKF: It’s a movement?

JS: It’s an evolution that became a revolution. You go back to this place that Kenpo was in were the descendants of Mr. Parker have been suing other people because they are using it. I mean I knew him, I loved him, I know that he loved me. I gave him the movie The Perfect Weapon, which launched Kenpo in a whole new direction throughout the world. I knew this man and I know that he would not have wanted any of this to happen. 

IKF: What made him so successful that he could teach Elvis, Bruce Lee, and Jeff Speakman and be admired equally for his teaching three such diverse personalities? JS: It goes back to this incredible dynamic presence he had. It’s called, “The spirit that’s within.” His middle name is Kealoha, which means The Spirit Gift. And The Beloved. His spirit was so powerful and dynamic and it’s what gave him the edge over everybody else. Many, many people contributed to the evolution of Kenpo karate with Ed Parker. And their contributions were tremendously significant, but here’s the part that many people forget: it takes a dynamic presence and personality to teach something to the world, not just to your backyard. That’s where he was clearly head and shoulders above everyone else. His depth of intellect, his passion, his ability to deliver the material, his physical presence, staggering, just astonishing. It’s that rare combination, a perfect storm of all of the personality attributes that gave him this powerful presence that he carried everywhere he went.

IKF: What do your students today get from you that you got from Ed Parker? JS: As you may know I have graduate degrees in the behavioral sciences and so I pay close attention to that. When I began this endeavor I studied international groups and organizations from all over the world and saw the common denominator they had and mimicked that with ours and employed behavioral management concepts that I learned at the university. You take Kenpo karate, whether Kenpo 5.0 built into the system, whether international or not, it is a beautiful logical sequence of events that fits magically in the behavior model of how to control, engage, evolve, and get people to change, evolve and grow. All you have to do is understand what those principles of behavioral management are and it almost is like it was made for this. My thrust is to empower other people, not to look for other people to empower me. Every single black belt around the world knows they are with me, not under me. To take something as powerful and dynamic as Kenpo karate and in my opinion Kenpo 5.0 even more so, and add the enormous world of grappling, to create something so powerful like that and not hold it, which most martial arts organizations and masters do. I put it all out there because I want you to be a better person and have a better life. My success is building you as a successful person. In turn, the energy you are giving back to me is more successful. It becomes a revolving door of incredibly powerful fluid, positive energy where I make you a success and in turn, you make me a success. Together we grow in this life. And what grew out of that philosophy is this incredible cohesiveness that we have. We have combined all these languages and all these countries and we care deeply for one another. We are in contact all the time; I travel all over the world. I’m outside the U.S. for about a quarter of the year. And every time I go on a 12-to-14-hour flight, which is agony in a can or come back I am so excited to see everybody. It’s this reciprocating positive energy that drives me forward.

IKF: What’s the best part of your martial arts day? The beginner class, the private class, the black belt class? What gets is your engine going? JS: What drives me most is to be able to—and I don’t think I could have said this 10, 15 years ago—but after 25 years of pushing the rock uphill—that’s done and we’re on our way. I no longer have the pushback, I no longer have the negative energy that was with me the first few years. “(People were always saying) Who are you to change Mr. Parker’s art? You’re a subordinate, you’re a punk, you’re just a movie star.” I got it all. And I got it from all sides. We’ve transcended above that to the place we are at now. What drives and moves me is to be able to go and experience that success here and all around the world. And see the oneness. The thing that is the anguish of humanity is these illusions of separation, whether it’s race or religion, or nationality. But there are people who benefit greatly by building and keeping these illusions of separation in place. The goal here is to dissolve those. Because if there is going to be a future of people on planet Earth it’s when we lose the illusion of, take the dogma down, take all those things apart and realize we are one. I’m here to say we are one energy for sure in the Kenpo 5.0 family.

IKF: Thirty years from now a student will tell someone he trained under Grandmaster Jeff Speakman. What will he say? JS: What I hope, and I’m certain they will learn it, it’s about giving not taking. It’s about making this world a better place because you were here. It’s not about power. I did the movie star thing and I can tell you flat out, right here right now, it’s a far greater place than when I was making movies. This is infinitely more powerful. Now I probably wouldn’t be here if I didn’t do that—I get that—but that’s looking behind. I don’t look in the rearview mirror. I’m looking forward, I’m looking through the windshield. First, I hope my students would see the deep love and care, and affection I have for all of them. And then, secondly for the art, which in turn is giving them the ability to change their lives for the better. If I do this right, which is what I think Mr. Parker was doing, then when I’m gone this energy continues. He didn’t set it up like that, but I got it. I understood that so I am moving that agenda forward. So I hope the positive energy about bringing down the separations and empowering everybody that we are all one and came from the same place. I hope that those are things people will remember and perpetuate long after my death.

IKF: What happens to Kenpo 5.0 30 years from now? JS: The evolution continues. Often, when I have my groups of black belts together, and especially if they are doing things I don’t approve of that I need to correct, I’ll say, “Look guys, when I am dead you can do it that way. But when I am alive we do it like this. You got that?” This is what brought us this far. To have a stable base, a level of sanity that isn’t about rank. I appreciate and am very grateful that you call me grandmaster. I reached the mastership rank at ninth-degree black belt and there’s a movement underway to see if I would go to 10th-degree black belt next year. So that very likely is going to happen. But I never pretend to be something I’m not. I know my faults and my shortcomings and I get right to work on facing those things. But I also know the strengths that I have. So lead by example, follow by choice.

William Shatner's Martial Arts Connection

by Robert Young blackbeltmag.com June 3, 2020

(This article was published in the April 1974 issue of Fighting Stars magazine, a sister publication of Black Belt. That means it appeared just five years after the original Star Trek was canceled and many years before the sci-fi series became a staple of film and television. At the time, William Shatner was not the international superstar he's recognized as today. He was just an actor who'd had a good run on a series that happened to be set in space. And he was a martial artist.)

When the USS Enterprise abruptly splashed down from its three-year trek to the stars, angry fans denounced the TV "high-thinkers" who chose to ground the space adventure with the hope of replacing it with an even higher-rated show. The industry captains never did find that higher-rated program, but the adventures of Capt. James T. Kirk and his Star Trek crew still delight science-fiction aficionados, even if only in syndication.

Life on board the Enterprise must have been something else. The crew traveled more space miles in prime time than the entire NASA program from John Glenn to Skylab. The adventures of Capt. Kirk made the void of space so convincingly alive that real astronauts in Houston and Cape Canaveral sheepishly confessed that they, too — like millions of collegians, housewives, doctors, lawyers and sci-fi fans — were addicted to the show.

For William Shatner, life during Star Trek must have seemed rigidly controlled and cautious. Capt. Kirk's adventures are not worth a moon rock compared to Shatner's off-screen exploits as a Shakespearian actor, an athlete and, lately, a karate practitioner.

While the 37-year-old does not present an image of a decathlon champ, the years before Star Trek saw him rise to just about every physical challenge offered him. Now that he's back on terra firma, Shatner's everyday activities range through a multitude of sports and, on any given day, he can be seen fencing, swimming, racing cars or even skydiving.

"Hell," he says with a satisfied-with-life grin, "I'll do anything once."

When he was still a novice at films — after having gained a good reputation in plays by the Bard — Shatner sent shivers up the spines of directors who found him to be an uncanny horseman and amateur acrobat during the making of Westerns and war pics. Even during the years Star Trek was on the air, Shatner always insisted on doing his own fight scenes.

"Looking back on the things I've done, I must be a little crazy," he reflects. "But I'm constantly testing myself, both in athletics and acting. I've always believed that if you don't define your limits by trying everything, you'll never know your capabilities."

Shatner has defined his limits, all right. He didn't set his sights on acting until after leaving McGill University in Montreal, where he majored in commerce. He then served a two-year stint as a member of the Stratford, Ontario, Shakespeare Festival, where the roles he played made him begin to practice fencing. He co-starred with such noted English stage stars as Alec Guinness, James Mason, Anthony Quayle and Ann Todd. Shatner even had a starring role as Henry V.

He studied more advanced sword and shield techniques and started lifting weights while preparing for a role in Alexander the Great. His successes distinguished him as a creative actor in such notable films as Judgment at Nuremberg and The Brothers Karamazov. More recently, he won kudos for his stunning performance in The Andersonville Trial on TV.

Shatner followed his early film appearances with increasingly larger guest roles on top TV shows. He tested for the demanding part of Capt. Kirk and eventually landed it. Today, Shatner is reluctant to discuss the end of Star Trek, but he says he has fond memories of his years working on the series.

The actor is a veteran boxer who, when time permitted, spent many arduous hours in the gym working with punching bags and a sparring partner. He's respected as a man who is very able to handle his own action.

"In various movies I've made, I was able to get rid of a lot of hostilities by punching the air, which is what film fights are all about," Shatner says. "One always stops short of hitting the opponent. This requires a certain amount of knowledge. A screen fight is more exaggerated, but the mechanics of the fight remain the same."

-Enter Karate-

In part, it was the physical demands put on William Shatner during the filming of Star Trek that aroused his curiosity about karate. While the show never depicted any of the crew members as skilled martial artists, the action was considerably more sophisticated than old-fashioned fisticuffs.

"There were all types of things I had to be adept at — things like kicks and leg work," Shatner says. "And all these things were constantly landing me on my ass. This made me realize I had a lot more to learn about combat, even for staged action. Stunt and fight work in films has been always a pet preoccupation of mine. I know when to let the stuntmen and true experts take over. But if I think I can do something without ending up in the hospital for too long, I'll do it."

Shatner's introduction to formal martial arts training came at the hands of an associate screen writer/karate teacher named Tom Bleecker. "I did not run out and seek help immediately," Shatner recalls. "In fact, I had to be pushed into the martial arts. The arts were an entirely new area for me, and I was not about to underestimate what an endeavor like taking karate would mean. I'd had a passing interest in karate, both the physical and philosophical aspects, but I wasn't sure that the investment would pay off on-screen. And frankly, my time was limited, and I didn't want to approach it half-baked.

"My immediate concern was solely the Star Trek action. If knowledge of a sport enhances a film or TV segment I'm doing, I'm pretty quick to jump into it. But I'm not one to take uncalculated risks. If a leading actor gets himself hurt, he can cost the studio thousands of dollars in delayed shooting costs and put a lot of people out of work. But I thought I'd try it and at least start to pick up the basics of karate. I was also fascinated by the discipline."

In the two years he's studied with Bleecker, Shatner has gained knowledge of how real fights happen. "Aside from the boxing and stunt techniques, I'd only had a few lessons in judo many years before," he says. "I did not want to become a martial artist who would abuse karate's fine skills. I was more than aware a little knowledge of karate could be dangerous, but I rarely get into physical hassles. In fact, in any unavoidable fight, the only thing my opponent would most often see is my back."

-Stimulation for an Active Life-

Despite his interest in the sport, Shatner admits to having found karate more of a stimulant than a drain of energy required for his work. "There are times when I am so tired, it's an effort to even put on the gi," he says. "But in making an effort to get out there and work for at least a half-hour, I find I get a second wind and go back to my acting with renewed vigor.

"This might sound like a cop-out, but if I had the time, I would go for a black belt. I would put everything I have into the martial arts. I may have my own limits, but karate is an open endeavor for the ablest of athletes."

How does Shatner's teacher feel about the actor's progress?

"His memory is incredible," Bleecker says. "His discipline as an actor and his gift for total recall make him a prime student of karate. He is strong, coordinated and fast. If we miss a week of work, when he returns, he finds it easy to remember exactly what he has learned and where we left off. He's right on all the time."

It was that athletic ability that prompted Shatner to consider becoming a professional athlete. Equestrian riding, swimming and football were possible goals for the young man. "I was a bit small for a pro football career," he says, "but I was mean."

He may be mean, but he also has a passion for nature and the outdoors. He recently shot the rapids of the Salmon River in a kayak for television's American Sportsman. And Shatner loves to take hunting trips where he can use his archery skills.

"Hunting with a bow and arrow is a prime example of man's need to be in harmony with nature," he says. "I have to be one with my environment. Man is constantly violating the natural environment through pollution and a hectic pace of life. Though hunting has been 'out' lately, it really has been in for hundreds of thousands of years as the fundamental way of obtaining food. I think that when hunting as an archer, it gives the animal an equal chance with the predator, man. With a bow and arrow, hunting becomes a one-to-one relationship. With a gun, hunting is a completely different story."

Shatner amusingly recalls many hunting expeditions that yielded no game. He points to the impossibility of bagging game with a bow and arrow from distances where a gun would easily score a kill. "That is part of the limitation and challenge of hunting with arrows," he says. "The basicness of archery appeals to me. But many times I have gone hunting with cameras, too."

Shatner sees the popularity of the martial arts as potential cause for concern. "I once bred German shepherds, and the thing that made the dogs great was that only a few of them existed," he says. "Now, the shepherd has had its fineness overbred because the demand for them has increased and breeders have to mass-produce them.

"It may be the same with karate. With so many people taking it, the beauty that is karate may be lost. The millions of novices, possibly including myself at this point, may be reducing the arts to a point of compromise where the greatness is left to only those very few dedicated masters. That would be a tragedy, but I suspect it's what's happening."

While Shatner has every intention of pursuing karate when and if he's able, competition will play no part in his martial arts future. "There are too many accidents," he says. "I've heard of people getting killed in competition. Also, my interest is in self-satisfaction through self-mastery of the arts. I don't much care about proving that I can do someone else in."

-Martial Art Entertainment-

Despite his acclaimed dramatic background, Shatner admits to being just a plain old popcorn-munching fan when it comes to escapist entertainment. "I'd rather go see a double feature of karate films than many Academy Award winners," he says. "The cheaper, the better. It drives my wife up the wall. I love them!"

On a more serious note, he doesn't see much of a future in purely action-oriented martial arts films. And he says that the violence trend in movies may have reached its saturation point. "The arts can have a great future in movies if they are integrated into strong story structures," he says. "A movie about violence isn't a very lasting experience to behold. l think a film in which both the action and the serenity of the martial arts philosophy were blended would be a tremendous success with a wide-ranging audience."

Coincidentally, Shatner and writer-sensei Bleecker have just such a script that they're planning to produce. But at this stage, they're evasive about the details.

"Just as those studying martial arts must mature and hopefully explore the true depth of their endeavor, movies should do the same in their treatment of the arts," Shatner says. "Look at the Kurosawa samurai films. There's no reason why American moviemakers couldn't do that kind of justice to their subjects."

Shatner says he holds out the firm hope that the Eastern influence provided by karate's popularity in America may eventually prove beneficial to our violent society. "There's always the possibility of the opposite, but I like to think it may appeal to the better side of people. I hope the net result will be peace in the world rather than just an army of citizens with deadly hands."

Quick to recommend karate to other actors, Shatner goes so far — in a tongue-in-cheek vein — as to claim it could be more beneficial than actual acting classes. "Of all the things to study in terms of physical preparedness as an actor, karate is the best," he says. "You learn to give and take, to remember, to truly perceive — all the aspects of the ideal acting class. The essence of drama is conflict, as is the essence of the martial arts, whether it be internal or external."

-Meaning Behind Experience-

William Shatner has great regard for the enigmatic philosophies and morals inherent in the martial arts. "There are the apocryphal tales of the students who sit and wait in the rain for days, just to see the master for a moment," he says. "Then they have to do menial jobs like raking leaves for months in order to prove that they really want to study, like the opening segment on Kung Fu when Caine is a boy. That is an illustration of real dedication and desire, which is very seldom seen on any level in modern society."

He recalls that his sensei used similar psychology with him when his interest in the arts began to develop. "When I'd finally decided to study, Tom was very cagey about it," Shatner says. "And the cagier he was, the more I wanted to start studying. I found myself finally begging him to teach me. It was a good experience and just the kind of reverse-psychological kick I needed."

Although he enjoys Kung Fu as entertainment, Shatner finds flaws in the show in that Caine is never affected by his encounters with people in the Old West. He profoundly affects them, yet he's never forced to re-evaluate his attitudes.

"But on the other hand, I suppose the first time he got drunk in a bar and got into a brawl, that would be the end of the character," Shatner adds.

Although he doesn't recall having had any misconceptions about karate before he studied, Shatner, who's ranked as an orange belt, claims to have had pleasant discoveries in his current training. "The kata I found to be particularly intriguing in their rhythmic and symmetrical beauty," he says. "I have no formal dance training, but I greatly appreciate the dance-like kata. They're really open to interpretation and aren't just exercises to be done by rote."

Recalling his many physical endeavors squeezed into his busy life, Shatner is reflective. "I want to savor it all before I'm too old to do it," he says. "Some people might say that studying karate or even doing an occasional action film might limit my career — that afterwards, I'd be typecast in only those kinds of roles. I don't think that's a valid pitfall.

"I've never been typecast in the first place. If an actor can do only one thing, there is that danger. But if he's been fortunate enough to spread his ability around to a number of fields, he'll never be limited in what he does as an actor or as an individual.

"I may have spread myself too thin, and that is always a danger. I'm the kind of person who likes to advance and better myself in several things simultaneously."

The end result is the proof: William Shatner — athlete, martial artist, actor and ex-captain of the starship Enterprise — knows what he's talking about.

by Steve Jacques

https://blackbeltmag.com/william-shatners-martial-arts-connection-when-star-treks-capt-kirk-trained-in-karate

The Physics of Rebounding for Super Speed

from blackbeltmag.com - https://blackbeltmag.com/physics-and-kenpo/wrap-up

(part 1)

Every session in the dojo should be another step towards our ultimate goal, which is why we must take our training seriously. However, we also need to be able to appreciate moments of levity. That’s why I’d like to start today’s discussion with a quote from Master Ken regarding fighting a Kenpoist.

“In Kenpo, students are actually encouraged to hit themselves during a fight. Which means if you fight a Kenpo black belt long enough, eventually he’ll kick his own a**.”

This is, of course, a joke about the rebounding slap seen performed by Kenpoists all over the world. If you are a Kenpo practitioner, you are most likely aware of the reason behind this action of rebounding and its potential applications. If your art doesn’t employ this concept, then it may appear funny and foolish. To an outsider it can look like a guy slapping himself for no apparent reason, which may be true in some cases. However, a skilled and self-aware Kenpoist is conscious of their actions and uses rebounding to harnesses and immediately rerelease power.

“Harness and immediately rerelease power.” What does this mean?

Let’s take a moment to consider a baseball and what happens to it from pitch to a homerun hit. A pitcher throws a baseball at roughly 90mph. The batter swings his bat to strike the ball with a barrel speed of his bat around 80mph. There’s a loud cracking sound as the bat smacks the ball and, nearly instantaneously, the ball is sent off in a direction nearly opposite of its original path at over 100mph. Both the bat and the ball act upon one another. The heavier and continuously powered bat absorbs the energy of the ball and continues on its path. A homerun ball results from the bat’s massive force acting on the baseball creating huge acceleration of the ball opposite its original path when it left the pitcher’s hand.

Now that we have a visual example in mind, let’s get into the science of this action. A force from the bat is acting upon the ball to change its direction. The physics equations for what is happening in this example are as follows:

F=ma

Force = mass x acceleration

Force is equal to the mass of an object multiplied by the acceleration of that same object.

To deeper understand the resulting change of direction of the ball we must define “acceleration.” That is where the following equation comes into play.

a = (vf–vi)/Δt

Acceleration is equal to the change in velocity (resulting velocity – initial velocity) of an object divided by the amount of time it takes for that change to happen. We plug these pieces of the “Acceleration equation” into the original “Force” equation (F=ma) for “a” and end up with the following representation of the force exercised on the ball while it is in contact with the bat.

F = (mvf–mvi)/Δt

Here we are shown that the FORCE exerted on the ball by the bat is equal to the mass of the ball (m) multiplied by the final velocity (vf) of the ball minus the mass of the ball times the initial speed of the ball (vi). Pay special attention to how the positive and negative of the velocity affects the outcome. Because they are moving in opposite directions the initial velocity is considered a negative because it’s going in the opposite direction of where it ends up heading. The net result of the subtraction in the equation is that it is added to the first part of the equation. The (mvf-mvi) is then divided by the amount of time (Δt) the bat is in contact with the ball for our final understanding of the force used to create that change in speed and direction.

As we wrap our mind around these equations and how they relate to speed and acceleration, the overall take-home message I want to impart is the following:

The greater the change in directional speed of an object and the shorter the time frame in which the change of speed happens the greater the observed force must be.

The exact numbers for the speeds of the bat and ball are not the important part here. What is important is the overall concept. The speed at which the ball leaves the bat is enhanced and is greater than the speed of either object’s original movement. Imagine for a moment that the batter no longer had a bat. Instead, he was forced to catch the ball barehanded and, with the same hand, throw it back as fast as he could. He would have to decelerate the pitched ball’s speed by absorbing the moving ball’s force with his musculature and then reaccelerate it to throw it towards the outfield wall. It’s safe to say that it would take longer to get the ball moving towards the outfield and would also leave his hand with less velocity than in the previous example where it was hammered off the bat.

You may be wondering how this baseball analogy applies to Martial Arts. The idea of this parallel to baseball is to have us look at our torso compared to the bat and our hands to the baseball. After a hand strike is thrown, it returns to us. We don’t simply leave it out there for an attacker to grab or manipulate. So, as it returns toward the bulk of our body, we must instantaneously decide if it is to be deployed again or will it stay back in a fighting or checking position. If we’re deploying it once more, we can reduce the time out of battery and increase its velocity back into the fight by rebounding the hand off our torso. Like in the baseball example, the projectile bounces off the heavier object and it forced back towards whence it came.

In Part 2, we will delve further into the practical application, the lab of the dojo if you will, and increase our understanding of the rebounding principle.

Salute,

Ian Lauer

B.A. Chemistry

from blackbeltmag.com - https://blackbeltmag.com/rebounding-for-speed-part-2

(part 2)

In Part 1 of “The Physics of Rebounding for Superspeed” we took an in depth look at the physics behind the force production necessary to change the direction of our hands and quickly create effective weapons. In case you have forgotten or missed Part 1, the take home message of all the fancy physics equations is:

The greater the change in directional speed of an object and the shorter the time frame in which the change of speed happens the greater the observed force must be.

Now that you’re here reading part 2, it means you intellectually understand this concept and are curious how to apply it to your Martial Arts training. Or you already use rebounding and wish to maximize its effectiveness. Allow me a moment to share the first experience I had of a rebounding happening in my body and me simply being along for the ride.

I remember it like it was yesterday. I had been told the principle before but still had to consciously think about how to apply it. It wasn’t something that just happened naturally. Because I was still thinking through each move within the attempt to rebound, everything was choppy without flow. That was up until around the time I was a purple belt working towards blue in American Kenpo. That’s when it changed for me. I was practicing the Parting Wings technique and I heard the rebound happen, and it occurred without conscious thought to make it happen.

For those unfamiliar with the Parting Wings technique, allow me to explain. An attacker tries to push you in the chest with both hands. In response, you step back with your right foot into a left neutral bow and do two simultaneous outward hand sword blocks. Then you settle into a forward bow with a right inward hand sword to the ribs. As the strike happens, your left-hand bounces from its previous block and recoils to your upper chest. It smacks against your chest at the same time your right-hand sword hits your opponent.

At the time of this smack, the body is rotating towards the attacker due to your transition from neutral bow to forward bow. The left hand then bounces off your chest with a smacking sound and is redeployed into battle and consequently very quickly strikes the adversary with an outward hand sword to the neck as you return to neutral bow. There is a more to the Parting Wings technique, but this was the very moment when my eyes were opened to rebounding and its potential applications.

After this realization, I started looking back at previously learned techniques and found that many of them also use this principle. For example, a few of my favorites that have rebounding applications learned at earlier levels in the American Kenpo curriculum are the purple belt technique Leaping Crane, orange belt technique Five Swords, and yellow belt technique Alternating Maces, among others.

If you are a Kenpoist and know these techniques, might I suggest you try working them through for a few reps and identify the rebounding opportunities. If you study an art that doesn’t utilize rebounding, revisit the described actions in the beginning phase of Parting Wings above and see if rebounding is something you can assimilate to enhance your hand speed.

Kenpoist or not, if you wish to incorporate this principle, it is important to keep an eye out for opportunities to effectively apply rebounding and practice, practice, practice. That’s what it takes to get good at any skill. And the greater our mastery of rebounding, the faster our strikes become and the more rapidly they can be consistently deployed. By digging back into our training techniques with rebounding in mind, we afford ourselves the opportunity to tighten up and improve our overall skill set as a Martial Artist.

After this realization, I started looking back at previously learned techniques and found that many of them also use this principle. For example, a few of my favorites that have rebounding applications learned at earlier levels in the American Kenpo curriculum are the purple belt technique Leaping Crane, orange belt technique Five Swords, and yellow belt technique Alternating Maces, among others.

If you are a Kenpoist and know these techniques, might I suggest you try working them through for a few reps and identify the rebounding opportunities. If you study an art that doesn’t utilize rebounding, revisit the described actions in the beginning phase of Parting Wings above and see if rebounding is something you can assimilate to enhance your hand speed.

Kenpoist or not, if you wish to incorporate this principle, it is important to keep an eye out for opportunities to effectively apply rebounding and practice, practice, practice. That’s what it takes to get good at any skill. And the greater our mastery of rebounding, the faster our strikes become and the more rapidly they can be consistently deployed. By digging back into our training techniques with rebounding in mind, we afford ourselves the opportunity to tighten up and improve our overall skill set as a Martial Artist.

Salute,

Ian Lauer

B.A. Chemistry