20th anniversary for Mr. and Mrs. White's Royal Family Kids Camps fundraiser

 

New logo for Bob White's Karate - (or maybe just a secondary logo)

 

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

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

Advertisement for grand opening of Mr. White's school

(recently posted on Mr. White's Facebook page)

An advertisement for the February 3rd, 1972 opening of Mr. White's school, with a demonstration no less from Mr. Parker.

Some good kicking advice by Mr. Bob White

(Recently posted on Facebook by Mr. Bob White)

We use a very simple check list for kicking.

1. Protection

2. Balance

3. Weapon

4. Depth

Protection is keeping your hands up when kicking. Many don't and they fall into that category of thinking so much about offense that your defense suffers. It's simple, don't drop your hands when you kick.

Balance is posture,keeping your base leg bent, and landing because you want to not because you have to.

Weapon is hitting the the correct part of your foot. Front kick is normally the ball of the foot, Roundhouse could be the ball of the foot or the top of your foot depending on the target. Side Kick is the knife edge of the heel and the back kick is the bottom of the heel.

Depth is determined by the rotation of the base foot or thrusting hips forward in a front kick.

Lessons I Have Learned Giving Lessons

 (recently posted on Facebook by Mr. Bob White)

1. “Nobody cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

2. What you do in practice is what you do in the game

3. Your victories take place in the gym long before you enter the arena

4. The more you sweat in the studio the less you bleed outside

5. The will to win is not as important as the will to prepare to win

6. The road is greater than the inn

7. There are 3 levels in which you do your forms

1. Memorize

2. Visualize

3. Actualize

8. Your art can be broken into 3 increments

1. Forms + basics

2. Self Defense techniques

3. Sparring

9. Your fight style can be broken down into 3 methods

1. Defense

2. Counters

3. Entry techniques

10. In kicking techniques you have 4 major concerns

1. Protection

2. Balance

3. Weapon

4. Depth

11. Cover your distance with weapons and not targets

12. Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with what you can do

13. Interview the people you train with to get feedback on your progress

14. Using the above mention breakdowns do honest and continual inventories on your skills and your attitude.

15. Embrace the things you do well but actively work on your troubled areas

16. Keep a recorded notebook on your Karate journey

17. Educate yourself by reading books and asking questions

18. Embrace the 4 Laws of Learning

1. Explanation

2. Demonstration

3. Imitation

4. Repetition

19. If it’s not worth dying over it’s not worth fighting over

20. The most dangerous technique we can throw is one that is done half way.

21. The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement

22. Respect is earned. It can’t be demanded or purchased

23. Surround yourself with people that have a real passion for training

24. Remember there is a condition that has kept people in everlasting ignorance and that condition is, “Contempt prior to investigation.”

25. Create a culture of coaching and give back to your school and our community through service work.

Money in the martial arts

(from Mr. Bob White's Facebook page, 9-18-18)

Ed Parker opened up the first commercial school here in the U.S. Before that, people shared their art in venues that were designed for other activities. Mr. Parker received a lot of criticism for it. The critics said he was selling out and it was a disgrace to the martial arts. Black Belt magazine came out against Mr. Parker because he used contracts in enrolling students. He asked Black Belt magazine if they sold subscriptions, and "wasn’t that the same thing?" Imagine if Ed... Parker would have listened to the critics and not have had a commercial school? Imagine how many thousands of people would not have been involved with martial arts and how they would not have had the opportunity to learn the life lessons that martial arts teaches us.

Personally, I am grateful for the fact that he had this vision which has allowed me to do something as a profession for my entire adult life. I feel that sharing Kenpo Karate and coaching my students is my calling.

This brings up the subject of my post, which is money. Many people have a resentment when people make money at their schools or promoting a tournament. Please stop and realize that if the school owner does not make a profit he/she cannot stay open. How many would be deprived of the opportunity to learn martial arts if there was not a school to go to? How could a tournament promoter continue to throw tournaments if he/she does not make a profit? Personally I would want the promoters to make money on all of their events so they will continue to give our community the opportunity to compete and develop their skills.

I believe if we are to have professional instructors they must be fairly compensated. Unless we are raising funds for a worthy cause, instructors that are invited into our school will be guaranteed an agreed price. If more is raised, 100% of that money goes to the teacher. When the price is agreed upon, that money is put aside and is no longer mine. There are different ways of showing respect and keeping your word is right at the top of the list. In my opinion to not pay the teacher a fair amount is disrespectful. We want to be contributors not just consumers. If you can’t pay your dues at your school go up and talk to your teacher. When you do this you are showing respect to him/her and your school. I have mentioned before about people wanting to join our school after their original school closed. I asked them what their tuition was and they said they did not pay dues. I wonder if that might have had something to do with the failure of the school.

Ed Parker shared with me that people buy things to gain a benefit or avoid a loss. Investing money in your martial arts education makes sense. If you don’t think it is an investment you will have a resentment and soon do something else.

The patch

"Some people are not aware that Mr. Parker could sew and more than once he would sew patches on our fighters (gi) before they competed." - Mr. Bob White

Mr. Parker and Mr. Bob White

(usadojo.com)

As a competitor and as a teacher and coach, Professor Bob White has contributed to the art of Kenpo in particular the fighting arts, for over thirty years. As a competitor, Professor White won numerous state, national, and international fighting championships. He fought on the first International Kenpo Karate Association”s team, defeating the Chuck Norris team for 1st Place at the International Karate Championships. He fought on the National All Star Black Belt Team which went undefeated in 1973 and 1974. During this time, he competed with and against some of the great champions of our sport such as the Urquidez Brothers, Brian Strain, Bob Alegria, Tom Kelly, Steve Fisher, Steve LaBounty, Howard Jackson, Darnel Garcia, Bob Mitchell, John Natividad, Ron Marchini and many more.

Professor White began teaching Kenpo in 1968 at the Ed Parker School in Garden Grove, California and first opened his own school in 1972. He has consistently turned out some of the world”s finest Kenpo fighters. Every year in the 1990s, his students accounted for at least one of the Black Belt Grand Champions at the International Karate Championships. Over the past 25 years, the school has won more than 1200 trophies at the International Karate Championships.

Professor White advised and acted in Columbia Pictures, “The Karate Kid,” movie in the mid 80”s and was hired by the then Los Angeles Rams to teach Kenpo to players; he continues to work with many professional athletes.

Professor White provides seminars on a wide range of Kenpo-related subject including sparring and special self-defense presentation. At the present time, Professor White, along with long time student [27 years] Captain Ron Sanchez, a 22-year veteran police officer, offer a seminar series on Urban Predators.

Professor White is headquartered in Costa Mesa, California but has affiliated schools all over the U.S. and teaches Kenpo all over the world.

Bob has produces two martial arts DVDs to help students and instructors alike.

The first , The Purpose Driven Journey to Success DVD is a training tool that provides and great resource for martial artists all levels to improve their martial arts skills. Bob and Barbara White, and some of the worlds’ finest martial artists, demonstrate and explain what in their training has helped them rise to a higher level. This DVD is an investment that has been endorsed by many of the worlds top instructors.

Bob’s second DVD is called The Elements of Effective Coaching with Bob White. This DVD was created for instructors, future instructors, and school owners and cover topics such as motivational and coaching techniques, along with helping you utilize the skills necessary to develop long lasting relationships with your students.

Mr.White's official website

www.bwkenpo.com

Mr. Bob White on issues facing kenpo today

(The following is a post from Mr. Bob White's Facebook page dated September 24th, 2015 with follow-up comments by Mr. Sascha Williams.)

I am very much looking forward to filming a television show today hosted by Kevin B. McDonald about the state of American Kenpo. Many of you have asked why I re...signed from the American Kenpo Senior Council and what are my feelings about KAM IV, what do I think about the ridiculous amount of 10th degrees, and what do I feel about the selling of rank around the world to line the pockets of the seller? I speak for myself and I do not represent any organization. These will be my observations and possible solutions to obvious problems. 

 I travel quite a bit and teach all over the world and not one trip comes around where the subject of 10th degrees and high belt promotions does not come up. There are law suits and litigation going on where thousands of dollars are being spent on attorneys where one meeting and working for a solution could solve the problem. The money spent on attorneys can be used to do good things around the world rather than trying to make a point. I know an organization that could put that money to good use helping abused children by the way.

 The Serenity Prayer;

 God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
The courage to change the things I can,
And the wisdom to know the difference.

 I don’t really know if there will be any change as a result of this show but I believe to sit back and not say anything is cowardly. Believe me when I say I can stay in Costa Mesa with my students and be quite happy with the wonderful gifts we have at our school and God willing that will continue, BUT there are major problems that need to be addressed.

 If you are interested I will post viewing information as I receive it.

----

Mr White, this is Sascha Williams. I would like to respond to your post.

When it comes to the 10th degree, I don't share the same panic everyone seems to be cultivating. Is it sad? Yes. Can it be fixed? I doubt it. Does it matter? Not really.

First, I don't think this has any impact on public opinion. The process of talking about how embarrassing this is, THAT can make us look bad.

But take a detached look. If there were 200 Kajukenbo 10th degrees, why would that be interpreted as a negative by the public? They don't know if it's a good or a bad thing, UNLESS we interpret that for them. So ironically it's the FOCUS of the conversation that's harming our reputation, not the mere existence of a given number of 10th degrees.

If there were 200 Kajukenbo 10ths, it would look good if they all looked good and did good Karate, and it would look bad if they didn't.

We wouldn't be privy to how they obtained those ranks. We are talking about a subject that might be important to high ranking black belts, but really nobody else, unless influenced by one (or many).

In other words, we are our own worst enemy.

Next,some of the people who are making themselves 10th, have spent so much time pursuing rank, and didn't match that with an equally intense and commited effort to become "Grand Masters of the Art", it's like all they wanted was the belt. I think that is what has everyone upset. Most of these guys don't even think of themselves as grandmasters, they just think10th is better than 9th, which is better than 8th, etc.

I think we should stop counting and recognizing these people. Most of them were in obscurity. I think we should leave them there. The ones that are legit (like Frank Trejo for example) already have something more valuable, and that is their history and reputation.

One of the suggestions (by me and others) for a remedy that has gotten traction is: Years in the art. That's the only one that works. And it's the main one that matters. If a guy made it to black belt legitimately, what makes me respect him more is the time he spent training since then. For example, I hold you, Mr White, in a higher light as many other black belts who hold 9ths, simply because of how long you have been doing it, as well as your obvious drive and thorough attitude and the fact you were trained by Mr Parker.

So all that to make the point that "Years in the art", or "training since 1979" is not only the most honest statement, but also would prevent everyone from focussing on the issue and then draw attention on a negative. I can develop a deviant plan to cheat on my time and grade requirements, but I can't change the amount of years. Especially not if someone remembers me as a white belt.

Now when it comes to public opinion, I think our biggest problem is "instructors" (especially on youtube) who make Kenpo look bad. And that is a real problem. And THAT is what the public sees. But that we can do something about. If we want the public to be able to discern good Kenpo from bad, we can show them how good Kenpo looks like. We can also show them how to obtain better results in their training. Most of these "10th degrees" aren't even prominent. Most don't know them. So why elevate or "legitimize" them by talking about them?

So that's what I think about the 10th.

That, and the fact that the entire Pasadena studio packed full of Ed Parker black belts in 1991, 2 months after his passing voted to retire the 10th. The vote was unamimous (Mrs Parker ran the meeting, Mike Pick was one of the most persistent voices for retiring the 10th, stating that "9th was a reasonable expectation in a lifetime"), some of the people there were Mike Pick, Harry Silva, Jeff Speakman, John Sepulveda, Skip Hancock, I still have the group picture in my garage somewhere. There was at least 50 of us there. I too voted to retire the 10th, and I stand by that.

And I don't really care if the rest do.

For those of us who have been teaching for more than 3 decades, we really only need that higher rank so that we can continue to promote our own black belts.

Tom Kelly, before he died, shared with me that he regretted accepting his promotion to 9th. I'm not divulging why, but it reflects that for most people, the destination has become the goal, which to me means they are missing a VITAL lesson of martial arts, to enjoy the journey and focus on personal growth. - Sascha Williams