Keeping the kenpo flame alive

artwork by Felix Capibara

It's 2025, let's pad up and shin kick some groins! See you in the dojo.

 

To end 2024, some things you might hear said at the dojo

"I'm going to hit him in the head right there.... and why is his head there? Because I put it there!" - Dr Ron Chapél

"Don't block the punch with your face." - Mr. Dan Cepeda

"If you strike here the teeth fall out nicely.” - Mr. John Conway Sr.

"You are doing it wrong but your doing it wrong very well." - Mr. Dave Hebler

"Tuck your finger in unless you want to take it home in a bag." - Mr. Stephen LaBounty

"Karate is like Christmas, it's better to give than to receive." - Mr. Bob White

“I have never met an eye that likes a finger in it.”

"Give them somethin' to remember you by."

"You have all the right moves, but not necessarily in the right order."

"If it's worth hitting, it's worth hitting hard, if it's worth hitting hard, it's worth hitting twice."

"If he moves, hit 'em. If he doesn’t move hit 'em."

"Class attendance is mandatory, unless you are dead, then it's optional."

Wong Jack Man interview - 2017

(An interview of Grandmaster Wong Jack Man by Mr. Michael Dorgan in 2017 after the release of the film Birth of the Dragon.)

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What did you think of “Birth of the Dragon?”

I found the movie entertaining, a fun film to see with your family and friends. It has lots of action and comedy, and also offers a lesson to be learned.  It’s about two martial artists who followed very different paths –one becoming the world famous movie star and the other a kung fu grandmaster of Northern Shaolin, Taijiquan and Hsingyiquan.  I will tell my friends to see it because it will bring back many fond memories of their youth, when kung fu was very popular. 

What did you think of the actors’ portrayals of you and Bruce Lee?

Xia Yu, who is a very famous actor in China, was excellent in portraying me. He was able to capture the essence of my reserved nature and my exceptional martial arts skills. He does not have a martial arts background but he is very athletic and convincing on film.

Philip Ng, who portrayed Bruce, was also excellent. He resembles Bruce and has his body type. And he conveyed Bruce’s charisma and cockiness, as well as his accent and mannerisms. Also, he had the martial arts skills to play the part. He is known for his stunts and choreography in Hong Kong film. I see a future for him as an actor.

Did you like the fight scenes?

Yes, they were very exciting to watch. I think they kept everyone at the edge of their seats.

What were some of your favorite parts?

My favorite part was when I head locked Bruce, which actually happened three times during our fight in 1964. I also liked it when Bruce and I team up to fight the gangsters. It was very funny, with non-stop action. I heard it took two weeks just to film the fight between Bruce and me and our final fight with the gangsters. It took a lot of skills from the actors, stunt people, stunt choreographers and the talented director to pull it off.

What do you think of the Steve character in the movie and the criticism some have made of making him a major character in a film about you and Bruce Lee?

That was not a problem for me. He was the narrator who was driving and telling the story of me and Bruce. Who else could have told the story? Besides, he played as Bruce Lee’s white student – are they now saying Bruce Lee could not teach a white student? According to Linda Lee, the whole reason for the fight between Bruce and me was so Bruce could teach kung fu to the white man and others of a difference race.

I really don’t understand all this nonsense. They created a little side story about the character Steve to make him a bit more interesting and to help set up the fight between my character and Bruce Lee and the fight the two of us had with the gangsters. This film is made for the international market - it should have an international cast. Most of the criticism is from some Bruce Lee fans and his daughter, Shannon. They don’t understand that this film is not a biopic about Bruce Lee but was inspired by the fight and is highly stylized and fictionalized. Bruce Lee was portrayed as he was in his early twenties. Are they just going to ignore that part of his history? He later matured and moved on to become world famous and put martial arts on the map. Bruce Lee’s films were fictionalized, too, so I don’t see a problem with it.

You and Bruce Lee both grew up in Hong Kong and were about the same age. Did you ever meet him there, or had you heard of him?

Bruce Lee was a year older than me. He was born on November 27, 1940, and I was born on December 1, 1941. I never met him or heard of him while I was in Hong Kong.

What was your childhood like and how did you become involved in Kung Fu?

My childhood was pretty normal. Like most boys my age, I became interested in martial arts by watching martial arts movies, reading martial arts stories and martial arts comic books, and watching street performers.

What made you decide to immigrate to America and what did you hope to achieve here?

I came to America to be united with my family. And I was asked by my teachers, Yim Sheung Mo and Ma Kin Fung, to spread the Northern Shaolin, Taijiquan and Xingyiquan to America and the world. 

My teachers were top students of the famed master Gu Ruzhang, widely known as Iron Palm because of his ability to smash even large stacks of bricks with his bare hand, and they were members of the non-governmental Jing Wu martial arts organization, whose motto is “Love your country, cultivate your character and be a good citizen of the community.”  It is all about doing the right things and showing great concern for morals and ethics. Jing Wu has promoted martial arts training for men, women and children to build strong bodies and healthy minds since it was founded in 1909 in Old China. Fifty-nine branches of Jing Wu have sprung up in 22 countries since I first brought Northern Shaolin to America in the early 1960’s.

                                                  (Wong Jack Man in 1964, the year of the fight with Bruce Lee)

Tell us about the San Francisco Chinatown martial arts scene in the early 1960's, when some schools were aligned  “tong” organizations, the fraternal and social groups that sometimes ran gambling, prostitution and racketeering operations.

When I first arrived in San Francisco, I taught at a social club for what you might call the “big shots” of Chinatown, who were interested in Taijiquan and other traditional Chinese martial arts. They were impressed by my skills, which they had seen at my demonstrations at various community locations, and I was asked to join the club by member Lau Yee Sing, the owner of the Great Eastern Café, who had a passion for martial arts.

I worked part-time at his restaurant as a waiter to make ends meet until I became a full-time instructor, teaching all day and into the evenings. 

San Francisco Chinatown in the 1960's had a booming night life. There were six Chinese movie theaters packed every night showing martial arts movies, historical dramas and comedies. The restaurants were always filled with families and friends having late dinners or snacks after a night out to the movies. It was the best of times being in the middle of it.

There were only two martial arts teachers who were members of a tong.  One was Wong Tim Yuen, a.k.a. T.Y. Wong, of the “Sturdy Citizen's Club". He was a member of The Hop Sing Tong and taught a southern style of kung fu. The other tong-connected teacher was Lau Bun, chief instructor of the Hop Sing Tong Kung Fu Club, who taught the southern style Choy Li Fut.  He taught private groups and tong members, and later renamed his school Hung Sing Studio. He also taught Lion Dancing.

These two teachers were well respected and taught their students to be good citizens of the community. They were also “enforcers” for the community against troublemakers. The tongs were first established as places for the single men to go for help in finding housing and jobs, and in acclimating to a new country. They were able to share their roots and language, and were given a sense of belonging and community. Only a small number of tong members were involved in criminal activities at the time.

Before I arrived in San Francisco in the early 1960’s, there were only a few traditional Chinese martial arts teachers and kung fu was not yet popular. All the young people, including the Asian kids, were learning Karate, the Japanese martial art system bought back by the serviceman after World War II. There were Karate schools everywhere, even in Chinatown.

I was the new kid in town. I brought something new to the martial arts community through my performances and demonstrations by my students at schools and auditoriums. I was the only one doing these public shows. Later, other kung fu instructors and I organized the National Chinese Gungfu Exhibition at the San Francisco Civic Center to showcase various styles of Kung Fu.

We invited Bruce Lee to participate but he declined. We later found out he came up from Los Angeles to watch it in a disguise. I did not see him but others recognized him and told me. 

I also gave solo performances at Chinese Family Association gatherings and participated in many Chinese New Year celebrations locally and outside of Chinatown. People were impressed because they never seen the Northern Shaolin system, which is both powerful and acrobatic. It includes high kicks, big leaps, aggressive long-range attacks and whirling, circular blocks. It also features traditional Chinese weapons, including staff, spear, straight sword, double butterfly swords, double tiger hooked swords, saber, chain whips, three-section staff and guan dao.

Ming Lum, a local martial arts promoter, began taking my students to Karate tournaments, where they were often winners. That made people take notice. Soon, my reputation grew and I was teaching Karate Instructors and instructors of other popular martial arts.

Once Karate Instructors and other types of martial artists learned from me, they changed their business signs to announce they were also teaching kung fu. It was the golden era of kung fu, and pretty soon everyone with a little knowledge was teaching it.

By the early 1970s, kung fu became even more widely popularized by Bruce Lee through his films and by the “Kung Fu” television series starring David Carradine. The stunt coordinator for that TV series was also a student of mine.

I never advertised my schools in the newspapers. My business grew by word of mouth of my reputation and from my involvement in my community and outside communities.

I had a martial artist move here from Hawaii to learn my Northern Shaolin system and then move on to win many championships and become known as the “Godfather of Kung Fu in Europe.” His wife also studied with me and became the top-ranked women fighter in the United States. She also fought men and won. I also trained the first non-Asian full-contact fighter to ever win a gold medal at the World Championship full-contact Chinese Martial Arts Tournament in Taiwan.

Bruce Lee's wife, Linda, wrote that you challenged him on behalf of the Chinatown kung fu teachers, who were angry that he was teaching Caucasians. Is it true? If not, what provoked the fight?

What she wrote is absolutely not true. What provoked the fight was Bruce Lee’s arrogance and his insulting treatment of other martial artists. He trashed the teachers in Chinatown, calling them "old tigers with no teeth" and lectured them about his Wing Chun system being far superior to their traditional Chinese martial arts.

The matter came to a head following a performance he gave at the Sun Sing Theater with Hong Kong actress Diana Chang, who was regarded as the Marilyn Monroe of Asia and was there to promote her new movie, “Amorous Lotus Pan.” She did a Cha Cha dance with Bruce, who was there to promote his school.

In front of a packed house, he demonstrated his one-inch punch - a punch launched just an inch from the opponent. He demonstrated it with his friend, George Long, who taught the White Crane system. It did not go well and the audience laughed and booed him. 

That angered Bruce. He tried again and succeeded in knocking George backwards, but George was not pleased and complained that he had not been ready for the second try. Bruce was still upset and issued a public challenge to anyone who thought he was better then him.

The Chinatown martial arts community decided it needed to respond and that I was the best-qualified person to exchange skills with Bruce Lee. A letter was written and hand delivered to Bruce at his Oakland school inviting him to discuss what happened at the Sun Sing Theater and to exchange martial arts skills with me. He refused to come to San Francisco, but wrote a note inviting me to his school in Oakland with the date and time to meet.

Why were only a few people allowed to witness the fight and what were the agreed upon rules, if any?

It was a private exchange of skills. There was no discussion of rules until moments before the match.

Bruce Lee and his former wife both said he quickly defeated you. What is your account of what happened?

I got a ride to Bruce’s school with an acquaintance. Four of his friends were also in the car, but I didn’t know them. I was wearing my traditional black kung fu uniform.

It was a deserted part of town, and we arrived at exactly 6:00 pm. His school was an empty storefront with no business sign. We walked in. It was a small room with no furnishings.

One of Bruce Lee's friends made the introduction, as it was the first time we had met each other. I was introduced only to Bruce. I asked him if he had issued a challenge at the Sun Sing Theater.  He told me no, that he had not issued a challenge on stage.

At that point, I thought he did not really want to spar or exchange skills with me. Our group all started to leave but then the person who let us in locked the door.

Bruce became very angry and started yelling and cursing. He told me, 

"You have been killed by your friend," and "He is going to ruin your life." 

At that moment, I thought that was a strange thing for him to say. But Bruce knew that the person who hand-carried the letter to him had set us both up. When the letter was delivered, Bruce was angry and was ready to fight him. Now Bruce was so angry that he cursed him, and that person became very frightened and nervous. All the people in the room were scared, and the tension was high.

Bruce told me he was not here to make friends and that we should fight to see whose skill level was higher. I think he felt he would lose face if he did not fight me in front of his friends and the others who were there.

I told him we were just going to spar. I quickly laid down the universal standard rules in a match: no poking the eyes, no grabbing the throat or kicking the groin. He angrily responded, “No holds barred. No rules. We are going to fight to the death.”

After the other people stepped to the side, Bruce asked me to come to the center of the room. I extended my hand for a handshake, as is customary in any open match. Bruce pretended to offer his hand but immediately curved his fingers like deadly claws and tried to poke out my eyes. My quick instincts blocked him from doing damage to my eyes, though he ended up scratching me with his fingernail above my eye.

That attack set the tone of the fight. Then he started to make these loud, horrifying sounds - like a ghost screaming is the only way I can describe it.  I never heard sounds like that before in my life, and they were scaring everyone in the room. He continued to swear, yell and utter the terrifying sounds as he repeatedly tried to attack my eyes, throat and groin in between throwing straight punches at my chest.

It was these techniques he used the most, and I had to step backward to avoid his attacks. He was basically out of control and trying to do me serious harm. He chased me, arms swinging, but I side-stepped him each time so his blows were not effective. I also had to create distance so I could attack him using my long-range techniques to counter his attacks.

At one point, I caught him as he charged at me and locked his head under my left arm. Both of his arms fell to his sides and he was shaking because of my strong grasp on him. I could have finished him off with my right fist or choked him out but did not since I feared the consequences if I seriously hurt him.

After I let him go, he became even more enraged and continued to curse, yell and make god-awful sounds. I really thought he was on something at that point. And I thought he really wanted to kill me.

He continued his aggressive but ineffective attacks. I ended up locking his head again but this time he was on his knees. I let him go again, then caught him again and locked his head for a third time. But he remained full of rage when I let him go. He continued to charge at me, swinging his fists. I used my windmill blocks and hit him three times in the head in rapid session. He staggered and spun around three times and all the sudden stopped yelling, cursing and making the noises.

He was so winded he could not go on. That was how the match ended. Linda Lee later wrote that the fight lasted only three minutes but it actually lasted about 20 minutes.

Before we left, Bruce Lee asked me not to discuss the fight with anyone and I agreed. But later he bragged to people that he had won, which is why I then I issued a public challenge on the front page of a local Chinese newspaper, inviting him to fight me in an open arena filled with witnesses. He did not respond.

Bruce Lee at the time had trained only in Wing Chun, a southern martial arts style that emphasizes straight ahead attacks with fast, powerful punches. Your Northern Shaolin favors, longer, more circular strikes and blocks and more kicks. What did you learn from the fight as a martial artist?  What did you learn as a man?

As a martial artist, I learned nothing from the fight or from him. He threw away his system (Wing Chun) after the fight because it had not worked for him, and began developing his own system, Jeet Kune Do, which borrowed high kicks and many other movements from my system and from other systems. 

Bruce Lee later became famous only because he fought with me. That fight forced him to develop a new fighting system and philosophy that led to his success as a martial arts movie star. I was progressing in the internal martial arts way before the fight with Bruce Lee. He had nothing to teach me.

As a man, I learned from the fight not to trust what I hear from others. I must analyze and research the truth and evidence before I act on it.

Are you surprised by the enduring interest in the fight within the martial arts community? Why do you think people still like to discuss and debate it?

I think the fight has enduring interest because we were two well-known martial artists and it was a closed-door event and the witnesses could not agree on what they saw or the outcome of the fight. This type of event should be held in public for all to see with rules, judges and referees, so the end results are very clear.

My fight with Bruce Lee has been talked about and debated for over 50 years around the world and it probably will be debated for another 50 years. Who else can claim this? Not even Ali or Frazier.

In China, there was a long tradition of secrecy surrounding martial arts, which often were taught only to men and only to family or clan members. You were one of the first Chinese kung fu teachers to open his school to men and women of all ethnicities. What benefits do you think martial arts offer to modern society?

Kung fu teaches compassion, wisdom, positive thinking, gentleness, patience, harmony, diligence, perseverance, courage, honesty, righteousness, loyalty, self-discipline and responsibility. It promotes inner strength, healthy habits and the enjoyment of life, as well as a calm, clear mind and good spirits. Learning self-defense skills improves self-confidence, builds a strong body and allows you to help others less fortune then you. 

In other words, kung fu can help develop a well-rounded individual. This is helpful in modern society, where many people lack the skills to have a successful life.

https://www.taichisanjose.com/wong-jack-man-interview

A nice tribute to Mr. Parker

 (from Mr. Sibora Chan's Facebook page)

Strikes hidden within Blocking Set 1

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.