nelson - Was Big Red the predecessor of all kenpo manuals?
Are there some schools that still use this manual/guide?
For all you kenpo historians who wrote Big Red and when?
michaeledward - My understanding, the material which eventually became Big Red was completed by Ed Parker, Tom Kelly and Richard Planas.
When Mr. Kelly and Mr. Planas were invited to participate, Mr. Parker already had the Orange Belt material completed. The three worked through the rest of the material, up through the first 36 extensions (Orange Extensions and 12 Purple Belt Extensions). This work was completed after hours on Friday and Saturday nights, with only these three in attendance.
My understanding may be incomplete, but it was received, first hand, from Mr. Planas in private and semi private conversations.
bdparsons - Big Red appears to have the fingerprints of Misters Parker, Kelly and Planas all over it, especially Mr. Planas. I find that scenario far more likely than the premise that Mr. Pick had anything to do with it. Watchmaker vs. Ironworker. Just doesn't look like Mr. Pick's handowork. I do not mean that derogatorily, just an observation.
doc - Anyone who knew Mr. Parker well would know, rarely would he put anything in the hands of a couple of people. He usually sought a much broader spectrum of input from various sources on any project. Additionally, Huk Planas was Tom Kelly's student, (who was under Steve LaBounty), with Tom Kelly coming over from Tracy's first, followed by Huk, who was either green or maybe brown at the time. Mr. Parker opened up projects to many people to get their input, opinions, and ideas. So, many people contributed to what ultimately over time became Big Red. That being said, if you had to put fingerprints on "Big Red," certainly the most prominent would be Sibak, (Big) Tom Kelly and Rich (Huk) Planas in any scenario associated with the project.
Most Kenpo Lineages associated even loosely with Ed Parker sr. have used Big Red in its entirety or parts thereof for years from the beginning. Mostly because he was the first to actually write something down codified in this fashion, so it was easier for most.
But Big Red wasn't the first, and was in many ways a collection of a great deal of material that already existed. The first "manuals" were called "Belt booklets." Each Belt Booklet corresponded to a particular colored belt, and contained a list of all of the material needed to pass to the next level Belt Booklet. There were no descriptions of what to do, only a list of requirements and a set of checkoff boxes that indicated a student had been "taught," and "tested" for the individual categories. Once your Belt Booklet was full, you moved on the the next booklet. The Booklets were kept at the school and not distributed to the students, but instead were contained on a rack on the wall. When a student came in, they retrieved their Belt Booklet and presented it to the teacher who could immediately see what a student had worked on, been tested on, and where they needed work.
But also keep in mind, this was the early days of commercialism when a large percentage of student classes were conducted as "private" lessons one-on-one. Even if a student ultimately ended up in a group class, they had to go through a series of private lessons before they could get into the group class. This was a sales tactic borrowed from the Arthur Murray Dance Studios Operations Business Plan.
The actual outline technique manuals didn't exist at that time. Originally when they were starting to come together, they were designed to be given to instructors, and even when they ultimately were put together in Big Red, it too was an operations manual for school owners and students were not allowed to have any of that material. Big Red contained not only the expected Kenpo Outlines of technique, forms, and sets but sales material on how to answer the phone and even a list of questions and answers when talking to people making inquiries on the phone or in person. Do's, and don'ts, certain words to use and avoid, positive phrases, etc. It was a "corporate sales and operations manual" on how to run a studio. A studio owner would be given the Big Red Binder with dividers for various categories, and has he completed his training and instructions, he would be given material so that his personal Big Red might be somewhat different than someone else's.
Slowly, the technique manual portions of Big Red began to filter to students, and became an additional revenue stream as they began to be sold. There were two original binders made for Big Red. The first edition had the Kenpo Karate Crest embossed in raised relief on the cover. The second version saw the crest simply printed in full color on the cover. There are some who have the original binder. I have both versions, and even have the complete collection of the original Belt Booklets in my archives, that only went from Orange to Green. Later a one-sheet Yellow Booklet was added thanks to Tom Kelly and the creation of the yellow Belt. Certainly there would be no greater authority on most of the material from that perspective than Huk Planas, but keep in mind even Big Red was evolving, and some material was added over time that like myself, Huk did not agree with either.
The official name of the system is as you see it. Many have chose to call it other things after his passing, but Mr. Parker made it quite clear on many occasions what he named the system. It's not nor has it ever been Ed Parker's American Kenpo, American kenpo Karate, Ed Parker's American kenpo Karate, or EPAK.
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