Language Analogy

(by Ron Chapel Ph. D. kenpotalk.com 7-22-18)

You learn to talk, then you learn your ABCs, then you learn to write or script. Phonetics, alphabet, print, write, shorthand. Kenpo Training based on “Motion” is a concept that is the “phonetic phase” of learning Mr. Parker’s commercial system.

But let’s not forget, just because you can say the word, doesn't mean you can spell it, or know its true meaning. Every phase builds upon the previous skills and knowledge acquired.

However, each level if learned in proper sequence is capable of standing alone as a workable segment of the whole. Those who have obtained superiority in Kenpo based on the “Motion Concept” are on their way to moving to new heights of skill and knowledge.

But be aware, once you leave “Motion Kenpo,” the freedom and flexibility you had to move, alter, and change does not re-surface until you have absorbed the lesson of the other Phases and restructured fundamentals to satisfy an advanced criterion.

When you "say" the word, there is some measure of flexibility in how you choose to pronounce it. When you learn your ABC’s and spell the word, there is one way. You cannot change the ABC’s or how you choose to spell the word.

Each level of Ed Parker’s Kenpo Karate has its own ranks and certifications. It is important to understand you do not lose any ranks achieved on previous levels. But, like a Ph.D. in Education who decides to move to an another/different level and become a medical surgeon, you must learn the basics and fundamentals associated with the new level of skills you wish to obtain.

Therefore, each rank, like each level of knowledge and skills, builds and grows upon the previous level. I have had people approach me to learn the “nerve strikes” or manipulations in Kenpo. They don’t understand, without a defined base technique, I can only teach Ed Parker’s “tricks.” To truly learn, you need a well designed and structure delivery system.

In other words, you must learn the techniques at the next level. These techniques then evolve into all aspects of the system. The hard part in “Kenpo” is when you leave the level of art (motion) and move to the level of science (biomechanical) execution. In my own teaching, there is no transition because I teach sound bio-mechanically from the beginning. Therefore there are only stages in the biomechanical hierarchy as one progresses.

Techniques and execution become more precise. Therefore the level of commitment to obtaining skills and certifications are higher and more demanding. But, that has always been the case as you move up in any field of endeavor. From high school, to college to grad school, to professorship. In our educational system, many are content and satisfied with a bachelors degree, then they focus on other aspects of their lives and career.

Others choose however to move to grad school and beyond. It’s about choices. However, feel content that whatever level you choose, you have made significant accomplishments. It is a given in life, the higher you go, the harder it gets, and the fewer the people you will find there.

Kenpo based on Motion is only the concept that is the beginning for those who either chose to begin there or didn’t recognize there is a higher place to start. The former prevails because it is more user-friendly and therefore more commercially viable.

Some have mistakenly thought it was THE system. We live in a society that's wants everything right now. We think 5 or 10 years invested in the martial arts is a lot. We forget, in education, 10 years is nothing. You're not even a senior in high school.

There are old men in China still studying and learning. In this country, we want everything fast. Fast food, fast cars, fast martial arts. We complain because we get a fast black belt in a few years, and get upset because someone says we don't know everything. Many in Motion-based Kenpo are as high school seniors. They know everything and the old teachers just don’t understand how it really works.

After over sixty-one years as a practitioner and teacher, I’m still learning and extrapolating information from the foundation created in me by my teachers. The one thing I know more than anything else is, I still have much to learn whether it is from a layperson, another black belt, or the lowest of white belts. Everyone and anybody can be the catalyst that triggers a perspective previously unrecognized, that leads to knowledge gold. My teacher both, (Ark Wong, and Ed Parker Sr.) were perpetual students, and so am I.