(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.
No comments:
Post a Comment