Is Kenpo training realistic?

(recently posted on Facebook by Mr. Sascha Williams)

Was Mr. Parker correct?

Regarding Family Grouping, What-If, and Formulation Phase Training, do these methods of training really develop instinctive and effective reactions?

And what explains the fact that some black belts are very good at reacting with Kenpo in street situations, while others seem unprepared?

Looking at the Kenpo community as a whole, we can identify several main schools of thought on the subject, which we can divide into three main groups:

1. Those who spend most of their time memorizing and performing Mr. Parker's pre-designed techniques (ideal phase emphasis)

2. Those who attempt to become more effective by focusing on free reaction drills.

3. Those who employ Mr. Parker's formula of internalizing his system. (Family grouping, What-If, Formulation phase)

But are they all effective? 

Each of these methods offer some qualities. For example,  group #1 preserves Mr. Parker's material by mimicking the techniques of each belt level with all the various applications of basics that they introduce. The proponents of this method argue that this prevents watering down of the system or the substituting of Ed Parker basics with those of other systems of martial arts.

This group is large and follows a simple recipe: memorize the technique sequences and perform them the same way over and over until they become automatic (ideal phase repetition).

However, opponents of this method argue that it lacks the development of preparing for surprise attacks and counters from the opponent and is therefore ineffective. 

In contrast, group #2 focuses on fighting rather than memorization of patterns, structures, or pre designed techniques. 

Their main argument is often that their method is unencumbered by the need of memorizing long techniques which are then too complex to react with.

But opponents of this method argue that it doesn't actually develop new, previously unknown basics, but instead reinforces only those reactions we already possessed.

This group is much smaller and more exclusive, often plagued with unpredictable problems such as injuries and failure to develop confidence in Mr. Parker's original techniques due to being overwhelmed by the sheer number of possible attacks and counters. 

What discourages students to just react like this, against an unlimited amount of possible attacks, is that it doesn't actually provide an opportunity to carefully select the best Kenpo counter for each attack, simply because there is not enough time. Additionally, this type of training hinders reviewing or measuring your progress, two vital components of controlled learning and advancing.

Group #3 follows Mr Parker's teachings of using family grouping, what-if practice, and formulation phase training in order to address the development of perceptual speed, mental speed and physical speed separately. 

Their emphasis is not on “react with what you already have internalized”, but rather to learn to react with basics that are not yet part of their subconscious reactions, until they become instinctive and therefore immediate.

This group argues that merely memorizing techniques cannot accomplish that. Neither does sparring type free reaction training.

This group also asserts that Mr. Parker was correct and his training methods produce the desired results of reacting with Kenpo techniques on a subconscious level, cultivating immediate reactions which continually intercept or prevent any of the opponent's counters.

This group also has few members, but for different reasons than group #2, the primary one being simple misunderstanding of the process. Many get these training methods mixed up with the previous mentioned approach of free reaction response.

As a result, without realizing it,  they often introduce confusion and complexity into Mr. Parker's drills as described above with group #2.

Some opponents of these family grouping, what-if, and formulation phase training methods argue that this is only theory and cannot replace actual fighting in order to develop realistic reactions.

So who is right?

Rather than providing my own answer, I encourage the reader to draw his or her own conclusion regarding the effectiveness of the drills presented in this short video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OH8Z0JYT1xo

I believe I am making a clear case regarding not only the effectiveness of this type of training as well as the need for it, but also the ease in which it can be duplicated and taught in class.

We cannot practice individual techniques “in a vacuum”, without also practicing how to switch between techniques in an instant.

A street fighter becomes effective to the degree that they can hide and mask their actual, final commitment. He or she probably won't attack in the same, obvious and familiar manner that is initially introduced to us in class (e.g.: the use of step through foot maneuvers with each attack)

In other words, he or she might not be obvious.

Yet almost all the attacks for the individual Ed Parker's Kenpo Self Defense techniques start in the distance, requiring our training partner to either use a step-through maneuver or a shuffle to reach us. And of course, that will then telegraph the attack. 

That allows the student to succeed and gain confidence.

But that doesn't mean the techniques are against unrealistic attacks. What it does mean is that (at first) we start with the easiest attacks to identify. 

This was designed with the beginner in mind. 

We should realize that Mr. Parker understood the importance of a gradient approach when teaching students.

So before we can teach a student how to react to a more realistic attack, enhanced with fakes, faints, deceptions of depth and timing (as we are accustomed to in point fighting) and executed from shorter distances, we first teach the student to respond to the more obvious (easy to identify) attacks. And most often, that means using step throughs.

Family grouping (introduced at blue belt by Mr Parker) goes beyond that and provides the next step in developing fast and accurate reactions.

Just as I demonstrate in the video, we now gradually increase realism by adding fakes and faints, and/or deceptions of depth and timing and/or attacks from shorter distances, and we GRADUALLY increase the number of attacks we switch to, first just alternating between two attacks, then between three, and so on.

As is easy to see in the video, this creates a controlled process of internalizing specific reactions that is easy to implement and creates the desired results.

Twirling Hammers, complete Breakdown

More practical than ever

(a Facebook post from Mr. Williams back in 2019) 

It bothers me to no end when I see Kenpo black belts who think Ed Parker's Kenpo is "no longer practical". In fact, the opposite is true. Kenpo techniques teach us how to find the best strike in each situation. Ed Parker's Kenpo is all about knowing which strike has the greatest Probability of Success.

That means knowing which strike is virtually impossible for your opponent to block or evade. It also means using your opponent's reactions against him. Every Ed Parker technique follows that concept. Yes, we learn how to strike from Point of Origin, and yes, every strike is designed to keep the opponent in check, and prevent retaliation, but that is always modified with the concept of Path of Least Resistance. When you look carefully, you can see that Kenpo is the ultimate in Interception. We don't use our "favorite" strike, we use the one that carries the lowest risk of failure. The one he often can't even see coming. The one that he is inadvertently helping us with. 

In today's world of Immediate comparison, cage fighting, and International exposure, Ed Parker's Kenpo is more relevant than ever. 

The biggest misconception exhibited by critics of Mr. Parker's kenpo

(posted on Facebook by Mr. Williams back in October 2021)

When it comes to learning Kenpo, there exists a very specific phenomenon that most people are completely unaware of.

And it pertains directly to the practicality of the Ed Parker Kenpo system.

Take a technique like Five Swords.

(Or any technique with at least 5 or 6 moves in a row).

When students execute an entire technique, they make the mistake of basing the entire sequence on a single stimulus. In this case a right punch.

But that only works for the first 2 or 3 moves (block, chop, eyestrike or palm).

What we need to accept, is the idea of then making additional mental decisions, based on the attacker's reaction, as they occur.

Maybe he'll bend backward, or maybe not, right?

So if we just keep doing the ideal phase pattern (meaning the remainder of 5 Swords), without having gone through the mental movie of noticing our opponent bending backward, then why do it? 

The stimulus is absent, right?

So, when a student does all of 5 Swords, they don't realize that there's no new (yet required) stimulus to guide us.

So the main reason for the uppercut and the remaining parts of Five Swords then becomes "because that's what's next", which really means: "I'm doing the next several moves because Mr. Parker says so."

That's what What-if training and Formulation training remedies.

And most people mess that up completely.

Here's how we can get this in our head the fastest:

Create one What-if problem for that moment in the technique.

In other words, imagine that everything went as planned right up to the eye strike. Now, let's pick a What-if variable. Imagine that instead of staying in place and bending backward, our opponent steps back with his right leg (away from us), and doesn't bend backward much at all.

(That's a very likely thing to happen.)

Now, we create a response for that. Let's stick to Orange belt, and let's do a left snap kick to his groin, and then a palm to his jaw. (Thrusting Salute)

So we have now created our first What-If solution, right?

But we're not done. 

The goal is to be able to pick the correct one of these two options (original 5 Swords pattern versus our What-if variable), depending on which reaction the opponent presented us with, correct?

Mental speed means rapid, mental SELECTION. That's the part that people miss. After all, what exactly are we trying to do (quickly) mentally?

The answer to that is "choose the right response", right?

But we can't choose between only one thing. We need at least 2 things to choose between.

In our example, we are choosing between the original (the rest of 5 Swords), or our WHAT-IF answer.

And there are two training steps required to make that possible:

1. We create our What-If technique (switching to Thrusting Salute).

That is the What-If phase.

When we first practice this new version, we are, in essence, practicing a different ideal phase technique.

What I mean by that is that we are still not practicing spontaneity. We are merely practicing a different (still predesigned) pattern.

When we practice this new version, we are still guilty of pre-planning. In other words, we know, before we even start, how we are planning on finishing, right?

So, although we are now designing a "B version" to 5 Swords, we aren't yet forced to make the choice mid technique. It is still pre-planned. It's just that it's a different plan now.

And that's why we need:

2. The Formulation phase. 

And all that means is that now, for the first time, we will have our partner react with either of those two choices. And we won't know which one, until we get to the eye strike. 

So this is the first time that we are actually forced to keep monitoring our opponent, and then match our What-If choices to his two different reactions.

So now, for the first time, we start WITHOUT knowing how we will finish!

That's a very different feel.

But it's obviously more realistic.

And we only had two choices so far. Little by little we will have to add a third, a forth, and so on.

But it is very easy to get overwhelmed with too many choices. The trick in mastering this is to start with only two of them. Once that becomes effortless and automatic, we can then add a third one. 

And when we do that, we make mistakes again, accidentally picking the wrong one. That's normal.

So we stay with just those three choices for a while.

If this was class, the process described so far could easily take 2, 3, or 4 classes before everyone can do this.

And  now, we just duplicate that exact same process with the next What-if reaction.

But there is one more vital consideration:

What confuses this entire issue even further is the fact that, as human beings, we need to develop three different processes, all of which come together as one.

We need to:

1. See the attack coming

2. Decide how to respond to it

3. Execute it with our body

In Kenpo, we call those:

Perceptual Speed

Mental Speed

Physical Speed

And if even only one of those is too slow, everything is too slow.

Here's a good way to look at those three speeds:

The faster our perceptual speed, the SOONER we start our move.

The better our mental speed, the better we MATCH our best move to counter the attack.

The faster our physical speed  the sooner we FINISH our move.

Lastly, it's very important to understand how to develop the three speeds, as they each require very different conditioning (training):

Perceptual Speed is the result of familiarity. Nothing else.

If you spar a lot, you learn to react to a Roundhouse kick sooner and sooner as you gain experience.

A white belt reacts to the completion of the kick. But the black belt, instead, reacts to the initiation of it (recognizing what it is much earlier)

The greater the variety of attacks we continuously look at, the better we get with this.

A good point fighter will rarely be surprised by a blitz.

A good grappler will rarely be surprised by an attempted leg attack.

An experienced cop is rarely surprised by someone reaching for a weapon.

Their advantage, in each case, comes from being familiar with the stimuli.

Their response is not necessarily faster, but rather EARLIER.

Most Kenpo black belts are relatively good with this, as they often partner up with each other and attack each other with a variety of different attacks.

(However, there is great room for improvement here, as some of the common attacks we do on each other sometimes might lack the realistic aggression of a street fight.)

Physical speed is practiced in Kenpo from day one. It is a result of all the coordination we develop as we learn to use the most efficient path of a strike in the most economical fashion.

This skill is then amplified by practicing sequences, forcing us to switch from one (fast) basic move to another, and another.

This is the positive side of practicing the ideal phase.

The vast majority of Kenpo black belts are very good at this. It is arguably the most practiced of the three speeds.

But mental speed is the process of MATCHING a stimulus to a response.

Kenpo people usually do great with that against the first attack, but much worse with changes DURING an attack. A problem which is exacerbated by excessive memorization.

(This is the negative aspect of too much time spent practicing of the ideal phase)

Most of us realize that mental speed is by far the most difficult one of the three to develop.

How fast we are physically becomes irrelevant if we choose the wrong response (due to underdeveloped mental speed), or if we react too late (due to underdeveloped Perceptual Speed).

So optimal speed then is the result of harmonizing all three of them, and understanding that they occur in a sequence.

Perceptual Speed comes first, which then triggers mental speed, which then triggers physical speed.

Switching that order doesn't work.

Although in Kenpo, many try.

But it doesn't matter how many times we "fly" through a technique sequence. It will do nothing for our mental speed. Quite the opposite.

It's the equivalent of fighting blindly. If we don't first perceive the change our opponent introduces (his reaction), followed by quickly selecting the best response, we are in essence merely hoping to get lucky with our strikes, because we never consulted our perception to warn us, and we never consulted our mind to provide us with the best solution or counter.

And so, as a result, we get videos and posts which pose the question "Do Kenpo techniques really work?"

And my answer to that would be that in the absence of engaging in what is described above, they do not. And for those who are stuck practicing only the ideal phase, they never will.

Kenpo black belts, how do you get your fighting experience?

(from Mr. Sascha Williams' Facebook page, October 2021) 

Are you training to handle a realistic fight, or maybe not?

It always puzzled me, at the IKCs during the 80s, when, after there was between 50 to almost 80 of us in the black belt Forms competition, less than ten of us would then start lining up for Sparring. That realization is part of what prompted me to write this post.

Having supported all the European IKKA events during that same decade, made me notice a stark contrast between attitudes in the U.S., versus Europe.

I didn't have to look hard, it was glaring me in the face:

Fact is that at the European IKCs I never observed the same level of "shelteredness" that I had come to accept as normal in California, particularly at the IKCs (Mr. Parker's Long Beach International Karate Championship, 1964-1999).

I say that because at the European IKCs, during the 90s (which was the era I was witness to) virtually every participating country had their black belts fight.

The Irish not going all in during sparring competition was completely unthinkable.

(Maybe the partial hangovers of the previous night's jovial festivities of reuniting with old friends played a role in numbing any potential reservations, who knows.)

The British, same thing. I remember watching Eddy Downey, transform from gentle to animal, the moment the match started. 

Same with Willie Kelly. I sometimes inadvertently leave him out, when giving credit to European IKKA. He WAS active as an important pioneer, as were several other school and/or club owners/instructors. 

(Please excuse me if an Irish black belt running a Kenpo studio in the Netherlands at an international IKKA event in Jersey confused me just a little as to how to categorize him.) But fact is, we were all excited about how far he helped to take the "Kenpo" fighting team in the very final matches of the event.

(Long story, for another post. Maybe he would like to tell that story himself.)

The Greeks, who during the 90s, and all the way till 2005 were under my direct tutelage and instruction thanks to John Nikolaou, were a formidable force in the point fighting ring every year.

The Dutch, same thing. And please remember, I'm not just talking about their brown belts, I'm talking about their top black belts, typically the ones directly under Hans, out there fighting, without hesitation, in front of their students. The Spaniards. Same thing. Same contagious spirit.

Ironically, the German group was smaller, although Rainer Schulte played a huge role in early European growth of Kenpo. But although his lineage is solid, some of his influence followed "meandering" paths, working side by side with Roy Macdonald (Jersey) and simply supporting the (very) few other countries who came on board back then, when Mr. Parker was still alive in the 80s.

The European Kenpo black belts overcame their reservations (if they even had any in the first place) to fight in front of each other, and in front of their students, providing the needed great examples of leadership.

And the proof is "in the pudding": Modeling an unbridled, non pretentious attitude in front of their students created a new generation of students who seem eager to follow in those footsteps.

Now, lest I am perceived as bashing my American peers, particularly my seniors, let me point the light at q few of them:

Particularly Ralph Castellanos, Tom Kelly, Bob White, and Frank Trejo. 

Not the only ones. Brian Duffy was out there representing, so was Vinton Kocklich, and I'm probably forgetting some.

As a matter of fact, the influence of these "seniors" was one of the primary reasons I invited them to my schools in the 90s.

I never did have the opportunity to get Ralph Castellanos to my schools, although I interacted with him at the IKCs a few times. The fact that he trusted me to teach his grandnieces, and bring them up to black belt meant a lot to me. (Danielle and Brittany Castellanos, together with their mother, Ursula Castellanos are all black belts of mine).

His accomplishments in the ring are the stuff of legends now, and can be quickly observed in his fight against Joe Lewis, which I believe he won. (that video is easy to find on YouTube.)

There were others who impressed me with their "step out of your comfort zone" attitude, which, in my view, plays a huge part in this.

Skip Hancock, while I don't even know if he ever fought in a ring (I'll let him enlighten me on that, if he wants), impressed me when he and I conducted the very first European IKKA seminar tour after Mr. Parker passed in '91.

After we both taught several seminars at Chris Spinger's (Rainer Schulte black belt) school, Skip, without even asking me, lined up the entire group that attended into two lines. He took one half of the group, and gave me the second half. 

He then announced "O.K, now we spar." 

I'm glad I was in shape, as we then took on one person after the other, each for about close to a minute, and sparred ALL the German students in attendance.

I thought that was an incredible effective example of role modeling and my respect for Skip went up significantly as a result.

And I cannot leave out my first Kenpo instructor, the late Douglas Gavin McLeod (on the family tree, also a direct student of Ed Parker's). You can catch a glimpse of his old school in some of the Ed Parker seminar videos (red carpet) on YouTube by searching Ed Parker seminar Santa Cruz Liles).

While McLeod was not too focused on point fighting, he did require all of his black belt candidates (including me) to engage in full contact fighting. If we didn't rock each other's heads, it wasn't realistic, in his view (yes we wore gloves and headgear). And he was absolutely correct. It was his training philosophy that prepared me for the street before anyone else did. 

The toughest fighter I have ever faced in the ring was Raymund Daniels, not a Kenpo guy, and 18 years my junior.

The first time I had the privilege to face him in the ring was after I placed first in my age division (35 and over) at Bob White's Karate on the Beach back in '98.

With Frank Trejo as center judge, Raymond eliminated me in the first semi final round for Grand Champion, but not without "enjoying" several of my Kenpo groin kicks, and what turned out to be very effective positioned blocks that seemed to be a challenge for him.

I lost by one point. Anyone who knows this man, knows that that is something to be proud of. (The Jamaicans have a saying: "A new broom sweeps deep, but the old one knows the corners. I believe I confirmed the usefulness of that analogy on that day.)

Frank Trejo congratulated me after the match. That meant a lot to me.

While I had more street fights than point fights throughout my life (I had worked in security, many years ago), I feel that preparing for point fighting overall gave me the greatest edge. 

Mr. Parker had taught me about "depth deception" as a means to control a competition fight. In my view, nobody is better with that than are champion point fighters, it is extremely frustrating to attempt to get the upper hand against an opponent who is never where you just thought he was. And who never let's you choose the exact timing of commitment. 

Top notch point fighters are masters at controlling distance and timing. Additionally, repeated point fighting in tournaments calms down our tendency for desperation.

"Desperation hinders Inspiration" (Zen of Kenpo).

When it came to surviving in the street, the vast knowledge of Kenpo counters was invaluable to me, as was being used to take a hit. But ultimately it was point fighting that made a street fight much easier to handle, simply because it was point fighting that taught me (more than any other training) to make my opponent miss. To read my opponent's attempts at countering early enough to check them. To frustrate my opponent's by more accurately and calmly predicting anything they did. 

Additionally, point fighting provides a similar "one chance only" simulation. A full contact fighter, or boxer, isn't too concerned about taking a few shots. But a point fighter is, just as is a street fighter. Each individual exchange in a point fight carries greater consequence, just like a street fight. And the ego tends to be just as worried, regarding the first 1 to 5 seconds of engagement. 

I hope this all is helpful as well as cautionary. Black belts should know how to fight. We have an entire club of 10th degrees who may be guilty of having avoided that aspect of training (not all, of course) , and an experienced fighter can spot that from a mile away.

Kenpo Karate for young students by Mr. Sascha Williams (1994)

 

available for purchase on Amazon

The best art to fight grapplers and strikers alike

(from a recent post on Facebook by Mr. Sascha Williams)

As I saw yet another discussion online, where some Kenpo black belts stated that Ed Parker's Kenpo doesn't teach how to fight grapplers, I thought that I should speak up.

It seems that many people think that since we don't have techniques that start in a compromised grappling hold, that then means we don't train against those attacks.

But that is a false conclusion. 

Here's what a lot of black belts don't understand:

Kenpo trains us to cancel the INITIATION of a grappling attack, rather than the CONCLUSION of it. (This is often different in many grappling arts. Most wrestling matches start AFTER both opponents have already grabbed each other.)

But in Kenpo, we don't use that approach.

Saying that Kenpo doesn't defend against a mounted guard position (for example) is the illogical equivalent of saying that Kenpo doesn't defend against guns, because we don't have any techniques that start at the moment when the attacker already put a bullet in us.

When obviously, we reacted too late.

Saying that Kenpo doesn't cancel grappling attacks is just as ridiculous of an idea as saying that Kenpo doesn't defend against kicks and punches, AFTER THE FACT! ("How come Kenpo doesn't have a good technique that I can use AFTER my opponent broke my jaw with a right punch, and knocked me out with a left punch? I thought Kenpo is against strikes!")

So, imagining a fight where you failed to react in time, and instead allowed the opponent to CONCLUDE his attack, is not going to provide a practical solution. ALL fighting systems would fail at that point.

For Kenpo street fighting, we don't allow our opponent to get a grappling hold set up in the first place. THAT is the survival tactic.

Just like in a gun defense, you don't wait until your opponent aims at your head and pulls the trigger. You react to PREVENT the setup. You're not supposed to stand there and allow it!

Every move of every Ed Parker technique needs to be practiced against a possible strike of your opponent, but also against a possible grab, hold, lock, or takedown attempt by the opponent.

A grappler can't grapple effectively without using his arms and hands. And in virtually all attempted grappling attacks, the attacker needs to get BOTH of his hands on you first.

And THAT is where Ed Parker's Kenpo shines.

Let's keep in mind, that if you cannot stop a grappler from grabbing you, then how could you stop a puncher from punching you?

That's the question that never gets properly addressed.

If a grappler grabs both of your arms, and you did NOT prevent that, then how could you have prevented him from punching you?

The real issue is actually a psychological one. As strikers, we often DO make the mistake of allowing a grappler to grab us.

And we are guilty of doing that, BECAUSE a grab doesn't seem dangerous enough. ("That's not going to knock me out. That's not going to hurt me.")

But a strike does, so we are more alarmed about that.

But in Kenpo our job is to always recognize the potential danger in ANY of our opponent's attempts. We don't wait until it's too late before we try to counter.

Regardless if the attack is a kick, a punch, a tackle, a hold, a takedown, a knife, a gun, etc.
In Kenpo we prevent. (Rather than retaliate after the fact)

And that's done PRIOR to allowing us to be compromised. And each and every Ed Parker technique teaches us that.

So when you do 5 swords (for example) and you chop the (bent over) opponent to the back of his neck, we don't just think how nicely the next strike (palm to face, first move of extension) flows. Sure, that's great. One strike flows into the next one. But that's only a small portion of why we use this strike.

That palm to the jaw (and following eye hook) is to prevent the opponent from tackling you from his bent over position. That's important to understand.

And a wrestler would be likely to do just that. He sees your legs, he can't straighten his back, but he can EASILY turn this position into an advantage IF we don't expect it.

But many Instructors just aren't aware of this being a part of Ed Parker's Kenpo.

Yet we teach students to change the way they respond to strikes all the time. That's what we're all good at.. We teach our students to not turn away, or close their eyes, or not to just cover their face with their arms, even though that's often our original, natural human response.

But it's ineffective, so we help students to find a better (read: earlier) response. And we drill that a lot. But then, many Kenpo Instructors fail to change the student's original, natural reaction to getting grabbed. Boys in particular, play wrestle. As humans, we're natural grabbers when we fight.

But just like we're not good blockers before starting martial arts training (with many bad habits, like leaning backwards, turning our head away, retracting our arms, when we should extend, etc.)
We also aren't good "grappler checkers". We are usually conditioned wrong here as well (from childhood).

In wrestling, when our opponent grabs both of our upper arms or shoulders (the classic wrestling setup), we are conditioned to grab his arms back. That's what virtually all wrestlers do.

But that's a HUGE mistake, and it now prevents us from using our best tools, which are blocks, checks, and strikes.

It's the law enforcement equivalent of holstering your firearm when you see a suspect with a knife, and pulling out your own knife instead.

There is a reason why cops who face a knife wielding attacker are taught the phrase "The fool brought a knife to a gun fight."

Every Ed Parker Kenpo technique teaches us how to cancel a grappler. But not by waiting, and reacting too late. Many Kenpo practitioners simply do not realize that every position, in every Kenpo technique teaches us the best check(s), and the best strike for that specific situation.

The reason why Hooking Wings (for example) uses an upward elbow after the outward looping back knuckle (4th strike in the technique) is the same reason as ALL strikes in all Kenpo techniques: Greatest probability of success. And that means: He can't block it, because we selected a strike that circumvents any of his possible attempts to stop it. In other words, we use the elbow, because: 1. He can't get either of his arms in there in time to block it, and 2. He can't do anything about his chin being where it is, and being unprotected.

So Kenpo teaches us how to SELECT superior strikes by considering: 1. Which target can I hit that he cannot protect in time? And 2. Which strike can I use that he cannot block in time?
Every single Ed Parker technique answers those two questions.

So, in Hooking Wings, we chose the elbow because there's nothing he can do about his face being exposed, and nothing he can do to prevent us from striking it with our elbow.

THAT is what makes the upward elbow the superior choice in this particular position/situation.

But let's also realize that the elbow perfectly checks the opponent's attempt to "go with" the back knuckle, and try to reach down to grab our legs to knock us on our backs, usually using his shoulder, while grabbing the backs of our legs. If your opponent were to do that, wouldn't you use the elbow to take care of that? Or would you allow him to take you to the ground in order to grapple?

(And if you are, are you sure you're really doing Kenpo?)

I have been in many, many street encounters. I fought single opponents, and multiple opponents. I've been knocked to the ground a few times, but still won my fight. When I had the privilege of studying directly with Mr. Parker, I was simultaneously running my IKKA Kenpo school, and working in loss prevention security. I arrested hundreds of suspects, almost always completely by myself. I had no partner. I had a badge and a set of handcuffs. Nothing else (except Kenpo).

During my private lessons with Mr. Parker, I had discussions with him, regarding my security work. He was quite fascinated with this subject and asked me questions about it. I have also fought in many tournaments, and did very well.

I mention this to demonstrate that I am not talking from a viewpoint of mere theory or imagination or naiveté.

I believe that comprehending the tactical characteristics which I describe here is vital to learning spontaneity in Kenpo. If we don't understand the criteria which make a specific strike superior in a given situation, how could we possibly choose the best way to proceed?

If a student falsely believes that the best next strike is whichever is the most powerful (as an example), it might be easily cancelled by the opponent, and be rendered ineffective. THAT is the problem which Mr. Parker solved. The criteria is always: Highest Probability of Success. Nothing else trumps that. Nothing else is more important than that. And that is what makes Ed Parker's Kenpo the great martial art that it is.

I urge any Kenpo student to take this aspect very seriously. I do. And I do so, because Mr. Parker did so, and designed the techniques around this concept.

 P.S.: I am not writing this to criticize other hybrid Kenpo systems, but rather to help those who are committed to furthering their training in unaltered, Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate.

The Fight Before the Fight

(from a recent post on Facebook by Mr. Sascha Williams)

I created a new post on this subject for clarification, as this is an important aspect of street readiness.

The statement of this post is very accurate, although typically misunderstood. And it is based on concepts contained in Ed Parker's Kenpo.

But it's not magic, or chi, or anything supernatural at all.

The tactics, prior to actual contact with an opponent are, however, crucial in nullifying the opponent's tools. In virtually every street fight, there's a "fight before the fight", but only experienced fighters are good at this. Most others fight more or less blindly.

We can observe some of this in point fighting. As a matter of fact, it is one of the best reasons to engage in point fighting as preparation for real fighting. The best point fighters are masters at making their opponent miss. A bad one, in contrast, will run into strikes, while desperately focusing on his/her own attack.

A good point fighter will rarely agree with the opponent's timing of engagement. What I mean by that is that a good fighter will not let their opponent determine WHEN the two of them will meet in fighting range.

A good fighter knows how to never be at the receiving end of the attacker's best entry technique. If your opponent suddenly charges forward with his best attack, that is often (but not always) the WORST moment to counter. It's a much better strategy to thwart the opponent's efforts by changing position, or creating distance, or keeping the attacker in check.

In comparison, most less experienced fighters will attempt to "match" the opponent's timing and strike back at the exact same moment that he approaches.

For anyone who has seen Frank Trejo's famous scene at the IKCs, where he simply shuffles back to avoid a kicking attack, but then quickly shuffles forward with his punch, that video demonstrates my point perfectly.

Frank won that exchange long before he punched. He set a trap for his opponent by shuffling back. That caused the opponent to: 1. Abandon his present attack, and 2. Wrongly believe that he must first advance further forward before being able to strike again.

In other words, the attacker is walking into a simple trap. Frank "convinced" him that the moment that the two would meet would be later than first anticipated, and further back in the ring than the opponent thought.

But in reality, that was a deception. (Mr. Parker labeled this a "depth deception", as there are also width and height deceptions.) So the factor that made Frank's tactic superior to his opponent's tactic, was 100% PRIOR to touching his opponent.

I have been in many street fights, but also a lot of point fights. And while most other aspects of point fighting are not nearly as practical for actual street defense, this particular one nevertheless is.

In a street situation, the major difference being that a trap can be set differently, often achievable by controlling angles and positional checking, rather than only controlling distance and timing.

For example, if an inexperienced attacker gets "in your face",( close enough to see his cavities), and remains unprotected, with his chest puffed out, and if he does that while allowing us to get into a "hidden" fighting stance (stepping one foot back, bringing one hand high, so basically a fighting stance that doesn't actually look like a fighting stance, but yet provides us the protection and readiness of a fighting stance), well, then we are now in a much better position than him, and it let's us know that he is probably not aware of his vulnerability (if he's still standing too close, with his chest puffed out, and totally unprotected, since an experienced fighter is very unlikely to take that risk.)

So just by repositioning ourselves and observing our opponent's ability to identify the danger he is now in, we then get the information we need to more accurately estimate our chances of success.

No touching yet, but the jockeying for position made us a winner of the "fight before the fight", and increased our chances of victory dramatically.

Kicking from the Horse Stance

(Informative comments by Mr. Sascha Williams from a recent discussion on Facebook about whether or not there is any benefit to practicing kicks from a horse stance.)

If you practice Mr. Parker's Self Defense Techniques, you should practice certain kicks from a Horse stance.

While I had the opportunity to work on Kenpo's material with Mr. Parker directly, I believe that once I respond here, some of you will realize that what I'm about to say, you actually already knew, but you might have not thought about it.

I doubt I am the only one who realizes that the first technique in the Kenpo system which actually employs kicks from a Horse Stance is Scraping Hoof, which employs a Scooping Heel kick, as well as a knife edge kick from a Horse Stance.

Then, there's Destructive Fans, which executes a sweep kick from a Horse Stance, but one could argue that it's not specifically a "kick", as Mr. Parker didn't specify further, other than stating to "sweep the opponent's leg" from a Horse Stance position.

But then there's Reprimanding the Bears on 2nd brown, which employs a front thrusting ball kick from a Horse stance.

I realize, the question posted might have been more about "traditional" kicks (Roundhouse kick, Side kick, back kick, etc.), but that just demonstrates how Mr. Parker thought differently than most people.

Personally, although not contained in any technique from a Horse stance, I would recommend to also practice the Back Scoop kick (aka vertical hook kick) from a Horse stance, since that has practical application.

And then that would also expand to the Reverse Snap kick, in the event that the opponent isn't close enough for a Scoop kick, but yet at the perfect distance for a snapping version of that kick (i.e.: Reverse Snap kick.)

Regarding the advantage of a scooping kick, the general answer would be: In the right situation, it will be the fastest strike available, with the highest probability of success.

Just like a hook punch.

Essentially a hook kick (which is what a scoop kick is), just like a hook punch, or hooking heel palm, etc) takes advantage of the fact that there is an unprotected target available as we retract our arm or leg.

A hook strikes on the return (after passing the apex). So it benefits from Forward Momentum (in addition to Rotational force), but all of this moving towards 6:00 o'clock, so retreating (aka Advancing to the Rear).

Like the first strike in Striking Serpents Head.

Four different Forms Salutations

Short forms 4, 5, and 6

(from Sascha Williams' Facebook page, August 19, 2019)

To the question: Is there a Short Form 4? (Or Short Form 5, or Short Form 6?).

Here's what I remember:

Mr. Parker told me that we were supposed to create our own versions of these forms.

The argument was that those could be used for tournament competition, but could also be used to teach students prior to teaching them the Long Forms (Although I doubt anyone is actually doing that.)

We were supposed to use the right side of the first technique, the left side of the second technique, the right side of the third technique, etc.

Also, he told us to avoid turning our backs to the judges for the Circling Windmill part.

Mr. Parker also spoke about this at either the 1989, or the 1990 instructor camp (the ones he did in Ventura, at Barbara Hale's studio). I don't remember which one of the two camps he spoke about this, but it was one of them. I remember sitting there while he was discussing it with us.

Maybe Skip remembers more detail. He was there both times.

I just came across one of the Instructors' Journals (which came directly from Mr. Parker), and there's a mention in the 2nd black journal, so I took a picture to post it. Those are Mr. Parker's words. This was printed at Mr. Parker's house, long time ago.

Hooking Wings

Trouble in the Tracy Kenpo organization?

(from Sascha Williams' Facebook page, March 12th, 2019)

I find the similarities between what's going on with Al Tracy's organization and what happened with Mr Parker's organization (in the 90s, after Mr Parker passed) to be astounding, so I thought I should write this post.

I wanted to add an outside perspective to this debate, as I am not a Tracy black belt, but nevertheless had a good relationship with Al and Pat Tracy.

I have some insight into what happened immediately after Mr. Parker died. I arrived at the Parker house several days before the funeral, while the family was still waiting for the casket to arrive from Hawaii. Aside from myself, the only other Kenpo black belt that was also at the house during that week was Chris Crews from Montana.

Edmund Jr was there, so was Sheri, so was Darlene and her husband Galu (pronounced Nalu), and the phone rang often and the doorbell rang often, with lots of other people coming and going. Other black belts came and went, offering condolences and support, for the most part.

But what struck me the most was this: Before the public funeral services for Mr Parker, I accompanied Mrs. Parker and a few other family members to the private wake. (I forget if that was one day, or two days before the funeral)

But Mr Parker's body was not in the ground yet, and (and this is why I bring this up) already here are examples of conversations that Mrs. Parker was now having all week long (mostly on the phone), leading up to the actual funeral:

Understandably, many called to say “Mrs. Parker, how can I help?”

And some called and were concerned about the future, and asked “Will you (Parker family) continue the IKKA?”

(I'm paraphrasing of course, but this was the concern expressed)

But there were these kind of calls also:

“Mrs. Parker, did you know that Mr Parker was going to promote me to my next rank? Can you do that for me?”

There were a lot of those. (Ironic, since that means they would have accepted getting promoted by Mrs. Parker, but when she deferred those decisions to the actual IKKA leadership, some of those same people now stated that Mrs. Parker had no right to promote anyone and should not lead the IKKA.)

And then there were these kind of calls:

“Mrs Parker, I want you to know that I am the only one who learned the whole system from Mr Parker, so you will put me in charge, right?”

There were dozens of those.

And then there were these:

“Mrs. Parker, you are a female. You can't run a Kenpo organization, that's a man's job. You will fail. We will leave the IKKA, and create our own Kenpo Organization. “

(Yes, that happened before Mr. Parker's body was even in the ground, as well as after.)

(Note: Mrs. Parker wasn't nearly as “naive” as some have wanted everyone to think. She was actually very sharp. She knew the background of virtually every person who ever had a relationship with her husband, and she was able to “see through” any deceptions or false claims very easily.)

But all the other black belts, who did not see this as an “opportunity”, were actually very helpful.

No, there wasn't a secret meeting with Mrs. Parker and all the “top black belts” during that week. No, Mrs. Parker didn't have anyone chauffeured in Limousines.

The funeral arrangements were quite overwhelming. The first three days at the Parker house were about calling all of Mr Parker's students in different states and countries to make sure they knew about his passing and no one was missed.

And plans needed to be made for the funeral, we didn't know how many people would come, and the Church obviously had a capacity limit.

I am writing this, because there is a very good chance that Al Tracy's family has to deal with all of those same “attitudes” now, just like the Parker family did back then.

I made my decision back then to support Mrs. Parker.

(But I am NOT writing this to tell Tracy black belts what to do. My situation was unique, just as many other's is as well.)

But I asked myself what I now see people asking about their Grandmaster (Al Tracy): “What would Mr. Parker want?”

While I was no more qualified than anyone else to answer that question, I was nevertheless able to answer this one: “What would Mr. Parker NOT want?”

I found that particular question a lot easier to answer.

I did not think that Mr. Parker wanted the IKKA to go under.

Also, Mr. Parker had long made it clear that he was not choosing a successor, so we new his wishes regarding that.

I was sure Mr. Parker wouldn't have wanted to have his own family cut out of the IKKA leadership.

And I was very certain that he did not want the IKKA to be hijacked by one black belt, or small group of black belts, organizing a coup.

What made these questions more difficult though, was the fact that Edmund Jr parted with the remainder of his family.

That meant the rest of us had to “choose sides”...

This seems similar to what's been happening in the Tracy's organization. (And please forgive me if I'm not educated in current Tracy affairs. I'm kind of guessing here.)

To me, the choice was simple. The remaining family members, which means Mrs. Leilani Parker and her daughters, stayed united and were willing to continue the IKKA (even though at first they didn't even want to, until we all talked them into it.

Originally, Mrs. Parker thought she would only continue the “supply store”, while abdicating the IKKA Leadership). And they did not attempt to install “their choice” of a new leader. They wanted a democracy.

I supported that for several reasons. But the main ones were:

They had the best chances of success, since they legally owned the IKKA and already knew how to run it.

Mr. Parker (in my opinion) would have wanted me to support them.

They had the right motivation. They weren't trying to “take over” anything. All they wanted was to carry on Mr. Parker's work. And they wanted the black belts to work with each other.

Ultimately, the strategy worked (even though some disagree). The IKKA, under Mrs. Parker, experienced some of its largest expansion during the 90s. Not so much in the U. S.(where the numbers stayed more or less the same), but around the globe.

These were the years when many other countries came on board.

Germany only had one IKKA school when Mr. Parker died (Chris Springer, Duesseldorf). Now it has many. Same with many European countries.

While Ireland, and the U.K. already had good size groups, some of the new European countries were: Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Portugal, Belgium, and more. Countries like Greece, who already had Kenpo under John Nicolau, expanded Kenpo within their country to large numbers, as well as to various African states.

The European IKKA camps continued with large numbers, and still continue TO THIS DAY!

And most of Mr. Parker's black belts, from back then, still gather for annual camps, with people like Roy Macdonald, Mervin Ormand, Paul Dowling, Jackie Mcvicar, Gary Ellis, John Ward, Richard Mathews, Jimmy and Mary Poland, Hans Hesselman, John Nicolaus ‘ students like Panos Tsiberis, Panos Paniotis, Kristos K., Fotes, and more, Spain's JoseMaria, Jose Enrique, Bernie Drakes, Diane Wheeler, all still participating like it's still 1990. (I probably forgot some names. If I forgot to mention you, please speak up in the comments)

I had the opportunity to participate in Roy Macdonald's Kenpo camp in 2016, after not having been there for about 15 years (while I was an invited Instructor at virtually every European IKKA camp during the 90s, I pulled back, for various reasons, right around the time Mrs. Parker showed her first signs of Alzheimer's, after 2001)

I doubt all of this growth would have happened without a united IKKA leadership.

I have no way of knowing if any of what I write is helpful to the current situation in the Tracy's organization. And I have little, if any, advice.

But maybe what I write will help some by giving them a different perspective.

But here's a thought. I am not upset (anymore) at all the other Ed Parker black belts who split off the IKKA to start their own organizations.

It's too easy to say that they were all wrong.

If they did it to grab power, than yes, they were wrong in my opinion.

But what if they truly thought that they were preserving what Mr. Parker created?

How would I know which one of those “virtues” motivated them?

In closing, while I made myself some enemies by supporting Mrs. Parker, I have to say that I would do it all over again, without changing a thing.

So I wish the Tracy group(s) good luck. Politics are brutal. But at least everyone agrees that there is something worth protecting.

Kenpo Karate Stances, Stance Changes and Strikes Part #1

Kenpo Karate Stances, Stance Changes, and Strikes Part #2

Kenpo Karate Stances, Stance Changes and Strikes Part #3

Kenpo Karate Stances, Stance Changes and Strikes Part #4

Kenpo Karate Point of Origin part #1

Kenpo Karate Point of Origin Part #2 (of 3)

Kenpo Karate Point of Origin, Part #3 (of 3)