Why is Kenpo so popular? anyone have any insights or toughts on this?

marketing.

It's not as popular as I'd like to see,or at least in my neck of the woods.

Something in the water.

Mr. Cerio, Mr. Villari, Ms. Cogliandro, Carol Kaur (just kidding)...all from North of Boston. :D

It's a thinking person's martial art.

Why is Kenpo so popular? anyone have any insights or toughts on this?

It's not as popular as it should be given that it is probably one of the few arts that is street and bar effective.

The problem I see with it's lack of popularity is that it is not an art in which the student progresses quickly we have standards and these must be maintained.

So for many people who want to achieve a goal quickly Kenpo is not for them let's get a dan grade in two years doing something else .....

I don't think it is as popular as it once was in the and 80s and 90s? A lot of folk go down the MMA route these days, as that's currently viewed by many as the thing to do if you want to be an effective fighter.

It also depends on where you are. On both Coasts kenpo is very popular. Here in the mid-west you might have trouble finding a school, depending on what you are looking for, i.e. Tracy's Vs. EPAK.


Brian Jones

Depends on where you are, Kenpo around here is not so hot...

Perhaps it doesn't ask you to forsake your own culture for a more "superior" one, it is taught in the language you speak, and it is a very non-mystic art based on logic.
Sean

i love it.. seems to be pretty popular out here on the east coast.. :)

It's the black gis.

it is taught in the language you speak,


Hold it right there, I speak English, and when Kenpo people start talking about techniques they most definately are not speaking a language I understand :p

Hold it right there, I speak English, and when Kenpo people start talking about techniques they most definately are not speaking a language I understand :p

Haha, too funny, perhaps that is part of the reason a lot of kenpo seems overly complex, at least the SD stuff does, to me, that is. I can break it down a bit, but some of that stuff is just generally over my head i suppose... =p

Hold it right there, I speak English, and when Kenpo people start talking about techniques they most definately are not speaking a language I understand :p

The language makes a lot more sense after taking a couple really hard hits ;)

The language makes a lot more sense after taking a couple really hard hits ;)


You got it there, Carol! To feel is the believe

Popular? It only seems to be popular in New England and Cali. Everywhere else it is TKD by a landslide.

Not popular here in Houston. Mostly TKD here.

It is a double edge sword, sadly. On the one hand, it has spread quite well, and a lot of the early pioneers have done their best to spread the art to different areas. On the other hand, there has been a lot of Mc Dojo's running around teaching crap lately and claiming boisterous stuff like being first generation Parker BB or much worse being awarded 10th degrees by Mr. Parker himself. Also, Kenpo is usually mentioned in just about any martial arts magazine in just about every issue.

It is a double edge sword, sadly. On the one hand, it has spread quite well, and a lot of the early pioneers have done their best to spread the art to different areas. On the other hand, there has been a lot of Mc Dojo's running around teaching crap lately and claiming boisterous stuff like being first generation Parker BB or much worse being awarded 10th degrees by Mr. Parker himself. Also, Kenpo is usually mentioned in just about any martial arts magazine in just about every issue.

Boy ain't that the truth! I love Kenpo, but there are a lot of very bad schools out there teaching garbage. It's sad. We are being laughed at by students of other arts, especially those of us that do American Kenpo. We are getting a bad rep because of those that have bastardized and watered down the art. Everyone is so quick to want to change the core material.

Everyone is so quick to want to change the core material. [/quote]

Its been 10 years since i studied Kenpo, i went all the way to green belt. These days i look back at what i was told, i dont laugh at it, i just dont get it, i mean, its supposed to be all bad ass. but i just dont understand why i would want to grab this way or that way, or let fly with a 'backknuckle' when i could more readily sink in a reverse punch/cross and go through bone...*shrugs*

Please expand on your comment so I can understand. Is there a specific technique you are making reference to? What type of Kenpo?

Please expand on your comment so I can understand. Is there a specific technique you are making reference to? What type of Kenpo?

No, no, specific SD im pointing out, just a generalzation. Im saying i dont get why i would sequence in certain ways 15 moves in advance, its just beyond me, thats what im saying, i dont understand why its set up the way it is. It seems as if there were an aweful lot of awkward grabs and an aweful lot of back knuckle strikes is all, thats why i point them as an instance. I Studied Wilde Kenpo under Jeanette Wilde and Mike Anderson in the mid 90's.

No, no, specific SD im pointing out, just a generalzation. Im saying i dont get why i would sequence in certain ways 15 moves in advance, its just beyond me, thats what im saying, i dont understand why its set up the way it is. It seems as if there were an aweful lot of awkward grabs and an aweful lot of back knuckle strikes is all, thats why i point them as an instance. I Studied Wilde Kenpo under Jeanette Wilde and Mike Anderson in the mid 90's.

let me follow up by saying i mean no slight on kenpo and there are things that can be gleaned from it but i just dont understand their particular sequencing is what im getting at... =) thats why i say its over my head, i must not understand whats going on completely, all i see are the moves and in a lot of the SD's they dont always make sense to me...

Never thought you were slighting Kenpo at all. Not even for a moment. Different subsets of Kenpo do different things. This is my second time around in Kenpo. This time I am starting to get it. Starting to see where the techniques are related and certain concepts and principles.

Perhaps not a lot past the sequencing was shown to me at the time, i may be void on a lot of why this and why that. May have been the student teacher relationship...I later studied under others from other systems and 'got' a lot more from a lot less material in sheer volume...