NEW!! AKKI video-clips

[Kenpo Yahoo]

For anyone interested, the AKKI has placed several video clips on the AKKI Vegas Camp webpage (link below). The intent of these clips is merely to show some of the things that were TAUGHT during the last camp to give you an idea of what to expect at this one. Some of them are of instructors teaching in their seminars others are of people participating in the test. Take them for what they are and enjoy them. If you like them cool, if you don't like them cool, but here they are.

AKKI Video Clips: Vegas

I haven't been able to save them to my new computer, I don't know if it is because I have a newer version of WMP or if they were authored so you can't save them. Anyone have any suggestions

 

[TheEdge883]

Just open up your browser cache and you can save them from there. Or you could just save the link directly at

http://akki.com/vegas/march2004/videos/

Right click on a file you want to save and just hit save.

Hope you have a high speed connection. Took me several hours to do it.

 

[Les]

Originally posted by TheEdge883
Hope you have a high speed connection.

That's a sore point with me at the moment.

I just moved house, (I move two streets over), and the telephone company, BRITISH TELECOM, can't give me a broadband connection because I live too far from the exchange and their lines aren't up to it. They are a national company with a monopoly on phone lines (except cable, which isn't in my area).

In a straight line, I've moved about 600 feet from the old house, where I had a high speed connection with no problem.

This is what I get for living in the United Kingdom, a third world country in disguise. :soapbox:

 

[Kenpo Yahoo]

Sorry about that Les. I have the same problem. People who live two blocks away from me can get DSL, but I'm stuck with dial-up. Anyway, I figured out why I couldn't save the clips. The newest version of Media Player won't let you save streaming video (kinda stupid if you ask me). I found an older version and I was able to save all the clips.

Check out the clip by Josh Lannon and the one by John Connolly.

The one by Mr. Lannon is one of the New Brown Belt Combo techniques.

Mr. Connolly is teaching the Colored belts how to put timing into Five Swords. It is merely a demonstration that is why he is hitting with open hands. Hope you guys enjoy.

 

[satans.barber]

Originally posted by Les
That's a sore point with me at the moment.

I just moved house, (I move two streets over), and the telephone company, BRITISH TELECOM, can't give me a broadband connection because I live too far from the exchange and their lines aren't up to it. They are a national company with a monopoly on phone lines (except cable, which isn't in my area).

In a straight line, I've moved about 600 feet from the old house, where I had a high speed connection with no problem.

This is what I get for living in the United Kingdom, a third world country in disguise. :soapbox:

The problem's more down to the speed of light that the state of the government Les

Ian.

 

[satans.barber]

Originally posted by TheEdge883
Just open up your browser cache and you can save them from there. Or you could just save the link directly at

http://akki.com/vegas/march2004/videos/

Right click on a file you want to save and just hit save.

Hope you have a high speed connection. Took me several hours to do it.

For getting whole directories of things, wget saves time and effort:

http://www.gnu.org/software/wget/wget.html

so in this case,

wget -r http://akki.com/vegas/march2004/videos/

Shows its worth more when there are hundreds of files, but, it's still a handy tool to have

Ian.

 

[Les]

Ian,

How are you doing?

Les

 

[satans.barber]

Originally posted by Les
Ian,

How are you doing?

Les

So so

I had a bit of a crappy week this week, I finally after all this time managed to get myself a job, but after a lot of consideration and a few sleepless nights I decided to turn the offer down because they days were going to be too long. It was going to be bed at 10.30, get up at 6.30am and get home at 7.30pm all week, giving me 3 hours a day to myself. By the time I'd made some tea and had a bath, and done any housework I had to do, I was looking at about an hour a day to myself, so no time to do any training or reading or anything. For 12k a year I decided I wasn't going to put up with it.

However, If I now spend another 10 months out of work I'll probably wish I'd taken it and be really cross with myself

I just watched those videos, cool stuff as usual! Some of the hand work people were practicing looked quite Wing Chun like to my eyes...

Ian.

 

[Kenpo Yahoo]

What? No questions, concerns or comments. WOW!!! This is a first.

 

[Les]

Originally posted by satans.barber
I just watched those videos, cool stuff as usual! Some of the hand work people were practicing looked quite Wing Chun like to my eyes...

Ian.

They all copy Kenpo, but they just won't admit it. :rofl:


Seriously, one of my students comes from a Wing Chun background, and he has said that there are some similarities.

But then again, to paraphrase Mr Parker, there are only so many basics, everything else is just a variation

Les

 

[Franc0]

Was wondering if who or where Mr. Mills attributes where these trapping drills come from. The drills in the clips look almost identical to a Wing Chun Pak Sao drill.

 

[Michael Billings]

You know, we pick stuff up off the street if we find it there. Pak Sao drills in Wing Chun (Ving Tsun), Hubad drills from FMA and JKD, or Chi Sao (Sticky Hand) from Tai Chi Chuan Fa. Zack Whitson's Kenpo Counterpoint drills are a nice variation also.

We have been doing a variation of some type of flow drills, as parry drills or elbow passing drills, since the mid 1980's. Mr. Mills is known for his timing drills, and rhythmic timing patterns for over a decade, and although I have never seen them, that is what they look like to me. Someone from the AKKI help me out here.

There is nothing new under the sun ... that does not mean we have all seen it all.

Great clips & thanks for sharing. Love Mr. Mills on stage, not just fast hands, but "heavy" hands too.

Oss,
-Michael

 

[Fastmover]

Originally posted by masterfinger
Was wondering if who or where Mr. Mills attributes where these trapping drills come from. The drills in the clips look almost identical to a Wing Chun Pak Sao drill.

The trapping drills used by Mr. Mills; at least the way I was shown, evolved from
the basic AK B1aH. One problem that has come up in the past with B1a was the grab
to the wrist could be difficult against a resisting defender especially if there was
sweat on the arms. At this point the left hand pinning check becomes more important.
Personally I have discovered the basic trapping drill to be much faster then the basic
B1aH in closing the gap on the opponent. We do incorporate the elements of B1aH
after the initial blitz of the trapping technique. Which in a way is exactly like Deflecting
Hammer only using a back knuckle.

Another problem that comes up is what if our opponent is quick enough to block our
Initial BK? In this case we have what I like to think as “blitz” drills to get around
the opponents block. What I think is so good about these drills is it can be applied
universally throughout the technique system of Kenpo. For example what if our
opponent did block our first strike on Deflecting Hammers or the initial handsword
on Five Swords? Learning these drills instills in the student the ability to blitz the
opponents defenses. So in my mind we are developing the ability of the student
in dealing with a resisting opponent. They learn to do this on a daily bases and it
will become second nature.

I have discovered that these drills not only work open hand, but the knife and club as well.

One thing that has precipitated these techniques is the fact that sometimes it might be
Better to be on the offensive in a fight. Instead of always responding to our opponent
And playing catch up with his actions, maybe it is best at times to make them play
Catch up with us. As a result it is important to provide students with a vocabulary of
Motion from an offensive stand point and the ability to handle problems spontaneously
as they arise

Just my Thoughts

 

[MJS]

Originally posted by Kenpo Yahoo
For anyone interested, the AKKI has placed several video clips on the AKKI Vegas Camp webpage (link below). The intent of these clips is merely to show some of the things that were TAUGHT during the last camp to give you an idea of what to expect at this one. Some of them are of instructors teaching in their seminars others are of people participating in the test. Take them for what they are and enjoy them. If you like them cool, if you don't like them cool, but here they are.

AKKI Video Clips: Vegas

I haven't been able to save them to my new computer, I don't know if it is because I have a newer version of WMP or if they were authored so you can't save them. Anyone have any suggestions

Very cool!!! Thanks for posting them!!

Mike

 

[Kenpo Yahoo]

Just to add something to what fastmover said, take a look at Alternating maces. Now I know this technique is probably taught a half a dozen different ways so you will just have to see if you can figure it out on your own. Alternating maces is essentially a right inward block, a left inward motion of some sort ( punch, block, maybe a downward-outward parry etc.), followed by a rt backknuckle. Everyone, as far as I know, does some variation of this. Now make the initial block an offensive move (i.e. a backknuckle, outward chop, etc.) when the opponent blocks you check and clear with the left inward and then perform the outward backknuckle or chop. Essentially you are learning to trap with a variation of Alternating Maces, which is definitely a kenpo concept. I'm sure there are other arts that teach similiar drills, but how many different ways can you effectively overcome an obstruction like that? Anyway, I'm glad you guys liked them.

 

[M F]

If I recall correctly, Mr. Mills made a statement about doing these trapping drills as far back as the late 60's or early 70's. Not sure if he mentioned where he picked them up. I've read that Frank Trejo is very proficient with the "Sticky Hands."

 

[howardr]

Originally posted by Kenpo Yahoo
What? No questions, concerns or comments. WOW!!! This is a first.

Comments on the AKKI video clips

Caveats: (a) I've seen 42 AKKI video clips that probably amount to only 10-15 minutes worth of footage (but I have read most of the material on the AKKI site and on associated sites), (b) video clips as such are a limited medium to express a three dimensional "must be felt" art, (c) I've never met Mr. Mills nor as far as I'm aware any of his students, and (d) I have only about 6 years experience in Kenpo (so, I'm a fairly new student compared to many that post here).

Comments/Questions/Suggestions:

1. The video clip quality is pretty good (could be a little better) but the clips should be longer (don't we all have broadband? ). Longer clips would help us to get the context of what is going on. Something further in this regard just occured to me: when demonstrating fast combination strikes it is imperative to have the highest quality (smoothest) video possible (even at the expense of large file sizes) because otherwise it's just a blur with slapping sounds. The quality of these videos is enough that one can get most of it, but it still could be a bit better so that the individual strikes can be more readily discerned.

2. I like the clip of Mr. Mills when he hits L-5 (11.mpg, I think). More like that please. This gets to an issue that I'm wondering about. When he shows the strike to L-5 and breaks it down, we are able to see the reaction that occurs. I think that's a realistic scenario, and demonstrates how one can set up a sequence of strikes given predictable opponent reactions. However, in several of the other clips (01.mpg, 06.mpg, 07.mpg, 17.mpg) none of that occurs as there is essentially (a few minor exceptions in 06.mpg) no opponent reaction.

Therefore, I'm left to conclude that the strikes themselves must not be causing involuntary reactions on the part of the dummies else they would be reacting. That's pretty obvious. As much as some of these shots might sting they don't strike me as "stoppers" or "controllers."

One might argue that they could increase the power to cause the dummy to react properly. It may be said that they are not doing that in order to illustrate certain points or as to not unnecessarily injure their partners. That may be all good and true, but...I truly wonder if such raw speed could be maintained while delivering the power, penetration, etc. required to do serious damage and control your oppponent. If you do step up the power/penetration don't you at least have to wait for the opponent to react (at least somewhat) rather than just going through a flurry of strikes? And, in striking deep enough to do the real damage, won't that by necessity mean that you cannot "hurry" through your strikes, they would have to be slowed down? I'm also concerned that such speed practice (as opposed to the somewhat slower, methodical but powerfully penetrating types of strikes) will be what will "come out" during a real live confrontration, and it may not do the job.

3. I liked the fact that in a few instances a more realistic sort of attack was presented. I'm referring specifically to some of the punching attacks that did not employ the classic step-through.

4. Just for the record: I'm not against speed, I'm just not for speed for its own sake to the detriment of power. Unfortunately, some of the clips seem to me to show just that. I'd love to see some AKKI clips that show the realistic mix of speed and power that affects the opponent bodily/mentally. That's (speed strikes with an unreacting dummy), I think, what lends credence to the (often) legitimate complaint that the dummies just stand there like unresisting, stone statutes, which is not very realistic. To me, if techniques are executed with proper speed and power, which lends to control and physical and mental immobilization then the result should be evident when witnessed (whether live or via video) or felt. If that is done properly then the opponent won't be an unmoving statute, but neither will he be able to resist and that should be also evident if witnessed or especially if experienced.

5. Please more videos!

Thanks.

 

[Kenpo Yahoo]

Thanks for the questions. I'll answer them the best that I can.

1) There are 6-7 clips about 15-30 minutes each that are only available to AKKI members. Maybe one day they might be released to those outside the association, but for now you will just have to make due with the short clips.

2) Unfortunately 30 second clips and forum posts make it hard to correctly convey what is being done. Kenpo is an art to be felt. When executed properly, the entire sequence of strikes may not be needed but we practice them just in case.

3) I think the step-through is taught at the beginning levels to give the student more time to react and a better chance to read the body lanuage and intent. However, each of the techniques can and are performed against non-stepthrough attacks. This should be an essential aspect of everyone's training.

4) Actually there is some footage of Mr. Mills laying in to people with both speed and power, but those are on the Members only video clips. There has to be some benefit to association membership

5) We'll let people know as new information is available.

 

[satans.barber]

All this talk about whether techniques work or not; you have to wonder if it's worth trying to find 5 kenpo seniors and 15 nutters who think they're something special, and say giving each kenpo senior 3 attacks to deal with, and letting them do their best on each of the nutters using whatever techniques and combinations come to hand. No dummying, no pulling punches, no standing still!

I wonder who'd be left standing, and if it would put an end to the arguments and speculations! If i was a betting man I'd be putting a few quid on Master Tatum et al. I think!

Ian.

 

[Old Fat Kenpoka]

All this talk about whether techniques work or not; you have to wonder if it's worth trying to find 5 kenpo seniors and 15 nutters who think they're something special, and say giving each kenpo senior 3 attacks to deal with, and letting them do their best on each of the nutters using whatever techniques and combinations come to hand. No dummying, no pulling punches, no standing still!

Somebody tried that about 10 years ago. I think they called it the Ultimate Fighting Championship or something like that. It was too brutal, so a lot of Kenpoists didn't like it. Then they changed the UFC rules to make it less brutal and now some Kenpoists think it is too unrealistic.