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Splashing Hands - Mr. Jim McNeil
- Thread starter Carol
- Start date
Kembudo-Kai Kempoka
Senior Master
OK. So, Sol was up for a couple seminars...one in Sac area, and the other in Campbell. He had to go shortly after (coulodn't stick around for the luau), so I pried him in the spaces between drills while he was watching partered participants. Told him you said hi; he was pleased to hear of you again...says he thinks it's been about 4 years. And something about Honolulu? Also found out a little more about how tightly knit these polynesian fighting arts guys are...when I brough up Tiny, he said they were in-laws; one of Lefiti's siblings married one of Olohe's siblings. Being from Palama, grew up around kaju and Chow kempo; around some kenpo cats related to us when they were young.
I was thinking of this thread, and asked him who Tiny's top guys were, and where they could be found today. He insisted the top guy he knew was a light skinned black man who writes a lot, and switched over to Hung Gar (he thinks) after Tiny passed. I found myself wondering if this is da guy who hangs out with you oah deah sumtime.
The seminar itself had a very old-kenpo feel to it, combined with some absolutely wicked Hawaiian weapons. My favorite was a big, seriously oversized wooden fork with a 3 foot length of rope attached to it. The techs were to club the hands of the other guy je ewas using to hold his weapon, entangle him in the flexible, control him to the ground with a pointy-end of the stick to the spine, then jam the huge -- and very sharp -- wooden tines into the eye sockets. Needless to say, I got a little bit of a martial arts creeper playing with that one. Just vicious.
Be good, and call me when you can, and I'm not on the mat.
D.
Doc
Senior Master
The first thing I learned from the Old Man is they are all related in some way. He used to say, "We're all cousins."
Yeah, that's my long time friend Carl Totton. Remember we all grew up as kids in the Chinese Community with teachers like Tiny Lefiti, Ark Wong, Share Lew, Ralph Shun, John Leoning, Ed Parker, etc. We never looked at the historical significance of it all. Anyway Parker affectionately called him "Trottin Totten." He and I were just talking last week so I could answer a previous question on this thread about forms and such. He's just another one of those guys that few actually have heard of who has a rich background and quietly does his thing. Dr. Totten is alive and well teaching in Burbank, and has been at the same location for several decades. Parker and I would visit him often, and if you poke around you'll find him quietly listed as a 6th in Ed Parker's records, with the diploma prominently displayed in the school with my signature on the witness line.
You don't answer, but then neither do I lately. Catch you before I go to Europe at the end of the month. We'll be launching the SL4-Europe site soon. Take a peek here at what my student Kevin Mills is doing and tell me what you think. http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j90/Maggdus/?action=view¤t=KevinMillsSeminar.flv
So all of Lefiti's students didn't all die or stop training.
It would be great to get Mr. Totton's input on this topic. As he was Lefiti's top student, he probably could confirm or deny if Lefiti called it Splashing Hands. He could also compare what he learned with what McNeil is teaching now.
It would be great to get Mr. Totton's input on this topic. As he was Lefiti's top student, he probably could confirm or deny if Lefiti called it Splashing Hands. He could also compare what he learned with what McNeil is teaching now.
Doc
Senior Master
No, I just talked to Carl the other day and he reminded me of some things. I just have to take the time to write then down. Simple answer, yes and no. And for the record Sifu Lefiti called it many things. "Splashing Hands" was just one of the terms he used, as he moved between Five Animal, Hung Gar, and his personal arts that split into two versions of Lima Lama, EPAK, etc. Not so simple, and not unlike Ed Parker who also had different versions and names for his arts. The confusion still exist there as well because in Parker's mind there was a clear division between early Kenpo-Karate, Chinese Kenpo, American Kenpo, and Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate while students see it as all the same in an evolution when its not. No different than Sifu Lefiti who was Ed Parkers' Senior under Ark Wong.
Thanks Doc.
Yes I am looking forward to reading what you post when you find the time to write it down. I'd especially be interested to know if Mr. Totton recalls anything being said about the art coming from Taiwan (and being of Shaolin guard origin).
What you write about different arts vs. the same art in evolution ... very interesting. Do you think the same situation occurred with Jeet June Do and Aikido as Bruce Lee and Morihei Ueshiba also had their art go through many many changes over their lifetimes. When you compare Aikido in the 1930s to what is done now, it is like 2 different martial arts.
Yes I am looking forward to reading what you post when you find the time to write it down. I'd especially be interested to know if Mr. Totton recalls anything being said about the art coming from Taiwan (and being of Shaolin guard origin).
What you write about different arts vs. the same art in evolution ... very interesting. Do you think the same situation occurred with Jeet June Do and Aikido as Bruce Lee and Morihei Ueshiba also had their art go through many many changes over their lifetimes. When you compare Aikido in the 1930s to what is done now, it is like 2 different martial arts.
Doc
Senior Master
Yes very true. In terms of JKD, Bruce never had an art. WHat he had was a conceptual idea of how you should go about training, and the things that should be considered in the process. There were no "style" parameters or set curriculum. When he died, students created various JKD Conceptual Arts based on their own perspective way of doing things, but JKD as an art unto itself never existed.
