HE says as much, but then advocated moving rather than blocking if you have the choice, the skill and the room,
You did not miss something.That hostility was probably due more to your charming manner than because you were thought wrong, Jobo!
Anyway, most of those rules could equally apply to the Wing Chun I train. Except #8, the mobility thing. Old school Wing Chun is typically only mobile over very short distances. One of the things JKD changed. On the other hand Wing Chun really emphasizes "not blocking". So I agree with all you guys who say that this stuff is pretty generic.
Personally, the most objectionable part of this was the intro which read like a total sales pitch and didn't ring true anyway. I mean, check this out:
"For decades, kenpo has been renowned in the West as one of the most effective and efficient martial arts in existence, and for hundreds of years before that it enjoyed a similar reputation in Asia."
The Kenpo I know of doesn't go back "for hundreds of years" in Asia. I always thought it was a modern martial art with multiple roots created in the middle of the last century in Hawaii. Did I miss something?
That hostility was probably due more to your charming manner than because you were thought wrong, Jobo!
Anyway, most of those rules could equally apply to the Wing Chun I train. Except #8, the mobility thing. Old school Wing Chun is typically only mobile over very short distances. One of the things JKD changed. On the other hand Wing Chun really emphasizes "not blocking". So I agree with all you guys who say that this stuff is pretty generic.
Personally, the most objectionable part of this was the intro which read like a total sales pitch and didn't ring true anyway. I mean, check this out:
"For decades, kenpo has been renowned in the West as one of the most effective and efficient martial arts in existence, and for hundreds of years before that it enjoyed a similar reputation in Asia."
The Kenpo I know of doesn't go back "for hundreds of years" in Asia. I always thought it was a modern martial art with multiple roots created in the middle of the last century in Hawaii. Did I miss something?
These 10 "laws" of Kenpo are valid considerations for, but certainly did not originate with Parker's Kenpo. Most all can be found in the teachings of the traditional Okinawan masters. Motobu was not adverse to preemptive strikes, meeting circular attacks with linear counters and visa versa is a strategy expounded by various traditional sources, the absence of high kicks is typical many Okinawan styles, and the concept of "no block" I think has bee an misinterpreted by the author - "There are no conventional blocks in karate." is a well know maxim amongst advanced Okinawan practitioners, etc., etc. Possibly the only "law" that can be strongly tied to American Kenpo is the concept of a series of fast, reciprocal, economical motions to forstall and set-up the opponent. Other than that - nothing new to see here.
You nailed it. Black belt mag does not have the same quality as it did 10+ years ago. I have some old magazines and I can tell that the focused and purpose have shifted.
