Old Fat Kenpoka
Master Black Belt
There has been a lot of bashing of Larry Tatum and his students on the KenpoNet and a little on MartialTalk.
I would like to relate a very positive experience about the first time I saw Larry Tatum up close in 1981 or 1982 when I was a Brown Belt at the Long Beach Internationals...
There were probably about 3,000 competitors and maybe 20 rings...
The Self-Defense Technique Demonstration division was on the stage at the center of the arena. This was a pretty new division--or at least the rules were new...
It was a huge division and took a couple of hours to run. There were five Black Belt judges. All the competitors and our Ukes were lined up on the floor next to the stage. Larry Tatum was in the judges line at the far left. My teammates and I were on the floor next to Mr. Tatum. During and after each performance, Mr. Tatum educated the rest of the judges (and myself) on what was good technique and what wasn't. He commented on angles, checks, timing, speed, accuracy, and power. I learned a lot watching the other competitors and listening to Mr. Tatum.
I competed performing most of Short 3 and Mass Attack against four attackers full speed with Kiais. I did my best, scored fairly well, but did not win a trophy. But thanks to Mr. Tatum, I learned more from that competition than I did at any other.
I would like to relate a very positive experience about the first time I saw Larry Tatum up close in 1981 or 1982 when I was a Brown Belt at the Long Beach Internationals...
There were probably about 3,000 competitors and maybe 20 rings...
The Self-Defense Technique Demonstration division was on the stage at the center of the arena. This was a pretty new division--or at least the rules were new...
It was a huge division and took a couple of hours to run. There were five Black Belt judges. All the competitors and our Ukes were lined up on the floor next to the stage. Larry Tatum was in the judges line at the far left. My teammates and I were on the floor next to Mr. Tatum. During and after each performance, Mr. Tatum educated the rest of the judges (and myself) on what was good technique and what wasn't. He commented on angles, checks, timing, speed, accuracy, and power. I learned a lot watching the other competitors and listening to Mr. Tatum.
I competed performing most of Short 3 and Mass Attack against four attackers full speed with Kiais. I did my best, scored fairly well, but did not win a trophy. But thanks to Mr. Tatum, I learned more from that competition than I did at any other.
