Upon publication of my book, I started thinking about other arts that may have completely revamped the way they have been taught. Has your art revamped how it was taught? Do you know of an art that has done this? What did this look like?
Has your art ever revamped how it was taught?
- Thread starter Makalakumu
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celtic_crippler
Senior Master
Ever heard of Kempo/Kenpo? 
Are there styles that haven't gone through this?
Taekwondo has been revamped substantially since its inception. First major revamp was TKD specific forms and sparing. The second was the major paradigm shift that accompanied olympic inclusion.
Daniel
Daniel
Personally I think systems are always revamping from its creation to modern day. Systems like Wing Chun have had major revamps from the Hung Suen period to modern day, others like 7 Star Praying Mantis have had major changes from the Wong Long era through the Jing Wu period and to modern day. A lot has been added, and a lot of adaptations have taken place.
blindsage
Master of Arts
Baguazhang is generally attributed to being created by Dong Haichuan in the first half of the 1800s. There are now a couple dozen 'styles' of Bagua. But I think this is just more honest than most styles. The vast majority of instructors evolve their system in some way or another, some drastically, some less so. Some are just more up front about it than others.
suicide
Black Belt
what about revamping your own style to make it fit you better :angel:
That is not revamping the style: that is simply personalizing your own way of practicing it.
Daniel
OP
- Thread Starter
- #9
Well, it looks like all styles go through this to some extent. I suppose the only ones that don't are the koryu Japanese arts where the purpose is to preserve exactly what was taught.
celtic_crippler
Senior Master
SGM Ed Parker called that "tailoring" and encouraged it. Everybody is anatomically and physiologically different so it's only logical to assume that a particular approach to an attack would differ from person to person. As long as you adhere to the basic principles of the art and don't stray from those, you should be able to tailor your art to make it practical for YOU.
-My 0.02
Kenpo/Kempo certainly does fit the bill. I started with Chinese Kenpo, then began American Kenpo. Spent time with the LTKKA for a little while, then started with Skip's group. He has done some very innovative things in terms of how he teaches the art to others. He has some great ideas and methods.
Then I moved and the school nearest me was an AKKI school. Now, I could tell right away that it was American Kenpo by the principles of motion, methodology etc.. However, the two man sets, the drills, the timing patterns etc were in my opinion, a complete "revamping" of how Mr. Parkers system is taught to students. I think Mr. Mills has shown increadible engenuity in changing and adding to how the system is taught. At least in my expereince, compared to the time I spent in other arts and other associations.
Then I moved and the school nearest me was an AKKI school. Now, I could tell right away that it was American Kenpo by the principles of motion, methodology etc.. However, the two man sets, the drills, the timing patterns etc were in my opinion, a complete "revamping" of how Mr. Parkers system is taught to students. I think Mr. Mills has shown increadible engenuity in changing and adding to how the system is taught. At least in my expereince, compared to the time I spent in other arts and other associations.
Omar B
Senior Master
Not when I was a member but the styles I've trained in did change quite a bit. Seido morphed into a more gentle style after Nakamura left Kyokushin. Choi Kwang Do evolved from TKD. In fact when I was with CKD my instructor had recently switched over and there were many remnants of TKD left, like some of their uniforms still had TKD on the back, we still sparred, etc.
Mr. Parker called it refining and redefining which is tailoring the art of Kenpo itself, not just on an individual basis, but how it is taught to all. This is a natural part of the art's logical progression given the concern's of modern day (and what is to come).
sean
tallgeese
Green Belt
All the time. Revamping is and should be continous as practitioners explore new tools and as training methods and tools advance.
The best case scenario is an art tthat almost always updates towards it's goal as new fighters see and experience new things.
The best case scenario is an art tthat almost always updates towards it's goal as new fighters see and experience new things.
Bruno@MT
Senior Master
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I agree with the concept, but you should only do it after you have learned the basicas properly. Otherwise, you limit yourself to the things that come easy. It's also only when you have mastered the basics that you understand them enough to know -why- it is ok to discard them.
