How to Learn Kenpo 101

[GouRonin]

I had a nice long chat with Seig last night regarding Kenpo and he convinced me that I do not know a d@mn thing about the art.

Being a man who is interested in exploration and willing to search out new things and aquaint myself with knowledge I decided that I had best rectify this problem and learn a Kenpo system so that I may finally converse in a sensible manner with all of you guys.

So I went out and bought a copy of black belt and started looking for my very own "Learn Kenpo At Home" video series. Of course, I being the dunderhead that I am would not even think of undertaking this task of choosing a series without asking you...the good folk of Martialtalk in the Kenpo section which one I should take.

So vote away my friends!

1)The Karate Connection - IKCA.
www.karateconnection.com

2)Larry Tatum
www.ltatum.com

3)Rick Fowler
www.metroart.com/kenpo

4)Lee Wedlake
www.lwkarate.com

5)Kicnjab productions
www.kicnjab.com

If anyone else has any good kenpo videos please let me know. I shall choose the best one with your help folks and then set about to learn and master this powerful system.

Then when I am ready I will seek out a Kenpo Master who will give me my black belt so that I too can argue with you about why you are all wrong but me.

 

[Seig]

Doc Chape'l

 

[GouRonin]

We can add that one.

 

[WilliamTLear]

Doug,

Didn't Steve Spry "The Super Guy" already mail you a black belt?

Seriously you should consider giving up Kenpo and move to a country where having a gun is legal. Then you could shoot all of these argumentative Kenpo fanatics in self-defense. The only thing they could do then, is haunt your @$$. And why would they wanna do that? It's not even a good looking one. (Not that I've checked you out or anything...) :rofl:

Your asking for advice? On a Kenpo Forum? Man are you in for it!!! At least you asked the question on a forum where they won't eat your brains out of your head for asking. (Who am I kidding?) :rofl:

I can't believe the bickering that happens when you get a bunch of bored Kenpo people in a room. When they run out of Kenpo crap to argue about, some numb nutts will ask how many sides a traingle has... then your really in for it.

I was reading the Thinking Outside Of The Box thread, and I was astonished at how overcomplicated my fellow Kenpoists have to be when analyzing something as simple as a traingle.

Just for $hits and giggles... Here's the ONLY answer!

A traingle has two sides, because...

1. The top is the top (not a side at all)
2. The bottom is the bottom (again not a side, but the bottom)
3. The inside has two sides (the left and the right side)
4. The outside shares the same two sides as the inside
5. The front and back don't exhist, because the traingle is a 2 dimensional geometric structure and a true traingle cannot exhist in 3 dimensions.

but...

The correct question to yield the answer "they" are probably looking for would be... "HOW MANY SURFACES DOES A TRAINGLE HAVE". (Remember to count the inside, the ouside, the joints formed by intersecting lines, the front and back of the surface it is represented on, and lets not forget the bottom.)

I can't help but wonder how this is all going to help me when someone is going to bash my brains in for being a smart *** in the first place, but at least I was a participant in the whole "I'm smarter than you" prepetual pissing contest that happens everywhere in Kenpo Land. :rofl:

Your Friend,
Billy

P.S. If you wanna learn real kenpo, experience is the best teacher... Just remember it can be harder on you than an instructor, and the lesson you learn can cost you more than you wanna pay. There are guys out there with the scars to prove it.

 

[satans.barber]

Originally posted by WilliamTLear



<snip>

Your asking for advice? On a Kenpo Forum? Man are you in for it!!! At least you asked the question on a forum where they won't eat your brains out of your head for asking. (Who am I kidding?)

<snip>

I think you're talking bollocks old lad.

For a start, kenpo is partly a science, which is why some of the discussions can get in depth and technical, as they can about any science.

Also, this forum is FULL of incredibly helpful people, I don't think you can have read it very carefully if you're going to make comments as you have done.

Ian.

 

[Kirk]

Don't forget Tim Bulot

 

[ikenpo]

Originally posted by GouRonin

I had a nice long chat with Seig last night regarding Kenpo and he convinced me that I do not know a d@mn thing about the art.

So vote away my friends!

1)The Karate Connection - IKCA.
www.karateconnection.com

2)Larry Tatum
www.ltatum.com

3)Rick Fowler
www.metroart.com/kenpo

4)Lee Wedlake
www.lwkarate.com

5)Kicnjab productions
www.kicnjab.com

Gou,

It depends on what you want to do. I've watched the first 3 series listed and the Bulot series. Also seen Wedlake Yellow and him teaching Brown techs on a Sean Kelly tape. All of the tapes are "for reference" except IKCA which you learn and send your tapes in, but that isn't EPAK. It's Kenpo and they have some solid techniques, but there isn't a lot of concept and theory in the way it's talked about on the forums (i.e. angle of incident, zone theory, HWD, etc...) Even though I think Mr. LeRoux knows all that stuff. But you can train and get your Black.

The Tatum series is very good in my opinion. High production quality. He does the techs twice, slow and fast. It will take you through 3rd black (no forms, those tapes are seperate) and you can watch him beat up on Clyde sometimes. Then maybe you can catch a Belt test and show what you've learned or go to Pasadena and test???

The Tim Bulot series is only finished through Green I think. It's a great series. High production quality (he taped the Tatum series). He a 5th under Tatum. The tapes are a fraction of the cost of Tatum (and comes with the forms and sets), but I think they are only available to his students???

The Rick Folwer tapes have good info. They are technically sound and have a Texas twang to the teaching. He was a Planas 7th so he knows his stuff. All the info is there, but they don't look as well made as Bulot's series. They look more home video camera style, sort of like the Brent Berry series that's always being sold on EBay. Which is strange because the tapes he (Fowler) did with Huk Planas are extremely high quality, so I can't figure out why his (Fowler's) tapes don't look that good???

Like a said I only have the Yellow Belt on Wedlake and it was ok. I'd have to really look at it to give you a better report.

jb :asian:

 

[cdhall]

Originally posted by GouRonin


Being a man who is interested in exploration and willing to search out new things and aquaint myself with knowledge I decided that I had best rectify this problem and learn a Kenpo system so that I may finally converse in a sensible manner with all of you guys.

Gou,

I don't know you very well at all but I think I know you well enough to see that you must be
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
!

I mean, really. You are kidding right? You just wanted to start everyone arguing about the tapes.

Well, anyway, my 2cents is that Mr. Planas is supposedly The Man for knowing and teaching the basics and it looks like he covers this in Volumes 1 and 2. These won't directly get you rank, but as far as discussing the principles... these are probably valuable even as a pre-cursor to anything else you get.

http://ckfonline.org/huk/videos.shtml

I plan to get the first two and maybe others for reference. But if you wait a while, I am producing some this Fall (finally) I think and naturally, they will be the best!

I can't believe everyone didn't suspect something.
:rofl:
Email or PM me if I'm wrong. Gou has no shame. What a great way to get a debate raging.

 

[Sigung86]

Sort of like ranting on certain people! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Dan

 

[Michael Billings]

I have Huk's tapes for all the Forms. They are a good reference ... but nothing replaces a teacher. I have seen Rick Fowler's and they were the correct techniques, but the body mechanics just were not there (in terms of explaining the Principles, Concepts, and Theories of EPAC.)

I have not seen Chuck Sullivan's or Larry Tatum's. I did see some good technique tapes at a friend's house and they looked ok (at least the same techniques I do.) I am definitly not certain of the name. Maybe someone can help with the correct name - Tabutai or Sabaki or ????

That's my 2 cents worth.

I recommend finding a teacher, going for a weekend, and taping yourself under his/her supervision at the end of the lesson. That way you have a reference of material actually learned and corrected by a live person. It is a great memory jogger, as vs. trying to learn something from a tape, out of context. But you may have no choice depending on where you live.

Good Luck,
-Michael Billings
UKS-Texas

 

[cdhall]

Originally posted by Michael Billings


I recommend finding a teacher, going for a weekend, and taping yourself under his/her supervision at the end of the lesson. That way you have a reference of material actually learned and corrected by a live person. It is a great memory jogger, as vs. trying to learn something from a tape, out of context. But you may have no choice depending on where you live.

Good Luck,
-Michael Billings
UKS-Texas

This is an excellent idea. I have discussed this topic with others before. If you teacher will let you tape a "review" session then you have an invaluable reference guide. I got this idea from the IKC. They remind you that once your "training" is complete, you have a video record of your test, and their notes. Good idea, even better I think if it is your instructor teaching you in person, that this would be a very cool "video notebook." Especially if you can get them to do all the techniques on you.

 

[ikenpo]

Originally posted by cdhall


Gou,

I don't know you very well at all but I think I know you well enough to see that you must be
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
!

I mean, really. You are kidding right? You just wanted to start everyone arguing about the tapes.

Well, anyway, my 2cents is that Mr. Planas is supposedly The Man for knowing and teaching the basics and it looks like he covers this in Volumes 1 and 2. These won't directly get you rank, but as far as discussing the principles... these are probably valuable even as a pre-cursor to anything else you get.

http://ckfonline.org/huk/videos.shtml

Email or PM me if I'm wrong. Gou has no shame. What a great way to get a debate raging.

Hey CD,

Sometimes people will ask an honest question. I consider this to be one of those times. I don't know Doug that well either, but I know him well enough to know that he hasn't been able to find a Kenpo instructor that will hold regular class and allow him to learn the system the way he'd like (not placing blame, but people have lives and choose not to teach regularly) to the degree that he's had to make his way to another art, Systema. Some folks don't have a 7th down the street and need alternative methods to fill that void. As Mr. Billings said, "you may have no choice depending on where you live."

Folks on this board don't spend an excessive amount of time arguing about anything from what I've seen, or setting up a topic to just argue and make fun (unless it is in fun).

The tapes I spoke of I've watched and the ones that your "recommending", I have, but I haven't watched so I didn't make a comment on those.

just my thoughts and I could be wrong,

jb:asian:

 

[cdhall]

Jason and Gou,

I mean no disrespect and I don't want to discourage anyone from asking a question or making a post.

As I said, I thought for sure he was just trying to start something. I don't know where anyone could get that kind of an idea about him.

He did conclude with:
"Then when I am ready I will seek out a Kenpo Master who will give me my black belt so that I too can argue with you about why you are all wrong but me."

Which of course, does seem to be a "goal" of Kenpo since Mr. Parker's death....

I didn't know he had a style or rank... but I checked his profile and I see I'm wrong.

 

[Kirk]

Originally posted by jbkenpo

The Tim Bulot series is only finished through Green I think. It's a great series. High production quality (he taped the Tatum series). He a 5th under Tatum. The tapes are a fraction of the cost of Tatum (and comes with the forms and sets), but I think they are only available to his students???

I dunno .. I know they USED TO be for sale on his website,
but maybe has since changed that. I also heard a RUMOR
that Mr Bulot put the tapes on public access, and has gotten a
LOT of new students that way!

 

[Rainman]

Originally posted by Sigung86

Sort of like ranting on certain people! :lol: :lol: :lol:

Dan

All you succeeded in doing was convincing me not to release anymore information on the subject. It is also an act of cowardice to spread your disease to another thread and hide behind what someone else was doing by putting your stamp on it. I will not be responding to you again.

 

[cdhall]

Was part of this my fault? What did I do?

 

[ikenpo]

Originally posted by cdhall

Was part of this my fault? What did I do?

It's not you. Mr. Farmer and Rainman are having a little public bruhaha (I'm guessing from the 2 man set thread)....Maybe Mr. C will get them on the phone together and they'll find out that they actually can get a long....

He's done it to me twice...


jb:asian:

 

[WilliamTLear]

Originally posted by satans.barber



I think you're talking bollocks old lad.

For a start, kenpo is partly a science, which is why some of the discussions can get in depth and technical, as they can about any science.

Also, this forum is FULL of incredibly helpful people, I don't think you can have read it very carefully if you're going to make comments as you have done.

Ian.

Ian,

Kenpo is a partly science?
Really? I had no Idea...? Gosh... You're smart! You can spell science! :roflmao:

The discussions can get technical?
Now, I'm impressed! Truely! You have shown me the way... the truth... and the light... You're the man Satan!

Helpful people on Martial Talk? vs. other kenpo forums?
Nope. Nicer yes. More helpful? I don't think so...

Lastly, I read more than I post. There are people on this board that should try that.

Gou... Run!!! Run Fast!!! Run Now!!! The brain washing session is going to begin soon!!!

 

[GouRonin]

Originally posted by cdhall
Gou,I mean, really. You are kidding right? You just wanted to start everyone arguing about the tapes.
I can't believe everyone didn't suspect something.
Gou has no shame. What a great way to get a debate raging.

**looking innocently as I put away my fishing pole**

I have no idea what you are talking about. I'm dead serious! I will become a Kenpo Master by video! Then you'll be sorry! A Judo chop for you! I have shame...oh boy do I have shame! ...somewhere around here I have it...let me find it ok?

Originally posted by cdhall
I didn't know he had a style or rank... but I checked his profile and I see I'm wrong.

My style is the beat-down-whoop@ss style! And stop looking at my profile ya perv!

 

[Rob_Broad]

What would we do without Gou trying to stir things up.