Clapping_tiger
White Belt
It has been so long since I posted here I had to create a new account with the same log in name 
Anyway, I doubt any of you remember me but pretty much my whole journey from White to Black in Kenpo happened here. My training background started with boxing as a late teen, then Chinese Kenpo and I dabbled in some MMA and full contact fighting. So I'm back, and here is an update as to what has transpired over the past few years.
It all started when the school I was in which I was the Enrollment Director and an instructor started to change. When I started the student base and attitude and intensity matched what I was looking for perfectly, it was awesome. It went from a more fairly intense and willing to give and take punishment student base to a more family oriented school. There always was a youth class, but soon that overtook everything and even became the priorty of the school. There were just too many kids running around, and people who didn't want to get hit and refused to listen to comments about how "X" blend or freestyle technique really isn't realistic. But the owner/head instructor needs to feed his family too so a lot of the focus came to youth enrollment and just getting Mom and Dad enrolled too and we just needed to keep them there no matter what. So a lot of the "old school" students started to leave because our training and what we like to do started to become effected. Soon there was only 3 of us original students left, I ended up leaving then followed by my training partner from white all the through, the last hold out ended up leaving last year. She told me it's sad that nobody there even remembers us. The only thing is the old photos of the "old school" Black Belts. During that time I was working out on my own and had a buddy who wanted me to teach him so I started that, but then he moved away a few weeks later. My wife and I bought a house and I made a room in the basement where I had room to practice my form and put a free standing wavemaster down there. I continued to work my technique and forms but didn't have any real steady partners. Once in a while I would get together with some old friends from the school and mess around but those were few and far between, I even stopped in at the school once but the whole atmosphere was totally different. I continued on my way alone.......
Skip to Spring of this year my brother approched me and asked if I still knew Kenpo. With a smile I said "I remember a thing or two. why?" He wants to learn and has a friend who wants to learn as well. So we set up some times and got together and I taught them some basics. Things went well and they stuck with it. Soon we started sparring full contact and they liked that, they stuck with it. Even started showing up for class and first thing they wanted to do was spar before class. Soon their technique started to sharpen up and the developed some snap, now they have some power behind the technique when we work out on each other. Soon they will be testing for the Orange belt and it appears they will stick with it, so I fixed up my basment room even better so now it looks like a karate school. I don't charge them and don't plan to take more students, but I am just so happy and re-energized to have workout partners. It's to the point where I think I am more excited than they are that we are having class tonight. All this prompted me to re-join martial talk because this forum helped me keep the fire lit during my training a few years ago. So that is where I am at today.
Anyway, I doubt any of you remember me but pretty much my whole journey from White to Black in Kenpo happened here. My training background started with boxing as a late teen, then Chinese Kenpo and I dabbled in some MMA and full contact fighting. So I'm back, and here is an update as to what has transpired over the past few years. It all started when the school I was in which I was the Enrollment Director and an instructor started to change. When I started the student base and attitude and intensity matched what I was looking for perfectly, it was awesome. It went from a more fairly intense and willing to give and take punishment student base to a more family oriented school. There always was a youth class, but soon that overtook everything and even became the priorty of the school. There were just too many kids running around, and people who didn't want to get hit and refused to listen to comments about how "X" blend or freestyle technique really isn't realistic. But the owner/head instructor needs to feed his family too so a lot of the focus came to youth enrollment and just getting Mom and Dad enrolled too and we just needed to keep them there no matter what. So a lot of the "old school" students started to leave because our training and what we like to do started to become effected. Soon there was only 3 of us original students left, I ended up leaving then followed by my training partner from white all the through, the last hold out ended up leaving last year. She told me it's sad that nobody there even remembers us. The only thing is the old photos of the "old school" Black Belts. During that time I was working out on my own and had a buddy who wanted me to teach him so I started that, but then he moved away a few weeks later. My wife and I bought a house and I made a room in the basement where I had room to practice my form and put a free standing wavemaster down there. I continued to work my technique and forms but didn't have any real steady partners. Once in a while I would get together with some old friends from the school and mess around but those were few and far between, I even stopped in at the school once but the whole atmosphere was totally different. I continued on my way alone.......
Skip to Spring of this year my brother approched me and asked if I still knew Kenpo. With a smile I said "I remember a thing or two. why?" He wants to learn and has a friend who wants to learn as well. So we set up some times and got together and I taught them some basics. Things went well and they stuck with it. Soon we started sparring full contact and they liked that, they stuck with it. Even started showing up for class and first thing they wanted to do was spar before class. Soon their technique started to sharpen up and the developed some snap, now they have some power behind the technique when we work out on each other. Soon they will be testing for the Orange belt and it appears they will stick with it, so I fixed up my basment room even better so now it looks like a karate school. I don't charge them and don't plan to take more students, but I am just so happy and re-energized to have workout partners. It's to the point where I think I am more excited than they are that we are having class tonight. All this prompted me to re-join martial talk because this forum helped me keep the fire lit during my training a few years ago. So that is where I am at today.
