Kempo and Jeff Speakman

[JP3]

He earned a goju-ryu black belt before he began kenpo. I do not know what level.

According to that wiki page, his Goju rank is the same as his Kenpo rank now, 9th dan.

 

[Flying Crane]

According to that wiki page, his Goju rank is the same as his Kenpo rank now, 9th dan.

Huh.

 

[JP3]

Huh.

I wonder if some of the ranks were awarded honorarily? Double 9th dan, even at 58 for a talented guy, is pretty advanced. Of course, I don't know a bit about how the rank structure is set up either.

 

[Flying Crane]

I wonder if some of the ranks were awarded honorarily? Double 9th dan, even at 58 for a talented guy, is pretty advanced. Of course, I don't know a bit about how the rank structure is set up either.

Yeah, exactly. It's one of those things that make me go "hmmm...".

Or, I guess, "huh"

 

[Darrencowan]

He earned a goju-ryu black belt before he began kenpo. I do not know what level.

The real Miyagi: Grandmaster Chojun Miyagi | Family Karate Center

 

[Flying Crane]

The real Miyagi: Grandmaster Chojun Miyagi | Family Karate Center

I am familiar with who Miyagi was, I'm not sure what you are trying to tell me here.

 

[punisher73]

I hope you can find that photo. I'd love to see it. Also, I'm going to check out 5.0. Is he doing ok, now? Did he beat cancer? I know someone like him could beat it. He has all the tools.

To summarize what his Kenpo 5.0 is in a nutshell, it is kind of American Kenpo's response to MMA (as envisioned by Jeff Speakman). Through interviews I have read, he felt that more and more people are exposed to MMA and the average person would likely come across "mma style attacks" on the street even if someone hadn't formally trained in it. Much like people in the past of kenpo's history developed techniques to respond to boxing style attacks and Judo style attacks that they dealt with in Hawaii.