"MA-related things you just don't understand and would like to admit it to someone" thread!

[_Simon_]

A fun lighthearted thread in which you admit something in MA you just never really got... or something which doesn't make sense, whatever!

I shall start of course! Okay... here we go... *takes deep breath*


1) Kenpo. Kempo. The martial art.
I... just..... do not know what it is! There! I said it! I admit it!

It's just something I never really understood, its origin, what it actually is about... everything about it I am clueless!

P.S. I actually watched a Kempo history video recently (on The Art of One Dojo YouTube channel), JUST to educate myself. It's a little clearer, but still just puzzled!

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2) Okay....... Ip Man. WHAT is an Ip Man? XD Or of course... who?? For a very long time I saw this name... and just did not know what people were talking about. I'm sure it is Kung Fu or Wu Shu related.

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3) This one is just something that I keep seeing, and don't get. Why is it that in almost every picture of a group of some BJJ guys... they do this hand gesture... ->

What is this about??? Is it some secret BJJ bow/hand signal/secret knowledge here??? I see it a LOT!


That's all, keen to hear your secret confession!

 

[jobo]

A fun lighthearted thread in which you admit something in MA you just never really got... or something which doesn't make sense, whatever!

I shall start of course! Okay... here we go... *takes deep breath*


1) Kenpo. Kempo. The martial art.
I... just..... do not know what it is! There! I said it! I admit it!

It's just something I never really understood, its origin, what it actually is about... everything about it I am clueless!

P.S. I actually watched a Kempo history video recently (on The Art of One Dojo YouTube channel), JUST to educate myself. It's a little clearer, but still just puzzled!

---

2) Okay....... Ip Man. WHAT is an Ip Man? XD Or of course... who?? For a very long time I saw this name... and just did not know what people were talking about. I'm sure it is Kung Fu or Wu Shu related.

---

3) This one is just something that I keep seeing, and don't get. Why is it that in almost every picture of a group of some BJJ guys... they do this hand gesture... ->

What is this about??? Is it some secret BJJ bow/hand signal/secret knowledge here??? I see it a LOT!


That's all, keen to hear your secret confession!

no I dont understand kempo either and cant raise the intrest to hit google, it will have to remain blurry

ip man isnt a " what" it's a person called ip man

hand gestures mean sort of anything you want them to and or they change meaning suddenly with out warning leaving you in an invidious position

as far as I know that one means " hang loose" which only raises the question of what does " hang loose " mean unless you raise it then it means call me or possibly call me and hang loose hard to say for sure

 

[Tony Dismukes]

3) This one is just something that I keep seeing, and don't get. Why is it that in almost every picture of a group of some BJJ guys... they do this hand gesture... ->

What is this about??? Is it some secret BJJ bow/hand signal/secret knowledge here??? I see it a LOT!

The shaka sign originated in Hawaii, spread to surfer culture, and from there to Brazil and to BJJ (possibly because many notable Brazilian BJJ instructors were also avid surfers)

 

[drop bear]

Pretty much all of leglocks

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Could someone tell me in this picture, why did her tiger mouth (space between thumb and index finger) face to herself and not face to her opponent? Why did she hold her opponent's arm like holding a base ball bat?

In the base ball bat holding, his tiger mouth is facing toward his opponent.

 

[Buka]

The shaka sign originated in Hawaii, spread to surfer culture, and from there to Brazil and to BJJ (possibly because many notable Brazilian BJJ instructors were also avid surfers)

When I first started in BJJ all the guys told me "there's three things in life men from Brazil like to do out here. Fight, F and surf. That's it, that's the list."

Seems pretty spot on.

 

[Hanshi]

Hmmm..."Kenpo"/"kempo" puzzles me, too. And I'm even a nidan in "Karaho Kempo", not karate just karaho kempo! The more I learn, the less I know; why is that?

 

[drop bear]

Could someone tell me in this picture, why did her tiger mouth (space between thumb and index finger) face to herself and not face to her opponent? Why did she hold her opponent's arm like holding a base ball bat?

In the base ball bat holding, his tiger mouth is facing toward his opponent.

Because you are pulling not pushing.

 

[drop bear]

I don't understand why cornermen yell at fighters. If another person trying to punch the guys head off isn't enough inspiration then there is a bigger issue at play.

 

[Kung Fu Wang]

Because you are pulling not pushing.

Her left arm is pushing.

 

[_Simon_]

The shaka sign originated in Hawaii, spread to surfer culture, and from there to Brazil and to BJJ (possibly because many notable Brazilian BJJ instructors were also avid surfers)

Oh wow! Thanks Tony, learn something new every day!

 

[_Simon_]

I don't understand why cornermen yell at fighters. If another person trying to punch the guys head off isn't enough inspiration then there is a bigger issue at play.

Yesss... same, can get probably really distracting at times... even certain coaching on the go, moreso the really specific coaching, the OTHER guy can hear everything they yell so it just gives it away! "Do a low kick!" Dude, why would you call that?

And although certain reminders are nice ("keep your hands up!"), they can help the other guy too...

 

[_Simon_]

Ahhh... doesn't that feel like a heavy burden lifted! This is a safe space people!

 

[Monkey Turned Wolf]

@_Simon_ The kenpo/kempo question, is that a question of why it's spelled differently, or one of where it comes from?

The answer to why it's spelled differently is simple-the kanji doesn't have a direct translation, so some people thought it was spelled one way, and others thought it was spelled another. It's that simple.

As for where it came from is more complicated. I'm assuming you mean american kenpo, because kenpo itself just means fist method-basically indicates any unarmed striking style. So you'll see multiple chinese and japanese styles that translate to kenpo, which are entirely unrelated to american kenpo.

As for american kenpo, it primarily comes from mitose. He practiced an okinawan striking art that went by kenpo (for the same reason other arts did), and brought that art to Hawaii, where it then spread to other states. He combined it with jujitsu/judo that he learned, though, so kenpo in the US no longer meant just unarmed striking MA, and when that style grew, it took the name of kenpo. Hope that helps.

 

[_Simon_]

@_Simon_ The kenpo/kempo question, is that a question of why it's spelled differently, or one of where it comes from?

The answer to why it's spelled differently is simple-the kanji doesn't have a direct translation, so some people thought it was spelled one way, and others thought it was spelled another. It's that simple.

As for where it came from is more complicated. I'm assuming you mean american kenpo, because kenpo itself just means fist method-basically indicates any unarmed striking style. So you'll see multiple chinese and japanese styles that translate to kenpo, which are entirely unrelated to american kenpo.

As for american kenpo, it primarily comes from mitose. He practiced an okinawan striking art that went by kenpo (for the same reason other arts did), and brought that art to Hawaii, where it then spread to other states. He combined it with jujitsu/judo that he learned, though, so kenpo in the US no longer meant just unarmed striking MA, and when that style grew, it took the name of kenpo. Hope that helps.

Yeah moreso what it is, and origin and so on I guess. Even all the different forms of it, Chinese Kempo, American Kempo etc, but just never understood what it was in practice.

Ah yes the spelling thing sort of makes sense, I know for example in Japanese that anytime a 'p' sound is put after an 'm', like 'senpai', it's pronounced with an 'm' sound, so people just spelled it 'sempai', but technically it's 'senpai'. So wonder if it's a similar thing there...

Ahhh I see... yeah that's what confused me, the Chinese, Japanese, American kenpo.. but didn't realise it was just a generic term. So essentially it's another variant of a striking art. Yeah that helps, cheers!

 

[Flying Crane]

Yeah moreso what it is, and origin and so on I guess. Even all the different forms of it, Chinese Kempo, American Kempo etc, but just never understood what it was in practice.

Ah yes the spelling thing sort of makes sense, I know for example in Japanese that anytime a 'p' sound is put after an 'm', like 'senpai', it's pronounced with an 'm' sound, so people just spelled it 'sempai', but technically it's 'senpai'. So wonder if it's a similar thing there...

Ahhh I see... yeah that's what confused me, the Chinese, Japanese, American kenpo.. but didn't realise it was just a generic term. So essentially it's another variant of a striking art. Yeah that helps, cheers!

The Chinese Kenpo and American Kenpo and Kenpo Karate and EPAK (Ed Parker’s American Kenpo) are all derivatives of what Ed Parker was doing at various times in his training and teaching.

Ed Parker was a student of William Chow, who was a student and/or collaborator to some degree of James Mitose (there is a lot of argument about that). Parker brought it to the Mainland and continued to develop it in various directions, studied some Chinese methods which influenced his Kenpo, etc. so the various names were taken by his students of those eras, even though he himself continued to change it.

Kajukenbo comes from other students of William Chow, who mixed it with other methods and derived that system.

Kara-ho Kenpo is another method originated by another student of Chow. There is a West Coast (California) Shaolin Kenpo that was developed by yet another Chow student, and some East Coast (New England) Kenpo variants as well, they all trace back to Chow in some way. So a lot of Kenpo variations based on who learned from who, and during what period of time, but tracing back to William Chow and James Mitose, and depending on the downstream lineage and how it was later developed.

 

[Flying Crane]

Okinawan/Ryukyu kempo and Shorinji Kempo are unrelated to the Mitose/Chow Kenpo variants found in the US.

 

[Xue Sheng]

A fun lighthearted thread in which you admit something in MA you just never really got... or something which doesn't make sense, whatever!

I shall start of course! Okay... here we go... *takes deep breath*

2) Okay....... Ip Man. WHAT is an Ip Man? XD Or of course... who?? For a very long time I saw this name... and just did not know what people were talking about. I'm sure it is Kung Fu or Wu Shu related.

That's all, keen to hear your secret confession!

First a clarification, In China Wushu is what we call Kung Fu the terms are now interchangeable in China, but they did not use to be. It was Wushu, you needed Kung Fu (hard work) to be good at Wushu (Martial arts). Basically Kung Fu was a translation error that is now representative of Chinese martial arts. Wushu is not a style, there are multiple styles of Wushu, Wing Chun being one of them......which brings me to....

Ip Man is the guy, that the lions share of most of the Wing Chun schools you see today, come from. Also the hero of multiple fictional movies loosely based on reality that came form China, generally staring Donnie Yen as Ip Man

Ip Man

 

[Gerry Seymour]

Could someone tell me in this picture, why did her tiger mouth (space between thumb and index finger) face to herself and not face to her opponent? Why did she hold her opponent's arm like holding a base ball bat?

In the base ball bat holding, his tiger mouth is facing toward his opponent.

That one is easy. Uke (person receiving the technique) should be kept behind the hip, as a result of the turn. From that position, the “tiger mouth” cannot face them.

 

[Gerry Seymour]

I don't understand why cornermen yell at fighters. If another person trying to punch the guys head off isn't enough inspiration then there is a bigger issue at play.

You mean they’d remember to fight back without those guys yelling? Man, you learn something new every day.