Mormonism in Kenpo

[Hefeweizen]

Ok, what other alleged/actual elements of Mormonism can be found in Kenpo?

Some have suggested the belt knots on left vs. right.

I've also noticed the little formal introduction to the form has a triangle, then the covered fist, then the little PRAYING HANDS. The praying hands symbolizes "I pray for forgiveness for what I"m about to do to you". (at least this is what is taught at my school).

What other Mormon influences are there?

 

[Touch Of Death]

I'm no expert in Mr. Parker's intentions, but Ive always been lead to believe that he painstakingly attempted to purge the art from any Eastern religious teachings so it would stand to reason that filling the "void" with other religius teachings would sort of defeat the purpose of demystification in the first place: so unless a technique name has some hidden significance I'm sure you can count on one hand any other hidden mormon influances. My instructor is a catholic so the buck would have stopped right there as with many other people who don't happen to be Mormon. This is just my off the top of my head opinion so feel free to correct me if you want

 

[Scott Bonner]

Be careful with this thread to not find Mormon connections that aren't really Mormon connections, especially if they reflect some of the ludicrous stereotypes about Mormons.

My understanding of the praying hands part is that it is from another source entirely, specifically that that sequence of hand positions were used by Mitose (and are featured in his book; I saw a reproduction of those pictures). They are supposed to represent specific things in Mitose's system, and that either Chow or Parker took it from there (even though it's debatable whether or not they took much else from Mitose).

By the way, people said (with no confirmation or evidence -- hearsay from Al Tracy doesn't count; it's secondhand info and there are some axes to grind between the 2 systems) that the left/right thing came from Mormonism. How? What do Mormons do? Are any practicing Mormons out there to tell me how or why they associate left with male and right with female? Is there some ritual that does this?

With respect,
Scott

 

[M F]

I am a Mormon. I would like to know where this Left, Right belt thing came from. I have no idea how it relates to the Mormon teachings. I really don't see any teachings in American Kenpo that can be directly linked to Mormonism. If anyone out there can explain their ideas on this, I would be happy to discuss it. It might be better to use the PM feature for this, though.

 

[TheEdge883]

I am also LDS, and I haven't seen anything that would directly relate what we do in kenpo with mormonism.

 

[roryneil]

Mr. Parker never refers to Mormonism. He does speak of Christian doctrine and ideals however. The whole conspiracy of Mormon cult-like symbols and secret things in Kenpo are rediculous. Like if you become a black belt suddenly you will want to convert? Or you already had and just didn't know it?

 

[Les]

Originally posted by Hefeweizen
Ok, what other alleged/actual elements of Mormonism can be found in Kenpo?

Some have suggested the belt knots on left vs. right.

I've also noticed the little formal introduction to the form has a triangle, then the covered fist, then the little PRAYING HANDS. The praying hands symbolizes "I pray for forgiveness for what I"m about to do to you". (at least this is what is taught at my school).

What other Mormon influences are there?

It's always been my understanding that the left and right belt positions came in during the late sixties/early seventies when it bacame fasionable to wear long hair.

Some (young adult) students, when in a Gi could easily be mistaken for being a member of the other gender, and the belt position saved any embarassment.

As to Mormon influences, the only thing I could see is a (vague) connection to the pledges.

Les

 

[Kenpomachine]

Originally posted by Les
Some (young adult) students, when in a Gi could easily be mistaken for being a member of the other gender, and the belt position saved any embarassment.

Which embarrasment? When I train with somebody, that's a person in a gi, his/her gender doesn't meant much to me... and I want the other to think the same of me. Only kenpo speaks for me.

I'm a she.

 

[Scott Bonner]

I agree, Kenpomachine. I think we greatly overestimate gender distinctions, and making such distinctions are mostly a waste of time on the mat. Rarely should plumbing make a difference. Everyone hits and gets hit the same way.

On the other hand, maybe Mr. Parker just wanted to not say "ma'am" to his "sir"s, and vice versa. Nothing about Kenpo, all about people's insecurities and little social rules.

Peace,
Scott

 

[MartialArtist]

Well, I think it had more to do with being called "Ms." when you're a guy, or being called "Mr." when you're a female, not on gender in the martial arts.

I mean, who wouldn't take offense?

 

[Kenpomachine]

I can tell some of the people in my class only recognize me with a gi on
And some people who uses glasses recognize people as a whole and not just only by his/her face.
I'm inclined to think that it was more a matter of old tradition. Don't know about the States, but in Europe the buttons of women jackets are in the opposite side regarding men's. Maybe it goes more alongside this line?