Kembudo-Kai Kempoka
Senior Master
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING POST CONTAINS BIASED OPINIONS THAT ARE NOT FLATTERING TO THE CORE MATERIAL OF A KENPO SENIORÂ’S PRODUCT LINE. THE FOLLOWING OPINIONS ARE MY OWN ONLY, AND DO NOT REFLECT THE OPINIONS OF OTHER KENPOISTS I HAVE TRAINED WITH, MARTIALTALK, OR ANYBODY ELSEÂ…EXCEPT, PERHAPS, MY PARROTLET WHO HAD TO SIT ABOVE THE T.V. WHILE I WATCHED THIS STUFF! IF YOU ARE OFFENDED BY FIRMLY STATED OPINIONS, PLEASE DO NOT CONTINUE WITH THIS THREAD.
OK. I have been a critic of video learning for a very long time. I continue to be. I have been a critic of MessieurÂ’s Sullivan & LeRoux and thier IKCA project for a long time, because I have never once seen a quality black belt emerge from the system, when that was their sole source of training. I still am. I have been a critic of the crappy production quality of the core curriculum videos after having seen only parts. I still am. That being said, I had the opportunity to review the series in (almost) its entirety. Following, please find my assessment, curtailed out of respect for the forum.
Some Context (from my point of view):
When Mr. Parker was alive, many folks would get full of themselves, and believe they deserved higher rank than they had thus far received. Most simply broke off, and gave it to themselves. Some of the more clever folks would write by-laws to their new organization, so that it was the by-laws that granted them new status through stripes. I think I have more respect for the guys who just do it. At least they arenÂ’t hiding behind organizational pretenses.
After his passing, it just got worse. The more red you had on your belt, and the belts of your students, the more clout you had in the kenpo community. So an epidemic started. Please understand…I am NOT saying this epidemic is what inspired the IKCA to take the formative steps they did; in fact, they were advertising in Black Belt before Mr. Parker had moved on. I AM saying that I suspect they saw an increase in business after Mr. Parkers passing, since their curriculum represented a faster, easier way to get to a black belt – or higher rank black belt – in kenpo without doing the hard work as an iron-worker and student scholar one would expect in a studio setting. Hence, post 1990, there are a lot of guys who are really horrible kenpoists that can nevertheless claim direct black-belt lineage through a senior, to the founder, for less effort, skill, and a video camera. Inviting, no? Particularly if you mistake rank, for skill…assuming a complimentary relationship exists, such that as one goes up, so does the other…regardless of which goes up first. (“I must be good…I have a butt-load of red stripes on my belt”).
I have always taken a stance against video learning, based on the number of intricacies that require immediate correction by an informed instructor. By the time a video gets mailed in, itÂ’s too late; habit patterns will have formed that are engrained in the students mind & body, and are a task to unwind & correct. So, for me, being a critic of video learning is nothing new. What is new is that I have finally forced myself to sit through several of the instructional tapes, and feel worse for wear for the experience.
I recently moved to Northern Cal, initially to Napa, then finally to Santa Rosa. Looking for a place in Napa to train, I found a couple of guys who run a kenpo school that also includes some Haganah & other stuff. They have been doing kenpo and a bunch of other stuff well before they affiliated with the IKCA, and it shows. As a matter of fact, the lead prof moves much like a Sam Pai gent I used to train with; combined with his adjunctive applications of FMA, BJJ, Danzan-ryu and JKD (among others), he/they do a really darned good job; solid kenpo, positive training atmosphere, and so on. For the sake of establishing a long-term training relationship/friendship with these guys, I agreed to review the IKCA tapes, learn the Master form, and be video-taped for submission to the IKCA HQ for review. “What the heck”, I thought. “Kenpo is kenpo, and how bad could it be”. After all, Sullivan and LeRoux were old Parker-boyz from way back…I should surely see the same brilliance of the Parker material, if only spun a little differently.
The Experience:
I feel dirty like I have to bathe, and am embarrassed for them (the IKCA founders). Someone in the production process should have told them they looked silly, but never did. The salute they came up with looks like a bad Star Trek Vulcan greeting, and (in my own pea-little brain) insults the tradition from which they came by straying so far from some simple things. Left hand over right fist goes back hundreds of years that we know of, and to stray from that for this claw-over-fist-then-wave-“Hi” thing seemed to me like a slap in the face…trying so hard to separate themselves from IKKA traditions, that they went overboard…and didn’t know they did it. I knew, watching their salutation, that I could not, in good conscience and in honor of the memory of the men who had gone before to create this thing we call kenpo, open or close a single form or technique with that salutation. I would not only feel corny and light in my loafers doing it, I would feel like I had turned my back on everything I learned in kenpo over the years, and particularly on the memory of Mr. Parker. So I knew, if I did learn and tape their master form to send in, it was going to piss them off, because I would be doing an EPAK salutation at beginning and end, and not their silly “Spock meets another pointy-eared race” thing.
Next, Thumbs in the Belt.
In nearly every opening or closing dialogue, they both stood there, thumbs thrust in their belt knots and hips pushed forward, as if to show off the shiny new medals that were their IKCA self-promotions. Perhaps it was unconscious, but it looked too uniform and rehearsed to be an accident. Now, granted, I stick my thumbs in my belt when my shoulders hurt too much to hold them up, and folding my arms across my chest might mistakenly be interpreted as non-verbal non-listening. But the last time I did so with this posturing, I got kicked in the gut so hard by Bob Perry that it knocked me off my feet and backwards so hard, I landed on my duff, and fought the urge to vomit for over an hour (couldnÂ’t slap out or check a piece of the kick, as my thumbs were stuffed in my belt knot). Apparently, it was considered bad form (an appearance of arrogance and pride in rank, when karate at the black belt level should reflect the humility of the scholar), and I had not been informed. Until that moment.
Now, The Kenpo.
Thought I, “They are a couple of old-time Parker-boyz. Surely, there will be quality kenpo in the technical requirements.” My impression is that they tried to insert some master key movements into their own made-up requirements, and even tried to pay homage to some of the more classic, long-standing techs from the way-back days of kenpo (they do 5-swords, but with closed fists; snapping twig, but with different targets and application, and so on). But, alas, they fall short. The quality of movement throughout most of the tapes is slow and dorky…reminded me of some of the Villari/Matteras guys I had seen who got their black belts only because the check cleared. But I will grant them this: I think their movement was so elementary because they were slowing it up for the educational purposes of the video series. Every once in a while, you can see one of them slip back into the habits they developed under Parker, and drop in some better speed, form, blending, etc. So, I do not for a moment believe that either are as bad as they appear on tape. In fact, I’ve seen both move in person, and the tapes – by far – do them no justice. Additionally, knowing how critical minds in the kenpo community can be, it took a lot of courage and commitment to a decision for them to make these tapes, dumbed down for the learning masses. That being said, I would still have liked to see them move more the way Mr. Parker taught them to, as these tapes are going to outlive all of us, and in years to come, be mistaken for what kenpo was/is. Additionally, anyone NOT from a solid kenpo background watching these tapes is going to assume that kenpo is a silly art with implausible solutions & poor mechanics fostered by awkward people, and fail to see what the big deal is for folks who are avidly committed to their EPAK lineage art. If I were in any other art, and saw these tapes, I would opt to stay with my art, and not switch to kenpo. Not the same impression one gets watching footage of Mr. Parker, or his other seniors who have made tapes, such as Mr. Tatum, Planas, etc.
Additionally, after more years in kenpo than I have on the planet, Mr. Sullivan still wonÂ’t turn his toes in/heels out on a horse stance or neutral bow (personal peccadillo, as I have to constantly remind myself, and I would hope that, by the time I had so many years in, it would be habit.), or look over his shoulder prior to launching a spinning back kick. (now IÂ’m just being picky, I know. But details do matter, especially when videotaped for the permanent historical record).
The techniques lack the sophistication of EPAK that I am accustomed to seeing. The argument in reply is that they hearken back to simpler kenpo days, when the term Chinese Kenpo was bandied around more often. Why don’t I buy it? Chinese kenpo oldsters were my first kenpo teachers, and moved with a flowery elegance and innate sophistication not seen in these tapes. I know Mr. Sullivan is capable of more, because I’ve seen him do it. I know he can teach the elegance, because I bumped into Leo Lenoue – one of his black belts from the way-back days – who could still move purdy after a many decade layoff. So why so embarrassingly simple? If it’s to keep the material learnable by newbies, say so…and show them what it eventually evolves into; but, for criminies sake, don’t hold that yuckus out there as the ideal for the world to see.
I may have, with the posting of this, earned myself a disinvitation from training with the guys in Napa, who again, run an excellent school with some decent kenpo, complemented by bringing some other quality skills to the table. That will be my only regret. That, and the IKCA looks to have some good deals on uniforms and belts (though I suspect they are for members only, but could not say for sure).
If you want to see kenpo on tape, pick up either Mr. TabatabaiÂ’s (sp?), Mr. TatumÂ’s, or Mr. PlanasÂ’, & spare yourself the sense of being embarrassed FOR them that one experiences while watching the IKCA tapes.
Back to looking for some local guys to train with (and missing the Napa gang in advance),
Dave
PS - I never should have left Southern California
OK. I have been a critic of video learning for a very long time. I continue to be. I have been a critic of MessieurÂ’s Sullivan & LeRoux and thier IKCA project for a long time, because I have never once seen a quality black belt emerge from the system, when that was their sole source of training. I still am. I have been a critic of the crappy production quality of the core curriculum videos after having seen only parts. I still am. That being said, I had the opportunity to review the series in (almost) its entirety. Following, please find my assessment, curtailed out of respect for the forum.
Some Context (from my point of view):
When Mr. Parker was alive, many folks would get full of themselves, and believe they deserved higher rank than they had thus far received. Most simply broke off, and gave it to themselves. Some of the more clever folks would write by-laws to their new organization, so that it was the by-laws that granted them new status through stripes. I think I have more respect for the guys who just do it. At least they arenÂ’t hiding behind organizational pretenses.
After his passing, it just got worse. The more red you had on your belt, and the belts of your students, the more clout you had in the kenpo community. So an epidemic started. Please understand…I am NOT saying this epidemic is what inspired the IKCA to take the formative steps they did; in fact, they were advertising in Black Belt before Mr. Parker had moved on. I AM saying that I suspect they saw an increase in business after Mr. Parkers passing, since their curriculum represented a faster, easier way to get to a black belt – or higher rank black belt – in kenpo without doing the hard work as an iron-worker and student scholar one would expect in a studio setting. Hence, post 1990, there are a lot of guys who are really horrible kenpoists that can nevertheless claim direct black-belt lineage through a senior, to the founder, for less effort, skill, and a video camera. Inviting, no? Particularly if you mistake rank, for skill…assuming a complimentary relationship exists, such that as one goes up, so does the other…regardless of which goes up first. (“I must be good…I have a butt-load of red stripes on my belt”).
I have always taken a stance against video learning, based on the number of intricacies that require immediate correction by an informed instructor. By the time a video gets mailed in, itÂ’s too late; habit patterns will have formed that are engrained in the students mind & body, and are a task to unwind & correct. So, for me, being a critic of video learning is nothing new. What is new is that I have finally forced myself to sit through several of the instructional tapes, and feel worse for wear for the experience.
I recently moved to Northern Cal, initially to Napa, then finally to Santa Rosa. Looking for a place in Napa to train, I found a couple of guys who run a kenpo school that also includes some Haganah & other stuff. They have been doing kenpo and a bunch of other stuff well before they affiliated with the IKCA, and it shows. As a matter of fact, the lead prof moves much like a Sam Pai gent I used to train with; combined with his adjunctive applications of FMA, BJJ, Danzan-ryu and JKD (among others), he/they do a really darned good job; solid kenpo, positive training atmosphere, and so on. For the sake of establishing a long-term training relationship/friendship with these guys, I agreed to review the IKCA tapes, learn the Master form, and be video-taped for submission to the IKCA HQ for review. “What the heck”, I thought. “Kenpo is kenpo, and how bad could it be”. After all, Sullivan and LeRoux were old Parker-boyz from way back…I should surely see the same brilliance of the Parker material, if only spun a little differently.
The Experience:
I feel dirty like I have to bathe, and am embarrassed for them (the IKCA founders). Someone in the production process should have told them they looked silly, but never did. The salute they came up with looks like a bad Star Trek Vulcan greeting, and (in my own pea-little brain) insults the tradition from which they came by straying so far from some simple things. Left hand over right fist goes back hundreds of years that we know of, and to stray from that for this claw-over-fist-then-wave-“Hi” thing seemed to me like a slap in the face…trying so hard to separate themselves from IKKA traditions, that they went overboard…and didn’t know they did it. I knew, watching their salutation, that I could not, in good conscience and in honor of the memory of the men who had gone before to create this thing we call kenpo, open or close a single form or technique with that salutation. I would not only feel corny and light in my loafers doing it, I would feel like I had turned my back on everything I learned in kenpo over the years, and particularly on the memory of Mr. Parker. So I knew, if I did learn and tape their master form to send in, it was going to piss them off, because I would be doing an EPAK salutation at beginning and end, and not their silly “Spock meets another pointy-eared race” thing.
Next, Thumbs in the Belt.
In nearly every opening or closing dialogue, they both stood there, thumbs thrust in their belt knots and hips pushed forward, as if to show off the shiny new medals that were their IKCA self-promotions. Perhaps it was unconscious, but it looked too uniform and rehearsed to be an accident. Now, granted, I stick my thumbs in my belt when my shoulders hurt too much to hold them up, and folding my arms across my chest might mistakenly be interpreted as non-verbal non-listening. But the last time I did so with this posturing, I got kicked in the gut so hard by Bob Perry that it knocked me off my feet and backwards so hard, I landed on my duff, and fought the urge to vomit for over an hour (couldnÂ’t slap out or check a piece of the kick, as my thumbs were stuffed in my belt knot). Apparently, it was considered bad form (an appearance of arrogance and pride in rank, when karate at the black belt level should reflect the humility of the scholar), and I had not been informed. Until that moment.
Now, The Kenpo.
Thought I, “They are a couple of old-time Parker-boyz. Surely, there will be quality kenpo in the technical requirements.” My impression is that they tried to insert some master key movements into their own made-up requirements, and even tried to pay homage to some of the more classic, long-standing techs from the way-back days of kenpo (they do 5-swords, but with closed fists; snapping twig, but with different targets and application, and so on). But, alas, they fall short. The quality of movement throughout most of the tapes is slow and dorky…reminded me of some of the Villari/Matteras guys I had seen who got their black belts only because the check cleared. But I will grant them this: I think their movement was so elementary because they were slowing it up for the educational purposes of the video series. Every once in a while, you can see one of them slip back into the habits they developed under Parker, and drop in some better speed, form, blending, etc. So, I do not for a moment believe that either are as bad as they appear on tape. In fact, I’ve seen both move in person, and the tapes – by far – do them no justice. Additionally, knowing how critical minds in the kenpo community can be, it took a lot of courage and commitment to a decision for them to make these tapes, dumbed down for the learning masses. That being said, I would still have liked to see them move more the way Mr. Parker taught them to, as these tapes are going to outlive all of us, and in years to come, be mistaken for what kenpo was/is. Additionally, anyone NOT from a solid kenpo background watching these tapes is going to assume that kenpo is a silly art with implausible solutions & poor mechanics fostered by awkward people, and fail to see what the big deal is for folks who are avidly committed to their EPAK lineage art. If I were in any other art, and saw these tapes, I would opt to stay with my art, and not switch to kenpo. Not the same impression one gets watching footage of Mr. Parker, or his other seniors who have made tapes, such as Mr. Tatum, Planas, etc.
Additionally, after more years in kenpo than I have on the planet, Mr. Sullivan still wonÂ’t turn his toes in/heels out on a horse stance or neutral bow (personal peccadillo, as I have to constantly remind myself, and I would hope that, by the time I had so many years in, it would be habit.), or look over his shoulder prior to launching a spinning back kick. (now IÂ’m just being picky, I know. But details do matter, especially when videotaped for the permanent historical record).
The techniques lack the sophistication of EPAK that I am accustomed to seeing. The argument in reply is that they hearken back to simpler kenpo days, when the term Chinese Kenpo was bandied around more often. Why don’t I buy it? Chinese kenpo oldsters were my first kenpo teachers, and moved with a flowery elegance and innate sophistication not seen in these tapes. I know Mr. Sullivan is capable of more, because I’ve seen him do it. I know he can teach the elegance, because I bumped into Leo Lenoue – one of his black belts from the way-back days – who could still move purdy after a many decade layoff. So why so embarrassingly simple? If it’s to keep the material learnable by newbies, say so…and show them what it eventually evolves into; but, for criminies sake, don’t hold that yuckus out there as the ideal for the world to see.
I may have, with the posting of this, earned myself a disinvitation from training with the guys in Napa, who again, run an excellent school with some decent kenpo, complemented by bringing some other quality skills to the table. That will be my only regret. That, and the IKCA looks to have some good deals on uniforms and belts (though I suspect they are for members only, but could not say for sure).
If you want to see kenpo on tape, pick up either Mr. TabatabaiÂ’s (sp?), Mr. TatumÂ’s, or Mr. PlanasÂ’, & spare yourself the sense of being embarrassed FOR them that one experiences while watching the IKCA tapes.
Back to looking for some local guys to train with (and missing the Napa gang in advance),
Dave
PS - I never should have left Southern California
