W
WhiteTiger
Guest
Being a relative newcomer to Kenpo (9 Years), I am often discouraged by the overwhelming flood of conflicting "stories" which are sold as "History". And that I am so powerless to distinguish between fact and fiction. There seem to be so many people who claim to know what really happened and yet they all tell completely different "stories".
A great deal of these of course center around Ed Parker, some would make him a saint who could do no wrong, his word absolute. Others say he was a genius who's work supercedes any flaws he may have had. Still others claim he was a charlatan, a racist, a con-man selling off rank to the highest bidder. What could possibly make a martial arts instructor and small business owner so controversial?
I myself have no right nor need to judge the man. My interest is the Art. Most of my concerns involve questions such as how long was he truly a student? How much of the Mitose / Chow system did he really learn? Was there material that he was not taught because he wasn't Japanese or Chinese, is there material he did not teach to others unless they were Hawaiian, or Morman?
The Tracy's seemed to feel so strongly about these particular issues that they were compelled, so they claim, to go back to James Mitose directly, as well as other students of his, in order to complete their knowledge of Kenpo.
Having a Black Belt in TKD and some Jujitsu training before coming to Kenpo, I have to say that in my opinion Kenpo is a superior art, but neither of the other two systems I trained in had these issues. The information age and internet access has undoubtedly magnified this problem.
I am sure I'm not the only one out there that feels this way or asks these questions, and this thread is not necessarily ment to solicet answers, which I wouldn't know whether to believe or not anyway. Mostly just venting
A great deal of these of course center around Ed Parker, some would make him a saint who could do no wrong, his word absolute. Others say he was a genius who's work supercedes any flaws he may have had. Still others claim he was a charlatan, a racist, a con-man selling off rank to the highest bidder. What could possibly make a martial arts instructor and small business owner so controversial?
I myself have no right nor need to judge the man. My interest is the Art. Most of my concerns involve questions such as how long was he truly a student? How much of the Mitose / Chow system did he really learn? Was there material that he was not taught because he wasn't Japanese or Chinese, is there material he did not teach to others unless they were Hawaiian, or Morman?
The Tracy's seemed to feel so strongly about these particular issues that they were compelled, so they claim, to go back to James Mitose directly, as well as other students of his, in order to complete their knowledge of Kenpo.
Having a Black Belt in TKD and some Jujitsu training before coming to Kenpo, I have to say that in my opinion Kenpo is a superior art, but neither of the other two systems I trained in had these issues. The information age and internet access has undoubtedly magnified this problem.
I am sure I'm not the only one out there that feels this way or asks these questions, and this thread is not necessarily ment to solicet answers, which I wouldn't know whether to believe or not anyway. Mostly just venting
