My take is that you cant control other people, unless you are committed to using force, and then you have to pay for it, one way or another, but thats a different story. People will always find a way to capitalize on whatever the-flavor-of -the-month happens to be in the martial arts at any given time. After Royce Gracie won a few UFC's, look at how many people started listing BJJ as one of their arts. Look at how many clubs opened up by people that had never heard of BJJ until Royce layed on his back for a few hours in the octagon. The same thing happened with the Israeli art after it made its way into the pages of all the MA rags. Jennifer Lopez struttin her fine-a$$ on the big screen didnt hurt either. Aikidos popularity picked up after Segal started making films, and how many of us have a dragon sword in our closet, just like the one Duncan McCLeod parlayed around on the Highlander. Capitalizm, mass marketing, looking for an easy BLING BLING. Its as much a part of the martial arts as it is every day life.
The one remedy for this problem is education. Read, watch, study, train, learn, and recognize bunk when you see it. I came to kenpo as a Kenpo virgin, except for a little stint with the IKCA, and I was exposed to EPAK from the get go. When my instructor relocated, I became a kenpo ronin, no pun intended. I chanced upon an off-shoot system and it filled its place for me. In fact I am still current in that system. But, whenever I had the chance to retake EPAK, I jumped, no actually I chased it. My EPAK instructor happens to live 24 hours away, and my finances as of late has prevented any one-on-ones, but I continue to stay after my EPAK training.
Kenpo is a state of mind, a life style, a passion. It is engrained in ones fabric. Distance cant stop it. Lack of money cant stop it, nothing can stop it. A person decides to participate, and they decide to stop. There is nothing more pure then one guy, in a garage, sweating his hind quarters off doing delayed sword over, and over, and over, and over. Banging away on a heavy bag, going through which ever form he knows until his kids come out and ask him for a ride to school. IF EPAK is what you are after, GET IT. Let the hodge podge systems of Chinese-Japanese- Brazilian-Knifefighting-Ukranian-Kitchen-Sink-Pepperspray- Clandestine-Killer-Ninja-SOG-Ryu to those misguided souls that have never experienced EPAK. Its been said that ignorance of the law is no excuse, but in kenpo I believe it is. IF a person has never seen a Dennis Conatser or any other quality EPAK instructor move, and see the flame burning in their eyes when they are teaching something, then how can they ever understand. They cant. There is room in the arts for everyone, but when the moment of truth occurs, some of us will go home, and others will go to the emergency room. I am partial to the furnishings at my house, my garage, and my passion.
Keep the flame alive,
Gary Catherman, Kenpoist
