Web Of Knowledge

[kenpo rusty]

Hi folks. Being a former minion of Mr. Conaster (well - my former instructor (Mr. Seigel) was under him....does that make me a grandminion?? Hmm...) I had the handy and wonderful Web of Knowledge whacked into my head on more than one occassion. Mr. C's curriculum falls under the 16 category, so the Web of Knowledge, as I was taught, works and works well. However, I just moved to a 24 school under Mr. Crews in Missoula, MT, and am still adapting to the new system. What I've noticed is that under the 24 curriculum, the Web of Knowledge breaks down! No longer is there a storm as technique no. 7 under the orange belt. Tis not even a club. Has anyone noticed this?

Yes, I will be bothering Mr. Crews with this perplexion tomorrow...whenever I can hold him down for a minute or two...but I just wanted to throw this at the boards and see what came up.

...hehe...grandminion...*snicker*

Thanks!

 

[michaeledward]

A Kenpo guy in Montana. That's news. Cool.

As for the Web of Knowledge, I think you will find that it was first devised under the 24 technique per belt structure.

I have not analyzed it as closely as some, I'm sure, but I think you'll find a pattern, somewhere.

You will also recall that the system has more Punches than it does Hugs & Holds. There are more Grabs and Tackles than there are Pushes. With this inequity in the quantity of attacks, the Web of Knowledge is destined to break down under the 16 technique per belt chart, or the 24 technique per belt chart. There must be more defenses for Grabs and Punches than a strict adherance to the Web of Knowledge will allow. You'll find this especially noticable in the lower belt ranks.

I also read somewhere, and remember, I haven't studyed this as closely as the Dragon, that the 24 technique per belt structure has the each belt grouped in 8's. The first 8 are review techniques, the second 8 are new material techniques, the third 8 are previews and coming attraction techniques. I don't know how well this holds up either, but somewhere it was floated.

Good Luck in Montana.

 

[Monadnock]

Theres a nice little pattern with the old 32 system too, which predates the 24.

 

[Kenpojujitsu3]

Well....I was told/taught that originally beginners weren't to learn weapon defenses and Orange was originally the first belt. Hense no club techniques on Orange. Later Yellow was added and it contained a club technique for the purpose of the vital footwork element it teaches. I still wouldn't call it a breakdown though....there are other categories that don't show up on other levels as well (combination attacks, two man's, etc)..and some categories that don't show up at all (groundwork, multiple attackers with weapons, multiple knife attacks, knife slashes, defenses against certain diagonal attacks, etc.)...

Check Infinte Insights Volume 5 for the 24 system's Web.

 

[Touch Of Death]

What does the Web of Knowledge teach us about the art?
Sean

 

[Monadnock]

Probably that the techniques cover a broad spectrum of attack categories. It is also a visual aid to find techniques by attack. A study or analysis tool, if you will. That's probably all it was designed to do.

 

[Doc]

Well....I was told/taught that originally beginners weren't to learn weapon defenses and Orange was originally the first belt. Hense no club techniques on Orange. Later Yellow was added and it contained a club technique for the purpose of the vital footwork element it teaches. I still wouldn't call it a breakdown though....there are other categories that don't show up on other levels as well (combination attacks, two man's, etc)..and some categories that don't show up at all (groundwork, multiple attackers with weapons, multiple knife attacks, knife slashes, defenses against certain diagonal attacks, etc.)...

Check Infinte Insights Volume 5 for the 24 system's Web.

Doing your homework again huh. Yes you're correct. Some forget the belts were not all created at the same time. Essentially, the Parker lineage began with white and black, and then filled in the rest.

To that end the Web of Knowledge was created independently of belt colors. Additionally although the 16 curriculum was the last "suggestion" of Parker for his commercial system, Infinite Insights was written in the seventies while the art was in transition, and focused on the 24 intentionally to avoid triggering a rash of quick promotions among member schools and teachers.

By the way, the WOK wasn't supposed to teach you anything. It was designed to insure that you addressed areas of self-defense in your training, and didn't load up on just techniques for right hand punches like many other arts had done. It made you think.

 

[Touch Of Death]

Doing your homework again huh. Yes you're correct. Some forget the belts were not all created at the same time. Essentially, the Parker lineage began with white and black, and then filled in the rest.

To that end the Web of Knowledge was created independently of belt colors. Additionally although the 16 curriculum was the last "suggestion" of Parker for his commercial system, Infinite Insights was written in the seventies while the art was in transition, and focused on the 24 intentionally to avoid triggering a rash of quick promotions among member schools and teachers.

By the way, the WOK wasn't supposed to teach you anything. It was designed to insure that you addressed areas of self-defense in your training, and didn't load up on just techniques for right hand punches like many other arts had done. It made you think.

Then it would follow that it teaches you how to teach with a well rounded approach.
Sean

 

[kenpo rusty]

Thanks for your input, guys! Sadly, I haven't been able to pin down my instructor...either I'm busy, or more likely, he is!

What the WoK helped me with was keeping the techniques straight when learning the system. Beyond 7, silly mneumonic (spelling!) devices kicked in.

And if I need mneumonic devices to memorize the acronyms for an environmental degree, I'll need all the help I can get for rather descriptive and helpful technique names (jkjk)