Hey Mr Dan. As a Kajukembo black belt, I thank you for the mention of Sijo Adriano Emperado. May great martial arts systems and practitioners came out of the Mitose & Chow schools.
I have to say Jeff Speakman's Kenpo is right on time! His students rock! He should be the ambassador of Kenpo because he is the most famous and knows the art well.
Finding the American Kenpo 5.0 school near me was like finding the holy grail. Wanted to study kenpo since the 1990s when I first saw Perfect Weapon. And I can atest to the international reach of Kenpo 5.0 as I train in Brisbane Australia.
Czech Downunder you are lucky. We don’t even have a single Kenpo Karate school here in The Philippines but I’m already fine training in Kyokushin Karate.
Loving the videos. I myself am a Tracy's kenpo practitioner and i do love my style but am not above learning from other systems of kenpo. I don't believe that any style of kenpo is better than the other only which style is best for you. My instructor Mark Tracy tells me that there's no wrong way or better of kenpo only different. It would be great if every kenpo student, instructors, masters and grandmasters would remember that no matter what style we study that it comes from the same roots and traditions and striving for similar goals.
I was second degree black belt student under Rick Gibbons who was a master student under master Bill Packer. I have witnessed so much infighting in Kenpo over the years and this video was so refreshing to watch in its all inclusiveness to the system/art.
I really enjoy your video on Kenpo history. I’ve been a practitioner for a long tine, since 1979, and I am really glad to see this type of information on Kenpo history. I thought that Al Tracy and Ed Parker made up their difference some time ago, before Ed Parker passed away. My instructor told about that. I get tired of bickering people over the martial arts, it teaches us self discipline, confidence, and develops respect and character. Learning from other systems will help us to realize the vast amount of ways to learning techniques and forms. Keep the videos coming.
Brave dive into the politics. I started but Tracy Kenpo and then switched to Parker. I've been a Parker practitioner now for 20 years. During that time I've also seeked out other styles of martial arts including Jujitsu and then jitsu. I believe all styles of martial arts are related. The basic premise and every system is the same. Don't get hit and keep yourself safe. If a different style has a more efficient way of teaching that basic principle, I will happily integrate it into my Kenpo.
Amen, brother. In my old school, part of our testing requirement was to come up with original self-defense techniques - beginning at freaking orange belt. I'm reading Infinite Insights till the pages are falling off, sparring with guys doing wushu and hapkido... I started cross-training in Wu-style tai chi and got pretty hooked on Capoeira Angola (the old-school, on-the-floor style, not the flashy Regional style). You know what's amazing about kenpo? I'm putting all these ideas out there for belt testing and making a total arse of myself in the process, but every once in a while a 5th-degree black belt who could tear your head off while reading a newspaper would stop and go, "Wait, do that again. I like that." That, to me, encapsulates kenpo.
@@4waySaline that's why a 10th dan is 2 red bars on a black belt instead of a solid red belt. The red indicates mastery. The black is the unknown. Even as a master, there is still much more to learn!
@@netoshelley.denecochea4350 the Tracy Brothers can be considered Ed Parker's most prolific black belts. They have more students under them than any other teacher. What happened was, the Tracy Brothers broke away from Ed Parker and went back to the original Chinese Kenpo system that Parker came out of. You see, but a Time Ed Parker was done creating his American version of the original Chinese system, it was completely unrecognizable. The Tracy Brothers sought to bring the old Chinese traditions and style back to the American Kenpo system that Parker created, thus creating their own sect of Kenpo. I actually started in the Tracy system and got my black belt. Then my school transition into the Parker system. I personally prefer the Parker system over the Tracy system for numerous reasons. But, I don't think one is better than the other. It's whatever is best for you. To give a couple of differences, some of the techniques are the same, but most are different, there is more kicking and less grappling in the Tracy system, the forms are different, but, all the basics are the same. If you learn the basics in the Tracy system, you can easily transition to the parkour system. And vice versa.
My Kenpo training since 1975 had been focused on punches kicks knees elbows, no overkill dramatized techniques. Whirlwind of destruction. We all have different sizes and weight so all these body weapons move differently but same effectiveness. All we had was white brown and black belt ranking. Was only called Kenpo Karate and as i was taught i still teach.
I'm really enjoying this particular series, for personal reasons. I was fortunate enough to attend the first ever Spirit Camp, and I think the attempt to bridge the divide between different styles/eras/politics of kenpo was, at the time, unprecedented. The lineup was incredible: Mr. Trejo, Mr. Sepulveda, Mr. LaBounty, Mr. Duffy, Mr. Speakman, Mr. Planas - every single one of them humble and approachable. Here I am, a stupid yellow belt, and they're letting me armbar them! The camaraderie was amazing: When Mr. Speakman (in his cowboy boots) got up to say a few words, he encouraged us all to keep training, gave thanks to Mr. Parker, and even gave time to thank his prior instructor in Goju-ryu karate. It was a pretty amazing time.
I had just started Kenpo right before that movie came out. Boy was I ever proud to be apart of this art. I really miss it, especially when watching the Perfect Weapon. I would love to train again but the older style if possible. Someday.
Great video! We've become such a fractured community. Even the people training in the 2.0 system only struggle to come together and share a common goal. It would be amazing if we could unify and have the kind of community organization and support that Gracie Jiu Jitsu has.
Kenpo is an amazing art, I've trained a bit of Kosho Ryu Kenpo, implemented in the Kajukenbo method I practice, and the little bit of Kenpo un Kajukenbo.
I have a friend that grew up in Hawaii, He is a 10 dan in Hawaiian Kempo. He's a good teacher, but was not as good in competing when he was a junior black belt, Nidan.
Jeff Speakman introduced the art of American Kenpo to many, including myself. It has become a life long journey I continue to enjoy to this day. I study New Concepts Kenpo or NC Kenpo. In NC Kenpo all our techniques are taught two ways, defensive and offensive. They are further broken into hard control and a soft control using sub level four as a soft control. We incorporate weapon’s training including the sticks, knife , tactical tomahawk and finally taught gun tactics such as clearing a room etc. NC Kenpo is only taught in small private classes . Not for the average person looking for a karate class but rather a college of modern Kenpo.
I spent about 7 years (and was expelled from) practicing American Kenpo as a young man. I can only say the politics are real. I was arrested on a trumped up charge that was dropped but took a plea deal because I owned a bo staff (wooden staff) along with other wooden weapons taught at the school which were illegal in California. Even though I demonstrated alongside police officers, committed no crime other than owning Kenpo wooden weapons, given the organization perhaps thousands of dollars I was expelled to save face for a branch of the origination. I never sued, I was just a kid and I still feel very sad about it til this day. I'm happy the art is incorporating modern MMA elements into it. I kept out of jail because of the wooden weapons, got my police record sealed because I was just a kid. I suffered PTSD for about 15 years. I think I'm over it now.
Good for you. Such a shame that you got all that foisted on you as a kid. I've experienced similar and really empathize, if it helps that others can totally relate . . .
My grandmaster says that `martial art politics' are important for the firm growth of an art. kenpo is just amazing and i have continued to understand the art of kenpo through your great videos. peace. oss!!!!!
GM Speakman fixed the only chinc in American kenpo. The ground game. I figured it out in 78 When I saw a JJ man defeat a karateka easily. Professor Jack S Johns of ATL Black belt academy Kudos Rest in Power. OSS
My personal thoughts as one who has trained and loves American Kenpo is that if you don't question and constantly experement with techniques then you are not studying A K. Also if you do not seek knowledge from and study other disciplines you are not studying A K. You can spend a lifetime studying 1 or 2 techniques. Look at those techniques the eyes of other deciplines you are studying. Be both the attached and the attacker. How would a boxer or grappler react on either side. Understand both sides. Aggressively challenge your best defenses. This to me is how one technique can take a life time to begin to understand. And this is AK for me. All disciplines are important
I like that you mention there’s politics in kempo because there are too many. I train a different kempo style but have American kempo friends and we can see some similarities in techniques and we all believe kempo should be united and not politicized. And I’ve def noticed in kempo teachers always want you to ask questions because it helps you better understand the system or techniques. Other styles other than bjj which does the same being wants students to ask questions aren’t very fond of students asking questions.
I really enjoy your videos on the various karate schools and systems. I find them very informative and unbiased. So, I was looking forward to being introduced to your own system. It is a pity about the politics and fracturing that occurred, but this seems to be a problem with almost every school. What I do find quite commendable is the founder's attitude towards the contributions of his senior students to the evolution of the syllabus. This is very rare and special indeed.
Benn Cohen's Kenpo was where I first found and began training in American Kenpo. That was about 25 years ago in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Good times and even better people.
My Kenpo tradition comes from the legacy of Tomas Connor and Bill Packer. If you do any other videos, I hope that you mention their accomplishments. Mr Connor can be credited with the spread of Kenpo as he applied the business model for Ed Parker and the Tracy's in fact Traco was the organization between Tracy and Conor. And Mr Bill Packer was a significant force in bringing full contact fighting into the mma rhelm.. Mr Speakman approached Mr. Packer and attempted to absorb our schools, AKKA, after. Parkers passing. Mr. Packer laughed him out the door.
Mr. Packers contribution to the full contact fighting world is not known enough. Thanks for bringing it up. I was lucky enough to do some full contact kickboxing classes with him. There also used to be some great late night fights on ESPN where he would be in the corner for his back company team.
IKKA formerly had 32 number system this was prior to the development of web of knowledge SGM Parker was constantly redeveloping his system. One of his students; Mr A.E. Vea (4th degree & VP of IKKA east coast circa1970) advised the Mr Parker amount of material under the 32 system was overwhelming for most students especially children (which was uncommon at that time) had challenges absorbing the Kenpo knowledge base. This information from from IKKA schools around the country contributed to SGM Parker updating his system to what student know to this day.
I started training in martial arts in 1970 and am still at it studying Wing Chun, TKD and currently as a 67yr old Tai Chi. Mr Parker has influenced the western approach to martial arts in a great way and was a giant in the martial arts to be greatly respected!
14:50 This exactly is partly the reason why I, as a new 1st dan coming from a TKD/Hapkido background, did not continue studying Kenpo after I was introduced to it in the laye 1990s. I was put in a situation where I had to choose between studying under one person (who introduced me to the art) or another person with greater skill. That was uncomfortable. I also met Ed Parker Jr and Larry Tatum at their respective schools around this time, which was cool. In the end, however, I chose to stick with TKD/Hapkido.
Very nice. I've been studying/teaching Kenpo since 2003. My instructor studied under Mr Parker and Skip Hancock. We always worked on modifying techniques and were open to other schools doing seminars to add skills to our art. I feel Mr Parker intended for the art to evolve. We were based out of Missoula Montana. I've been in Omaha Nebraska for a year now and still haven't found a school that has what I'm looking for, but I'll keep searching. Thanks for putting the time and effort into your videos.
I agree with you completely, sharing ideas is so much more productive than shutting them out, and I think that Mr. Parker would agree with what you've said. It is hard to find a good Kenpo school. They are out there, but there are so many moving parts to the system that you need to find the school with the right balance. Thank you for supporting the channel!
My sigung was very good friends with mr Parker. They cross trained often when he was in Hawaii. I asked him about kenpo once he only had a few things to say. It was all good! Over the years s my sigung has educated me quite a bit on a lot of arts. It’s fun to learn from people that were there when the arts were being modified and changed by others. That’s why I stay with Kung fu that I can trace back to the beginning and enough people are still around to add to the stories of how things came about. He talks highly about mr speakman.
Thank you Dan, for another great and informative video. From what I am seeing in the comments the politics of kenpo spreads even beyond kenpoists. Personally I love the art, I like the way it favors principle over technique and the concept of graphting is amazing. Keep up the good work, looking forward to the next video in the series!
When I started training in Kenpo I was a wrestler in high school. It was my junior year. The instructors let me spar their black belts but we were allowed to grapple. I was able to easily beat them. They had zero takedown defense. The cool thing is the instructors allowed me to train their students grappling because it was a huge hole in their fighting ability. They even made it a requirement to spar with me allowing me to use my grappling ability for their black belt testing. Even though coming into it as a high school wrestler and easily being able to beat all their students and instructors in a sparring situation with grappling I fell in love with Kenpo because I felt like it made me a more rounded fighter and I would never dismiss it just because it seemed like in a sparring situation with a grappler it just did not work. I have since moved on from Kenpo after only taking it for a couple of years but it’s what got me interested in the martial arts.
There are a lot of Kenpo schools and guys that think they don't need to pay attention to ground fighting. That's why a lot of schools, like Kenpo 5.0, that is making grappling part of their curriculum.
My GM, an old school Korean Grandmaster himself had cross trained in multiple arts in his life. And though he was a Hapkido Grandmaster he also held rankings in Judo and had extensive training in Kung Fu and was a 5 times Golden Golves boxer. As well, in his youth he would get into many street fights. Sometimes to protect his friends from rowdy U.S. Marines, sometimes from people who wanted to test him, sometimes to test himself and at times simply because stuff happens. When he first got to the US he go into fights in downtown L.A. quite often. He used all this to develop his Hapkido and teach us what had worked for him in the streets. But at the same time he has always been very aware that body styles are different. With his experience and his degree in physical education he became an amazing teacher that taught an amazing art. My GM and our school have always been aware that there are different ways of doing things. He/we have always encouraged cross training. ow can you know if your techniques will be effective against another style if you have no experience in other styles or stood against them? We have also been aware that our way may not always be the best. If we find/see a way of doing a technique that works better, is more effective then we are more than happy to change, evolve and learn. I personally have studied over a dozen styles in my life and have had careers that have required me to use my art quite regularly. this has helped me to personally develop what I have been taught and to see how the techniques of my Hapkido can and should be executed in real life. Being a Dojo master that has never been tested in real life is not a bad thing, if what you have been taught and are teaching are tested. No one really wants to be in violent confrontations. Especially with the possible consequences that can befall you here in the U.S. But it is good to know that what you are learning and teaching can and does work and how it should be applied and when......
I loved Kenpo growing up. I was influenced by "The Perfect Weapon" film growing up. But alas there was no studio near me. After moving to Ca I had the pleasure of getting to know Steve Spry a little before he moved from Orange County. But, I do love my art....
My style is called shorinkenjitsu kenpo. It's a style that teaches critical thinking as at the black belt levels we are required to create new techniques and forms in order to be promoted. It was created by Brett Ernest in California and is now being taught in England by Thomas Daw.
Great video. Part One was great too! (I'm a student of Bill Chun Jr, who was taught by Bill Chun Sr and William KS Chow, in Go Shin Jitsu Kenpo and Chinese Kempo of the Chow-Chun Method.)
Need third video on Kenpo. Especially on dissimilar terms and dissimilar variants of Kempo / Kenpo: IIRC, Shorinji Kempo calls their practitioners Kenshi, but the American and Chinese seemingly refer to themselves as Kenpoists. And perhaps some more videos on Kajukenbo / Kajukenpo.
Well, next week is a third Kenpo video that breaks down the symbolism of the art and the elements of the IKKA Kenpo Crest and the other Kenpo elements. As this channel grows we'll be doing more art history videos. :)
Great job thanks for the history, American Kenpo is a very practical street fighting system, and with the evolution of the implementation of speakmans ground fighting add ons very effective!!! I’m a black belt and have been practicing for years and still constantly learning, sometimes techniques can be confusing and repetitive so my advice , combine all of your technique self defense in the moment just let yourself flow at the time of confrontation, forget sequence don’t think just roll with it very effective 😎😎😎😎
I agree Ryder, most people young and old don’t have the mindset for forms / katas or the patients, it does have a purpose but obviously in the moment of contact your self defense technique is key😎😎😎😎😎
I don't spend time training forms. I learn them and only practice them once every now and then to keep the sequence down if I teach someone. Other than that I spend all training time drilling and sparring. I suggest everyone go to a combative arts gym like BJJ or Muay Thai in order to get an idea of what kind of training it takes to make an art effective and then take those training techniques and ideas and do the same with their Kenpo.
@Art of One Dojo Based on what you presented in this video I will probably check out a Kenpo 5.0 dojo when I settle down (if you remember my comment from the last video). I like the integration of grappling as it addresses my concerns about ground fighting situations. I also like the style of sparring allowing the engagement to naturally flow from standing, to the clench, and to the ground (if it even goes there). Do you know if kenpo has a large presence in Texas?
Hi! There are Kenpo schools all over the country and I know there are some in Texas, but don't have exact locations. However, threre IS a Kenpo 5.0 school in San Antonio according to Mr. Speakman's website. Each Speakman school is independently run and work under his banner but I believe they have to adhere to the same standards he sets. Here is the Texas School: www.jeffspeakmantexas.com/ And here is a list of all his schools: jeffspeakman.com/worldwide/#1505320571637-da14b483-d438
@@ArtofOneDojo I probably wont be living in San Antonio unfortunately (wife doesn't like the semi arid climate). I did find a few places that do judo kenpo hybrid programs. I'll probably check one of those out once I make the move.
I too am looking for a kenpo school in texas. I'm about 5 hours from San Antonio though but I have found a place I want to got inquire about in Spring and I did see they do include ground fighting. Its called Modern American Warrior but I'm not what branch they are from. I've seen a couple of places around DFW too
Excellent video. After having experience in several arts, I moved from the Villari / United Studios Kempo to American Kenpo shortly after Mr. Parker's death. Our school chose to keep what you referred to the 2.0 system. After almost 5 years there I had to move on and in my search for quality martial arts training , I also trained in a couple Tracy offshoots as well as Kajukenbo. In my personal opinion, I have yet to find a better style (for me) than American Kenpo. I do keep in touch with some in the Kenpo community and have noted the recent promotion of several leaders to 10th degree. These men are in their 70's plus and have taught for many decades. In their well deserved promotions they have chosen to take the title of Senior Master in humble acknowledgement of Mr. Parker as the Grandmaster. This simple statement gives me hope for the coming together and future of the Kenpo community. My only complaint is the lack of Kenpo schools. I live in the San Francisco Bay area and I only know of one Parker type school among a population of millions. The ridiculous cost of rental space here does make it difficult, but I hope that some can step up and help revive American Kenpo in the Bay Area. If not for myself at least for my son (that is currently learning Aikido) but who could greatly benefit from quality training in American Kenpo
Kenpo schools seem to reside in batches depending on the area of the country. There are 3 schools near me that I know of that still teach close to the Parker system, at least some variation of the 24 and 16 tech curriculum. But other areas they are scarce. It can be hard to find a good one, but when you find it, you know. How did you like Kajukenbo? I haven't tried that one but have been curious how similar or effective it is.
I liked Kajukenbo. Some similarities, but in my opinion not as efficient as 2.0., lacking some of the checking and close in manipulation and without as many - here is why we do this explanations. I left after developing plantar fasciitis from practicing on a hard tile floor
Greetings Shihan (Master) Dan, once again I am intrigued, astonished and further enlightened, into your phenomenal art of Kenpo Karate! I keep on seeing the valuable, compatible, as well as the equally realistic and beneficial aspects of training, that both Kyokushin Karate and Kenpo Karate have in common. I am truly pleased and thankful, that you have described the belt ranking system, of Kenpo Karate along with some of the requirements, needed for each belt ranking level! It is good to once again see Kenpo Karate footage, of its practitioners in training, along with the masters that you interviewed in the first segment, as well as some new masters as well. I was really pleased that you expanded, mentioned and also explained the great, innovative contributions, that master Jeff Speakman, has brought to the art of Kenpo Karate. I truly like how he has incorporated, aspects of grappling and ground fighting, such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, to his system of Kenpo Karate 5.0! The best thing that an instructor can do for his students, is to bring new and beneficial elements, to improve, as well as make the art more well rounded, along with its ability to adapt to any combat situation on the street, be it striking, weapons, or grappling and ground fighting. I was wondering if you do not mind me asking again, what is the meaning of Kenpo Karate's traditional logo of the Tiger 🐯 and the Dragon 🐉, along with the significance of the Chinese Kung Fu, style of bowing 🙇 and saluting ✋, sort to speak! Also do you utter a word or a phrase, when saluting/bowing 🙇 one's master, teacher, instructor, fellow students and so forth? We in Kyokushin Karate say as you might already be aware, the word 'Osu!' whenever salute, greet or bow 🙇. I also found the distinction between the white and black Kenpo Karate (gis) uniforms very interesting and informative, as well as educational. I also like how you touched upon the art of Kajukenbo, of which it also originated from Hawaii, also like Kenpo Karate, Kyokushin Karate for example, it is also a no nonsense, full contact and realistic style of fighting as well. Are you by any chance going to cover in the future, the art of Kajukenbo, as well as its similarities to Kenpo Karate and so forth? I am almost done with the Kyokushin Karate information, I am helping you organise, I am in the process of writing about our katas, then the various Kyokushin organisations, as well as famous Kyokushin Karate practitioners. Reverting back to Kenpo Karate, do you have any weapons training, forms and so forth by any chance? In Kyokushin Karate, although not widely known we also have the bo, nunchaku, tonfa, sai as well as the Samurai sword weapons, training, techniques. Obviously like any other martial arts styles in the world, there are those who might teach weaponry and those who might not do so. By the way I am also curious, should a student move to another state, of which they might not be able to find a Kenpo Karate school, affiliated to one of their previous organisation. Are they still recognised in terms of their rank? For example if in Kyokushin Karate I belong to IKO3 Matsushima, then I move to another state for work purposes, then there is a Kyokushin Karate school,belonging to another organisation, say for example IKO1 Matsui's Kyokushin Karate's group. I am still recognised with my third dan black belt, under their group and obviously one politely explains their situation, therefore is allowed to train with them, while still being recognised by one's rank in the other organisation. Lastly I assume that you might be having a third video segment on the art of Kenpo Karate? It was nice to see you again in action, during some of the visual training segments, that you showcased in this part two video on Kenpo Karate. By the way how many katas (forms) are generally in total in a Kenpo Karate system? I went through all of our Kyokushin Karate style katas and those schools under organisations, that teach the full, original Kyokushin Karate system, as taught by Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, the number of katas in total, are 41! I hope your work is going well, along with your training, as well as that of your students. Greetings from Melbourne, Australia 🇦🇺 as always Shihan (Master) Dan, Osu! 👍 ☺ ✌
Yes, the salute is a triangle over the head, with the thumb and fingers, the two handed prayer position and the sun and moon salute. The creed is all they use , I come to you with kenpo karate should I be forced to defend myself my friends or family yada,yada,yada. If you look into the art you can find all this stuff yourself. But the art is about universal motion, and you will be hard pressed to find a study online about this topic.
matt bugg thank you for your kind response. I asked Master Dan himself, as often on internet one tends to find numerous, vague information at times. Since he is a Kenpo Karate exponent himself, also an experienced, as well as knowledgeable practitioner of the art himself, I thought it was best to get his direct explanation!
@@Soldier-of-God. Greetings! Ok, there is a LOT of information to cover but I'm going to keep it brief because next week IS a third Kenpo video, and the last of this particular series. I will be going back at later dates to do more. Next week I am breaking down the Kenpo Crest (the one you see all the time with the the tiger and the dragon in the crest. That Crest was formed for the International Kenpo Karate Association. The next video actually goes into that and break all the images and Kenpo emblems down. As far as if a Kenpo practitioner moves to a different area and goes to a different Kenpo school...USUALLY they will let you wear your current rank, however if their curriculum is different they will typically freeze you at that belt and let you catch up to the material. As far as the bow into class, we do have a standard tradition. The short version is we stand in a rest stance in line until the Sensei calls attention and then we snap to attention stance. Then we step out into a horse stance with our fist in our hand, head bowed (medication horse stance) until Instructor calls attention again. Then we do the salutation, which I will post a video of. There is a whole sequence to the motions and a "story" that goes along with it. This is a good explanation of it: ua-cam.com/video/vlEzft4ztiw/v-deo.html Some schools will go right into the workout from there, others will have us recite the Kenpo Creed I come to you with only Karate, empty hands. I have no weapons, but should I be forced to defend myself, my principles or my honor, should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong; then here are my weapons, Karate, my empty hands." We don't have 41 Katas but we do have many. Our Katas are divided into 2 types "Forms" and "Sets". Sets are a type of Kata we use that isolates a single idea. The first we learn is "Blocking Set". We lock our legs out into a horse stance and we only work the upper body going through the sequence of blocks for example. The Sets we have in a full curriculum was "Block Set 1 and Block Set 2" "Kick Set 1 and Kick Set 2" "Stance Set 1 and Stance Set 2" "Coordination Set 1 and Coordination Set 2", "Striking Set 1 and Striking Set 2" "Finger Set 1 and Finger Set 2" then a "Staff Set" and a "Two Man Set". Forms are more full, they illustrate motion and concepts of lines of entry and path of travel, as well as a study of how technique sequences flow together. There is a Form at each level and they are: Short Form 1 Long Form 1 Short Form 2 Long Form 2 Short Form 3 Long Form 3 Form 4 Form 5 Form 6 There is also a Form 7 and 8, but there are differences and they aren't quite "official" forms. It was said that Mr. Parker was working on them but not all schools teach them and the ones that do often have different versions.
Art of One Dojo I see thank you for the detailed explanation, I greatly appreciate it, this has been very helpful in understanding the components of Kenpo Karate. My apologies for us in Kyokushin Karate a 5th dan black belt is someone with the rank of a Shihan. Most definitely looking forward to the third video on your art. Thank you for your kind response as always, Osu! 👍 ☺ ✌
I am in the Tracy Kenpo system for the last 40+ years and still practicing 6 days a week at the age of 70. I have no animosity toward any other karate system Kenpo or otherwise. Although I am aware there has been tension between the two systems I don't really recall any negative discussions with other practitioners including with my instructor Mark Miller, Judan. In the 1980's I went to a seminar with GrandMaster Parker held at one of our Tracy schools. It was outstanding and everyone got along great. All of the good people in all systems teach humility, respect for self and others, discipline and of course how to defend ones self. One of the things I like most about Kenpo is the circular pattern of movements which best suites my body size and shape. Both the Tracy and the Parker system's use such circular patterns....Those movements are great for coordination, moving internal energy patterns to cross over from left and right hemispheres of the brain, and obviously they can confuse attackers. By the way you did a great job of honoring Kenpo.
Necrothread but allot of the Tracy system split up. Some schools and 10th degrees even made other unions. UKKF is fairly new and I attended a seminar camp they hosted. Actually you can see Ray Aquila in this video, and he was an instructor there. Very good man, but he has lots of philosophy as well as martial skill. I think his school is called Iron Dragons.
Mantis Kenpo added ground fighting in 1994, and promoted Kenpo students on ground fighting techniques. Mantis Kenpo is from BKF Kenpo of Steve (sanders) Muhammad. Mantis Krnpo was created by Amen K. Rahh who opened the first Kenpo schools throughout Kenya East Africa 20 years ago. web.facebook.com/gmrahh/
@@ArtofOneDojo May I say that your video was truly refreshing as anyone can see you really tried to be unbiased in your interpretation. I was wondering why you showed no video or picture of Dr. Ron Chapel. As a Blackman I am concerned about the lack of Blacks in your video, considering the major impact they had on Kenpo in America.
@@amenkrahh I wanted to but I did not have any photos that I had permission to use. I am using photos and footage I find that are in the public domain or if they give permission for reuse. I was hoping to reach out to him for future videos and try to get approved footage ahead of time. I honestly didn't know about Sublevel 4 until last week when I was researching this video, and when I discovered it existed I did not want to leave Dr. Chapel out, so I tried to include his system in this video.
Don't know if I've said it before, but it merits re-mentioning. I have been studying, teaching and improving on American Kenpo. I am 5'2" and slim, but strong andd 75 years old. I can still move fast and perform all Kenpo techniques. My contribution to american kenpo was creating fifty practical ground techniques. Not wrestling or doing arm and leg locks on the ground, but techniques that gets you off the ground and back on your feet where you belong in American Kenpo, in seconds.
I am familiar with the martial arts politics being a TKD practitioner. Then it was WTF (now just WT) and ITF. I guess it still is. I haven't affiliated with a school in a very long time since my past master died and he also left a bad taste for TKD for me. I continue to work out with my kicks, punches and forms and have done this for the past, almost, 30 years. I am a 3rd Dan in TKD and 4th Dan in HKD. I have recently begun my journey into Kenpo via Tracy Kenpo. Being aware of the politics and whatnot I did a lot of research into both and, because there is no physical B&M school where I live, online instruction was my only option. I really don't want to get into the debate or argument of online vs. in person because this was my only option. Suffice it to say, I have access to video and and live class and personal instruction via Zoom. All that to say, I am well aware of the bad blood in Kenpo but as a practitioner, I hope that I would be welcome into the universal Kenpo brotherhood because it all stems back to one root.
As a student of Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura I know what it is to watch powerful karate organizations split over disagreements. Oyama number one student Tadashi Nakamura left after the open world tournament of 1976 about how that tournament was handle. Kaicho then founded Seido karate in 1976. Then in 2001 Kaicho’s number 1 student THE LATE GREAT SHIHAN WILLIAM OLIVER left because of Kaicho promotion of his son to a position that Shihan disagreed with. Shihan left taking a number of schools and top students with him. These kinds always happens when very creative people have disagreements. It must be hard as hell for a striker to grapple with a natural grappler. I always use my judo to enhance my karate throws , sweeps and joint manipulations. Real grapplers are too strong to get chest to chest with. I’m 6’3” 220lbs. and I don’t want to ever down on the ground for more ten seconds.
Another great video! I love history. Especially martial arts history. Thank you for this. Side-note - Are there any Ed Parker, American Kenpo and/or Jeff Speakman Kenpo 5.0 affiliates near Toronto, ON Canada???
Thank you! We plan to have more history and Origin videos coming out after the New Year! As far as 5.0 schools near Toronto...I'm not sure, here is a list from his website and I don't see Canada listed but if you reach out to them they may be able to recommend a good school nearby? jeffspeakman.com/worldwide/
I studied Lee Wedlakes Kenpo under one of his students in Ohio and years later studied under IKKA Paul Mills Kenpo from one of his students in AZ. They are both clearly American Kenpo, but they were noticeably different, even the way the teachers taught. Some of the techniques where the same, some were different, and everything was in a different order. I dont know much about the politics or who did what when with style branches, but it seems I fell into that unwittingly. My IKKA Teacher, I could tell, did not prefer the style/method I was originally taught. I've been inactive for a while now but am interested in Kenpo 5.0. I would be interested to see what Paul Mills has to say about Speakmans 5.0
Thank you for the video. I am a fan of history in general and appreciate you making Kenpo history accessible. Looking forward to more as I, being new to Kenpo, try to figure out where my school fits into the larger picture. I will keep looking, but do you get to Nick Cerio?
I have not gotten to Nick Cerio yet, there is still a lot of Kenpo info I'd like to put out there but after 3 episodes in a row I had to start diversifying a bit on the channel :) There will be more Kenpo videos in the future.
American Kenpo has influenced the Okinawan Kenpo I am learning in Yuma Arizona. There was lots of interaction between Ed Parker and his students with the Arviso family here during tournaments and such. I think American Kenpo has taken the Okinawan concept of Hindi to its fullest application. However, not the spirit of Hindi, which I find is what leads to all the politics. Masters used to teach students one on one. So, the kata were often changed to fit that student at that time. Masters would also see that a particular movement of the kata was less effective than another movement, and would adjust the kata. So, two students of the same master would learn different varients of the same kata. Meaning, there is no right version of a kata. Look at Odo Sensei perform Seisan (Oki-Ken-Kai still use this version), and then look at the Shotokan Hangetsu. These are suposedly the same kata but they look wildly different. Also, look at Niseishi compared to Nijushiho. Those are the same kata as well, but the older kenpo version does not include some of the other strikes. Kusanku and Kanku dai are another variation of the same kata. Which is the correct one? They all are. There is no need to put one over the other. The fracturing of American Kenpo looks a lot like the JKA vs Okinawan Karate split. However, I find these fractures are merely cosmetic issues that have been blown out of proportion by those forgetting the purpose of Kenpo. To understand, imporove, and protect ourselves through fist law. Be it Okinawan, Japanese, Chinese, or American.
I've been doing Kenpo for nearly 26 years now, along with other arts. I started in the Parker system, dabbled in the 5.0 system, and finally settled in the Paul Mills system. I got bored with the Parker system and realized there needed to be some evolution of the art because it really hadn't changed since he died which has been nearly 40 years. I find that odd considering he made changes to the system throughout his entire time practicing the art which was like 4 modifications in a 30-40 year span. Then he dies and boom...no changes at all. I went to the 5.0 system but got bored with that when I realized it was nothing more than the Parker system with some MMA mixed in. I already train MMA (BJJ, Muay Thai, boxing and wrestling) and quickly recognized that the 5.0 system was not going to give me anything I didn't already have. My original Kenpo instructor had switched to the MILLS system (AKKI) so I went there once when visiting family (20 yrs retired military and don't live where I grew up) and I'm happy I did. I feel the Mills system actually PROGRESSES Kenpo. I'm actually learning new things now. I think it's a shame more people aren't aware of the AKKI system, even within the Kenpo community. I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with Mr. Mills aversion to technology though lol. And he hates when people put out videos cuz they usually do a poor job so you can never find anything out unless you actually go to an AKKI school. And then they usually hold things back unless you commit to training with them.
@@richnielsen4465 the basics are the same. What's probably the most noticeable difference is the use of rhythmic timing patterns. It's hard to explain without actually showing you but the timing patterns help make grafting much more spontaneous. Also as you get more advanced in the system and your understanding of it you start to revisit this earlier techniques and completely change the way you execute the technique simply by inserting timing without actually changing the technique. This makes them more "dynamic" I guess would be the word. Definitely much more fun. The forms are similar yet different. The normal basic sets are gone and now inserted into the forms. There are only 3 forms but they have advanced versions so as you get higher in rank you revisit the forms and change the way you execute them much the same way you would change the way you execute the techniques. The other big difference is the sets. Like I said earlier the old sets are gone and have been integrated into the forms. The new sets are basically two person drills. In fact if you know the Filipino martial arts hubud drill then you sort of know the first set in the AKKI system called the universal set. The universal also has an advanced version that you do later. There's another two person set called centerline set that you can do as a drill to work on the inside of punches to make your techniques that work on the inside more spontaneous. You're basically working the wedging concept in that set. There's also trapping at, for you guessed it, trapping. If you watch some jeet kun do videos on trapping you can get the concept of that. Most of brown belt level techniques are offensive techniques where you learn trapping entries against your opponent mixed with the technique patterns that you already learned at earlier belt levels. They are very similar to the jeet kun do trapping entries in those videos and even similar to the freestyle techniques from the Parker system like B1A etc. There's more like the club and knife curriculum that is much like FMA stuff but with an AKKI kenpo flavor. It's really hard to sit here and explain all the differences but those are the major ones I guess. I think the use of drills to help transfer the techniques to a fight situation is the thing that I really like the most. It can really make Kenpo come alive even in sparring, where mostly you see even Kenpoists just do nothing more than bad kickboxing. Having said all that there are still a lot of akki schools that don't take advantage of all the tools and still focus on the training methods that you see in most Parker schools that do nothing more than forms and techniques lines with point sparring of they even spar. Where are you located?
@@richnielsen4465 I think there's a couple schools there. Mr. Mills lives in Evanston Wyoming so Salt Lake is where most of the schools associated with him are at. I think the best one in that area is the one called American Combat Training or ACT. The others are ok but I think that is the better one and the one that takes the tools within the curriculum and uses those tools for their intended purposes instead of just doing a cookie cutter version of the curriculum.
Great job. I really enjoyed watching this video. Unfortunately like in many styles, there is division between groups. But overall we should develop the idea we are all martial arts therefor we are part of a huge family. And should respect each other's knowledge, skills, and beliefs. Keep up the great work.
I can't seem to find any information on the differences between Chinese Kenpo and Ed Parker's Kenpo compared to today's American Kenpo. Can you help point me in the right direction? Thank you.
It seems to be more of a fluid word, There is a Chinese Kenpo that was formed by Chuck Sullivan that used Parker as roots but broke off and is different. Kara Ho Kempo may have some Chinese aspects to it and it doesn't help that sometimes Kenpo is called Chinese Karate. It's a bit ambiguous as each school seems to use the term differently.
Would be nice to see you do a video on larry Tatum, I know the past and history was bad but he is a real dragon and most people in the kenpo world know LT students as bad asses. Its only fair because you spoke about AT
I study Techno-Hung Vaapad 5.36 hybrid with Kali 2nd generation Mk VII inverted dynamic strengthining hatha-chuan , and classical Klingon Mokbara to channel agression when I am not able to practise Vaapad with my purple lightsaber safely. But I am modifying it all to version 5.37 by summer.
Hello, as somebody who has a large kenpo history knowledge. I wonder if You know anything about one of ed parkers first/second gen students named Bryan Hawkins and his kenpo system? IM searching for a new school and info on instructors is hard to come by. Do You know anything about him? Or anybody in the comment section?
I don't know him personally but I've heard of him, and the last I understood he was teaching traditional Ed Parker Kenpo. I would not know how to contact him unfortunately, but there is a Facebook group called "Kenpo, past, present, future", someone there may know.
@@ArtofOneDojo thank You for the reply. I met him on Wednesday, he is very nice and a easy going. I am going to try a class on Monday. Its just interesting for a 9th grade there isn't a lot of info on him out there. There are so many variants of kenpo would you have a link to "traditional ed Parker kenpo vids on youtube? Is Larry tatum traditional?
@@FingerBlaster5000 Yes, Larry Tatum is traditional Ed Parker Kenpo. He has some variations to his techniques that I didn't learn but he's a great teacher and he moves EXTREMELY well. he has a mobile app that give you access to all of his curriculum and it's a pretty good watch. I think there is a free trial too.
@@ArtofOneDojo I would love to learn from tatum but I don't think he teaches in person anymore. Just online and seminars. Don't quote Me in that though. I think I'm gonna try Hawkins first. Thanks for the info. Cheers.
@@FingerBlaster5000 I'm honestly not sure if Tatum still teaches regular classes, but from the little bit I've heard about Mr. Hawkins that seems to be a great choice as well :)
Yeah, organization and unification are key elements in a global martial art's viability that people don't talk about enough. I used to do Hapkido when I was younger and it had a similar problem - too many organizations. I joined a new school once when I moved abroad and, while I really respected the instructor and his technique, the style itself was unrecognizable to me based on my personal experience. Then I switched to Shorinji Kempo, but even though it's still well unified overall, more and more schools are recently breaking off and becoming independent for political reasons. It may just be an inevitability.
Kenpo was once huge where I live. There were more Japanese influenced schools and the Tracy's system schools. If the Tracy's system was revamped every 5 years in the 90s it may have stayed as big as it was.
What about Larry Tatum? His technique of Kenpo looks vastly different than what was presented here. He appears to be 9th or 10th dan. Surely he has impacted the style of Kenpo.
Grandmaster Mitose to William Kwai Sang Chow to Edmund Park & Adriano Directo Emperado. Mitose system was very circular and mystical/religious. Chows system very linear and Chinese kung fu mixed. Parkers version put back in circular movement but withdrew all mysticism and religion. Also Parker too time designed to teach the system too students effectively increasing the student retention and understand of the "why we do this" part of martial arts
I enjoyed this, I know nothing about American kenpo (a little now), i really like it, the only thing i'm skeptical about is the forms ( I'm from a trad japanese background), they look very long and over complicated, could you perhaps break one down in the future. As with politics, its an easy thing to get sucked into, i've done it (to my shame), but i think it is a younger person who feels the need to engage in it, only when you get old do you realize that there are many paths to the top of the mountain, but we all get there in the end (well hopefully). Great video
i have a question hopefully someone can help me with- when i was younger, i would spar an older gentleman that claimed he knew "kaje-kempo" im probably butchering the spelling- but i was wondering what even is that- the movements didnt resemble any of these kempo styles listed in the video- he often would lead with a rolling jab that he would continuously roll with his hand in a claw like reverse pose / outwardly aside from that bizarre characteristic, his style to me seemed like kickboxing with some light wing chun my background is boxing, judo, and jujitsu so im not familiar with this kinda stuff but nowadays im curious about it
Hey Mr Dan. As a Kajukembo black belt, I thank you for the mention of Sijo Adriano Emperado. May great martial arts systems and practitioners came out of the Mitose & Chow schools.
I have to say Jeff Speakman's Kenpo is right on time! His students rock! He should be the ambassador of Kenpo because he is the most famous and knows the art well.
Finding the American Kenpo 5.0 school near me was like finding the holy grail. Wanted to study kenpo since the 1990s when I first saw Perfect Weapon. And I can atest to the international reach of Kenpo 5.0 as I train in Brisbane Australia.
All I know is the Sensei in a perfect weapon looked nothing like Ed Parker .
Dude, there's a 5.0 school within sight of my apartment here in California. I'm super excited. I'm going there to check it out Wednesday!!
Czech Downunder you are lucky. We don’t even have a single Kenpo Karate school here in The Philippines but I’m already fine training in Kyokushin Karate.
@@chadwizick where do you live?
incredible.I practice Kenpo 5.0 and it really is the most complete system for a person who likes and loves martial arts
Loving the videos. I myself am a Tracy's kenpo practitioner and i do love my style but am not above learning from other systems of kenpo. I don't believe that any style of kenpo is better than the other only which style is best for you. My instructor Mark Tracy tells me that there's no wrong way or better of kenpo only different. It would be great if every kenpo student, instructors, masters and grandmasters would remember that no matter what style we study that it comes from the same roots and traditions and striving for similar goals.
I do gotta say, Mr Speakman is great for being open minded to incorporate something outside their own art.
Mr. Speakman has become the “superstar” of Kenpo Karate and it was from his movie The Perfect Weapon where I get to know this fighting style.
That's because he knows its supposed evolve with what's modern
I was second degree black belt student under Rick Gibbons who was a master student under master Bill Packer. I have witnessed so much infighting in Kenpo over the years and this video was so refreshing to watch in its all inclusiveness to the system/art.
I really enjoy your video on Kenpo history. I’ve been a practitioner for a long tine, since 1979, and I am really glad to see this type of information on Kenpo history. I thought that Al Tracy and Ed Parker made up their difference some time ago, before Ed Parker passed away. My instructor told about that.
I get tired of bickering people over the martial arts, it teaches us self discipline, confidence, and develops respect and character. Learning from other systems will help us to realize the vast amount of ways to learning techniques and forms. Keep the videos coming.
Brave dive into the politics. I started but Tracy Kenpo and then switched to Parker. I've been a Parker practitioner now for 20 years. During that time I've also seeked out other styles of martial arts including Jujitsu and then jitsu. I believe all styles of martial arts are related. The basic premise and every system is the same. Don't get hit and keep yourself safe. If a different style has a more efficient way of teaching that basic principle, I will happily integrate it into my Kenpo.
Amen, brother. In my old school, part of our testing requirement was to come up with original self-defense techniques - beginning at freaking orange belt. I'm reading Infinite Insights till the pages are falling off, sparring with guys doing wushu and hapkido... I started cross-training in Wu-style tai chi and got pretty hooked on Capoeira Angola (the old-school, on-the-floor style, not the flashy Regional style). You know what's amazing about kenpo? I'm putting all these ideas out there for belt testing and making a total arse of myself in the process, but every once in a while a 5th-degree black belt who could tear your head off while reading a newspaper would stop and go, "Wait, do that again. I like that." That, to me, encapsulates kenpo.
@@4waySaline that's why a 10th dan is 2 red bars on a black belt instead of a solid red belt. The red indicates mastery. The black is the unknown. Even as a master, there is still much more to learn!
ua-cam.com/video/W27MUet3uxk/v-deo.html
@@netoshelley.denecochea4350 the Tracy Brothers can be considered Ed Parker's most prolific black belts. They have more students under them than any other teacher. What happened was, the Tracy Brothers broke away from Ed Parker and went back to the original Chinese Kenpo system that Parker came out of. You see, but a Time Ed Parker was done creating his American version of the original Chinese system, it was completely unrecognizable. The Tracy Brothers sought to bring the old Chinese traditions and style back to the American Kenpo system that Parker created, thus creating their own sect of Kenpo. I actually started in the Tracy system and got my black belt. Then my school transition into the Parker system. I personally prefer the Parker system over the Tracy system for numerous reasons. But, I don't think one is better than the other. It's whatever is best for you. To give a couple of differences, some of the techniques are the same, but most are different, there is more kicking and less grappling in the Tracy system, the forms are different, but, all the basics are the same. If you learn the basics in the Tracy system, you can easily transition to the parkour system. And vice versa.
@@richardthemagician8991 thank you 🙏 very helpful
My Kenpo training since 1975 had been focused on punches kicks knees elbows, no overkill dramatized techniques. Whirlwind of destruction. We all have different sizes and weight so all these body weapons move differently but same effectiveness. All we had was white brown and black belt ranking. Was only called Kenpo Karate and as i was taught i still teach.
I'm really enjoying this particular series, for personal reasons. I was fortunate enough to attend the first ever Spirit Camp, and I think the attempt to bridge the divide between different styles/eras/politics of kenpo was, at the time, unprecedented. The lineup was incredible: Mr. Trejo, Mr. Sepulveda, Mr. LaBounty, Mr. Duffy, Mr. Speakman, Mr. Planas - every single one of them humble and approachable. Here I am, a stupid yellow belt, and they're letting me armbar them! The camaraderie was amazing: When Mr. Speakman (in his cowboy boots) got up to say a few words, he encouraged us all to keep training, gave thanks to Mr. Parker, and even gave time to thank his prior instructor in Goju-ryu karate. It was a pretty amazing time.
That sounds like it was an amazing time! Mr. Trejo was an amazing martial artist and I'm really sad he passed away this year.
I had just started Kenpo right before that movie came out. Boy was I ever proud to be apart of this art. I really miss it, especially when watching the Perfect Weapon. I would love to train again but the older style if possible. Someday.
Great video! We've become such a fractured community. Even the people training in the 2.0 system only struggle to come together and share a common goal. It would be amazing if we could unify and have the kind of community organization and support that Gracie Jiu Jitsu has.
Grandmaster Parker is such an inspiration. Let his legacy continue and grow
Kenpo is an amazing art, I've trained a bit of Kosho Ryu Kenpo, implemented in the Kajukenbo method I practice, and the little bit of Kenpo un Kajukenbo.
I have a friend that grew up in Hawaii, He is a 10 dan in Hawaiian Kempo.
He's a good teacher, but was not as good in competing when he was a junior black belt, Nidan.
Kenpo in any language is Kenpo. Beautiful.
Jeff Speakman introduced the art of American Kenpo to many, including myself. It has become a life long journey I continue to enjoy to this day.
I study New Concepts Kenpo or NC Kenpo. In NC Kenpo all our techniques are taught two ways, defensive and offensive. They are further broken into hard control and a soft control using sub level four as a soft control. We incorporate weapon’s training including the sticks, knife , tactical tomahawk and finally taught gun tactics such as clearing a room etc. NC Kenpo is only taught in small private classes . Not for the average person looking for a karate class but rather a college of modern Kenpo.
Love your videos, all of them informative and interesting. Keep ‘em coming!
Thank you! I appreciate that!
I spent about 7 years (and was expelled from) practicing American Kenpo as a young man. I can only say the politics are real. I was arrested on a trumped up charge that was dropped but took a plea deal because I owned a bo staff (wooden staff) along with other wooden weapons taught at the school which were illegal in California. Even though I demonstrated alongside police officers, committed no crime other than owning Kenpo wooden weapons, given the organization perhaps thousands of dollars I was expelled to save face for a branch of the origination. I never sued, I was just a kid and I still feel very sad about it til this day. I'm happy the art is incorporating modern MMA elements into it.
I kept out of jail because of the wooden weapons, got my police record sealed because I was just a kid. I suffered PTSD for about 15 years. I think I'm over it now.
Good for you. Such a shame that you got all that foisted on you as a kid. I've experienced similar and really empathize, if it helps that others can totally relate . . .
Can you say Larry Tatum .
My grandmaster says that `martial art politics' are important for the firm growth of an art. kenpo is just amazing and i have continued to understand the art of kenpo through your great videos. peace.
oss!!!!!
GM Speakman fixed the only chinc in American kenpo. The ground game. I figured it out in 78 When I saw a JJ man defeat a karateka easily. Professor Jack S Johns of ATL Black belt academy Kudos Rest in Power. OSS
You do realize Okinawan Karate styles have ground fighting. 🤦🤣
My personal thoughts as one who has trained and loves American Kenpo is that if you don't question and constantly experement with techniques then you are not studying A K. Also if you do not seek knowledge from and study other disciplines you are not studying A K. You can spend a lifetime studying 1 or 2 techniques. Look at those techniques the eyes of other deciplines you are studying. Be both the attached and the attacker. How would a boxer or grappler react on either side. Understand both sides. Aggressively challenge your best defenses. This to me is how one technique can take a life time to begin to understand. And this is AK for me. All disciplines are important
Among the best planned and executed video series on UA-cam. Many thanks.
I like that you mention there’s politics in kempo because there are too many. I train a different kempo style but have American kempo friends and we can see some similarities in techniques and we all believe kempo should be united and not politicized. And I’ve def noticed in kempo teachers always want you to ask questions because it helps you better understand the system or techniques. Other styles other than bjj which does the same being wants students to ask questions aren’t very fond of students asking questions.
I really enjoy your videos on the various karate schools and systems. I find them very informative and unbiased. So, I was looking forward to being introduced to your own system. It is a pity about the politics and fracturing that occurred, but this seems to be a problem with almost every school. What I do find quite commendable is the founder's attitude towards the contributions of his senior students to the evolution of the syllabus. This is very rare and special indeed.
and tgen came the absolute pinacle of american kempo-MASTER KEN
And as always, re stomp the groin.
jadekayak01 LOL! Hell yeah!
Master Ken rules!
True!
I'm a year late, but other people watching later might like to know that they film in and work with a Kenpo 5.0 school in Albuquerque.
@@DUARTE99 He is a joke. He isn’t even legit.
Benn Cohen's Kenpo was where I first found and began training in American Kenpo. That was about 25 years ago in Altamonte Springs, Florida. Good times and even better people.
just took my first american kenpo . great time
My Kenpo tradition comes from the legacy of Tomas Connor and Bill Packer. If you do any other videos, I hope that you mention their accomplishments. Mr Connor can be credited with the spread of Kenpo as he applied the business model for Ed Parker and the Tracy's in fact Traco was the organization between Tracy and Conor. And Mr Bill Packer was a significant force in bringing full contact fighting into the mma rhelm.. Mr Speakman approached Mr. Packer and attempted to absorb our schools, AKKA, after. Parkers passing. Mr. Packer laughed him out the door.
Mr. Packers contribution to the full contact fighting world is not known enough. Thanks for bringing it up. I was lucky enough to do some full contact kickboxing classes with him. There also used to be some great late night fights on ESPN where he would be in the corner for his back company team.
Extremely happy to hear you give a mention to Kajukenbo and Adriano and Joe Emperado!
IKKA formerly had 32 number system this was prior to the development of web of knowledge SGM Parker was constantly redeveloping his system. One of his students; Mr A.E. Vea (4th degree & VP of IKKA east coast circa1970) advised the Mr Parker amount of material under the 32 system was overwhelming for most students especially children (which was uncommon at that time) had challenges absorbing the Kenpo knowledge base. This information from from IKKA schools around the country contributed to SGM Parker updating his system to what student know to this day.
I started training in martial arts in 1970 and am still at it studying Wing Chun, TKD and currently as a 67yr old Tai Chi. Mr Parker has influenced the western approach to martial arts in a great way and was a giant in the martial arts to be greatly respected!
14:50 This exactly is partly the reason why I, as a new 1st dan coming from a TKD/Hapkido background, did not continue studying Kenpo after I was introduced to it in the laye 1990s. I was put in a situation where I had to choose between studying under one person (who introduced me to the art) or another person with greater skill. That was uncomfortable. I also met Ed Parker Jr and Larry Tatum at their respective schools around this time, which was cool. In the end, however, I chose to stick with TKD/Hapkido.
Very nice. I've been studying/teaching Kenpo since 2003. My instructor studied under Mr Parker and Skip Hancock. We always worked on modifying techniques and were open to other schools doing seminars to add skills to our art. I feel Mr Parker intended for the art to evolve. We were based out of Missoula Montana. I've been in Omaha Nebraska for a year now and still haven't found a school that has what I'm looking for, but I'll keep searching. Thanks for putting the time and effort into your videos.
I agree with you completely, sharing ideas is so much more productive than shutting them out, and I think that Mr. Parker would agree with what you've said. It is hard to find a good Kenpo school. They are out there, but there are so many moving parts to the system that you need to find the school with the right balance. Thank you for supporting the channel!
Great video! I googled some stuff about American Kenpo before that caused me to have interest in training in it. This video increased my interest. :)
My sigung was very good friends with mr Parker. They cross trained often when he was in Hawaii. I asked him about kenpo once he only had a few things to say. It was all good! Over the years s my sigung has educated me quite a bit on a lot of arts. It’s fun to learn from people that were there when the arts were being modified and changed by others. That’s why I stay with Kung fu that I can trace back to the beginning and enough people are still around to add to the stories of how things came about. He talks highly about mr speakman.
Thank you Dan, for another great and informative video. From what I am seeing in the comments the politics of kenpo spreads even beyond kenpoists. Personally I love the art, I like the way it favors principle over technique and the concept of graphting is amazing. Keep up the good work, looking forward to the next video in the series!
Thank you for putting this videos together with the history of American Kenpo Karate.
Been there . I understand fully the American Kenpo separation. But ... I've been blessed to meet some of the 1st generation black belts.
When I started training in Kenpo I was a wrestler in high school. It was my junior year. The instructors let me spar their black belts but we were allowed to grapple. I was able to easily beat them. They had zero takedown defense. The cool thing is the instructors allowed me to train their students grappling because it was a huge hole in their fighting ability. They even made it a requirement to spar with me allowing me to use my grappling ability for their black belt testing.
Even though coming into it as a high school wrestler and easily being able to beat all their students and instructors in a sparring situation with grappling I fell in love with Kenpo because I felt like it made me a more rounded fighter and I would never dismiss it just because it seemed like in a sparring situation with a grappler it just did not work. I have since moved on from Kenpo after only taking it for a couple of years but it’s what got me interested in the martial arts.
There are a lot of Kenpo schools and guys that think they don't need to pay attention to ground fighting. That's why a lot of schools, like Kenpo 5.0, that is making grappling part of their curriculum.
My GM, an old school Korean Grandmaster himself had cross trained in multiple arts in his life. And though he was a Hapkido Grandmaster he also held rankings in Judo and had extensive training in Kung Fu and was a 5 times Golden Golves boxer. As well, in his youth he would get into many street fights. Sometimes to protect his friends from rowdy U.S. Marines, sometimes from people who wanted to test him, sometimes to test himself and at times simply because stuff happens. When he first got to the US he go into fights in downtown L.A. quite often. He used all this to develop his Hapkido and teach us what had worked for him in the streets. But at the same time he has always been very aware that body styles are different. With his experience and his degree in physical education he became an amazing teacher that taught an amazing art.
My GM and our school have always been aware that there are different ways of doing things. He/we have always encouraged cross training. ow can you know if your techniques will be effective against another style if you have no experience in other styles or stood against them? We have also been aware that our way may not always be the best. If we find/see a way of doing a technique that works better, is more effective then we are more than happy to change, evolve and learn.
I personally have studied over a dozen styles in my life and have had careers that have required me to use my art quite regularly. this has helped me to personally develop what I have been taught and to see how the techniques of my Hapkido can and should be executed in real life. Being a Dojo master that has never been tested in real life is not a bad thing, if what you have been taught and are teaching are tested. No one really wants to be in violent confrontations. Especially with the possible consequences that can befall you here in the U.S. But it is good to know that what you are learning and teaching can and does work and how it should be applied and when......
I loved Kenpo growing up. I was influenced by "The Perfect Weapon" film growing up. But alas there was no studio near me. After moving to Ca I had the pleasure of getting to know Steve Spry a little before he moved from Orange County. But, I do love my art....
Very well said, and this is the type of training attitude that I think makes martial artists as balanced as they can be.
Very, very well put together and thought out video. Excellent commentary and intelligent script. Just like the art of American Kenpo. Thank you.
This is awesome. I studied under Mr Cohen for years.
My style is called shorinkenjitsu kenpo. It's a style that teaches critical thinking as at the black belt levels we are required to create new techniques and forms in order to be promoted. It was created by Brett Ernest in California and is now being taught in England by Thomas Daw.
Great video. Part One was great too!
(I'm a student of Bill Chun Jr, who was taught by Bill Chun Sr and William KS Chow, in Go Shin Jitsu Kenpo and Chinese Kempo of the Chow-Chun Method.)
Need third video on Kenpo. Especially on dissimilar terms and dissimilar variants of Kempo / Kenpo: IIRC, Shorinji Kempo calls their practitioners Kenshi, but the American and Chinese seemingly refer to themselves as Kenpoists. And perhaps some more videos on Kajukenbo / Kajukenpo.
Well, next week is a third Kenpo video that breaks down the symbolism of the art and the elements of the IKKA Kenpo Crest and the other Kenpo elements. As this channel grows we'll be doing more art history videos. :)
Great job thanks for the history, American Kenpo is a very practical street fighting system, and with the evolution of the implementation of speakmans ground fighting add ons very effective!!! I’m a black belt and have been practicing for years and still constantly learning, sometimes techniques can be confusing and repetitive so my advice , combine all of your technique self defense in the moment just let yourself flow at the time of confrontation, forget sequence don’t think just roll with it very effective 😎😎😎😎
I agree Ryder, most people young and old don’t have the mindset for forms / katas or the patients, it does have a purpose but obviously in the moment of contact your self defense technique is key😎😎😎😎😎
I don't spend time training forms. I learn them and only practice them once every now and then to keep the sequence down if I teach someone. Other than that I spend all training time drilling and sparring. I suggest everyone go to a combative arts gym like BJJ or Muay Thai in order to get an idea of what kind of training it takes to make an art effective and then take those training techniques and ideas and do the same with their Kenpo.
Childrens' shows
@Art of One Dojo Based on what you presented in this video I will probably check out a Kenpo 5.0 dojo when I settle down (if you remember my comment from the last video). I like the integration of grappling as it addresses my concerns about ground fighting situations. I also like the style of sparring allowing the engagement to naturally flow from standing, to the clench, and to the ground (if it even goes there). Do you know if kenpo has a large presence in Texas?
Hi! There are Kenpo schools all over the country and I know there are some in Texas, but don't have exact locations. However, threre IS a Kenpo 5.0 school in San Antonio according to Mr. Speakman's website. Each Speakman school is independently run and work under his banner but I believe they have to adhere to the same standards he sets.
Here is the Texas School:
www.jeffspeakmantexas.com/
And here is a list of all his schools:
jeffspeakman.com/worldwide/#1505320571637-da14b483-d438
@@ArtofOneDojo I probably wont be living in San Antonio unfortunately (wife doesn't like the semi arid climate). I did find a few places that do judo kenpo hybrid programs. I'll probably check one of those out once I make the move.
I too am looking for a kenpo school in texas. I'm about 5 hours from San Antonio though but I have found a place I want to got inquire about in Spring and I did see they do include ground fighting. Its called Modern American Warrior but I'm not what branch they are from. I've seen a couple of places around DFW too
Your videos are always so well presented mate. Great to see the art I practice being researched and presented by you.
I think American Kenpo is a underrated martial arts as it holds many technique for self defense.
Awesome video. I appreciate how you break down the American Kenpo system.
Excellent video. After having experience in several arts, I moved from the Villari / United Studios Kempo to American Kenpo shortly after Mr. Parker's death. Our school chose to keep what you referred to the 2.0 system. After almost 5 years there I had to move on and in my search for quality martial arts training , I also trained in a couple Tracy offshoots as well as Kajukenbo. In my personal opinion, I have yet to find a better style (for me) than American Kenpo. I do keep in touch with some in the Kenpo community and have noted the recent promotion of several leaders to 10th degree. These men are in their 70's plus and have taught for many decades. In their well deserved promotions they have chosen to take the title of Senior Master in humble acknowledgement of Mr. Parker as the Grandmaster. This simple statement gives me hope for the coming together and future of the Kenpo community. My only complaint is the lack of Kenpo schools. I live in the San Francisco Bay area and I only know of one Parker type school among a population of millions. The ridiculous cost of rental space here does make it difficult, but I hope that some can step up and help revive American Kenpo in the Bay Area. If not for myself at least for my son (that is currently learning Aikido) but who could greatly benefit from quality training in American Kenpo
Kenpo schools seem to reside in batches depending on the area of the country. There are 3 schools near me that I know of that still teach close to the Parker system, at least some variation of the 24 and 16 tech curriculum. But other areas they are scarce. It can be hard to find a good one, but when you find it, you know.
How did you like Kajukenbo? I haven't tried that one but have been curious how similar or effective it is.
I liked Kajukenbo. Some similarities, but in my opinion not as efficient as 2.0., lacking some of the checking and close in manipulation and without as many - here is why we do this explanations. I left after developing plantar fasciitis from practicing on a hard tile floor
I come from a "Tracy Based" system, I say based because we do have some American Kenpo techniques. Thank you for sharing.
A lot of techniques do cross over. The Tracys did keep some of the Parker Techniques.
Greetings Shihan (Master) Dan, once again I am intrigued, astonished and further enlightened, into your phenomenal art of Kenpo Karate! I keep on seeing the valuable, compatible, as well as the equally realistic and beneficial aspects of training, that both Kyokushin Karate and Kenpo Karate have in common.
I am truly pleased and thankful, that you have described the belt ranking system, of Kenpo Karate along with some of the requirements, needed for each belt ranking level! It is good to once again see Kenpo Karate footage, of its practitioners in training, along with the masters that you interviewed in the first segment, as well as some new masters as well.
I was really pleased that you expanded, mentioned and also explained the great, innovative contributions, that master Jeff Speakman, has brought to the art of Kenpo Karate. I truly like how he has incorporated, aspects of grappling and ground fighting, such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu, to his system of Kenpo Karate 5.0!
The best thing that an instructor can do for his students, is to bring new and beneficial elements, to improve, as well as make the art more well rounded, along with its ability to adapt to any combat situation on the street, be it striking, weapons, or grappling and ground fighting.
I was wondering if you do not mind me asking again, what is the meaning of Kenpo Karate's traditional logo of the Tiger 🐯 and the Dragon 🐉, along with the significance of the Chinese Kung Fu, style of bowing 🙇 and saluting ✋, sort to speak!
Also do you utter a word or a phrase, when saluting/bowing 🙇 one's master, teacher, instructor, fellow students and so forth? We in Kyokushin Karate say as you might already be aware, the word 'Osu!' whenever salute, greet or bow 🙇.
I also found the distinction between the white and black Kenpo Karate (gis) uniforms very interesting and informative, as well as educational. I also like how you touched upon the art of Kajukenbo, of which it also originated from Hawaii, also like Kenpo Karate, Kyokushin Karate for example, it is also a no nonsense, full contact and realistic style of fighting as well. Are you by any chance going to cover in the future, the art of Kajukenbo, as well as its similarities to Kenpo Karate and so forth?
I am almost done with the Kyokushin Karate information, I am helping you organise, I am in the process of writing about our katas, then the various Kyokushin organisations, as well as famous Kyokushin Karate practitioners.
Reverting back to Kenpo Karate, do you have any weapons training, forms and so forth by any chance? In Kyokushin Karate, although not widely known we also have the bo, nunchaku, tonfa, sai as well as the Samurai sword weapons, training, techniques. Obviously like any other martial arts styles in the world, there are those who might teach weaponry and those who might not do so. By the way I am also curious, should a student move to another state, of which they might not be able to find a Kenpo Karate school, affiliated to one of their previous organisation. Are they still recognised in terms of their rank?
For example if in Kyokushin Karate I belong to IKO3 Matsushima, then I move to another state for work purposes, then there is a Kyokushin Karate school,belonging to another organisation, say for example IKO1 Matsui's Kyokushin Karate's group. I am still recognised with my third dan black belt, under their group and obviously one politely explains their situation, therefore is allowed to train with them, while still being recognised by one's rank in the other organisation.
Lastly I assume that you might be having a third video segment on the art of Kenpo Karate? It was nice to see you again in action, during some of the visual training segments, that you showcased in this part two video on Kenpo Karate. By the way how many katas (forms) are generally in total in a Kenpo Karate system? I went through all of our Kyokushin Karate style katas and those schools under organisations, that teach the full, original Kyokushin Karate system, as taught by Sosai Masutatsu Oyama, the number of katas in total, are 41! I hope your work is going well, along with your training, as well as that of your students. Greetings from Melbourne, Australia 🇦🇺 as always Shihan (Master) Dan, Osu! 👍 ☺ ✌
Yes, the salute is a triangle over the head, with the thumb and fingers, the two handed prayer position and the sun and moon salute. The creed is all they use , I come to you with kenpo karate should I be forced to defend myself my friends or family yada,yada,yada. If you look into the art you can find all this stuff yourself. But the art is about universal motion, and you will be hard pressed to find a study online about this topic.
matt bugg thank you for your kind response. I asked Master Dan himself, as often on internet one tends to find numerous, vague information at times. Since he is a Kenpo Karate exponent himself, also an experienced, as well as knowledgeable practitioner of the art himself, I thought it was best to get his direct explanation!
@@Soldier-of-God. Greetings! Ok, there is a LOT of information to cover but I'm going to keep it brief because next week IS a third Kenpo video, and the last of this particular series. I will be going back at later dates to do more. Next week I am breaking down the Kenpo Crest (the one you see all the time with the the tiger and the dragon in the crest. That Crest was formed for the International Kenpo Karate Association. The next video actually goes into that and break all the images and Kenpo emblems down.
As far as if a Kenpo practitioner moves to a different area and goes to a different Kenpo school...USUALLY they will let you wear your current rank, however if their curriculum is different they will typically freeze you at that belt and let you catch up to the material.
As far as the bow into class, we do have a standard tradition. The short version is we stand in a rest stance in line until the Sensei calls attention and then we snap to attention stance. Then we step out into a horse stance with our fist in our hand, head bowed (medication horse stance) until Instructor calls attention again.
Then we do the salutation, which I will post a video of. There is a whole sequence to the motions and a "story" that goes along with it. This is a good explanation of it:
ua-cam.com/video/vlEzft4ztiw/v-deo.html
Some schools will go right into the workout from there, others will have us recite the Kenpo Creed I come to you with only Karate, empty hands. I have no weapons, but should I be forced to defend myself, my principles or my honor, should it be a matter of life or death, of right or wrong; then here are my weapons, Karate, my empty hands."
We don't have 41 Katas but we do have many. Our Katas are divided into 2 types "Forms" and "Sets".
Sets are a type of Kata we use that isolates a single idea. The first we learn is "Blocking Set". We lock our legs out into a horse stance and we only work the upper body going through the sequence of blocks for example. The Sets we have in a full curriculum was "Block Set 1 and Block Set 2" "Kick Set 1 and Kick Set 2" "Stance Set 1 and Stance Set 2" "Coordination Set 1 and Coordination Set 2", "Striking Set 1 and Striking Set 2" "Finger Set 1 and Finger Set 2" then a "Staff Set" and a "Two Man Set".
Forms are more full, they illustrate motion and concepts of lines of entry and path of travel, as well as a study of how technique sequences flow together. There is a Form at each level and they are:
Short Form 1
Long Form 1
Short Form 2
Long Form 2
Short Form 3
Long Form 3
Form 4
Form 5
Form 6
There is also a Form 7 and 8, but there are differences and they aren't quite "official" forms. It was said that Mr. Parker was working on them but not all schools teach them and the ones that do often have different versions.
You don't need to call me Shihan, that is not a title I have earned yet.
Art of One Dojo I see thank you for the detailed explanation, I greatly appreciate it, this has been very helpful in understanding the components of Kenpo Karate. My apologies for us in Kyokushin Karate a 5th dan black belt is someone with the rank of a Shihan. Most definitely looking forward to the third video on your art. Thank you for your kind response as always, Osu! 👍 ☺ ✌
I am in the Tracy Kenpo system for the last 40+ years and still practicing 6 days a week at the age of 70. I have no animosity toward any other karate system Kenpo or otherwise. Although I am aware there has been tension between the two systems I don't really recall any negative discussions with other practitioners including with my instructor Mark Miller, Judan. In the 1980's I went to a seminar with GrandMaster Parker held at one of our Tracy schools. It was outstanding and everyone got along great. All of the good people in all systems teach humility, respect for self and others, discipline and of course how to defend ones self. One of the things I like most about Kenpo is the circular pattern of movements which best suites my body size and shape. Both the Tracy and the Parker system's use such circular patterns....Those movements are great for coordination, moving internal energy patterns to cross over from left and right hemispheres of the brain, and obviously they can confuse attackers. By the way you did a great job of honoring Kenpo.
@@mortgagefinancing5558 My practice enhanced my life in many many ways. Kenpo isn't a fantasy art it is a very effective Art form with deep roots.
Necrothread but allot of the Tracy system split up. Some schools and 10th degrees even made other unions. UKKF is fairly new and I attended a seminar camp they hosted. Actually you can see Ray Aquila in this video, and he was an instructor there. Very good man, but he has lots of philosophy as well as martial skill. I think his school is called Iron Dragons.
More kenpo videos I love them and I now wanna train in amercian kenpo thanks to these videos
Great video thanks. As stated in the first video it's great to see Michael Pick after all these years.
Nice video again very informative. keep the faith👊🇮🇪
Earned my yellow belt back in 1988. Was in the Navy and had to go back to sea. Only now resuming my studies under Sascha Williams
Mantis Kenpo added ground fighting in 1994, and promoted Kenpo students on ground fighting techniques. Mantis Kenpo is from BKF Kenpo of Steve (sanders) Muhammad. Mantis Krnpo was created by Amen K. Rahh who opened the first Kenpo schools throughout Kenya East Africa 20 years ago. web.facebook.com/gmrahh/
I've had three privilege of meeting Mr. Muhammad once at a seminar. Such a smart and kind man doing great work.
@@ArtofOneDojo May I say that your video was truly refreshing as anyone can see you really tried to be unbiased in your interpretation. I was wondering why you showed no video or picture of Dr. Ron Chapel. As a Blackman I am concerned about the lack of Blacks in your video, considering the major impact they had on Kenpo in America.
@@amenkrahh I wanted to but I did not have any photos that I had permission to use. I am using photos and footage I find that are in the public domain or if they give permission for reuse. I was hoping to reach out to him for future videos and try to get approved footage ahead of time.
I honestly didn't know about Sublevel 4 until last week when I was researching this video, and when I discovered it existed I did not want to leave Dr. Chapel out, so I tried to include his system in this video.
Very informative and entertaining. Thanks for posting.
Don't know if I've said it before, but it merits re-mentioning. I have been studying, teaching and improving on American Kenpo. I am 5'2" and slim, but strong andd 75 years old. I can still move fast and perform all Kenpo techniques. My contribution to american kenpo was creating fifty practical ground techniques. Not wrestling or doing arm and leg locks on the ground, but techniques that gets you off the ground and back on your feet where you belong in American Kenpo, in seconds.
I have only recently found your channel and very much enjoy your content. Well done, sir!
I am familiar with the martial arts politics being a TKD practitioner. Then it was WTF (now just WT) and ITF. I guess it still is. I haven't affiliated with a school in a very long time since my past master died and he also left a bad taste for TKD for me. I continue to work out with my kicks, punches and forms and have done this for the past, almost, 30 years. I am a 3rd Dan in TKD and 4th Dan in HKD. I have recently begun my journey into Kenpo via Tracy Kenpo. Being aware of the politics and whatnot I did a lot of research into both and, because there is no physical B&M school where I live, online instruction was my only option. I really don't want to get into the debate or argument of online vs. in person because this was my only option. Suffice it to say, I have access to video and and live class and personal instruction via Zoom. All that to say, I am well aware of the bad blood in Kenpo but as a practitioner, I hope that I would be welcome into the universal Kenpo brotherhood because it all stems back to one root.
Can you do a video on the origins of Goju ryu. History and belt system
Very good story,thanks for the sharing. Q: where or how can I contact you, where are you located at. Thank you again.
Thank you! The best way to contact me is through our Facebook page, you can send a message there. www.Facebook.com/ArtofOneDojo
I'm a Kenpo. And martial arts brother . Enjoy your video brother.
Incredible videos sir. I like that you can do kenpo at any age and weight or height
I have great respect for your Channel. Definitely understand politics and bs inside the art ☯️🇺🇸
As a student of Kaicho Tadashi Nakamura I know what it is to watch powerful karate organizations split over disagreements. Oyama number one student Tadashi Nakamura left after the open world tournament of 1976 about how that tournament was handle. Kaicho then founded Seido karate in 1976. Then in 2001 Kaicho’s number 1 student THE LATE GREAT SHIHAN WILLIAM OLIVER left because of Kaicho promotion of his son to a position that Shihan disagreed with. Shihan left taking a number of schools and top students with him.
These kinds always happens when very creative people have disagreements.
It must be hard as hell for a striker to grapple with a natural grappler. I always use my judo to enhance my karate throws , sweeps and joint manipulations. Real grapplers are too strong to get chest to chest with. I’m 6’3” 220lbs. and I don’t want to ever down on the ground for more ten seconds.
i studied with TIM TUSAUNT KENPO KARATE ' Tracy Kenpo ' grand master & studied with ed parker
Another great video! I love history. Especially martial arts history. Thank you for this.
Side-note - Are there any Ed Parker, American Kenpo and/or Jeff Speakman Kenpo 5.0 affiliates near Toronto, ON Canada???
Thank you! We plan to have more history and Origin videos coming out after the New Year! As far as 5.0 schools near Toronto...I'm not sure, here is a list from his website and I don't see Canada listed but if you reach out to them they may be able to recommend a good school nearby? jeffspeakman.com/worldwide/
I studied Lee Wedlakes Kenpo under one of his students in Ohio and years later studied under IKKA Paul Mills Kenpo from one of his students in AZ. They are both clearly American Kenpo, but they were noticeably different, even the way the teachers taught. Some of the techniques where the same, some were different, and everything was in a different order. I dont know much about the politics or who did what when with style branches, but it seems I fell into that unwittingly. My IKKA Teacher, I could tell, did not prefer the style/method I was originally taught. I've been inactive for a while now but am interested in Kenpo 5.0. I would be interested to see what Paul Mills has to say about Speakmans 5.0
Thank you for the video. I am a fan of history in general and appreciate you making Kenpo history accessible. Looking forward to more as I, being new to Kenpo, try to figure out where my school fits into the larger picture. I will keep looking, but do you get to Nick Cerio?
I have not gotten to Nick Cerio yet, there is still a lot of Kenpo info I'd like to put out there but after 3 episodes in a row I had to start diversifying a bit on the channel :) There will be more Kenpo videos in the future.
American Kenpo has influenced the Okinawan Kenpo I am learning in Yuma Arizona. There was lots of interaction between Ed Parker and his students with the Arviso family here during tournaments and such. I think American Kenpo has taken the Okinawan concept of Hindi to its fullest application. However, not the spirit of Hindi, which I find is what leads to all the politics.
Masters used to teach students one on one. So, the kata were often changed to fit that student at that time. Masters would also see that a particular movement of the kata was less effective than another movement, and would adjust the kata. So, two students of the same master would learn different varients of the same kata. Meaning, there is no right version of a kata. Look at Odo Sensei perform Seisan (Oki-Ken-Kai still use this version), and then look at the Shotokan Hangetsu. These are suposedly the same kata but they look wildly different. Also, look at Niseishi compared to Nijushiho. Those are the same kata as well, but the older kenpo version does not include some of the other strikes. Kusanku and Kanku dai are another variation of the same kata. Which is the correct one? They all are. There is no need to put one over the other.
The fracturing of American Kenpo looks a lot like the JKA vs Okinawan Karate split. However, I find these fractures are merely cosmetic issues that have been blown out of proportion by those forgetting the purpose of Kenpo. To understand, imporove, and protect ourselves through fist law. Be it Okinawan, Japanese, Chinese, or American.
I've been doing Kenpo for nearly 26 years now, along with other arts. I started in the Parker system, dabbled in the 5.0 system, and finally settled in the Paul Mills system. I got bored with the Parker system and realized there needed to be some evolution of the art because it really hadn't changed since he died which has been nearly 40 years. I find that odd considering he made changes to the system throughout his entire time practicing the art which was like 4 modifications in a 30-40 year span. Then he dies and boom...no changes at all. I went to the 5.0 system but got bored with that when I realized it was nothing more than the Parker system with some MMA mixed in. I already train MMA (BJJ, Muay Thai, boxing and wrestling) and quickly recognized that the 5.0 system was not going to give me anything I didn't already have. My original Kenpo instructor had switched to the MILLS system (AKKI) so I went there once when visiting family (20 yrs retired military and don't live where I grew up) and I'm happy I did. I feel the Mills system actually PROGRESSES Kenpo. I'm actually learning new things now. I think it's a shame more people aren't aware of the AKKI system, even within the Kenpo community. I'm pretty sure it has a lot to do with Mr. Mills aversion to technology though lol. And he hates when people put out videos cuz they usually do a poor job so you can never find anything out unless you actually go to an AKKI school. And then they usually hold things back unless you commit to training with them.
How does Paul Mills differ from Parker? He has a school where I live.
@@richnielsen4465 the basics are the same. What's probably the most noticeable difference is the use of rhythmic timing patterns. It's hard to explain without actually showing you but the timing patterns help make grafting much more spontaneous. Also as you get more advanced in the system and your understanding of it you start to revisit this earlier techniques and completely change the way you execute the technique simply by inserting timing without actually changing the technique. This makes them more "dynamic" I guess would be the word. Definitely much more fun. The forms are similar yet different. The normal basic sets are gone and now inserted into the forms. There are only 3 forms but they have advanced versions so as you get higher in rank you revisit the forms and change the way you execute them much the same way you would change the way you execute the techniques. The other big difference is the sets. Like I said earlier the old sets are gone and have been integrated into the forms. The new sets are basically two person drills. In fact if you know the Filipino martial arts hubud drill then you sort of know the first set in the AKKI system called the universal set. The universal also has an advanced version that you do later. There's another two person set called centerline set that you can do as a drill to work on the inside of punches to make your techniques that work on the inside more spontaneous. You're basically working the wedging concept in that set. There's also trapping at, for you guessed it, trapping. If you watch some jeet kun do videos on trapping you can get the concept of that. Most of brown belt level techniques are offensive techniques where you learn trapping entries against your opponent mixed with the technique patterns that you already learned at earlier belt levels. They are very similar to the jeet kun do trapping entries in those videos and even similar to the freestyle techniques from the Parker system like B1A etc.
There's more like the club and knife curriculum that is much like FMA stuff but with an AKKI kenpo flavor. It's really hard to sit here and explain all the differences but those are the major ones I guess. I think the use of drills to help transfer the techniques to a fight situation is the thing that I really like the most. It can really make Kenpo come alive even in sparring, where mostly you see even Kenpoists just do nothing more than bad kickboxing.
Having said all that there are still a lot of akki schools that don't take advantage of all the tools and still focus on the training methods that you see in most Parker schools that do nothing more than forms and techniques lines with point sparring of they even spar. Where are you located?
@@anthonymalgiero4215 Great information, thank you. I'm in Utah, just outside Salt Lake.
@@richnielsen4465 I think there's a couple schools there. Mr. Mills lives in Evanston Wyoming so Salt Lake is where most of the schools associated with him are at. I think the best one in that area is the one called American Combat Training or ACT. The others are ok but I think that is the better one and the one that takes the tools within the curriculum and uses those tools for their intended purposes instead of just doing a cookie cutter version of the curriculum.
The others could do the same just in not as familiar with them.
Great job. I really enjoyed watching this video. Unfortunately like in many styles, there is division between groups. But overall we should develop the idea we are all martial arts therefor we are part of a huge family. And should respect each other's knowledge, skills, and beliefs. Keep up the great work.
I've been trying to figure out the split with Paul Mill's AKKI. Any background on that?
My kenpo instructor learned from al Tracy it would be real interesting if you did a Tracy video 💯
I can't seem to find any information on the differences between Chinese Kenpo and Ed Parker's Kenpo compared to today's American Kenpo. Can you help point me in the right direction? Thank you.
It seems to be more of a fluid word, There is a Chinese Kenpo that was formed by Chuck Sullivan that used Parker as roots but broke off and is different. Kara Ho Kempo may have some Chinese aspects to it and it doesn't help that sometimes Kenpo is called Chinese Karate. It's a bit ambiguous as each school seems to use the term differently.
So kenpo politics is like Gracie politics?
Interesting. Wrestling politics are more so college related.
All martial science communities have the same politics, whos authentic, whos better, real lineage etc
@@jamesowan1066 great analysis 🙏
Great video! Thx 🥋
This was a solid and good video.
Its all kenpo to me I love it
Would be nice to see you do a video on larry Tatum, I know the past and history was bad but he is a real dragon and most people in the kenpo world know LT students as bad asses. Its only fair because you spoke about AT
Ed Parker’s American Kenpo is best system no matter which
@James Roper It was a rehotical statement
I study Techno-Hung Vaapad 5.36 hybrid with Kali 2nd generation Mk VII inverted dynamic strengthining hatha-chuan , and classical Klingon Mokbara to channel agression when I am not able to practise Vaapad with my purple lightsaber safely. But I am modifying it all to version 5.37 by summer.
Hello, as somebody who has a large kenpo history knowledge. I wonder if You know anything about one of ed parkers first/second gen students named Bryan Hawkins and his kenpo system? IM searching for a new school and info on instructors is hard to come by. Do You know anything about him? Or anybody in the comment section?
I don't know him personally but I've heard of him, and the last I understood he was teaching traditional Ed Parker Kenpo. I would not know how to contact him unfortunately, but there is a Facebook group called "Kenpo, past, present, future", someone there may know.
@@ArtofOneDojo thank You for the reply. I met him on Wednesday, he is very nice and a easy going. I am going to try a class on Monday. Its just interesting for a 9th grade there isn't a lot of info on him out there. There are so many variants of kenpo would you have a link to "traditional ed Parker kenpo vids on youtube? Is Larry tatum traditional?
@@FingerBlaster5000 Yes, Larry Tatum is traditional Ed Parker Kenpo. He has some variations to his techniques that I didn't learn but he's a great teacher and he moves EXTREMELY well. he has a mobile app that give you access to all of his curriculum and it's a pretty good watch. I think there is a free trial too.
@@ArtofOneDojo I would love to learn from tatum but I don't think he teaches in person anymore. Just online and seminars. Don't quote Me in that though. I think I'm gonna try Hawkins first. Thanks for the info. Cheers.
@@FingerBlaster5000 I'm honestly not sure if Tatum still teaches regular classes, but from the little bit I've heard about Mr. Hawkins that seems to be a great choice as well :)
Great video. Very informative.
Thank you for sharing! Osu!
Can you do a video on O.E. Simon and Moh Pai Kenpo?
A beautiful piece!👍🏽
Would have been cool if you could have made a video about Kajukenbo and/or Wun Hop Kuen Do :)
Coming in the future :P
Yeah, organization and unification are key elements in a global martial art's viability that people don't talk about enough. I used to do Hapkido when I was younger and it had a similar problem - too many organizations. I joined a new school once when I moved abroad and, while I really respected the instructor and his technique, the style itself was unrecognizable to me based on my personal experience. Then I switched to Shorinji Kempo, but even though it's still well unified overall, more and more schools are recently breaking off and becoming independent for political reasons. It may just be an inevitability.
Hawaiian/US American changes to Asian Kenpo is similar to how Brazilian modified Japanese Jujutsu into BJJ.
cheers amazing video..
Kenpo was once huge where I live. There were more Japanese influenced schools and the Tracy's system schools. If the Tracy's system was revamped every 5 years in the 90s it may have stayed as big as it was.
What about Larry Tatum? His technique of Kenpo looks vastly different than what was presented here. He appears to be 9th or 10th dan. Surely he has impacted the style of Kenpo.
Unless I am mistaken I believe he still teaches Ed Parker Kenpo, but his style and flair is definitely his own.
Grandmaster Mitose to William Kwai Sang Chow to Edmund Park & Adriano Directo Emperado. Mitose system was very circular and mystical/religious. Chows system very linear and Chinese kung fu mixed. Parkers version put back in circular movement but withdrew all mysticism and religion. Also Parker too time designed to teach the system too students effectively increasing the student retention and understand of the "why we do this" part of martial arts
I enjoyed this, I know nothing about American kenpo (a little now), i really like it, the only thing i'm skeptical about is the forms ( I'm from a trad japanese background), they look very long and over complicated, could you perhaps break one down in the future.
As with politics, its an easy thing to get sucked into, i've done it (to my shame), but i think it is a younger person who feels the need to engage in it, only when you get old do you realize that there are many paths to the top of the mountain, but we all get there in the end (well hopefully). Great video
i have a question hopefully someone can help me with- when i was younger, i would spar an older gentleman that claimed he knew "kaje-kempo" im probably butchering the spelling- but i was wondering what even is that-
the movements didnt resemble any of these kempo styles listed in the video-
he often would lead with a rolling jab that he would continuously roll with his hand in a claw like reverse pose / outwardly
aside from that bizarre characteristic, his style to me seemed like kickboxing with some light wing chun
my background is boxing, judo, and jujitsu so im not familiar with this kinda stuff but nowadays im curious about it