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The Edged Weapons Training section
will give concepts
of motion for the use of edged man-made weapons studied throughout
American
Kenpo Karate training. The two weapons which will be discussed
most
often will be Kenpo knives and the Kenpo sword. Initially, I must
request that before reading or trying any of the concepts discussed in
this section that you use these weapons with great care so as not to
injure
yourself in any way, and do not over train in these concepts.
Either
of those would be detrimental to continued training and to the safety
of
the practitioner. Being that edged weapons are much more
dangerous
than virtually almost every other weapon in the martial arts, extra
care
must be taken in training. One suggestion would be to use
practices
weapons such as plastic or wooden knives for many hours before training
with real edged weapons. And should you want to train with more
realistic
weapons, another suggestion would be to tape a practice edged weapon
before
working with a live edged weapon. Regardless, the best training is
careful
training.
Edged Weapon training is a completely different issue when it comes to
method of execution. Even different types of bladed weapons can
determine
what tactics or motion the student will utilize. This is the
reason
training should involve working closely with the weapon to get
acquainted
with the feel, positives, and negatives of the tool. What we at
Dragon
Tales call the Kenpo Sword (also known as the Zatoichi Cane Sword),
would
require slightly different motion to be effective than a Dragon's Head
Katana. And a Dragon's Head Katana Sword has a very different
gripping
surface than a regular braided Katana. Where knives are concerned
the Kenpo Karate Knife made by Mr. Gil Hibben has a different weight
and
feel than a Benchmade AFCK Knife. Both of which very popular in
the
Kenpo community. Then there is even the question of safety of the
tool you have chosen, such as some knives like the before mentioned
Benchmade
have a liner-locking device for the blade (for a lot less money),
whereas
a Gerber E-Z Out knife does not. We at Dragon Tales have
consulted
several individuals on various self-defense tools, and the point to all
of this is to find a tool that you are comfortable with and train with
safely with it.
Now with that said, how does this ongoing discussion on 3 Dimensional
action
fit into working with Edged Weapon training? The answer is simple
.... everything. This discussion will start with Kenpo Sword 3
Dimensional
movement concepts, then we will go to Kenpo Knives. Although
requiring
slightly different movements, Kenpo Sword and Kenpo Knives have very
similar
elements. The most similar being that they both have blades,
which
is both a positive and a negative. Yes, a bladed tool can be used
very effectively as a self-defense tool, but if used incorrectly can
bite
you very seriously. A story was told once about fencing, someone
asked what kind of student was more likely to cut themselves with a
fencing
sword, the beginner or the advanced student? The answer is the
advanced
student. This is due to the fact that the beginner is more
uncomfortable
with the blade, so they are more likely to be careful. The
advanced
student, however, is much more comfortable and more likely to make
mistakes
if they are not paying careful attention. Constant training with
practice knives and swords can help to avoid this, and some aspects of
3 Dimensional action will help too.
Kenpo Swords are a lot like Kenpo Staff from the FireStorm training
section
because of the range that can be used and the fact that most swords
require
2 handed operation to be truly effective. Given that most swords
have about 29 inches of blade to be utilized, this extension can be
used
quite well to keep your opponent out of range. Now the difference
between Kenpo and other systems of martial arts is Kenpo analyzes
practical
methods of motion to enhance any and every aspect of
self-defense.
Weapons are the same in Kenpo, to make sword concepts work well in a
street
situation, new methods of execution must be analyzed. Under most
sword training methods the top quarter of the blade is used to execute
cutting techniques which works very well if you have a katana (or
curved)
blade. However, one of the principles of using blades in Kenpo is
to use as much of the tool as possible to get the maximum
results.
Let's take a Right Downward Diagonal Slash from a Right Forward Bow as
an example:
1.)
With your Right Hand over your Left on the grip and the blade facing
upward
next to your Right Shoulder, begin your Diagonal Slash by moving the
grip
first in a striking manner.
2.)
As your blade starts to reach your intended target, arc your slashing
motion
with the bottom quarter of your blade. With the blade coming into
use, begin dropping your weight and converting your Forward Bow to a
Neutral
Bow Stance.
3.)
Use the remaining portion of the blade as you finish with the blade
pointing
towards the ground next to your left hip. As you finish the
slash,
end in a Right Neutral Bow with your weight dropped proportionately.
Not only does that example involve the information discussed in the
Lightning
Strikes page, but also the cutting surface is used more 3
Dimensionally.
By utilizing more of the cutting surface and using an arcing motion
versus
a straight cutting motion, the blade itself becomes more 3 Dimensional
in it's movement. Although a Katana was built more for this kind
of action due to the curve in the blade, a "Kenpo Sword" can also
function
quite well with this arcing motion. With a little practice
bringing
your body into play with the motion of the blade, 3 Dimensional
movements
will become more ingrained and comfortable many different types of
sword-based
tools. There are many different types of practice swords on the
market
which can aid the student in training. Wooden Katana's and Tai
Chi
swords can be purchased through most martial arts suppliers. On
the
other hand, some of the folks at Dragon Tales have used modified tent
poles
for practice with the Kenpo Sword. Different training aids will
be
discussed in later training sections.
Now as far as Kenpo Knives go, there are many training aides that can
be
used to make you movements and techniques more ingrained and
sophisticated.
Everything from kitchen butter knives (which are one of the founders of
Dragon Tales favorites just because of the irony), to actual wooden or
plastic resin replicas of your favorite self-defense knives. Some
of which are also available through martial arts supply companies or
through
your instructor. Other forms of training knives will also be
discussed
in later sections.
Now as far as use of Kenpo Knives, they are truly a more comfortable
extension
of the students natural weapons. Just as with club training,
there
isn't as much of a transition to be made between the empty-hand
principles
and knife concepts. The biggest difference, as with training with
any edged weapon, is something that cannot be stressed enough .... they
are SHARP. This means untold dangers to yourself and others
around
you. If you ever find yourself in a confrontation against an
edged
or even blunt weapon, do whatever you can to escape or get out of the
situation.
Escape is honestly the best method of self-defense available to the
student.
Very few possessions are worth injuring yourself or others. ONLY
if there is no means to escape and your life or those you care about
are
in danger should you use any physical method of self-defense. And
when training with new concepts, such as 3 Dimensional Action, train
carefully
for your and other student's safety.
With 3 Dimensional movement, just as with empty-hand training, your
hands
need to be in direct conjunction with the rest of your body. Yes,
I know this is a pretty basic concept you learn pretty much since most
of us started in Kenpo. However, upon researching information for
3 Dimensional movement, we at Dragon Tales found that the idea we will
be discussing was originally put into print by a rather "paranoid"
martial
artist whose views are generally a little extreme. This is ok
though,
because the first time we at Dragon Tales learned of the concept was
from
a very reputable Kenpo martial artist named Paul Mills, the founder of
the AKKI. So it is definitely a concept worth mentioning over the
internet in more of a training format.
Keeping the knife or knives light and continuously moving is a good way
to start 3 Dimensional Action, and keeping your movements in more of an
arc instead of a straight line is another method. These actions
should
be completed slowly at first if you have not completed a great deal of
training hours. If you have a lot of training hours under your
belt
(pardon the pun) feel free to kick it up a notch with your training
equipment.
Another method of 3 Dimensional Action which was stated by Mr. Paul
Mills
during a Las Vegas Seminar is cutting 3 times whenever utilizing the
blade.
Cutting once is relatively easy to defend against, and twice is also
not
very difficult if you are an expert or highly skilled. However,
cutting
3 times with each strike is almost impossible to defend against, and
creates
a 3rd Dimension to your knife striking motion. An quick example
of
this would be in the beginning of 5 Lances (or 5 Swords with a Kenpo
Knife)
in the fencing or forward position:
As
you block from a Right Neutral Bow with a Left Outward/Right Inward
Hammering
Block (with the bottom of the knife if necessary) begin your
strike.
Although your first strike is a Right Outward Slash, you will want to
arc
your slash to strike 3 different targets with the intended target to be
struck 2nd before it is moved to a checking position. As for your
intended target, it is can be any you chose it to be depending on your
circumstances. For study, the established target would work well.
The
timing on this concept is strike once as you move to the target,
the
target itself, and once as you leave or exit the target
The examples that were just given on 3 Dimensional Action with a Kenpo
Sword and Knives are the same as the other examples on the Empty-Hand
and
Blunt Weapon training sections. They merely scratch the surface
and
give a direction for where to start to increase any level of
training.
All of these discussions can be transferred within each other, or into
different aspects of Kenpo training beyond the examples given.
And
always remember, the only wrong way of Kenpo is putting yourself into
unjustifiable
danger and not following the concepts and principles that make Kenpo
work. |
