Contemporary Zen 1

Recently a question was posed on the American Kenpo Karate International guestbook about all of the Kenpo Karate groups coming together under one roof.  This is such an interesting question that we at Dragon Tales felt we needed to comment on it at one of the Kenpo chatboards.  The response turned out so well that the folks at Dragon Tales decided it should be the 1st installment on the Contemporary Zen page.  Originally this page was going to hit the cutting room floor, there seems to be way to many folks with "heavy" opinions on Kenpo that we thought ours would get in the way.  But with some of the viewpoints that has been thrown around on other sites, and a little prodding, we decided to put this page into construction.  So here is, with some alteration for context, the response to the question of Kenpo Karate system unification.  The response was originally called Utopia vs. Reality.           The question about the unification of American Kenpo under one grandmaster has been a very big question since the passing of Mr. Parker. There are a lot of different viewpoints on this issue, however it is pretty safe to say that the issue boils down to 2 sides.           The 1st side being very simple: it would truly be fantastic if everyone in the IKKA, AKKI, AKKS, and other American Kenpo associations joined together under one roof. If we could find that one person that could continue to push Kenpo into the future, and keep the perpetuation Mr. Parker was doing from day one in a positive direction. This person would be somewhat like Matthew Broderick's character in Ferris Beuler's Day Off.  Someone that everyone admires and that everyone would follow, for the most part, without question.  We could try to find the notes Mr. Parker left and try to finish the current changes he was making before he passed on. And we could even bring all of the experts together to create the most powerful form of self-defense in the world. This unity could, quite honestly, make American Kenpo a bigger household name that Tae Kwon Do, Gracie Jujitsu, or any of the other "commercial" arts (it would certainly be bigger than Tae Bo, oh wait, Kenpo already is). It would truly be a Kenpo Utopia.          However, the reality of Kenpo Unity is that it is pretty unlikely this will happen. Many have tried, from Mr. Jeff Speakman who left the IKKA to start his own organization to bring about Kenpo Unity (an idea that is still questioned by many, but a valiant idea), to the AKKI which was created to keep the Kenpo wheel rolling, so to speak. Some have argued this is due to ego, and although this may sometimes be the case, this is really just a matter of faith. Each of these groups has complete faith in what they are doing and aren't really going to listen to anything negative in their direction if it goes against this faith. And this faith can, in some cases, go against everything Kenpo stands for. Take for instance the AKKI, which is making new innovations to keep Kenpo going into the future. Under Mr. Paul Mills the AKKI is creating some extremely effective empty-hand innovations, and standardizing new and much needed weapons techniques.  Some argue against the AKKI's stand, that Kenpo should be done the exact way Mr. Parker wanted it to be done. The irony of the later thinking is that making your own path and perpetuating Kenpo to be ever changing system is a primary concept in American Kenpo. Even though this idea was lost in the argument due to some else's perception of Kenpo. Is either organization wrong? No, not really, due to both sides are speaking from their faith or belief in Kenpo.          We at Dragon Tales personally fear what would happen if all of Kenpo unified (even though the idea is an interesting one). With all of the different perceptions, beliefs and training concepts from the different systems coming together, not only would their be endless arguments, but they may just turn loyal students into a Kenpo version of Cybil. The confusion for the students would be endless, and possibly make the system about as useful to the student as Deputy Barney Fife in a bank robbery. Although, this is just my impression, I could be mistaken.