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On this issue of the Contemporary Zen articles, I am not going to get
on
my soap box. In fact, this article is going to be about something
few ever write about. And I can say this from experience.
Heck,
recently I have found more close minded, brick wall type individuals in
Kenpo then at the Republican National Convention. But I have been
working on new designs for the amulets and clubs, and polishing the
T-shirt
designs, so I feel abnormally good. Also got a bunch of new
designs
for the real studio associated with Dragon Tales. So with all
this
in hand, I give you "All of the stuff I find fantastic about American
Kenpo
Karate."
First and most importantly, this martial art is at it's highest form
the
most practical form of hand-to-hand self defense out there. Which
was it's design in the first place. Granted I have heard
negatively
about this fact, but we are in America and should we be driven to
practical
and effective methods of learning and training, then so be it.
Everything
about Kenpo from start to finish is practical. From the way it is
presented and taught, to it's use of scientific principles to increase
its ability to function. Even one of Kenpo's crowning statements
brings it's effectiveness to light. "To see is to be deceived, to
hear is to doubt, to feel is to know or believe." In other words,
we can tell you how effective it is, but it ain't until you get
Squeezing
the Peach all up on your person that you start to understand.
Another thing I love is, we even have a movie. A pretty good one
at that. It had plot, character development, pretty good acting,
and most importantly fight scene choreography by Mr. Parker
himself.
Now I have heard some things over the years about the fight scenes and
all that, and there is another article (#2 to be exact) if anyone was
curious
how I feel about arguing and complaining in that direction.
Bottom
floor fact is though, whatever you think of it, The Perfect Weapon was
one of the last things Mr. Parker left for all of us. Heck, some
of us were even brought into the art due to the film, which might have
been the idea anyway. Little respect might be in order there I'm
thinkin, besides it's better then To Kill the Golden Goose or whatever
it's called now. Sure the scenes with Larry Tatum and the muscle
guy
were cool, but they weren't very long and the movie was two
hours.
There were a couple of memorable parts with Bong Soo Han but all in
all,
Mr. Parker made the movie, in the long run, as good as it was.
Without
him it would have been Billy Jack; and don't get me started on
that.
I also like American Kenpo's ambiguity, or the fact that it has form
and
substance, but at the same time it doesn't. For
instance:
it's a striking art, but at the same time it has tons of joint
manipulation,
throws, grappling, even weapons training; all of the information
is out there within the art, yet it is still for the student to find
it;
it is drenched and sustained by scientific principles and well-defined
concepts, yet at it's highest level all that thought and theory doesn't
even come into play. These are just a few examples. On
occasion
I have spoken with Jeet Kune Do practitioners about what they do and
discussed
what we do. I have a lot of admiration for their methods, and it
seems as though some of them feel the same. At least, that is the
impression I got. And although I often wonder just how similar
the
two are to each other, as there are similarities elsewhere, there is
also
the understanding that Kenpo is an art unto itself, and resides within
each of us. But it is still pretty creepy getting into the
Infinite
Insights books and some of the Bruce Lee books and see a lot of
similarities.
Kinda cool when ya think about it (but it is probably just me).
Which leads me to my final bit of enjoyment within Kenpo, however there
so much more that it would take several lifetimes to reference it
all.
American Kenpo was developed by Senior Grandmaster Ed Parker, yet it
was
developed to become a part of each person who studies it.
Tailoring
the art to fit the individual, rather than making the individual fit
the
art is one of the founding principles of the art. It's also what
generally sets it apart for other martial arts. This is probably
what I like most, yet it requires a pretty open mind to make it
work.
Too often there is this "it's my way or the highway" attitude, when
really
we should be helping people find the path they wish to take, not force
them to follow your own. Kinda like a guy with a size 13 shoe
forcing
a size 8 shoe guy to wear his moccasins. Oh sure they'll trip
around
a lot and probably break something, but they'll come around
eventually.
It just doesn't work that way. And if you are going to take the
stance
of "everybody is right, and nobody is really wrong" then you should
probably
stick to it. Each of us has our own paths to follow in this big
bag
of fun known as Kenpo, and going around screaming "I know the way,
follow
me" just can't help. And say what you will, but the person I
believe
in most hasn't and doesn't say much of that at all, although if he did
he would be in good company.
I believe what I believe for my reasons, however, I have also been
documented
as standing up for other groups and their practices. Motivational
speaking is one thing, and letting people know what you do is another,
but it shouldn't be at the expense of someone else.
Unfortunately,
more often then not with some people that is all that happens, and
nobody
learns anything that way. Sorry guys, but it's a big, big
universe
and we're all really puny. Just tiny little specks about the size
of... well you get the idea. The point is, no matter where or
when
we came from, we are all here now, and a little more politeness from
everyone
(yes, even me) might just be what the doctor ordered.
All that said, I really like that catsup bottle type move at the end of
Spiraling Twig, and the stick stuff at the end of Capturing the Storm
is
nice too.
Although,
that is just
my impression, I could be mistaken.
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Contemporary Zen
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