Ed Parker

I found this video clip of Ed Parker on You Tube. GM Parker is the father of American Kenpo. I liked this video and think you will too.

Tao Te Ching

This blog is primarily devoted to kenpo karate. But, from time to time I will spotlight other styles of martial arts and share with you what they are doing. Hope you enjoy.

While reading the forums over at the Shen Lung Kung Fu website, I came across a discussion on books. Shen Lung Kung Fu teaches one not only how to discipline their body (through martial training), but it also teaches one to discipline their mind. Students of Shen Lung have "bookwork" that goes hand in hand with their marital training. The three books that Shen Lung Kung Fu students study are The Tao Te Ching, The Art of War, & The Analects of Confucius.

One of their students summed up nicely the reason why they study these books.

"(Tao Te Ching) opens your spirit; (The Art of War) expands your reasoning...into the darker and less pleasant corners of reality; and (The Analects) Confucius brings you back to yourself and the humility of daily life."

I like this. It makes sense and, to me, would seem to greatly expand one's knowledge of the martial arts (particularly if you study a Chinese martial art). So, starting today I am going to begin my own study of these three books. I am hoping, that through my studies, I can come to a better understanding of humanity, and thus a better understanding of myself.

I am going to start with the Tao Te Ching. I found several websites that have English translations of the Tao Te Ching.Here is one of the translations I like the best, and here is another. Wikipedia also has an extensive list of English translations if you'd like to look through them.

Even though I am not a Shen Lung Kung Fu student, my style shares a lot with it. Kenpo, coming from China, shares a lot of the principles and flow of Kung Fu (In fact, kenpo can be classified as a type of kung fu). Hopefully, by following the insights of my friends in Shen Lung, I can become a better, more well rounded martial artist...and a better person.

Kenpo In Action

Here is Nathan performing the IKCA Chinese Kenpo Master Form (Nathan was going for his 4th degree black belt). This is very well done and is a pleasure to watch.

IKCA Master Form

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My Journey In Kenpo

My interest in kenpo began long before I ever stepped foot inside a kenpo dojo. In junior high school I started taking karate lessons at a dojo close to my house (shotokan). I really got in to the whole martial arts thing. Every magazine, every book, every movie that had anything to do with the martial arts I bought, watched, read, and generally soaked it all up like a sponge (yes, I even put good money down to watch several Jean Claude Van-Damme movies). It was around this time that the Jeff Speakman movie The Perfect Weapon came out on VHS. I saw it at a video rental store and it looked interesting. So I rented it…and was totally blown away by the martial art style of Jeff Speakman.

I was a little bit familiar with kenpo due to reading about in the various martial arts magazines I bought. But, I had never before seen kenpo in action. So I began to study up on kenpo (that is when I first came across the name Ed Parker and his books). I seached my area for a school that taught kenpo. Alas and alack, there were none. Most of the schools in the area (at that time) taught taekwondo, shotokan, judo, etc. So, I continued my studies in shotokan until high school…where I was forced to choose between football and the martial arts. After carefully considering my options I found that I got far more dates after a football game than I ever did after a martial arts tournament. Thus, my raging teenage hormones, and a few cheerleaders, compelled me to lay my martial arts training aside. But, martial arts (and kenpo in particular) stayed in my mind.

Flash forward 10 years later. I moved to Alabama to attend graduate school at the University of Alabama. While driving around town one day I heard an ad on the radio for a local karate dojo. I thought about that ad all day. I got home and still could not get the ad out of my mind. I remembered how much I had loved being in the marital art community. I missed it. I looked around and saw my young sons playing. I wanted to share something with them that I had once loved so much. So I decided to sign us up for karate lessons.

We looked around at various schools. There are some good schools here. But, some were not kid friendly and some that were kid friendly wanted just too much money. I had almost given up finding a good school here. But then, as we were driving home, out of the corner of my eye I caught a sign that read “The Kenpo University.” Kenpo. Here. Close. I made an immediate u-turn and went into the school. To make a long story short, when I left that studio not only had I signed up for kenpo lessons, but so had my oldest son and my wife.

Finally, 15 years after watching Jeff Speakman and developing an interest in kenpo, I was going to be a part of the kenpo community. I could not wait.

(To be continued)

Kenpo In Action

This Kenpo In Action comes to us from Michael Miller (via You Tube). Mr. Miller owns Miller's Kenpo Karate Dojo in Bradford, PA. Mr. Miller is a member of the Chinese Karate Federation. Hope you enjoy.

Kenpo Spotlight

This is the first post of our "Kenpo Spotlight" posts. We will spotlight various Kenpo websites, schools, and Kenpo practitioners. Our first Kenpo Spotlight will focus on Kenpo Talk.

Kenpo Talk has an amazing forum. Here, you can find tons of information on Kenpo. There are threads devoted to various Kenpo techniques, to kenpo schools, books, health and fitness, and just about everything you could want to find about Kenpo.

There are sections devoted to the different styles of Kenpo; Ed Parker's Kenpo, IKCA, Tracy Kenpo and others.

The members of the forum are some of the most helpful people you can ever hope to find. They truly love the art of Kenpo and are very willing to help out with questions and problems related to Kenpo. Whether you are a novice or a veteran black belt, you will find new insights and very helpful advice.

So go check out Kenpo Talk. You'll be glad you did.

What is Kenpo?

Kenpo is a Chinese martial art. However, the word "kenpo" (sometimes called "Kempo") is a Japanese word. Kenpo basically translates to "Law of the Fist". And that is a very apt description of Kenpo as Kenpo is known of its quick and hard strikes.

According to Will Tracy, "Kenpo is a Japanese unarmed fighting art that was brought from China to Japan about 700 years ago by the Yoshida Clan and was quickly adopted by the Komatsu Clan."

Much later Kenpo made its way to Hawaii where it was further developed by William K.S. Chow (Professor Chow). One of Prof. Chow's student's was a man by the name of Ed Parker. It would be Parker would popularize Kenpo (and marital arts in general) in the United States. Indeed, Senior Grandmaster Parker is known as the "Father of American Karate".

SGM Parker's influence is still felt in Kenpo today as most American Kenpo styles trace the their lineage back to him. Parker also played a role in the starting of Bruce Lee's Hollywood career and Parker also counted Elvis Presley as one of his students.

For more on SGM Ed Parker click this link.

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. (SGM Ed Parker. Kenpo Creed)