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dnc101
05-04-2002, 05:05 PM
I am a student of American Kenpo, but due to the fact that my school is over 120 mi. away I have to rely on a lot of other sources for training. I have a lot of videos and books on Kenpo (and other styles) in general. But I'm thinking of getting a set on techniques. Do any of you know of a particular set that you would recomend? I want to find an instructor/author who presents the techniques clearly and is able to dissect the movements and principles. I'm under the NWKKA, but would consider tapes from other lineages. For example, Tracy's style is close enough to be usefull but different enough to be interesting; and the Tracy folks really get into breaking things down.

GeneChing
05-06-2002, 09:44 AM
I know very little about kenpo so I'm stumped as to what to recomend. Maybe if you gave me a better idea of what you are looking for...

FWIW, Ed Parker Jr. is scheduled to appear at our 10 Year Anniversary Party. http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/ezine/10yr/index.html

No_Know
05-06-2002, 06:04 PM
My comprehension, the Chinese swords tend to be flexible to reduce the likeliness of having them locked.

Staves can hit around close blocks.

Swords are not designed to do all sword techniques well. Chinese straight swords slash. In general, Chinese broadswords cut.

Some are designed to hack/chop. But for what this thread's initial post addressed. Those swords are for simulating techniques of deflect, cut, block, slash.

Thrusts can be done with at least some of the materials but it might take high skill to maintain a thrust.

dnc101
05-06-2002, 10:08 PM
Gene,

Thanks for the reply.

Kenpo uses techniques instead of drills to teach movement, although we do drill the techniques up to street force. One popular description of Kenpo is that it is the science of motion. A student is expected to know and understand the principles involved in each technique, and to be able to discuss why they are used there. We break the techniques into their three phases and analyse them. This is one of the things I really enjoy about the art. I'm looking for technique tapes that use this approach.

As a side note, I work out with a bunch of TKDistas. I have recently started breaking their one steps down into the basic principles and applying them with Kenpo form. Some of what I've gleaned from this is pretty good. And it has given me a different perspective on my own art.

This is what I'm looking for in a tape serries- another perspective to run against my own. Another way to put it would be begining to advanced theory applied to technique. AKKS Kenpo would be nice, but I've looked at the Martial Arts Mart catalog and I didn't see anything. But if you have anything in the basic format I've described in anothe art, especially CMA, I might be interested. Sometimes it is good to get a radically different perspective- who knows?

I hope this didn't confuse you too much.

By the way, this is the second attempt to send a message here. At the first attempt everything went a little screwy and no-knows message appeared instead of mine. I can only guess that on another thread everyone is scratching their heads at the irrelevant post that appeared out of the blue.

GeneChing
05-07-2002, 09:22 AM
Most Chinese stuff has a lot of baggage. By that I mean that if you haven't studied it, at least the basics, it can be tough to make the connections. Most of our stuff is form based, which doens't sound like what you're looking for. But it sounds like you have your basics already from kenpo, so let's just go for some good solid combative techniques. Try some of the Chinese military stuff - very effective and it'll give you a sense of the Chinese spin on fighting.

http://store.yahoo.com/martialartsmart/pr-at001.html

FWIW, this is a 2-part vidoe series and a very popular one at that. I am working on a new series with Master Tao, the first vids should be out by the end of the year.

dnc101
05-07-2002, 05:27 PM
Sounds like good advice. I just placed the order- looking forward to getting started.

dnc101
05-11-2002, 11:26 AM
Just got the video (that was fast!) and watched it through once. It has some good stuff, and some I'm not sure about- but I'm willing to try it before I dismiss it. Some initial impressions:

The stance and foot work are similar enough to mine to transfer, except when they leave the lead leg extended. My knee hurts just thinking about that kind of exposure. However, it does leave his rear leg bowed thus allowing a deeper stance and giving more distance without a foot maneuver. I'm also guessing that the bowed leg is 'full', and there is some internal principal at work here. The same goes for punching with the same side hand as the bowed/rear leg without a stance change. That would seem to violate our principle of directional harmony. However, if he is using internal principles he may be channeling energy from the ground up through the bowed leg. I'm groping a little here, since I'm not well versed in internal principles.

Bending over- I don't usually give up my ballance or advance my target area by intentionally bending over. However, those rear grab defense positions look disgustingly familiar, except he makes it work. That's about how I often end up when we work the rear grab defenses up to street force- bent over and trying to get my foundation intact so I can finish the technique, or worse yet- grappling (I wrestled in high school, and lost a lot, so I avoid it if possible). I will definately play with some of these techniques as done in the video.

The style presented here is pretty much head on, straight forward. His angles are subtle, for the most part. That's not too surprising, since this is the street fighting part of the art. That tends to be sudden, straight forward and brutal. Many of the techniques are presented at medium (arms reach) distance. I assume that is for clarity, so the viewer can see the technique more clearly. Otherwise it would be unrealistic to expect an attacker to stand at arms length and throw several punches at your head. With a little immagination however, I can see them working at closer range.

His joint locks surprised me. They seem to be geared more towards the destruction of the opponent than to submission and control. That is fine with me, but since this is a style developed by & for the Chinese police, I expected something a little more benign. My brother is a cop (my dad was a cop, and hand to hand fighting instructor), so I was looking for something more along the lines of submission and control as practiced by our police. This approach is a little different- should be fun to play with.

Any way, it is an interesting video. I'm looking forward to playing arround with some of the moves presented. Thank you for the advice.