Jimbo

[boxerbilly]

Did you ever get to meet Parker? Or were you lucky enough to attend his seminar's or actually study with him? If so, was he as good as they say?

[Jimbo]

Do you mean Ed Parker? I ask because my Kenpo instructor was Parker Linekin.

I never actually met Ed Parker, but I saw him in person a number of times when I went to his Long Beach Internationals in '81, '82 and probably again in '87. The only time I saw Ed Parker actually demonstrate was in '81, during the masters demos during the finals. He was blazing fast with his Kenpo combos, but even back then I had reservations about those combos. Because the 'dummy' would punch once and stand motionless while the applicator would snap these multiple strikes that I never felt were realistic. And all respect to my own teacher, who to this day was one of the 4 best MAists I've ever had the pleasure to train under. I fully respect Master Linekin; he was extremely knowledgeable and an incredible fighter, and I credit him with exposing his students to other arts/methods, and with sparking my initial interest in CMA. But we never sparred the way the Kenpo self-defense techniques were done.

I'm still certain that Ed Parker would have been a badass in a real fight if he had to be. He was a big guy, too.

[boxerbilly]

Thanks Jimbo.

Yes I meant Ed Parker. I think a lot of people do not realize od big and solid he really was. The pictures and film can look deceiving especially when he is standing next to other guys of similar size.

I experienced the same thing in Isshin Ryu. We trained all this traditional stuff only to drop almost all of it come sparring. I had an advantage in that I studied some ITF.

Think about it. Tommy Carruthers shows similar . Guy stands there and dummies. I don't think Parker ever sparred either. Perhaps he as well believed it developed bad habits. Something he seems to had a few of in the clips I've seen. But, being his size and speed, he could probably get away with it. He even knew he was doing it I am sure. He publicly stated he was not a great kicker.

Now those 2 man self defense sets. I think they are good. I think they can even work to a degree. You can toss the block the punch right out the window. Its just a training cue from the dummy in my opinion. So scrap the block and attack with the combos. You have to probably hit first because if he nails you back that stuff flys right out the window. It becomes a bad approach at that point in time. My opinion. Others see it different. I do love Kenpo. I love it all. It all is beautiful but I think we have to guard ourselves from that stuff sometimes. I think often the beauty is just a cover to hide the mean stuff.

[GeneChing]

That probably doesn't count in this discussion.

[boxerbilly]

It absolutely does count. I'm sure he has his strong points too. Gene, I suspect being who you are you have met so many people we only read about or see youtube clips of. I would say I am envious but I know a lot of stuff you have to deal with may tip the scales to "it ain't all fun dude!"

[boxerbilly]

Found this clip awhile back. Probably the greatest words Ed Parker ever spoke. Many have never even heard of the guy today. Overshadowed by a young man he help bring to attention. Yet it was Ed that did his best to bring everyone together. Regardless his reason for doing so. He did that for a while.

Also, in this clip is a rare glimpse of Jay T. Will running over people. Bad Boy of Kenpo.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGr0DZHy__o

[Jimbo]

Nice clip.

Wow, I caught glimpses of numerous people who were big names in the MA world back in the day, some of whom I haven't thought of in years.

About a decade ago, my CLF Sifu had transferred onto DVD some of his old private super 8 films from the '60s and '70s of not only himself and his students, but also footage of many famous masters of Chinese MA, and the general American MA scene of the time. He set up a booth at the Grand Nationals, and I volunteered to help man the booth. On the DVD cover had some famous names listed. We didn't sell many of them, and I recall some young guy in a gi and black belt reading the famous names and asking, "Hmm, who are they?" It was a bit disheartening.

[boxerbilly]

Nice clip.

Wow, I caught glimpses of numerous people who were big names in the MA world back in the day, some of whom I haven't thought of in years.

About a decade ago, my CLF Sifu had transferred onto DVD some of his old private super 8 films from the '60s and '70s of not only himself and his students, but also footage of many famous masters of Chinese MA, and the general American MA scene of the time. He set up a booth at the Grand Nationals, and I volunteered to help man the booth. On the DVD cover had some famous names listed. We didn't sell many of them, and I recall some young guy in a gi and black belt reading the famous names and asking, "Hmm, who are they?" It was a bit disheartening.

Glad you liked it. I thought you might appreciate that video. I agree. So many are long forgotten. It is a shame.

[mickey]

Greetings,

In the interviews that I have read featuring Ed Parker, only once did he say anything about weight training. When it came to weight training, he briefly mentioned the military press and then seemed to skirt away from the topic. That glimpse was eyebrow raising because, before Kenpo, Ed Parker studied boxing and that realm still has reservations about weight training. It was several years after his passing that I found a book on speed strength training written by someone in his system. There was not an ounce of body building in it. It was and is a darn good book. It gave me an insight on just how quietly progressive Ed Parker was.

Jimbo, Billy, was weight training a part if your Kenpo curriculum?

mickey

[boxerbilly]

Mickey, no. There where no strength training equipment in the school We did do all sorts of bodyweight ladders and stuff like that. In that respect they were far more advanced than TKD or Isshin Ryu. Much was explosive bodyweight exercises.

In one of the 5 set series of Kenpo . Parker mention's weight training and embracing modern methods. I assume, if they are better and safer course.

[Jimbo]

Mickey,

My Kenpo teacher had some weights and a weight bench in a corner of the school, but he didn't teach us how to use them. If you wanted to lift weights, you were expected to do so on your own time. But he was very progressive, emphasizing a lot of body weight strength exercises and cardio at the end of classes. He also emphasized running a lot. This was back in the late '70s. Our classes also had a lot of sparring, and not the tournament tag type. I would imagine he taught much different to Ed Parker. Some of his students back then developed into excellent kickers (kicking was my specialty when I was young), which might not have been the case with Ed Parker's direct students. My Kenpo teacher also had backgrounds in boxing, wrestling, Aikijutsu, and some CMA.

[Kellen Bassette]

My Isshinryu instructor lifted weights, the Go Just Ryu dojo I trained at had a weight room, one TCMA school I trained at had modern weight lifting equipment, another has a lot of traditional style stuff, stone locks, kettle bells, dumb bells ect....there are people that do it...

[Jimbo]

My Isshinryu instructor lifted weights, the Go Just Ryu dojo I trained at had a weight room, one TCMA school I trained at had modern weight lifting equipment, another has a lot of traditional style stuff, stone locks, kettle bells, dumb bells ect....there are people that do it...

True...one CMA school I trained at also had a full weight set.

But just because a school isn't equipped with a weight facility doesn't mean you're expected to avoid weight training. My Kenpo teacher was a big guy who also trained weights, and some students, myself included, weight trained, just not in class. That's why I had weights at home, and also joined a gym back then.

I haven't been doing much weight training for some years now due to a chronic non-MA related injury. I'm in the process of working back into it, though.

[boxerbilly]

My Isshinryu instructor lifted weights, the Go Just Ryu dojo I trained at had a weight room, one TCMA school I trained at had modern weight lifting equipment, another has a lot of traditional style stuff, stone locks, kettle bells, dumb bells ect....there are people that do it...

Hi Kellen,

My Isshin Ryu school on the east coast was huge into weight lifting. In fact they had a weight room. Very well equipped. In that area most of the arts in the area weight trained. It was recommend all use the weights in their off time.

Billy