Well Mattera did change the Black Belt curriculum to a more Kung Fu style. More so than any other Shaolin Kempo styles out there(Emperado's Kajukenbo, Ralph Castro or Villari)
More like Won Hop Kuen Do style that Al Dacascos started when he split off the Kempo lineage.
USSD may suck at teaching the art cuase the business aspect dilutes it. However, the art itself is good IMHO. They just need to stop churning out "black belts" so that they can offer more schools. They need to stop letting 1st Degree balck blets issued after 2yrs of study, and no other prior exp in MA, be chief instructors.
Is it Shaolin? NO. In my experience of Shaolin, USSD's training method differs to that of Shaolin training. ONe in particular is that USSD does not emphasize stance training and proper transition drills. Is it Kung Fu? Not in the color belt stages. However, the concepts changes, which I believe confuses the heck out of any student if this was thier first experience in MA. Again another fault in teaching method. Anyone with any background with CMA will be able to pick up the transition. Other tend to do CMA using Japenese MA foundation.
As I have said before. It is as close as you are going to get to CMA with an American derived system.
If you look at the roots of the system, you can better understand it and what is being taught to you. The main person in this system is James Mitose. If you believe the story, his MA was handed down by family directly from a Shaolin Monk. Nevertheless it is Japanese MA akin to Shorin Ryu. He then handed this down to Kwai Sun Chow. Chinese decent with a background in Chinese boxing. His Shaolin link has been in dispute, so I am not even going to bring that out. But the man can fight. So there you have the Kung Fu/Karate explaination.
Fast fwd to the Ken(m)po contemporaries:
Ed Parker: Took out the circular movement, low stance, etc. that he deemed were to difficult for the American body to adapt. He added a bit of biology with rigard to motion and body mechanics into the art. It turned out looking more like fancy hand waving in my opinion.
Adriano Emperado et al: Took this art and added bits an pieces of other Asian arts that was lacking. Karate, Judo/Juijitsu, Kenpo, Chinese Boxing. There you have Kajukenbo. Later on Gary Forbach, who took over the reigns, when to China to study more CMA and incorporated it into the system.
Kwai Sun Chow: Kaharo Ho Kempo. This is probably the truest art of Kempo out there. Undiluted.
Then we go to offshoots:
Al Dacascos: Created Won Hop Kuen Do and added more CMA into the system. This is probably the most Kung Fu-like out of all the Kempo offshoots. If you ever see their forms in competition, you would swear it was modern Wushu.
Ralph Castro: Kept more of the American Kenpo of parker however, took in more of CMA into the system.
Nick Cerios: Instructor to Villari which, Mattera denies ever being a student of Villari but he was. Regardless, much like Castro kept the American Kenpo concept. He did change the forms however, more Karate in the color belts. And soft in the higher belts although still not Kung Fu.
He had 2 offshots. Villari and Mattera. Villari schools kept the Nick Cerios concept although Villari added a few forms. Matter broke off and kept much of the lower belt curriculum. Once USSD was established, he changed the black belt curriculum. There were a few black belt from other CMA arts and he assimilated their forms and concepts within the system. For example, I have a few forms I learned while there: Staff and Spear form from N Shaolin LF, Straight sword form from CLF and a broudsword form from N Shoalin.
Hope that explains it. I am by no means an expert. However, I have spent nearly 8yrs. in the Kempo world. Master Ralph Castro then Villari then eventually Mattera's USSD.
Last edited by xcakid; 05-15-2007 at 12:03 PM.
Master of Shaolin I-Ching Bu Ti, GunGoPow and I Hung Wei Lo styles.
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