A few kenpo thoughts

I am a little tired tonight as I ran in the Philadelphia Distance Run today, the 13.1 mile fall classic here in Philadelphia.  This 39 year old lawyer is paying the price of his determination today.  I don’t mind, I would rather pay for the scars of achievement than not compete.  I won’t bore anyone with the details, if interested you can check out the details at Run to Lose.I find that sometimes it is difficult to do what is necessary. 

 I ensure that I practice everyday (unless of course I run a half marathon that day).  This can be difficult at times; however, if there are no down days then excuses do not materialize.  Of course I am haunted by a former instructor’s words each day in terms of my training, “If you look for an excuse long enough, you will find one you like.”  So I remember and I push through my drills.  American Kenpo is put together in a two fold track.  The first track is comprised of self defense techniques and the second are comprised of kata, this may be a bit simplistic analysis.  However, I would say that these are the two primary training methods within the system.   The self defense techniques are programmed defenses to differing attacks from punches to kicks to grabs.  The attack is generally countered with a furious combination of hand strikes, low kicks and knees (Kenpo is generally known for its hand strikes).  This is different from other traditional styles which focus more on kata.  I like the self defense techniques as they are like little katas.  When I was studying Wah Lum Kung Fu, you had to do a lot of thinking about the kata to break out techniques from the kata.  American Kenpo (and Chinese Kenpo that I previously studied) gives you a bit of a short cut in the self defense techniques.  Concepts of controlling the height, width and distance of the opponent are part and parcel of the techniques; these are in addition to the standard fare for the beginning student such as proper placement of elbows, punches and arm breaks.  In addition to this working on proper flow of attacks and foot movement can really keep your mind busy.  For me it can be a real adventure, it is amazing the amount of mentally flexibility the average martial artist needs just to be passable.

In addition to the self defense techniques kata are also part of the system.  For those not familiar, kata are a long series of movements comprising attacks and defenses against an imagined opponent (or an actual opponent in two man katas).  It is a choreographed fighting dance.  The techniques within the kata can be broken out the kata for use in actual defense situations.  A lot traditional kung fu styles are like this as I mentioned previously.  As there are a lot of self defense techniques in Kenpo it can be easy to get lazy on practicing Kata to its fullest potential.  I have to keep on myself to make sure I give Kata its due.  Practical self defense is what Kenpo is about and sometimes students can lose sight of the importance of Kata.  I have to remind myself to keep on top of Kata.  As a relative beginner in this system, I have been forcing myself to reconstruct some of my training from Choy Li Fut to supplement my kata practice.  We do what we must. 

With Respect, 

Rob