There is a trend in the Shaolin Kempo Karate community to fast track students to instructor roles. Becoming a proficient instructor takes a long time even after Black Belt. Yet there are many instructors who are willing to sour their relationship with customers and students to make a fast buck. Be wary of signing any […]
Month: June 2009
Kempo Glossary of Terms
What do all those strange words mean? The other day while writing my next entry for the blog, I realized that someone might say that very thing. I was using jargon in my blog without ever explaining what the terms mean. Hopefully this will answer questions and help to identify what I mean. If I […]
Shaken, Not Stirred
Many beginning students feel that speed in a technique is the key to success. Nothing is further from the truth. Speed can overwhelm an opponent but it can also upset your rhythm. Maintain a speed where you can comfortably perform each element of your defense. Do not let fear dictate your movements. As part of […]
Like the Matador
The angry bull charges the lone matador, yet he can not gore him with his horns. With a subtle turn of his hips, the matador avoids the bull by inches. He does this time and time again until the bull collapses from exhaustion or is stabbed to death by the matador’s swords. This gruesome story […]
Out with the Old, In with the New
Or why we must untrain bad habits and replace with new good habits The first three ranks of our school (white, yellow and orange belt) are not called beginner ranks. They are called candidate ranks because new students are a little below beginner-level curriculum. Some may walk in an awkward, unbalanced fashion, others may have […]
Distance Training
Over the years I seen lots of students leave the school. Many of these long time students were also family members. Most of them still wish to train in Kempo with me yet the shear distance involved doesn’t facilitate the desire. To solve this dilemma I’ve decided to do something anathema to “true” martial arts […]
Red Light!
Avoiding conflicts requires you to be aware of your surrounding. Awareness must be a constant vigil. There are four threat levels that require a degree of awareness and intuition on your part. Intuition is your feelings or analysis of a situation based on non-verbal, emotional, and body-movement clues. Allow your brain to acknowledge these feelings […]
Kali’s Angles
There are an infinite variety of attacks that can come to you, yet they all must travel along one of the 360 degrees that make up a circle. Of these 360 angles (or degrees), you can reduce the number further still to eight. Practice attacks along these eight primary angles and you can address an […]
Sticks and Stones
The pocket stick or yawara is an effective weapon because it can mimic hand strikes, especially finger strikes. It does a better job since it has no feelings or flesh to cushion your strike. And anything firm about the size of your hand will do as an improvised yawara – pen, pencil, spoon, screwdriver or […]
Unbalanced Point
Have you ever tried to knock over a tripod? It isn’t easy. It’s far easier to knock over a two-legged table. Humans have two legs. We would naturally fall over if it weren’t for our joints, muscles and tendons. Still, we have the capacity to fall over and often we do. In Kempo, we use […]