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 […]
Month: June 2009
Shaken, Not Stirred
Picture the scene—a grand European casino filled with well-dressed patrons. A strikingly handsome spy stands at the craps table. He replies to the waitress asking for his drink, “A martini, shaken, not stirred.” There is a difference between shaking and stirring—words and mindset matter. Eventually, the theme song begins, and some criminal attacks the heroic […]
Like the Matador: Get Off The Line Of Attack
This gruesome story illustrates a valuable fact of combat – defensive use of the line of attack. The angry bull charges the lone matador, yet the bull cannot gore the matador with his horns. With a subtle turn of the hips, the matador avoids the bull by inches. He does this repeatedly until the bull […]
Out with the Old, In with the New
There’s a story about a family cooking a dinner ham. The daughter asks the mother, “Why do you cut the two ends off the ham?” Mom replies, “I don’t know. That’s how my mother did it.” They call grandma and ask her about the ham. She replies, “I don’t know. That’s how my mother did […]
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!: Situational Awareness in Self-Defense
You’ve seen the television trope where a young woman in heels leaves the well-lit streets in a bad neighborhood to venture down a dark alley. Unsurprisingly, she is caught off-guard by four tough-looking gang members who pop out from the shadowy path. The woman is attacked and robbed, or worse. Why did this happen? The […]
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: Improvised Weapons in Self-Defense
I grew up watching Jackie Chan movies. His movies are slapstick Kung-Fu comedies, and it is obvious he and the other actors have excellent skills in Chinese Kung-Fu. Jackie’s characters would get into fights often, so Jackie would grab the closest object—an umbrella, a bench, or a robe—to defend himself from the bad guys. It […]
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 […]
Strike with the Elbow
The effectiveness of Kempo lies in its ability to produce effective power and accurate targeting in strikes. Those two elements are the basis for all martial arts training – how hard can you hit and where do you hit. Power in your punches is increased incrementally starting with proper posture and arm rotation. There are […]