The theater is dark. The colossal screen depicts two men locked in hand-to-hand combat. The immense sound emanates from the large speakers surrounding your seat. The music drives the action, punch, block, kick, throw, kip-up, and repeat. Movie fight scenes are epic. They are also choreographed and rehearsed for days by trained professionals. Does this mean traditional Kempo Karate isn’t as effective in real life as in movie fights?
The answer is yes, but not as pretty or dynamic. Real fights are messy and unrehearsed. They ramble on in fits of fast and slow, stalemate and advancing. Traditional martial arts’ role is to provide you with the skills and experience to tangle with the unexpected assault. You will have the strength, stamina, and tenacity to defeat your opponent regardless of their skill level.
But this effectiveness comes only from proper training and utilizing the advantages the art gives you. Traditional Kempo Karate teaches flow, leverage, compounding strikes, and fights with multiple opponents.
Kempo Karate uses flow, which provides momentum and power to our strikes. The flow from one technique to another also eliminates openings in our defense. Once we engage in an attack, we continue flowing with attacks until it is advantageous for us to disengage and reset.
Kempo Karate uses leverage to manipulate the opponent. Every limb is a lever that aids in controlling the body of your enemy. Joints only move in predictable, limited ways. Our techniques take advantage of these limitations to create locks and hold that limit your enemy’s ability to attack.
Kempo Karate understands the concept of action and reaction. When you hit specific areas of the body, the body reactions in particular ways; we use this compounding pattern to set up for other strikes, holds, and locks. Kempo Karate strikes to set up following strikes. And we hit until the enemy flees or becomes unconscious.
Finally, Kempo Karate trains you to fight multiple opponents. We believe that most bullies and criminals are cowards. They won’t fight unless they have an advantage, usually their friends who hang back deceptively. Kempo Karate artist assumes that other attackers are waiting. Often, they are there during the initial stages of the fight. Our philosophy is to move and flow between opponents, using leverage and footwork to maintain distance and positioning. We don’t want to get surrounded by the enemy. We also want to eliminate each opponent as quickly as possible until all enemies fall.
Kempo Karate is a useful art in the streets when the artist uses flow, leverage, compounding strikes, and plans for multiple-opponents. We learn these concepts and skills from our training methods and drills. Fights have no rules, and our limitation is only winning. These skills don’t happen overnight or in a weekend seminar. Effective fighting skills need to be rehearsed and practiced over a lifetime to remain ready. The more you practice, the better you get.
If you are interested in street-tested fighting arts, join our Kickboxing and Self-Defense course today. Add in our Traditional Hawaiian Kempo Karate package to become the ultimate urban warrior. Act now because space is limited at our San Diego martial arts school.
