Here's where I'm coming from folks. When I look at the IP, and this is based on what I was told regarding how it was viewed in 1960, it's designed for an attacker of your general size. After you've gotten the technique down, you need to adjust and try it on people of different size. With that will come the realization you may not be able to do every technique on everybody, it's just not realistic based on size differences. Once you reach a certain level of proficiency, adjustments are taught to compensate for size differences and you start to expand beyond predefined techniques.
Am I the only here who views it that way? I think taking size comparison into account when looking at the IP, a lot of the disagreement over whether or not a technique is good or bad melts away.
We'd both be interested in the perspectives and opinions of the people on this site. Please note that I have one more video to shoot, directly addressing Clyde's contention that the inside block can't break the MT clinch as I showed it could, can does and will in my video.
CLYDE'S REBUTTAL TO ME
MY RESPONSE, PT. 1 OF 2
SCHOOLIN THE PROFESSOR: REBUTTAL TO CLYDE; INSIDE BLOCK VS KNIFE
I do believe people are not always on the same page on what principles, concept, and techniques are. Found an article to move the discussion forward. The article itself is a SEO piece, meaning it is a fluff piece primarily designed to help search engine ranking. Yet it can be a good starting point.
Originally Posted by A part of the article, check article to read more
A technique is a specific set of moves that work under exact circumstances (this person stands like so, extends his hand in this manner, and you do this). Under these conditions this move works well. However, if the person moves his foot, hand, or body the technique will fail because the conditions have changed.Worse, your attacker may never put himself into that "perfect" position.
Concepts are simply notions, ideas, thoughts, or opinions. Nothing more, but these ideas once proven are the impetus toward understanding principles
Principles, however, are the underlying premises and rules of function giving rise to any number of techniques. These elements remain consistent, no matter what is happening. If your training is technique and/or concept oriented, and you are not attacked in the exact way you were taught to, or thought to handle it you will be at a loss. Your self-defense techniques will fail, and you will be hurt. However, with principle based training you can react to the situation and adapt as things change.
So how does that article stack up to what you think these terms mean?
Superior training paradigms yield superior versatility which yields superior functionality which will save your ass in a fight. Saving your ass is a good thing. Less functional to dysfunctional training paradigms yield limited versatility which yields limited functionality or significant dysfunction which amps the chance of getting your ass cooked in a fight. Getting your ass cooked in a fight is NOT a good thing. There ya go.
What's funniest of all is this: all of you guys decrying my lack of Kenpo Knowledge don't even know what I've done. I've taken each technique and made it apply to every attack within the Web of Knowledge plus a few more, and added a few positions, weapons, tactical considerations, and the attendant advances in the athletic, performance, combat and healing sciences/arts. You genuine Keepers of Kenpo Knowledge should have been the first ones onboard my concept and been like:"Good Kenpo!" Instead, most of you were like:"Boo, ATACX GYM!"
My ideas are simple comprehensive and effective: Mandate First Aid and CPR [ stats firmly prove that we'll need to know how to deal with bumps scrapes bruises minor bone setting choking handling and preventative measures and resuscitating techniques much more often than we'll be called upon to use a front kick ] train progressively to defend and attack against and with all of the following in a 360 degree circle, in all stances and positions including seated, kneeling, and prone, weapons [ projectile and non-projectile ], inclusive of firearms, escape/evade, rescue, rescue and escape/evade. Sounds alot like the Web of Knowledge, doesn't it? The Web of Knowledge arranges techniques in the following categories:
1. Grabs and Tackles
2. Pushes
3. Punches
4. Kicks
5. Holds and Hugs
6. Locks and Chokes
7. Weapons
8. Multiple Attacks
^^^^^now add THE ATACX GYM's considerations to the above:
9. Execute every technique from every primary position of advantage and disadvantage, and from every stance in a 360 degree sphere or circle of protection
10. Subgrappling
11. Escape/Evade
12. Rescue
13. Escape/Evade and Rescue
14. First Aid/CPR
15. Weapons training includes firearms,basic tactics of BGs and counters
16. Transitions to and through each category, range and any combination of category and range
17. Include rolling attacks, escapes, and breakfalls
All I say is to train each tech, each stance, each sequence against all of the above categories of attacks and defenses and train the transitions to and through each and every one of the above. Makes sense, right? Can we all agree on that? Can we all say...WHOA ATACX GYM like Al Bundy used to have his family say WHOA BUNDY? Can we all feel the Kenpo komaraderie roundabout these parts? I hope so.
But wait. Now it's time tuh piss yall off.
The training paradigms of the so-called Standard Ideal Phase [ which should never ever exist; there should not be a single homogenous standard of execution of ANY so-called IP sequence in Kenpo. Apparently such a thing was specifically against Mr. Parker's stated wishes on the subject ] are laughably ludicrous. Look at the preposterous attacks the stilted stupid "posing" uke and fake as a $3 bill delivery of counterattack--not the TECHNIQUES being stupid etc the ULTRAFAKE DELIVERY OF THE COUNTERATTACK--and the utterly doofus mindset accompanying them. We deserve every atom of ridicule thrown our way, based upon that crapola. The way most train it? Your Alternating Maces is NOT going to reliably stop that 2 handed push to the chest; so what happens when you fail? The usual bonehead response is to graft to another attack or defense. WRONG. That's pretty stupid. Work the Alternating Maces whether you fail or not...cuz you should've trained it for what happens when you DO fail. It's not encumbent upon the bad guy to ensure that he attacks us with scripted attacks in such a way that it ensures that we can successfully thwart and counter it and take him down. It's encumbent upon us to attack, thwart, and/or counterattack the bad guy no matter WHAT attack he uses against us. The insistence that if you used ALTERNATING MACES vs the one handed push or a grab or a punch fundamentally changes the technique is ALSO false. Not only is it stupid to assert on the surface level, it plays into the danger of "overcomplicating" things when you look at it from a physiological and kinesiological perspective.
It's TRUE that the biological responses, muscles recruited, the load and power of both the defender and the attacker changes physiologically if you change the attack. It changes the kinesiology of your attack and defense. Your body recruits motor nuerons musculature etc etc much differently when you're throwing a kick as opposed to when you're shooting a tackle or swinging a club in defense or in attack.
SO. WHAT.
The Alternating Maces still works FINE thanks when you train it to defend against each and every one of those attacks. What I'm saying...and have been saying for YEARS...is that we should train each sequence against EVERY primary h2h attack which MMA and CQB specialists have already defined for us and add thereunto EVERY category in The Web of Knowledge. The resulting super sequence should be THE BASE SEQUENCE from which we start teaching our students and ourselves as OUR SPECIFIC I.P. And we spend our martial lifetime REFINING said SD sequence. Then repeat with every other self-defense sequence in all of Kenpo. Presto, universally applicable, universally versatile, distinctly Kenpo self-defense...THAT ACTUALLY WORKS FOR A CHANGE. Some of you are probably thinking that I'm saying that your Kenpo isn't functional. Not so. I'm saying that your Kenpo isn't COMPLETE until you've TRAINED FUNCTIONALLY and have trained EVERY SEQUENCE VS EVERY CONSIDERATION IN THE WEB OF KNOWLEDGE...PLUS A FEW MORE. The problem is that the paradigm most prevalent in Kenpo--the standard set for each technique--is dismally low, hellaciously ineffective, atrocious horrible terrible wakk [ insert perjorative of your choice ] and perpetually dysfunctional. It's been allowed to fester for far too long, and far too many kenpoists have been kenpo kult brainwashed into accepting this fecal matter as if its manna from heaven.
That's why the Kenpo Purists displayed their ignorance by going apoplectic when guys like Brian Hawkins and Jeff Speakman wholesale and unapologetically ushered in ground grappling to their Kenpo. That's why they had a cow when Doc Chapel and a few other guys made a few choice comments. And that's why all of you frothing at the mouth about THE ATACX GYM are giving birth to whole solar systems of hate right now. You're perfectly complacent with the dysfunctional drivel that much of Kenpo has become and you see the functional upgrades that I propose as being heresy and proof of my lack Kenpo Knowledge. I have committed treason and sedition against the Kenpo Hierarchy, in your eyes. How dare I take Kenpo and do something as heretical as suggest across the board comprehensive upgrades in the training of Kenpo? Clearly I'm a lunatic! Who in the world would suggest that anyone should take a fighting system and suggest training methods that are more appropriate for today's times and streets than they were 50 years ago! Clearly good ole ATACX GYM has LOST it! I mean, who would do such a thing...?
Ohhhhhhh yeeeeaaaahhh...Kenpo's supposed to be a "living art" that constantly evolves with the times and already has that mandate in its framework...so what's the beef? Really?
So. What happens if you DO practice each of your techs and sequences against all the considerations of The Web of Knowlegde? Well...you get more functional, more knowledgeable, more versatile, far better, have more fun, keep learning stuff you couldn't possibly learn otherwise, stay in tip top shape, differentiate yourself from all other martial styles all the more, prove the large benefits that TMA has allll over MMA...and you give birth to your own highly functional highly personalized, revolutionary Kenpo. The only one of its kind in the world.
I said...you'll give birth to YOUR OWN highly functional, highly personalized, revolutionary Kenpo. the only one of its kind in the world.
Will you wind up looking just like me? Nope. You're inclinations, preferences, interpretations, training modalities etc etc are different than mine. You'll do stuff that floats your boat. You would have FLOAT YOUR BOAT KENPO. I'll have ATACX GYM KENPO. But you know what? Your boat WILL float against any and every thing because you trained your particular preferences vs everything in The Web of Knowledge and then some...and remember there are categories in The Web of Knowledge that YOU WILL ADD FOR YOUR KENPO.IT WILL GIVE YOUR KENPO YOUR PERSONALIZED TOUCH, YOUR SPECIFIC FLAVOR, IF YOU WILL PARDON THE EXPRESSION. My Web of Knowledge stuff doesn't look like my brother kenpoOG's Web of Knowledge stuff. I have Short Bald Head Athletic Nad Smashin Throat Slashin Eye Gougin Plenty Chokin OMG Throwin Weapon Ownin Capoeira Floatin Whoop Gluteus Unapologetically ATACX GYM style Web of Knowledge. KenpoOG has Tall Big Mean Strong As Hell Punt Nads Chop Throats Thoink Eyes Weapon Whompin Yo Momma Throttlin Wicked Kickin Kenpo. You...the people reading this...would have Float Your Boat Kenpo. But we would all work from a common base of knowledge and have a common or at least highly relatable set of expectations drawn from matwork coupled with applied academic study [ yes I said it; you must study human performance and teaching methods and constantly expand and upgrade your knowledge thereof so crack a book already jeez ] that ensures that our scraps work when it's time to scrap.
But we don't have that in Kenpo and in too many other martial arts, do we? Instead, we have an ignoble squabbling bunch of ego driven money grubbin backstabbin snipin stupidity which fractures an art--insert you art here---and prevents it from being the magnificent force for positive human transformation that it could be. You know what? All that crap would HALT if we spent more time on the mat. Eventually--if we train functionally and progressively--we'll come to similar conclusions,and be much more tolerant of each other and much more respectful of each other and be much more willing to share with each other as a result. Have you noted that almost all the top exponents and proponents of particular disciplines and approaches have MORE IN COMMON with each other than things uncommon to each other? Put another way...how many times have you heard Rickson Gracie diss Olympic Judoka or vice versa? How often have you heard Richard Marcinko diss the British SBS? If you've read Mr. Boyd saying disrespectful things about Mr. Chargin Charlie Beckwith...raise your hand. Find a quote of Ernesto Hoost dissing savate champions. Waiting. Tapping my foot. Still waiting. No luck, huh?
Now see if you can find similarities between all of the above. See if you can even see instances where luminaries of each discipline cross trains with luminaries of other disciplines. OH YOU CAN FIND LOTS OF THAT STUFF? There ya go. That's my point.
Functionality not only saves your life and dramatically magnifies the benefits gained by martial training, it squashes even the possibility of much fueding in a genuine sense between practitioners. Superior training yields superior versatility which yields superior results...aka superior functionality. This is what THE ATACX GYM has preached since Day 1, and this is what far too many of you have taken issue with. In the process of taking issue with the above assertions? You have outed yourself as being adept at misunderstanding a simple, clear message...dysfunctional...not as knowledgeable about Kenpo or [ insert your art here ] as you thought...or any combination of the above.
STOMPIN ON STUPID ARGUMENTS BORNE FROM DYSFUNCTIONAL OR LESS FUNCTIONAL PERSPECTIVES
1. ATACX GYM THROWS EVERYTHING AT ONCE AT STUDENTS
No I don't. That's stupid. Remember the definition of Alive aka Functional Training.
Observe my Web Of Knowledge on this thread [ subject to expansion or reduction as my knowledge increases ]. Read my 15 Round, 8 hour guarantee. Very sequential, very progressive, very sensible. Absolutely NOT throwing everything at once...instead? I equip students on a technique by technique basis with the ability to perform in and defeat attacks from every prevalent range and category of self-defense by testing them against everything in my Web of Knowledge.
2. ATACX GYM RELIES UPON SHEER ATHLETICISM; AND NOT ALL OF HIS STUDENTS ARE AS GOOD AN ATHLETE AS HE IS
First? Not true. It's quite revealing that those who claim that I am basically a knowledge impaired athlete fail to grasp the fact that I have to grasp every nuance of a sequence and technique in a superior way in order to perform with more versatility against more stimulus and in broader deeper and more comprehensive aspects than people who see specific narrow limits for specific techniques and sequences. Second? Some of my students are inferior athletes to me, some are better athletes than I am. Regardless? Athleticism is NOT a bad thing. WE SHOULD SEEK TO CULTIVATE ATHLETICISM IN OUR STUDENTS BECAUSE DEFENDING ONESELF IS AN ATHLETIC ENDEAVOR. Period. You don't have to be the best athlete in the world. You DO have to be the best athlete that YOU can be. Otherwise, you're cheating yourself right out the gate and limiting your performance in ways you can't even appreciate from then on.
3. ATACX GYM THINKS ONLY HIS KENPO IS FUNCTIONAL AND EVERYBODY ELSE'S SUCKS.
No I don't. That's a stupid assertion. My beef has been solely focused upon training paradigms and the pitfalls, mindsets, knowledge base, and consequences of dysfunctional and insufficently versatile training paradigms when contrasted with functional universally versatile training paradigms. So shut that up already.
4. ATACX GYM IS JUST LIKE JKD CONCEPTS.
Nope. Atacx Gym is just like Atacx Gym. Next.
5. MY "IDEA NOT IDEAL" PHASE STANDARD IP SEQUENCES ARE FUNCTIONAL AND ARE AS GOOD AS OR BETTER THAN ALL THAT "FUNCTIONAL VERSATILITY" CRAP THAT THE ATACX GYM KEEPS TALKING ABOUT.
No it's not. That "idea not Ideal" Phase Standard IP stuff you practice? Crap. Anus. Trash. Dysfunctional. Frankly? It sucks. It's like a high powered functional old skool vaccuum...it will suck whether you think it will or not. Allow me to stick a flaming Excalibur in a whole mess of hornet nests right quick:
Your Sword and Hammer is supposed to defend against a flank grab and punch, right? Well...in the REAL world? Not even a little bit. Your Sword and Hammer sucks, to be blunt. So do all of your other stuff. Observe:
If you're like the guys doing this tech? You're sincere and have acquired skill doing this pattern against zero resistance. I respect your training ethic...but your training PARADIGM sucks. Real reeeaaaallll baaaaad. Therefore your hindquarters will be smartly punted into time zones--nay--planetary spheres foreign to its rightful location should you have to use your Sword and Hammer in a actual scrap.
This is the attack that Sword and Hammer is supposed to defend against:
Your Sword and Hammer isn't swording or hammering ANYTHING because your training methodology is terminally dysfunctional. Result? You're lookin like that guy who got smacked up out of his pants.
Now, look at my Sword and Hammer series.
ATACX GYM KENPO SWORD AND HAMMER RADIUS R.D.L. PT. 1
Capice? The attack that you're allegedly defending using your Sword and Hammer is usually a SURPRISE attack...otherwise you should have learned how to defend such a basic attack with your handsword and hammerfist when you learned to strike to the flanks and drilled it when you were a white belt.
[ Wait. You DID drill this, right? You drilled your handsword to the cardinal directions, your hammerfist to the cardinal directions, and all your other techs singly and in combination to the cardinal directions right? You hit all kinds of targets, defended and covered out both with mitts and with living partners who also provided you with escalating resistance, right? Nevermind...don't answer that. I don't feel like being bummed out today. ]
And what happens when they KNOCK YOU DOWN with their surprise attack? You know...like what happened to that guy in the video that I provided which shows you what you're REALLY facing when somebody attacks you and what your Sword and Hammer will be called upon to deal with? Cuz you've trained in Kenpo, I'm going to charitably stipulate that you can take a punch so you're not knocked out or nearly so from the surprise punch, but you ARE kinda dazed. You still have to respond WITH YOUR SWORD AND HAMMER. Wait...you DON'T TRAIN your Sword and Hammer from off your back on the ground? Shame on you. Because if you were a TRUE Kenpoist, with TRUE knowledge of your SD sequences and TRUE universal functional versatility derived from a TRUE fully functional universally versatile training paradigm? You would've said: "Oh, ATACX GYM, when I get knocked down and the BG is trying to stomp and punch and stab mud holes in me? I do THIS RIGHT HERE..."
But wait. Lemme piss you off some more. You haven't finished embracing the suck that is your Sword and Hammer. What if he starts off walin on you from the flank Sword and Hammer style then switches up and punches you and goes for a choke hold or something? Can your Sword and Hammer defeat the choke? Whaaaat? You DON'T practice your Sword and Hammer for such a situation? You don't even practice choke defenses? And this is the result of your superior grasp of and employment of Kenpo which I don't have? So how is it that I can do this right here and you can't?
You mean...you claim that I don't know TRUE Kenpo but you're gettin knocked out knocked down and choked out and I'm not...using a technique which I proved works in these scenarios but which you say doesn't? And I haven't even shown you the weapons and guns and multifights and different positions stuff yet.
Your ALTERNATING MACES SUCKS.
Your Maces barely Alternate on a compliant uke. Your Alternating Maces looks like this:
But wait! What if yon ne'er do well BG follows his push with a clinch or something? What snazzy defenses have ye vs a clinch or a Muay Thai clinch? Wait...gotta wait til I learn those sucktastic STORM sequences or even worse I gotta wait til I reach a higher belt rank [ and pay my kenpo kash kapitalist more moola for the priviledge of learning some more garbage that ain't helpin me none ], huh? That's why your training paradigm sucks. Some technique in a higher belt that will save you won't help you while you're in a lower belt having your hat handed to you NOW. You need a coach, a sensei, a sifu, a SOME damn body who can teach you how to be universally functional NOW with the techs and sequences you have NOW. Cuz if you tried to Clinch me or my students or clock me or my students with a weapon and all I knew was Alternating Maces...no Storm sequences at all? Hell, I'd do something like THIS:
Now what if I slipped or ducked or bobbed and weaved under your attack or blocked with a block not traditionally prescribed by the ALTERNATING MACES sequence or blocked your knee or elbow or some such...with my ALTERNATING MACES?
And what targets would I access and be able to hit--proving my Kenpo IQ to be higher than most--and how effective would it be? Could I be as effective using this method if I was a child fighting off a grown male assailant? What reasons, rationale, etc. would undergird my thinking and what proof do I have regarding this matter?
One good gander at my ALTERNATING MACES makes it clear. Most of us in Kenpo have become complacent with Maces that don't Alternate enough...unless they're alternating with dysfunctional garbage.
Oh but wait. I have more stuff to piss you off. You haven't even reached the height of pisstivity yet. All the rest of you who have open minds and enjoy performance oriented discussion that places performance above all other concerns? You're loving this discussion right now. You may not agree with every single atom of what I'm doing? Oh but you're knowing exactly where I'm coming from and you're loving this convo. You also know that the Kenpo Kabal are gonna try to flambe and fillet me for what I'm saying, but what the Kenpo Kabal don't know is that THE ATACX GYM is neever on the menu; so no cookin is happenin this way.
So here's something else I must say: your weapon defense is garbage and your concepts of the likelihood of being taken down or knocked down by tackles throws grabs or punches weapons sheer forward body momentum etc etc is every bit as dysfunctional as the rest of the craptastic "idea not Ideal" Phase aka The Standard IP sequences are.
Look at your Checking the Storm. You are NOT Checking ANY Storm with that garbage.
I'm gonna Check PLENTY Storms with MY sequence because first? I train against ACTUAL REAL WORLD REAL ENERGY WEAPON ATTACKS. Nobody poses. They swing at me and slash and stab any which way they want to. I have to learn how to do my attacks regardless of what they do.
Too many of my fellow Kenpoist and other martial artists don't. Therefore they suck. Perpetually. Until they functionalize their training. Given all the advances in training and cross training happening nowadays and the access to tools like the internet? There is NO EXCUSE FOR DYSFUNCTIONAL OR SEVERELY LESS FUNCTIONAL TRAINING.
Lastly? Before I really piss you guys and gals of the dysfunctional persuasion off with the 2nd part of my article while simultaneously curling the toes of Functional Martial Artists everywhere with nonstop functional-gasms? Let me opine that your Twigs will REMAIN CAPTURED if you try that crapganimousness recommended by the Standard Ideal Phase:
Will noooooot help you because it's SOOO DYSFUNCTIONAL. Usually grabs and bear hugs happen from all kinds of situations.Not just a guy walking up to you and grabbing you, I mean it happens when guys ARE FACING YOU AND THROWING PUNCHES. So yeeessss you have to learn CAPTURED TWIGS FOR A FRONTAL BEAR HUG AND SIDE BEAR HUGS TOO. Aaaaand you have to realize that the chances of you getting slammed are PRETTY HIGH. So have you trained your CAPTURED TWIGS so you don't get caught slippin when THIS happens to you?
Seems to me that your traditional Captured Twigs will just keep your Twigs Captured. Mine actually gets the job done.
Which allows me to seque into another thing that's pissin yall off. Ohhhh yesss...the issue of ground grappling. Not just ground FIGHTING. Ground GRAPPLING and SELF DEFENSE GRAPPLING...which blends strikes grappling and weapons into a much more complete expression of GROUND FIGHTING.
For this part of the discussion? I'm going to have to use a couple of quotes from our esteemed Kenpo Elder Doc regarding how he perceives ground grappling, ground fighting, and the role of groundfighting/grappling in the here and now and future:
"...This would change the identity of the style and make them more like other arts. All arts seek to make what they do unique as a natural evolution of whatever they do, as it creates an identity from the natural proclivity to do what you like. Modern Kenpo is no different. Because it asserts itself as a street fighting system, not a street competing identity, it does not emphasize the ground work others use because their goal is to survive on the ground only long enough to get back up, by any means necessary. Modern Kenpo by design, promotes all the things that some modern grappling omits. Modern grappling is based on a form of competitive Judo designed as a sport, while modern Kenpo is based on a "do whatever you have to do to survive" self defense model. The only time the two exist together is on the street, and on the street you don't do submissions, you fight for your life. Even modern grapplers if you told them in advance that your intent was to blind them for life by gouging out their eyes, and biting their flesh as hard as you could if you go down, would probably change their tactics..."
"...This would change the identity of the style and make them more like other arts. All arts seek to make what they do unique as a natural evolution of whatever they do, as it creates an identity from the natural proclivity to do what you like. Modern Kenpo is no different. Because it asserts itself as a street fighting system, not a street competing identity, it does not emphasize the ground work others use because their goal is to survive on the ground only long enough to get back up, by any means necessary. Modern Kenpo by design, promotes all the things that some modern grappling omits. Modern grappling is based on a form of competitive Judo designed as a sport, while modern Kenpo is based on a "do whatever you have to do to survive" self defense model. The only time the two exist together is on the street, and on the street you don't do submissions, you fight for your life. Even modern grapplers if you told them in advance that your intent was to blind them for life by gouging out their eyes, and biting their flesh as hard as you could if you go down, would probably change their tactics..."
^^^QUOTES OF DOC'S FROM THE SL-4 FORUM REGARDING GRAPPLING.
Doc and alot of others have said alot of false things in previous posts. He,most of his supporters, and others assume that grapplers don't train vs groin grabs, hair pulls, bites, small joint twists yanks and breaks, etc etc. First? That is quite untrue. All of those groin grabs, hair pulls, small joint twists and locks? They're GRAPPLING techs. That's like trying to say boxers can be beaten by nonboxing techs like hooks, overhand punches, jabs and uppercuts. Boxers use those techs all the time. Even sports grapplers are very very adept at WRIST AND HAND CONTROL. You will NOT be grabbing anyone's balls hair etc. And if you try to twist break and tweak a grappler's fingers and/or digits? You're GRAPPLING VS A GRAPPLER. That's a surefire losing proposition--cuz you can't grapple. At all. You suck. He CAN grapple. Alot. And he's good.
You see a grappler trying to challenge a kenpoist to a handsword or karate chop competiton? No? You see grapplers trying to out TKD kick deadly and dazzling kickers like Olympic TKD guys? No? Then why are you trying to outgrapple a grappler...and you suck at grappling? Why are you trying to advance loooooong disproven bankrupt notions? Answer: You don't know better because you haven't grappled grapplers who have shown you better. In other words? Your training paradigm is insufficient in this matter, and your misinformation shows such lack of proficiency.
IT'S NOT JUST WHAT YOU KNOW, IT'S HOW AND WHY YOU TRAIN.--THE ATACX GYM
You wouldn't even experience notable success in a "grappling sports" event with such "dirty tactics", wherein grapplers who compete in those contests compete under rules that prevent such unsportsmanlike conduct. However, many of these same grapplers train self-defense in their dojos...and have NO PROBLEM defending against UNSCHOOLED NONGRAPPLERS who try to execute their techniques against well trained seasoned grapplers who know how to dominate position and positioning in such a way as to prevent their foul tactics from being successful...and then very severely punish them for their transgressions.
MASTER LLOYD IRVIN'S CREW SHOWIN YOU HOW IT'S DONE
Walt has brutal defenses against eye gouges finger breaks and all that other stuff that especially kenpoists say they'll do and will NOT do against even a DECENT self-defense--emphasis SELF-DEFENSE--grappler.
Note that Rei Zulu goes for Rickson's eyes in this bout, and even before the referee steps in to stop Rei Zulu...Rickson had already defended the technique. Also note that both men strike from the clinch. This is where unschooled Kenpoists will be toast.
Furthermore, the most popular of martial arts sporting event in the USA--the UFC--allowed almost all of those "foul" techniques in its original incarnation [ back in the Royce Gracie days of vale tudo ]. People who thought as Doc and others who cosigned such fallacies think were 100% unsuccessful when faced with the resounding real world facts that they were toast if they tried such tactics vs a self-defense oriented grappler. Walt Lysak Sr. and Jr., as well as Michael DePasquale Sr. and Jr. had zero problems with grappling vs such circumstances. Don't forget one of the much overlooked full martial range of combat pioneers like Ernie Boggs with his ISJA grappled with and against such things and he was one of the earliest modern advocates of mixing striking weapons trapping vertical and ground grappling in a sportive and self-defense format.
This position by Doc and his supporters is a very very very strange position to take when by all accounts Mr. Parker trained in Judo and wrestling, and in that era? Judo and catchwrestling especially was very well known for dealing with so-called "foul" tactics very well and without much problem at all, thanks. I still recall the atemi-waza and hardcore self-defense stuff that my late Judo instructor O'Sensei Ogden showed us. The atem-waza was basically karate, and that's not such a big leap in faith because IIRC the founder of Judo--Jigoro Kano--also trained in Karate and so did Kimura [ whose good karate friend was the legendary Korean who took the Japanese name Mas Oyama, founder of kyokushin karate ].My O'Sensei Ogden would've had a great big belly laugh at the kind of assumptions that many strikers like Doc have and the positions that they advance. The Gracies and many other Brazilians who weren't even bjj men--like the deadly and dazzling Mestre Bimba--were far famed for taking on all comers in life or death streetfights [ that's true of amazing Mestres like Bimba, Pastinha, and other legendary fighters like Besouro ] and later Mestres and brazilian grapplers did well vs eye gouges headbutts etc and oftentimes employed same in the vale tudo format: no time limits, no weight classes, anything goes.
My students and I grapple with these considerations in mind ROUTINELY. So do many others. We look something like this:
The assumption that Doc makes essentially conflating SELF-DEFENSE grappling with sport and limited rules grappling is a common one borne of insuifficiently vibrant grappling training. If Doc--a legendary Kenpo Elder who knows far more of what he's about and what he does than most of anybody else can even hope to---makes such a gigantic basic mistake? You know that other Kenpo instructors make far worse mistakes. That's why to this day universal versatility--so absolutely indispensable to functional self-defense and so basic to old skool complete martial systems that you HAD TO have ground techs to even have a system in the first place--isn't even a NOTION in the minds of 90+% of Kenpo instructors.
That's our fault. Mine and every one of you who believe that your Kenpo is functional in every primary scenario. If you believe your Kenpo is universally functional? Get out there and prove it.Change training paradigms. Display emphatically the beauty and power and versatility and amazing arsenal of Kenpo. And throw over the drivel which has overtaken our beloved art. Stop letting Kenpo suck.
"Wow, that chin sticking out is ripe for a whipping elbow, but all he did was push me."
Many of us train for the worst case scenario but typically, that level of response probably isn't necessary. How do you dial it back? What are you taught, what do you teach? Instead of the whipping elbow through the chin, what would you propose to end the confrontation and staying proportional?
The premise is from a training aspect. What is good and bad about training multiple strikes? Why shouldn't I? If I do, what do I have to do to get it right? We have short, sweet, to the point techs and we have techs that have a flurry of strikes. Both have their purposes but I want to hear what your thoughts are. :)
