Based on the videos from your website, as well as ones posted on FB to your ChunJido page and those of students, Im having some confusion.
First, I do see the Tae Kwon Do background displayed in the forms you have on your website. However, the other forms you include in your curriculum are not from Kempo.
They are from Shotokan (except for the Pinan, which are in several styles including Shotokan) an art you did not mention in your list of arts you have dan rank in.
In regard to Kempo, Kempo is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese "Chuan Fa", or law/way of the fist, and many styles of Chinese martial arts studied in Japan will use the word "Kempo", the Japanese name while retaining the Chinese flavor and style. The only exception would be Shorinji Kempo (Shaolin Chuan Fa), which contains a blending of the fluidity from Chinese arts with a hard style sparring. I say that to point to I see none of the forms from any Kempo style in your white-to-brown/black list of katas. My question is why, if you have all of this experience in these other styles, why do you need to pull from styles you do not even have instructor rank in?
So I took time to look at videos from various YouTube sources. These would be students, both current and former, videos from your own YouTube channel, and videos posted from various tournaments, interviews, etc.
From what I have seen, you have what you call a two handed catch, a deflection using both hands in a fanning motion (which does have the Chinese flavor of Chuan Fa/Chinese boxing), something you call a "z" lock (very similar to a hon gyaku from jujutsu), two throws, and 2 stick drills. The testing videos that I have seen show that all testings are identical with the only new skill set to learn is the form for that rank. The exception was the black belt where you added one or two more rounds of sparring. But again, I do not see any proficiency developed in any throwing, joint locking, sticks, etc. It almost looked like those things were ignored right up until the testing date, were practiced once or twice, done for testing, and then put back down again until the next testing. If your students showed proficiency in any other weapon or technique, it was either learned prior to joining you, or was imparted by one of the instructors in your network of affiliates. This observation is coming from your tournament and public demos, where I have seen various weapons presented, but which do not appear in YOUR curriculum. Do you take students who have proficiency in these areas and use them for demos, even though you do not teach them?
I will say that I do take issue with your rank. You have indicated that your highest rank in your, shall we say "ancestor schools" you studied is Roku Dan, 6th degree. Yet you are a 10th degree in ChunJiDo? My apologies, but how does one with a 6th degree blackbelt, legitimately award themselves 10th degree, Grandmaster status just because they take what they have learned and repackage it? In my experience, this has been done by members of martial arts organizations who have been instructors, but break away so they can garner all of the revenue. They are no longer ATA students, JKA students, ITF, etc. They are now ChunJiDo students, and all of the money that went to ATA, JKA, ITF, etc. is now going to you. And for the kid full of wonder from watching Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, Karate Kid, Jackie Chan, and for the parent fulfilling that wonder, 10 degree grandmaster is a great hook, much better than 6th degree under somebody else.
In short, I do think you are a legitimate martial artist with a legitimate 6th degree black belt, with several champions in your school, and more power to them who have been able to take your offerings and cultivate those skills. But I also think you have grossly misrepresented yourself even to the point of blatant falsehood, and done so through vanity and some greed. This becomes apparent when you ask the very simple questions of if ChunJiDo isnt any better or worse than any martial art, than why feel the need to brand and trademark ChunJiDo as something new, and why are you picking and pulling from arts you have not studied instead of purely teaching the ones you have and in full curriculum? For an art that translates as "universal", you seem very limited.
