parkerlineage

Well, here I am in Washington, DC, in my dorm room. I'm taking a three-week class in Psychology here. I was bored, and was practicing some random stuff, and decided to video myself with my new digital camera. To my surprise, I found that I gave those videos that people always post with things like "Fast hands," or, "Really fast" a run for their money, so I thought I'd put it on youtube. Here's my first video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ea1itP1_6xc PS. There are to be no comments on the shorts. I was about to go to bed.

I will give my general, mostly non-biased response to questions such as this...(yeah, right) If you're interested in American systems with roots in Chow and/or Parker, go with Parker's American Kenpo Karate. Tracy's is more business oriented, and tends to be less life-applicable.

Wow, he pretty much was asking for that...

I went out to eat with my family, and then we drove back home for three hours. We're party animals, I tell you.

So I suppose you could make your fist more dense, or heavier, somehow...

Thanks, guys! I'm taking three and a half weeks off for a trip to Washington DC, so hopefully, that will give it some time to rest. I work 20 hours a week in our dojo, so it never really gets a break. Thank you all, again.

Slow until you're confident you're moving to the best form you could, and then go on from there in speed. 1. Technique 2. Power 3. Speed In that order.

In a month or so, we've got a tournament coming up in Redding, CA, which is about three hours or so away from you, North on I-5. Gimme a PM if you're interested.

First refine your technique. Make sure that your punch begins at your leg, moves to your hip, then your shoulder, then chest, then deltoid, then bicep, and finall turns at the last moment to maximize impact, in addition to the rotation of the back foot, with proper breathing. Weights and tension help, but you can't beat technique. That's how string beans like me can fight the beasts... My claim to fame in my dojo, other than being overly picky about form, is that I can knock one of my 300+ pound training partners backward several paces with a punch. It's all in technique.

Hey, Wheezy. I'm eighteen, and I've been working out for the last two or three years, seriously for the last year. At this point in your life, from what I can tell, endurance is what you want. I'm just now starting to build up bulk - right now, your body is just working on growing - save strength for later, it comes with endurance. As for fast twitch muscle fibers - that's genetic. Some people have lots, others have little. Kinda stuck with what you have. You can refine, but some are destined to be sprinters, others not.

I sprained my ankle doing an ariel about two months ago, and I was supposed to be on crutches for a month. I was off them in two weeks and feeling mostly fine. I was supposed to wear a brace for the next six months to a year any time I did karate - I stopped about four or five weeks ago. I thought I was fine...I even sparred twice, without difficulty. Yesterday, during an hour long private lesson, I was doing a kick with a 270 degree spin, and my ankle kind of twinged. About a half hour later, I practiced one of my kata that has really deep stances and is rather long, with a lot of horse stances, too. My ankle was screaming at me about 3/4 of the way through, and I had to stop. I'm just really worried I'll never be back to where I was before. What should I do?

Wow...nice analogy! I can totally relate to that...I'm an English Writing major, and in the process of tyring to get my first novel published. You can take that metaphor even further; there are times when I go back and read segments of my book and think to myself, "Wow, I don't remember ever even thinking of writing that." All a part of you.

A pro sounds like the right way to go.

The missing link...shotochem! Hehe, that's awesome.

Good luck, and may your journey go well wherever you wish.

I'm pretty sure I have that "issue", too (the one side being higher), but that's called, "Being Human." We're all pretty much assymetrical; my six pack is still working on coming in, but my right pectoral muscle dwarfs my left...all my girl friends tell me that it's okay to be lopsided (they think they're hilarious). I'm pretty sure that's just what happens when you aren't perfect.

I want to get in on some weapons sparring...I pretty much own anybody at our dojo when we mess around. I use a pair of escrima sticks to simulate double dao, but nobody really knows how to do anything other than me or my instructor.

I've always wondered why you identify the target in kendo. Doesn't that make it easier for your opponent to read when you do that? I think we should do that in Kenpo..."Elbow! Groin! Nose! Sciatic Nerve!"

Lucky. I've used that website for references on Tracy sets before. Sounds good. As for the mix of JJ, that's exactly what Kenpo needs - trained in it myself, a bit.

I do that while pulling up on a bench-press machine with 70 lbs on it, to add weight. Just started recently, so I hope that will help.

He's a student of SGM Parker by association - a lot of people didn't necissarily train with Parker consistently, but had some lessons, and were allowed to call themselves first generation black belts. I haven't ever researched Speakman, but that may be possible. Not that it makes him any less of a martial artist.

I will look that up... God bless Google.

I looked at the instructor and lineage, and here's what I have to say: Steve LaBounty is a great Kenpoist. The organization was Parker sanctioned, and pre-Parker's death, which is even better than good. Jeff Schroder has a lot of experience in a lot of areas - I'm not too thrilled that he's a third degree black belt after 10 years, but I suppose that's not really too fast - considering his previous experience. I'd say go for it.

Some of you wushu or other style guys have got craaazy hops! Is there any way I can learn to jump better?

The answer to your question: Yes. Chinese Karate is called such because it has roots in Chinese and Japanese arts. We have circles like kung fu, and lines like karate. It's like taking the best of both worlds and putting them together. It doesn't really lean toward either one - it has the fluidity and speed of Kung fu, with the power of karate. I have studies Eagle Claw kung fu, and basics of a few other animal styles, and seen some differences; overall, Chinese Karate tends to be more efficient than kung fu.