parkerlineage

I took mine off my belt, but I left them on my gi top. I was thinking about taking them off, but taking the label off my belt left little loose strings, and I don't want that on my gi, too.

White Yellow Orange Purple Blue Green 3rd Kyu Brown 2nd Kyu Brown 1st Kyu Brown Black

Depends on your style, actually. We have both down (or up, depending on if you're stabbing or not).

My first weapon was the nunchaku. My instructor requires that to be our first weapon, since our one and only official bo kata is ridiculously difficult.

One would assume that a high ranking person would practice their basics on their own, so if that assumption was correct, I would see no problem with that. As long as the person was still practicing basics on their own at other times. But if you can't do basics, you can't do anything.

I'm almost willing to be that Long Form 4 of the American Kenpo Karate system is one of the longest dang kata you'll ever see. It has something like 175+ movements, if I recall correctly.

I love how we all roll out on the Kenpo/Kempo roll call, and none of us do the same style. It's hilarious. We really need a forum section of our own, don't you think?

Learn to fight like them. I've had tons of people ask me, "Did you take: Tae Kwan Do, Tiger Kung Fu, Shotokan," because those are the styles with which I've fought the most. My first two TKD tourneys, I ended up with third, because most of the time, I was watching them and learning their moves. My third, I opened up with a 5-0 victory (technically a 6-0, I suppose) - all my hits spinning kicks to the head. I sat down next to a TKD guy I had fought before and he said, "Where the **** did you learn that?" My answer - "You." I won that tourney.

Kenpo is the American version, essentially. James Mitose began calling it that when he wrote his book, and Ed Parker kept the name when he made American Kenpo. Kempo is generally Japanese, unless it's called Chinese Kempo, in which case - you figure it out. Also sometimes called Chuan Fa, if I spelled that correctly. And, honestly, I don't know how similar different we are. But we tend to be lumped together and lump ourselves together in the same groups.

It's all mental. I used to not be able to do more than like 15. Then I started counting like this: 1-20 Count down from 20 back to 1. Then back up. Then back down. Suddenly, 80 feels like 20. (Ha! Not really. But it is easier.) In a semi-related "woot for me", I just learned that I can do fingertip clap pushups! Early arthritis, here I come!!

Going front to back, I'm down all the way without stretching. Side to side, I've still got maybe four to six inches to go, and I can't seem to gain that last bit (I've been trying for years).

I don't believe in karma, but... My second to last tourney - I broke somebody's nose, and got disqualified and ended up with third. My last tourney - I got my nose broken and ended up with second (after refusing to let them DQ the guy (I was proud of myself for that)).

ME!!! I'm back! If anybody missed me... I've also learned infinitely more since I was last here, so I'd love to answer questions/discuss anything. We're few and far between here, aren't we...

The kind that doesn't cost me a lot to replace after I rip them up.

Hold onto a chair and do roundhouse kicks for 30 seconds, slowly (about 1 per second), focusing on hitting the same target - as high as you can. Do the other leg. Do it three times on both sides. After you get used to that, move it up to a minute each. Speed it up only using a bag (otherwise you'll jack up your knee). Think about it not as a single motion at first, but as a lift of the knee, then relax the knee and swing the foot loosely, then imagine that the bag is springy and bounce off and put your foot down as fast as possible. Do the same as the other excersize (How the heck do you spell that word?) Hope it helps; Peter

To do on a bag or as an opening move in tourneys to psych people out - 540 spinning double inward crescent/spinning knife edge combo (Landed - Once; Scared people - Every time). For actual fighting - Roundhouse/heel hook combo. If you're going to kick, may as well make it a combo, eh?

My parents always say this, so it bugs me to say it, but... Teenagers are like toddlers. So, you have to tell them/us everything we can and cannot do. And if they're bad - boot 'em (not literally, though that's worked for a few of our students). Like Sensei Rick said, don't teach them. I'd personally not like to be responsible for teaching some idiot teenager how to injure his friends. That's why I won't instruct any of mine - I love them all, but don't trust any of them in this aspect.

I've promoted two yellow belts...

I plan to be opening a garage/park dojo in a few months. These posts were very helpful. Thanks!

If your sensei says you're ready, then you are; it sounds to me like you've put in the hours. I was in the same situation as you just a year and a half ago, and I was wondering if I was old enough. Be prepared for your technique to improve vastly as you get used to your body (we teenagers tend to get klutzy and uncoordinated when we grow), and your maturity (I'll let you know when I get there ). I'm sure that I'm still making and will continue to make vast improvement until I'm in my twenties, and, as tons of other people have said, this is just the beginning. We all improve until the day we die (that's largely viewed as an unimprovement). Good job, and good luck! Make the world proud of teenage black belts!

No offense intended, but this is why they (the powers that be) are reluctant to give black belts to people our age (17). The world is huge. The martial arts world is huge. There is no such thing as a new idea anymore, unless you've discovered some new way of fighting with your mind powers. I've actually been working on something that follows this line so that I can put it up in my dojo. You said you are a blue belt, which I'm assuming means intermediate. The general gist of what I'm trying to phrase is a twist on that thing about the various grades in school: Beginners know not, and know they know not, but do not know what they do not know. Intermediates know not, but do not know they know not, and do not know what they do not know. Brown belts know some, and have some knowledge of their knowledge, and have begun to grasp that which they do not know. A true black belt knows he knows much but little, and knows he has barely even scratched the surface of that which he does not know. So, basically - there's a whooooooooole lot else out there for you to learn. Make a new style when you're seventy, not seventeen. Show me a man who says he has a proper understanding of the martial arts, and I'll show you a man who needs to open his eyes.

In American Kenpo, we (generally) use a vertical fist to strike the face, sternum, or temple, and a horizontal fist to strike most other places. Of course, it depends on the target - sometimes one will conform more properly to a part of the body, which is what we want.

Does anybody know of: a) Somewhere I can just flat out order a pair of size 16 (American) MA shoes, or b) Contact a company and see if they custom make large ones? Thanks! Parkerlinage

Thanks for the site. I think I wasn't turning into it enough. I'm going to go outside and try it again really fast... Ouch. I'm getting closer...

Does anybody have any advice to help me clean up my aerials, butterfly kicks, and 'tornado' kicks (I learned them as flying outward crescents)? Basically spinning and inverted manuevers - I've learned a dao kata, and my acrobatics skills are simply remnants of my gymnastics training from 10 years ago. Unfortuantely for me, American Kenpo has zip in the way of acrobatic moves. Thanks! Parkerlineage