parkerlineage

What kind of kenpo?

Why, do you need to avenge your honor or something? I shall ask my instructor on Thursday.

Suggestion, if I may...and if you don't already do this... Practice doing it without throwing the kick. Just tuck your legs in the spin, and don't come out of it; just land. Do that until you can spin with ease, then start throwing the leg. Nice and loose, power comes later.

Amen! I hate sparring people who know enough to hurt somebody but not enough to control themselves. It makes me just want to...axe kick the top of their head repeatedly, which is generally what I do. My instructor always tells me, as sort of an ironic twist to the other comment made, is that I am allowed to hit back as hard as I am hit. If I am trying to play nice with a lower rank, and they insist on attempting to prove themselves, I have the right to kick their sorry little butt. In regards to beating the kick...which I believe is what this whole thing is about... As a Kenpo artist, I do not find many high kickers in the studio where I train/teach. However, the majority of tournaments I go to are TKD, because that's what's around here. As a 6' 5" skinny guy with legs that are longer than most people's entire body, I love kicking. But, in the case that I come up against a TKD BB that can hold their own with kicking (and there are many) I have one word for you...hands. If TKD has a weakness (and don't get me wrong, I love the style), it's their hand strikes. Get inside those kicks with a fake, a circle, or a good block, and just open up with your hands. The hardest part: staying in. Once you get in range for hands, stay there! Don't back off an inch, or you'll take a 'boot to the head' (I LOVE MONTY PYTHON, DON'T YOU?).

Okay, perhaps I got a bit carried away. I apologize.

Back to the Planas thing for a brief bit... I had a private lesson with him a few months ago, and to be honest, the guy scared the crap out of me. I respect him, but am not very fond of him. Sure knows a ton of stuff, though...he's my teacher's teacher.

Or having more travel...or more speed...or more power... But they're so fun!

Most definetly. There are many techniques in which the principles taught are important, but are not, as a whole, practical for real fighting. And, when it comes down to it, a real fighter will master the basics to the point where he/she can use them efficiently, and cut out the fancy crap.

I never meant to say that. I know very little about boxing etc., so I'm not going to judge it. I was merely pointing out that you can't rule out the massive amount of learning that comes with martial arts.

Respectfully, the idiot who started this forum is not worthy to even talk on here. First of all, unless you have visited every dojo, you have no idea how people train. I can tell you that if what I do is 'light' kumite, then 'hard' kumite would end up in death. Second of all, how much does the average 'martial athlete' know? I know very little about this whole 'athlete' thing, but what you describe sounds more like a professional boxing style thing, rather than a martial art. They call it an art because it takes far more than just learning the techniques; it requires mental strength and a finesse that can only be acquired by years of training. Also, it really depends on the person who is from each. Everyone has their own style of fighting, if they truly have a grasp of the art. Therefore, you cannot make a broad statement such as 'a martial athlete could defeat a martial artist.' If I said, 'A master of Kenpo could defeat a Master of Tae-kwan-do' (which is not how I feel, so don't start), I would have people jumping down my throats in an instant. So keep your assumptions on who could defeat who to a minimum, okay?

My favorite Chinese name is... 'Attack of the Flaming Demon Monkey Which Stole the Peach that the Jealous Concubine was Going to Give' Second degree junior black belt is a rank that was, as far as I know, invented by my instructor for me so that I didn't get bored over the past three years (it didn't work). It simply means that I know the required techinques/katas and have the experience for both the first and second dan of black. Unfortunately, Master Planas does not exactly see eye to eye with Professor Halsey, so, when I test, I get to go back down to one stripe. Kinda makes me want to stay a junior...plus, I get cool white stripes instead of red.

I can do the splits both sideways and forwards, and have always had excellent balance. I'm also six foot five, what I like to call 'wirey' (skinny as heck), and the majority of my height is in my legs. Therefore, what is a chest kick for most of you happens to be a nice head shot for me. I cringe every time I read a post that talks about groin shots when somebody kicks high; perhaps that's the reason I'm a tenor (rim shot). Seriously, though, that is a killer response to a high kick, one which my Kenpo counterparts love. However, after about three years of getting kicked in the crotch repeatedly, it has become instinct to drop my back hand to cover that, as well as pulling my shoulder down to cover the rest of my body (so ha). Granted, in a street fight, I wouldn't start kicking high...but I certainly wouldn't rule it out altogether.

Uh...just for randomness, here's where a lot of the name roots come from: Leg- Branch Hand- Twig Finger- Leaves Arms- Wings Club Attack- Storm Chop- Sword Hammerfist- Hammer Palm-claw- Claw Hair- Feathers Knife Attack- Lance Gun Attack- Rod Thrusting Palm Heel- Salute Headlock- Death Choke- Cross Ground- Danger Kick- Destruction To name some of the more common ones.

Hey! Are you mocking the craziness?! Thanks for the order thingy. So, as a Junior black belt, am I a Junior Associate Instructor? (haha)(don't you just hate puns?) If a brown belt is kyu, and a black belt is Dan, and I'm a Junior Black, am I a Dan-kyu? You're welcome! I love that. Cracks me up every time.

Sifu is indeed the proper Chinese title. However, nobody goes by that, since we're not exactly Chinese, per se. Rather, there is a title accompanied with each rank, which may or may not be used. I've only heard these once, so they're probably wrong. 1. Assistaint Instructor 2. Associate Instrutor 3. Instructor of the Art 4. Associate Professor 5. Professor of the Art Blah blah blah...(meaning I don't know) 10. Master of the Art If anybody has any corrections or the rest of the info, hook me up. Huh? Never ever ever ever heard of it. How's it go? It doesn't even follow the general naming rules (branch, death, destruction, leaf, etc.)!! Craziness.

You have a good point about the cover/check thing, but I've always been told (and this perhaps may differ between instructors and dojos) that a check was more of a parry, and that a cover basically was taken in context between hands and feet. Of course, I could be wrong.

My gun is bigger than Jerry's. Mail it to me.

Perhaps the Kenpo substitute for the chamber is the cover? Every time your hand is not striking, it should be covering the opposite zone as your strike (high-low), right? A chamber, while it may give you a slight bit more rotation and travel, is not very good protection. In regards to the kiai (and this is a very disrespectful, sacriligous statement) what is with those styles that say 'kiai'? Does that help at all? I thought the purpose of a kiai was to tighten your body (to provide more power for a strike or more of a solid target to deflect a hit), lower your stance (again, more power and a stronger base), and expel the air from your lungs. The traditional Kenpo kiai (tuh, suh, ay-ee-suh(more advanced and much cooler sounding kiai)) does that with the 'uh' sound, much like singing. Do the 'ee' or 'eye' sound of 'kiai' do accomplish any of these things, or is there a different purpose?

In American Kenpo, we use the first large two knuckles. To avoid hurting your wrist, move your thumb to the outside of the fist, pressing against your pointer finger (warning to beginners: Make very certain that you do not push the finger up with your thumb). This will pop out the tendon in your wrist (if you're skinny enough, you can see it) and make it virtually immovable. This also is a great defense against wristlocks.

I'm in 11th grade, too. But, as I said, I finally hit puberty. 6 foot 5 and 180 pounds. Still skinny, but it's all muscle. What the ****?

Indeed I shall. Thank you very much! I try to be as mature about it as I can; I'm much younger than anybody close to my rank in the dojo I go to.

Or, if you're really lucky, you'll have the once-in-an-infinite chance that the atoms of the bullet will line up perfectly with your own, and it will pass through you without any harm. Then, you'll look like a super-dude or something. I also find that carrying a legion of flaming demon monkeys can also help.

Kempo is a totally different animal from Kenpo. I know nothing about Kempo, so I won't say which is better. But, I just thought I would clarify for Rhino.

Awesome. Good luck with finding a school, I can imagine how frustrating that must be. Unfortunately, Kenpo seems to have more variations than my girlfriend's moods. There are a few instructors who still teach exactly what they learned, but, now that I think about it, even that isn't true. Master Planas is constantly making changes. Techniques I learned when I was six are totally different now that I'm sixteen. To the order, you say? How so?

I'm not sure if this is the right forum to post this thread in, but I'm doing it, so nih. Other than me and Delta1, who out there takes Parker's system, and what rank are you? For randomness, and because it's fun, we'll add a poll to this.