Tracys karate

[lostinseattle]

The Kenpo School I was interested in does not do sparring. I do not think this is a good thing how are you going to apply what you are learning.

It's hard to spar with the self defenses anyway. Ed Parker's system is primarily self defenses and kata, and he himself noticed that his students really weren't good at sparring in the ring.

So I don't really know what to say about this one except maybe find a school that does sparring instead. Because if you can't apply what you are studying then it's kindof useless.

There were a lot of good Tracy's Kempo sparring people (like Joe Lewis) but that was their interest and they put more time into that.

[parkerlineage]

I ask this with all due respect and curiosity, lostinseattle - what is your training background, and where have you learned your information on American Kenpo?

It's hard to spar with the self defenses anyway. Ed Parker's system is primarily self defenses and kata, and he himself noticed that his students really weren't good at sparring in the ring.

I would beg to differ on that. GM Parker was a perfectionist, and therefore always saw room for improvement, none can deny that - but may I direct your attention to people such as Master Frank Trejo, with whom I have personally trained...my own instructor was Grand Champion several times in the Internationals, and virtually anywhere else he competes.

Ed Parker tore the material apart and separated the 600 or whatever self defenses so they are more modular and flow together better and made it like, what, 130 or something, that flow into each other. That's what is known today as 'American Kempo'.

SGM Ed Parker never called it American Kenpo (Ke"m"po was never even a question) - he always referred to it as Chinese Karate, or Chinese Kenpo. In addition, what he taught were the proper applications of motion, and linkages of the moves and principles that Master Huk Planas and others eventually - under Parker's direction - formed into the marketable art that is instructed today. It was only "separated" and linked because what Parker taught was hard to ensure quality in sub-schools, and unmarketable in a modern economy.

Therefore, study whatever. You can buy it all on DVD for like $200 for each system.

Is your statement true? Yes. Is it offensive to me, even if not intended? Yes.