[Attention grapplers] Kenpo 5.0

[gateqway]

Recently, Jeff Speakman's American Kenpo Karate Systems have "evolved" into a new system called "Kenpo 5.0" and some ground techniques have been added.

Some of these moves are called "Gripping Leaves" and "Locking Horns" which are designed to give a degree of counter against grappling moves.

Such demonstrations can be found from:

http://www.jeffspeakman.com/

Grapplers, knowing the facts that ground fighting are your expertise, what are you opinions of such moves? Are there some situations where such moves may not work?

I don't want to be held responsible for starting a 'Kenpo vs Grappling' argument, I am only asking for insights.

Thank you.

Edited August 1, 2006 by gateqway

[parkerlineage]

Interesting...perhaps I like it...

Nice to see he stuck with the traditional naming system...Locking Horns is nothing new, however.

[BLueDevil]

Ive got a lot of tapes and instructionals on BJJ and I ve always felt Kempo and JJ where 2 arts that should have been one. Both of them being no nonsense get the job done arts. Props to Speakman! "The perfect weapon" has upgraded. haha

[parkerlineage]

That was baaaaaaaaaaaad BLueDevil...but very funny...

[gateqway]

well said BLueDevil, funny

[bushido_man96]

That looks like some very interesting stuff. I would love to see my style incorporate more ground work and joint locks.

[ps1]

I think you'll find that the elevator sweep is going to be very difficult from that position. The elevator sweep, as with all jujitsu techniques, works best when momentum is available. The way it's presented here, the stronger person is going to win. Many people aren't going to be able to perform it here against a resisting opponent. Good attempt, but using grappling techniques without teaching the principles behind them is pretty useless. There are easier ways to handle this situation. He seems more intent on harming the other person than defending himself.

The second series, overall, is better self defense. Great defense of the guillotine. Although it's the right hand going over the back that stops the choke. It prevents the person from leaning back and toward the choke (which is how it's most efficently applied). THe takedown is good, but he misses an easy submission with a keylock. Additionally, just pushing the hand off the head won't be so easy. That's where he could be leveraging on the throat, they'll let go of your head to defend their throat. At that point the rest is pretty good.

I could pick them apart alot more, but I think the basic idea of the thing is good. Here's why: He realizes that people can bring you down. It's a realistic belief. At least he's putting together techniques that will help to put his students in a better position when this happens. I'm also willing to bet that those are not the only two techniques he has. Overall, bravo Jeff Speakman for having a realistic view and attempting to fill some of the holes a system has.

[TriangleMan]

Grapplers, knowing the facts that ground fighting are your expertise, what are you opinions of such moves? Are there some situations where such moves may not work?

Thank you.

I ll second that the elevator sweep was executed rather poorly in that first demonstration. His attempt to break his opponents posture by circling from the outside isnt very good either. Against a resisting opponent, this technique will fail most of the time. To be honost, he would be better circling inside since hed be able to better defend himself should his opponent start to throw strikes.

As far as the elevator sweep is concerned, it can work and work well in that situation, but the way it was demoed was horrible. Whenever you work from an open guard, you never want to be flat on your butt and to perform that sweep he needs to sit upright to prevent his opponent from merely smashing him back down on his back. Hes actually putting his opponent in a good position to pass rather than put himself in a good position to sweep. The details for the elevator sweep need to be refined, because it wont work the way he shows it.

If I were to alter his sequence, I would make a simple adjustment- when he demos circling his leg inside, youll notice he puts the foot on the hip. All he needs to do now is lock that leg and he has a very good chance of getting up to his feet should he stand up in base. This would be a good option for the simple fact that hes probably much more comfortable fighting off his feet than on the ground.

The first series is very plausible, the techniques are just poorly done. I also wouldnt want to abandon the mount position either until Ive finished the fight, for the simple reason that its such a dominant position. The forearm to the throat is a very common beginner mistake/attempted choke. A simple sleeve choke would be much better, or you could just opt to finish with strikes.

The second technique showing the escape from the guillotine is also kinda bad. Striking from the position that he has been caught in (the guillotine) is a futile attempt to escape or manipulate your opponent. You lack any leverage to deliver a powerfull blow from this position, and you may anger your opponent to the point he starts throwing a few knees to your head. His strikes to the groin from there will be a nusiance at best, the knees to the head could be a fatal strike against him.

As far as the drag step he demos is concerned, its not going to work if your opponent is throwing a guillotine of any worth. First off, at no point is he defending his neck from the actual choke (i.e. holding his opponents wrist). Guillotines and front headlocks work somewhat the same in the sense that they break your balance down and prevent you from getting any posture. By keeping his weight on your shoulders and keeping your head low, youre unable to get posture to perform moves like he shows. In the event you get enough posture to do the move shown, you simply need only to arch your back and look up at the ceiling to break the lock with your posture.

The best way to defend a guillotine is a simple headlock escape. From the position Jeff is in, he places his left hand right above the elbow on the tricep and uses the right hand on the wrist. The right hand is critical, youve made the mistake to get caught in the guillotine in the first place, so if you dont immediately protect your neck youre going to get choked out before you have the chance to do anything. Then he turns his chin towards the wrist and can attempt to pull his head out.

His knee in the belly is also very bad too. His balance and base in that position are far too bad for him to hope to deliver any strong blows, with the exception of the foot stomp.

Overall I would say that he has his head in the right place. Hes working on defending grappling techniques by using grappling techniques, which is the correct way to go about it. The only problem is that he doesnt know the very techniques hes teaching, and as such they are filled with lots of flaws. He may be able to make them work on someone smaller and weaker than himself, but not against someone his size and certainly not against someone larger. This is probably the best grappling I would say youre going to find in a karate school, but its still not very good grappling in itself.

[bushido_man96]

I think that the quality of grappling found in karate schools will continue to increase with time, and with attempts to better themselves, much as Mr. Speakman has done here. I believe that he is very competent, and probably has a very good system that he is working into his curicullum. Keep in mind, it was just a demo, and he probably did not go into detail completely.

[TriangleMan]

I can understand his attempts to incorporate ground grappling into his curriculum, however why must he insist on doing it himself when he clearly is at the level of a novice at best?

That in my opinion is the problem with so many martial arts instructors who try to go outside their boundries- It will take anyone, regardless of who they are, many years of training in order to become adept at a particular phase of fighting. Speakman is a black belt in kempo, not jiu jitsu. For some reason, many of these black belts feel that because they are a black belt they can develop a couple of techniques and sell them right away, even though theyve only been working on the material for a few months.

You dont exactly see World BJJ Champion Marcio Pe de Pano releasing his newest video in Muay Thai fighting, you know what I mean?