Kenpo vs. my current training in Shorin Ryu?

[29Bill]

Any thoughts on a comparison of Kenpo and Shorin Ryu??? I've been taking Shorin Ryu for about two and a half years and feel that I've been given various ingredients (punches, kicks etc)... and have to put them together in a meaningful way myself. I've been watching some video's on Kenpo and am intrigued in how they seem to teach a series of moves in an attack/ response series. Any thoughts?

[Zaine]

Kenpo is a great system. My suggestion would be to try a couple classes out and decide for yourself.

[29Bill]

That is the irritating part. It's difficult to get a feeling of what a style entails from a few classes. I've been in Shorin Ryu for almost two and a half years and am still not clear what is coming

I am interested in studying a style which teaches me how to connect the dots between a series of attacks/ responses... My current style... ok... I can parry the punch and simultaneously strike beneath or maybe put an arm in a joint lock while kicking to the knee... what then??? at this point I don't know where to go...

My current breadth of learning with regard to response to various situations and attacks seems fairly limited... and it's nearly impossible to know what a style will teach you until you've spent quite a while exploring the style

[Zaine]

Shorin Ryu certainly will give you the tools to do that, especially if you look at some of the katas, but a lot of it tends to err on the side of taking them down with somewhere from one to three strikes. Kenpo on the other hand does have more of the aspect of martial arts that you're looking for. However, if that's what you really want, try out longfist or some other kung fu style. Their katas are geared as if you were in a longer fight with someone, with every move being the next step in the fight (at least this is what my long fist instructor told me).

[Wastelander]

That is the irritating part. It's difficult to get a feeling of what a style entails from a few classes. I've been in Shorin Ryu for almost two and a half years and am still not clear what is coming

I am interested in studying a style which teaches me how to connect the dots between a series of attacks/ responses... My current style... ok... I can parry the punch and simultaneously strike beneath or maybe put an arm in a joint lock while kicking to the knee... what then??? at this point I don't know where to go...

My current breadth of learning with regard to response to various situations and attacks seems fairly limited... and it's nearly impossible to know what a style will teach you until you've spent quite a while exploring the style

The kata contain these answers--what else is it for but to be your textbook? The bunkai of your kata can be applied in so many ways that, when you really dig into the kata, you will find an answer to just about any situation. What kenpo has done, as I understand it, is take sequences from kata and tell you specifically how to use them rather than helping you work it out from the kata. The problem that I have with that is the lack of adaptability and the dependence upon a sequence of successful techniques, but I have also never practiced kenpo, personally.

ETA: I don't think kenpo is bad--there are some hardcore kenpo people out there and I like a lot of what I've seen, but it doesn't fit me, personally.

[29Bill]

I think I'd feel better about what I'm currently doing if I there were more hand to hand work. I have seen VERY little interpretation of the Bunkai to kata... and I DON'T LIKE trying to figure it out for myself. I don't really see a lot of applicability of many of the moves in the kata I have done... much of it seems aesthetic and nothing more... I've seen interpretation of some of the moves... but, in my mind it typically doesn't make a strong connection with reality. I like what I've seen of Kenpo in that there seems to be a strong emphasis on literal explination of sequences of moves and likely opponent response... I don't have a lot of time to do kata and ponder the various possible interpretations of each move... I'd like someone to do most of the thinking for me... (I know that sounds lazy)

[Zaine]

Trust me when I say that there are little to no move that are strictly aesthetic, my teacher rammed that in my head ad nauseam. If you feel that there isn't enough bunkai being taugtht to you, talk to your teacher about it. Most teachers are more than happy to give you some pointers on bunkai, and if you suggest a class strictly focused on bunkai they might agree and do it, but you'll never know until you talk to them.

[unknownstyle]

Menlo and Shorin Ryu are both largely based upon Chinese Boxing styles. Therefore they will have very similar concepts i into how a fight should be ended. What I suggest is going on YouTube and watching bunkai videos on as many different Okinawan styles as you can find, not Japanese systems because they don't teach anything but simple bunkai. I would suggest a grappling or throwing art instead of another striking one. This seems to be where you said you are having the trouble. You just have to learn to inner weave the two and create your own way of fighting.

[darksoul]

Well I do Shaolin KeMpo, which isn't exactly KeNpo.

Here's a good explanation of the two - http://www.kempoman.com/KempoVSKenpo.html

In any case - Shaolin Kempo starts out with basic Karate style in the early belts. As you move on you get more Kung Fu influences. At black belt, you then start the real kung fu training which includes the 18 Hands of Lohan and some other stuff. I haven't learned it yet since I'm still a fairly new black belt.

[shinka]

I did Shoryn Ryu for almost 2 years, couple years ago. Like you said it was great for kicks and punches but not many technic to go after that...

I've turned to many different styles and now I'm practicing Hapkido.

I prefer the fact that it's 6 martial arts into one...So you can defend yourself in any kind of situation...ground,standing etc... Over 3800 technic in total (not kidding) I'm ripping my hair off sometime at my belt exams lol

BUT... Every type of martial art as it's good and it's bad. Some will be better in some style than others etc... Just need to complete your training with some stuff you may want to be more complete in...like bits of ground fighting. Maybe adding Jujitsu etc...