Philosophy and Method

PHILOSOPHY

In combat/ self defence the practitioner has an obligation to not harm an opponent. To use only the force required to remove the threat, harm minimization. To achieve this requires a higher degree of skill and mental strength than is normally associated with the modern martial arts. We have practitioners boasting about their confrontations exultant in their ability to demolish another human being for often no other reason than pride or some weird concept of honour.

It is my belief that along with the gift of learning the martial arts one acquires a responsibility to be more than a pugilist or one dimensional warrior.

A martial artist must unite the Dragon (mind /spirit ) with the Tiger (body / physical) to be a pro humanitarian not anti life. This concept is a quintessential aspect of all humanity.

For our purpose it is defined as “using the mind to control our bodies in a visceral manner, to enforce morality and ethics over our wants and needs”. To be neither coward or bully, to comprehend the public good over self interest, where neither our individuality nor human rights are forfeit.

We are all different, we have beliefs , some shared , some not, but we are one species and as such there is an overriding concept we can all aspire to—

 “Do unto others as you would have done unto yourself”

The above can be found in many formats in many religions and general humanist philosophy, it is a tenet, it is our tenet.

Our school is founded on the principles of secular humanism. That is we accept the right of all mankind to hold what beliefs they will, as we expect all mankind to do the same.

“To teach not harm”

What we do is not for everyone, it takes a relatively long time to achieve rank but it is relative to the effort expended, when you are ready you grade not before and not to any preconceived mass grading schedule normally associated with income to the school more than a measure of achievement or quality control.

For me personally I see no reason to compromise a standard that we have come to recognize as an absolute, the students themselves would expect nothing less.

Today we see so many examples of Highly regarded Kenpoists wandering the world looking for sycophants who they grade , not on knowledge or merit but on their pledge of allegiance to a business plan. Fast food Kenpo!

In Australia there are some notable and not so notable examples of people who can’t do the basic syllabus to a complete Brown level achieving stellar grades of  first, second even third degree. However it must be said this pales into insignificance when someone with no Kenpo at all can achieve master in 5 years.

For us it is simple—

We will be judged on what we do , how we do it, and the efficacy of our method.

Not on our ability to suck up—its just not our style and dare I say sooo last century.

METHOD

While we adhere to the core Kenpo syllabus there are some important points to consider. Every school, teacher or group appears to have small elements (sometimes with huge differences) that differ from the IKKA manual or other close variants.

Some have changed the techniques to give, in their opinion, a more realistic aspect. ( the fact that all they have done is create their own artificial construct seems to allude their consciousness) We do not look at the self defence and freestyle techniques as actual combat as such , rather as templates for development, which with time will lead to extemporaneous action. As such in my opinion to go to far from the syllabus could limit the flexibility of the practitioner long term. For example , Delayed Sword can vary in targets, range , direction, order/ sequence etc…. It can morph into Sword of destruction, Shielding Hammer to name but two, a product of which can be seen Fatal Deviation and Entwined Maces. Take note that a case could be made for numerous other links and cross links within the system which is my point! To alter your core syllabus can and often does destroy linkages within the system culminating in a series of individual movements no longer related. Each technique has the potentiality of a multiplicity of direction, to take one of those directions as the new core technique can lead to a sterile hybrid, unlikely to produce offspring. This does not mean you should not graft , formulate or re create, rather do so with reference to the core. Failure to do this may lead to the next generation of kenpoists doing a form of WHO FLUNG DUNG or YOU CAN DO or even YOU CAN DO IT TOO but it is unlikely to be kenpo.

Motion with Breath

To achieve the best possible result from our training a combination of Yoga, Qi gong, and various tension forms are used in  conjunction with hand / eye coordination and conditioning sets.

Yoga

This system of exercise has many forms some of which have been used in martial arts for centuries from India to China. The Shoalin Monks being the most obvious example. They believe in an extreme version to condition both the mind and the body to prepare for the rigours of technique development, to preserve the vitality and health of the practitioner enabling them to continue training for the whole of their lives.

A simple template can be created by using Salute to the Sun holding each position for 5 breath cycles adding various positions over time to increase flexibility, balance, strength and power. n.b This particular routine is found in all Yoga as  a commencement exercise. We use it in an Ienghar method that is holding position with correct skeletal alignment and muscular support.

Eg..  1/Try standing in a crane (knee above the hip)

2/front kick position

3/side kick position

4/back kick position

5/hold the kicking leg at the ankle and push the leg backwards and free hand forward until horizontal (you form a T )

6/bring the heel of the kicking leg to your groin with the knee to 3 o'clock and push the arms above your head, hands flattened together till arms are straight.

7.Hold kicking leg big toe with thumb and first finger and raise to head height leg straight to 12 o’clock..

8/ do the same as 7 to 3 o‘clock except grab the heel with hand.

9/fold kicking leg across support thigh and bend support leg so thigh is parallel to ground( as close as possible) hands pushing together at the palms like a salute.

Hold each position for 5 breathe cycles. {5 x (6sec in +1sec hold + 6sec out +1sec hold)} this equates to70sec per position. Repeat  for the other side.

Further to breath control whilst in motion try the following—

Short Form 1—as you step breath in as you torque to block position breathe out.

Technique—breath in on attack, breath out on defence, breath in on cover out

Nb. There are variations to this as you explore further e.g. Quick deep intake, slow controlled expiration leaving a third of the lung full etc...

Contact and Hardness Conditioning.

This section is perhaps the most obvious aspect of martial arts and in many schools least practiced. How many times do you see a defenders block fold, buckle, or an attackers strike fold, buckle. It would be silly to believe that your technique is going to improve  when the quality of attack does not, commensurate with the level of skill and grade requirements of both attacker and defender. In the multi opponent arena called the street it is unlikely protagonists will be impressed with technique that feels like hand bags at 10 paces.

If this offends some of you tough, talk to ambulance, security, undercover police anyone who has been exposed to reality. Do you really believe that by doing a couple of hours a week of  a few forms, couple of techniques, a bit of aerobic that you will have any chance against someone who works their arms and legs on wooden dummy, works out on a heavy bag, does full contact combat most days of the week?

This the ultimate post modernist fantasy up there with crystals and fairies!

YOU MUST CONDITION YOUR MIND AND BODY TO RELECT YOUR GRADE AND THE STAGE OF YOUR TRAINING.

White to Green is getting, Brown is consolidating, Black is refining and maintaining.

Stage 1—arm to arm , leg to leg and controlled body hits

Stage 2—3 star and 5 star blocking sequence (arm to arm)

Stage 3—all of the above incorporated in sparring( we like to call this hammer time)

Stage 4—Using the Freestyle techniques as attack and defence  i.e.. The attacker executes say rKtsKB5aPhKbk the defender checks and covers whist remaining in contact , this becomes a continuous loop , as the attacker covers out the defender executes rKtsKB5aPhKbk  etc…

We then move to various 2 man exercises covering push hands, stick hands, tension training leading to various forms such as Tiger and Crane in Tension , Sanchin , Tiger and Crane with Panther and Tiger and Crane 4 directions.

To many Kenpo students exercises are for warm up and warm down. Done in a spirit of great reluctance, as a precursor to the fun stuff. This often culminates in a culture where less and less body strengthening is practiced with emphasis more and more on force in the technique to make up for the total disconnect between upper and lower body, which leads to choreographic reaction to techniques to achieve a desired look .

It is my belief that you should be skilled to the point where you are able to move your opponent where you want him to be regardless of his wishes in a safe , controlled and intuitive manner

To have complete control over the adversary gives you power and allows choice—to harm or not to harm. 

Remember at this level of skill ,if it is life or death , the choice will be made by your opponents , if they attack .

 

Happy Days

Mark Collings

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