Status: Draft 1
Rank: Brown Belt, 2nd Degree
Martial Art: American Kenpo Karate
Senior Grand Master: Edmond Parker(b. 1931, d. 1990)
Purpose of Paper: Black Belt Thesis
Head Instructor Rank: Black Belt, 7th Degree
Title: A Brief Look at American Kenpo Karate and its Benefits Synopsis: A brief introduction to American Kenpo Karate with the attribution to mental aspects of the martial art and applicability to the real world.
Introduction
What is American Kenpo Karate? If you asked any instructor of American Kenpo Karate, they will tell you it is a technique based, complete self-defense system made famous by Edmond Parker that is an American martial art based on scientific principles of economy of motion, simplicity, physics and basic human physiology. It is a system where every strike is a block, and every block is a strike. Some notable students of American Kenpo are Jeff Speakman, Larry Tatum, and Elvis Presley. While this is a reasonable definition, it still does not answer the real question. What is American Kenpo Karate? How does it help with life and work?
In order to understand the questions we must seek more depth and analysis of what American Kenpo Karate teaches to truly understand the question. We must therefore look beyond the physical, and look at the mental aspect of American Kenpo Karate in terms of humbleness, discipline, focus, its life lessons, goals met or sought, confidence built, and showing us in all situations an ideal state of mind to strive for.Focus American Kenpo Karate, like other martial arts, reinforces the notion that it is important to focus what is in front of you. How many times during our lives we tend to forget to look at what is in front of us and to pay attention? For example, when we are running drills, the most important aspect of each lesson each instructor teaches is to look forward because the majority of the time that is where our opponent is. As a result, we must be observant, and react accordingly to our training and handle what is in front of us. If we fail to look, and focus what is in front of us, we are destined to get hit, we are destined to make terrible life mistakes, and most tragically, we will fail in all that we do for failing to understand this most important task.
Humbleness
An aspect that is never taught in class but is experienced in class is humbleness. In our travels of life, we will meet many arrogant or overtly confident individuals. In American Kenpo Karate, we spar to test our abilities, and to make ourselves better and not beat each other up. If you that is your purpose, then may be a career in Mixed Martial Arts is in order for you. There will be times, for example, in my karate class, when your name is called, and you are in full sparring gear, and you will be told to spar a bigger opponent. This opponent will be faster, stronger, and more experienced. When the instructor says “FIGHT” and you are suddenly overwhelmed with kicks to your body, punches to your face or stomach. However, last week, you were able to over come another opponent with a similar height zone as you, you were able to punch and kick to victory. Now, today, you were defeated, you were bested by some one who was clearly better then you.
How often in life we will face challenges and arrogantly or overtly confidently attempt them, and we fail to understand that not all challenges can be over come with this attitude? American Kenpo Karate humbles you, and teaches, that yes, we must be confident in our abilities, but we also must humbly accept our limitations, work around them to over come the obstacles in front of us. If we fail to recognize that there is always a bigger mountain behind the one we just climbed, we most certainly lose because of our arrogance. As Sun Tzu once said, “if you know the enemy, and know thyself, in an one hundred battles, you need not fear defeat.” Sun Tzu continued, and said, “If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
In my fourth or fifth time sparring, arrogantly, and overly confident, I was called to spar, and was paired with Steve, a green belt at the time. Up until that point in sparring matches, I was never defeated and never been humbled. In that sparring match, for the first time, I was not able to connect, or get close enough to strike, I was the one getting hit, I was the one experiencing frustration and all I could do was simply take it. The lesson from that sparring match was that in order to properly face an opponent I needed to respect my opponent but most importantly humble myself to the level of my opponent and show the level of humbleness I would expect others to show me when paired. It is that lesson to each sparring match I take with me.
The results of that attitude has been better understanding of myself, and how to see the world and others differently. I re-dedicated my efforts to over come my limitations, by drilling more, looking at my mistakes, remembering to relax and flow like water, avoid the high, the difficult, to advance and hasten to the low, and the least difficult. I failed in listening to what Sun Tzu had said, “If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat.” I knew myself, I understood my abilities, but I never bothered to understand or learn about my opponent, and it was a humbling but meaningful experience. I rushed into battle, I failed to understand my opponents weaknesses, his strengths, I failed to put myself In their shoes, I failed to look at the battle from my opponents perspective and point of view. American Kenpo forces you to look at your opponent, to respect them, and most importantly, to understand them.
Discipline
There is no book in existence, I believe, that can truly explain the mental discipline Martial Arts instills into an individual, in this case, American Kenpo Karate. If there was such book, it would take volumes upon volumes to showcase the unique discipline aspects Martial Arts has on a person. From stretching, to practicing drills alone, to finding the strength to go to class when really you had a horrible day at work, the person on the road when you were traveling to your home cut you off, or a civilian police officer had nothing better else to do but give you a citation because they thought going 5 mph over the limit was an egregious act only reserved for themselves, it takes discipline to overlook these challenges, a mental overload, go to class with a state of mind where the outside world is just that. The outside world, where everything happened to you, and the dojo or classroom is the inside world, and what happened to you an hour or ago, two hours ago, six hours ago does not matter. What matters most is what is in front of you, and right now.
It is a haven for your mental equilibrium because for that hour or so, now you can focus on what is in front of you, you can begin to heal with like minded individuals who share your passion of the martial arts. When every one else is busy partying, or going to the beach, you are stuck at the gym or your living room, and practicing what your instructor was barking at you with a loud demeanor, telling you that must understand the concepts of the technique in order to understand fully the lesson being taught holistically. It takes discipline to forgo these basic joys of life to want to understand, to comprehend the bigger picture, and simply practice the techniques and drills you were taught by your instructors to gain a better understanding of not just your opponent, but of yourself.
It takes discipline as your body is telling you it is fatigued, tired and hungry but you press on, you are still in class, you are still taking down your opponent in the drill, you are not wavering, and you are continuing forward. When you have fallen from hurt muscles, your drill partner threw you on the floor, you have a busted lip, sore ribs but your mind says to the body, “get up, get up, you are not done! You must get up! GET UP CYCLONEOUS, GET UP NOW!” Slowly, I take a deep breath and exhale, I muster the strength, and I tell yourself, “I can do this!” I summon the will power to get up with my knee, then my hands, and slowly I rise up, and I tell your classmate “again,” to repeat the drill; that takes mental fortitude.
Conclusion
In life, whether it be at work, or other endeavors, you will fall, you will fail at certain things, you will falter, you will be told you can’t do it, you will be encouraged to stop, but that adversity, that challenge, to get up will be the fire that will you keep you going so that you do not fall again. American Kenpo, as a philosophy, gives you these important lessons, so that each time I practice I evolve, become more focused, relaxed, humbled, disciplined and most importantly each time I leave class, I emerge: reborn.