ISOLATION
Richard Matthews
In 1980 I moved from Newcastle in N.E. England to Jersey a 45 mile sq. Island just within sight of the French coast and a 40 min flight from the UK.Because of that slight isolation that an islands separation creates, I have found that people stick with things that little bit longer here. That was certainly the case with my interest in the "Kenpo Club". During the 80s my efforts where focused on developing my Kenpo, but I also developed rudimentary nunchaku and single and double stick drills for my own training. Mr. Parker's guide to the nunchakus and Fumio Demuras basic nunchakus book became my references, some times actually contradicting one another, but I found this refreshing.By the time the 90s came around and I was introduced to the "Club Set" via a blurred and stapled copy of Club Set #1, now I was ready for some real stick work, all I needed was a weapons instructor.At this point I really needed a guide, but there where none locally, so because of this I started to try and develop the "set" myself.Also, in the mid 90s I began learning Kenpo’s Club Form 7, I tried to keep my personal development of the Set and the learning of the Form as two different topics, if that's possible.
WHAT I HAD
What I had was a "primitive" idea of how to use a flail and a club, as well the "Club Set"(which needed exploring), coupled with a knowledge base in Ed Parker's Kenpo System.When it is all you have then you have to work with it, so I did.Also I had inherited a misguided idea, which was, "that if you study Kenpo then you already have the ability to pick up a set of clubs and perform self defence techniques", I found this to be fundamentally flawed, so I dumped that idea and was able to start from scratch.
WHAT I NEEDED
What I needed was a concept to work from. I modelled "The Web of Knowledge" as the base idea to try to use the motion of "The Set" to ensnare or capture and retain information.I needed to think about how I used my natural weapons as a Kenpo practitioner and the modifications necessary to transfer the principles of unarmed combat to armed combat.
WHAT I DIDI
started with an "idea", because the first step in development is usually an idea.The Kenpo idea of "Flow First, Power Later" got the ball rolling.The first thing I noticed was that for me the Set didn't flow at all, it was full of "Commercial Breaks", this may have been because of the way "The Set" had been shown to me, but it didn't have that "Kenpo feel" to it.
My initial plan to address this was to use the club in a similar fashion to a flail, because when using a nunchaku you cannot afford to be mechanical, wooden or robotic for long, if you do not learn to blend with the action of the Flail its going to get you.This then made me look at the relationship between the 3 main joints of the arm, the shoulder (proximal), elbow (medial) and wrist (distal)
When the power created by the body, is transferred to the stick, through the use of these 3 joints, the wrist joint plays a very important part in producing an effective use of the club, either by flexing rotating or remaining static..This is an example of how I thought, through out the development of The Set, looking at what I wanted to achieve and then seeing if I could use the set to capture or ensnare it,e.g. how to employ the dimensions of Height, Width, Depth mixed with Speed, Travel and Time into The Set.
Or just seeing a seeing a wrist locks, trying it with a stick, then incorporating the motion into the set.This applied to such things as:-
Not becoming weapon fixated.
Striking.
Locking.
Choking,
Vital point striking.
Lines and paths of action.
Surface concentration.
Penetration.
As well as things like exploring the difference between "maximising you effort" and “exerting maximum effort".
All of the above and more are incorporated into The Set to give "specific answers as well as speculative interpretations to the use of the Club"
So this was the situation, I am working in a degree of isolation, happy in my ignorance, trying to develop something I have a only rudimentary knowledge of.......15 years later I am still working on it and putting my notes on this blog!
Richard Matthews
In 1980 I moved from Newcastle in N.E. England to Jersey a 45 mile sq. Island just within sight of the French coast and a 40 min flight from the UK.Because of that slight isolation that an islands separation creates, I have found that people stick with things that little bit longer here. That was certainly the case with my interest in the "Kenpo Club". During the 80s my efforts where focused on developing my Kenpo, but I also developed rudimentary nunchaku and single and double stick drills for my own training. Mr. Parker's guide to the nunchakus and Fumio Demuras basic nunchakus book became my references, some times actually contradicting one another, but I found this refreshing.By the time the 90s came around and I was introduced to the "Club Set" via a blurred and stapled copy of Club Set #1, now I was ready for some real stick work, all I needed was a weapons instructor.At this point I really needed a guide, but there where none locally, so because of this I started to try and develop the "set" myself.Also, in the mid 90s I began learning Kenpo’s Club Form 7, I tried to keep my personal development of the Set and the learning of the Form as two different topics, if that's possible.
WHAT I HAD
What I had was a "primitive" idea of how to use a flail and a club, as well the "Club Set"(which needed exploring), coupled with a knowledge base in Ed Parker's Kenpo System.When it is all you have then you have to work with it, so I did.Also I had inherited a misguided idea, which was, "that if you study Kenpo then you already have the ability to pick up a set of clubs and perform self defence techniques", I found this to be fundamentally flawed, so I dumped that idea and was able to start from scratch.
WHAT I NEEDED
What I needed was a concept to work from. I modelled "The Web of Knowledge" as the base idea to try to use the motion of "The Set" to ensnare or capture and retain information.I needed to think about how I used my natural weapons as a Kenpo practitioner and the modifications necessary to transfer the principles of unarmed combat to armed combat.
WHAT I DIDI
started with an "idea", because the first step in development is usually an idea.The Kenpo idea of "Flow First, Power Later" got the ball rolling.The first thing I noticed was that for me the Set didn't flow at all, it was full of "Commercial Breaks", this may have been because of the way "The Set" had been shown to me, but it didn't have that "Kenpo feel" to it.
My initial plan to address this was to use the club in a similar fashion to a flail, because when using a nunchaku you cannot afford to be mechanical, wooden or robotic for long, if you do not learn to blend with the action of the Flail its going to get you.This then made me look at the relationship between the 3 main joints of the arm, the shoulder (proximal), elbow (medial) and wrist (distal)
When the power created by the body, is transferred to the stick, through the use of these 3 joints, the wrist joint plays a very important part in producing an effective use of the club, either by flexing rotating or remaining static..This is an example of how I thought, through out the development of The Set, looking at what I wanted to achieve and then seeing if I could use the set to capture or ensnare it,e.g. how to employ the dimensions of Height, Width, Depth mixed with Speed, Travel and Time into The Set.
Or just seeing a seeing a wrist locks, trying it with a stick, then incorporating the motion into the set.This applied to such things as:-
Not becoming weapon fixated.
Striking.
Locking.
Choking,
Vital point striking.
Lines and paths of action.
Surface concentration.
Penetration.
As well as things like exploring the difference between "maximising you effort" and “exerting maximum effort".
All of the above and more are incorporated into The Set to give "specific answers as well as speculative interpretations to the use of the Club"
So this was the situation, I am working in a degree of isolation, happy in my ignorance, trying to develop something I have a only rudimentary knowledge of.......15 years later I am still working on it and putting my notes on this blog!
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