Richard Matthews
”I come to you only with karate, empty hands, I have no weapons, but should i be forced to defend my self, my principals or my honour, should it be a matter of life or death or right or wrong, then here are my weapons, empty hands".
Kenpo is fundamentally an unarmed form of self defence even though quite early on in training we are introduced to weaponry, from the defence against weapons perspective.
So do we need to have a weapons curriculum?
The uncomplicated answer is, yes, because of the "balance and logic" of Kenpo as a system, if there are unarmed self defence situations, then of course there must be armed self defence situations.
Kenpo's four “basic” situations:
1) Attacker and Defender unarmed.
2) Attacker armed Defender unarmed.
3) Attacker unarmed Defender armed.
4) Attacker and Defender armed.
So if weapons are part of the self defence scenario then logic dictates that knowledge of there uses should follow.
STORM
The synonym for club (a blunt instrument) in Ed Parker's system of Kenpo is "Storm".
The term storm is meant to give a certain feel to the use of a club, almost an identity, this feeling must be apparent when training with a club in an offensive or defensive mode.Storm has more than one “literal meaning”, but, they all seem to be applicable to the Kenpo Club.
STORM (dictionary)
....an atmospheric disturbance, a violent upheaval, a sudden overwhelming attack, to move violently or to assault with speed. A concentrated outpouring of missiles or blows, to set upon with violent force.....
When you associate any of the above meanings to the Club it is obvious that it is a weapon to be treated with respect, when attacking with or defending against it.
At an actual moment of self defence you will probably be unarmed, the likelihood of having a club in your hand ready to use is remote, the chances of having two clubs in your hands and ready to go are exceedingly remote, the chances of you being armed with two clubs and encountering someone who is armed with two clubs in a “real situation” are off the scale, also if you are wandering in “normal” civilian life with one or two clubs concealed about your person then I think its time for a reality check (a regular reality check should be the most important check in Kenpo !)
So, in reality the opportunity to wield the clubs regularly (in any society), in a “real situation”*, are to say the least few and far between.*as opposed to a competitive one!
But if you are studying the clubs as a martial weapon for self defence, then you must accept that is better to have the knowledge of a weapon, than not to have the knowledge of it, if a club comes into your possession during a serious incident then it is a distinct advantage to be able to use it “quickly with confidence and some sort of trained ability”.
Also if you understand how a club can be used against you, then a realistic defence may be built against it.
Training with the Clubs will measurably improve your Kenpo/ Martial Arts ability depending on how much time and effort you apply to improving your understanding of man made weapons.
Environmental awareness, speed, timing, distance judgement, muscle tone and much more increases with training.
As a bi-product of practicing The Club Set (as presented briefly at the end of these notes) you will help to improve your unarmed delivery of Kenpo!
”I come to you only with karate, empty hands, I have no weapons, but should i be forced to defend my self, my principals or my honour, should it be a matter of life or death or right or wrong, then here are my weapons, empty hands".
Kenpo is fundamentally an unarmed form of self defence even though quite early on in training we are introduced to weaponry, from the defence against weapons perspective.
So do we need to have a weapons curriculum?
The uncomplicated answer is, yes, because of the "balance and logic" of Kenpo as a system, if there are unarmed self defence situations, then of course there must be armed self defence situations.
Kenpo's four “basic” situations:
1) Attacker and Defender unarmed.
2) Attacker armed Defender unarmed.
3) Attacker unarmed Defender armed.
4) Attacker and Defender armed.
So if weapons are part of the self defence scenario then logic dictates that knowledge of there uses should follow.
STORM
The synonym for club (a blunt instrument) in Ed Parker's system of Kenpo is "Storm".
The term storm is meant to give a certain feel to the use of a club, almost an identity, this feeling must be apparent when training with a club in an offensive or defensive mode.Storm has more than one “literal meaning”, but, they all seem to be applicable to the Kenpo Club.
STORM (dictionary)
....an atmospheric disturbance, a violent upheaval, a sudden overwhelming attack, to move violently or to assault with speed. A concentrated outpouring of missiles or blows, to set upon with violent force.....
When you associate any of the above meanings to the Club it is obvious that it is a weapon to be treated with respect, when attacking with or defending against it.
At an actual moment of self defence you will probably be unarmed, the likelihood of having a club in your hand ready to use is remote, the chances of having two clubs in your hands and ready to go are exceedingly remote, the chances of you being armed with two clubs and encountering someone who is armed with two clubs in a “real situation” are off the scale, also if you are wandering in “normal” civilian life with one or two clubs concealed about your person then I think its time for a reality check (a regular reality check should be the most important check in Kenpo !)
So, in reality the opportunity to wield the clubs regularly (in any society), in a “real situation”*, are to say the least few and far between.*as opposed to a competitive one!
But if you are studying the clubs as a martial weapon for self defence, then you must accept that is better to have the knowledge of a weapon, than not to have the knowledge of it, if a club comes into your possession during a serious incident then it is a distinct advantage to be able to use it “quickly with confidence and some sort of trained ability”.
Also if you understand how a club can be used against you, then a realistic defence may be built against it.
Training with the Clubs will measurably improve your Kenpo/ Martial Arts ability depending on how much time and effort you apply to improving your understanding of man made weapons.
Environmental awareness, speed, timing, distance judgement, muscle tone and much more increases with training.
As a bi-product of practicing The Club Set (as presented briefly at the end of these notes) you will help to improve your unarmed delivery of Kenpo!
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