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SLAYERS NEWS
ABOUT DRAGON KENPO KARATE
http://www.motionkenpo.info/SlayerNews/Slayer0207.pdf
http://www.motionkenpo.info/SlayerNews/index.html
World Dragon Kenpo January 15, 2006
Volume II, Issue VII
For some reason some of the Slayer Staff think that I should be writing stunning, opinionated and entrancing articles and other additions for our humble e-Zine The Slayers News “About Dragon Kenpo Karate”. So here's my assessment of 2005 and some of the things we're working for in the new year. No way would I call the assessment stunning or entrancing, yet the trending seen is encouraging.
To compare our progress from 2004 to 2005 we looked at our gross receipts. This business measure of WDK is really a measure which can show if victory can be claimed or do we need to get out/quit/close up shop. Confidently and without reservation your school claims a major victory in 2005, all our supporting members should be proud of this achievement. I've been a member of schools and associations which no longer exist so by sticking to our first goal of Continuous Improvement we posted a Dec which very nearly equaled all of '04. Additionally World Dragon Kenpo '05 did 10 times as good as in '04. This is important because I told many different people, face to face, by email and phone that World Dragon Kenpo would be around for a long, long time. I meant it then and nothing has changed.
Another measure is something called “activity level”. Answering email and assisting our members has shown that being serious about helping our members is the top priority and has been a rewarding experience for me.
I knew that I would have opportunities to learn from the members as well as teach Dragon Kenpo. The error was I underestimated the amount of learning which I would gain as a result of my ongoing involvement in World Dragon Kenpo. We have without a doubt attracted and will continue to attract many talented and motivated people.
The e-Zine your reading right now is a result of the creative efforts of a number of serious individuals and was given its name by a member of World Dragon Kenpo Europe (email me if you remember who). These are some of the leaders in DK today. Other Student/Instructor members have accepted leadership roles as Assistant Instructors, WDK Instructors, State Directors, Country Directors and WDK Advisors.
All of these people share an idea and see a solid future in what's being created in our program.
By looking at something as simple as a uniform patch we can see the connections being established. Our patch designs were a result of suggestions and cooperation between our members and we're almost ready to order another batch! Let me thank all the people who have had a hand in making our school's past year a successful one. To those of you more recent members I look forward to your success in our program as well.
Now we look ahead to planning the activities for '06 like our camp trip and the fall banquet. The possible use of our school as an internship is still in development.
Our local club has added a good number of new students and we (all) need to continue to work on basics. Local training groups of WDK should also be planning a little. Some have expressed an interest in visiting during a planned event here in Wisconsin; just let us know you are coming.
- Ron Pfeiffer
World Dragon Kenpo Member Bio: Richard ShepardMr. Richard Shepard, currently ranked WDK Purple Belt, at my request has submitted this brief and shares his experience as an active participant. Richard holds a Degree in Economics and is employed at Publishing Company. As I said, Student/Instructor members such as Richard Shepard are an honor have in our school.
Coach Ron Pfeiffer
I am 29yrs old and live in Oklahoma with my wife and three children. I have been fascinated by the martial arts for a long time and currently study Dragon Kenpo and Yang Taijiquan. I first became
interested in karate when I saw The Karate Kid as a 12yr old boy. I was unable to convince my parents of the virtues of karate, so I was stuck with a couple of books for the next four years.
At 16 I had the unexpected opportunity to learn seated meditation and the 24 posture form of Yang Taijiquan through a special fine arts program at my high school. Looking back, I certainly did not fully
appreciate the knowledge I gained but it did affect my approach to martial arts. When I moved to a different city for college, I started taking lessons in American Sport Karate (TaeKwonDo / Shotokan blend). After eighteen months I had reached brown belt, but was not satisfied with the heavy emphasis on competition or the lack of realism apparent in some of the techniques.
By this time I had also collected over twenty books on the martial arts and was actively communicating with practitioners around the world via the internet. Eventually I found a Wing Chun instructor teaching about an hour away. I studied regularly with him for six months when he closed up shop and moved to a different state for personal reasons. I continued practicing Wing Chun with the aid of some books and videos for the next year. At first I had been greatly impressed by the clear principles and stream-lined repertoire of Wing Chun, but eventually I became concerned about the giant gaps in the system. I began dabbling again, working out with friends that did American Kenpo and Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu. I spent one summer training three afternoons a week with an Aikikai Aikido Shihan. And I began reading more about the Chinese internal arts of Taijiquan, Xingyiquan, and Baguazhang. Next thing I know, I have a degree in Economics, a full time job, a wife, two stepsons, and no free time.
About fifteen months ago I discovered Dragon Kenpo and got excited about martial arts again. After reading what information I could find and asking questions through the discussions groups, I was very
interested to start learning this practical art. With limited time and money and no nearby instructors, I was very happy when Coach Ron Pfeiffer launched his World Dragon Kenpo online learning program. I signed up in March 2005 and have been working through the lessons since.
Currently I am a purple belt and very appreciative of all the hard work Coach Ron has put into making a student friendly Dragon Kenpo program available. Since Dragon Kenpo is a technique driven self-defense system, I decided to renew my study of Taijiquan as I thought the qigong elements and form practice would complement the Dragon Kenpo program nicely. So I have been working through Dr. Yang Jwing-Ming's book and DVD on the traditional Yang Pan-Hou long form. Honestly, I have even less free time now then when I stopped actively training a couple years ago, but I have learned that you have to make time when you can. I often work on Dragon Kenpo first thing in the morning, and do Qigong or Taijiquan during my lunch breaks.
Dragon Kenpo epitomized what I think true martial arts are: simple, dynamic, effective, and adaptable. The system is based on sound logical principles, and has a limited number of techniques that are still robust enough to deal with a wide variety of self-defense situations. The World Dragon Kenpo distance learning program provides me a user-friendly way to study the Dragon Kenpo system at my own pace. But I would be a fool to think that logging on and watching a few video clips is going to make me an effective fighter. You have to practice what Coach teaches, and you have to work on your own core attributes like balance, power, speed and awareness.
Richard Shepard
"The Warrior Creed by Robert L. Humphrey
(Iwo Jima Marine & Conflict Resolution Expert)
Wherever I go,
everyone is a little bit safer because I am there.
Wherever I am,
anyone in need has a friend.
Whenever I return home,
I would like to thank WDK and Coach Ron Pfeiffer for naming me Student/Instructor of the Year. I also wish to thank the members of our training group in Sellersburg. This is more their award than mine. Their enthusiasm, devotion, and encouragement are what make it all worthwhile. I especially wish to thank my son Jacob, who is responsible for my re-entry into martial arts, for his patience with the old man, who takes a little longer to learn a new technique and forgets the old ones all too quickly.
This award is an honor that I do not take lightly. Our organization has many many truly outstanding members. I am proud to be in World Dragon Kenpo.
Sincerely,
Jim Patus
My journey to Black Belt began on a decision I made prior to reaching my 40th birthday. Turning 40 is a very significant milestone in ones lifetime and to me it signaled a time for change. I have spent a lot of time and energy over the past 17 years raising two wonderful children, sharing and building a lasting loving marriage, and focusing on my career. However, as I was about to turn 40, the idea of maintaining quality of life for myself really surfaced.
I needed to get involved in some type of activity that would provide me with an escape from my normal and sometimes hectic routine. One day as I was bringing my son to basketball practice at the Lake Geneva YMCA, I happened to notice Ron Pfeiffer teaching a Self-Defense class. I knew Ron from Boy Scouts and was very surprised and impressed to see him training adults in Self-Defense. I was very intrigued and waited for Ron after his class to find out more. I soon discovered he was a 3rd Degree Black Belt in Kenpo and held weekly adult self-defense classes at the YMCA.
Ron expanded on the numerous benefits training in the martial arts can provide one both physically and mentally which was exactly what I was looking for. After giving the idea of training at the age of 40 very thoughtful consideration, I came to the conclusion that Ron had just opened the door to a world that would not only enhance my life, but provide me with a life long skill.
The summer of my 40l birthday I joined Ron's Kenpo Self-Defense club and began my journey to Black Belt. My first class was a great experience. I actually was taught how to defend myself from a punch and then how to block a punch and strike back. I was so impressed by this that it really set in my mind that I had made the right decision. I really looked forward to each weeks training session to learn new techniques and work on perfecting each one.
As my training progressed to advanced belt ranks, I found my capacity to focus and my level of confidence start to improve. My level of awareness sharpened and my ability to visualize progressed. The other interesting item I experienced was my change in physical strength. I have always been one to train with free weights, but I have found that my Kenpo training has provided me with an inner power that I seem to tap into when I deliver a punch, kick, block, and move through my patterns. This is a feeling that I have never experienced before and it is something I want to further explore and develop. Each higher belt rank I achieved demanded more from me both physically and mentally. The patterns and self-defense techniques became increasingly more intricate and demanded more precise movement. This just continued to capture my enthusiasm and desire to train.
Now, four years later, I find myself training for my Black Belt. This is an achievement that most adults will probably never experience. I feel very fortunate to have been able to take this journey and look forward to continuing my training and expanding my knowledge. It seems that I have only just begun my martial arts experience by reaching the level of Black Belt. Life is a challenging yet rewarding endeavor and I can only image how marital arts will benefit me in the days to come.
- Joe Chambers, 1st Degree Black Belt World Dragon Kenpo
My personal thanks to Joe for his support of World Dragon Kenpo and wish him continued success. Mr. Chambers submitted the above short essay in Sept of '04 before his Black Belt his experience in becoming a Dragon Kenpo Black Belt at our local school. For those of you who're interested this is the gentleman who is on our Warm-up Clip set in the members training area. Additionally he swings a mean nunchaku!Current Events in Wisconsin!December was a very busy month for the World Dragon Kenpo home school in Lake Geneva, WI. The month started off with all students getting ready for rank exams. These exams were held on December 10th, in the gym at the Geneva Lakes Family YMCA. Students started arriving at 8:30am, anxious to get started. Everyone was concentrating very hard, practicing their techniques and patterns. Morning warm up started at 9:00am, followed by interviews and testing. All together, we had around 30 students testing that day and several students tested the next week that couldn't be present that day. Also through the month of December and the beginning of January, several of our online students requested promotion to their next rank. Here is a list of the promoted students and their new ranks:
White Belt
Randy Brown
Jim Shelton
Probationary Yellow
Griffin Anderson
Wesley Anderson
Davie Angelici
Nicco Angelici
Jacob Besenhofer
Stephanie Besenhofer
Katelynn Denecke
Zachary Ditzenberzer
Enrique Erazo
Quinn Kinder
Erika Martinez
Collin O'Donnell
Yellow Belt
Austin Brandenburger
Megan Brandenburger
Jeremy Christensen
William FitzGerald-Fleck
Keith Noe
Tyler O'Dell
Eric Shane
Allen Taylor
Probationary Orange Belt
Bradley Anderson
Claire Kinder
Erik Martinez
Christian Martinez
Monica Starck
Matthew Murray
Orange Belt
Christopher Barela
Daniel Lundberg (also earned a yellow belt in early December)
Keith Noe
Angeli Soto
Allen Taylor
Probationary Purple Belt
Jimmy Ring
Julissa Sanchez
Purple Belt
James Alexander
Steve Amoia
Rick Collette
Justin Earhart
Elliott Lewandowski
Ethan Lewandowski
Gabriel Mendiola
Raymond Lee Plumley Jr.
Wyatt Starck
Richard Shepard
Blue Belt
Nicholas Fletcher
Robert Miller
Elizabeth Venteicher
Probationary Green Belt
Alexander James Mueller
Kurt Zitta
Green Belt
Jesse Trejo
Richard Lee
3rd Dg. Brown Belt
Mitchell Stedman
Chris Venteicher
2nd Dg. Brown Belt
Jim Patus
Jacob Patus
Ronald E. Pfeiffer
NOTE: World Dragon Kenpo recognizes some of these Students/Instructors hold rank including Black Belt and Instructor statues in other styles!
Also, with the testing, we had our adopt-a-family for Christmas where we sponsored two families to help make sure that they had a wonderful Christmas. Coach Pfeiffer suspended classes for the week before and after Christmas, giving the students a special assignment. All students were asked to assist the elderly members of the family in some task they needed. When classes resumed after the start of the New Year, all students gave examples of how they completed their assignment.
Speaking of the New Year, all members should consider assessing their training and looking at new goals to set for 2006. These goals can include, but are not limited to, the amount of time spend training, the intensity of workouts, adding in other types of exercises, (I.E. weight lifting, cardio vascular) a rank level to be reached, certain techniques you would like to improve upon, and assisting others in their training. I would like to see some examples of your goals set sent to either me or the newsletter editor for possible future publication.
There are a couple future events I would like to mention: First quarter testing this year will be held on March 11th at the Geneva Lakes family YMCA. Our second quarter exams will be held on Father's day weekend, June 18th, at Mirror Lake state campground. Everyone is welcome to join us; we have two 25 person campsites reserved and once those are full, there are several single campsites available. More information on this will be provided in future newsletters. The date of our third quarter exams has not yet been determined. It will take place in the month of September, and this will be our exams and banquet. I encourage everyone, local and online, to try to make time to join us for this big event. Also, we would like our associate instructors to bring any students along that they wish and have them test at this event. I would like to see more, now and in the future, World Dragon Kenpo black belt tests take place at this event.
-Ken Hansen
While I don't believe in New Year's Resolutions, I do like to take stock in myself in January. Reflecting where I am in relation to my goals, seeing how those goals have changed, and re-evaluating my life in general - my journal gets quite a workout in January.
This year, my martial arts training seems to have come full circle. Last year, I left World Dragon Kenpo; I even documented many reasons in my journal. Coach Ron patiently listened and tried to advise me, but I would have none of that. I had clearly defined reasons and I was not going to change my mind. Coach Ron finished with, “When you're ready to return as a regular WDK we'll be here and of course you will be most welcome.”
I tried various Kenpo systems looking for the “perfect system.” The problem was that I had no idea what the “perfect system” was; therefore, none of these systems looked right.
During this period, Coach Ron continued to include me on all of the mailing lists. I received every email, newsletter, and motivational message that Coach Ron sent to all of his students. And then in October, I received an email titled “Important Life Lessons.”
After reading it, I decided to write Coach Ron. I thought about our final discussions, and I thought that my last message was rude. I decided that Coach Ron deserved an apology, even if I wasn't going to train with him anymore.
In reply, Coach Ron said, “Rude email, what rude email? OK maybe you're right, so now what...Life goes on so it's time to get to work.”
Coach Ron was exactly the kind of teacher I wanted. But the system… could I overcome my issues with it?
I reviewed my journal for my reasons for leaving Dragon Kenpo.
No forms. I like forms training. Well, Coach Ron uses forms in his classes. So nothing to stop me from using forms.
No sparring. Nothing to stop me from sparring in my training.
So what was that other thing? Oh yeah.
No founder. Nobody to ask why this was done or that was done. Nobody to officially change the techniques that don't work as well.
Then the December newsletter came out. And there it was in black and white. “Breaking it Down: Yellow 1” by Doug Turner Jr. While I have many of the same complaints, Doug found solutions instead of complaining about them.
Wow! I literally said “Wow!” How could I be so obtuse? Dragon Kenpo had the underlying philosophy I liked. And if I found a technique that didn't work well, I could change it. Or if I found a way to do something slightly better I would use it.
And just WHO gives ME the authority to do this? I do. Dragon Kenpo is our system. We chose to carry on after Ed Hutchison left. And we can choose to make it better.
So when I told Coach Ron I wanted to rejoin, he said “Great. I always thought you would.”
So here I am back at the system I left a year ago. Maybe you think I lost a year of training. I think I gained a year of wisdom.
Randall Hall
SLAYER NEWS
Page
“… Remember that there is a difference between the reality of the world and our perception of the world.”
Inner Peace is defined as a quiet, calm and content mind, body and spirit. Inner peace is a state of being that has been sought for thousands of years. However, its attainment is not hard once you understand how.
The element keeping us from gaining inner peace is emotions. Emotions lead to discontent and never allow peace. To prove this, think back to a time when you were the least peaceful. Chances are that even when you merely thinking back to that moment you become uncomfortable and even feel a knot form in your chest or stomach. This is because you relive the emotions of that moment. The emotions are what creates the knot and robs your peace.
When this is considered it is easy to understand that it was the emotions of the moment that made it so chaotic and void of peace. Imagine reading the same event in a newspaper where it happened to someone else. Suddenly the event doesn't both you as much as it did when you experienced it. Why? You are not as emotionally attached to a person you never met. The less emotional attachment to the situation felt, the less amount of inner turmoil.
Attaining inner peace is a result of the release of chaos and turmoil caused by emotions. Only through this release can we know true and lasting inner peace.
Many think that without emotions people would become cold, dead, unfeeling, and unable to experience the world as the wonderful, joyous, beautiful and loving place that it is. They assume that it is our emotions that allow us to express ourselves and experience the world in a nonintellectual way. However, it is emotion that gets in the way of feeling and the experience of feeling. To understand this we must examine what emotions are.
Simply put, emotions are irrational responses to feelings. We receive a stimulus and that stimulus brings us a feeling. Each of us has our own opinions and beliefs. These opinions and beliefs are a major factor
in how we see the world. When we experience a feeling, our brain, being imperfect, weighs that feeling against our beliefs and creates an emotional response.
Emotions, as we will discuss later, are full of energy and are very powerful. This power compels us to act on them and confuse emotion with the feeling and believe that they are the same. We end up forgetting the feeling and focus on the energy of the emotion.
We are unable to obtain Inner Peace because we act on something that is created by our opinions and beliefs. Having opinions and beliefs are great to have, but remember that there is a difference between the reality of the world and our perception of the world. We screen and filter the world through our opinions and beliefs, this is why five people are able to see the same thing and recount it differently. The emotions that these beliefs bring up are not based on the situation; they are based on our beliefs behind the situation.
Emotions are irrational. Think of the last time you yelled at someone. Did you really need to yell? No, you could have communicated by speaking in a controlled tone. However, you felt a surge of energy and were compelled to act on it. In that moment your inner peace was gone, stolen by your emotion.
Imagine you have a coworker that you don't like. What makes us not like someone? Your likes and dislikes are caused because you screen them through the filter of your personal beliefs and opinions and discover that they don't equal up. The rest of the world may see them and think them wonderful, but because they do not fit with your particular system of beliefs and opinions they are faulted in your eyes.
Imagine that a friend bumps into you. You receive the stimulus and that stimulus creates a feeling. You experience the impact of the bump which shifts your balance and breaks your train of thought. That feeling is screened by your opinions and beliefs and an emotion results. You become angry. You then turn and see who bumped you and discover that it was your friend. That gets screened by your beliefs and opinions and you immediately say "I'm sorry, Bill. I wasn't watching where I was going." Your opinions and beliefs determined their action to be acceptable to some extent because you like that individual.
What if the next day it was the coworker that you dislike with whom you bump? This time your anger blossoms and you yell at him. You filtered the incident through a different set of opinions and beliefs coming to a different reaction. There is no logic behind it. Our emotion is created by our imperfect thoughts and prejudices.
What about good emotions like happiness? To put it plainly, there are no good emotions. Even happiness keeps us from the experience that made us happy. The feeling of happiness becomes a drug which controls us, altering the reality of the experience. Our brain screens the situation through our belief system and the result builds up emotional energy within us and we become emotional; we experience happiness. Being happy is overridden by the massive amount of emotional energy and we are compelled to act in an irrational way. Instead of experiencing true happiness, it is as if we have electricity building up within us, causing us to fidget, smile wildly and lose control of our thoughts.
We can bypass our emotions then we can experience our actual feelings and see the world in a non-prejudiced way. The world becomes more beautiful; colors are brighter, songs move us on a deeper level,
and when we feel the wind blow we will actually feel the reality of the wind instead of an irrational response to the wind. Loosing ourselves from our emotions will feel like we just lost 20 pounds; every feeling is fuller, stronger, and we experience the reality of the feeling and be able to act on it in an intelligent way, keeping us from getting ourselves into trouble.
Emotions cause stress which can lead to serious health problems. If you let go of emotion when it arises you will discover inner peace. This peace with yourself and your feelings can help you go years without becoming sick.
Emotions are like steroids. People take steroids to enhance what they already have and in the process they become controlled by a substance. They get angry and confused, suffering physical and mental
effects that make them act outside their character. They begin to alienate their friends, becoming extremely unhappy and end up with a miserable life until freed from the substance's control. Emotions do
the same thing. Something happens and you get a feeling, that feeling gets hyped up on steroids and it becomes stronger and uncontrollable to some extent. The feeling disappears and we are left with just an
emotional response which causes us to act out of character. In order to get back to the reality of our feelings, we need to stop feeding them with the steroids of emotion.
To be continued...
Guest Writer:
Matthew Schafer, 4th Dan Dragon Kenpo
This article is an excerpt from Mr. Schafer's upcoming book “What Most Martial Arts Instructors Should Teach, But Don't.”
For over twenty years, Mr. Jeff Speakman has been one of the most respected voices and teachers of martial arts. With a specific focus on American Kenpo, he has spread the discipline not only within our borders, but throughout the world. He was born in Chicago, Illinois on 08 November 1958. During his high school years, he was an All-American springboard diver. He achieved this distinction without any formal coaching. Unable to secure a college scholarship, he financed his own studies at Missouri Southern State College. Mr. Speakman majored in Psychology, and studied Biology as his secondary field of concentration.
Early Kenpo Training
During his college years, Mr. Speakman began his long journey in martial arts. He studied Goju-Ryu, which is a Japanese style of Karate, from Master Lou Angel. Before graduation, he earned a black belt. Presently, he holds a seventh degree black belt in this discipline.
At the suggestion of Master Angel, Mr. Speakman was advised to expose himself to the founder of American Kenpo, Grand Master Edmund Parker. Consequently, he moved to California, and was granted the honor to study personally with Mr. Parker. In 1984, Mr. Speakman earned his first black belt in American Kenpo. At this time, he holds a sixth degree black belt in Kenpo.
Acting Career
In 1986, Mr. Speakman began to take acting lessons. His intent was to provide accurate and realistic teachings of Grand Master Parker to mainstream audiences. His first appearance occurred in 1988 during the film, “Side Roads.” He would then appear in “Slaughterhouse Rock,” along with “Lionheart.” But in 1991, Mr. Speakman landed a leading role in the film, “Perfect Weapon.” His seminal work in this highly acclaimed film has been deemed the most realistic interpretation of Kenpo techniques and methodologies. Since that time, Mr. Speakman has appeared in the following films: “Street Knight, The Expert, Deadly Outbreak, Timelock, Scorpio One, Plato's Run, Memorial Day, Escape From Atlantis, Land of the Free, Hot Boyz, Running Red, Night Terror, The Gunman, and Bloodlines (due out in 2006).”
Commitment to World Youth
Mr. Speakman takes time from his busy travel, teaching, and training schedule to mentor young people; especially, those at risk or in crisis. He participates in The Challenge Program©, along with The Jeff Speakman Street Knight Foundation©. The latter has a global focus, and is country and culture specific to imbue a foundation of discipline and self-esteem from the study of martial arts.
Honors
Motivational Quote
”Lead by example, Follow by choice.” Jeff Speakman
References
Martial Artist Biography from USADOJO.com:
http://www.usadojo.com/martial-artists-biographies/martial-artist-jeff-speakman.htm
Jeff Speakman's Xtreme Kenpo Karate:
http://www.xtremekenpo.com/index.cfm
Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeff_Speakman
During the last 15 years, we have been exposed to media blitzes to promote the latest psychiatric drugs. Stigmatic illnesses such as depression and anxiety disorders have been removed from their dark closets. Would we have ever imagined ads for anti-depressants appearing during the World Series of Baseball? For some, these new drugs have enhanced their quality of life. But are pills, along with their significant side effect profiles, the only answer for these serious conditions?
Cognitive Behavioral Therapy
Another solution that has received far less media scrutiny is called Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. Or “CBT.” This is a form of therapy that focuses on distortions in the way that we perceive our environment. In essence, how you think is how you feel. The goal of CBT is to teach us how to remove maladaptive, or negative thoughts, with those that are more constructive. This branch of psychiatry was developed by Dr. Aaron T. Beck at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Beck was also the creator of the widely respected and implemented “Beck Depression Inventory” (BDI), which is used to measure a patient's level of depressive symptoms.
Cognitive Distortions
The basis of CBT is to recognize that our thoughts, or cognitions, become distorted. Which produce changes in mood and behavior, along with how we view ourselves and our daily world. There are ten frequent cognitive distortions:
References
Dr. Aaron T. Beck: http://mail.med.upenn.edu/~abeck/.
“Feeling Good,” by Dr. David Burns. It is available at Amazon.com or at your local bookseller. Here is a link to Dr. Burn's personal web site: http://www.feelinggood.com/.
Steve Amoia
II
Defense against a two-hand front choke
1. Raise your arms so that your elbows are above your assailant's arms.
2. Drop your elbows into your assailant's forearms to break his grip.
3. Execute a double spear-hand strike to your assailant's throat.
American Kenpo Reference: Look at Circling Wing or Parting Wings
Technique Rating: 8 Effective
The Attack:
A common aggressive attack is the two hand front choke. As a general attack it's not too effective, but is often resorted to when someone attacks in pure rage.
The Defense:
One of the goals that we have as martial artists is to be able to identify an impending attack and deflect it before it can cause damage. Unfortunately it is not always possible and we get hit or the choke, hug or hold is locked in. If the attack is a strike, there is nothing that we can do once it is landed. However, a choke, hug or hold provides us with an additional opportunity to protect ourselves. So, there are two stages of this attack that I wish to cover; I'll cover the approach in this article.
The APPROACH:
The relatively slow speed of the grab makes it easy to defend against if it weren't for the element of surprise. A choke normally occurs in two places; during the onset of a conflict and is what escalates it from a simple argument, or when you have been backed into a corner and your assailant wishes to finish the job.
The attempt to choke has a necessary component to it; movement. Your assailant's arms have to reach for your neck. With this movement comes some sort of momentum that can be diverted into soft targets such as your eyes if you are not careful. Therefore, proper deflection is needed.
The motion for incoming hands to the throat is the same as hands that are reaching to grab your lapels or hands that are trying to push you. You can easily move to techniques that are taught as a response to grabs or pushes, but if you wish to remain true to this technique what do you do?
In this technique, Mr. Hutchison did not indicate whether or not the choke had been fully applied or what type of footwork was used to enhance the rest of the technique. So the stage of the technique and the footwork used is open for your interpretation.
For the Yellow Belt curriculum it is most often taught to step back in order to increase the time you have to evaluate the situation and determine the best response, so that is the direction that I will cover first.
Version A:
1. Step back away from the outstretched arms into a left forward bow.
This is where things get a little bit complicated for those that are pure Dragon Kenpo. Mr. Hutchison taught that there was basically only one stance needed, the extended boxer stance which is the same as an American Kenpo modified neutral bow.
A forward bow is a neutral bow with the back foot turned so that the back toes are pointed directly forward instead of at a 45 degree angle. This directs the body weight along that line for more forward power. This is highly relevant to this technique because it provides a brace (bracing angle) against the forward momentum of the choke or push, allowing you to keep your balance even if hit with a good deal of force.
2. Execute a downward block to your assailant's forearms to knock them away.
Instead of raising your arms and driving your elbows down onto their outstretched arms, it is more efficient to provide margin for error with your forearms striking downward. You might be able to hit their moving arms with your elbows, but then again your elbows might just slip off. Instead, use a shearing forearm strike to your assailant's forearms to knock them down away from your neck.
This strike to the forearms will increase the forward momentum of your assailant's upper body, bringing his head forward in a downward arc.
3. Follow-up with a double spear hand strike to the throat.
I'm not overly fond with this portion of the technique because every time I've tried to employ it on a training partner the previous block to the forearms caused their head to whip forward and their chin down to protect their throat. Because of their forward moment and your own, the impact to a soft target like the throat would be tremendous. However, I just don't see the throat as a good target. Why not alter the technique up a little bit and strike for the eyes. The eyes are very vulnerable in this instance and would allow room for some great follow-ups.
Over all this technique can be made to work and work effectively and is great for the lower skill levels. However, advanced students should learn how to use economy of motion for this technique with the following variation:
Version B:
1. Step forward into a left forward bow.
1. Execute a double spear hand strike to the throat or eyes (which-ever target is available).
Yep, that is it. Just step in and strike the eyes. Ok, it's a little more sophisticated than that, but still just as simple.
Your assailant is attacking you with their two arms outstretched, aiming for a tight area that is your throat. Shoot your hands in between their arms in a wedge shape as you strike the eyes. This wedge forces their arms apart with force allowing you to strike them before their hands actually reach you. After you strike, their hands will probably move to protect their eyes or at least wipe the water out of them and you can make your escape or follow-up with some other 'dirty' tricks.
Next issue will cover “The Choke”
Doug Turner
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To understand how to generate power, one must understand what power is. The standard physics definition for power is the time-rate at which work is done (Bennett, p. 183). So if two individuals perform the same amount of work but one completes the work more quickly than the other, that individual has expended more power.
But what exactly is work? Work is the product of force times the distance through which the point of application is moved in the direction in which the force acts (Bennett, p. 183). If you read the last sentence and your eyes begin to glaze over, snap out of it. The key point here is that to do work something has to move. The farther it moves the more work that is done. If nothing moves, no work has been done.
So far we see that power involves moving something quickly. Speed is a key component of power. (See the article on speed by Rick Collette in this issue of the Slayer News.) Since power involves work and work involves force, then power also involves force. Force is the time rate of change of moment and momentum is the product of an object's mass times it's velocity (Bennett, p. 184).
So ultimately power depends on two components: speed (let's arbitrarily include velocity and acceleration here) and mass. You can generate more power by moving faster or by moving more mass.
Most long time practitioners of martial artists are aware of what generates power. Troy Burchett (Black Dragon Kenpo) in his training video The Secrets of Survival (2002) says that there are three ways to generate power: body movement, torque, and gravity.
When Burchett refers to body movement he is considering linear motion which produces momentum. Although many criticize the oi-zuki (lunge punch) of the shuri styles of traditional karate as being a high risk technique, there is no denying that it produces a lot of power, with the goal being ikken hiatus (literally, one strike, sudden death). Clayton (2004, p. 164), a Shotokan stylist says, “Impact technique is fueled by momentum, so the body has to be moving toward the opponent at the time of impact.” Moving the body, or part of it, with the punch moves more mass thus producing more momentum, therefore more power. In addition to increasing the moving mass, lunge punch also generates more speed (Nakayama, p. 298). It's the same idea as getting hit by an object flung from a moving car. The object will strike with great force because of the initial velocity imparted by the velocity of the car. With a lunge punch you, the punch moves with greater velocity and it has more mass behind it: Double whammy! We see the same principal when a hip thrust is used in a thrust kick.
Torque is a force that produces rotation. Burchett's reference to torque can have two possible interpretations.
First, we see torque applied in a hook and in an uppercut. More mass is moved through rotation of the body. Hip rotation used in some styles also has the result of moving more mass into the punch and increasing its speed. “To increase power and speed of a punch, turn the hips faster… The hips produce the power necessary for strong techniques.” (Nakayama, p.58)
The second way in which torque is used, with a slightly different motive, is in choku-zuki (corkscrew punch). In an ineffective “arm punch” a relatively small number of muscles is used for delivery. In the corkscrew punch many additional muscles groups are employed, including those in the lower arm. More muscles, more force. More force, more power. Nakayama (p. 102-103) emphasizes the importance of bringing muscles of the torso into play as well.
Burchett's third source of power is gravity. Gravitational force is everywhere. At sea level on the surface of the earth it accelerates objects. The force on a 230 pound man can be so great that it can shatter the bones of a forearm. (Don't try this at home, I already have.) The importance of gravity may be obvious in throwing styles such as Judo, but it is also standard fare in some styles of karate. A Shorin Ryu stylist performing fukyugata ichi does a lot of changing of stance from high to low. Part of the idea is that by dropping from a high stance to a low stance, gravity is used to enhance the power of the techniques. We see this in WDK yellow technique #7 (Hutchison's technique #2). When stepping to the side, drop your weight while applying the elbows. Rather than resisting the strength of your arms, your attacker must now deal with your entire weight. Likewise, when applying palm heel elbow breaks, such as the one in WDK yellow technique #6 (Hutchison's technique #1) power may be increased by dropping your weight into a lower stance. Combine this with applying the palm heel higher on the arm and you have a surprisingly effective throw.
To summarize, ultimately there are two ways power can be increased: Increase the speed of the technique and/or increase the mass applied to the technique. Common methods of achieving one or both of these objectives are to use linear body movement, to use torque, to use gravity, and to use more muscles.
References
Bennett, Clarence E. 1967. College Physics. Barnes and Noble.
Burchett, Troy. 2002. Secrets of Survival. (DVD) Shintai Ryu Martial Arts.
Clayton, Bruce D. 2004. Shotokan's Secret: The Hidden Truth behind Karate's Fighting Origins. Ohara.
Nakayama, Masatoshi. 1966. Dynamic Karate: Instruction by the Master. Kodansha International,
Jim Patus
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