About Ed Parker's American Kenpo Karate Pasadena
Ed Parkers American Kenpo Karate Self Defense System
The system which came to be known as American Kenpo was developed by Parker as his Specific System, and featured Parker's revisions of older methods to work in more modern fighting scenarios. Basically, he would go to bars and start fights to see what really worked. He developed new or heavily restructured American Kenpo's forms and techniques during this period. Parker rejected esoteric Eastern concepts, such as ki, and sought instead to express the art in terms of Western scientific principles and metaphors.
American Kenpo Karate was created and developed by Ed Parker to be a Martial Art that could be customized to the practitioner. He wanted an art that was custom made for all Americans, men, women, and even children. Martial Arts masters at the time were not teaching women, and he rejected the idea that the person must fit the art, before the art would be taught. He wanted something that could be useful to anyone willing to practice.
Basic Priciples
• Concepts and theories such as "Marriage of Gravity" — settling one's body weight in order to increase striking force, and many others out lined in his Infinite Insights Books (5).
• Every block is a strike, every strike is a block — a block should be hard and directed enough to injure an opponent, decreasing their ability to continue an attack. Every strike should counter an opponent's movement, decreasing their ability to mount an attack.
• Point of Origin — refers to moving any natural weapon from wherever it originates rather than cocking it before deploying it. This helps to eliminate telegraphing of moves.
• Economy of Motion — make sure every move counts and is efficient.
• American Kenpo emphasizes fast hand techniques used in rapid succession. Kicks are less common, and usually directed at the lower body because high kicks are slower to execute and potentially compromise the practitioner's balance.
• Physically, American Kenpo develops strength, speed, balance, and stamina.
Personalization — Parker always suggested that once a student learned the lesson embodied in the "ideal phase" of the technique, they should then search for some aspect that can be tailored to their own personal needs and strengths.
An overview by Mark Arnott (previously published in 1997)
American Kenpo owes a lot to many traditions and many teachers. As a child growing up in Hawaii, Mr. Parker began studying martial arts under William Chow, who developed his kenpo style from his teacher, James Mitose. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, James Mitose had reworked his family's more traditional martial art to develop a style whose basics could be quickly made effective as street fighting, anticipating as many did an immanent Japanese invasion. It was that street-fighting form of American kenpo out of the Japanese out of the Chinese that eventually became American Kenpo Karate.
Mr. Parker opened his Pasadena studio over on Walnut in 1956 (he'd begun teaching while still a student at Brigham Young University, which might account for some of the more biblical resonances of some of the techniques- Twist of Fate, Gift of Destiny, like that). It was early days for all forms of Asian martial arts in the U.S., and many of Ed Parker's first students went on to found their own studios and further change the style to suit their understandings.
Mr. Parker taught a lot of folks in the film industry, and ended up doing small parts in quite a few movies. Which can be mighty fun to watch.
If you can find it, watch the film called CHANCE. Mr. Parker is the one pushing the chair. At the end of the fight you see him breaking the neck of a fellow in a green shirt and tan jacket, Larry Tatum. Rough times back in '79, as well.
There's not much footage of Mr. Parker when young and in most of later movie work he's more in the Godzilla line of martial arts. But there is some great, clear teaching stuff - search for where he runs some techniques with Huk Planas
As he goes through the Blues you can see differences- moves we have added and ways we've changed techniques. There's not a perfect Begging Hands. There's the one that keeps you safe.
Mr. Parker had an enormous influence on martial arts. There are schools around the world teaching their version of his American Kenpo Karate. Each generation, each studio, each teacher has changed things a bit. Sometimes it may even feel like it's been changed from last week. Maybe so. Finally, it only matters if it works.Personalization — Parker always suggested that once a student learned the lesson embodied in the "ideal phase" of the technique, they should then search for some aspect that can be tailored to their own personal needs and strengths.
American Kenpo owes a lot to many traditions and many teachers. As a child growing up in Hawaii, Mr. Parker began studying martial arts under William Chow, who developed his kenpo style from his teacher, James Mitose. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, James Mitose had reworked his family's more traditional martial art to develop a style whose basics could be quickly made effective as street fighting, anticipating as many did an immanent Japanese invasion. It was that street-fighting form of American kenpo out of the Japanese out of the Chinese that eventually became American Kenpo Karate.
Mr. Parker opened his Pasadena studio over on Walnut in 1956 (he'd begun teaching while still a student at Brigham Young University, which might account for some of the more biblical resonances of some of the techniques- Twist of Fate, Gift of Destiny, like that). It was early days for all forms of Asian martial arts in the U.S., and many of Ed Parker's first students went on to found their own studios and further change the style to suit their understandings.
Mr. Parker taught a lot of folks in the film industry, and ended up doing small parts in quite a few movies. Which can be mighty fun to watch.
If you can find it, watch the film called CHANCE. Mr. Parker is the one pushing the chair. At the end of the fight you see him breaking the neck of a fellow in a green shirt and tan jacket, Larry Tatum. Rough times back in '79, as well.
There's not much footage of Mr. Parker when young and in most of later movie work he's more in the Godzilla line of martial arts. But there is some great, clear teaching stuff - search for where he runs some techniques with Huk Planas
As he goes through the Blues you can see differences- moves we have added and ways we've changed techniques. There's not a perfect Begging Hands. There's the one that keeps you safe.
Mr. Parker had an enormous influence on martial arts. There are schools around the world teaching their version of his American Kenpo Karate. Each generation, each studio, each teacher has changed things a bit. Sometimes it may even feel like it's been changed from last week. Maybe so. Finally, it only matters if it works.