selected studio mail

Most of the emails I've sent out for the studio are specifically informational about a particular belt test or upcoming event, but a few stand on their own. I'm hoping.

Happy Birthday Mr. Parker

March 19, 1931 to December 15, 1990

Dear One and All, as some of you may be completely unaware, today is the birthday of the man who organized American Kenpo Karate, Edmund K. Parker.

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.

American kenpo has a fairly contentious history. There's not a whole lot of inter-studio amity. I get the sense that Mr. Parker was fairly autocratic. At one point he felt his teachers were not heeding him and kicked out all of his high-ranking students- all of the Brown and Black Belts gone. The axe on the bottom of the Parker crest stands for 'the executioner- in the event a member is influenced by evil ideas and thoughts contrary to our philosophy... he is cut off, never to co-exist with us again.' Rough times, back there in the 50's.

Mr. Parker taught a lot of folks in the film industry, and ended up doing small parts in quite a few extremely awful movies. Which can be mighty fun to watch. This is from a film called CHANCE (please click here).

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 -here he runs some techniques with Huk Planas (PLEASE CLICK TO VISIT).

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.

Happy Birthday, Mr. Parker, and thanks

ps- in case any feel that I've been disrespectful or just plain lack taste, let me say that all these emails are just mine, not the studio's. I pass on notes and dates and news and such, but the sense and sensibility are mine.

Invitation to a Black Belt Test

Invitation to the Black Belt Test

These are rare moments, these tests. Even if you have no friends testing it's worth the visit. Students testing for their second degree black have put in five or six years of hard labor to earn that second red stripe. Every upper belt student has expended a great deal of commitment, effort and thought getting to this point.

The change from White Belt to Black is fundamental. It's not simply a matter of learning more techniques and kata, nor of simply doing them better. It's a change, a deep growth. As you get into the upper ranks you slow down. A student testing for 2nd Degree Brown Belt practices the new techniques for at least six months after getting that first stripe. It's not because the new techniques require twice as much time to learn as those required for Purple Belt. A 1st Degree Black Belt must study at least a full year before testing for the second stripe. Most of those testing for Second Degree Black will have been working for two years to make this happen. These tests are about depth.

People testing for brown and black belts have begun to understand this as an art, and are carving out their own form. Imagine a solid year of practice for a single concert. A single match or game after two focused years of training. It may not raise as much pressure as a bar mitzvah or a Quinceañera, but it's up there.

We often talk about this process as a martial art and as with most arts, it eludes definition. The only way to define it is to do it and to watch those who love doing it well. May 13th gives us all a chance to attend to some folks who have put years of thought and sweat into their belts, and it's a pleasure to watch. You can't get this anywhere else.

All are welcome.

yrs,
Mark