Masters Hall of Fame issue 4

MASTERS HALL OF FAME EXECUTIVE OFFICERS • Hanshi Daniel Hect, CEO • Soke David Dye, President • Grandmaster Eric O'Neal, Vice-President of Marketing • Grandmaster Gregg Wooldridge, Vice-President of Alumni Relations • Grandmaster Robert Parham, Director of Public Relations • Shihan Paul Hayes, Director of Technology • Shihan Alfred Urquidez, Executive to the Ambassadors' Council • 'Ôlohe Solomon Kaihewalu, Special Council to the Masters Hall of Fame • Grandmaster Eric Lee, Special Council to the Masters Hall of Fame • Sensei John McCarthy, Special Council to the Masters Hall of Fame • Sifu N. Neil Hardin, Special Council to the Masters Hall of Fame

Executive Officers

JULY- AUGUST 2011 VOL. 1 NO. 4

CONTENTS 5

Masters Hall of Fame Movie Pick

6

Mark Gerry Roast

10

Grandmaster Eric O’Neal

17 Surviving the Initial Assault 24 Kickpics Photo of the Month 26 Shihan Duties

COVER STORY GRANDMASTER ERIC O’NEAL An icon in sport karate, Grandmaster O’Neal is an inspiration to everyone he encounters!

MASTERS HALL OF FAME AMBASSADORS •Shihan Dana Abbott • Shihan Brent Ambrose • Shihan Jeff Anderson • Sensei Thomas R. Boganski • Grandmaster Fred Brewster • Grandmaster Craig Carter • Professor Carlos de Léon • Master Robert Deahl • Grandmaster Eugene Fodor • Sifu N. Neil Hardin • Lisa "The Black Widow" King • Soke Dr. Alonzo Jones

• Grandmaster Eric Lee • Grandmaster Eric O'Neal • Grandmaster Robert Parham • Shihan Robert Posslenzny • Shihan Lou Salseda • Hanshi Dan Sawyer • Grandmaster Mark Shuey • Master Bo Svenson • Grandmaster Darren Tibon • Sensei Gene Tibon • Shihan Alfred Urquidez • Master Anthony Zimkowski 1

LETTER FROM THE CEO

The MASTERS HALL OF FAME annual banquet is right upon us. We have some outstanding nominees this year once again. I am looking forward to meeting old friends and making new ones. The spirit and the brotherhood of the martial arts is what the MASTERS HALL OF FAME is all about!

Please note that the Disney Martial Arts Festival has been relaunched as the ORIGINS INTERNATIONAL MARTIAL ARTS FESTIVAL. This is going to be a spectacular event and the capstone to the MASTERS HALL OF FAME. I look forward to meeting you all at DISNEY! Hanshi Daniel Hect CEO, MASTERS HALL of FAME Visit us at www.MASTERSHALLOFFAME.ORG

2

YOUR AD HERE!

Contact ROBERT.PARHAM@MASTERSHALLOFFAM E.ORG

MASTERS HALL OF FAME MOVIE PICK

OK, so we all know that I have an affinity for old school movies. There are not too many martial arts genre films today that impress me. I found one that blew my socks off! UNDISPUTED III Scott Adkins returns as Boyka, the Russian bad guy from UNDISPUTED II (which was pretty good too!). After getting beat down by Michael Jai White in the second installment, Boyka has to redeem himself. A new tournament with eight of the world’s best fighters happens in the prison. Boyka has lost all respect and is no longer the most feared man in the prison. He’s actually been reduced to cleaning toilets! The winner gets all of the spoils of victory, and even maybe their freedom.

Some critics will say that this film is just a rehashed version of Bloodport. What differs for me is that Scott Adkins can really act. You feel sorry for him and root for him as much as you rooted against him in UNSIDPUTED II. Even more so, the choreography of Larnell Stovall is rich, fresh, fascinating and will make you jump out of your seat in excitement!

UNDISPUTED III

Isaac Florentine, Scott Adkins and Larnell Stovall make a great team! Can I hear a chant for UNDISPUTED IV? GO SEE THIS MOVIE!

5

The Living Legend’s Celebrity Roast of Mark Gerry By: Robert Parham

On June 17, 2011 at the Castro Valley Center of the Arts in Castro Valley, California, Sifu Mark Gerry was honored (?) by some of the most prestigious martial arts legends living today. James Lew, Art Camacho, Sonny Sisson, Frank Dux, Harry Mok, Ernie Reyes, Eric Lee and Cythia Rothrock were all on hand to give Mark Gerry a fabulous time. The capacity crowd enjoyed the roast, as well as martial arts demonstrations put on by the Long Beach International Karate Team and Ernie Reye’s West Coast Demo team. A spectacular night!

6

Samurai Swords | Katana Swords Japanese Swords Exclusive Samurai Swords offered only by

www.samuraisupply.com and the Museum of

Sport Karate. The SS795BK Musashi Tsunami Hoi-ru Katana is endorsed by Professor Gary Lee!

SS805 Musashi Tenga Katana Sword

SH2294 Paul Chen Paper Crane Katana Sword

RY3201 Ryumon Phoenix Katana Sword

MC3060 Bushido Bamboo Pearl Katana Sword

$349.99

$2199.00

$336.00

$252.00

MJ Janis LLC 113 Madelyn Rose Bayview, TX 78566 U.S.A. Toll Free: 1-888-251-8246 info@samuraisupply.com

Š Copyright 2010 - MJ Janis LLC Privacy Policy

“A MASTER OF MARKETING IS NOW MARKETING THE MARTIAL ARTS WORLDWIDE” “THE LEGEND OF LIONMAN ~ PRESIDENTIAL 1,OOO,OOO KICK CHALLENGE”

Grandmaster Eric O’Neal, Sr. excels at everything he puts his mind to do. He’s is the seven-time USKA World Karate Champion (the title that Chuck Norris formerly held) and has been inducted into the International Karate Hall of Fame (with Bruce Lee) in 1988 and the Masters Hall of Fame in 2008. He’s a motivational speaker and the author of twenty-eight graphic novels. I feel that he is definitely the next “King of Karate”! He graciously took time out of his very busy schedule to speak with us.

I would like to thank the Masters Hall of Fame for making me a cover story and putting my picture on the front cover of its magazine.

I thank its president, Daniel Hect, for all his hard work and dedication and Robert Parham, Director of Public Relations, for the great job he is doing. It is an honor and a privilege for me to discuss my career in martial arts with such a great publication.

MHOFM: How did you get involved with martial arts?

GEO: I got involved in martial arts when I was about 10 or 11 years old. There was this kid about my age from Mississippi who I roughed up almost daily. That’s what we did in the Desire housing projects. One day he started spinning and kicking me, and I learned he had an older brother in martial arts. I found out where his older brother was studying and went there. The instructor’s name was Geraldine Jefferson. I approached her and told her I was there to learn karate. She asked me to go, sit in a corner and wait, but I was persistent. I wanted to beat up this guy and his brother. I was excited and wanted to do something right then. She did a jumping 180 kick over my head. I didn’t know what it was then, but it looked like her head almost touched the ceiling. I had never seen anybody get up with such speed, grace and power. So I ran to the corner, thinking if that kick had hit me, it wouldn’t have been nice. I was like, whatever you want me to do, I’m with you.

She took me on, and I became her number one student. I beat all her other students. I advanced quickly in the projects area where I grew up. She took me to competitions, and I won. There were seven boys in my immediate family so I knew something already about fighting. I’m the 7th son. Then she took me to the Desire Community Center in New Orleans where I met her instructor, Grand Master Ferdinand Bigard. He had his top students there. Several had high-ranking belts. I whipped everybody there including his best student, Frank B., a brown belt, and two black belts who were twins. They all quit then and there because a white belt had beaten them. As a kid I won the All South National Karate Championship three years in a row. I stopped competing at 17 and started college.

I saw Frank after the devastation of hurricane Katrina. We talked, and I learned that he had never gone back and gotten his black belt.

So I invited him to come to my school and study with me at no costs. Frank trained hard and earned his black belt in 2007.

10

MHOFM: Tell us about your accomplishments in the corporate world and why you left to pursue a career in martial arts.

GEO: I wanted to be a corporate executive when I was young. I used to walk around the housing projects in a shirt and tie at a very young age. My whole objective was to get out of the projects. Most kids at my age thought they could do it by being the best playing football or basketball or some other sport. Although I played basketball, ran track and field, and was great in martial arts, I wanted to be the best corporate executive. I wanted to get out based on my mental accomplishments; I feel that I had a gift.

After college at 22, I started working as the supply manager at Minolta Corporation in New Orleans. I reformed the structure and personnel of their marketing department. I purchased $100,000.00 worth of supplies that were not Minolta products. My concept was that we shouldn’t be limited to selling Minolta supplies. My boss thought I was crazy. I hired and trained former male athletes and beautiful, beautiful women as sales people and sent them to the tallest office buildings in the city. They were all well trained, sharp and sophisticated. I increased profits by over 400% in less than 4 months by selling everything that we could. But there was no raise or promotion, so I left.

At 23 years old I became a manager with ITT Life Insurance Company after getting an insurance license. Within one month I broke all their sales records. I was promoted to district manager and thereafter started my own company called Professional Marketing Consultants. Then I started thinking of new sales concepts. Their insurance linked an annuity to term life insurance. I lobbied the state legislature to have an IRA linked to term life insurance and to allow underprivileged people to open an account for $10, which produced more than $1,640,000.00 in applied premiums in one month. The parent company wanted to learn from me. I got a letter from the president of ITT and was ranked 5th in the worldwide conglomerate. The parent company asked me to close my company and lead their marketing task force. I was not interested.

After that I got my real estate license and returned to the hotel industry where I started in housekeeping at 17 years old. Now at 24 I worked as an audit supervisor and computer programmer. I helped open two new hotels: the Windsor Court Hotel, which was 5-star, and Le Meridian Hotel, which was a French operation. The French gave me a lot of flexibility, and I was able to use my knowledge for transforming systems. They put me in charge of their entire, multi-million dollar computer system. I created a new system to facilitate the French accounting system working better in the American hotel accounting systems. I called it Master Control Sheet (MCS), and they are still using it today. But I never forgot my promise to go back to the housing projects and help our youth.

At 25 years old I got very ill with food poisoning at the hotel. I was in the hospital and lost 20 – 30 pounds in a few days. I had already been suffering with an ulcer, and I began to suffer with pancreas problems. I had been working too many hours and almost died. That caused me to have a spiritual transformation. I was told I had accomplished at age 25 what a lot of people had not done in an entire lifetime. So I made a commitment to God. I wanted to change the direction my life and I wanted to go back to the community and teach kids how to do what I did growing up in a challenging community. So I went back to the community to pursue martial arts full time to help our youth. This was supposed to be a 2-year plan.

MHOFM: You won 100 grand championships in a row, an almost impossible feat.

GEO: I believe what drove me to be the best in my life all started when I committed my spirit to God and decided to become a human instrument of His will and purpose. I believe that in anything I strive to do God has my back, always. That is why I believe I can be the best in what I do. Faith without work is dead. As a young kid growing up in the church I understood and believed that, but I believed it more than I understood it. Therefore, as a young kid I had faith, and I was always willing to do the work. While other kids were out playing I was working and training, kicking and punching. When I became a young man I kept that same discipline and dedication.

When I returned to martial arts competition in 1986 I made a statement during an interview to Data News Weekly that I would not lose in 1987. I was a champion before, and I was committed to being a champion as an adult. So I went ahead and won over 100 consecutive championships without a loss. All of them were not grand championships because some of the tournaments in which I fought did not have a grand championship title. But, nevertheless, it was something I was very focused on and committed to doing. I was driven by achieving a set and stated goal. God is with me always, and I am willing to put in the work to make it happen

11

MHOFM: Winning a World Championship in your own city must have been a great moment in your martial arts career.

Please share that experience with us.

GEO: Winning the United States Karate Alliance (USKA) World Karate Championship title in my home city was one of my best career experiences. There were three people who really inspired me as a young man. Jim Kelly was one. “Man, you came right out of a comic book,” was something he said that grabbed my attention. On hearing that from him, a Grandmaster who I had seen on the movie screen next to Bruce Lee, I knew, thought and felt at that moment that I could achieve all my goals. As a young man I had three idols: Jim Kelly, Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris.

In 1987 I won my first idol Jim Kelly’s title, the International Karate Championship, in Long Beach, California. Jim Kelly won in 1971. Then, after winning 100 consecutive titles that we talked about earlier, I was inducted into the International Karate Hall of Fame with my second idol Bruce Lee. Then I began chasing my third idol Chuck Norris’ USKA World Karate Championship title for years flying all over the world.

In 1988 I flew to Irvine, California, in the best shape of my life to fight in the USKA World Karate Championship, ready for battle. In my first match I beat the Chinese International Champion real bad. Grandmaster Robert A. Trias, Founder of USKA, watched my match and personally came to the ring and demanded to Grandmaster John Venson that I be weighed in again because I was too big to be so fast. This went on match after match, and I’m shutting everyone out. Moving to the finals I noticed no referees were calling my points, and my opponent was scoring without touching me. This was very frustrating, and I began to show my frustration. After losing Grandmaster Venson, the center referee, told me, “You man, you’re awesome. I have not seen anyone come in here and do what you did without a patch, and you got a big BLUE LION on your back. Be glad they let you compete.” The same thing happened in Phoenix, Arizona, for the 1989 Championship.

I learned that the 1990 USKA World Karate Championship would be in New Orleans. While in New Orleans I began a new regimen of training as I realized I had to change my system. I was getting frustrated. I was winning tournaments, but not at USKA. I was not getting the attention and recognition from the referees and judges to actually score points. Then God revealed something to me. He said, don’t worry about the referees. Don’t worry about the judges. Your opponents are going to score your points from this point on.

When he first revealed that to me I couldn’t figure it out. He told me this in January, and the tournament was in July. It took me about 3 months to figure it out. And when I did, I shouted at the top of my lings to everybody, “I’m going to win the World Championship this year.” They all thought I lost my mind. Then I began training like a beast, a regimen of 10,000 kicks a night. I would not go to sleep unless I had done at least 10,000 kicks. The concept of the judges not calling my points did not matter. What was revealed to me was this: I focused for the first 2 minutes of the match strictly on annihilating my opponent. Beating my opponent so bad that he would call my points because he wanted to get out of the lion’s den. By being extremely quick and powerful with my kicks and punches while not allowing him to advance at all and get close to me, it was absolute and total domination and annihilation.

That is how I ended up winning the World Championship in 1990. And I won 6 more after that for a total of 7 titles in a row and retired as the 7-time USKA World Karate Champion.

12

MHOF: You took your talent and intensity to Mexico to participate and compete in the Goodwill Games. Tell us about that experience.

GEO: Well, the Goodwill Games were a lot of fun. I had retired after 7 USKA World Championship titles. I got a telephone call from Dr. Harold Mayle, who was very persistent. He kept saying, we haven’t won the middleweight division in more than 10 years.

We need you to come and represent our country. My response was, “How can I represent my country and Team USA? I didn’t compete in any preliminaries, finals or whatever.” And he said, “man, I just saw one of your tapes, and you don’t have to go through any eliminations or anything. I want you to represent our country. I am sending you everything you will need, and I want to see you in Cancun, Mexico.”

So, I went to Cancun. It was an awesome experience. I had never seen all the different countries come together, all with their flags.

Competition was at its very, very best. Needless to say, I came out with 2 gold medals, one in fighting and the other in Kata. I was very excited.

I was given a special jacket that was voted upon by the members of Team USA who felt that I was the most outstanding competitor representing America. In addition to that, during the closing ceremony, when all the different countries came out with their flags, I was asked to represent America by bringing the flash on to the mighty torch. I would have to put that at the top of my list of memorable karate moments and experiences. Cancun, Mexico was very, very special to me.

MHOF: With all the successes you have had in life you have had many adversities also. Please share some of those with us and what you did to overcome them to rise above and be successful.

GEO: Well, my whole life has been controversial and a challenge. Perhaps my greatest challenge began after the massive devastation of Hurricane Katrina when I lost 37 karate schools, all my awards, trophies and other career memorabilia, 4 toy stores, and the close proximity of former students and friends. It was a most humbling experience. But, as I said earlier, having God in your life and letting Him lead you helps you to overcome. You know, because, if you think that you are “IT”, then you are mistaken. I have always known that God has His hand on me and that I am one of His human instruments. For me, those successes come only when I put my faith in Him. And I don’t ask that my will be done; it is Thy will be done. When I walk through life in that manner the obstacles and adversities become a challenge. It became a challenge for me to get out of the projects. The projects for me were like a maze. I’ve never drank.

I never smoked. I’ve never done drugs. I’ve never committed any crimes or broken any laws because all of those are obstacles.

Nearly everybody in the neighborhood was doing it. But I saw it as a challenge and rose above it by becoming focused and having a goal.

If you don’t have a goal, then get rid of anybody around you who doesn’t have one. Because I can guarantee you, if they don’t have a goal, then you surely won’t have one either. I don’t share, and I don’t hang around people who aren’t going anywhere. You have to surround yourself with winners if you want to become a winner. My thing was I didn’t have winners around me so I created winners.

Just like my karate school, everybody in my school was a champion. Mostly you have someone who is good, or 2 or 3 people who are good at a school. I bring 50 students to a tournament, and all 50 of my students are coming out winners. They dominate. That is my brand. My brand is like, win, win, win, no matter what, win. That is what we do. We win. That has been the brand of BLUE LION since 1986. And we continue that brand today.

MHOF: THE LEGEND OF LIONMAN and the 7 KURODOS are your creation and put you into yet another arena that you have succeeded in. How did the idea of LIONMAN come about, and what are your plans for the character?

GEO: THE LEGEND OF LIONMAN came about because every time I fight I roar like a lion. And in competition I wore lion outfits, lion gees, lion decorations, because I fought like a lion.

I was doing sleepovers, and I did them about 4 times a year. I did them at my karate school to keep kids off the street. New Orleans was like the crime capital of the world, and I had thousands of kids in my program. So around Halloween and other different holidays, for me to keep the kids off the street and keep them safe, I would have sleepovers.

I did not like to talk about myself a lot growing up because I had low self-esteem. You don’t do that when you’re in the hood. You know, I mean, that is not a good thing.

13

So, let’s say I wanted to share with the kids during a sleepover what it was like in Guatemala when I won the International Championship. Rather than me saying to the kids that I won in Guatemala, was captain of the team, and talk about I did this, I did that, and I - I - I, I created this character called LIONMAN. That made it a lot easier for me to communicate and talk about myself and talk about the things I have accomplished without using the “I” word so much. So when I sat around and talked about this character called LIONMAN everybody got excited. None of the parents would leave. They would sit there and listen until 2 or 3 in the morning. And I’m looking around thinking, y’all supposed to be somewhere else, having dinner together or something. You have to embellish the story and add some fantasy. You must remember, I started out doing this thing as something for the kids. They would be intrigued, and the parents encouraged me to start writing all this down.

First I started taping my stories while training, and after I finished training I started writing them down. And before I knew it I had written 28 books. There are 4 series with 7 books in each series. My plans right now are to get all my books in digital content. They are going to be ready for the smart phones. And LIONMAN is going to be the super hero of the future.

We just hired the artist who did Batman for DC Comics. He is coming out with a whole brand new look for 2012. We’re going to do some really unique and creative things. One of the things about LIONMAN is that he is the master of education. He’s going to be unique and different from any super hero that you’ve ever seen before. We are already working with Japan. We’re working with India. So LIONMAN is going to be an international super hero. We are really excited about the future of LIONMAN.

MHOF: Who are your idols in the martial arts world?

GEO: My idols as a kid are actually my idols right now. Jim Kelly is number one. Bruce Lee is number two. And Chuck Norris is number three.

There are a tremendous number of martial artists who I admire, but as far as being an idol, those are the three who I set my goals by to achieve. And those are the 3 gentlemen who I believe have done the most for martial arts. I admire Jackie Chan, Jet Lee. I also admire Billy Blanks. I admire Taimak and Michael Jai White, and there’s Grandmaster Kareem Abdullah and many more. But when you say the word idol, I think the word idol is very powerful. An idol is someone who has succeeded and been consistent for years on in terms of who they are, what they believe in and what they have accomplished. Those three men have done a lot for the martial arts world, and 30 – 40 years later they’re still in the top three when it comes to idols. So, Jim Kelly, Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris are Grand Master Eric O’Neal’s idols.

MHOF: You are a great inspiration to many children and thousands of martial artists. What advice would you give to someone who wants to follow in your footsteps?

GEO: The advice I would give them is you have to have faith. Faith without work is dead. Whatever it is that you believe in, you have to ascribe to that, understanding that everybody’s footprint is different and unique. So following behind me would not necessarily end with a good result unless that is already a part of and set in your footprint.

I want people to be the very best that they can be, and that is what I tell every one of my students. I have one student who is one of the youngest presidents of a bank in the country. One is a world-class choreographer. Many are in law enforcement. Many are ministers.

I can go on and on. My students are phenomenal. I am proud of each and every one of them.

I never shared with my students that I want them to be like me. What I want them to do is be the very best person that they can possibly be. And I want them to be a human instrument so that God can use them and be a blessing in what God has set forth for them

to do. I am not setting a path or chart for someone to follow me. I am setting a path and chart for them to be the very best that they can possibly be.

MHOF: What can we expect from Grand Master Eric O’Neal, Sr. in the future?

GEO: I have always considered that to be whole there has to be body, mind and spirit. That is the essence of what martial arts is all about. And for me it is the pursuit of maintaining that and making sure that I complete my journey.

The first parts of my life as a young man were all physical. Body: becoming the very best that I could possibly be. I think I’ve accomplished that by setting goals and achieving them. So those things were accomplished.

Mind: as an accountant and computer programmer, marketing executive, real estate license, insurance license, executive for a couple of Fortune 500 companies, and exceeding at the highest levels of business by building one of the most successful martial arts schools in the world. 37 locations, over 30,000 students, and over 100 black belts show the mental side.

Now I am headed toward the spiritual side. And that is elevating the world to understand how powerful martial arts are. That’s why I created THE LEGEND OF LIONMAN and the 7 Young American HEROES. To show people that martial arts are not just sports but actually a way of life. It brings people together of different nationalities from all over the world. When I was a young man growing up I met my first Asian person and became friends with the first Caucasian all at a karate tournament. And I did that while living in the housing projects. When my friends talked about people of other cultures I could not talk with them. I knew people of other cultures, and I did not feel the same way that they felt. I had an opportunity to engage with them, and they were my friends.

That experience allowed me to have my best friend, Attorney Jose Conseco, and another good friend, Gen Fukunagu, CEO and President of FUNimation Entertainment. So those experiences brightened my life. My next mission is to help transform the lives of others. I will be doing that through THE LEGEND OF LIONMAN~THE SEVEN KURODOS and THE LEGEND OF LIONMAN~7 Young American HEROES. My mission is to build this brand that I have that I believe will build multicultural relationships at a higher level in America so people can better understand each other and grow and make America a better and stronger place. My vision is to take LIONMAN not only throughout America but also throughout the world.

MHOF: How was your relationship with the Disney Martial Arts Festival?

GEO: My relationship with the Disney Martial Arts Festival was very powerful. We have been able to partner since 2009 and created something that was different and unique. And that is LIONMAN~7 Young American HEROES. Having the final competitions at Disney has been a tremendous experience for the kids. If you go to our website you will be able to see the 7 young kids showing their talents. Now we are in negotiations for our TV show for these kids as well, and we’re working on getting them at the White House.

The Disney Martial Arts Festival also helped with my 20-city tour throughout the country. We auditioned the best karate students in each city, and the top kids went to Anaheim, California, and competed to become the 7 Young American HEORES. We are now working on the competitions for 2011 and 2012.

MHOF: What is going on at the White House with “Let’s Move” and the President’s PALA Challenge?

GEO: I am fortunate and blessed to have the opportunity to represent the United States of America as a national advocate for the President’s Challenge program in support of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” initiative.

Right now we are planning for having “THE LEGEND OF LIONMAN ~ PRESIDENTIAL 1,OOO,OOO KICK CHALLENGE” across the country all at the same time after making a pledge in support of the President’s PALA Challenge. We are focused on the Guinness Book of World Records, and we want to set this record. Kindly refer to our website, www.TheLegendOfLIONMAN.com, for more information. We want the entire martial arts community to be involved in this historic event. It is a blessing to be a partner with the President’s Challenge Program and to support this Administration’s efforts to improve the nation’s health and physical fitness.

MHOF: Thank you Grandmaster O’Neal. It has been a pleasure!

BE A PART OF HISTORY!

For more information visit

WWW.THELEGENDOFLIONMAN.COM

•SURVIVING THE INITIAL ASSAULT• Basic self-defense (From Sublevel Kenpo Concepts™) By Ron Chapél, Ph.D.

One of the things found missing in modern day arts geared toward self-defense, is an understanding of human anatomy and the methods and manner of execution of basic skills. Although all disciplines have foundation drills they choose to call “basics,” there is no guarantee these movements bare any relationship to sound body mechanics. Because of their “artistic” nature, movements have been shaped and changed over time to sometimes fit an incorrectly, and pre-conceived idea of what these movements should look like over and above function. In this age of scientific methods to measure and enhance physical performance, “how it looks” must be secondary to maximum performance, efficient execution, and of course combat readiness and effectiveness.

It is a sad reality that most martial arts of the world are just that, “art.” Unfortunately art is interpretive and is a matter of personal taste and not necessarily the most efficient, or practical application of questionable skills. This is particularly true in disciplines that practice with a minimum of bodily contact.

At least in rigorous sport activities like boxing, judo/wrestling or football, body mechanics are not questioned. The validity of their application is immediately apparent. If you are off balance or execute a weak technique, it will become

painfully obvious almost immediately, one way or another.

In most martial arts with limited contact and a heavy cultural influence, the emphasis is not placed on practical application but regimented uniformity of performance. Students are given forms and sets of dubious origin with no clue as to their application in actual use. Oddly enough, these arts may actually come closer to efficient useful body mechanics than so called modern self-defense arts. Of course that is not to say these disciplines cannot engage in significant contact, but when they do, they are seriously hampered by cultural rules and limitations of ritual engagement. Either that or they actually abandon their “training” for more expeditious and effective methods for the moment.

As an example, most of the Korean and Japanese disciplines restrict attacks against the groin area even in “sparring.” Assaults practiced with the hands rarely mirror the conventional sidewalk haymaker punch you are more likely to see in real life confrontations. Instead you see a steady diet of the straight “step through” thrusting variety of punches designed more for sport competition and demonstrations than reality. It would appear, on its face to be ludicrous to practice to block assaults that don’t exist

17

in reality, if self-defense is your true objective.

Most of these arts in the process of being transplanted to the Americas lost their true cultural sport roots, and suddenly became “selfdefense.” Japanese Karate-do practitioners in Japan (and early in America) were called “karate-players,” much like the “judo-players” they were modeled after. In Japan there was no argument that karatedo was a sport discipline, not a fighting art. Japans only true fighting art in modern times is jiu-jitsu, and not the South American sport kind. Only in America because of the demand of the market, is it being sold (like South American Wrestling) as “selfdefense.”

Tae kwon do is a more honest represented as the Korean national sport, but there are those who will sale/tell you its self-defense as well. Of course you do learn how to defend yourself against some admittedly pretty devastating kicks (although not to the groin), but very little for hand attacks. But in reality, you are more likely to be assaulted by someone’s hands than their legs. If you were to be attacked by an attacker’s legs on the street, it would most likely be to the lower portions of the anatomy, which is forbidden in practice, so reality here takes a back seat to “artistic preference.”

In relatively new commercial disciplines like “Kenpo-

Karate,” the emphasis is just the opposite. Here, extreme violence and no holds barred assaults on anyone who might place a hand on your shoulder are being taught nonchalantly.

Finger pokes to the eyes, testicles grabs and throat smashes are the order of the day. Because of a lack of sound body mechanics as well as other elements of the Chinese Sciences, KenpoKarate relies on attacking soft body tissue for effectiveness.

The testicles, groin area, throat, eyes, etc are all fair game in a Kenpo-Karate fight scenario or technique. After all, you don’t have to be a ninja black belt samurai warrior to poke someone in the eyes with devastating results. This is essentially an extension of the “self-defense” theme of short courses taught in universities and work out gyms across the country, with rank belts thrown in to attract participants.

Before you become too confused, Ed Parker’s American Kenpo is one of the most modern self-defense sciences in existence.

It embodies all of the original science from the Chinese, presented in the light of modern day street confrontations.

All cultural influence that may hinder winning the fight have been set aside in favor of practical application, presented in purely scientific terms.

However there are those that confuse the “Kenpo-Karate” with the whole of Ed Parker’s American Kenpo knowledge.

“Kenpo-Karate” is only a small component of American Kenpo that has inherent limitations in its basic “lesson plan” design.

Although based on the many applications of “motion,” this is its strength as well as a

weakness. Motion as an entity is infinite. However human anatomy imposes some very real restrictions and limitation for maximum physical performance. It is true KenpoKarate and its “Rearrangement Concept” may be studied for a lifetime, but it is only the genius of Ed Parker’s modern interpretation of the Asian philosophy of “selfdiscovery.” Not only are some self-defense skills acquired, but it also has an intellectual appeal to those who would practice “Hypothetical-Kenpo” for an eternity.

The fallacy here is students confuse self-discovery with evolution.

After all, just because you find something you had never seen before, doesn’t make it a discovery for everyone else. Some say Christopher Columbus “discovered” America, even though there were already indigenous Native Americans present and doing quite nicely.

Some arrogantly practice the “Re-arrangement Concept” and create “new” techniques and claim they are revolutionizing Kenpo-Karate.

In fact what they are doing is as Mr. Parker suggested. They are thinking, exploring, and making self-discoveries. They should refrain from making statements that they are “fixing” his Kenpo-Karate.

Don’t discuss techniques that “won’t work” and lay them at the feet of Ed Parker. He never gave you any definitive techniques, only ideas to be explored. If a Kenpo-Karate technique doesn’t work for you, the problem is you. Fix it and don’t blame him if you can’t figure it out. The definitive techniques do exist in Ed Parker’s American Kenpo however they were never

18

published and certainly are not in those simplistic technique manuals left over from the late sixties and early seventies.

“Kenpo-Karate” was designed to teach the maximum number of people, in the maximum number of locations, to defend themselves as quickly as possible while being taught by its one and only expert. Like the circuit judge of the old west, Ed Parker would come to town, hear all the problems, adjudicate them and move on until his next visit. This is part of the reason Kenpo-Karate is a 90% “Conceptual Lesson Plan” by design. For better or worse, it is an extended self-defense course tailored to the individual’s likes and dislikes and skill level. Some are very good at it, mostly because of good teachers. Some are mediocre. Most are marginal at best. But because the only thing that matters is that they are personally satisfied with their level of skill, this is not a problem. Kenpo-Karate was and is Mr. Parker’s commercial vehicle for mass consumption.

Therefore major compromises were made in favor of quick effectiveness.

But it is important that you don’t mistake Kenpo-Karate for the whole of Ed Parker’s knowledge.

For Ed Parker, Kenpo-Karate was only a means to an end.

It was all about proliferation of his ideas. The forerunner of much more sophisticated things to come had he lived.

From Ed Parker’s perspective Kenpo-Karate was only one of many steps in a marathon.

Unfortunately many of his students have latched onto his written works and have decided (with supreme

arrogance) that his published works were the sum total of his personal knowledge. They have created an oxymoron called “Traditional KenpoKarate.”

Ed Parker’s American Kenpo is just the opposite of KenpoKarate. It is 10% conceptual and 90% hard scientific fact.

It is neither quick nor easy, requires a higher level of commitment, and does not lend itself to students training on their own without strict guidance. That should come as no surprise to anyone. Why do you think the Chinese spend so much time getting every movement corrected?

Perfecting stances and their transitions along with other basics are more important, but for Americans too slow.

Traditionally, techniques come much later when the foundation has been created.

Kenpo-Karate emphasizes techniques immediately. Many are learning extended technique sequences that if performed correctly, would have them beating on a corpse. I suggest more time should be spent learning how to block his first punch or attack. After all if you can’t block a punch why are you learning to counter it with multiple moves?

Ultimately a compromise was found beyond Kenpo-Karate to bridge the gap between the older traditional Chinese methods, and modern expedient self-defense necessity. This method is just as fast, but more dependent upon proper instruction to insure the creation and absorption of absolutely necessary body mechanics and basics skills.

A closer examination of Ed Parker’s Infinite Insight series

of books displays his genius for categorization, but beyond that, the work is purely conceptual in nature. In other words, he wanted students of all arts, not just Kenpo, to think. It was not just written for the Kenpo student, but all who might benefit from his logical perspective. At no time does he give a definitive way to do any technique or defense.

He was simply saying, “Consider this.” This, in part accounts for the wide disparity among his many students. Some have focused on a more realistic approach and teach a very physically demanding Kenpo-Karate component built around vigorous and demanding competition.

While others teach in environments where “contact is not even allowed.”

These people have no concept of what will happen in a real fight until it’s too late.

Although a detailed explanation of the specific body parts and their scientific descriptions could be given, this information would not enhance your ability to execute the described action and “Survive the Initial Assault.” Therefore it is not my intent to turn this into something it is not. This is not a medically descriptive explanation as to what is occurring, but simply an exploration into proven anatomical body mechanics to provide you with the tools needed to improve your performance in specific situations. How you choose to finish the technique is a matter for your own interpretation. Although we have very specific executions in Sublevel Kenpo, perhaps in later volumes some of those elements may be published in another media.

In this book we will attempt to address elements of the Sublevel Kenpo Concepts™ perspective of American Kenpo that make technique execution successful. Although everyone has their own interpretation of techniques on the “Kenpo-Karate” level, they all have an element at the beginning that must be accomplished to succeed.

“Kenpo-Karate” does not address these elements and that is one of its many inherent weaknesses. Grabs, seizes, hugs, holds and locks, although hinted at in KenpoKarate are actually not a part of its curriculum.

I chose, “Surviving the Initial Assault” as the title of the book because of the KenpoKarate concept of the “overkill.” Many have adopted this unreasonable explanation for the many strikes that seem to go on forever, and are expressed in useless “extensions” within the framework of Kenpo-Karate techniques.

This is not “overkill,” but weak execution of what is a very powerful and virtually unknown science.

They say, “If the first move doesn’t work, we simply move to the next action until the attacker is overwhelmed.”

Although this may sound pretty cool, the reality is less so. It is a simple as, “If the first move is something that doesn’t work, then the rest of the technique doesn’t matter.”

If blocks are not effective on many levels, counters will not be possible. If you are grabbed and you cannot extricate yourself, what comes

For those who might suggest otherwise, a brief look at Mr. Parker’s writings will find only a mention of the existence of these components. Nowhere will you find any instructions on how to execute or defend any of these elements.

19

next in your technique doesn’t matter.

This is particularly so in the most often overlooked place in Kenpo-Karate techniques.

Most “hands on” techniques are taught as “attempts” because the knowledge to recover, extricate oneself, and counter in these circumstances is not general knowledge among its instructors. Of course I am not advocating you allow someone to grab you so you can do a technique, but it is important in practice to train for those circumstances where the option is not ours to dictate.

Nor am I denigrating KenpoKarate instructors for not having this knowledge. It was never there so how could they teach it. The smart ones allow

students to explore other disciplines to compensate for their obvious knowledge gaps.

I commend these teachers for setting their egos aside in favor of what is good for the student.

In my own teaching I was lucky enough to have Mr. Parker address many of the issues lacking in his general teaching. Because I was a police officer and later a Deputy U.S. Marshal, we worked on the realities of street confrontations and the real principles needed to counter and survive. It was obvious from my occupational experience the superficially extremely violent information available to the layperson in Kenpo-Karate was not always acceptable. I feel this may be

one of many reasons he chose to share knowledge of nerve cavities etc. with me.

When he passed away on December 15, 1990, we were in the process of working on a book and video series for law enforcement personnel.

I finished and dedicated two videos to him in the early nineties and am actively working on updated versions, and now I dedicate this book and its thought process to the genius of a man who was my father, big brother, and friend.

He took the time to nurture me and occasionally share some significant knowledge of his baby he called “Ed Parker’s American Kenpo.” I really miss him. Through his teachings, he continues to be with us and to eternally live.

Order them online at

MAGCLOUD.COM

Stace Sanchez is an alumni of the Masters Hall of Fame. He is the founder and owner of the world-famous website, KICKPICS - home of the hottest martial arts kicking photos on the planet. The theme of the website is posed kicking photos with a partner - so you will see pictures of martial artists performing kicks to an opponent's head, face, throat, groin, etc. ALL styles are welcome, too. He has met and shot photos with people from many different styles: Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, various karate styles, Kickboxing and even a few MMA (Mixed Martial Arts - one of the fastest growing sports in the world - UFC, Pride, K1 are a few organizations that might sound familiar) guys. Most of the images on the site are his shots but photo sharing is definitely encouraged. So if you're a photography buff and have photos that fit the theme of the site, please email them to staceshancez@aol.com REMEMBER: Pictures Say A Thousand Words!

T

Kickpics website: www.kickpics.net Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/kickpics This issue’s kicker is Brian Howard from Holland, Michigan 24

21

By Shihan Robert Deahl

What happens to a system when the Grand Master passes away? Even if the late Grand Master promoted someone to “Soke” the duties don’t stop with the new appointment of a Grand Master. All of the Shihan’s, Sensei’s, and students now have a very important role

while giving the system your own flavor. Meaning if you did Kempo, Kick Boxing, Grappling, etc. then take a piece of what you have learned in the past and add it in. However, is that the only way to achieve evolution? NO! Even if you as an artist never studied any other art, put your own flavor to it without affecting the fundamentals. Change the ranking requirements to suit your own vision. You can even go as far as to make a kata phase within the black belt ranking, instead of one form per full belt rank.

to play.

Do you see where I am going with this? It’s time to make the system your own as the new “Soke”.

Today’s society has changed. More people are training then ever before, so you have to train to combat them. You want to train law enforcement, body guards, bouncers, etc. your views may have to change from what you have been taught by the Grand Master.

Take into consideration the new “Soke” is in a stage of loosing it. Not only did they lose a mentor they also lost a friend and someone of whom they had a great deal of respect for.

The “Soke” wants to progress the system while still paying respect to the Grand Master. How is done without the Grand Master rolling over in his grave?

Quite a dilemma isn’t it. Some Grand Masters have their thoughts set in stone and there is no changing them, but now they are gone and a new crew is taking the reigns. Keeping the system on track with the Grand Masters vision while still trying to keep the system moving forward is tough with many obstacles in the way.

Bruce Lee said something 40+ years ago that still stands true in today’s society “Absorb what is useful and discard what is useless”. What you teacher’s taught you may have to be adapted to work for you and the same goes for the students that you are teaching.

The only thing constant in the world is change, adapt with the change and make it your friend.

Bottom line is to be open minded in your training and don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zones. That last statement goes for everyone.

The most important thing is to keep the foundation of the system without straying from the fundamentals. Are you with me so far? What are the fundamentals of the system? They might be very simple from straight punching, to stances, to blocks.

Where does the evolution happen? This happens

“Train Hard and Train Long”

26