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I have spent a considerable amount of time lately viewing some old Villari seminar footage. I noted that more than 90% of the time Villari does not teach a technique, nor does he go over the combinations et al…He talks about concepts and the how of fighting his way. I know that I have been to a few seminars where everyone is waiting for the next great technique we could learn. yet, most of us feel the system is too cumbersome as it is… Of course I find it fun and exciting to learn a higher combination or a cool animal technique. In the end, though, are we teaching or learning techniques or, a fighting system? I want to teach an effective fighting system that will work when i am tired, slow, the weaker fighter and old. Shaolin kempo fits the bill, in my opinion. How much is too much material? Or, a better question may be , how much emphasis on the next technique is too much. If you heard of a system that had one form that consisted of 108 postures and a five animal concept plus 12 energies you would think of an internal style such as i-hsing yi, t’ai ch’i or xing yi quan. All effective styles and few people argue that they are too cumbersome. Well, this is shaolin kempo also,as i understand it. i want to spend less time and emphasis on the set material as it is taught and more time developing skill and understanding THROUGH the material. Concepts such as chin na, locking, breaking, splitting, chopping, ward off, push, rollback, fold, unbalance, crush… are all things essential to my goal and these are found in the forms of skk and the techniques. To simply drop material from the curricullum does not solve the issue of effective fighting as I outlined above. Shihan Dwire mocks me about combination 6, yet the sun- moon block/ double block is a cornerstone of our kempo for a reason. Pushing the limits of the sensible I can teach my students important fighting concepts through combination 6, that includes the leg being longer than the arm but also execution of the block, how it can check off weapons opening space for you to enter; how they must come across in a particular manner or else other things happen that negate the primary effect of checking off the weapons; how the attackers weight distribution is manipulated by your contact; how you can begin to use this contact to gain control and awarernes of your attacker’s body…we can spend a long time on one “posture” in the 108 form and develop real skill. It takes time and can be as tedious as it is rewarding, so at a certain level, well, it just doesn’t sell. While the ‘purists’ recover from shock I will say that all the other stuff helps to boost the interest and get the bills paid. This is necessary and worthy of every true martial artist to demand at the least decent compensation for thier teachings. Back on track now, I say that more time must be spent learning weight distribution in a form, in order to strike in the most effective manner , from different positions. The dynamics of positioning and breathing and target selection beyond mere athleticism must be given emphasis over the technique and the technique and forms used as vehicules to practice and bring form to the function we are seeking or else we can talk all we like but we are just kick and throwing out our arms like lost idiots. The more I spend time and emphasis on what I can get out of my material, the less it seems like too much material.

Special thanks to Mark Golden for submitting this video, created by the folks at Collings Martial Arts. This is the Snake Fist form, given at 4th degree black belt at that school. I think they did a good job with the multi-camera angle to get a good feel for the form.

I’m moving, so as I pack, I’m parting with a lot of stuff. I’ve accumulated a bunch of old (but not classic) martial arts magazines, and I’m ready to get rid of them. Does anybody want a pile of older Inside Kung Fu, Black Belt, Kung-fu/Qigong magazines? I’d like to pass them along instead of taking them to the dump. Preference goes to folks that will take the whole bunch, and folks close enough to do a pickup / deliver. I am willing to ship them, but it might cost a few bucks as it’s probably 30-40 magazines. Of course I’ve already sorted out the ones with Kenpo / Kempo articles, since I’m keeping them. Send in info through the ‘contact Matt’ form if you are interested.

I have certainly been neglecting teaching and to a certain extent training myself in limb destruction. To be sure we work breaks and locks all the time..it is our kempo. However,our system has this built into it as seen in some of the combinations, i.e. 5, 16, 21, 24, 26, 27,30, 32,35… but to really train it as a reflex and part of primary and secondary target selection…I am a bit remiss. Unlike 27 and 23 and other techniques that trap and do something to the limb, there is an aspect of fighting that involves targeting nerve centers in the arms and legs as well as muscle groups that I recognize as limb destruction (yes Master Dwire I realize that the goshin jitsu way of blocking in combination 6 constitutes limb destruction as well…  :) ) It is a valuable tool that I realize I do not train enough..Time to correct that, n’est pas. Does anyone here specifically train the swift direct attack to a limb as I described above or do we all concentrate mainly on joints and elbows as secondary targets? It will be sore for all of us but i am asking the higher ranking students to regularly work on this to make it a more natural target. This as opposed to the more common and perfectly legitimate downward strike to the incoming limb.
I like to take lessons from the forms and the combinations and techniques that are specific. A good combo or technique on its own should be an effective fighting response. Yet, there are specific skill sets being taught, as well, that are valuable to work on outside the context of a set technique. This is a good way to integrate the indexed knowledge into my fighting ability…and flow. it helps me make my kempo more ‘alive’ including the forms, btw.