I got a comment regarding the kempo timeline I have (read: should be updating) on the site, noting how little of significance has happened since 1974. Fred Villari went solo for the most part that year, stepping up into his ‘I created sho ton kwok, I’m the 10th dan’ phase. After that, in about 78-81 the dreaded ‘material explosion’ happened.
I have a few entries on the timeline after that, and admittedly I should have more, but really what has happened of significance in Kempo since then? There’s been some shuffling, some rank dilution,a few followers of the ‘I’ll promote myself to 10th too‘ school, whatever, but what really has happened? I’m not sure anything has to happen, as I’m sure there haven’t been too many earth shattering developments in Shotokan over the same period, or Hung Gar. Was that when the system matured or is it when it jumped the shark?
I see the current period of development as a particularly promising one. There’s enough pseudo-reactionary practitioners out there that the ‘roots’ movement seems to be gaining ground. I don’t think we’ll ever be in the majority, but I do think that the day is coming that Kempo will no longer be synonymous with ‘Franchise’ or ‘strip mall’. I think that now that everyone is a tenth dan big cheese, that no-one is a tenth dan big cheese. The establishment is collapsing under the weight of red felt stripes. What will it look like after the crash? I’m shooting for a divergence. A species of Kempo that splits, sheds the bloat, and rejoices in what made it a force to be reckoned with in the early days. What’s my contribution to Kempo? Ironically it has to do with the archive. I’m trying to get it all, so that each person can decide whether they need it or not. Then we can have Post-kempo kempo.
