I had dismissed Jo Simonet based on some articles and some ‘verbiage’ on the old rec.ma usenet group that just didn’t click. I just stumbled upon a couple brief Youtube clips where he tells some folks a few things they might not be prepared to hear. Folks in my classes – you’ve heard much of this already – listen and hear what he has to say. There are no techniques. Professor Chow had principles. People wrote down his examples and called them techniques.
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Go to part two after the jump. It’s important.
I totally agree!
Thanks for posting these videos. They have very important information. In my school I often define Kempo as Principles of the Fist not Law of the Fist.
It also deals directly with the distress some artists (or critics of SKK) have with all our techniques. It seems Kempo systems tend to have lots and lots of techniques. Smaller, focused systems say that’s a weakness. Simonet answers that with the Principles are the key not the end product of techniques.
There are an infinite number of attacks you must defend against. At some one you need to reduce it to a manageable subset. Kempo has zones and Escrima has angles. It’s all the same — diffusing the attacks in to small chunks so you can deal with it.
My students’ ears ring with this quote, “Doing any technique after I kiai is right — even if it is not the technique I asked. Doing nothing is wrong…completely wrong.”
I just watched these 2 videos. Like I just said in a separate email to Matt…”you don’t Box a Boxer”. The techniques shown at the end of the 2nd video, against the male partner in a boxing stance, show how to quickly take a Boxer out of his game, and use “non-boxing” principles (jujitsu locks, etc.) against him, which he does not know (probably) cuz they are illegal in boxing. Now of course a “very fast” trained boxer, may or could fire off a straight lead jab, but….. As he is saying, a set of principles opposed to specific techniques for specific situations. Not to get bogged done on lengthy or elaborate techniques which you probably cannot pull off in a real life situation, in “sparring”. When you fail, you need to immediately “flow” into another “principle”. I can see Escrima (Remy Presas’ Modern Arnis) and Wally Jay’s Small Circle Jujitsu. It has all been coming together for several years now. All these different styles are now “blending” together.
In response to Bryan’s reply. Which I am sure he knows. “po” in Japanese Kanji character (chinese character) has many different, but similar, definitions depending upon the context within which it is used, and with what other characters it is used. It can mean “Law” or “Principles”, but also “methods”, “ways”, “rules” etc. Together with the Kanji character “Ken (kem)” meaning “fist” or “closed hand” or “covered hand” as the Kanji character has two parts. The bottom part is the kanji character for “te” meaning hand, as in “kara-te” (empty hand). The upper character indicates that the hand is “closed” or “covered”, i.e. not an “open hand”. So “kenpo/kempo” can be translated to be “The principles, methods, ways, and rules by which to use your fists to defend yourself”, i.e. “law”. The Kanji characters for “kenpo/kempo” are the exact same characters for the Chinese martial art style of “chaun fa”, which usually has been loosely translated into English to be “Chinese Boxing”. I have the Kanji characters of “Kenpo” sewn, in white, on one tail of my Black Belt, and my dan characters sewn on the other tail. I felt that this was respectful.
There are many “key principles”, among these are “continuous flow”, “see everything and see nothing” (i.e. DO NOT focus on one single point on your opponents body, not his eyes, not the “V” split in his gi on his chest, not his hands, not his feet), “be as one within yourself, with the world around you, and with your opponent” (loosely paraphrased from the “aiki” principle of Aikido), i.e. “be in harmony with your opponent (his spirit)”. Which boils down to the old adage “if you have to think about it, it’s too late. If you have to react to it, it’s too late”. You have to be in “harmony” with your opponent and “sense” what he is going to do even before he knows. Which brings us back to “continuous flow”, as this instructor was trying to get across in these 2 videos. If you “fail” in what you are trying to do, just “continue” into something else. Do not think of it all as separate things, one after another (i.e.this block, that strike, that lock), but as one continuous “principle” until it is over, until you have the opponent under “control”. “control” is the key, “diffusing” the situation is the key. Once he starts it, you don’t stop until it’s over. You have to be able to “assess” the situation and deal with it appropriately. Often just walking away, diffuses it. Or simply saying “good luck with that” when some guy says he’s going to pound your face in. Remaining calm, collected, quiet, reserved, peaceful, in control can often do more to change an attacker’s mind or to “worry him” about you. Because he is trying to get a reaction out of you, which he intends to play off of and escalate the situation. But you are “all that noise in a CO2 cartridge, ready to explode”.
I like one saying which I believe I coined (but maybe I didn’t), being “all you need is a fraction of an inch and a fraction of a second”. Also, “you need to cause your opponent some sort of pain, shock, or surprise to throw him off his game, out of his posture in order to create for yourself that fraction of an inch and second………then explode with a “principle”, and “control” him. “diffuse” the situation.
What was that long list of items to go thru, that Grandmaster Villari always said? “it’s better to run away, than it is to walk, to walk away than to stand and fight, but fight if you must. to evade than to deflect, to deflect than it is to block, block than it is to trap, trap than it is to strike, strike than it is to injure, injure than it is to cripple, cripple than it is to kill, kill than it is to be killed…… better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6”. Something like that, along those lines, I am sure many of you instructors and masters have that printed out somewhere. Like I always try to tell people “don’t be anywhere you shouldn’t be, at a time you shouldn’t be there, with people you shouldn’t be there with, doing something you shouldn’t be doing…………be home………in bed – “early to bed and early to rise, makes a man, healthy, wealthy, and wise” – Ben Franklin”.
The “principle” this instructor was trying to convey about “all the noise in a CO2 cartridge.. then let out… .Boom!!” …. well…. I guess it isn’t the same as what I am going to say now, but… oh well. As we all know how to throw a punch correctly. Stay relaxed and only tense up at the last fraction of a second, with a tight fist, muscles, body into it,hips, legs rooted to ground, kiai, breathing, chi, etc. etc…… I always tried to teach students to be like a “Willow and an Oak”. Be loose like the branches of a Willow tree blowing in the wind, relaxed like over cooked spaghetti, absorb the impact of a kick or strike, allow it to dissipate off you. Then … become like an Oak tree, strong, heavy, tight, powerful, strong roots, and explode with your kicks, strikes, blocks, or entire body movements into your opponent. Explosive. I just thought of that quote from that movie …. ummm…..oh what is the name of that movie….. oh ok… “Rob Roy” with Liam Neeson, when he was about to have a sword fight with the sleaziest character every in movies, in the Castle. “I’ll give no quarter, and I’ll expect none”. If someone takes it upon himself to commit a crime against you, and to violate your Constitution, Civil, Legal, and Human Rights, by attacking you…then…all rules are off (well…most all anyways. Can’t just kill him. What’s that old saying “Lawyers, can’t live with ’em, can’t kill ’em.).
Also proper “breathing”. I’m telling you, that has saved my butt many times. The “attacker” would be huffing and puffing in less than a minute, and I wasn’t even hardly breathing. Controlling your breathing, your energy, your strength, etc., not wasting it can quickly turn the tide on an opponent who is going “all out” and “muscling” it.