Recently, I had a Krav Maga student ask me, in a statement like manner, “so you guys don’t hit with power, really?” My answer was, of course we hit with power. But for him it was hard to see.
It was explained to me, by my first kempo teacher, Elizabeth, that we use mostly two kinds of power in kempo: Percussive and penetrating. While that could be a great subject for debate on its own, I have come to realize that we hit very hard with all our strikes in kempo. This is why we need to moblie base, because we are built for multiple attackers and becuase we move people when we hit them…with all our strikes. It takes training to relax enough and use the proper body mechanics to pull such a thing off consistently and i use mainly the drill and the forms to train this skill. Of course, taking the hit and hitting in the end is the only way to tell if one is just full of crap or if you have it. A key feature in our multiple strike system is a rolling of the arms. Check out the beginning sequences of Master Brassard’s youtube clips and you will see how is hands roll into a very quick strike sequence. The last section of Sho Tung Kwa trains this specifically. What is important for me to focus on is teaching and training, is the use of the waist in these rapid fire sequences. In STK there is the sequence from a horse stance that starts with block 2 and a left (let’s say) dropping palm block and ends with the dbl immortal man strikes to the eyes. I knew one second degree BB who could nail the whole section in less that a breath. Amazing to see. The thing I work on is to constantly hit with the whole body through each weapon while moving as fast as I can go. So, I start off very very slowly and work my way up to speed, as it were, and whenver I find my mechanics deficient I re start at the very very slowly manner, again. What I need to feel satisfied with myself, in this, is the waist turning with the force of my leg pushing into the ground so as to direct my wieght and push the force produced through the weapon. There needs to be a slight up and down motion from my center as well as the rotation. And, of course central equillibrium. To move my hands around quickly, and even accurately without engaging the legs and waist is to demonstrate “tippy-tap” kempo and is an effectual and dangerous practice. We have all seen it around, and such demonstrations of kempo seem flashy and sic, and can draw students away from teachings with any real depth or worse draw students away to other sytems that re set between each ‘power’ strike because for them what we say we can do, is not possible. Statements such as ‘speed kills’, often refers to kempo masters and students who move so blindingly fast that they leave the flies laughing. Some others want to take away the speed of our system, labeling it ineffectual. The reality is that kempo is about speed, but speed born of effective mechanics, training, good teaching, practice, honesty and principle in our learning, and much more practice. Kempo hands remains part of the core of SKK and training is the only truth that will preserve it.
kempo hands
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D.V.C
From the East coast start of our Kempo from SGM Pesare. These letters are in his school and on one of his special patches that he gives out. Excuse my ignorance on the correct spelling of what the letters actually mean.
Dilentia vis Celeritas
Accuracy – Power – Speed — these are the training and foundations of our system- speed comes only after we have worked targeting and power. As STK is one of my favorite forms you see the end that Marlon talks about is combo #44 – minus the immortal man strikes and add a take down.
Jesse
Master Dwire!! Thanks, I love this form as well and completely missed 44 in it!
i think it is a shooting motto Diligentia-Vis-Celeritas
I agree – it is from the military but I believe that the letters are in different spots for military.. I know it is something that SGM Pesare always preaches – I will take a picture of the patch on my cell phone and send it to Matt so he can post it. – And i was not off to much on the spelling — nice
Oh yeah- just wanted to note that sometimes I write comments just to try and get my top commentor status back.. lol
So, what you are saying is that I talk too much…
🙂
I have found that many people use the term “speed” to mean different things. Many styles view speed to be the end all. That only by being fast can you be a good martial artist and fighter. But what I’ve found in Kempo, and was taught, is that “speed” of any technique is merely the end result, and not the “end all”. That one must first be “rooted” to the ground, have good stance and posture, good movement, good foot work, etc. That “speed” comes from everything working together, at once, moving into your opponent. Keep yourself loose, your muscles loose, your arm, hand, fist loose, until the last millisecond. Then tighten up the fist and strike. That is why seeing Jim Brassard “rolling” in his clips. He is loose until the last instance. Continuous Flow.. Timing, distancing, etc. Also, I was taught, to pull your opponent into your punch, to add to the force. In Physics, if 2 objects stike eachother at the same speed, the force upon impact is NOT twice as much, BUT 4 times as much (that is why u never hit another car head on. hit a tree instead). So other stylists or students, perceive power as being flashy, visible speed, long liner or circular movements before impact. Also, power being visible accentuated full body movement behind a strike, i.e. an elbow strike to the head, a flying knee, etc. They do not see, nor do they understnad the power behind a Kempo practitioner’s or master’s strikes. Because they are short, close, not accentuated. Until they are hit by them. If u watch Brassard clips, he really hits the guy with power, for real, you can see it and hear it. Seen GM Villari hit guys with short strikes, and they go down. Also, if one is able to utilize Chi, and adds this to a short kempo strike, well then… forget it.
The power comes from proper “form” of the technique, strike, punch. Also, I believe, and have found for myself in real life, that the breathing exercises, aspects, i.e. from 10 pt blocking etc. plays a huge role. Many times over the years, I have played around with people, while discussing martial arts. I’d say to them “throw a punch”. All I’d do is a knife hand block or a ridgehand block, not with speed or movement or power, but with breathing, and they’d be like “Owwww!!!”. Like video clip on Youtube saw of big older guy, in Wyoming, was student of Ed Parker, hitting guys. Short, quick, unnoticable reverse hammers to solars, then a quick CRACK to the jaw line… with power, and chi, and they went down. Just standing there, no big movements, nothing. But power yes.
That is why I ahve a problem with TKD. Their flashy stuff. They kick, and their plant foot is not fully and firmly rooted to the ground, and their arms flailing all over the place. Huge loss of power.
I’ve just played around with people, do a block, moving in, a series of multiple, continuouis strikes for show. But sometimes I do mistakenly hit them, and BAMM!! oops, sorry!! Not even trying. As Marlon says. All things working together at once.. coming together at moment of striking, into the opponent, thru opp., pulling him into strike ,etc. The stance, the knees, legs, hips are where the power comes from. one time I was hit very hard by a Okinawan Karate Reverse Punch, i.e. right leg back forward stance, striking with right fist. I was hit so hard, I swear I felt his fist hit my spin.. I was hit in solars. I just Kiai-ed, took it, was ready to continue, but he stopped, so I walked it off. But I was hit hard. NOw, for some reason I have never been able to get any power from that stance/punch. cuz my rear leg keeps slipping or sometime, or I’m falling off balance, I dunno. I gave up on it a long time ago. So I use a short, tighter, more stand up, with knees bent stance. I strike with a short thrust punch to solar, rib, jaw, wherever, and root myself, use my knees, and really use my hips into it first, before unleashign the strike. the power is alot. we use to train, by just putting our fist by our waist, knuckles barely forward of our gut, and just strike by thrusting or rotating the hips, with the fists staying in place. To train to use your hips in your punch. There were shots taken. Many styles think they use their hips in a punch or kick , but they really don’t.
what is it? u are suppose to do 6 full power strikes in less than 1 second? That is what we trained for. we/I had/have a 6 punch defense technique.. block, 6 strikes to the head (3 diff strikes, L and R), all in 1 sec.
Hitting with the whole body is the right way to do it, Marlon. You learn that in Judo and Small Circle Jujitsu. Where they use the whole body to effectuate the technique. SCJ locks on, then use the entire body, attached to the opponent’s body, to do the technique. So u are not use your arms or hands, etc. but your entire body.
The power does not come from the speed but from the entire body, the ground, the earth. the 4 precepts. Earth, Wind, Fire, Water. You are rooted to the Earth, Breath (wind), Fire (energy/chi), Water (continuous flow). The speed of a technique or punch or kick is only to get you to the point of impact, to impart your power into and thru the opponent, as quickly as possible so he cannot block it, defend it, move away from it. The power can come from a slow moving technique as well. We use to training doing our blocks and kicks slowly, then at the last moment, add power. Nearlly as powerful doing them fast. The power comes from the earth thru your legs, knees, hips, torso, breathing, chi, into to your strike, thru the opponent. And if u really get good………..Dim Mak!!!
Centering is also important, as Aikido teachings. The Centerline, centering, focus. Your energy into the opponent, your breath power. your movement into the opponent, you always on balance, on your center, taking the opponent off the centerline, off his center, off his balance, and he loses his power. Then he is easy to manipulate and to down.
“tippy-tap” kempo… ha ha ha… “patty cake” kempo, slapping. Yes, foot fully flat on ground, knees, hips.. that is where the power comes from. You POP that hip well with good timing, and you don’t even have to move your punch… fast nor slow… it will be powerful.
Kinda like watching Judo match. Not very flashy or exciting, and u don’t often see what happens. But effective in actuality? yes. Doing those kind of demos, is bad for the art/style. As well, I believe that point sparring in tournaments does a disservice to students. it is “patty cake” fighting. then when and if they get in a real situation, they may not be prepared to handle it.
One finally KEY to Kempo hands is this…. one must think of it as all one thing…..not a number of different techniques in a sequence. Not 1) block, 2) half moon in, 3) strike Rt, 4) strike Lt, etc., and then try to do 1…2…3….4 fast, for speed, for power. Initially when learning the tech and traing, yes, but ultimately NO!! It will be simply one thing, one movement. Again, if you watch some of Brassard’s videos ( I don’t think I saw it on all), you will notice that when he does a tech fast, that it is all one movement from start to finish, A-Z, until he is done. Breathing.
I started Kempo in 1979. So….I don’t know or remember everything, but………..I know what I know. From experience. Kempo simplies matters to their core elements. Unlike TKD which is flashy. If you watch Ed Parker’s stuff. One old comment about Kempo “you can’t kick to the head”…. bamm, kick to the shin, guy bends over, kick to the head. “geeee, I guess you’re right”. As I’ve said before, flashy don’t do it when you are dressed in a 3 pc suit, dress shoes, overcoast, in Winter, ice and snow, and you are attacked. You won’t be able to do any flashy kicks then. Short and sweet is what will save your butt.
I found a number of good training methods for continuous flow and speed, from Aikido and Escrima. One is to do continuous up cutting sword hands. i.e. shutos up on guard in front of you, and work continuous up cutting, in a circular forward fashion.. low, to forward, to up, to back, to low again. Alternately left and right, in a blocking/deflecting fashion. Then adding in a strike or two, whenever u want, however u want.
2nd, from Escrima, is what I call “triple hands”, but which Remy Presas calls…”Trapping Hands”…. Also a drill, in which you and your partner alternate doing “Trapping Hands” on eachothers punches, called “De Cadena” (“of chains”). This teaches flow and increases speed and agility, as well as timing in picking up a punch and defending against it and striking. When this is done well, by both parties, it is lighting fast. Think of it as “Tiger and Dragon” Two Man form done very fast. The basis of this drill is… opponent punches.. you block with a palm block with one hand, then quickly grab his wrist/arm with the other hand, and then quickly strike with a hammer or back knuckle (usually) with the first hand again.. i.e. “triple hands”. Then your opponent, using your 3rd hand strike as your punch for him to defend, does the same thing to you. and it continues. it doesn’t matter with which hand you or your opponent strikes, Lt or Rt, or if you work inside or outside of the punch. YOu both just continuous flow, as fast as you can, and it can get lightening fast.
Of course, at any time, with either of these training methods, in real defense, you can strike with power at anytime, by moving into opponent, and breathing.
But excellent training drills for continuouis flow and speed. You can adapt them both to use different blocks, deflections, traps, in diff scenarios, using diff strikes. Think of it as training with a Wing Chun Dummy, without it, faster, with your hands and arms closer together, closer to you, and closer to opponent.
Great input Todd. It seems we are a very similar page. One thing i seem to look at differently is the pulling attackers into strikes. It is not necessarily a bad thing however, I train as if I will be the smaller, weaker and more fatigued person in the fight. Pulling someone into a strike uses a great deal of strength. I prefer to have them run into my strikes by moving forward to meet them. We can get the same ‘head on collision’ effect with out wasting energy pulling someone. Generally, i will pull and twist limbs but not a body. Even combo 18, i strkie the neck with the back hande and then continue a ccw motion with the hand ending in a downward press on the neck. because of the angle and circle there is very little ability to resist. just my take on pulling…oh unless you are pulling them in a structurally compromised position…like in 3 combo …
Breathing is an important aspect, however we cannot limit our expression of power to only exhaling…it is a way to start and not a place to arrive at
This whole post is gold, but I’d like to briefly add my two cents.
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MARLON: “So, I start off very very slowly and work my way up to speed, as it were, and whenver I find my mechanics deficient I re start at the very very slowly manner, again. What I need to feel satisfied with myself, in this, is the waist turning with the force of my leg pushing into the ground so as to direct my wieght and push the force produced through the weapon”
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It took me years to understand this process (and I’m still learning), and the accompanying paradox summed up in this aphorism: 1000 times slow, 1 time fast. This is now a staple of my practice, and as Marlon says, I constantly use it as a plumb line for training.
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MARLON: “To move my hands around quickly, and even accurately without engaging the legs and waist is to demonstrate “tippy-tap” kempo and is an effectual and dangerous practice. We have all seen it around, and such demonstrations of kempo seem flashy and sic, and can draw students away from teachings with any real depth or worse draw students away to other sytems”
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I was one of those students drawn away. And while I don’t regret any part of my training history, I can appreciate this point from personal experience. If we can demonstrate a solid system to students, they’ll not feel the need to go somewhere else where it seems more ‘realistic’. And maybe more to the point, they’ll be learning a system that will work in a crunch.
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MARLON: The reality is that kempo is about speed, but speed born of effective mechanics, training, good teaching, practice, honesty and principle in our learning, and much more practice
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‘Nuff said.
Mark
i believe kempo is about “flow” married with proper stance, hip waist movement, and continuos motion.
Marlon, this is a great article. Everyone of the comments adds a little more to the understanding of this power and speed thing.
With proper timing and sequencing of strikes, it gives the illusion of speed even though you are not rushing. When the opponent buckles under your strikes, it shows the power of your strikes.
Thanks for the post.
Sifu Bry, glad you are here and i look forward to you sharing your insights with us.
Marlon
I think SKK also uses complementary actions to gain power. I talk about it here at http://goldenleopard.info/2009/09/02/complementary-actions/
Striking someone with a punch that he accelerated or he’s falling into works wonders. 🙂
Thanks for sharing Sifu Bry. I love to have people run into my strikes. How does this effect the way you block and what animal do you associate this concept with? I know you have a different take on the animals. I am still not a fan of pulling someone into my strikes… Pulling the head into a strike yes but the whole body, no
Marlon I have heard you talk about not liking to pull in to strikes before and it never dawned on me till just now. How do you view the bunkai to the opening of four kata?
Hi Justin. No i do not like the pulling in an opponent to my strike strategy because i figure most attackers will be bigger than myself. As for four Kata i have a pull or brace behind the neck as i pivot into a cat stance dropping my weight as i deliver a back two knuckle. Pulling someone into a strike is a legitimate strategy, i just do not like it as it pre supposes that i will be strong enough to do so…and in a fight (especially against multiple attackers) i do not like to rely on strength as the heart of my strategy. In kempo we pull and twist all the time, it just needs to be set up and it is (imo) most effective against specific body parts rather than working on pulling the attackers body into my strike. Are you going to make it next week end? I am ending up coming alone as the bb i was coming with has a work thing for Friday that he cannot miss
So you pull them into the uppercut/back two knuckle? 😉 yes I will be there, I have work friday and saturday but I have a much shorter ride then your bb to Ontario. Looking forward to it.
Usually when they “fall” into my strikes, it’s a waiting elbow or knee. The best example I can think of is a knife technique that hits the groin, then strikes the neck, forcing them down onto a rising knee.