Kenpo Fragments

Unexpected Progress

Wed, 23 Nov 2005 17:31:46 GMT

It's been a while since I added to this journal, though I have come back to kenpo with a bit more seriousness. Since I now train in taekwondo and Chinese martial arts, I started to get back to the really distinctive parts of the kenpo training. Part of it is body movement. I'd been more interested in applying the Chinese arts back to the kenpo to improve my form, but a chance to try out some jujutsu recently reminded me that there's more to it. So I went through the taisabaki drills in my notes.

Puttering about, I encountered the same movements in another kenpo branch. I visited this forum:

http://www.kenpotalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=67

Post 19 of this thread is a diagram of triangular irimi. This is part of Ryukai's taisabaki exercises.

This thread discusses drills in 8 directions. Again, this is virtually identical to the Ryukai drill (though later in the thread I do discuss some differences).

These references come from Kosho Shorei Kempo. Kosho's drills come from three sources:
1) The book What is true Self-Defense by James Mitose.
2) Kosho Odori by Mitose's student Nimr Hassan.
3) Another Kosho lineage headed by Buce Juchnik.

Mitose-line Kosho Kempo claims to be a Chinese martial art that was combined with Japanese arts and taught at the Shakainji (A Buddhist temple). Unfortunately, this is highly suspect. Mitose was a con artist and the aforementioned Nimr Hassan (formerly Terry Lee) was his accomplice in a murder for which Mitose was jailed until his death. Bruce Juchnik studied with Mitose while Mitose was jailed and couldn't pass on physical training, but did sign documents confirming that Juchnik is his successor. Finally, Mitose had an illegitimate son who claims to be the Kosho successor but is actually a black belt in Kajukenbo.

The aforementioned book is almost impossible to find. I have never seen it, and neither had Rick, for that matter (I did get a chance to see his entire martial arts library). So Ryukai's exercises can't come from the book. There is no evidence the patterns were taught when Mitose was free, except in Hassan's lineage, and nobody knows whether that's legitimate.

However, most people think that Mitose learned his kempo from Hawaaian Okinawans -- not the Japanese temple he claimed. It was commonly said that it was very basic stuff, but it might include these "escaping arts," since Mitose apparently taught them to Lee/Hassan and wrote them down for Juchnik.

Ryukai claims to be Okinawan and it is very, very unlikely anyone could copy the patterns from Kosho-ryu, because the aforementioned teachers and book were not easy to find, especially in the pre-internet age. No scans of the book exist. Hassan is in Philadelphia and Juchnik is in California. Mind you, it could be parallel development, too, since the idea of 8 directions is fairly common.

Tue, 19 Apr 2005 08:13:55 GMT

Lately, I've been trying to organize what I know into a systematized approach -- one I didn't really get training with Rick. There's a whole lot of stuff floating around in the system that I would like to bring forth with my own training. Plus, for various reasons I've been thinking I should pass something on to my family.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Rick experimented with a bunch of approaches. He would give an apraoch a name and a methdology and we would work on it for around 2 years. Here's what I remember:

The Shaolin approach (this should probably be Japanese, but Rick always used the Chines pronounciation of Shaolin):
* Conditioning
* Drilling basics: mostly striking with only two holds: the rear naked choke and elbow pin.
* Zen meditation

The Wakido approach:
* Standing meditation
* Circular basics
* Footwork
* Positional throws
* Physiology "projects": These were small exercise routines that were meant to make us familiar with joints and muscles.

The Kokenninjutsu approach
* Balance and climbing skills
* Taijutsu: Defined as pursuit and evasion outdoors
* Grappling and escapes (later expanded to cover being bound by ropes)
* Blindfighting
* The Eiki-Gainen
* Visualization

The Seigan approach:
* Kennin Kata
* More intense sparring
* Standup grappling an joint locks
* Theory: the 5 sets of 5

The Shiru approach (this is the unconjugated Japanese verb "to know" and is probably gramaticaly incorrect):
* Other kata
* Throws
* Some groundfighting (but inferior to what I've picked up through informal experienced in grappling arts

But there's a lot of stuff. Part of the problem is that Rick didn't really stop to cover anything in detail and with some things, assumed that we would follow up on our own. If you couldn;t hack something (that's me and climbing!) he didn't cover it with you. I have to admit being tardy. I never covered the footwork exercises regularly, and now that I look back, they're pretty important.

Let's look at meditation, for instance. Here's everything I can thing of:

* Zen meditation in seiza
* Standing meditation with eyes closed
* Sighting the Horizon standing medtation.
* Moving meditation with the Eiki-Gainen
* Meditation about others to achieve equinamity (Okuginoryu)
* Meditation to acquire the feeling of being another person.
* Mudra meditation upon ethics
* Meditation to visualize motion
* Meditation to superimpose one sense upon another (this is a koryu skill that's supposed to help you move around in the dark better.

And that footwork I neglected:

* Triangular footwork
* Triangular frame footwork
* Boxed footwork in eight directions
* Skipping footwork
* Pivoting footwork
* Lunging footwork
* Jumping
* Ukemi, cartwheels and rolls
* Handstands

So I'm not sure how to wrestle things in. One thing I'm terribly short on is ye olde self-defense techniques, since he didn't really emphasize that outside of kata. And of course, there are some things that I never really learned properly.

Kennin Kata

Mon, 07 Mar 2005 06:53:03 GMT

Well, I can't sleep and I've been thinking of updating for a while now. Today after working on some chi kung and kung fu I managed to grab a stick and go through the bo variation of the Kennin (formerly Genin) Kata.

Kennin is simple and short. Kenpo keys body movement to the elements; Kennin is the Fire-Earth kata (Seisan is Void-Fire; Naihanchi is Earth-Air). Kennin has a staff variation (Seisan has a sai variation).

It was a bit clumsy to play the kata and it's only recently that I've come to remember the whole thing again. Some of the variants with the bo are a bit clumsy, too.

Anyway, here's an empty-hand breakdown. The movements are divided more or less arbitrarily.

1) Forward stance, upper deflection, inner punch.
2) Turn 90 degrees, lower deflection, kick.
3) Step back into cat, lower elbow behind, tiger's mouth forward.
4) Inner punch.
5) Cross stance and spin 270 degrees, double punch.
6) Double hammerfist at 90 degree angle.
7) Low outer (side) kick and advance, outer backfist.
8) Jumping inner kick 270 degrees.
9) Advance in outer guard.
10) Inner punch to solar plexus, inner punch to tanden, elbow to temple, punch to groin, grab and upper knee strike (these are the primary orthodox bunkai).
11) Turn back 90 degrees into shizentai (natural stance)
12) Shrug shoulders and move head back, drop into deep horse. This is seen as a response to a bear hug.
13) Lower hammerfist to rear and crossing heel kick. Incidentally, this is a kick I haven't really seen elsewhere. The heel crescent is delivered with a whipping motion in most styles. This one relies mostly on hip motion and a simple slight extension of the leg, making it more like a club.
14) Shizentai on 90 degree angle to last position and wide outer backfist.
15) Outer bakcfist, inner palm and inner/foward palm on opposite side.
16) Turn and back kick (straight).
17) Bring kicking leg in and forward and front roll.
16) In a posture with one knee raised (I can't remember the technical term), use crossing grab whiel turning and rising.
17) Lower knife hand.
18) From shallow fighting stance, circular crossing block and high lower kick. This is another kick I don't see elsewhere. It lifts up and strikes down like a TKD axe kick, but you keep your foot tucked in and coiled, pushing out as you drop. The low version of this kick is used to attack deep stances.
19) Outer parry and pivot in, inner palm and inner ridge-arm blow. This is interprted as an aiki-style throw. The ridge arm is a crane movement.
20) Here's where it gets a bit complex. This is a flowing spinning movements that consists of:
* Upper
* Turn and another upper and grasp
* Lower/inner movement, again while turning.
* Pull in and crossing.
* Turn and back kick.
You kind of have to see it. It looks a bit like an aki throw (again). You make a total of two complete rotations along a line.
21) Angled circular step and outer deflection, followed by second step back in and inner palm.
22) Backfist, hook and cross stance, then backfist and hook.
23) Bring hands together as you step into shizentai and bow.

I don't know how to work all of the staff variant nowadays, mostly because I was shaky with it to start. #20 for example is something I always had trouble with; it aparently applies as a staff assisted throw.

As my understanding of how to interpret forms has improved I've returned to Kennin a few times now. #3 is probably a joinst attack/kick followed with a punch, for instance. Unlike Seisan, there were very few specific pressure point attacks; most of these just hit the centre hard, like the infighting sequence in #10.

Conceptually, Kennin is supposed to deal with flanking and rear attacks, and gradually coming back from a bad position (the later movements are more direct but softer). There's a specific way of drilling vision to be aware of these -- nothing wierd, you just pratice looking behind you with minimal head movement. This kind of peripheral attention was popular, and the few times I spar these days I tend to employ it quite a bit.

Seisan Kata Bunkai Sheet

Tue, 07 Dec 2004 00:04:44 GMT

Rick gave use different versions of this document in stages. The version I'm posting is the most complete. These list the applications of movements in the Seisan kata, along with diagrams. These were given to use a problems where we were asked to find a pressure point striking application for each movement. After a while Rick moved on to just sharing the bunkai verbally.

ADV. SEISAN BUNKAI

SOLUTION TO PROJECT #1[1]

[Diagram of upper torso with stomach, kidney and small intestive meridians drawn and 4 points indicated, numbered 1-3 (there are two #2s, on symetrical points on the torso]

1) EARTH (Stomach, Yang)[2]
2) WATER (Kidney, yin)
3) FIRE (S. Intestine, Yang)

*This combination will stun the average subject.*

OPENING MOVES OF SEISAN

[This is a table with the technique (and an illustration), meridian and a section called NOTES:. I'll set them apart with a few spaces.]

Palm Heel WATER(Bladder, Y[3]) Imparts control over Fire
Grab FIRE(S. Int, Y) Imparts control over Air
Knee to Groin >CONCEPTION< Augments controlling energy
Elbow FIRE (S Int, Y) Diminishes energy in Air

*slight pause* quickly judge effects

Arm Slap AIR (Lungs, y) Imparts control over Spirit
Palm Heel SPIRIT (G Blad, Y) Imparts energy to Fire
Spear Hand FIRE (Heart, y) Collapses all support to Air

*1st subj down* quickly judge effects

ELEMENTAL MERIDIANS LINKING MERIDIANS

SPIRIT (gall bladder, liver) Pericardium (y)
EARTH (stomach, spleen) Triple Warmer (Y)
WATER (bladder, kidney) Governing (y)
FIRE (s. int, heart) Conception (Y)
AIR (l. int, lungs) Supportive (y)

FLOW OF ENERGY [4]

AIR (Lung, yin)
(L Intestine, Yang)
EARTH (Stomach, Yang)
(Spleen, yin)
FIRE (Heart, yin)
(S. Intestine, Yang)
WATER (Bladder, Yang)
(Kidney, yin)

Pericardium (yin)
Triple Warmer (Yang)
Governing (yin)
Conception (Yang)
Supportive (yin)

SEQUENCE 2 [refers to more Seisan bunkai]

[Illustrations show the location of each point.]
1) Supportive 2) Air (L Int) 3) Spirit (G. Blad) 4) Spirit (G. Blad) 5) Earth (Stomach) 6)Water (Bladder) 7) Water (Bladder) 8) Guide fall (away to left)

SEQUENCE 3 [5]

1) Fire (S. Int) 2) Tekubi-osae[6] (sotogawa) Triple Warmer 3) Air (L Int) 4) Air (L. Int) 5) Spirit (G. Blad) 6) Earth (Stomach) 7) Ude-osae Triple Warmer 8) Conception

SEQUENCE 4
1) Earth (stomach) Water (Bladder) 3) Fire (S. Int)

SEQUENCE 5
1) Kote-mawashi 2)Ude-osae 3) Tenkan-nage 4) Spin

[Blank areas for sequnce 6 and 7, and notes]

Notes

[1] This was a combination separate from the kata itself. I don't remember the techniques.
[2] Pressure point techniques use the Vedic five element system (Rick referred to Void (Sanskrit, "Akasa") as Spirit) instead of the normal traditional Chinese elements. There is also the Supportive Meridian, which is not a usual part of the scheme of major meridians in TCM or martial arts.
[3] Small y was used to note yin, big Y for Yang.
[4] This is the constructive flow of energy. Most of the techniques use the "destructive" or (as was the preferred term in class) controlling flow.
[5] I do not remember this sequence very well at all. Actually, I'm beginning to remember it now that I'm writing about it, which is pretty good and part of the point of this whole project!
[6] Osae-waza are joint lock techniques. This is one element of kenpo that seems to be extremely modernized or changed in some ways, since the fundamental techniques are pretty much the same as in Aikido. Some of the implementations in bunkai are, however, very different.

Training Document

Mon, 06 Dec 2004 23:14:09 GMT

Rick wrote up the following document explaining the class format for Shiru and Seigan level students after the senior group had completed the Seigan. There is one variation of this with more detail, titled Ryukai Kenpo, that lists the opening in more detail and phrases training rules in a different order.

[Unknown kanji] Training in the Way [Unknown kanji]

1) Saisho (beginning): Chii[1] and rei. Shizentai and chikau (vow): "I will be the best that I can be and inspire this in others. I will focus my thoughts on the pursuit of excellence. I will train with a bold, unyielding spirit . . . I will give my all." Rei and on hajime we start the warm-up.

2) Nobasu (stretching): Stretched with proper posture, breathing, relaxed muscles.

3) Waza (technique): Upper (TAKAI), Lower (TEICHI), Inner (NAIBU), Outer (SOTOGAWA) and Crossing (ODAN) for arms (UDE) and legs (ASHI). Includes movements (UNDO), breakfalls (UKEMI) and so on.

4) Taiso (conditioning): Power strength and endurance exercises, generally working from the waist up.

5) Shiru (learning): Focal topic includes demonstration, hands-on practice and review.

6) Tekiyo (application): Role-play, application of learning in everyday life, kata, kumite and so on.

7) Owaru (finish): Warm-down, rei, shinzentai and chikau: "I will act with honour and compassion and use my skills to help others. I will revere life, and seek peace. I will dare to dfream, and make my ideals a reality."[2]. Rei and yame.

[Five unknown kanji; other version says "Art of Ryukai" beside it.]

During training, certain standards must be upheld. Preface each comment or question with the correct form of address (KYOSHI for "teacher," SEMPAI for "senior"). Rei to show appreciation and to demonstrate respect. The kobushi-tsutsumi-rei ("covered fist") is the salute of an experienced senior, and should not be used by kohei. [3] On arriving at the place of learning and upon leaving it, one should say Osu (The "u" is almost silent) to show respect. When this has been done, even if the lesson has not yet begun, contemplation or speech that is not relevant to training must cease, and preparation for class begin. Individual friendships must dissolve into the oneness of the team. Unless indicated by the kyoshi do not talk amoungst yourselves or make random comments; maintain a quiet, focused center. When speech is permitted, be brief and to-the-point and avoid negative comments like "can't," "too hard," or "&*!" or agonized noises. During class, no answers/help between students (including sempai) is tolerated. Also, certain elements of hygiene and safety must be observed: come clean, with clipped nails, bring a fresh towel, remove jewelry/watches, and inform kyoshi of any injuries before class begins. Above all, be prepared to endure anything, stretch your limits, and let nothing hold you back from your full potential.

Notes

[1] Chii was "attention." It would be said quickly and sharply to begin training.
[2] These were Rick's inventions. He experimented with different motivating phrases over time and seemed to generally consider Seigan level training very malleable in practice. For Shiru level students, the traditional pledge was apparently the "shichigusa no-gakusei." This was written for us in phonetic Japanese with accompanying translation.
[3] In this context, kohei were Seigan level patitioners and sempai were Shiru level learners.

A mystery solved?

Mon, 06 Dec 2004 05:23:25 GMT

One thing that always bugged me was the name of the Genin kata, since it sounds like a ninjutsu thing and thus, kind of cheesy or false. Rick however, maintained that "genin" actually meant "endurance," and called the ideal practitioner of the art (and supposedly, our forebears) kogenin, which he translated as "guardian."

Well I looked up kogenin and didn't get anything but the name of a Rinzai temple. But it occurred to me to look up "guardian" instead.

It turns out that he word for "guardian" is kokennin. There's another word called kennin used for perseverence, but it uses different kanji. They are, however, pronouced the same way, and there is a tradition of fooling around with language this way (Karate went from "Chinese hand" to "Empty hand" by changing the characters).

It might be possible, then that Genin kata is really Kennin kata. Rick wasn't a Japanese speaker (and neither am I, for that matter). It's also possible that since "genin" means probationer and we learned the Genin kata before the big test, it might have caused some confusion. Interesting, anyway.

Getting the Ball Rolling

Mon, 06 Dec 2004 03:59:39 GMT

In 1988 I met a guy named Rick Delaney. He was a graduate of my high school and still dropped by to visit his girlfriend and friends. In addition, he taught martial arts to one of his friends. I asked to join his class and was accepted.

At the time, he just called the martial art he taught "Shaolin Kenpo." Later on, he said that this was as handy a name as any for the art, which he later called Ryukai Kenpo. He said that it didn't really have a definite name.

History and Lineage

I don't know much of anything about Rick's lineage. He said he was a student of a fellow named Tanaka Noriyuki, who he called "Nori." Nori had died about two years ago. There was another student (a woman, whose name I don't remember), who apparently had moved to Florida.

Later on, I would be suspicious of this, but looking through city records, some of us found that a fellow named N. Tanaka had indeed lived where Rick said he'd lived.

According to what I've been told, Ryukai is a synthesis between Shaolin lineage Chinese martial arts and native Okinawan martial arts, which Rick supposed had been influenced by Southeast Asia and India. The founding figure is named Teisua. I looked this name up and didn't get anything, but the word "teisu" means to bravely volunteer. Teisua probably isn't a real person, but more of an aggregate. Rick said the art was also taught in Japan and that this was where Nori had trained.

Ranking and Customs

Rick experimented with a few different ways of teaching, including a ranking system he said was his own invention. Over the years we probably had about 20 students, all told, but only five of us reached what Rick called the equivalent of black belt rank. This took anywhere from three to five years.

As we approached this stage, Rick abandoned the belt system and simply designated us all as petitioners, belonging to the stage of training called the Seigan. At this stage we started to learn the Genin kata.

To graduate, we were tested on our knowledge of what we had learned about etiquette, pressure points on the human body and the Genin kata. We then had to apply the kata in response to attacks. Finally, each of us had to defend ourselves against two attackers for a short period of time. Graduating brought us into the Shiru (my research says that this is a root Japanese word: "to know)." After passing the Seigan, the emphasis changed to pressure point technques, some traditional skills and the remaining kata: Seisan, Naihanchi, Bassai and Empi.

We usually trained outdoors, but indoors traditional dojo etiquette was followed. We used sempai/kohai designations. Rick was not, however, a sensei. He preferred shidoshi (which he translated as "coach"; in fact, this word is shidosha, but these terms are apparently confused a lot), or kiyoshi if we wished to be more formal.

Training

For the first few years, training was in the following areas:

1) Waza. Different techniques derived from the five basic arm, leg and body techniques. These were drilled constantly. Most of the art comes from knowing these techniques and associated principles, which we called the "five sets of five."

These were:
Upper (Takai)
Lower (Teichi)
Inner (Naibu)
Outer (Sotogawa)
Crossing (Odan)

Ude Takai would, for example, be the upper arm technique.

These are combined with

2) Taiso. The conditioning regimen awas constant and exhausting.
3) Kumite. We practiced sparring at 50% power with no protection. Grappling was permitted but head and vital point contact was limited. There were many, many variations on this. Three were called:

Randori: Not the two person practice of judo and jujutsu, but a form of freestyle shadowboxing.

Taijutsu: In this exercise, we would typically practice evading and exchanging techniques in a largish wooded area.

"Centreball"(don't know any other name for this): This was apparently a traditional traing/grappling game. A small object (like a tennis ball) was placed in the middle of the field. Each team rushed to grab it first. Like football, the goal was to take to ball to the endzone. Unlike football, there were no "downs." You acquired the ball by forcing a submission and removing it from the person who had it. No striking -- just grappling.

Aside from this, we practiced kumite with a limited set of techniques, blindfolded, or on unusual surfaces (such as a beam). There were other variations as well.

Before and after Shiru level training, we started studying kata. Every movement had an associated bunkai (practical application). I have never seen any other instance of Genin or our Seisan, but I have seen similar versions of Bassai and Naihanchi. I never learned Empi.

Curriculum

I'll add more to this in time. Kempo's curriculum consisted of the five techniques for arms, legs and body. These were modified by:

1) Types of Bunkai. Depending on the application, you modified the waza, so one technique was actually several. The five classifications were:

Linear: "Hard" striking.
Coiled: Trapping and grappling.
Circular: Throwing from a standing grapple.
Spherical: These were jujutsu style hip throws and sweeps.
Formless: This was a theoretical level where the combatants attitude concluded the fight without body contact. No actual techniques belonged to this level.

Applications were taught in this order. Our beginning drills were linear and hard, but later softened.

Body technques (Undo Waza) were linked to elements:

Upper: Rolling; water.
Lower: Bob and weave; air.
Inner: Set stance; earth.
Outer: Circular step; fire.
Crossing: sidestep; void.

2) Animal. We were each assigned an animal form and told to look at techniques through the attributes of that animal, each of which had a favoured technique. The animals also governed weapons training, as follows:

Antelope: Knife and kama, Lower technique
Bear: Staff and spear, Inner technique
Crane: Jo (short staff) and nunchaku, Upper technique.
Panther: Sai and sword, Crossing technique.
Tiger: Tonfa and chain, Outer technique.

Stances were not emphasized much. We used a version of Horse Stance where the feet are turned out, and even though we didn't use the Sanchin kata, we used Sanchin's stance, with toes turned in. This was used for centreline attacks and also (and this is unqiue, as far as I know), to tilt in for a quicker front roll. We also used Cat Stance, including a variation where the weight is actually on the lead foot, to prep the leg for a skipping kick.

The emphasis was on shizentai, or the "natural" posture, to the side for figting, with one arm high and one low. This high/low emphasis was repeated for all techniques, such as kicks.

Anyway, next time I'll add more, either from my notes or my memories.