The title says it all. The orange belt requirements for Ed Parker’s American Kenpo are now complete. It was a lot of work getting this posted and together but I feel it turned out fairly well.
I have found some mistakes a long the way and made a few tweaks to the way I was posting information as I went along. Before moving on to Purple Belt, I will be going back to make a quick run through everything from yellow through orange to correct those mistakes and bring everything up to the level of Crashing Wings (EPAK #24) which I think is the best example of how each post should look.
So what’s next on the agenda? Well I plan on going through yellow and orange as I said above then I will update the purple belt curriculum sheet and then get moving on Purple Belt. As always, if there is something you would like to see, have any questions, comments or criticisms, please feel free to chime in.
I received a few questions via email that I would like to address.
What about posting tips for some of the steps to make them more clear or more descriptive about what is going on?
I actually have that planned and that is what the mostly empty ‘Notes” section you see at the bottom is going to be for. An example of what would go in there, using Crashing Wings as an example, would be
- Step 1
- As you step into your horse stance, anchor your butt on your opponent’s thigh. This will keep your opponent from moving away as well as prevent him from kicking or kneeing you in the groin or tailbone.
The reason this didn’t get posted at the outset is due to the amount of time it will take. My first and foremost goal is to get the material posted. Once that task is complete, I will go back and fill in some notes
Is what you are posting your interpretation or really how it was taught, if it isn’t your interpretation what are some of your opinions about abc in technique xyz?
These are NOT my interpretations of how things should be done. The language and writing it out in split steps would be about as close to my interpretation as it gets. Now don’t get me wrong. I am only human and as such am prone to mistakes, but understand that the original intent of this site was simply to be a personal resource for myself and a few family/friends. Nothing more, nothing less.
The original idea was to post what the original techniques are and then possibly add the variations, if any, we were taught. Some schools teach nothing more than the motions, others take movements out, others add movements, others throw away techniques and others alter the attack to fit their need. It quickly became apparent as to how much was actually lost through all of that and how much was being incorrectly or partially taught.
Everything being posted is coming from materials I have collected. I have started posted copies of the techniques from the 1975 Accumulative Journal to see what people think about that. On that same note if anyone has or is willing to share documentation that could help this site, I would greatly appreciate it (more on that later). Rest assured that if I do decide to share my opinions on how a technique should work or how I prefer it done, I will make it clear that it is strictly my opinion or preference. I have a variations section just for that purpose. On that same note people can contribute their own variations as well.
Will you post answers to the “what if” questions?
I am actually torn on this one. The ‘what ifs’ are not necessarily part of the technique and anyone can toss in a ‘what if’. The thing is ‘what ifs’ are meant for the students to explore and think about the answers from within the confines of the technique, the belt level or the system as a whole. You will find that some ‘what ifs’ are answered by other techniques and others by simply making use of the Equation Formulation. Have I listed every possible ‘what if? Absolutely not but, I have added my own ‘what ifs’ although I am sure they are not new what ifs as some of them have been circulated for a long time. I do want to be as thorough as possible on the site, but I do not want to do people a disservice by taking this exploration away from them. Plus the answers would merely be my opinion anyways and everyone’s opinion is different. Start a what if discussion as a comment and I will most likely join in. But in a nutshell, I most likely will not just directly answer them.
Can we get the definition of the concepts and principles listed?
I do have plans for that, but that will be a while. Ultimately I want to add a glossary or wiki that will have all the terms and definitions
Is there anything I can do to contribute to the site?
There is nothing specific as I am not looking for monetary gain or anything of the such. I just like knowledge and believe it should be shared. On that note if you have knowledge you wish to share, by all means PLEASE DO.
I have a list of some specific items I am looking for in addition to any manuals, journals, books that are out there. For example, there were different revisions of the IKKA Studio Manuals, with the last ones being from 1987. I would love to full sets of these from all revisions. Another example is that in 1970 there were IKKA student booklets (I have scans of some of them). These booklets didn’t have step by step instruction but they did have an outline of all materials required as well as some things to assist the students. They are also the old 32 technique system. Many schools out there also write their own curriculum and manuals and would get the Interpreting services to do the rest of the work. I would love to get copies of these as well and if said school wishes that I not post them, that is fine I will not do so, but I would still like them for my own collection.
It is things like that which will be a contribution to the site, because the more info I have, the more insight I have and the more I can share. I do not wish to take people’s originals thus scanned copies are perfect. If you are unable to scan them, I can do the scanning. Send me the materials, I will scan them at work and send them right back. If they are something that I can’t scan properly in the scanner or could in any way be damaged by scanning them, then I will simply use a camera to take snapshots of each page and let my computers process the resulting photos (Technology is a good thing).
