May Premium Article

Here's an excerpt from my article entitled "There Are No Rules". It should be available to premium subscribers shortly.

We do things other many systems do not. For example, we use the neutral bow while most use a front stance. We check and others don’t. We cover out at the end of a technique and most practitioners of other arts have never even seen such a thing. It’s due to our principles or “rules” of motion.

I believe the statement that we have no rules is largely a semantic argument. Try using a front stance in a kenpo class on a regular basis and see if the instructor tells you it’s ok and ignores the use of a neutral bow. They’ll tell you you want to have your feet turned on the 45 and give you reasons. They’re going by the rules. I created lists of the General Rules of Kenpo in the back of several of my books in the Kenpo Karate numbered series, those being the 101, 301, 501 and 601 volumes.

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Chicago seminars, May 3-4, recap

As always, I had a blast with the people back home in Chicago. I surprised the guys by showing up to run their Thursday night class in Burbank. Kurt and Barb Barnhart put me up in their home for the time I was there.
Friday night I taught a class on Russian Systema basics that was well-attended, as were all the sessions. One of my first students, Rich Kozik, came by to see us. Rich started with me when he was 14. I was a brown belt teaching at the park district.  He's now 54 and has been fighting cancer for the past two years. That makes it 40 years that I've known him.
As I've mentioned in some of my recent posts, I've had several long-time students attending seminars and this was no exception. Kurt Barnhart was one of my first students when I opened my first studio in Palos Hills, IL in 1976. I taught his wife, Barb, as well as her daughter, Lisa "The Terminator". Black Belts Manny Rivera and Ed Bilski have been at it since the early 1980s and Don Rushing was not far behind. So, we're into the 30 year students!
Some of the people in class there are second generation, meaning their parents trained with me years ago. There's a few who started with me and earned their ranks under Mr. Barnhart, such as Rick Vecchi and Pete Tomaino. They all knew Mr. Parker, too.
Saturday's classes were on techniques with some extensions, making relationships to their construction with the focus on buckles and forearms. Gina got the "Dogjaw"!
On Saturday night we went out to see my cousin Mike Schumacher and his band, Full Circle, play at Hackney's in Palos Park (where my uncle had been the police chief many years ago). Mike's a kenpo black belt, too. They'd rounded up some of my cousins I hadn't seen in years to be there, too. Turns out one of my cousins teaches guitar and she had a student who had trained with me in 1983. HE showed up, too. Good to see Tom Jarema after all these years. Mike's daughter sang a song with them and she's got some pipes! The crowd went nuts. My cousin Laura sang as well and she did a great job. Vocals run in that side of the family, motion (dance and karate) runs in our side.
Kurt and I missed the chance to get up to Milwaukee to see the Harley-Davidson museum due to a late train and missing our connection. That was disappointing for us both but we'll make it up in September when I go back.

April's Germany Visit

Marc Sigle flew me over to Esslingen, near Stuttgart. I went a day early and he and I went screaming down the Autobahn to Friedrichshafen, on Lake Constance.

Lake Constance

 

Marc's parents have a condo down there so we had lunch, went to the Zeppelin museum, http://www.zeppelin-museum.de/dasmuseum0.0.html then out to the airport there for a huge aviation expo they happened to be having. On the way to the condo we stopped at the church at Birnau, famous for its Baroque architecture. http://en.seeferien.com/Cultural-activities/Birnau-The-pilgrimage-church-and-baroque-jewel-of-Lake-Constance

 

We went back to Esslingen on Friday to start the weekend off with a children's class and one for the adults on the gun defenses. By then, Thomas Kozitzky and Claudia Neumann had arrived from Willich as well as Phil Buck from England.
Saturday and Sunday were full days with more gun defense, forms work, and an emphasis on working with the Web of Knowledge. Saturday night we went to our usual dinner spot at Katerinalinde, which overlooks Stuttgart with a beautiful view.

 

Working the gun techniques in Europe is always a bit different because they don't have the widespread ownership and have less experience with handling guns than many Americans. I spent extra time on the handling and the psychology of a gun fighter or criminal. I have gotten good feedback on this approach.

Phil Buck bet me I couldn't work a line from a Monty Python movie, of his choosing, into my seminar; "He's not the Messiah, but he a very naughty boy." He lost. Below, he has a light snack at Barista in Esslingen.

 

 

 

There was a all-over positive atmosphere the entire weekend. Maybe it was Kirsten's cookies. But everyone had a great time. Marc is a wonderful host and I can't thank him enough. We both thank everyone who supported the event.

 

 

Look Out Deutschland!

I'm on my way to German this week to see our people over there. Marc Sigle hosts at his studio in Esslingen, near Stuttgart. Phil Buck will be down from England. Thomas Kozitzky and Claudia Neumann will be there from the Dusseldorf area and we may have reps from Athens, Greece.
Always fun with this group. Be there if you can.

A New Systema Instructor

Congratulations go out to Brian Price in Pennsylvania on earning his instructor certificate from Vladimir Vasiliev at the headquarters school in Toronto. Brian is one of my 6th degrees and has been working with my old friend, Al McLuckie and also going up to Toronto to train. Al is a Filipino Martial Arts guro but got into the Russian system years ago, just before I did. Brian has been exposed to some high-level practitioners and worked very hard to do this. He makes us proud.

Covington, Louisiana seminars

I was teaching at Danny Sullivan's studio on Saturday and worked with his children's class and a group of adults. The kids did falls and ground defense and the adults worked joint lock techniques and grafting.
The kids did a great job. The adults were introduced to grafting some of the locking techniques, based off our handshake defenses. We had guests from a local Tae Kwon Do studio and they picked it right up.
I found that I had two more 20 year students there in Mr. Sullivan and Mr. Peter Galvano, both of who had started with me in Ft. Myers, FL in 1992-93. Pete now has a studio in Gulf Shores, Alabama, near Mobile.
I had the opportunity to work with them and Mr. Felix Indest afterward, as they're all working toward their next rank. It's good to see they're motivated and improving and make time in their schedules to work together, even with the distances involved.
On Friday night we were hosted at the Southern Yacht Club by brown belt Paul Kavanaugh for dinner. Group of a dozen of us enjoyed a meal with a great view and interesting conversation. My thanks to Paul, along with a Happy Birthday!
Thanks to everyone who supported and to Mr. Sullivan for making it happen.
 

New Orleans area this weekend

I'll be at Danny Sullivan's Covington Karate Studio this Saturday, April 20 for one kids and two adults seminars. Kids will be working on falls and rolls. The adults are doing joint locks and grafting.
www.karatecovington.com