Wonder Valley Camp May 24-26

Wonder Valley 2013

I flew into the Los Angeles area a few days before the camp. I had the opportunity to visit Mr. Parker's gravesite, something I do before I go to the Fresno event. It's hard to believe it's been over 22 years since his passing. Standing on that spot brings back memories of that day when over 2,000 of us were there for his burial. But on to something lighter.

SGM Parker's gravesite

Graham and Jaydean Lelliott host the bi-annual Wonder Valley Kenpo Camp (and execute it nicely with the help of students and friends) on a former dude ranch that is just perfect for it. The venue is about 30 minutes east of Fresno, in the mountains. The Lelliotts go the extra mile and it shows.
I dropped my car at the airport and Graham was there to pick us and get us to the ranch.
    The instructors included Steve White from New Hampshire, Marty Zaninovich from Fresno, Ingmar Johansson from Sweden,  Ian Harris and Paul McMurray from Jersey, Channel Islands and Ed Parker. Subjects included joint locking, knife work, gun techs, and concept work in progressions and applications. I did two early morning tai chi sessions on the patio by the pond. All the instructors worked with the kids, too. There were a lot of families there and everyone had things to do. Dustin Kwock ran the ropes courses, archery range and the early Saturday Boot Camp. There was even paintball competition.
  Attendees came from Australia, New Zealand, Sweden, the U. K., Venezuela, and across the US. I saw people I hadn't seen since the last event and met some new friends (Aloha, Dave and Pam!).
The Saturday night luau was big fun. Harry Troupe from Maui played his guitar. He's a professional and it shows.

A bit of fun on Saturday night.



With Australia's Peter Tas.

We had two promotions there. Graham Lelliott's two students, Ian Harris and Paul McMurray were both moved up to 7th degree black. It was unexpected and they were both emotional about it. Mr. McMurray said he felt the belt around his waist but the weight was on his shoulders. True words. Lots of photos of the promotion on facebook.

Graham and Jaydean gave all the instructors a Western belt as a thank you. I thought that was a great idea and I'll think of them and the camp every time I wear it.
If you think you'd like to attend the 2015 camp, please contact them thru their website, www.glkenpo.com or on Facebook to let them know. Your interest may make the difference in whether they throw it again. It's a huge job and they basically take over the ranch for us. It's well worth the trip for the learning experience and the friendship.

Pennsylvania Seminars

Last weekend I went to Leesport, PA to Brian Price's studio in Leesport to teach seminars for the kids and adults. The kids class was on staying focused in training and we even had parents on the mat with us. The adult subjects were concussions/sleeper holds for the first and the second was on "category completion". The turnouts were very good and many schools were represented.
   We were honored to have Hanshi Ron Martin, 8th dan, Goju-Ryu present. He was the captain of the first US Karate Team and was known as one of the top karate fighters.

Self, Brian Price, Hanshi Martin

 

 Mr. Price had recently earned his instructor certificate in Systema and we did a little hands-on during the weekend, which was fun. He and his wife, Sue (who bakes a mean cake), took me to dinner Friday and we had an enjoyable evening. Saturday's dinner after the seminar was attended by about 15 people, including Mark Schiffman, Jim Deery, Marc Shay, Mike Corsello, Stephanie Hammond and Hanshi Martin. It was entertaining, to say the least.

  Photos to follow.
  I'll be in the Philadelphia area the weekend of July 27-28 at Marc Shay's and hope to see our PA people again.

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.

A yearly subscription of $29 allows access to monthly articles and over 100 archived items. Subscribe at www.wedlakekenpotv.com/leewedlake

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.