Disney Professional Development Weekend

Steve White and I taught our first combined business and instructor Special Emphasis seminar at Disney World last weekend. Steve ran the Friday evening session and covered marketing principles, along with studio statistics, and developing an overall plan for your business. The session closed out with some social time with the Disney people providing refreshments. It was a chance for many of the participants to get to know each other, since we had five states represented and not only kenpo, but TKD and kung-fu people.

Saturday started at 9am, with the rest of the attendees checking in and renewing old acquaintances as well as meeting some new friends. The morning topics covered basics and forms but were related to the Laws of Learning and Levels of Learning, information that instructors should know. Lunch was arranged for us in the next room and was excellent.
The afternoon sessions topics were self-defense and the freestyle techniques, using a "model explosion" concept and demonstrating how to graft the freestyle techniques onto the standard techniques in the street freestyle section. Theories of retention and forgetting were introduced as well.
Every Professional Development student receives handouts in every PDS I hold and the end of class survey showed that they were useful, easy to use, and well received. In fact, one respondent called the seminar "very much above" others they had attended. See my website for other comments, http://www.leewedlake.com/index.asp?PageID=7.
At days end, verbal comments were that the event was very positive and opened a lot of doors. One person said they were going back home and immediately implementing what they learned about running their classes.
Some promotions were made. Bruce Meyer of Columbia, SC went to 5th black and his student, Jason Bright went to 4th. Other 4th degrees that day were all Florida people; Ed Cabrera, Mike Squatrito, and Kyle Zwarg. My fellow instructor, Steve White, was given a set of Mickey ears, see the photo below.



The prevalent comments were that the atmosphere was great, the people were friendly and good to work out with, the information was well laid out and the presentation was excellent. I'm looking forward to doing an expanded version of this later this year, again in the Orlando area. Steve and I enjoyed teaching it. We'll be teaching together again in California at Graham Lelliott's camp over Memorial Day weekend. His info is at www.glkenpo.com.

Adult Attention Deficiency Disorder

Years ago I was teaching a private lesson to an adult black belt. In the middle of doing a section of Form Four she comes over to me, grabs my sleeve, and asks me what the patch was on it. I was joking that she was ADD because she did that and a few other quirky things during her lessons. You may have experienced that as well, which is why I thought you might want to read this, sent by Tim Walker of Branford, FL.

Are You an ADHD Adult?
It’s Not Just a Kids Disorder
By Edward C. Geehr, MD
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Got the lunches made. Oops, forgot to let the dog out. Need to pick up the dry cleaning. Michael’s hair is a mess. Do I have to take the car in today? I’ll need to reschedule my manicure. Anyone seen my keys? Is the carpool here already? If this scatter of thoughts seems familiar, you may be one of the estimated six to 15 million adults with ADHD…Your inattention and restlessness may not only be the quirks of your personality. You may have ADHD (attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder), a behavioral disorder that most of us associate with unruly children. But, in fact, about 65% of children with ADHD carry the disorder into adulthood, making it an adult problem as well.Although ADHD adults may develop better coping skills than they had as children, they still struggle to get through the day. Not only does ADHD interfere with organizing and completing daily tasks, but adults with the disorder are also prone to depression, anxiety, forgetfulness, and even an increased risk of divorce and car accidents. Even simple duties may demand great concentration and effort. In part, that’s because ADHD adults are easily distracted by sound, sight, or even touch. Whatever the stimulus, ADHD adults may be knocked off-course by even minor distractions.

The three core symptoms of ADHD are inattention, hyperactivity and impulsive behavior. The symptoms of inattention include losing track of thoughts or focus in the middle of tasks; missing details or making careless mistakes; inability to complete work assignments; forgetfulness; and difficulty following instructions.The symptoms of hyperactivity in adults are similar to those in children but more subtle: constantly shifting in a chair, tapping your feet or a pencil, playing or tugging at hair or clothing. Even those aware of their repetitive motions may be unable to stop.Impulsive behavior can be even more annoying in adults than in kids – and potentially dangerous. ADHD adults tend to bug the rest of us: We wish they would “grow up.” They tend to interrupt constantly or blurt out inappropriate comments. They can’t stand waiting in lines and may try to cut in front or find a “friend” near the head of the line. They also have trouble anticipating the consequences of their actions. Although this lack of foresight in children can be disruptive, in adults it can threaten families, jobs and even safety. A young ADHD adult paired with a car can be a dangerous combination.

In the workplace, ADHD can erode performance. Some people with ADHD change jobs often or have trouble holding a job. The way they handle tasks shifts from one to the next: One assignment is done well, but the next is late, poorly done or incomplete. The ADHD adult feels like he breezes through some tasks but he can’t get any traction on or stay interested in others. Co-workers are puzzled by this variability, often attributing it to personal problems or even substance abuse.Unfortunately, scientists don’t yet know the cause of ADHD and laboratory tests can’t confirm a diagnosis. They do know, however, that the disorder runs in families. If you have a parent with the disorder, you have more than a 50% chance of having it as well. If you have a child with ADHD, you have a 25% chance of already having the disorder yourself. Unlike childhood ADHD, which affects three times as many boys as girls, adult ADHD is more democratic, evenly distributing itself between genders.Doctors diagnose ADHD based on family, developmental and childhood history, current signs and symptoms. Still, ruling out potentially serious and/or treatable neurological disorders that can mimic ADHD symptoms, such as Tourette’s Syndrome, temporal lobe seizures, early stage brain tumor, elevated blood lead levels, hypo- or hyperthyroidism, and hearing or vision impairment, is important.Most workups for detecting ADHD include a physical exam. Some doctors will also request an EEG (electroencephalogram, which records the electrical activity of the brain), CT (computed tomography, or x-ray procedure, that records cross-sectional pictures of parts of the body, in this case the brain) or MRI (magnetic resonance imaging, a diagnostic technique that produces cross-sectional images of any body part, in this instance the brain) to rule out other conditions.
ADHD has no cure. Fortunately, several drug treatments – primarily stimulants – are effective for both children and adults. Approximately two-thirds of ADHD adults taking stimulants experience significant improvements. And the drugs take effect fast, a remarkable finding. Few medications have such a profound and immediate effect. Unfortunately, most stimulants wear off quickly each day, returning adults to their usual difficulty of completing tasks and staying focused. Many ADHD adults turn to coffee. In fact, some can’t do without it; caffeine’s stimulating effect helps them focus and stay on task. In fact, some get so much relief from coffee that they become caffeine abusers, drinking excessive amounts of coffee each day.Stimulant medications, also called psychostimulants, include Ritalin® and Ritalin LA®, Methylin®, Metadate®, Concerta®, and Adderall® and Adderall XR®. Several of these brands offer long-acting formulations to reduce the need for frequent dosing. Only Adderall XR® is indicated for the treatment of ADHD in children, adolescents and adults.Non-stimulant medications are also available, including Wellbutrin® and Straterra®. Available since 2003, Straterra® is the first non-stimulant medication approved to control ADHD symptoms in children, adolescents and adults. Wellbutrin® is sometimes used “off-label” for treatment of combined conditions such as ADHD and depression. Off-label means that doctors prescribe the drug for disorders not officially approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA).Adults can also complement any drug therapy by using a few coping strategies. These include taking medications as directed (don’t double up if you miss a dose); making lists of tasks and keeping them nearby; taking a deep breath or excusing yourself from situations when you feel tempted to act out or interrupt; recognizing and minimizing stimuli that distract you (sounds, sights and physical sensations); and engaging in activities that you find calming or comforting such as gardening, walking or cooking.

Here are some questions to consider if you think you may have ADHD:
Does your mind wander while you are working on a task?
Are you easily distracted?
Do you tend to start a project and have difficulty completing it?
Does your attention stray in the middle of a conversation?
Are you forgetful about appointments and regular events?
Do you have difficulty relaxing?
Are you impatient when you need to wait?
Do you fidget and shift constantly in your seat?
Do you commonly lose track of keys, purses and other items?
Do you interrupt others before they finish speaking?
Is it difficult for you to manage or resolve conflicts?
If these issues sound familiar, you may want to consult a healthcare professional.

Resources:National Resource Center on ADHD Children and Adults with Attention-Deficit / Hyperactivity Disorder (www.help4adhd.org)Attention Deficit Information Network, Inc. (www.addinfonetwork.com)

Fight or play?

Steve White sent this along. I don't know where he got it by the author's name is included and he gets all the credit for a nice article.

Fighting or Playing?The Martial Art vs Sport Debate
By Neil Ohlenkamp

Many people think of Judo and Taekwondo as sports because they are included along with other major sports in Olympic competition. Boxing, wrestling, Judo, taekwondo, and kickboxing are examples of martial sports. I often hear martial artists who use the term "sport" as if referring to a game with no usefulness. The implication is that a sport is only for "play" and cannot be effective for self defense, fighting or combat. Many martial artists think that the distinction between sport and martial art is that martial artists train for real life.
Actually the distinction is more complex and rather surprising. In discussing it I will make generalizations that may not apply to the way you train in your sport or martial art. However I hope to give you a new way to look at the potential value of sports principles for martial arts training.
One of the primary differences between martial sports and arts is in the value of the training methods. Because of their alleged danger or lethality, many martial arts engage in artificial and even counter-productive training which involves "pulling" techniques, modifying the point of contact, and adding in a precautionary element of movement that, rather than training the body, can inhibit its natural action and the ultimate conclusion of a technique. Slow, careful, non-contact training is not an effective approach to prepare for actual fighting situations that require the opposite reactions. Typifying this approach is a student who falsely equates the ability to break boards with the ability to punch a person in the face. As another example, I have never seen realistic training in throat strikes or eye gouges in any martial arts class, even though these are often recommended for self defense. The teaching generally done for these techniques helps students to understand what to do, but does not provide effective results for fast, reflexive and accurate application of these techniques against an unwilling opponent in real life combat.
Sport, by removing some of the potential dangers, achieves the opposite. That is, sport more typically produces natural, fast, reflexive movement with full power application, achieving a result against a struggling opponent who is also utilizing full power while engaging in strategic and tactical resistance using all of his or her resources and training. Techniques that don't work are soon abandoned, and successful skills are honed against different attackers under a variety of conditions. Maintaining control in various combat situations, both in attack and defense, is difficult when faced with the unpredictable nature of an opponent's efforts, but facing these situations in contest prepares you for similar situations. Each opponent in competition is operating at the limit of physical and psychological skill. By pushing that limit contestants are continually realizing and expanding their potential.
Sometimes the "combat" arts substitute intellectual perception, a highly subjective and deceptive frame of reference, for genuine training of the body and mind. Some martial arts don't train effectively for self defense and combat because they can't train for combat without severe risk to training partners. Many martial arts have instead adopted highly stylized, ritualistic, and even dysfunctional training methods. Ironically, martial sports may provide the superior training in effective combat techniques because martial arts can't be practiced in a real life way without injury.
In martial sports, one purpose of competition is to take the place of the older shinken shobu (life-and-death fights) in developing technique, knowledge, and character. You never see yourself so clearly as when you face your own death. Competition can provide a safe, controlled glimpse at this kind of defeat. Fighting spirit can be developed only through fighting. Surely it is not the same as the battlefield, but it serves a similar purpose, and it is closer to a combat situation than any other form of training.
Of course this can go wrong. Winning and losing can become too important and start to pervert the training process. The ultimate goal should not be the winning of medals. Using sport competition as a metaphor for real fighting can be quite different from playing it as a game. Matches, along with free practice and sparring, are simply different methods for training the mind and body to deal with the adversity of fighting situations.
Just as non-competitive martial arts training may not provide the benefits of competition, training for sport competition may not provide the full scope of self defense training. Martial sports often include non-competitive components. For example, competition is only a part of the Judo curriculum, and Jigoro Kano, the founder of Judo, was very concerned about preserving those self defense techniques that could not be used with full force in competition. However, Judo remains a remarkably effective self defense training, even after the development of other modern "combat" methods, and even when Judo is practiced today largely as a sport. Jigoro Kano applied modern sport training methodology to the traditional koryu jujutsu and found that it produced a better combat art, which has proven itself again and again over the last 120 years.
Although martial arts and sports both have loftier goals, it is still a fact that many people train in martial arts primarily for self-defense. For those who have never used sport training methods, or those who have never explored traditional bujutsu training, it is easy to discount the effectiveness of the other. As martial artists we should continually seek opportunities to challenge ourselves by examining the weaknesses in our training and keeping our minds open to other methods. I encourage you to discover for yourself how "playing" with a partner in sparring or free practice, or competing against an opponent in contest, can be an effective method of training for self defense.

Did Ed Parker have synesthesia?

I was having dinner with Steve Hatfield and his students a few years back after a seminar at his studio in Mt. Vernon, OH. One of his black belts is Dr. Jeff Bowers. Jeff is the County Coroner. I enjoy my conversations with Jeff. I asked him if he thought Ed Parker could "taste" motion. That piqued his interest.

I asked because I know how much Ed Parker liked to eat, and he made analogy to a fight as being like a meal. Those of you who were in his seminars will remember his saying the prefix was like the appetizer, entry moves were soup and salad, then the major moves were the main course and an eye hook would be dessert. But what stuck in my mind was watching him at the end of Larry Tatum's first video, running a "form" at Pasadena. It was either something he put together for himself or an extemporaneous thing, which is what I think it was. You can see that while he's running it he's licking his lips, obviously enjoying what he's doing.

Now, in my silly little mind, I'm thinking something else might be going on there. Which is why I asked Dr. Bowers the question.

He thought about that for a minute and said he thought it was possible. Jeff was good enough to order a book for me entitled The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales. The author is Dr. Oliver Sacks. It's a collection of case histories of bizarre neurological disorders. Very interesting, but the situations are rather extreme. It does illustrate the possibilities of how brains can be cross-wired, which lends some support to my theory that Mr. Parker may have actually "tasted" what he was doing.

It's just a theory, a somewhat idle speculation. I have put a link here for your education about synesthesia. It's an article in one of the premiere scientific magazines, Scientific American. By the way, those of you who are educators may want to read Scientific American Mind, too. Synesthesia is a condition in which the brain is cross-wired and people may see colors with musical notes and the like. So, did Ed Parker have it? You decide.

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?articleID=0003014B-9D06-1E8F-8EA5809EC5880000&pageNumber=1&catID=2

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Lee Wedlake has been teaching Kenpo Karate for over 35 years and has written a variety of Kenpo Books about different kenpo katas and kenpo concepts. Mr. Wedlake has worked directly with Ed Parker and is generous with his knowledge and his time. He is available for Kenpo Seminars and camps.

Frank Trejo

I met Frank in 1977 when I walked into the Pasadena studio at Internationals time. I introduced myself, "Hi, I'm Lee Wedlake from Chicago." His reply? "Yeah? So what?" Frank later told me that he had so many people coming in at the time around the tournament, many with huge egos and wanting some kind of special treatment so many times he reacted like that.

When I started working with Ed Parker directly in 1979 I spent a lot of time at the Pasadena studio. Frank taught me a lot and got my fighting skills shaped up. I could go on with the stories of what kind of misadventures Frank and I had but I'll spare the gory details. Suffice to say there was a lot of "research" in the bar environment, technical arguments in the studio office - some of which were settled on the mat, and some great times hanging with Frank. This photo is from that time.

I brought Frank out to Chicago to teach many times and later to Florida after I moved there. Frank's first exposure to snow was in Chicago. Unfortunately, it was about -30 at the time, too.

Frank brought John Conway Jr with him once and those two started fist-fighting and grappling while watching TV in my living room. That was a sight.

Ed Parker told me to learn the techniques from Frank and then come back and show me what I'd learned so that he could check what was being taught. Frank spent many hours teaching me the material above purple (Mr. Parker taught me the yellow and orange personally) and I thank him again for that. He let me teach there at the studio when I was in town and all the guys in the famous Friday night class helped me, too. Eventually I was tested for third black and Frank was promoted to fourth at the same time. That's when he passed his belt to me. He did it again when he went to fifth and I went to fourth. Frank was there in Chicago when I was promoted to fifth by Mr. Parker, Joe Palanzo, Huk Planas, and Frank. The photo of them is from 1986 at my school in Oak Lawn, IL.

Frank is like a brother to me. We don't keep in touch as much as we did. I wouldn't trade my time with him for anything and truly appreciate what he did for me. And he didn't even get me arrested or killed.















How many people can you identify in this photo of the 1986 Chicago seminar?

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Lee Wedlake has been teaching Kenpo Karate for over 35 years and has written a variety of Kenpo Books about different kenpo katas and kenpo concepts. Mr. Wedlake has worked directly with Ed Parker and is generous with his knowledge and his time. He is available for Kenpo Seminars and camps.

Texas seminars

Rick Fowler hosted me and Al McLuckie for his event last weekend in the Dallas area. I taught a kids' seminar at PowerKenpo in Carrollton on Friday evening to start the weekend.

It's a nice group of people there and they combined the seminar with fund-raising for St. Jude's hospital.

Saturday morning I started off with another group of children, a rather sizable group as you'll see from the picture. They were pretty well-disciplined and easy to work with. Al worked with groups in the Russian system, and I took them through some drills, line-pickups, alternate applications, and so on.

Al and I have known each other for 25 years and have worked together in the same systems at times. We are able to refer back and forth to what the other is doing and make relationships of concept, principle, or movement to facilitate the learning process for seminar participants. We even demonstrated techniques on each other. When have you seen something like that at a seminar?

I met an old friend there at Rick's as well, "Goldie" Mack. I hadn't seen Goldie in probably 20 years. We first met at a karate tournament somewhere, he'd had dinner with Ed Parker and I at a Chicago seminar in the late 80's and that was probably the last time I'd actually seen him.

We've kept in touch intermittently over the years. Sifu Mack brought a good group to the seminar, and he and I had some laughs together. He's been teaching in Denton for years, and from the looks of him, he'll be teaching for quite some more. It was good to see him.

My thanks to all the people who made the event a success and the trip an enjoyable one.

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Lee Wedlake has been teaching Kenpo Karate for over 35 years and has written a variety of Kenpo Books about different kenpo katas and kenpo concepts. Mr. Wedlake has worked directly with Ed Parker and is generous with his knowledge and his time. He is available for Kenpo Seminars and camps.

VA school shooting

What a horrible, horrible thing to happen. My heart goes out to everyone there.
I believe we're going to see some knee-jerk reactions to this, and not particularly well-thought-out ones, at that. This ties in to the Imus thing of the last few weeks. A man was interviewed on television and said that the pendulum has swung as far as it will go in regard to how our society has become violent and crass and that we need to start pulling ourselves together. I agree. What does this have to do with the shootings?
Read Grossman's books, On Combat and On Killing. In there he states, and backs up with evidence, that we have given our children the tools to create a new phenomena, something never seen until recently; the school massacre. We allow them to daily use the same technology we used to train snipers as far back as Vietnam - it's in their video games. We let them watch ever more violent movies. (I saw a small part of Saw III and was appalled.) They watch and imitate Jackass, and are bombarded with "extreme" this or "no rules" that. No wonder they are rude, disregard each other, and commit acts of violence.
We do need to pull ourselves together. I've found that younger people are not being taught many things that they should be taught, and even that they are but the peer group pressure is helping pull them away from such social niceties as shaking hands with the right hand, removing a glove when doing so, greeting someone at their job or even saying thank you.
One of my black belts, Bruce Meyer, was in the grocery store and spent his hard-earned money. The young cashier didn't even acknowledge him and just dumped his change in his hand. Bruce had enough. He said, "I spend my money here a few times a week and you can't even say "Thank you". The kid says "Sorry". Bruce replied, "If you say "thank you" more often. you'll say "I'm sorry" less often." The people in line behind him applauded.
I could go on and on. Most likely if you're reading this you're a martial artist. Part of our "job description" is to educate others, instill discipline, and be a role model. Apply this to your young students. Teach them to look in the eyes and use a good grip when shaking hands. Teach them about respect. Tell the boys that when a girl says No it means No. Advise the young women that they do not have to put up with being referred to as "slut", "bitch" or "ho". If we don't, who will? Seems lots of parents and teachers aren't. Most are trying but it's tough and they need our help.
Got get 'em.