Wednesday, February 28, 2007

Near Death Experience or, How Kenpo saved my life

I got this e-mail a few years ago and saved it. It's instructional in many ways and worth sharing. Names deleted.

Mr. Wedlake,
I'm sure you don't remember me, my name is J.M. I was a student for a short time in 1985 at your school, Dragon Wind, in Oak Lawn, IL. Anyway, I am a policeman now and was back then, too. I went back to thank you in person but your school was closed and I didn't know how to reach you.
In 1986 I was on a street stop that turned bad but could have been worse. I approached a mental on the street, it was dark, and I got too close to him. He swung a bottle at me with his left hand and I blocked it and then he came around with his right hand, which I thought was a punch. But he had a straight razor in his hand and he was aiming at my neck. I did an upward block and was able to deflect it before he reached his target.
He did get me down the arm, requiring about 40 stitches. Anyway, I know if it wasn't for all that practice with those boring blocks I probably wouldn't be here today. There's no doubt in my mind that if it wasn't for the training I received from you, I could never have done that instinctive block without even thinking about it.
I finally tracked you down through a fellow policeman who told me you were in Florida, so we went on the Internet and the rest is history. So myself and the family I now have (thanks to your instruction), thank you very much.
J.M Chicago Police Department

It's letters like this that make an instructor's day. Or week, month, or year, even. All too often we don't know what we did to affect a life. Thanks to J.M. for taking the time to let me know. I'll print his name if he wants.

Sick Puppy


I taught a lot of kids. Kids are often referred to as “germ factories.” We keep a bottle of that hand sanitizer gel on the mat at my studio and one of the instructors calls it “kid shield”. We use it after every class because, like a lot of studios, we end with a high-five. Predictably, you’ll get one kid that either coughs into his hand or was just sticking his finger in his nose and then high-fives you. You might ask how could I possibly think of children as an unruly mob of unsocialized cannibals?
I don’t get sick often but I’m nurturing a case of bronchitis right now, which is why I got the idea to write this.
When I was young I caught everything that was going around. I had all the basic childhood diseases that a kid growing up in the Fifties would get. I got the sugar cubes for polio immunization and still have the scar on my shoulder from whatever I was inoculated against back then. I had a raft of allergies, too.

I was at the doctor a lot.

I started in Judo, and then drifted over to karate between the ages of 11 and 18. I got stronger, inside and out. I earned my black belt in Kenpo. It was my youngest sister, Judy, who told my family doctor what I had accomplished. His comment? “That sickly kid?”
Yes, it was that sickly kid who was not so sickly anymore. I am convinced that martial art training did this for me. I have read many an account of people with serious conditions who have returned to normal lives with the aid of martial art training. The tai chi master, Cheng Man-Ching, had tuberculosis as a youngster. He overcame it and lived to a very old age. He lived in China about a century ago, when TB was rampant and recovery was not the norm. Medical science was not was it is today. I am convinced of the benefit of martial art training for overall health.
I get my checkups at the doctor and when I am asked what medication I am on there is disbelief. The average 52-year-old is on prescriptions and I am not. My blood pressure is very good. My arthritis is in check. Martial arts have kept me in pretty good shape.
It can do that for you, too.

Monday, February 26, 2007

I found my old stuff

I'm in the process of getting ready to move. Going through the house, looking in boxes and files, consolidating and throwing things away. That's when I found my stuff.
I found a box that had my notebooks from the private lessons I had with Ed Parker. There were lots of old, yellow tablets, some starting to turn brown from age. I found a notebook with pages from my lessons with Huk Planas, Danny Inosanto, and Tom Baeli. They're dated, and even have the location. Some were marked New Orleans, others say Pasadena.
I also found some diary-type scribblings I did sitting in airports, some of which were overseas. But the best things I found were some cassette tapes. I had tape-recorded my lessons with Mr. Parker. With his permission, of course. I've had some of the segments digitized, and I'm going to put them up on my website in the members section. They were done in his living room, in the late 70's and early 80's.
Mr. Parker used to ask me to type out my notes from my lessons and give them to him. So when I got back to Chicago from one of my week-long visits to Pasadena, I'd sit down and do that and drop them in the mail to him. I realized he was using me as a sounding board. He told me he "liked to rap" with me. I asked him all kinds of questions which would lead in many directions and I think he wanted to preserve those thoughts for inclusion in his own writings, or as a trigger for a train of thought.
I knew I had some more handwritten notes in my Accumulative Journals but I had forgotten about these. Glad I kept them, and glad I'll be able to share the sound of his voice with you.

Friday, February 23, 2007

Kenpo Karate 401

My next book, Kenpo Karate 401, is done and ready to go to the printer. This one is on Form Four, the "meat of the system" form. Huk says that if you understand Four you understand the system. I'm not sure about that, but I get his point.
I sat down last year and wrote down Four, Five, and Six. I had thought to make one book for all three expert level forms. I found it easier to make three books. Here's why.
K 401 is 80 pages, just on the one form. Let's say the others are 80 pages each as well. That's a paperback book of almost 250 pages. I'm thinking that these books are sometimes used on the mat, maybe stuffed inside a gi for reference at times. At least they are used for reference, and it's sometimes easier to find what "you thought you saw somewhere" in a smaller book. I'm getting feedback from readers, and they're sitting in their easy chair or on the couch with an easy-to-read, information-packed book.
It's taken quite some time to get it together, almost always does. One of my black belts, Mike Squatrito, is instrumental in getting these things set-up in the computer, massagng the photos, and the like. Mike spends a bit of time doing this and I appreciate it. I hope you do, too.
This time around I had the photos done in New England. The models are Steve White and Len Brassard. The photographer was Len's son, Lenny (who is now doing an internship with MTV). They shot about 200 pictures. The book will show the movements and some applications. It is not my intent, and never has been my intent, to show everything in the books. Mr. Parker originally did not want his system on video. He said there was then nothing to stop the guy down the street from picking up the system and saying he taught the same thing as his own guys. Mr. Parker was protecting us. There's positive and negative involved in all that, and it's another subject. Yet I feel that nobody should be able to pick up the book and learn the form from it. They should have to take lessons or know the form already in some way. Then the book will be helpful. A book is not the best way to pick up a form anyway but they do help.
Steve White is a long-time student of mine and is a dynamic instructor and practitioner. He and Len Brassard, along with other board members, run the New England Chinese Karate Federation (NECKF). Steve doesn't do too much outside his area. He has taught overseas with me in England at Gary Ellis' Friendship Camp and will be an instructor at Graham Lelliott's Wonder Valley camp in late May. Come out and see him. A funny coincidence was that when Steve went with me to Plymouth, England we saw the plaque at the waterfront there with the names of the pilgrims aboard the Mayflower. Steve had been told his ancestors were aboard and sure enough, there were the names.
Dr Len Brassard is a psychologist who runs a school in Fitchburg, MA. You can read some of his articles on ADD and kids on my site. Click on "articles". He hosts the big NECKF annual camp at his studio. I'm glad to have him in the book.
The book is available to pre-order on my site in the online store. Should be ready to go by early April, if things go smoothly. www.leewedlake.com

Thursday, February 22, 2007

2007 Florida Kenpo Camp


I was one of the staff instructors at Sean Kelley's annual camp, held at his school in Greenacres, near West Palm Beach. It was held over the weekend of February 9-11. I missed Friday and Saturday but managed to make it to their banquet on Saturday evening. There was quite a crowd there with many well-known martial artists present.


Bill Wallace and Joe Lewis were there. They continue to spar after all these years, although it's verbal. And there were well-known Kenpo people such as Dave Hebler, Rainer Schulte, Ed Parker Jr, Dennis Nackord, Rick Fowler, and Mike Pick. Lots of groups were represented aside from Sean's CKF, a tribute to some people's ability to get past the organization thing.

Accolades abounded, many nice things were said, plaques, certificates and custom-made black belts presented, and there was no food fight. I was given a pair of boxing gloves signed by Joe Lewis, and one of the custom belts. You can see them here, if I manage to download the photos.












I hadn't seen some of these people for years. Dennis Nackord and I spoke briefly and he commented that we hadn't see each other since Ed Parker was alive. Jeff Speakman was there, another person I haven't seen in a while.
I taught my session on concussions and carotid chokes, using technique extensions to illustrate the usage of movement to create these effects on the body. My emphasis was on classroom safety and the martial artist's obligation to use only enough force to defuse a situation.
I've been doing this seminar for a few months, the first time being up at the NECKF Camp in New England last year in October. (That's a big camp!) I do it because I have found that many of us don't really realize what we're doing when we apply it and most are quite surprised when I do my talk.
The short time I spent at the camp was enjoyable. I renewed some contacts and met some new people. Sean's thing is yearly. www.chinesekaratefederation.com








Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Drag-step question

One of my longtime students contacted me with a question about how to do a drag-step. When he did a drag-step he brought both feet together, then stepped. His instructor told him that was wrong and that he should only bring his feet half-way together before the step-out. So, he wanted to know, which way was right?
Actually, they're both right. It's important to keep in mind that basics, as they are taught, are reference moves. They act as a start pointing point, used to transmit the methods and angles of delivery, power principles, etc. Then you tailor the move to suit, as long as it doesn't depart the framework set down that makes Kenpo what it is.
In the real world (and in some of the techniques) you see variations in the application of the moves based on what is needed to make things work. Sometimes that short version of the drag-step is necessary because you just don't need to go that far. Other times you need to change the drag-step into a crossover to cover ground. The standard techniques illustrate the situation when you would do one or the other (that's why we shouldn't alter the standards when we teach them, so we don't lose those examples).
Our guy's teacher said you don't want to bring the feet all the way together because you could get your feet kicked out from under you. Sure could. A good Judo person would absolutely try to do that to you. If that's what you're dealing with then you must be careful how you place you feet and shift your weight. But if you need to get closer and the danger is not present, or is minimal, go ahead and bring your feet together. Just remember that Ed Parker said you need to keep your head at the same height or even a bit lower in order to prevent the rise in the center of gravity that is so inviting to someone to take you off balance. (Consider also that if you are punching them at the same time they are less inclined to do so.) He liked the analogy of a compass, as you recall.
On the other hand, former world champion kickboxer Bill "Superfoot" Wallace says that as you slide forward your feet should come together and your center should rise to enable you to lighten up the kicking leg and get some height and momentum. It worked for him and many schools today successfully teach the Wallace kicking method.
So who is right?
I think everyone here is correct, given the appropriate situation and application. Teach the drag-step as a reference movement by bringing the feet together for full range of movement. It's just like teaching a punch from the chamber, which also teaches full range of movement. As you improve you condense the movement but still get the desired result. In Kenpo we keep the head at the same level for the basic movement and then do the different applications in the techniques.
A basic is a basic, a fundamental move. Use them as a place to start the discussion.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Women in Aviation

I was a speaker at the Women in Aviation International conference held in Orlando last week. I was there at because I had volunteered to be part of a "Meet the Masters" roundtable sponsored by the National Association of Flight Instructors. NAFI was helping out with the conference by providing an education opportunity for the participants. 14 other master flight instructors from all over the US and I were there for the two-hour session.
I met some pretty interesting people, from student pilots to an Air Force colonel who is flying tankers. I'd say about 100 people took part in the roundtable.
I found out today that 3,200 people were there. I knew it was big, but I didn't know it was that well attended. Not surprising, when you think about it. They had some great speakers, one was a former astronaut, a lady who now runs the National Museum of Flight in Seattle.
A documentary was premiered called Speed and Angels. It is about two Naval aviators and their journey from wanting to be pilots to qualifying in the F-14 Tomcat, including their carrier qualifications. There is some pretty cool footage and insights into what drives them. The one's call sign is "Faceshot". Why? Because he had been shot in the face when he was younger and overcame the obstacles from that to acheive his dream.
If enough youngsters see this maybe they'll realize that it may be tough but if you try hard enough, you can do anything. www.speedandangels.com