European Kenpo

I was over in Athens, Greece this past weekend. John Fillipidis had me as his guest. I was able to work with John privately and you can tell he's been paying attention to his lessons. His students know quite a bit about concept and principle, which shows me he's passing it on. They have depth of knowledge. John and his people ask good questions. I believe it's ingrained in the Greek mind to think deeply; Socrates, Plato and others come to mind. Their physical skills are very good and they have solid stances and footwork.

    Marc Sigle, from Esslingen, Germany came along with me. We had a great time in Athens. The people there were friendly and went out of their way to show us a good time. John took us down to the Acropolis area to walk around the Plaka and stroll through the Agora. It's a park today but many, many years ago it was where the market, Senate, temples and more were located. John told me it was where Socrates and others spent their time. It was a treat to walk the same ground.

   The lessons I taught were well-received. It was cool to work with guys named Panos, Yiannis, Achillies and Adonis. John himself is a craftsman, he works with wood. He made this for me, and the Ed Parker image for Marc. His attention to detail carries over to his teaching and execution of the art. John is intense.

On the way home I stopped at Marc Sigle's studio, where they are no less excited about Kenpo. I taught a big class or two there. Marc's people hit and they're fast. And it's good to see people I have come to know over time like Nadja, Paul, Lenny, Hannah, Paula, Griet, Andy (both of them), Anka, Friedeman, Kevin and the rest. It is interesting to see the cultural differences in the countries there and compare them to home. People are the same all over in many respects but they are also different. I ame very fortunate to be invited to the schools and privileged to carry the flame of the Parker system forward. I never thought I would be in these places, teaching the artt, when I first started.