KSC 2012, Pt. 3

The 9ths and their lieutentants.

Saturday morning saw the group meeting at 0845 for introductions and etiquette meeting. The day's schedule was four 1.5 hour seminars, lunch break, photos/autographs and then dinner.
 Mr. Sepulveda was the first teacher and his subject was Variable Expansion. I took the second spot and did a session on Principles of Instruction.
Steve White and I had decided that it was better to provide lunch than have people out looking for a place to eat, so we arranged it with the hotel. During lunch, the seniors met and discussed the future of kenpo and what we saw as out parts in it. One result of the discussion was that our lineages are becoming more cohesive. As we meet again in the future, a better picture will appear.
After lunch, Mr. Bob White taught entries and closing the gap. The final session was with Mr. LaBounty, "The SiGung" (teacher's teacher) on takedowns. He had some people in tears with his commentary. Closing his session he got into the heads of the participants with his "not me, not today" drill. You had to be there.
We had students of intermediate ranks all the way up to 8th blacks on the floor and working (yes, the 9ths work, too) during the sessions. You didn't see the red leaning against the walls.

2012 Kenpo Senior Conference

At the conclusion of the last session Mr. LaBounty promoted Mr. Gary Swan of San Antonio and Mr. Brian Duffy of Austin to 8th degree black. It was good to be present for this.

Next section will be about the dinner.

Kenpo Fusion

Ed Cabrera was down this weekend to shoot some segments for KenpoTV. Ed is a boxer who won the Golden Gloves in Pennsylvania and is a black belt in two systems, with a 4th degree in Kenpo.
  His KTV series will teach the four basic punches and how to combine them, stances and footwork and his "Kenpo Fusion". His creation combines boxing into the kenpo techniques, rather like Frank Trejo's. You'll be able to see him soon on the website doing some of the techniques based on Raking Mace and Protecting Fans.

     One of Ed's students, Steve Torres, was with him and he donated his body to science for some segements. Look for them soon at http://www.kenpotv.net/.

Busy weekend

Keith Mathews was down from Canton, Georgia for a few days to train with me. I asked him to teach a class for my beginners and intermediates. They got a high-energy class! It's always fun to watch my black belts teach and Mr. Mathews did not disappoint. There were lots of grins.

On Saturday, Ed Cabrera was scheduled to teach his boxing class but his car overheated on the way down from Tampa. Not hard to understand as it's been over 100 down here lately. Keith Wadsworth and Alicia Martorelli were on their way over from the Ft. Lauderdale area to take the class and Keith volunteered to take over the class as our guest instructor. Keith has boxing experience as well as being a 3rd degree in Kenpo.

One of the big things Keith worked on was the mechanics of punching (of course) but with applications and drills to promote transference of knowledge. The mechanics of a karate punch are not all that different from a right cross. I'm always amazed to see how experienced karate people won't consistently rotate their hips when punching in a boxing class. It's like their mind says "this is a different system" so they don't apply what they already know. If they do, then we have the transference of knowledge.

Mr. Wadsworth did a fine job. It's always good to have him around.

Our Grand Opening

People piled in the door at our new facility Saturday to be a part of our grand opening. We had sample classes, gave away some prizes, cut the ribbon, raised the American flag and had refreshments.

Kevin Coykendall (Filipino Martial Arts) kicked off the classes at 10am with his joint lock class.

I followed with an intro on Parker Kenpo. Peter Annazone (Russian Martial Art) taught right after me with a well-received session on basic theory of Systema. The kids jumped into Genie Byrd's youth Kenpo class.

We had a ribbon cutting at about 11:30 with all the instructors at the ribbon and Peter, Kevin and myself sliced it with knives used in the three systems. Then Ft. Myers firefighter/paramedic Bill Damewood, also a kenpo black belt, placed the American flag in the new studio for the first time.

After a short break the day was finished with a boxing class by Ed Cabrera from Tampa. Ed's class was the biggest of the day with about 20 people on the mat with him. Ed's classes are always well-received and we appreciate him driving all the way down to work with our people.

We had a lot of old faces show up and many new people interested in our programs. If we have a problem with our studio it's that we have four great programs and it's tough for people to decide which one to take (although we do offer cross-training programs).

The event was a success, and I thank everyone who came by. Special thanks to Jan and Mary who ran the behind-the-scenes stuff, and to my students who presented me with a bouquet of roses at the ribbon cut. Thanks so much.

More pictures on my site in the photo gallery.

Who is that masked man?

1990. Pennsylvania, after his black belt test. Ed Parker and Eddie Cabrera!

Florida black belts will know Eddie, or recognize his name, because he's been around the kenpo scene here for years. Ed's currently working on a book about kenpo and Western boxing. He's also one of the few East Coast instructors who actually met Ed Parker. Ed's doing seminars on his boxing and boxing infusions. You can find his contact info on my website in the studio directory.

Mini-camp success!

The Labor Day weekend mini-camp was attended by 15 children and 20 adults from six states.
Steve White's seminar for business owners was very well received. The children's seminar was co-taught by Florida's Tim Walker and South Carolina's Bruce Meyer. Bruce remarked that one of the kids talked with him afterwards and told him the last time he had visited he was a yellow belt and now he's going for brown. All the kids had a good time and got participation certificates. Thanks to K. Zwarg's Karate and Gulf Coast Kenpo for their support. (That's Tim in the photo).
Saturday's seminar was kicked off by Mr. Meyer, who taught aspects of developing and executing self-defense demos and competition routines. The battle cry was "You gotta sell it!"
Steve White followed with a dynamic presentation of how to increase your knowledge by looking into your sequences instead of just collecting more "stuff".
A lunch break included some presentations. Jim Middlebrooks, an artist from South Carolina and black belt under Bruce Meyer, was present. Jim does portraits of fallen soldiers for the families and gave me a book of them. Two members of the Special Forces Motorcycle Club were on hand to be part of the presentation, Bo McCormick and Bill Hood, shown in the photo below. SFMC is giving Jim a certificate of appreciation for his efforts. We had all the veterans of the armed Forces present jump in the photo too, also below.


Brad Congress of Bradley's Fine Jewelry here in Ft. Myers presented Steve White with a Five Swords pendant. Steve's birthday was recent, so we had a cake for him and Brad gave him his gift.

Ed Cabrera taught a great class on infusing boxing into Kenpo, followed by my presentation on the overkill principle. The seminar was concluded with a short session in which some of us present who knew Mr. Parker told a few stories and answered questions. Ed Cabrera, Lance Soares, Tony Velada, Bruce Meyer, Dr. Francis Rene, Steve White, and myself comprised a panel, which was a lot of fun.
Many in the group joined us for dinner that evening. Sunday morning the out-of-state participants left, some of them had to change their flights home due to Hurricane Gustav.
Below is an e-mail I received after the camp.

Dear Mr. Wedlake: I just want to drop you a short note to tell you how much I enjoyed the camp.
"Drinking from a fire hydrant" is a big understatement! Each one of the segments presented by you, Mr. White, Mr. Meyer and Mr. "Eddie" Cabrera was unique and well thought of with many useful 'take away' concepts.
Just as important, it was a lot of fun to work out with buddies from all over the country and exchange ideas with them.
Finally, getting insights about Mr. Parker's life and personality from people that met him was a wonderful ending.
All in all, it was a terrific experience... Thank you for making it happen!
Cordially / Carlos
If you were there, thanks for your support. If you missed it, I hope you can make a future event.

New Raking Mace Video

Ed Cabrera has been working on boxing infusions into kenpo techniques. He sent me this clip of his variation of Raking Mace. Ed's working on a book as well on the blending of boxing and Kenpo. He's a former Golden Gloves winner, and I know Frank Trejo would approve.

Promotions

I'm back from Germany. It was a great trip and the weather was even warm. In fact, they thanked me for bringing it from Florida. We had a nice turnout with people from Marc Sigle's school in Esslingen as well as his black belts' clubs in Austria and Saarbrucken, Germany.
I tested Marc for his third degree and he passed. I promoted him in front of the group on Saturday. Marc holds a fourth degree from the German Karate Association but not in kenpo. He'd been a kenpo black belt for 10 years with four of those as a second degree. Based on his physical performance, his technical knowledge, and what I have seen him produce as the next generation of kenpo practitioners, I had no problem with moving him up. This puts him on my family tree, which you can see on my site.
That same weekend, Ed Cabrera in Tampa promoted Mark Brewer and Al Jenkins to third degree black. He contacted me before doing so, a courtesy I appreciated, and I concur with his decision. I see Mark and Al regularly, since they attend my seminars in Orlando. Mark is off to Taiwan for a year to teach English and Ed wanted to get him promoted before he left.
Congratulations to all three gentlemen.

Eddie is writing a book

I met Ed Cabrera years ago through Sean Kelley. Ed and I have become good friends over those years.
Mr. Cabrera is from the Tampa area now but originally from the Lancaster, PA area. He trained up there and earned a black belt in Moo Duk Kwan and later switched to kenpo. He's now a 4th black under me. He also fought his way up to win the Golden Gloves back in PA, and is a boxer to the core.
Ed has driven down to Ft. Myers from the Tampa area about once a month for many years, a trip of about 2.5 hours one way to take a private lesson and teach a boxing class. The boxing class has proven to be one of the most popular classes we hold and people are truly disappointed on the occasion when Ed has to cancel. Ed knows his stuff and communicates it well, and with a good sense of humor. He is a great instructor.
Ed told me he's writing a book on the integration of Kenpo and boxing, something Frank Trejo fans will love. The cover is about done, and the text largely written. I don't know when he will get it out but I'll keep you posted.
You'll see Ed's face in my next book - he's doing a sleeper hold on Danny Sullivan and Danny is shown choking him out, too. What a couple of hams. Two great guys. Watch this spot for more. And if you want to comment on what you think he should include, please do so - I'm sure he'd like your thoughts.