Technique manuals

One of our guys in South Carolina expressed an interest in having the techniques in their original sequence and number. His wish is my command. I am almost done with them.
   These will not be verbatim copies of Mr. Parker's work and will not include such items as pledges, terminology, anatomy drawings, history, patch descriptions, drills, etc. Those can be found in other publications.
   I have re-written them so correct some typos and transposed rights and lefts. I added some commentary. What I kept is the number and sequence of the original 32 manuals for orange, purple, blue and green, along with the 10 yellows.
   These guys have been rewritten, resequenced, and had the numbers changed over the years. All the material is still there in different versions. But "It's the same but different".
   So if you're a collector or someone who wants to see what the originals were like, watch my site for availability in the next few weeks. 

Chicago promotions

A board was assembled on Sat. 20 August in Chicago. Kurt Barnhart's students tested. Dan Helie was promoted to 2nd Black Belt. First black promotions were Rick Vecchi, Ken Ritter and Cliff DeRose, Joe Cantele and Pete Tomaino to brown belt. Congratulations to them all!

Interesting

Germany's Marc Sigle sent this about knockout stats.
http://www.blackbeltmag.com/daily/mixed-martial-arts-training/boxing/knockout-and-concussion-statistics-for-violent-encounters/

Yeah, baby!

One of my guys, Austin Cooner, gets his shoulder boards after cadet training at the US Air Force Academy. That grin can't get much wider. Congrats!

August article posted at www.leewedlake.com

I wrote a few pages on attacking the knee joint. Here's an excerpt.

This is all not to say that’s it really easy to break the leg at the knee. Given the right circumstances it doesn’t take much but typically what we’re going to see is tearing of the muscles, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, cartilage with all the associated swelling and pain versus a break of the bones. This causes us to ask which part of the knee do we hit? I’ve addressed the back, inside and outside. Hitting from the front, just above the knee with a side kick, preferably a thrust or stomping type, will give us the best chance of breaking the femur. Just below possibly breaks the lower leg, tibia/fibula bones.

Above the knee tends to shear the femur above the part where it widens to form the condyles. Below can break the top of the tibia below where it widens to make the tibial plateau, where the cartilage is that the condyles sit in. Straight on would break through the joint. The above and below strikes have their own nuances and those positions are shown in the individual techniques in which they are taught. Breaking the bones can be done with sheer force at the right angle and time. Another condition may be bone density. Side kick Granny in the knee and it takes less force to break than an MMA fighter. Unless Granny is an MMA fighter.

This and many more are available by susbcription for $29/yr at www.leewedlake.com.

Planning

General Dwight D. Eisenhower was the Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe in World War II. In reading a book on strategy I found an excellent quote by him.
                                           
           "Plans are useless, planning is essential."

Simple and to the point. You do kenpo or some martial art for self-defense, making a plan to defend yourself in the event you have an altercation at some future time. You are planning. You get training on what your body and mind can do to handle a variety of situations and work it over and over to help insure a successful outcome. When it happens, you respond. It won't likely be with some standard technique sequence. It should be extemporaneous and the "plan" your were given as a student are useless. Warfighters will often relay the statement that all plans are changed at the moment of first contact. In other words, the plan is useless. But all that prior training and planning is what works.
Keep practicing.

Motivation

                                                          It Couldn't Be Done
                                                           by Edgar A. Guest   

Somebody said that it couldn't be done,
But he with a chuckle replied
That "maybe it couldn't," but he would be one
Who wouldn't say so till he'd tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
Somebody scoffed: "Oh, you'll never do that;
At least no one ever has done it";
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he'd begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn't be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That "cannot be done," and you'll do it.