Kenpo in the Streets" Chapter 1 (notes)

[Bob Hubbard]

Kenpo in the Streets" Chapter 1 (notes)
written by Ed Parker Sr.

�”CHAPTER 1"
INTRODUCTION

�KENPO IN THE STREET goes beyond just street combat. It includes
all combat that occurs in our environment. Encounters at bars,
parties, movie theaters, arena concerts, gymnasiums, dances,
restaurants, in the home, etc., all require �street smarts. Survival,
therefore, requires knowledge of combat void of rules where biting,
clawing, ripping, poking, gouging, hair pulling, head butting, boxing,
wrestling, judo, ground tactics, use of objects as weapons, etc. may
have to be used. There are no ethics involved when you are in street
combat. The following story is a classic example of what ethics mean
in today's environment. "A boy returned from school with a class
assignment. He was asked to have his father relate an experience that
would help him to understand the term "ethics" more thoroughly. The
father pondered over the question and then said, 'A good example of
ethics occurred at our store today. Mrs. Brown (from across the
street) entered our store, purchased some items, gave me a brand new
twenty dollar bill, received the appropriate change, and left. After
Mrs. Brown left I discovered that there were two twenty dollar bills.
Since both bills were brand new, they appeared to be one. Now the
ethics here son is should I tell my partner Jake about the extra
twenty dollar bill or shouldn't I?' Apparently, no consideration was
given to Mrs. Brown who would be short twenty dollars. Unfortunately,
this manner of thinking prevails today. Ethics of this kind are
alarmingly prevalent in our streets today.

To relate another story regarding ethics, I once enrolled a male
student who was 6'8" weighing 268 pounds. His right arm was in a cast
and his face looked like hamburger. I asked him what had happened to
cause this condition. He told me that five adults had jumped him,
threw him to the ground, and relentlessly punched and kicked him. I
then asked if the broken arm was the result of the attack. "No", he
said, "my arm was already in a cast when they attacked me." Again a
classic example of street ethics.

Ed Parker Sr. Memories

Archived with the permission of Ed Parker Jr.

Ed Parker Sr. was the founder of the art known today as American Kenpo.
In these files, Ed Parker Jr. shares his fathers unpublished notes and other memories with us.