If you had to describe kenpo....

[don bohrer]

If you had to describe what is Kenpo karate and what makes it different from other martial arts what would you say? Your audience contains those of all ages, and walks of life. There are scoffers and believers. What would you say?

You're not trying to demo just yet, but convey through words.

don (el paso)

[michaeledward]

Somebody here, or over at MartialTalk had a great signature line.

Kenpo is the ability to hit the other guy in so many places, that he can't hold everywhere it hurts.

I like that one.

Mr. Planas tells us often.

Kenpo works for two reason: pain, and realistic position and reaction

That's pretty good too.

And, if I can add one of my own ...

Kenpo is like a game of checkers, except I have all the Kings ...

• You get a move,
• then I get a move,
• then I get another move,
• then I get another move.
• And so on, and so on, and so on.

Of course, I don't think any of these differentiate Kenpo from any other system to someone who does not know.

[MARSHALLS KENPO]

What describes Kenpo

How does one describe what I feel to be the most devastating, realistic, and practical approach to today’s ever changing and escalating world of violence? From day to day the methods of one on one confrontation have become more advanced as well as deadly.

People can focus on an art form whose focus are kicks, but that doesn’t do much for dealing with an attack in a phone booth. Sure we can say that people today have cell phones, however in Europe phone booths are still used.

One could focus on an art form where the main focus may be grappling or control locks and throws. However this may or may not deal with someone who is using a weapon against you.

People may want to focus on a mixed martial arts made popular by the media and the Ultimate Fighting shows on TV. That’s fine as long as they understand that the industry has placed limitations on what a person can do. How many times do you see two people working the ground fighting and realize that all they have to do to break the hold is to bury a finger into the guy’s eye socket.

There are some great art forms in the martial arts, all teach something wonderful. However for me I am looking for the most complete application I can find for self-defense. This includes aspects of kicking arts, striking arts, grappling arts, weapon arts, etc. The concepts and principles that one can find in a particular martial art can be found in Kenpo. One doesn’t need a Mixed Martial art to complement their system unless the system doesn’t teach that specific concept.

My Respects

[KenpoHank]

A language of motion.

[hemi]

Well my wife dragged me kicking and screaming to the small town Christmas Fair last weekend. We walked around and one of the many booths was sponsored by one of the local TKD schools in town. They were doing a demo and passing out flyers the usual stuff so we stopped to watch the demo. That was the only interesting thing going on at this fare. I watched and it was flashy and entertaining to watch but not realistic. About that time my wife asked me what I thought and if I wanted to get more info from them. I simply told her “if you drove here in a Lamborghini would you leave in a Volkswagen “?

[Drew]

You know the first thing I thought of was one of Mr. Parker's stories about being the guy in the dark alley with the trash can...

Putting the trash can down, I'd say controlling and dominating the space, then the attacker.

[Benny-AR]

The one word I would stress is "practical."

[bujuts]

Refined, systematic, and purposeful violence for use in the protection of one's peace.

Keeping it simple.

Cheers,

Steven Brown
UKF

[cutter]

I see kenpo as a set of linked movements. All based on the reaction generated by the aggressor. Usually manipulating the aggressor to achieve a certain reaction.

[Mikael151]

American Kenpo is the scientific study of motion as it applies to self-defense.

[profesormental]

Kenpo is the Secret Science Behind Effective Bone Crushing Combat and Efficient Ass Kicking Self Defense.

You can ad lib the adjetives to your liking.

Juan M. Mercado

[John Brewer]

Where bare knuckles meet science?

[Kenpo Gary]

Stuff that works when attacked.

Kenpo Gary

[stone_dragone]

Where bare knuckles meet science?

I like a variation on this...

Where Martial art meets martial science.

[Celtic_Crippler]

Lot's of good responses.

Kenpo is an ultra-effective form of self-defense that is based on sound scinetific principle that can be applied by anyone, regardless of age or gender, with proper practice.

[punisher73]

Kenpo is a martial art that uses all of the body's natural weapons in the various ranges of combat. It utilizes strategic positioning of ourselves and the opponent to put them in a disadvantage and us at an advantage. It achieves this by a utilizing a rapid flurry of strikes that are delivered to weak points of the human body and account for the reaction those strikes will cause to multiply the damage as each successive strike lands.

[Calico Kid]

Kenpo "Aerobics with a purpose."