Thank you.

[Stephen Howard]

I wanted to thank the adminstration at KenpoTalk for including this section for Jay T. Will. Mr. Will was very instrumental in the spread of kenpo in the Mid-West and popularizing the martial arts in general worldwide. His work included not only teaching and acting as referee to the PKA, but also books, television and film. I was fortunate enough to earn my stripes (so to speak) at the Jay T. Will studio in Lancaster, Ohio under Mr. Hank Taylor. Mr. Will supervised my tests and advancement up to 3rd brown and also personally certified me as an instructor. Unfortunately, Mr. Will passed away before I tested for shodan. However, I consider myself very lucky to have had the benefit of his input for the early (and arguably most important) part of my training. Mr. Will always stressed strong basics and strong character. He always admonished his students not to fall into making the mistakes and bad choices he had made, but to train hard, work hard and live cleanly. His presence is sorely missed and I hope that his legacy will be well represented in this forum.

Thank you.
Steve Howard

[Randy Strausbaugh]

I'd like to add my thanks to those of Dr. Howard. Jay was my instructor, and I've always considered myself to be fortunate in that. Even though he made some bad choices in life, Jay paid his debt. His positive contributions to the arts are those things by which I choose to remember him. I hope to see many postings from Jay's former students in the days and weeks to come.

[Seig]

Absolutely! The man played a pivotal roll in the development of Kenpo in the United States. It would be criminal to have a site dedicated to American Kenpo and no mention of Jay T. Will.

[jfarnsworth]

I'd like to add my thanks to those of Dr. Howard. Jay was my instructor, and I've always considered myself to be fortunate in that. Even though he made some bad choices in life, Jay paid his debt. His positive contributions to the arts are those things by which I choose to remember him. I hope to see many postings from Jay's former students in the days and weeks to come.

You and I had exchanged PM's on MT before and things just kinda clicked at the moment. My first instructor and Mr. Will were quite tight a couple of years before his passing. Did you or did Mr. Howard ever come to any Mid ohio martial arts tournaments in N.C. Ohio? One of my kickboxing fights were in town here as well and Mr. Will was the referee for my match. Did either of you come to that showing or any of the others we had here? I also remember before his passing that he had called my instructor and his wife, if I'm not mistaking I believe she told me that she had gone to the hospital to see him the day of or the day before. Randy, sorry about taking so long for things to finally pop into my head, don't hold it against me.

I had met Mr. Will 3 times. Nothing really big or I should say not an indepth discussion. Seemed like a nice guy. At the time I didn't even know what Kenpo was. I may be wrong but wasn't there a Jay T. Will studio in Deleware?

[Randy Strausbaugh]

Did you or did Mr. Howard ever come to any Mid ohio martial arts tournaments in N.C. Ohio? One of my kickboxing fights were in town here as well and Mr. Will was the referee for my match. Did either of you come to that showing or any of the others we had here?

I never made it to tournaments much north of Columbus. Guess I'm just stuck here in the boonies .

Randy, sorry about taking so long for things to finally pop into my head, don't hold it against me.

No problem. I don't get online as often as I used to and the twin situations of age and dissipation have made my memory... ah... spotty at times.

I may be wrong but wasn't there a Jay T. Will studio in Deleware?

Yep. Dave Sites opened it in 1981 but later switched to EPAK. Last I heard he wasn't teaching (at least commercially).

[jfarnsworth]

Yep. Dave Sites opened it in 1981 but later switched to EPAK. Last I heard he wasn't teaching (at least commercially).

That's what I thought. The gentleman that I train with was at that school until he closed it down sometime in the late 80's. He actually has 2 other students now that were students from that school as well.(small world)

[Kenpoist]

I am currently studying under the Brint Barry cirricullum - another student of Jay T. Will. Don't know much about either of them other than the fact that Mr. Barry altered many of the original Parker techniques which encompass his current training cirricullum. Did Mr. Will have the same philosophy as Mr. Barry?
I would be interested in any insight to the start of my lineage.

[Randy Strausbaugh]

No, Jay taught the same Kenpo techniques which are currently used by the Tracy organization. The names and the techniques are the same, but the order and number of techniques are different (he used 40 techniques per belt through green belt, 30 per belt thereafter). He referred to it as Chinese Kenpo. He said that at the time he was learning, Ed Parker taught the same techniques as the Tracys. I'm not sure where Brint Barry got his EPAK material.

Hope this helps.

[shane]

Isn't Michael Acord in Mr Will's lineage?

[shane]

Isn't Michael Acord in Mr Will's lineage?

Yes. He is.

[Stephen Howard]

As Mr. Strausbaugh points out, the curriculum in (most of) the "Jay T. Will Studios" was the original Tracy 40-technique/belt program from Orange to Shodan (1st Black), unaltered from 1968 to the time of Mr. Will's passing. Mr. Lampbrecht, who still runs the Columbus, OH school, still has an original technique list that hung on the original Columbus studio wall since 1968. The biggest change in the curriculum upto 1st Black was the addition of the 10 Yellow belt techniques.

After 1st Black and outside of the "Jay T Will Studios" is where Mr. Will allowed for the most variation in the curriculum. The 2nd and 3rd degree (and so on...) black belt requirements closely followed the Tracy's program, but did include some of the EPAK techniques or variants (at least, they did in the era just prior to Mr. Parker's death... though I can't say for certain when the EPAK techniques first began to be included), such as Crossing Talon 2 (same as EPAK Crossing Talon) with more EPAK introduced at each successive higher level. However, much of the curriculum at this level was not formalized. Also, the UKKA had a 20 technique per belt requirement based on the original 40's and added more weapons forms, unique to Mr. Wills system, to allow for a standardized curruculum up to 5th black.

Mr. Will had a philosophy of "doing what worked for you... but teaching exactly what you were taught." That is... you could adjust or "tweak" a technique as much as you wanted, understanding that those "tweaks" were individual to yourself and that the student should be taught the base technique unaltered and allowed to discover his own "best" way of accomplishing that technique. This was an important component of learning and internalizing the art.

It is also important to note that Mr. Will taught the "why" as well as the "how." And that Mr. Will never stopped learning himself. This is what made him such an incredible instructor and strong influence in the martial arts community overall.

--Steve Howard

[martialartsv1vu]

I wanted to thank the adminstration at KenpoTalk for including this section for Jay T. Will. Mr. Will was very instrumental in the spread of kenpo in the Mid-West and popularizing the martial arts in general worldwide. His work included not only teaching and acting as referee to the PKA, but also books, television and film. I was fortunate enough to earn my stripes (so to speak) at the Jay T. Will studio in Lancaster, Ohio under Mr. Hank Taylor. Mr. Will supervised my tests and advancement up to 3rd brown and also personally certified me as an instructor. Unfortunately, Mr. Will passed away before I tested for shodan. However, I consider myself very lucky to have had the benefit of his input for the early (and arguably most important) part of my training. Mr. Will always stressed strong basics and strong character. He always admonished his students not to fall into making the mistakes and bad choices he had made, but to train hard, work hard and live cleanly. His presence is sorely missed and I hope that his legacy will be well represented in this forum.

Thank you.
Steve Howard

Mike Tyson to comeback is so strange.

[Celtic_Crippler]

Mike Tyson to comeback is so strange.

??????????????????????????

[jamesK1]

I wanted to thank the adminstration at KenpoTalk for including this section for Jay T. Will. Mr. Will was very instrumental in the spread of kenpo in the Mid-West and popularizing the martial arts in general worldwide. His work included not only teaching and acting as referee to the PKA, but also books, television and film. I was fortunate enough to earn my stripes (so to speak) at the Jay T. Will studio in Lancaster, Ohio under Mr. Hank Taylor. Mr. Will supervised my tests and advancement up to 3rd brown and also personally certified me as an instructor. Unfortunately, Mr. Will passed away before I tested for shodan. However, I consider myself very lucky to have had the benefit of his input for the early (and arguably most important) part of my training. Mr. Will always stressed strong basics and strong character. He always admonished his students not to fall into making the mistakes and bad choices he had made, but to train hard, work hard and live cleanly. His presence is sorely missed and I hope that his legacy will be well represented in this forum.

Thank you.
Steve Howard

profound or simple.. like lots of stuff.

[kenpochrstn]

[quote=Stephen Howard;969]
Mr. Will had a philosophy of "doing what worked for you... but teaching exactly what you were taught." That is... you could adjust or "tweak" a technique as much as you wanted, understanding that those "tweaks" were individual to yourself and that the student should be taught the base technique unaltered and allowed to discover his own "best" way of accomplishing that technique. This was an important component of learning and internalizing the art.


If more American Kenpo instructors taught using this philosophy I think there would be a whole lot less confusion.

1stJohn1:9