I have been practicing martial arts for around ten years. The two systems I have experience in are Shaolin Kempo Karate and Tracy's Kenpo Karate. They are both kenpo systems that deal with realistic street self defense. They have alot in common but one is the true and complete system and one isn't.
Kenpo, unlike many other martial arts deals with situational self defense. The kenpo stylist uses rapid fire hand techniques and low line kicks instead of the flashy moves you see in the movies or at some tournaments. They can flow from one technique to another depending on the assailants attacks. The term "overkill" is always associated with kenpo because of the never ending arsenal we possess. Joint locks, takedowns and submission holds are also part of the system.
I started my training in Shaolin Kempo back in the fall of 1988. I had studied on and off in different kicking systems but I didn't feel I was learning practical self defense. I still remember my very first lesson when I learned a wrist lock that could bring even the strongest man to his knees. I decided "this is the real deal" because I'm not a huge guy. From this moment on, I knew I wanted to make the long hard journey to the coveted "BLACK BELT".
In the next four years I trained very hard and met a lot of people who were just as obsessed with kenpo as I was. One of these people I worked out with, George, became one of my best friends. George and I moved through the system together until we both reached Black belt, I reached that point first and became George's instructor for the remaining two belts he needed. Although he got cheated out of taking his Black belt test, due to our instructor's greed, he will always be a BlackBelt to me because I knew he was ready to test. I ran my own studio for about a year until an injury caused me to close it down. George went on to study Bruce Lee's Jeet Kune Do, in which he is currently an assistant instructor .
Tracy's Kenpo Karate entered my life in the summer of 1995. I had trained for about 6 months in Aikido while my injury completely healed, but I missed kenpo. From doing research I learned that the Tracy System of Kenpo was the original and most complete system in the world. Al Tracy, the founder and father of my instructor Mark learned the kenpo system from Ed Parker, who had learned from Professor Chow, who had learned it from the late Great GrandMaster James Mitose. After Ed Parker decided to alter the original system and create his own, his top student Al decided to keep the original system and not follow in his teachers footsteps. Though some of the techniques have been changed now for more practical reasons, the old ones are still a part of the system. With Ed Parker gone now, ( he died in 1990) his creation of "American Kenpo" ,which has less than 10% of original kenpo in it, will probably go down hill even further. For the TRUE HISTORY OF KENPO, please see my links.
Tracy Kenpo was exactly what I was looking for, it was similar to Shaolin Kempo but was alot more effective. Besides learning a basic and devastating defense against an attack, you also learn variations in case the attack is altered in some way. I am currently a Green Belt in the system which is the last colored belt before the Brown levels. I have already learned over 230 techniques and variations and to achieve a Black Belt there is around 470.
My instructor, Mark Tracy is the ultimate teacher. He combines his skill with an uncanny sense of humor all in a relaxed non formal atmosphere. He has recently let me run group classes and I also have three students of my own. My wife Gina and my two good friends Troy and Valerie, who are also married, have become dedicated students of mine. I plan on getting a studio of my own once I reach Black belt and teaching full time with Gina by my side, so I can share my skills with others.
