Laws of Kenpo

LAWS OF KENPO

     These are not necessarily “Laws,” but rather philosophies.  Analyze each of your techniques with these Laws in mind.

WARRIOR SPIRIT

     Warrior Spirit can be more important than skill.  If you believe in winning (or surviving) longer than your opponent (or attacker) then

     you should have the edge.

What counts is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight-it’s the size of the fight in the dog.

-Dwight D. Eisenhower-

STRIKE FIRST

     Do not wait for the aggressor to attack first.  Hit him first, hard and continuously.  Strike with an appropriate weapon—foot, knee,

     fist, elbow, etc….

MULTIPLE STRIKES

     First and second strikes should be designed to stun, distract, and to slow your opponent.  Subsequent strikes or blows are the power

     blows.  Strikes should be a combination of high, low, circular, and linear.

TARGETS

     Soft versus Hard targets.

     Use soft weapons to strike soft targets and hard weapons to strike hard targets.  For example, use the hand sword to strike the throat

     and use the hammer fist to strike the head.

     Learn the path, that is least resistant for your opponent and the path less painful for yourself.  Precisely targeting areas of the head and

     body, is far more effective than pummeling away at random.

KICKING

     High kicks are impressive, but take longer to execute because your leg has to travel farther.  When kicking high you expose your groin

     to your opponent.  Kicking low can disrupt your opponent’s base (or foundation).

FOCUS

     According to Mr. Parker, focus means putting the entire energy of your weight into a strike, not just a portion.

     Use the “marriage” of gravity or inertia with the strike to exponentially increase the effectiveness of the strike.  Instead of stepping

     toward an opponent then striking, strike the target, nanoseconds before your foot touches the ground.

 BLOCKS

     Flaws in the “common sense” laws:  Move your body out of the way to avoid being hit by a punch or a kick.

     Kenpo’s strength is its emphasis of economy of both movement and timing.

     A block may be a “wasted” move if it does not stop the attacker from attacking again with his free limbs.  A better option would be to

     move out of the way, hence the “no block,” and then counterstrike.

     This does not mean blocking is bad, just at times not as efficient:

          Avoid rather than check; check rather than block; block rather than strike; strike rather than maim; maim rather

          than kill.            -This is a Kung Fu Adage-

YIELD/REDIRECT

     Instead of using a block as a strike, use a yielding or soft block then strike hard.

     Redirecting in combination with yielding a strike can minimize your own pain, which is just as important as maximizing your opponent’s

     pain.

     Parry your opponent’s leg to spin him off balance and open a vulnerable area.  This yielding and redirecting will allow you to react “soft”

     but counterstrike “hard”.

     I don’t necessarily agree with this section, because I believe we can still inflict pain on our opponent if we use the principle

     of Yielding/Redirecting.  Example:  opponent delivers a front snap kick; step in at an angle yielding with a downward angle

     strike to the outside of the leg.

MOBILITY

     Mobility may be one of the easiest principles of martial arts but one that is hard to implement.

     A moving target is harder to hit than a stationary one.

     Usually, fighters can fall into these categories:  the statue, little mobility, no retreat; the runner, always retreating; and the bulldozer,

     always advancing.

     Sticking with any one of these styles can make you predictable and vulnerable.

     You need to mix up the styles and keep moving.

FLEXIBILITY

     Flexibility here does not mean the movements of your appendages, but rather how Kenpo’s flexibility can adapt to your style.

     Kenpo allows you to focus on your strengths.  Kenpo works for the fast and mobile just as it works for the tall, short, or heavy build

     persons.

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Last update:  June 23, 2008