Bonzai: Thoughts and Expressions

West Coast Kenpo Confederation

I have recently taken on training in another martial art that I am truly enjoying. Although I am still training in Taekwondo, my recent experiences in Chinese Kenpo have been fun and enlightening. The art is much more oriented to ‘street’ confrontation and self-defense and can be extremely effective – and perhaps a bit brutal, depending on how it is used. Taekwondo seems like an aerobics class next to Kenpo, for sure. There are a couple of sayings that sort of sum up the difference – In karate, there is a saying that says something like: “Never be the first to strike”, emphasizing self-defense. In kenpo, the saying goes something like: “There should be no second strike”, which tends to speak of the swift and final outcome of any confrontation – self preservation. Groovy.

My instructor (sifu) invited me to attend a conference with him in August called the West Coast Kenpo Confederation. It is held in Longbeach, CA and is meant to be a hands-on and personal experience with several of the top instructors in the field. I belong to the International Karate Connection Association (IKCA) and our own Grand Masters Chuck Sullivan and Vic LeRoux will be there providing instruction and answering questions about the art. There will be several other big names there in the same capacity as well and it should be a very exciting time. I’ll be flying out on August 5th and returning that same weekend after the conference. I’ll likely post more about my experiences there when I return.

posted by Bonzai @ 8:26 AM