Kenpo

I know it sounds corny but, what can I say. I’ve been training on and off with Dr. Ron Chapel for the past 6 years ( more off than on ) and every time I start up after a long hiatus, I wonder why I ever left.
I started with Kenpo Karate in 1994, while at Morgan State University. I chose Kenpo because, Jim Fredrick’s Kenpo Karate in Towson MD was the only Karate school on the bus line from my school. This is the time I fell in love with Kenpo, the good and the bad. I remember my time at Mr. Fredricks with such a sense of nostalgia. It wasn’t just a Karate school it was a family, I made friends there that I still speak with today.
Mr. Fredrick taught me a lot, he’s a great teacher. He taught me what a gook Karate school is. His name is on the sign and he was there every day and taught class every day. That is something you don’t find at many Karate schools. He’s a taskmaster everyone sweated every class. He taught me proper attitude, that this training was not a joke and danger was everywhere. Shadowing him I met and was able to talk to many first generation Parker students. I remember going to Dundalk,MD to see the underground boxing matches behind this bar I forget the name of. Mr Fredrick exposed me to my current Kenpo teacher Dr. Ron Chapel and I’ll always be thankful to him for that.
Now its 15 years later, I’m living in Los Angeles and I’m still flirting with my first love, Kenpo. The funny thing is I’ve never been in a fight, thrown a few punches at people who deserved it but never really been in a fight but, I keep training. I love the comradeship of a Kenpo school, its great.
In Los Angeles I began training with Dr. Ron Chapel. Doc teaches SubLevel 4 American Kenpo, a unique offshoot of Kenpo that is taught in the majority of Kenpo schools today and I love it. Dr Chapel can do what very few people can, teach Basics for hours and keep it interesting. What he teaches is so functional. I want to get my black belt under him so bad, but my problem has always been consistency and now it is time to change that and give Doc the attention and respect he deserves.
The schedule is brutal (M,W 8pm – 12am) and the drive is brutal (36 miles) but its a small sacrifice for excellence. Friends ask why I drive 36 miles each way to train, they just don’t understand.

Last night I had a moment of weakness. Out of the blue I sat down to watch some TV, turned it on and Kung Fu Panda just happened to be on.
I had resisted seeing this movie for a long time because i thought that it would be very silly, but just the opposite, it was a great movie.
But,
There is something I didn’t tell you. I know I should of, but I was embarrassed.
I cried.
I mean I really cried. Streams of tears down the face crying.
Why did I do that?
I love tales of the Master-Student relationship, and stories when one person sacrifices themselves for good of the many.
I have to buy this movie, after I saw this I wanted to start doing forms and fight for those weaker than I.
Hay-Ya

The Good

Out of nowhere my Kenpo teacher told me that he thought, I had a rare gift for Kenpo and the Art. If I wasn’t busy kicking, punching and jumping I would of cried. I think it has less to do with talent then, just the familiarity of doing the same techniques for 10 years. That complement coming from someone like him was a real honor to me.
The whole Karate school macho gutter mouth humor and camaraderie doesn’t lend itself to many compliments unless you mean it. Of course the whole thing was punctuated with.
“Now fix your fuck’n stances”
The Bad
I threw out my shoulder during that same class. It was freak accident that left me gasping in pain. Of coarse I didn’t stop immediately, I continued to work out for the next hour kicking and punching and wincing and ouching.
The next morning I felt like I arm wrestled an orangutan.
The Ugly
That same night was my responsibility to be the designated “On Call” person at work in case there were any system outages. This was also the same night I agreed to help a friend film a video.
Of coarse Murphy’s Law still holds true and my job calls. I go to work, aint that a b*t*h.

There is definitely a time of adjustment needed when you get work below the sleeve level. Maybe I’m just too sensitive.
The other day I was at the library doing research on my next tattoo (because I’m obsessed like that) , and a little boy looked at my arms and asked;
“Are those going to be there forever”, as he looked me right in the eyes. I told him
“I guess, I woke up and they were just there one morning”
He laughed, I smiled, his father grimaced like his son just talked to Jeffrey Dahmer, and we all continued to wait in line.
I don’t mind the attention, it’s just most times I forget that I have art etched on my skin.
Sometimes I have to remind myself that the majority of the world is much, much more conservative than me or any of my friends.
Lets take the guys at my Kenpo School for instance, the whole place is filled with cops, federal guys, engineers and lawyers. When they see each new piece, they just have this “Gorilla is Crazy” look. Most of them are as square as square can be. That’s one of the things that I like about them. It keeps me grounded in what the silent majority really thinks.
To me getting tattooed is more than just having pretty pictures on my body. Its more akin to a conscious decision to tell a tale. (yea and I just complained about questions, no I’m never happy ), each piece says something about you. Even if the choice of art is frivolous, the pain of the coverage never is; and that tells me a lot. There is definitely something sexy about a woman who can sit through a whole back piece or a full sleeve.
I always think of this conversation I had with my first tattoo artist Pedro Beluga about the descicions that are made when someone chooses to etch marks on their skin in a visible place. You change the way people look at you for the rest of your life. Some take it for a fad but for others what they put on their bodies is a real testiment to what they are about. There were lots of things he wouldn’t tattoo on people because he didn’t think they knew what they were doing.
Its nice that the positive comments have been genuine. I need to take some decent pictures, I guess that will happen after the next piece.

Its so nice to see the brothers Tommy Chavies and Curtis Faust displaying Ed Parker Basics.
This is from a different era of Karate. If you have time check out one of my favorite movies Fighting Black Kings, definatly worth a watch.

If you don’t know what the term Belt Trippin means let me inform you.

“It’s when you give your Martial Arts Teacher trouble and complaints because you don’t’ think you’ve gone up in the ranks quickly enough, or your not getting the recognition you believe that you should”

It’s a subset of “Set Trippin”, cause you know, everything comes from the mean streets but anyway.
I’ve very disappointed when I hear of someone I know “Belt Trippin”, it is so useless.
Why?
Because here is the dirty little secret about Karate and many of the classic martial arts. That Karate shit will get you Fucked up. Yes it will, don’t think your going to take some karate class some where get to brown or black belt and be able to run the streets. That is a one ticket to an ass kicking.
If you want to really learn how to fight and kick someone’s butt on the street go take a boxing class, for real. I’ve been in the Martial Arts world on and off for about 12 years (more off than on), fortunately each of my teachers has been top notch and well known within their respective communities. Working with Mr. Fredrick and now Dr. Chapel I have been able to have discussions with a few first generation Parker Students and one thing they all tell me is.
“That Karate Shit will get you Fucked up”

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You know January style, first month of the year, you hear a whole lot of “This year I’m gonna. . . ” , or “2006 is the year for blah blah blah”, or “No one is going to stop me from [insert bullshit here] ”
I’ll just jot down my “Things To Do: for Techwhore.com”

• move archives to separate page
• write a full “about” page
• add 5 most recent comments widget
• add links to 5-10 of my personal favorite posts
• add a link to flickr pictures and get the flickr pictures widget to work
• add statcounter (bitten from eclectism)
• abstract out the sidebar so its standard across all the templates
• work on header v2 which will have links to the offshoot pages

It should be easy since I’m not leaving the house for the whole year. Apart from things to do for my weblog, I have a whole host of things to get done in my personal life, wanna hear it, of coarse you do thats why your reading my welog. Ok stop begging here it is

• Finish applications to grad school by monday (write those damn recomendations)
• Enroll in silkscreening class at LACC
• Pucker my lips up to kiss Dr. Chapels black ass (Kenpo Teacher)
• pay down debt
• save money
• get tatted BIG STYLEEEEEEEEEE, I need a sleeve