Everybody knows what a fraud is… right? A fake, a teller of lies, a deceiver of men… When the word fraud is used isn’t it natural for the hearer of the word to think that the person doing the fraud is being fraudulent on purpose? That they knowingly and deliberately lied to another person for the purpose receiving ill gotten gains… Question; can a person be a fraud who does not know he is a fraud? Can a person be labeled a fraud when in fact he is only repeating what he has heard others (even his personal trainer) say to him or her? Can a person, an honest person, who is sharing information with others that they believe to be true – be found guilty of fraudulent behavior in the court of public opinion? In other words; can a lack of understanding on what is and what is not fraudulent information lead to that otherwise honest man being labeled a fraud? Read more »

In the martial art’s world there are many arguments that take place. Many argue about the purpose of one’s training. Even though thousands of martial artists are interested in character-building, physical fitness and the mental discipline that comes with the training, most individuals join martial arts studios to feel more confident about their ability to protect and defend themselves. Read more »

Mr. Parker was focused on gang related fighting skills and did not want to tie up his body with one person on the ground while his buddies were joining in the fight. To fight in a gang situation it is required that the kenpoist have fast movements, make quick decisions, take out his opponent at the earliest opportunity and move on to the next gang member. Everything taught in our American Kenpo sessions are based upon this situation. Because of this situational parameter; I cannot think of any changes I would make to SGMA Parker’s system that would enable me to fight better. Unlike many other martial artist who want to constantly tinker with Mr. Parker’s creation, I believe students need to more thoroughly understand the existing American Kenpo martial art. Read more »

American Kenpo is not a style of martial art – it is a standing, self defense training system.  Senior Grand Master of the Art Edmund K. Parker created his system for teaching self defense knowledge so that anyone who wanted to learn about stand up self defense would have access to the full empty handed (no weapons) fighting knowledge he had gathered, organized and assembled for himself and had taught to his personal students. Read more »

There are many so-called “experts” who claim to be able to teach you either knife fighting or defense against a knife. The problem is that most of them are just teaching regurgitated martial arts, usually from the Philippines from some sort of FMA or if you’re a Kenpo Instructor, then the so called “knife techniques”.  While I have lots of respect for the martial arts of other lands, the truth is that you live where you do. Odds are you are not in a “knife culture.” And that means that whatever you do regarding knives must: Read more »