American Kenpo Orange Belt Journal

ED PARKER'S INTERNATIONAL KENPO KARATE ASSOCIATION

Orange BeIt pledge I UNDERSTAND THAT I AM

BUT A BEGINNER IN A NEW AND FASCINATING ART WHICH WILL DIRECT ME TO GREATER OBLIGATIONS AND RESPONSIBILIIIES. TO HONOR MY OBLIGATIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES, I PLEDGE MYSELF TO SEII/E MY INSTRUCTOR, FELLOW STUDENTS, AND FELLOW MEN,

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Introduction It is sod, but true, thot Yellow ond Oronge Belt sludents ore often like college freshmen, who think they know oll the onswers. This level of troining con be dongerous, ond coution is odvised when proclicing with fellow siudents, or when forced to use the Art in reol comboi. This primilive stoge of leorning requires dedicoted time ond proctice, lt is on inlongible stoge cluttered wilh knowledge thot locks perspective. We, lherefore, urge ond encouroge you to prociice foithfully, lo understond whot you ore leorning, ond to develop mentol ond physicol control. Only ofter odhering to, or obtoining lhese quolilies, con move on to ihe mechonicol stoge with certointy. While it is importonl thol you leorn the contents of this journol, do not neglect sludying your Yellow Belt moteriol. Eoch journol is on importont building block. They provide you with bosic disciptines thot odd lo the tolol siruclure of Kenpo. More importontly, they form the bosic foundotion of your Kenpo knowledge. Weok bosics leod lo unsuccessful ochievements. Therefore, lenglhen your proctice sessions, ond moke eoch workout productive. View bosic disciplines in lheir embryonic stole. As you strive for perfection, increose your oworeness of existing detoils. Leorn howlhese detoils function. ldentify them, dissecl lhem, onolyze them, ond perfect lhem. Accomplish lhis, ond you will underslond whot sophisticoted bosics ore qll obout. Perfect your best side first, lhen proceed to prociice your techniques on your weoker side. There ore o number of benefils to this; (l) it forces you lo toke lhe time to onolyze your stronger side, which in turn, (2) mokes you become more owore of the points you moy hove overlooked, (3) increoses the strength of your weok side, (4) exponds your vocobulory of molion by increosing your knowledge of voriobles, ond (S) leods to ocquiring more qmbidextrous quoliiies. It is importont lhot you begin to set personol gools ot this leorning stoge. Develop vorious ospecls of your moteriol, os well os improve self-discipline, self-oworenes, seif-confidence, will power, etc. Prepore yourself inwordly to meet lhe chollenges of doily life. The quolilies thot help you moster the Art con enhonce olher ospects of your life. ln lime, you will be oble lo compotibly opply ihese focets to your fomily life, school octivilies, work contocts. etc. Alwoys be conscious of who you ore. Remember lhoi you ore sleodily toking on greoier responsibililies, The effects of your oclivities will hove o direct reflection on your school, your Art, qnd your Asociolion. With ihol in mind, conduct yourself in o monner thot you con be proud. To stote it differently, you ore increosingly becoming o minioture showcose of our system. Leorn to osk inlelligent questions ond lo exploin your Art lo olhers. Do not be overly criticol of olher styles, or proclitioners of other styles. Try lo leorn oboui lheir Arts, ond gother odequote informotion to understond ond converse with lhem intelligently. Copyrlght

@ 1987 Ed Parker Sr.

Prerequisites l.

You ore responsible for knowing ond being oble to execute oll of your YELLOW BELT moleriol.

2. Recite the Oronge Belt Pledge. 3. Follow the Formolities of the Asociotion ond your studio. 4. Recite the Oronge Belt Soyings. 5. Know some of the History for Oronge Belt. 6. Know lhe Synonyms used in lhe nomes of lhe techniques. 7. Be oble lo give o description of lhe Associotion Potch. 8. Know your Anoiomy for Oronge Belt.

9.

Be

obleto explointheTerminologyord give exomplesto clorifythehmeoning.

10. Execute your bosics wiih preciseness ond crispness. Be sure of the deloils

of proper execulion. I

l. Perform Long form #1.

12. Be oble to exploin some of the things tl-rot Long Form # I Coniqins & Teoches.

r3. Perform your kicking sei on lhe strong side. 14. Be 15.

obleto exploinsome of tl-re thing thotthe Kickingset Contoirs &Teoches.

During lhe time you ore o Yellow Belt, be sure lo pul some long hours

into performing the Leg Exercise. 16.

Know your lechniques, ond begin procticing your Yellow ond Oronge

techniques on bolh sides. 17, lncreose the level of spontoneity on your lechniques. 18. Know

the EQUATION FORMULA.

19. Know your Oronge Bell Freesiyle Techniques. 20. Spor frequently using lhe bosic IDEA of the Oronge Freestyle Techniques,

2l . Be oble lo onswer ihe queslions on ihe Written Test, Copyrlght

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1987

History The exoct history of Kenpo hos been lost in the ontiquity of time, ond consequently no definile dote con be esloblished os to when it ocluolly begon, Mony if the records lhot exist todoy ore obscure ond inconect, WE connot iell how mony wrilings hove been destroyed or how mony developments hove never been recorded. Bils of informolion seem to indicoie thot Kenpo, os it is known todoy, moy hove been procliced in lndio ond Chino os long os five thousond yeors ogo. writings on turile shells lell us thoi the Chinese did in foct proctice the ort os for bock os 2l B.C. Although its lrue origin is obscure, o populor slory thoi prevoils gives credit io the lndion priest, Dorumo or Bodhidhormo in oboul S2S A.D. However, other greot men such os Hu'o To ,190-265 A.D.), o brilliont doctor, ond yuen Fei, o populor generol (who lived duringthe Sung Dynosty 960-1279 A.D.) ore considered lhe forefolhers of modern-doy Kenpo. Kenpo meons .fist low, (o term used by the Okinowons lo describe the Chinese systems). From Chino, it crossed over lo Okinowq where, known os 'le', it consisted primorily of blows, chops ond rips with lhe honds ond fingers. Thus originoiedthe Koiole melhod of Kenpo. ln 1923 lhe Okinowons chonged the chorocler of Korote,which wos ihen Chinese to thot of o Joponese chorocter. Thus the meoning chonged from 'honds of Chino to 'empiy hqnd'. This chonge ossuredly broughi obout o deeper meoning in which ihe spirituol overcome lhe physicol. From Okinowo two experts, Kenwo Mobuni ond Gichen Funokoshi, lifted the veil of secrecy in I 9l 5 to introduce their techniques to Jopon. Their oim wos not to promoie korote os o mortiol ort, but os o sport throughout Jopon. Long before ihe Art wos ever inlroduced lo Okinowo, mony styles of the Art existed in chino. Eoch style or syslem wos noted for ol leosl one distincl feot such os the development of thetigerclow, butierfly kick, ponlher punch, eic. ln oddition, mony members of lhe vorious systems guorded their secret woys of troining. Among lhe systems of Southern Chino slemming from lhe Shoolin or Shorinji Temple the most well known were lhe following five: Hung, Liu, Ts'oior Choy in Contonese, Li, ond Mo. There ore other Contonese os well os northern systems. The northern systems ploced greoi emphosis on floor rolling, use of lhe foot. ond jumping movements. Becouse of this, nol os much emphosis wos ploced on sirong slonces, The soulhern styles ploced greot emphosis on stonce work os well qs hond work. There ore bosicolly five known sfyles of korole in Okinowo Koboyoshi-Ryu, Shoreiji-Ryu, Shilo-Ryu, Goju-Ryu, ond Uechi-Ryu. ln lhe lost five decodes since lhe Joponese took il up,lhe lechniques hove been modified so thot ihey loo cloim styles of lheir own such os: Shoto-Kon, Woddo-Ryu, Chilo-Ryu, qnd others. The Koreons hove olso modified lheir techniques cloiming such styles os: Toe-kwon-do, Moo-do-kwon, Tong-soo-do, ond oihers. copyrlght

@ 1987 Ed

History Regordless of notionol modificotion thol were developed ond suited lo their individuol environment, we con soy thot four systems exist in the orient todoy - Chinese. Okinowon, Koreon, ond Joponese. ln comporison, ihe Chinese styles ore groceful, flowing, circulor, ond ore much more flexible thon lhe Joponese styles (which utilize powerful punches ond kicks), Okinowon styles (which stress breolhing exercises), ond Koreon (which speciolize in high kicks ond lhe breoking of boords ond bricks) These olher siyles ore bosicolly rigid. Unfortunolely, mony of lhe clossicol Chinese styles olong with the Joponese, Okinowqn, ond Koreon styles ore improcticol os o modern meons of self-defense. This stems from the foct ihot mony of lhese systems were

originollydesignedforexercise. lnoddition,mostofthesestylestodoydonot recognize the need for chonge, especiolly in our environment. While some offer excellent ideos on unormed fighting, o number of their methods ore outdotedtheoriesunfitforpresent doyfighting inlhe United Slotesoronyport of the world for thot motter. These some orts, influenced by the Chinese, were brought lo ihe Howoiion lslonds. lt wqs here thot Mr. Porker, o nolive of Howoii, leorned lhese orts under one of lhe world's leoding Block Belt holders ond Americon innovqtors of the ort, the lote Professor Williom K.S. Chow. ln oddition to Professor Chow's modificotions, Mr. Porker hos olso reolized lhe need lo revise lhe old meihods lo cope with modern doy fighling. Thus lhe syslem he now teoches is unique, proclicol, reolistic, opplicoble, ond encomposses sound logic, reosoning, ond theoreticol innovotions nol yet employed by olher systems. Through Mr. Porker's innovotions o fifth system hos emerged- lhe Americon System-to be more specific 'The Porker System of Kenpo'. Although we should respect lhe vorious styles of Kenpo slemming from lhe Orienl, we must nol overlook theh need for improvemeni. While Mr. Porke/s syslem still retoins lrodilionol flovor to enhonce elhicol behovior, it hos been designed to fit the needs ond obility of lhe individuol concerned. We should be groteful for Mr. Porker's unending contribulions ond proud ond privileged thot we hove his creotive knowledge lo guide us in keeping obreosl with updoted developmenls.

@ 1987 Ed

Sayings

NOTE: The SAYINGS continue throughout the belt levels through lst Degree Block Belt. For q more complele listing of Mr. Porkefs soyings refer lo:ItlE ZEN OF KENPO''

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1987 Ed Parker Sr.

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Formalities Polches: The UNIVERSAL PAITERN olso goes to ihe left orm ond should be ceniered ond ploced l/2 inch below the IKKA CREST. This potch hos mony potterns. Priorto sewing, it should be precisely positioned so thoithe shope of the heort is

upright.

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