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DragonKenpo
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Introduction The art of Dragon Kenpo is a method of empty hand and foot fighting based on the scientific use of the body in self-defense. The instruction in Dragon Kenpo is designed to provide you with the ability to coordinate your mind, body and spirit into an efficient weapon. Moreover, you will find that Dragon Kenpo stresses development of individual character, integrity, and respect for others. As individuals advance in the art they realize that Kenpo is a way of life. They gain a new way of thinking and acting which can guide them in all areas of life so that you will be happier, healthier, and wiser. The methods and techniques of Dragon Kenpo are only a guide to illustrate various principles and scenarios; only real practice and the experience you gain will teach you how to use your hands and feet in such a manner that you will be able to defend yourself from an armed or unarmed opponent. Hard work is always the key to success. The Dragon Kenpo Creed The classical martial arts present themselves as rivals. One a "hard" style, the other "soft". This one emphasizing kicks, that one specializing in punches, the other takes each opponent to the ground and wrestles. Yet the underlying premise is the same for each, in that a narrow system is presented as not only superior but holy. Laws are laid down, rituals are set in stone and rigid patterns are put in place. A shrine to the fixed knowledge is created, complete with ceremonies, rites and masters. None may transcend, or even question the institution's unbending view of reality because of its sacredness. The Dragon Kenpo way, however, is the way of never ending learning and discovery. The techniques taught are guides that develop greater skill, not boundaries that no one may cross. Greatness, after all, is not achieved by thinking within limits prescribed by convention. Greatness required engaging the unknown. It is there, in the mystery, that new discoveries are found. The traditional arts are in the business of setting limitations. Their primary task is the creation of an imposed order and the production of conformity. Yet to adopt that order is to close out everything not included within it. By banishing the unknown the traditional martial artist advance by learning more and more about less and less. To the "Masters" of the traditional styles, an unlimited mind is a dangerous thing. A lot of folks have a lot invested in the status quo. Those who choose growth and expansion should not be surprised to find resistance from those devoted to tradition. Choosing to cross boundaries, or even erase them, means coming into conflict with the imposed order. There are no rules in total combat, so the Dragon Kenpo way is the path of free expression. The methods taught begin the process of endless discovery. We have only two choices are martial artists and as human beings: To be ordinary or to be explorers; to be followers or leaders. Regardless of who approves. History of Dragon Kenpo Dragon Kenpo was organized by Ed Hutchison and has been continued and evolved by various practitioners today and there are several offshoot styles that owe their roots and lineage to Dragon Kenpo. To understand Dragon Kenpo we need to look at the roots of its origin and where it comes from. Kenpo legends trace its origins to the Shaolin Temple, in my opinion this is most likely southern shaolin, or perhaps styles from the Guangdong and Fukien provinces in China, as many elements of these styles can be seen reflected in Kenpo. Styles from these areas include what is generally termed Hakka Kuen, and styles like White Eyebrow, Dragon, Southern Mantis, even styles like Choy Lee Fut, Mok Gar, Chow Gar and a host of others share similar elements to Kenpo. Many of these Chinese styles claim origin in the 5 elders of Shaolin, many bear relation to the 5 families Hung, Lau, Choi, Lee, Mok, and many of these also contain the 5 animal styles tiger, crane, snake, leopard, and dragon. Chinese boxing from Shaolin and styles from other regions made its way from China to Okinawa and Japan, and eventually to the United States. In Hawaii a man named James Mitose taught Kosho Ryu Kempo, one of his students was a man named William Kwai Sun Chow, Chow learned his family art of kung fu before becoming a student of Mitose. William Kwai Sun Chow blended the Kosho Ryu Kempo of Mitose with his family style of kung fu, eventually calling his system Kara-Ho Kempo. Notable students of William K.S. Chow were Adriano Emperado, one of the founders of Kajukenbo, and Ed Parker the founder of American Kenpo. Ed Parker's Kenpo has many variations from his students who have put their own imprint onto Kenpo, such as Al Tracy and Jay T. Will. Ed Hutchison learned Kenpo from Jay T. Will who studied under both Ed Parker and Al Tracy. Dragon Kenpo as organized by Ed Hutchison has continued by various students and within several offshoot systems as a streamlined self defense art that naturally incorporates aspects of Kenpo but also includes elements of other martial arts such as Jeet Kune Do, Kali, and Thai Boxing that fit the simple, direct, and efficient street fighting goal. Dragon Kenpo Structure and training One aspect that sets Dragon Kenpo apart from the Kenpo systems that are its roots is the lack of forms, common solo forms like those found in American Kenpo for example, have been removed from Dragon Kenpo practice. Although, the study of these older forms can be beneficial to the Dragon Kenpo practitioner. In the Dragon Kenpo as organized by Ed Hutcinson, while not having forms, there were a series of standardized techniques presenting possible solutions to common street attacks like sucker punches, grabs, chokes, punches and kicks. These techniques were spread out through a system of colored belt ranking and several degrees of black belt. While these techniques were standardized to allow for some sort of grading structure and measuring of a students progress, these techniques ware not viewed as a final product but rather as a point of departure for the practitioners own self-study and exploration (refer to the Dragon Kenpo Creed above). While choreographed forms like those found in other Kenpo styles are not found within Dragon Kenpo, many practitioners do string together techniques for practice in a freestyle shadowboxing manner and therefore the same benefits of forms practice can be gained without the practitioner being confined by the limitations of a set pattern. Many practitioners of Dragon Kenpo today and those systems derived from it have incorporated the weapons methods and energy training drills from the Filipino martial art of Kali (arnis, escrima, silat, kuntao also) as well as ground grappling skills, elements of Jun Fan kickboxing and Jeet Kune Do, Thai Boxing and other combative arts. Dragon Kenpo practitioners prefer hard, realistic fighting over the sport oriented forms of sparring, living by a motto of "if you want to fight hard, you'd better train fighting hard". Dragon Kenpo as it stands today is a unique expression of a martial art customized by each individual practitioner. While Dragon Kenpo respects its lineage and pays tribute to the arts upon which is it founded, it maintains its independent stance as a unique system of martial arts. Dragon Kenpo Controversy To be fair to this article and present a rounded viewpoint, many mainstream Kenpo stylists do not look favorably upon Dragon Kenpo. One reason for this is its divergence in look and practice from traditional Kenpo. Another reason is that Dragon Kenpo was originally spread by Mr. Ed Hutchison as a correspondence course, students could by the tapes of Dragon Kenpo to learn at home and students received in the mail a Black Belt certificate with their tapes. Due to this, many mainstream Kenpo practitioners question the quality of Black Belts under Ed Hutchison. However, with the continued growth of distance learning programs within the martial arts community as a whole this argument against Dragon Kenpo may no longer prove valid, as many mainstream Kenpo stylists themselves offer distance learning programs by DVD. One other factor is that many Kenpo stylists believe that Dragon Kenpo, because it is so drastically different from its parent arts, should not even be called Kenpo, but should be designated as Mixed Martial Arts or some other term. Please Note: the author of this article is not affiliated with any of the links below. These are provided for informational purposes only. Their inclusion does not imply an endorsement on the part of this author. The Family Tree: Ed Hutchison at Kenpo.Net Dragon Kenpo Myths another Dragon Kenpo article at [http://en. .org/wiki/Dragon_Kenpo ] 
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