Tales of Training
This thread is devoted to interesting and/or humorous anecdotes in training. There is a part in Kempo 3 where the right leg swing kicks up and down. This is followed by a right overhand raking backfist . There is a part in Hung 3 where the right leg front kicks, This is followed by a right overhand raking backfist. The story that one of my teachers related to me goes something like this, Master Higgs is competing at a tournament in the forms category. He gets to that right overhand raking backfist in Kempo 3, Then he continues with Hung 3, out and back,. And then he finishes Kempo 3. (By the way, both of these forms are demonstrated here under “Fu yen?” & “Hung”) http://zenshack.net/martialarts/martialartsvideoclips.htm He was very good and the judges didn’t know the form. So the only ones who knew what he had done were from his school! Don’t just lurk! Come on in and share your tale.

Okay Mystery Man, how did Master Higgs do? Did this happen while you were both affiliated with Simon or later? Any video clips? I get confused like that as well, the style I now do only has 3 forms and they all start the same way! While I know only the first 2 forms(barely), I always (almost) seem to get the moves confused, or I see someone in the class getting confused! I've even seen my teacher get it mixed up every once in a while, though I've never seen sifu mess it up, I'm usually mesmerized whatching how he moves his body!

Hello Cam, Thanks for the feedback. Actually, I think that Wayne said Master Higgs won the forms category. This would have happened before I was affiliated with Simon's. But I did see Master McAndrews mix the similar parts of Kempo 2 and 3 in the old Edmonton studio. And I have done that myself, as well.

Tales of Training 2
Tales of Training 2 My yellow belt test was the most grueling thing I’d ever done up till then. I actually worked myself to the point of muscular failure. On my orange belt test, I got knocked out. Yet it was my green belt test that was the hardest. My green belt test was a test of skill. I was already in good shape and quite willing. I just wasn’t very competent. It took Scott a long time to get me ready for my green belt test. Without his patience, I don’t know if I’d have made it at all. The lesson, for me, was that being fit was nice. But being skilled was better. Ideally, being both is the way to go.

Tales of Training 3 This is about the efficacy of equal-force blocks. I was sparring with one of my brown belts one afternoon. K.R. was tall, slim and very fast. We are going back and forth. I lower my lead arm just a bit. This gives him a false opening for the side of my head. He suddenly lets loose with a roundhouse kick off the back leg. The kick was full power and speed. Had it landed, I’m sure it would have done serious damage. Instead, a couple of things happened. Everything seemed to slow right down. Then my lead arm flicked up and blocked his kick. To me it felt like nothing but K.R. acted like I’d hit him with a hammer. His kick was blocked efficiently and I’d countered in the same motion. Had it been a real attack, he would definitely been deterred.

Tales of Training 4 I remember participating in Mr.R’s belt test. I was given the job of kicking him in the head. He would respond with a tiger tail. He knew the move. He had faith in the technique. Yet when I kicked at him, he looked quite started. His tiger tail worked well and I ended up on my ass. And yes, he did pass.

Tales of Training 5 I was teaching a group informally one morning. We had paused for a moment. I started to talk about the importance of readiness. “Always be alert, the world need more ‘lerts.” (Thank you Steve Perry.) Then without warning, my friend the red amigo, “attacks” me. He just stepped in and side kicked at my torso. He followed up with a same side backfist to the head. I did not move or panic. The attacks, had they landed, would have knocked me down. As it was, I lightly knocked them aside and continue with my class.

Tales of Training 6 I was preparing an adult female for an upcoming demo. We had a week to work on the prearranged sequences. They were things she already knew but still… Practice makes perfect. When the big night arrived, we went out on the floor. The first “attack” was a 2 handed throat grab. She was supposed to meet this with “Sweeping Crane”. Sweeping Crane involves a knee to the groin. I lunged hard and she did exactly what she was supposed to. Somewhere there was an old video of this. It shows me charging in. It shows her applying the defense correctly. It shows me falling in my face.

Tales of Training
Mr E dude , I like the cut of your jib. For you I will give you my Very Best tale of training. This will be a long winded post, deservedly so. I will swear this is the absolute truth. For all the doubters.. well, I have been called worse things by better people. I was lucky (wise) enough to sign up for lessons @ the Gracie Academy w/ a kenpo instructor buddy. The Gracie Academy is a cool place to train. The Gracies are very warm family oriented people. They always had their kids tearing around and didn't mind if you brought yours just to observe a class. So one Saturday I bought my son to a class w/ me. Saturday classes were mostly sparring. I was lucky enough that Saturday to have Royce be teaching the class. It's their school they love to train and try to teach as often as possible. The class goes normally with use doing some light rolling starting from a kneeling position. My son was nine @ the time. My son was kickin it by the entrance to class kinda kneeling down . Royce was sitting by the wall right near him. My son figures it would be great fun to tease Royce a little bit. As I mentioned the Gracies are Really family oriented folks and have a great sense of humor. I could kind of see them joking around, but hell, I was sparring. Apparently what I learned later was my son had been telling Royce he could take him no problem. I think the the phrase he used was " I could beat you down then chase you out of town" again, I know Royce had been baiting him because they both seem to be all smiles. This is all vividly etched in my head cuz what I heard next was " J.K. it is time for us to spar" and he wanted to start standing up now. So I figure this is my big chance. I'm a black belt now. Giving this guy any less than my best would be weak. I took Royce Gracie down. I did it swift, I know he wasn't expecting it, it was a textbook kenpo move. I was so proud for maybe 1/3 of a second. Cuz it was all over after that. as he hit the ground he magically had me with him and proceeded to teach the class as he sparred/rolled w/me. I'm a bigger guy than Royce and I had done a lot of ground work up to that point. I thought I was pretty good, even by their standards. Didn't seem to matter. I tried everything I know, pure technique, lotsa muscle it didn't matter. He put me were he needed me to be to teach the next guys what they were doing. I was very very humbled and incredibly impressed. That was maybe 7 years ago. Royce has his own schools now. J.K.

Hello TKFBS, That is really a cool tale! I liked it a lot! I thank you for sharing it. Regards, MrE2Me2

I was teaching in the Vancouver studio. It was summer and warm. I’d been conducting a sparring class. One of the students was a large cop. At one point, he spun a back thrust kick. As it came around, I figured I’d just foot check the back of his leg. This would have left me in a dandy position to counter, Unfortunately, I missed the check. Instead, my leg acted as a guide for his kick. He actually lifted me off the ground.

Tales of Training 8
Tales of Training 8 I had an interview with this guy. It was after the name change and before it all went south. So that would make it in the early 80’s. Anyway, we talk back and forth for awhile. Finally he asks what it will cost him. I tell him straight up. He says, “That is kinda steep”. I said, “If you can find somewhere more expensive, Let me know and I’ll raise my rates.” He joined up and trained to orange.

Tales of Training 9 This takes place before my time. It was related to me by one of the participants. Upon occasion, several Black Belts would take up wooden staves. They would be told to attack a certain individual. This individual would then defend himself. It was during one of these that a nasty accident was narrowly averted. One of the attackers seized an opportunity to brain the defender. He stepped in and started to swing. Then the defender was gone and another attacker was there instead. It took everything he had not to hit. The defenders name was Olaf Simon. The attackers were the, then, instructors for the Calgary studio

Tales of training 10 This happened before my time with this man. When I first came to the Vancouver studio, Mr. MacLaren was around 200 lbs. At just over six feet, he carried it well. He was capable of amazing displays of speed when the need arose. Although, in his younger years, he was quite slim. He had been nearly two hundred and forty pounds some months before I arrived. Why he decided to lose weight and rededicate himself to training, is an interesting story. He had been romantically involved with a young lady who had a brother. The brother was troubled and the treatment for this wasn’t always successful. One day Mr. MacLaren goes to see her and finds her quite upset. When he asks what is wrong, she tells him. Her brother has gone into the garage with a shotgun. She is worried he will harm himself and would he look into it. He says he will, and goes to the garage. Now unbeknownst to him, the brother has had a really bad day. The brother has decided to kill the first person he sees and then himself. So this troubled young man is standing 12 feet inside the side door of the garage. He is waiting with gun pointed and Mr. MacLaren is approaching. Mr. MacLaren opened the side door, took in the danger and crossed the 12 feet. Then he used a variation of the second Temple Motion to defend and disarm. He did this in the time it took the brother to see the door open and squeeze off a round. He did this at two hundred and forty pounds. Regards, MrE2Me2

frightening! And yet people with this kind of, what I can only call chemical imbalance, seem to be far to common today. He was brave to go into the garage knowing what he knew.