Lee Wedlake’s Karate Newsletter April 2015
What’s here? Seminar recaps, online lessons, The Kenpo Karate Compendium, Wonder Valley Kenpo Camp, KenpoTV updates, podcasts
Update – The Kenpo Karate Compendium Amazon erroneously took the book off sale and you should be able to get it through them by the time this is published.
In Memoriam Richard G. Stone, Esq. was born in England around 1930. He served in WWII as a member of the vaunted Special Air Service (SAS), was taken prisoner by the Germans and escaped, fought with the French Underground and in North Africa. He also went to Asia just after the fall of Japan. He had a drawer full of medals and citations. He then moved to Canada to work for IBM and retired to Florida. Rick came into my Ft. Myers, FL school to learn tai chi at the age of 68. He saw the kenpo class and decide he wanted to do that, too, eventually earning his black at age 73. That made him the oldest person to achieve black in our system. He had been given 6 weeks to live in 1970 and later would go through four more rounds of cancer. The reason he stopped doing Kenpo in his eighties was that he’d then lost part of his bladder and one kidney to the cancer. He told me he’d rather not take a chance on someone doing Thundering Hammer on the other one. He continued to do and teach tai chi, even after a stroke in December 2013. He was a tough old guy, the only one in my class not to raise his hand when I asked how many had thought about quitting their training somewhere along the way to black. I valued his friendship and his wisdom. He once told me that the arts and the people at the studio were what kept him alive. Rick was one of those people that my students would gravitate to when looking for advice on handling tough times. His wife, Doreen, was also a student and she passed about 5 years prior to Rick. He was never the same afterward. He always called her “My love.” He joins her now. I’m glad I knew him and I will miss him. Rick – Salute to you. “Who Dares, Wins”
“It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.” – Harry S. Truman
Update AKSC Instructor Certification Program The first group of certified instructors will finish their program in May. More details on what you need to do in order to become a certified Kenpo instructor will be forthcoming. You can see our page on Facebook for more info. https://www.facebook.com/AKSeniorCouncil?ref=hl There is a three-tiered system of certification. The levels are instructor, examiner and chief examiner. The cost of the manual will likely be about $40, which will include your certificate when the course is complete and you’re signed off. A list of contacts will be published as will procedures on how to get started. More to come.
The Ed Parker Sr. Website Kam IV owns the rights to the Ed Parker crest, intellectual property and more. The new website they have uses the name Ed Parker Sr. so there is no confusion with his son. edparkersrkenpokarate.com As I wrote last month, they own rights and are now enforcing them. There have been negative reactions. One patchmaker said he’s “One of thousands” who have infringed on the copyright. That doesn’t make it right. KAM IV owns the trademarks and it’s only right that if you want to use them in your school, on your website or wear the patch, you should be licensed to do so. Just like a burger joint can’t use the golden arches McDonald’s logo, a kenpo school can’t just use the crest. Ed Parker developed the system, the logos, etc and anyone who uses them commercially is drawing in business based on what he did. Those who make the claim or imply by their use they are IKKA schools are engaging in deceptive practice, which is a crime. For the cost of $14.58/mo. a school with more than 20 students can get approved and licensed to use such items and be listed on the website as licensed. In other words, it gets them “off your back”. Go to the site, download the application, copy your certificate and send it in. More info on the process is on the site.
Upcoming Seminars Details on my page at kenpotv.com/leewedlake/seminars-2 April 23-26 New England – Holden and Dartmouth, MA, and Amherst and Manchester, NH May 1-2 Chicago, IL May 22-25 Wonder Valley, CA Sept 18-20 AKF Camp, Austin, TX Sept 25-26 Chicago, IL See John Sepulveda’s schedule at http://www.akts-js.us/Js%20Seminar%20Schedule.htm
Martial Arts Industry IDEA Fitness Journal article headline – Martial Arts Become Fitness Industry Juggernaut. It states due to influence of MMA and UFC that the industry has grown 1.2% yearly for the last 5 years. 2104 revenues for the industry was $3.2 billion with MMA-style gyms being 34.9% of that value. They say if that report (IBISWorld Industry Report OD4187 Martial Arts Studios in the US) is accurate a 2.6% growth can be expected annually over the next 5 years. Males made up 65% of the clientele and those 17 and younger brought in 43%. So much for those who say traditional martial arts training is dying or dead.
Seminar Recaps In South Carolina I taught the Two Man Set and covered both Short and Long Three. Nick Dreiling hosted at his Coastal Kenpo Karate in Goose Creek. At Bushido Esslingen in Germany I covered some extensions and we switched them up between techniques. I taught my hammerlock progression seminar for the first time, so thanks to the participants there for letting me use them as test subjects. It went well and I’ll do it here soon. Thanks to Marc Sigle for hosting. I missed the Bob White event in California due to catching a bug, probably on the plane back from Germany. Rob Hazlewood held the Texas Round-Up at his school in Colleyville, near Ft. Worth. John Sepulveda and I taught at the event. My subjects were switching up technique endings and a progression on hammerlocks. Thanks for letting me try out a new subject on you guys.
“Vision without action is daydream. Action without vision is nightmare.” – Japanese proverb
WRBBOF I am on the Board of Directors of the World Registry of Black Belts, Organizations and Federations (WRBBOF). It’s run by Barry Moyer in Indiana, whom I have known since the 1980s. The organization is non-political and not a certificate factory. Take a look. http://www.wrbbof.com/
March Premium Subscriber Article The last month article was multi-part, subjects including more on the motion chart and recent Kenpo history. Every month I post a new article for Premium Subscribers. It’s $29/yr and includes access to everything previously published. Here’s a list. https://kenpotv.com/leewedlake/articles/. Here’s how to subscribe. https://kenpotv.com/leewedlake/join-lwks/
Lessons With Me Via The Web I have been teaching via video to individuals and groups. One school has me do a group class for them quarterly. This is not limited to school owners and more people are jumping on this. You can do it with your desktop, laptop, iphone or iPad. I’ve been told you can use a Skype app on your Apple device, too. You can schedule a block of either 5 or 10 lessons running about 30-45 minutes each. I can arrange single lessons too, but the block saves money. Here’s what you do. Pick a block of lessons. Schedule a time slot. Pay by credit card or PayPal. Select the subject(s) you want/need to cover. Off you go! I’ll send you notes on the lesson by e-mail afterward. If you’re interested, please contact me at lee@leewedlake.com. My schedule is filling, so if you’re interested you should act now. By the way, the protocol would be to make sure it’s ok with your teacher, if you have one.
In the online store My new book, The Kenpo Karate Compendium, is available in my online store. $24.95. A combo deal with Lessons with Ed Parker saves some money, too. I have two copies of Amy Long’s Kenpo Continuum, Vol. 2 book left. Lessons with Ed Parker is still available. Should be back up on Amazon in hard copy soon. The e-book is available. Technique manuals, form videos and t-shirts available. Links to Dennis Conatser’s and Bob White’s stores are there, too. https://kenpotv.com/leewedlake/store/
Update 2015 Wonder Valley Camp There are a few slots left and May is coming fast. This will be a big one. Graham and Jaydean Lelliott host a great kenpo weekend in the Fresno, CA area on Memorial Day weekend. Graham tells me he and I will teach along with Steve White, Ingmar Johansson, Paul McMurray, Ian Harris, Marty Zaninovich and others. If you think you’d like to go, click the link here for info. http://www.jotform.com/form/2270931241
“Success comes in cans, failure in cant’s.” – Anon
Podcasts I posted new ones recently on my website in the articles section instead of the iTunes page. This is due to problems with the podcastmachine website that links to iTunes, which I’m still working out. They have horrible support and it’s taken months and months to get anywhere. I have over 130 to hear with more coming. Hear them at https://kenpotv.com/leewedlake/articles/ or at http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=381705015
Forty Ways to Less Stress Robert Wallace is one of my 7th degrees. He sends out a free “Daily Dose of Motivation” e-mail. 143 of them! You can get on his e-mail list by contacting him at wallacekenpo@gmail.com. Prof. Wallace also does a string on stress reduction.
Kenpo Senior Conference Steve White and I have selected some dates for the 2016 conference, which should be in late April or mid-May that year. Location is now narrowed to two cities (either Austin, TX or Tucson, AZ). It’s looking like Austin, though. More to come.
Until next month,
Lee Wedlake