Lee Wedlake’s Karate Newsletter June 2015
What’s here? Online lessons, Wonder Valley Kenpo Camp, KAM IV and the IKKA, podcasts
Seminar recaps I taught in Chicago, where I am originally from, at Kurt Barnhart’s club. Subjects included technique extension change-ups and my hammerlock progression seminar. Also, I had been inducted into the Illinois State Martial Arts Hall of Fame but missed the dinner in April, so Mike McNamara and Pete Hoffman came by the seminar to present the plaque. Nice of them to go out of their way to do so. Wonder Valley, CA – Graham and Jaydean Lelliott’s camp was bigger than ever with about 170 attending from all over the world. It’s fun, has a great venue, excellent food and an instructor line-up that seemed to please the attendees. They and their staff make it a memorable weekend. Ed Parker Jr and his sister, Darlene Parker-Tafua were there, too. Looking forward to 2017.
Kam IV and the IKKA I have aligned myself with the Parker family, a.k.a. Kam IV, Inc. and so have my affiliated schools. The Ed Parker Sr. International Kenpo Karate Association is their licensing arm, not to be confused with an association that grants rank certification. The Parkers are taking applications to license Parker Kenpo schools and vendors. They use the name, Ed Parker Sr. International Kenpo Karate Association in order to legally preserve it. http://www.edparkersrkenpokarate.com/licensing/ There are other groups using IKKA as their identifier and the lawyers are sorting that out. There is disagreement as to who owns the rights to the Parker crest and more. My latest books were taken off Amazon for copyright infringement and when I asked who owned the rights, I was told it was Kam IV. Amazon does not take products off the market without proof, since they lose money. I imagine they could possibly be sued, too. That was enough for me to know that the family owns the rights. I have seen the legal documents. And, licensing through the family is the right thing to do. I, along with several other first and second generation Parker black belts, have been asked to serve as advisors and I have accepted.
“A year from now you will wish you had started today.” -Karen Lamb
May Premium Subscriber Article The last article was on counter-rotation torque. 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/
Update AKSC Instructor Certification Program Myself, John Sepulveda, Bob White and Gary Swan are the first of the Chief Examiners of the program. These are the people to contact to start the certification process. You will acquire the course material through them and arrange your training, observation and testing. The course material is $40, which includes your certificate when you complete it. The first group of certified instructors finished their program in May. You can see our page on Facebook for more info. https://www.facebook.com/AKSeniorCouncil?ref=hl
Did You Know?
Years ago there was a statistic published that there were 18,000 karate schools in the United States. That’s more than there are McDonald’s restaurants. The first schools in the US were established in 1954 in Arizona and California. The late Robert Trias trained in Okinawa and opened the first club in Phoenix, AZ. He eventually founded the now-defunct United States Karate Association (USKA). The first commercial studio in the country was opened by the late Ed Parker in 1956 in Pasadena, CA. The most popular art in this country is said to be Tae Kwon Do, having the most studios teaching it. Jhoon Rhee, a contemporary of Trias and Parker who still lives, was influential in the growth of that art here. Rhee invented the first popular safety gear for sparring, the foam equipment most use. Martial arts has become a phenomenal industry contributing to the economy with karate, kickboxing, MMA, martial fitness and more.
“Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.” -Maria Robinson
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.
The 21-foot Rule I was sent these two links this past month regarding the 21-foot rule. That refers to the supposed distance a knife-wielding attacker can cover before you can draw your firearm. http://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2015/3/16/the-21-foot-rule-revisited/ 21 Foot Knife Rule – Cops Killed By Knife – Dangers of Edged Weapons https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r88BngK_Ayw
Upcoming Seminars Details on my page at kenpotv.com/leewedlake/seminars-2 Sept 18-20 AKF Camp, Austin, TX Sept 25-26 Chicago, IL Oct 11 Covington, LA Nov 20-22 Esslingen, Germany See John Sepulveda’s schedule at http://www.akts-js.us/Js%20Seminar%20Schedule.htm
Update – In the online store Ed Parker books, Kenpo Karate and Guide to the Nunchaku, should be available this month. My new t-shirt design is available. “Knuckle sandwiches are free.” Charcoal gray with the Texas fist logo. My newest book, The Kenpo Karate Compendium, is available in my online store. $24.95. I will autograph it for you. 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. A limited number of 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/
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
“I can accept failure, everyone fails at something. But I can’t accept not trying.” –Michael Jordan
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.
Huk Planas Interview http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lq_w2KwF0_A&sns=em
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.
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/
Blog Posts I post some short articles and updates on my site from time to time that you may find to be of interest. Click on Resources, then Articles and you’ll be in. kenpotv.com/leewedlake
Until next month,
Lee Wedlake