Posted: July 15, 2023
Have you ever considered signing your kids up for a martial arts class? From karate and taekwondo, to jujitsu and kung-fu, there are many different forms of martial arts classes offered around the U.S.
Though exercise is one of the main reasons many parents find martial arts so appealing for their kids, the sport is beneficial for kids in so many other ways.
Posted: July 02, 2023
Supreme Grand Master Ed Parker was inspired decades ago to examine his Kung Fu critically and insightfully to create the American Kenpo as we know it today. Clearly, his desire was that we should resist the temptation to immortalize his art by leaving it to stagnate. The essence of the art of Kenpo is change and evolution. In this spirit, therefore, we are compelled to respond to the challenge of moving the art of Kenpo to the next level, and that is the Kenpo 5.0 system.
This system is one of perpetual change, not for the sake of change alone, but rather change that propels the system forward at every salient point in time. The goal of the Kenpo 5.0 system is to remain on the cutting edge of martial arts and lead the world of self-defense. In 1991 the Gracie family brought their system of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the United States and thus began the elimination of the impractical martial arts. By default, the challenge and importance of evolving this art of Kenpo was born. This reality became overwhelmingly obvious in a very short period of time. So, for both self-serving reasons, and to address the common good of the art, we took on the challenge and created the Kenpo 5.0 system. The 5.0 Fighter competition events necessarily and quickly followed. Others have attempted to address this issue in the past and have chosen to partner with Jiu-Jitsu in various degrees. The challenge is to maintain the essence of the principles and concepts of Kenpo balanced with the addition of the principles and concepts of Jiu-Jitsu. That balance has not been successfully achieved until the introduction of Kenpo 5.0. This is truly a ground system of, for, and by Kenpo practitioners.
In creating new Kenpo techniques to enable the practitioner to accommodate the idea of defending themselves on the ground we had to learn the essential nature of how that world works. We had to understand how a ground fighter would likely move once on the ground. Only at that juncture could we begin to create Kenpo defenses from those positions. Once that was determined then the arduous task of taking that mountain of information and figuring out how to place that seamlessly into the Kenpo world began. It was my desire to work within the well-tested system of Kenpo and to use common sense techniques to expand the knowledge base of the student. This had to be done within the framework of self-defense techniques that placed the practitioner in positions necessary to utilize these skills, as well as create a new structure that allowed the increase of the retention and recall abilities more concurrent with known human learning and memory. That thinking gave rise to the reorganization of the technique syllabus now called “combat models”.
Posted: July 02, 2023
A native-born son to the city of Chicago Illinois Jeff started his athletic career very early in life. Training and competing as a gymnast during the school year and as a springboard diver in the summer consumed much of his young life. Jeff’s talent as a springboard diver blossomed in high school where Jeff set new records in the conference and district and earned the honor of being named All American without the assistance of a diving coach. Waiting for the bus at 5:30 a.m. every morning in the winters of Chicago to practice at the neighboring high school’s pool ultimately gave Jeff the discipline and the drive to succeed.
Working his way through his undergraduate studies at Missouri Southern State University Jeff was able to complete his degree in general psychology with a supporting area in biology. During his college years, Jeff began his martial arts career by earning a black belt in Japanese Goju-Ryu Karate from the legendary master Lou Angel in 1980. Upon Jeff’s graduation from college, Mr. Angel told Jeff to move to California to study Kenpo Karate from Master Ed Parker if he wanted to make martial arts his life. Selling his car to pay for the U-Haul truck Jeff was off to Los Angeles to follow his dream and feed his passion. Two years after arriving in Los Angeles Jeff was invited by Mr. Parker to join three other people at Mr. Parker’s house in Pasadena California to become what would be known as his last group of protégés. Jeff began studying acting at the same time with the same dedication he had approached everything else in his life. After five years of workshops, auditions, and small bit parts here and there Jeff got his break with his first feature film with Paramount Pictures called “The Perfect Weapon”.
To date, Jeff has starred in 10 feature films such as “Perfect Weapon” (Paramount), “Street Knight” (Warner Bros.) “The Expert” (MGM), and “Escape from Atlantis” (Universal) and produced 3 of those films. According to the internationally recognized website, www.martial-arts-network.com Jeff is now voted to be the most popular martial artist in the world. Jeff is the only martial artist rated higher than Bruce Lee who is second and Chuck Norris third. In addition, Jeff is a certified Defensive Tactics Instructor (DTI) for the Department of Justice, teaching DEA, FBI, Homeland Security, and Department of State, and the “sharp edge weapons instructor” for the California Department of Corrections teaching at Pelican Bay and Folsom. Also, Jeff has been inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame, and the Masters Hall of Fame.
Posted: August 02, 2022
Even in the best circumstances, back-to-school time can be stressful for kids and families. The good news is that there are steps we can take to help minimize that stress and send our kids back-to-school with confidence!
Don’t let normal back-to-school stress turn into lasting fear or long term anxiety. Here are seven ways to put the joy back into back-to-school time for kids, and their parents!
Questions will come up: “Will I fit in?” “Who will my teacher be?” “What if I can’t understand the lessons?” “Will I be with my friends?” These fears are normal but they can lead to undesirable effects, like a lack of enthusiasm for school that can lead to missing classes, and poor grades.
Posted: March 05, 2021
All parents want their kids to live active and healthy lifestyles – but in the age of streaming services, smartphones and a seemingly infinite number of time-wasting apps, getting children up and moving is a whole lot easier said than done.
That’s why more kids than ever are slipping into sedentary lifestyles, and it’s wreaking havoc on their health. And now, with concerns about COVID-19 seemingly ever-present, fitness and general health are more important than ever.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) (1), we are in the midst of an irrefutable global obesity crisis – and it’s hitting children particularly hard. More than 41 million children under the age of five are now classed as overweight or obese, and this can go on to cause a lot of serious health problems later in life.