Angle of Cancellation

by Thomas Vince
5th Degree Black Belt
IKKA - Ed Parkers International Kenpo Karate Association

In my 20 plus years of training I have walked away with many valuable lessons both mentally and physically. Unfortnuately as a youth and in my 20's I was found in places or positions where I had to make some real serious choices, and the one thing that is sticking with me hard is a definition that Mr. Ed Parker taught to us termed: "Angle of Cancellation". It is a controlled angle which places an opponent in a precarious position, thus minimizing or even nullifying the use of his weapons. Prior to control, the angle could be directly meeting the force, employing total collision, or triggered by a partial angle of defelction by either meeting or riding the force. This method of upsetting and "cancelling" the opponents balance does not necessarily injure the opponent. There are hundreds of ways to do this in Kenpo but specific principles and concepts must be adhered to in order to control the "zones of the attacker. The zones of the attacker are defined as the "depth zone" the ability of the attacker to move forward or backwards, the "width zone" the ability of the attacker to rotate or twist from right to left or vice-versa and the "heigth zone" which is the ability of the attacker to raise upwards or squat downwards. Now obviously if we're talking about a normal situation I would not refer to these movements as "the attackers ability", because it is simply any persons ability to adduct or abduct limbs and appendages in a normal range of motion as well as normal functions of kinesiology related to human movement. I refer to it as the ability of the attacker because within Kenpo's four stages of range within the gap, there are crucial zones to control in combat, they are

(1) OUT OF CONTACT,

(2) WITHIN CONTACT,

(3) CONTACT PENETRATION,

(4) CONTACT MANIPULATION.

These stages must be controlled. This is universal because an Aiki, Judo, Jujitsu, boxer, or a wrestling student each needs to be aware of these zones in order to control and overcome the attacker. Think about this for a moment no matter what art you study we speak a universal language. There are 3 ways to handle a circle, go with it, reverse it, or cut through it.

"Angle of Cancellation" can come in any of these zones but most definately must be produced BEFORE you make your move! Kenpo training has taught that this "angle of cancellation" is created by our reaction to the attack and is beneficial to us because it throws the attacker off balance, this can be hard because I beleive that most of your aggressor's in society either have a great respect for martial arts and have trained or they have no respect for martial training at all and are expressly thugs in their own mind. Either way each is equally as dangerous, and pure desperation can overcome many one on one's. Using the angle of cancellation we can capitilize on the atackers actions and "borrow his force" to overcome him. This is done in many ways. First and foremost it is in your initial reaction to the attack that will make the difference. Do not resist the attacker, take an angle that does resist his motion, or if you must meet force with force use it in a manner that you can "ricochet" or quickly respond to the attack with a defensive AND offensive manner. All of the techniques in Kenpo have a "built in offense" which means that within our defense is our offense. Using and understanding the angles of disturbance can be a great tool in self defense, it can be accompplished in many ways. Understanding and being aware of your environment is obviously important because if you cannot step back because of a wall or other obstructions or even more importantly you are protecting someone from that angle it is not an objective to allow advancement in that direction, and if you do not understand how to "unbalance" the attacker and redirect them to a pre-directed point you do not have control of the situation.

Kenpo teaches many angles, "Angle Alignment, Angles of Attack, Angles of Cancellation, Angle of Contact, Angle of Deflection, Angle of Direction, Angle of Departure, Angle of Desired Positioning, Angle of Deviation, Angle of Disturbance, Angle of Efficiency, Angle of Entry, Angle of Execution, Angle of Greatest Movement, Angle of Incidence and many others. Understanding these angles is merely a part of Kenpo training. Mr. Parker placed upon each of Black Belt's very specific qualifications spelled out in his "Infinite Insights" books volume 1 thru 5 and they can be found along with the "encyclopedia of Kenpo" at www.edparkersikka.com each one of us should visit this web as it is a part of modern martial art history.

Sincerely yours in the Spirit of Kenpo,

Thomas Vince
5th Degree Black
IKKA

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