10 Principles of Fist Law
By Thomas Vince
5th Degree Black Belt
International Kenpo Karate Association
For many years Kenpo ( fist law in the Japanese language) has been renowned
in the West as one of the most effective and efficient martial arts in existence,
and for several hundred years prior to it's existence in the West it has
experienced the same reputation in Asia. Vajra Muktu an art that originated
in India was brought to the Chinese monasteries by BodhiDarma was developed
into Ch'uan Fa or (Fist Law in the Chinese language) was eventually taken
to Japan and Okinawa. An outlaw practice in the late 1800 hundreds, some
the Japanese Samurai would not let go of their killing art and continued
to teach family members in secret, drawing strength from their religion
of Zen and a new found belief that the taking of a life was righteous if
the cause were righteous. Fighting in the battle of Da-No-Ura, 400 "Yoshida
Clan" Kenpo monks fought off 5000 Samurai warriors that were dispatched
by a rival Warlord. This battle took place on the grounds of the Yoshida
castle, the grounds of which are known as Mt. Kinkai, which overlooks Mitsubishi
harbor in Japan. Anyone who has seen the mini series "Shogun"
will remember the big castle in the background. That is Yoshida castle!
The Emperor of Japan gave it to the Yoshida clan. Much of the battles success
can be attributed to the Yoshida clan's control of the Shinto religion and
the warrior monks who formed the Rinzai sect of Zen in Japan. They developed
principles that have been refined and defined through the exact science
and effort of master's who knew the meaning of baptism by fire. I would
like to outline some of the laws of Kenpo that can benefit all martial artists
not just Kenpo stylists.
Where a line ends a Circle begins: When the opponent charges straight in
and attacks you Kenpo teaches it practitioners to use the feet to move in
a circular motion to remove the body as a target. Mr. Parker coined the
phrase "moving up the circle" which entailed envisioning a circle
encompassing the encounter of you and the attacker. The knowledge of the
Yin and Yang exist here, when met by a line you deflect and create a circle
to attack upon. The same exists as the idea of when attacked by circular
movement the defender should respond with a fast, quick straight and direct
line of attack. Just as the circle can overcome the line, so can the line
overcome the circle.
The First Strike: Although this term has many meanings first and foremost
it means that Kenpo is primarily a striking art but it can be changed based
upon your individual body physiology. It also introduces the idea that when
danger is apparent it is necessary to initiate the first strike. Kenpo does
employ numerous grappling techniques and throwing techniques however research
has proven that grappling is used in less than 25% of encounters practitioners
have found themselves in. Multiple attackers and the fact that grappling
uses four times as much strength an energy as striking does, has deemed
it a last resort if the attacker has penetrated your first two lines of
defense.
Multiple Striking: Kenpo teaches its students to strike often in rapid succession
high and low, straight and in circular paths. When striking so rapidly it
becomes impossible to kiai with each strike, and in fact Kenpo teaches that
if you do kiai with each strike you are wasting energy. The first and second
strikes of Kenpo are designed to stun, slow down and distract the opponent.
You're third and fourth strike if necessary hits with the power. Kenpo teaches
it students to first set up the opponent and then take them out. When striking
mutliple targets the attackers brain begins to short circuit because of
all the excess external stimuli it cannot compute properly. Kenpo acknowledge
the one strike scenario but it is taken from an assassin's point of new
and not from someone who is in defense and not the aggressor.
Law of Targets: Kenpo teaches it's students to pick soft targets because
it is concerned with the path of least resistance and pain, and precisely
targets the temple, eyes, nose, throat, hinge of the jaw, zygomatic, solar
plexus, stomach, groin and floating ribs for superior effectiveness. We
do not just pummel away on the attacker in areas that risk breaking your
knuckles or fracturing a foot or shin when hitting into these targets.
Law of Kicking: Kenpo logic teaches low street effective kicks to the legs
and groin areas. Spinning kicks and roundhouse kicks in some cases take
too long to execute because the leg has to travel farther, while exposing
your groin. We kick low upsetting the base or breaking the leg.
Law of No Block: This can be taken in two ways, meaning every block is strike
and every strike is a block. There is no difference, only the desired effect.
You can break the elbow of an attacker with a fast, hard, well-placed inward
block, in the very least his arm goes dead and numb for a few seconds, not
much good to him now? The other way to look at this principle is to adapt
the Yin/Yang principle. Use circular lines of movement against straight
on attacks. Kenpo practitioners understand that a zone of sanctuary for
you must be a zone of obscurity for the attacker. That means you can reach
him but he cannot effectively reach you. "Moving up the circle"
will always draw you closest weapon closer to the target with a better angle
of incidence (weapon meets target in a direct 90 degree), and should put
one half of the attackers weapons away from you and out of reach.
Law of Yielding and Redirecting: This also follows the idea of Yin and Yang
very closely. When the attacker attacks hard you become soft, if he is weaker
than you, you attack hard and swift, we are taught for the most part to
block soft and hit hard. Redirecting is very important because when you
redirect strikes the attackers anatomy must follow specific lines of attacks
that are limited by his physiology. By pulling the arm downward and in towards
you diagonally will drop his head, more importantly it places weight on
the front foot and turns the shoulders to place the rear arm away from you.
In this short moment of time you have enough control to take that life in
a split second. Kenpo is a fist law art, known as Chuan Fa in China and
as Shorinji Kempo in Japan. The art I have studied and practiced for over
twenty years shares both the Chinese and Japanese fighting influences, it
is eclectic because it borrowed from Bushido's best. Incorporating Ninjitsu
into it's art when the master was living in Japan studying in the Family
Temple, the Yoshida Castle. A light person is not going to have the advantage
in a grappling situation as the heavy person will have the advantage in
the grapple scenario. It goes back to the Judo scenario, Japan had to completely
reevaluate their ideas of Judo when they fought larger Americans.
Law of Mobility: Stationary targets are easier to hit than ones that are
moving. As basic as it is many Martial Artists do not implement this. There
are three types of fighters and you could draw several different analogies
for these terms, they are the statues that have little mobility and will
not retreat. The runner, who just keeps around the ring and finally the
steamroller, who just keeps coming at you.
Law of Flexibility: Flexibility is the law of survival. Kenpo is unique
because it adapts to you as an individual, your personality and spirit.
If you stand 4 ft. 10" tall it makes little sense for you focus on
kicking when your greatest strengths may be mobility and swiftness. It makes
little sense for a 110 pound woman to grapple with a 220-pound man.
Law of the Warrior Spirit: This is both internal as well as external. In
a rage we are not thinking, we look vicious from the outside but inside
we have not a clue as to what we are doing, we are fighting blind reducing
ourselves to gross motor skills. You need to be calm on the inside and thinking
clearly, that is why meditation will help the warrior.
Perhaps best put these Laws can unlock the doors into a higher realm of
learning and one lifetime is not enough time learn the principles and concepts
of Kenpo.
Yours in the Spirit of Kenpo - Thomas Vince
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