Hello, I have been a ED PARKER KENPO Arts completing all advanced Black belt techniques. I originally started learning Japanese Karate from Japan’s Olympic gold medalist Mr. Fumio Demura in 1965 When I was 15 years old. Then I looked in the paper and saw an article in Garden Grove, the newspaper reporter thought the shop was a trophy shop, it was Loaded with trophies the reporter remarked, I found out this was a hot shot, top competition kung fu studio, ED PARKER KENPO. I was shocked at the precision the speed and technical advanced scientific movements & Speed With philosophy of 100% body mechanics! I found that the karate I learned was like an antique car that stays the same and never evolves or improves and turned out to be very boring but better than not knowing anything in a fight. The KENPO system was very effective in the street and also later in my job of law-enforcement. So I dumped the karate for a modern streamline universal always changing and advancing system which is KENPO Polynesian CHINESE/KUNG FU. I have been in many tournaments and several Long Beach international martial art tournaments. The reason I am posting as I have a view. I noticed that in tournaments, the referees slapped on their old black belts and conducted refereeing the tournaments. I’m not trying to sound biased, rude or insensitive. I don’t mean to insult anybody and discriminate. But I feel if I was Mr. ED PARKER, I would take all of the obese/overweight/out of shape black belts and have a requalify system and they need to demonstrate they are physically fit to honor wearing the KENPO black belt. For people who cannot defend themselves due to being out of shape, they do not have the right to be a poor example I have a KENPO black belt artist. This looks very bad in people claiming they are a black belt fighter, there are too many people that go around saying they kick butt on a black belt! Bruce Lee once quoted that a fat person is an example of somebody that doesn’t care about himself .. he is right! I personally am 71 years old, I exercise and stay fit and have been taking vitamins, amino acids, and antioxidants and stay on top of the newest natural supplements available, I have been taking supplements religiously since I was 15 years old and I am in the same weight as I was when I was a senior in high school. I stay tournament fight ready to be able to protect the body God gave me otherwise I would be a dishonor to Kenpo & my family & self. By the way I am not perfect and this is not a ego trip, I stay tuned to reality and my fair opinions, thank you to all who love the art as a lifestyle like I do. I can never forget meeting Mr. ED PARKER at the Long Beach internationals in the 70s, what a great and fantastic kind and warm person. When I did go up greet him and shook his hand and complimented him, he was always keen on his surroundings and scanned constantly the area around him, he didn’t know who I was And he never underestimated anything which I remember in his personality! Thanks to everybody.
While I agree with much of what you say, the reality is there have always been great fighters who have been substantially overweight. This is also prevalent in the MMA and boxing worlds. A prime example is Butterbean. As an aside, GM Ed Parker was overweight for much of his adult life. In his final years, he had difficulty demonstrating a technique at full speed without having catch his breath afterwards. Moreover, many martial artists run into health problems as they age and, as a result, their ability to defend themselves, let alone compete in tournaments, is severely diminished. Should these black belts also be stripped of their belts? Should athletes who can no longer perform at the level they did when they were awarded trophies have their trophies and endorsements taken away? And lastly, the priorities of many black belts change as they grow older. In a couple of months, I will have been studying and teaching Kenpo for 60 years. That said, it's true that the level of my Kenpo isn't what it was decades ago. But this doesn't concern me because I know that I can still defend myself in the street, as well as teach Kenpo. Many of the hours that I used to allocate to my Kenpo training are now allocated to spending time with my wife and our families, as well as several hobbies that I enjoy. Thanks for your post.
Hello, I have been a ED PARKER KENPO Arts completing all advanced Black belt techniques. I originally started learning Japanese Karate from Japan’s Olympic gold medalist Mr. Fumio Demura in 1965 When I was 15 years old. Then I looked in the paper and saw an article in Garden Grove, the newspaper reporter thought the shop was a trophy shop, it was Loaded with trophies the reporter remarked, I found out this was a hot shot, top competition kung fu studio, ED PARKER KENPO. I was shocked at the precision the speed and technical advanced scientific movements & Speed With philosophy of 100% body mechanics! I found that the karate I learned was like an antique car that stays the same and never evolves or improves and turned out to be very boring but better than not knowing anything in a fight. The KENPO system was very effective in the street and also later in my job of law-enforcement. So I dumped the karate for a modern streamline universal always changing and advancing system which is KENPO Polynesian CHINESE/KUNG FU. I have been in many tournaments and several Long Beach international martial art tournaments. The reason I am posting as I have a view. I noticed that in tournaments, the referees slapped on their old black belts and conducted refereeing the tournaments. I’m not trying to sound biased, rude or insensitive. I don’t mean to insult anybody and discriminate. But I feel if I was Mr. ED PARKER, I would take all of the obese/overweight/out of shape black belts and have a requalify system and they need to demonstrate they are physically fit to honor wearing the KENPO black belt. For people who cannot defend themselves due to being out of shape, they do not have the right to be a poor example I have a KENPO black belt artist. This looks very bad in people claiming they are a black belt fighter, there are too many people that go around saying they kick butt on a black belt! Bruce Lee once quoted that a fat person is an example of somebody that doesn’t care about himself .. he is right! I personally am 71 years old, I exercise and stay fit and have been taking vitamins, amino acids, and antioxidants and stay on top of the newest natural supplements available, I have been taking supplements religiously since I was 15 years old and I am in the same weight as I was when I was a senior in high school. I stay tournament fight ready to be able to protect the body God gave me otherwise I would be a dishonor to Kenpo & my family & self. By the way I am not perfect and this is not a ego trip, I stay tuned to reality and my fair opinions, thank you to all who love the art as a lifestyle like I do. I can never forget meeting Mr. ED PARKER at the Long Beach internationals in the 70s, what a great and fantastic kind and warm person. When I did go up greet him and shook his hand and complimented him, he was always keen on his surroundings and scanned constantly the area around him, he didn’t know who I was And he never underestimated anything which I remember in his personality! Thanks to everybody.
While I agree with much of what you say, the reality is there have always been great fighters who have been substantially overweight. This is also prevalent in the MMA and boxing worlds. A prime example is Butterbean. As an aside, GM Ed Parker was overweight for much of his adult life. In his final years, he had difficulty demonstrating a technique at full speed without having catch his breath afterwards. Moreover, many martial artists run into health problems as they age and, as a result, their ability to defend themselves, let alone compete in tournaments, is severely diminished. Should these black belts also be stripped of their belts? Should athletes who can no longer perform at the level they did when they were awarded trophies have their trophies and endorsements taken away? And lastly, the priorities of many black belts change as they grow older. In a couple of months, I will have been studying and teaching Kenpo for 60 years. That said, it's true that the level of my Kenpo isn't what it was decades ago. But this doesn't concern me because I know that I can still defend myself in the street, as well as teach Kenpo. Many of the hours that I used to allocate to my Kenpo training are now allocated to spending time with my wife and our families, as well as several hobbies that I enjoy. Thanks for your post.
Thank you for taking the time to post this Tom.
Looking forward to when you post your next segment of the Amy Sanbo interview.
Line dancing is more lethal.
Dry land swimming. The best of the classical mess.
EXCELLENT ATTITUDE, COULDN'T AGREE WITH YOU MORE,AMEN.