Hello IKKA members,

Another question tossed to you; just wondering people thoughts:

As many are aware some of the "original" 24 techniques do not necessarily work.  So my questions would be, should we teach them? or leave them out?  I tend to show the techniques how they should be but also teach alternatives when I encounter ones that don't work. 

I know many instructors have decided to modify or eliminate techniques they believe are no good or are not effective.  Is this the right line of thought?  Or should we mantain the 24 techs as they are?  EPAK is supposed never to become static or traditional, hence the fact of change is acceptable, but shouldn't we mantain some legacy or tradition within the system?

Just wanted to start a thread and learn from the thoughts of the Kenpo masters in these forums.

Waiting upon your educational comments,

Best regards,

Luis

Many people have dropped out of kenpo after a short time of study for that very reason ( This technique or that technqiue doesnt work ) When a large percentage of this generation started learning kenpo, they did it without the underlying principles and concepts that make kenpo what it is ( An Idea ) And yes it is very true that many of the techniques in EPAK do not work. But thats not the question that we should be asking. The true question is if it doesnt work, then how do we make it work.

Thats where you as an individual have to start. Just having an instructor teach you a technique is not enough. You have to question it. Study it and really take the in depth time to understand it. Take any technique in the Kenpo system. Now make the attempt to apply that technqiue to a real live person without telling him or her how to react. You will find that what really changes is not the technique, but the timing.

There is also a points within each technique that requires a point of actual hesitation. You cant just assume that your attacker will move or react a certain way, because he or she might not. Five Swords is a great example. what happens if the guy is real big and for that matter doesnt bend over or you cant pull him down for the last sword hand to the back of his neck.

Thats fine, let him stand. He will eventually get tired of getting hit and the kick at the end will make him fall backwards. Now this also depends on what version you are using.

Now there are technqiues in EPAk that are so similar in nature that they draw a line of confusion. To solve that issue. just consider it a variation of the original or ( What If )

Paul