Once again I am told of a Taekwondo Guy coming down to where I am teaching and telling the Gym owner That Kenpo isnt good. OKAY! I know Im gulity of claiming the same thing about them, but they had a 45 year head start over Mantis Kenpo. I know it is not good to put down other Arts, but if anyone really listens to me Im not putting TKD and Shotokan down, more than I am simple stating facts. Please let me know if I am wrong in any of the things I say about Traditional Styles below. 1. Traditional Styles in Kenya were brought more as sports than Self Defense in Kenya. 2. Taekwondo is not a Martial Art and it is wrong for Instructors to claim it is, because students will get hurt in a fight thinking they know Self Defense. 3. Shotokan is a linear style. That is it follows straight lines of strikes, making it easy for a more free style to defeat it. Bruce Lee showed this in several of his movies back in the 1960s. 4. The Leadership in TKD and Shotokan have a very bad record of infighting, and dirty politics which have given Kenyan Martial Arts in General a bad name, as well as discouraged hundreds of meaningful and potential students. 5. Over the past 15+ years both Shotokan and Taekwondo have been in a decline, and the quality has lowered do to the lack of serious organizing bodies. 6. Both of Shotokans major tournaments in Malindi, and Kasarani were complete failures with laughable turnouts below 50 competitors. 7. Because of infighting, tournaments are so low as to make it impossible to form a Tournament league, even though both have tried but could not gain support causing talented traditional players with skills never to be given the platform to express their gifted skills in front of their peers and spectators. Now this is not putting a style or Art down, it is explaining the sorry state of Traditional Martial Arts in Kenya. If you are entering the Martial Arts in Kenya for the first time and are wondering which one to take, it is good to know the facts and history. You must know if your style will be there to support you through the years as you train hard to achieve Blackbelt. It is almost unimaginable to KKF students to think that their Club and Federation could collapse. However this has happened at least six different times in Traditional Karate and TKD since I have been teaching in Kenya.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Aug 2014 16:26:04 +0000
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