For a big man he moved incredibly fast and with explosive "pop" in everything he did. I spoke to him a few years before he passed away, I was a 1st Brown in another Kenpo association but he didn't care, he was the nicest man, he spent time talking to me in a casual way. Greatly missed, there is no one else like him today or since, there is only one Ed Parker.
I think your assessment is exactly right. I was a know-nothing 19 year old when I met Mr. Parker and he was exactly the same with me. Gracious and generous and chock full of humility. He was like everyone's favorite uncle. He had great stories, was fun to be around and had something worth knowing to teach. Truly a great man.
My teacher studied in the Ed Parker system of Kenpo and I have to say he hit with unbelievable speed and force even in his late sixties. His blocks, parries and take downs left NO DOUBT about his determination to end the fight. RIP to both great mentors.
@@davidmickles5012 Sounds like a good man to have known. Sorry that he's gone too. Kind of makes what he had to teach a little more precious, that he's gone. Keeping that bit of him that you remember alive in the world by remembering and using his teachings is a great way to honor his memory.
I've studied several martial arts including American Kenpo. Although in a real fight most kenpo techniques were impracticable, practicing them developed speed and timing which greatly helped in a real fight. My experience is kenpo students and instructors would fight anybody at a drop of a hat. Full contact sparring was a nightly event in the gym and on the street. Closest thing I have seen to the Cobra Kai characters in the karate kid movies.
Boxing muay Thai and bbj All can be useless in a Real fight as well, it depends on Training style and the Individual. Personally i practice kenpo with a sparring Partner and we simulate that He wants to hurt me. That way we get primed for a Real fight.
Mr. Parker developed his art because of street fighting and he wanted to develop a way to take on multiple assailantz at once because that's what happens in the street; you beat up one guy but then have to deal with others he's with.
I've never met the man, but I trained with martial artists that practice with Parker and Bruce Lee. Parker was the guy that turned Karate and Kung Fu into a real business for thousands of artists around the world. He deserves respect and thanks from all of us, before him there was nothing, he turned it into a billion dollar ndustry.
Only against a drunk who doesn't know how to fight. I took Kenpo for years and couldn't really fight until I started training at a boxing gym and later BJJ. After a month at the boxing gym I learned more fighting skills than years of Kenpo.
@@christofl6523 you obviously don't understand kenpo then. It's extremely effective. I have personally used it on a number of occasions to defend myself. I have backgrounds in other arts as well but American kenpo is one of the best self defense systems out there
@@Kamingo170 Kenpo would be fine if you just stripped it of it's choreographed techniques. The first step or two is usually effective but then it devolves into nonsense as you perform numerous strikes on a stationary opponent. Just check out real street fights or prison fight footage on RU-vid and see if any fight are ever won using Kenpo or any other type of Karate. When two Kenpo fighters fight they just use kickboxing and this is done in almost all sparring as well.
@@christofl6523 your comment shows you've never trained in kenpo karate before. The long techniques are there to serve muscle memory, sequence of motion, and the long techniques help your improvisation skills in a real street fight. The techniques show different strike options to different targets. Like Ed Parker said once you're able to grasp the conecepts in the techniques your can re arrange, add to, delete, or modify any strike for the given moment in time
@@Kamingo170 I guess it was just my imagination then (training for years). I know what Kenpo instructors SAY they are for, I'm saying it doesn't work. Again I ask to show me real fight footage of Kenpo techniques being used to win fights in really dangerous environments. BTW, Ed Parker was a self promoted fraud who died young because he was in terrible physical shape. His techniques were theoretical and not effective in street combat where a person's motor skills plummet in a fight or flight response situation.
I see some comments here saying Kenpo doesn’t work. Over the last 40 years I’ve taken Kenpo, Japanese karate, Aikido, BJJ, and Tae Kwon Do, and one thing I found out is that they all work. It’s up to the practitioner to make it work.
Need to clear a few things up from what I’ve been reading. Being at the right place at the right time helps. I met Mr. Parker in the late 70’s 4 times. In a private demonstration he went thru a series of techniques where there wasn’t slaps but thuds, very quick and precise. Do you have any idea how many times he had heard “no one throws a punch like that” or “ if you do this I’ll just to that” in his lifetime? From a direct source there was a small group that was watching a demonstration where a popular singer with some boxing experience (no, not Elvis) that kept interrupting saying just that. Mr. Parker called him out and told the singer to have at it. Ed Parker basically disassembled him. After several attempts, the singer was beaten up, but he could have killed him at will. Despite having a heart defect, he was a dangerous man.
1:47 was definitely a knock-out shot. Ed Parker could hit like a train, he was very fast and with his knowledge of motion he could really put together some bone-breaking reactive hits. Think about what would have happened if he hit you with that shot up under the jaw at 1:47 and then again at 3:16 and then again at 3:50. He struck with authority Ed Parker, if he hit you one or twice you were going to wake up in the E/R.
the Parker System works in the street ! The local ER tells me so ! I have sent them some business over the years but for some reason they dont send me Chrustmas Greetings and such !
Brad Eveland please elaborate, after studying EPAK in basements and garages for the past 20+ years, there are times that I doubt my skill, then confident in it, constantly back and forth, I'd like to hear about successful applications of our beloved system to help reassure myself and those I teach. Thank you and kenpo salute to you sir.
MMA is a sanctioned event. No throat shots, no eyeballs being ripped out, no nut shots. Street fights don't start by two people being in top condition under same rules without element of surprise.
Hilarious how there is a weird noise when he's striking air, like a movie. I've seen some Kenpo guys who look good sparring the flashy self defence stuff is extremely suspect too many steps involved in a high adrenaline situation all this would out the window just cover your head and chin and vitals and then counter hard and direct.
Those snaps and cracks you hear are the establishment of check positions and the fabric of the uniform snapping taut. Mr. Parker was a brutal street fighter in his youth. In a tough place, at a tough time, he was one of the baddest of the bad. He took a sign to the beach that just said, "All Takers" and would fight anyone that thought they could handle him. I don't know that any did.
@@InformationIsTheEdge I've trained for about 12 years I'm an ITF Taekwondo black belt and a 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu blue belt so I know what a snapping suit sounds like and I've some experience in martial arts not professing to be any kind of expert though. It might be the accoustic effect of the area they are filming but it's definitely distorted or something. Ed Parker was a massive Hawaiian and I'm sure he'd mess a lot of folk up, Kenpo has some interesting stuff but some that I'm not so keen on. But what works for one person doesn't work for someone else I guess and everyone should train what they enjoy imo.
@@grayalun True. The sound is atrocious. Like the onboard mic on a handheld camcorder. Remember those? Brutal sound. You did a quite good job of summing up Mr. Parker's stance on Kenpo. Tailor the art to suit the individual, rather than the reverse. Maybe you could teach the stuff you are not so keen on, to someone else that might find it useful. Use the stuff you find interesting and effective. That's the name of the game! For the record, I share your opinion about training. If you don't like an idea or technique or don't think it could work, what are the chances that it could help you when it matters?
@@InformationIsTheEdge I don't coach tbh I help a bit in class at times but not often really. This is it some guys I train with are better at certain things depending on age flexibility and experience. I like training with guys who've had experience from different arts because you see some stuff and you think that'd work I'm going to use that. I get the idea that the multiple technique thing is used to chain attacks and to be able to switch between different angles and type of strikes. I'd prefer it if they did it on the move though as it'd be better for distancing. We do something similar called one step and I'm not really a fan of that I find it a bit robotic and unrealistic as the attacker does a Karate/Taekwondo style straight punch stepping forward and holds the position as the the defender sidesteps and does their thing. I think at the beginning for kids getting used to a strike coming at them it's fine but once they are used to that I prefer the more semi free sparring where both parties are on the move so to speak. Always looking at different stuff as I find it interesting to see what other arts are doing.
Thank you... I was wondering when someone was going to speak up. I trained under Mills, but not at the House of Pain. I grew up under Jon Herman, first generation Mills guy. I met Mills and trained with him on several occasions. Heard all about Mr. Parker. All negative comments here are from those far removed from these two men.
In a street fights who cares about what ranking and who's ur teacher is . So dnt be proud of yr stupid technique as it is not be respected by any mma fighters !
of course it's nonsense. Ed parker was never a black belt of anything. he took advantage of the karate and kung fu craze of the 60's and 70's in the States and created his own bullshido style, using a mix of karate techniques and kunfuesque flashy movie like silly movements that easily impressed all the gullible people who didn't know what was legit and what was bullshit. he was a conman and would have never gotten away with it nowadays.
holy. how come Ed Parker, with all his natural talents, never mentioned beyond the history of kenpo? his system is basically the complete version of bruce lee's. not to mention his reflex and speed are up there as well.
Ger Lor Dear Friend - Pls Rembr GM Ed Parker Was The Senior To Bruce Lee & Were Good Friends & Both Highly Developed In Their Own Respected Martial Arts!!!* JKD (BRUCE) & AMERICAN KENPO KARATE (GM* ED PARKER!!!*) ALSO GM WALLY JAY(SMALL CIRCLE JU-JITSU//GM REMY PRESAS(ARNIS/KALI/& ESCRIMA) LEARN FROM EVERY AVAILABLE SOURCE!!!*
Gregory Slack you dont understand what i have wrote down do you? how about learn some english comprehension classes. your abusive use of !!! is insulting.
both bruce and ed Parker styles, not the same. there is no simplicity in ed style. and i'm not saying kenpo doesn't have simplicity. but it runs much on defense, appearances and beauty. such ways beats around the Bush.
THAT IS NOT AN ATTACK AT ALL!! IT IS A POSE, FOR DEMONSTATION!! NOBODY WOULD ATTACK LIKE THAT, AND THEN THERE IS THE ATTACKERS OTHER ARM THAT IS NOT BEING ADDRESSED BY PARKER. THIS ALPHABET- WORD DESCRIPTION IS FUNNY TOO.
Ed Parker’s system failed him in Paris . He became the victim of a Grand Master of the buffoon Ninja system . Ed was in traction for a year and still had to do physical therapy and get weened off opiates . As seen here he finally made a full recovery.
So many keyboard warriors here, Kempo works, in fact all martial arts work if you train, to say they don't work in the street is just ignorance, will you use all these moves in a street fight ? No, you learn what you can and use it when you can. When you train you get better period. Everyone says it won't work in the MMA fights, HELLO MMA = Mixed Martial Arts. Is (was) Ed Parker invincible ? No, nobody is, but he'd beat the hell out of 99% of those on here talking trash, probably 100% but saying 99 just in case...
Ed Kehaloa Parker was the ultimate bull-shido artist; and Larry Tatum fell for it hook, line and sinker. Neither of them ever competed nor tested their skills against an opponent in mutual combat.
No, of course, Larry Tatum was never in a real fight! Do you not know that Larry Tatum was in the U.S. Army Rangers and served in Vietnam? Larry Tatum was never in a real fight - sheesh already!!!
yup, Ed parker was never a black belt of anything. he took advantage of the karate and kung fu craze of the 60's and 70's in the States and created his own bullshido style, using a mix of karate techniques and kunfuesque flashy movie like silly movements that easily impressed all the gullible people who didn't know what was legit and what was bullshit. he was a conman and would have never gotten away with it nowadays. larry tatums videos are hilarious, it looks like he's on drugs, all the techniques and mechanics are absolutely ridiculous
I got to know Larry Tatum at a seminar at Bart Vales school outside of Miami quite a few years ago, I personally would not want to fight either if these men ! And I've had more thsn my share outside of bar rooms and on the street.
Neither of them were ever in good condition. Parker was winded during the demonstration. He would not have lasted in a real world situation; punches are not thrown in that manner either. Parker never kicked and when he did it was pathetic. Leaping crane, and all that other crap is the "classical mess" as Bruce Lee stated.
Christof L spoken like an ignorant bitch punk would. You would have your faced and mouth broken open and become a bleeding mess from him back then. Totally destroy you then, and now. You have no clue how ignorant a runt you are for saying such to such a revered and great man.
@@kr7942 Actually, I totally know what I'm talking about as my first black belt was in American Kenpo Karate. I thought I was a real badass until I walked in a boxing gym and realized everyone in the joint could kick my ass. Boxingm wrestling, Muay Thai, Judo and BJJ are vastly superior to anything Parker produced.
