I deeply respect Jeff Speakman for evolving his Kenpo system and admitting that there were gaps in his skill. So he fixed that, he continued to learn as a student. Ed Parker's Kenpo system had several changes in his lifetime, we have the film footage to prove that. I myself am a Gung fu student who has recently started Judo to fill gaps in my knowledge. Deepest respect to Mr Speakman and to Art of One Dojo for this knowledge.
Jeff Speakman is such a humble and honest guy. What I love is when he said " It's not the instructor that is going to impress me but the student and how he helps others..." Wonderful video Mr. Dan. 👍🏽
Humble not, businessman yes. Met the guy in Vegas during tournament weekend, he is pretty arrogant and ignores his youth “clients” and let’s be real, kempo groundwork is laughable.
He is definitely not humble you can tell he’s very in love with himself talking about how great he is and how great his style is and how inferior other peoples are. It’s clear he has a massive chip on his shoulder
Jeff Speakman is an OG in Kenpo. He deserves to be heard and is open about the need for jiujitsu and ground fighting. Most BJJ guys like myself grew up watching Jeff Speakman and we give him his respect. As a martial artist, keeping up with the times is essential and Speakman reflects that through his philosophy.
Chuck Norris was spreading the need for ground fighting skills for strikers since 1988. He started under Rorion Gracie then switched over to the Machado brothers due to "philosophical" differences. To this day he still invites people like Rener Gracie to teach at his annual convention. Decades before him you had the Kajukenbo guys. Two of the arts that make that art up are pre-Olympic Kodokan judo and Danzan-ryu jujitsu. I think Norris and the Kajukenbo guys don't get the credit they deserve.
What tells me I was spoiled in my training is not only did I study under a black belt hall of famer, Tony Ramos, had the pleasure of having Adrianno Emperado sign my karate bible, and later trained in hand to hand combat and weapons retention by top tier leo and the us special forces, my sensei was a colleagiate wrestler and saw this weakness before the gracies blew up. I remember learning take down defense and doing 5 minute grappling drills before renting the first UFC video cassette from Blockbuster. KAJUKENBO, Ramos System.
@@barrettokaratehowever, the kajukenbo guys didn’t have the groundwork anywhere near what BJJ has. They just incorporated throws and joint kicks, most of them standing. But they didn’t use the guard, sweeps, and how to set up submissions from the ground. Nobody did. What Norris, Speakman, and others have done is added to their art and make it more effective by adding BJJ to it. That’s what the Gracie’s originally envisioned; they wanted every karate school in America to add GJJ to their curriculum. They got greedy, though, and ripped Chuck Norris off and they all went away and he switched to the Machados who while were technically excellent, never had the name of the Gracie’s after the UFC came out.
This is a fantastic answer to my question that I posed when I was studying back in the 60s under Ed Parker and Harvey Clarey and the Tracy Schools. The answer back then was to "stay off the ground". I moved on to Aikido, and found when it appeared that I was going to be thrown, I resorted to my Kenpo training. The Aikido Master immediately stopped the training and suggested to me that until I could control my reactions, I should leave as I was a danger to me and the other students. Now finally some Kenpo answers. Thank you Jeff.
Fantastic interview! Great work as always. After years of Kenpo with another instructor, I'm currently testing my way through the 5.0 system and can definitely confirm that the online resources are great, especially when I'm on a lunch break at work, I can quickly review something and have lots of questions to bring to class afterwards.
It's not an exaggeration when Mr Speakman says that the online university is a game changer. The quality of the videos and the clarity of the explanations of each technique are super helpful particularly for someone like me who tends to forget a complicated new technique by the time I get home from class. Now I can refresh my memory whenever I want and it's been a real help. Thanks Mr Dan for another great Kenpo interview. I think it speaks volumes about your own humility that you present different points of view within the Kenpo world on your channel - great work indeed!
So impressed by this man. Smart enough to realize his art needed to evolve to not only survive but thrive, and also humble and wise as one would expect a legitimate martial artist to be. Respect! 🙏
Amazing interview. I remember watching Jeff Speakman in the Perfect Weapon movie when I was young and it made a huge impact on me when I had just started in Kenpo. Listening to this interview you can see his love for the art, its growth and for the students and legacy. Truly, a Senior Master of the Arts.
i have great respect for master speakman, his ethos on martial arts is fantastic. Currently in my own training of shotokan im using clich work in free sparring, and incorporating kata self-defence techniques and grappling. no point scoring just good old sparring, i believe we should all be going back to the martial way of making something effective whilst having good moral principles. god bless Jeff Speakman and may he have longevity and many good years ahead in the martial arts.
Had the honor of attending a seminar with GM Speakman earlier this year. Found him to be highly professional, humble, highly skilled, and dedicated. Much respect 🙏
Hopefully, there will be more cross-training between Kenpo Karate and Jeet Kune Do in the future. Both styles complement each other very well. Continuous improvement and adoption are recurring themes in both Kenpo Karate and Jeet Kune Do.
Been in his organisation since 2021 am currently a purple belt best organisation I've been with in my 18 years of practising martial arts always good to see Mr speakman speak 👍🙂
I been in Shotokan karate for a decade and been in Bjj for 7. I think you got to have a ground game. I’m not saying be black belts if both. But good enough to get out of guard to fight your game. Karate can benefit from the ground. Like Bjj can benefit from a stand up game. What an amazing man!
Congrats to a legendary great, Jeff Speakman, in finally earning his "Senior Grandmaster of the Art" in Ed Parker's American Kenpo Karate. And in his development of his own system of Kenpo 5.0 with a mix of Jujitsu and Goju Ryu. My hats off to Jeff Speakman. Always loved his films. And his character. Truly a great man. Another great video, Dan. Oss. Master K, MA
Almost every system I have studied in had many do's and don'ts. I always tried to say maybe and lets try it when I taught. Glad to see Mr.S is open to trying and learning. We need more thinking like this.👍🇺🇲🥋
Great interview. Nice to see Speakman incorporate Brazilian Jiu Jitsu into his art of Kempo to make it more well rounded. Other Martial Artists need to listen or train with Speakman. It’s mind blowing when a high ranking instructor will not admit his art has flaws.
I’ve been in GM Speakman’s 5.0 system for over 10 years and have been able to be in a few of his seminars and classes. He is so knowledgeable about the system and the history of the art. He is very welcoming to people of all styles so long as they show respect and an open mind. Lastly, he is so genuine. I admire him and his system greatly.
This is absolutely spot on. Thank you Mr. Speakman for evolving Kenpo. We needed this & now we have it, thanks to you & those who contributed. I got my 1st degree Kenpo Black Belt back in 1991 at Robert Perrys studio in Garden Grove, Calif., United Karate Studios opened its doors in 1963. It’s been 37 years & I’m now a 4th degree Kenpo Black Belt. I too am amazed how black belts feel they can skip degrees & level up! It just blows my mind. I wouldn’t feel right wearing a belt I didn’t earn. I’d love to join the Kenpo 5.0 Family, & learn your system. It’s exciting to think about learning ground/grappling techniques. IT’S ABOUT TIME! Thank you, Sir! I’ve had my own studio for the last 7 years. I’m trying to in-still in my students the attitudes, ideals, discipline, courage, conduct, character & values you spoke about! They need these to be great martial artists, but even more, to continue to be amazing people as they learn & grow each & everyday! I learn so much from my students, who have become not only great friends, that I truly love, but family! Thanks again, Sir!
Excellent interview. Master speakman is correct in that the art needs to evolve to meet the demands of the current fighting climate. Thank you for posting
Should've asked him if their is going to be a Perfect Weapon 2! I'd loved Kenpo ever since that movie came out started to research it and study it! Crazy how decades and centuries changes Martial Arts! Great Video and interview of one of the greats in Kenpo. Thanks for showing this Grateful!
will since The Perfect Weapon was to be showcasing American Kenpo, the sequel should also showcase Combat Sambo! I mean Combat Sambo is like street self defense MMA style so imagine an Kenpoist cross tain in Combat Sambo would make them an sufficient fighter!
@@kainonknestrick9202 Kinda of like saying a boxer should meet a Muay Thai guy, huh, I think it depends on the individual because a lot of people are all talk and do nothing but sit behind a keyboard all day. LOL Ed Parker was ahead of his time, Jeff Speakman 5.0 pretty good, it's stand up Karate punching and kicking uses a lot of elements, and has some MMA in it too, if you look into the history of 5.0 system it's not bad, My instructor in BJJ was a Black belt Sambo as well as Black Belt in the Gracie system too, so theres that. If you want your stand up game karate, boxing, even Thai boxing or MMA to be better train in BJJ or Sambo for three or Four months, you'll have more endurance than anyone in your stand up game, it does make a difference. I was just talking about the Perfect Weapon movie thought wished they film more of the behind the scenes with Ed Parker and Jeff Speakman while they were making the movie sure theres a little of it but it would be nice if there were more of Ed Parker and his mindset while bringing Kenpo into the 21st century movies.
Jeff is absolutely right... I'm in Kempo here in Clovis, CA, and we don't discuss or work on 'ground work'. I mentioned Jeff and got one hell of a scoff from my instructor. You can no longer train as though you're not going up against someone not trained... you HAVE TO TRAIN as though you ARE taking on someone, or multiples, who are trained.
I'm almost a second black belt in the clasic Ed Parker kenpo and theres no kenpo 5.0 school anywhere in the area, so I've been trying to fill in the gaps myself, and this video and the other interviews has gave me all the ansers I needed.
@@ArtofOneDojo Well, Kenpo 5.0 could always discuss a business partnership with DiamondMMA. The more safeguards Kenpo Karate students have when sparring with other the better.
If you kick another Kenpo fighter there it may be less effective than kicking your average joe. The guys from the Kenpo class at my old school full bore kicked each other in the junk because in a real fight there is no holding back. But in general you get kicked in the groin by a Kenpo practitioner and you will be in a world of hurt and possibly waiting for your balls to drop a second time...
Master paker Would be so proud of him he took it to a whole new level which we all knew he was gonna if you haver worked with master speakman..thank you!!
Osu. 🥋👊🏼🐉🐅 Very interesting interview so far. Come to think of it, all Kenpo Karate schools descending from Kosho Shorei-ryu Kenpo(James Mitose), Kara-ho Kenpo(William KS Chow, Kajukenbo(Adriano Emperado), American Kenpo Karate(Edmund Parker Sr), Shaolin Kenpo(Ralph Castro) including Karazenpo Go Shinjutsu, Kenpo 5.0, and other Kenpo schools should be one whole big family. One more thing, I forgot to mention that you should also please try to interview actress/singer Nia Peeples who holds a 4th degree black belt in Oki Ryu Kenpo. Osu. 🥋👊🏼🐉🐅
Mr Parker wanted the art to evolve. Most instructors tried to be like clones of him. He respected those who had their own styles and thoughts. In and out of the System.
Jeff Speakman has the intelligence to adapt Kenpo, through trial and error, to the changing environment around him. Jeff is a thinking man's martial artist.
Cross training in BJJ I found it hard to avoid striking on the ground. Since BJJ initially started from Judo, and Mr. Parker was a black belt in Judo, it would make sense that he would include and approve of groundwork techniques in his system. My first instructor trained with Jeff Speakman and Frank Trejo, and then found our now head instructor Skip Hancock. Frank Trejo encouraged his students to find the instructor that is right for them and their needs. Kenpo is all about the individual needs of the students and leaves tradition for other styles. So good to train with those who were so close to Mr. Parker.
Kenpo is really such a small world, I remember the picture of my since retired 7th degree instructor getting kicked by his instructor, Ed Parker at his blackbelt test. Mr Parker also taught Jeff Speakman, who has went on to push the art forward.
I agree with everything he says. I thought the same thing for many years. I’m a blue belt in Jiu Jitsu “ Gracie “ and I’ve merged them together breaking the Jiu Jitsu and added kenpo targeting. Thx Mr. Speakman.
Cool guy! This kind of evolution is good for Kenpo to stay alive. I wish there was a place around here to train. Be nice if I could afford it too. Martial arts got expensive these days.
The best way to keep Kenpo alive is simply to put in the time to understand it properly. I respect Mr. Speakman for his 5.0 update and he added a lot of good things, but I also have a tremendous love and appreciation for the "Traditional" Ed Parker system. It is beautifully designed and makes a lot of sense but a person has to be willing to commit and spend some time under the hood to see that.
Master Jeff Speakman is a master martial artist, amazing human being and a true hero. I don't need to explain about his mastery in his craft, as a human being he is do humble, kind and sweet to all around him. And he's a true hero cos when I met him Germany back in 2010, one of my friends couldn't be there to meet his hero Jeff Speakman but I managed to get him NOT ONLY an autograph from Jeff Speakman but Jeff also did a video message as well as talk to my friend on the phone. WHAT A HERO!
I just rewatched The Perfect Weapon and it is hands down one of the best martial arts movies of all time. The action is sooo good. The enemies are very entertaining and I love the boss battle at the end. Also, many women swooned over Van Damme. Not me. Jeff Speakman was arguably the most handsome martial artist of all time.
Jeff Speakman is a true discipline of Ed Parker. If he were alive he definitely would have evolved Kenpo to deal with the ground. Good work Master Speakman
Totally agree! Grappling used to be part of Kenpo. When Mr. Parker came to the US and started teaching he taught grappling as part of the system, it has now come to be known as Chinese Kenpo. And then it got removed in the making of American Kenpo. I know this because in the 1960's and early 70's I learned Chinese Kenpo (NCKKA) under Steven LaBounty and others and then we became an IKKA school and we trained under Mr. Parker. I am glad to see that grappling and ground fighting are being systematically returned to Kenpo. Mr. Parker was always clear about the need to adapt Kenpo to our abilities and situations. Having more tools and techniques in our arsenal is not a bad thing. Our dojo was an open dojo which meant that any martial artist from any system that was in town temporarily could use our dojo for free. We would often ask that they teach us things about their system which just increased our ability and respect for all the martial arts.
GRANDMASTER MR. JEFF SPEAKMAN IS TRULY THE MASTER OF KENPO KARATE, WHAT HE HAS DONE ALL OVER THE WORLD IS OUTSTANDING I AM VERY PROUD TO BE ONE OF MILLIONS OF HIS FRIENDS GOD BLESS HIM ALWAYS FOR WHAT HE IS DOING FOR THE WORLD WITH BIG RESPECT
Apart from the black gi this looks nothing like ninjutsu Look at the master keys Five Swords Thundering Hammers Repeating Mace Look at kihon happo The shoden level of the six schools Gyokko Koto Shinden Fudo Kukushin Takagi Yoshin Togakure There is no similarity, they are completely different
It's really interesting, happy to have come across that video randomly. I did Kenpo for a few years as a kid, so that was early 90s for me. I liked the idea and always appreciated Ed Parker's philosophy and insight, but for me it was very much so what has become known as a McDojo experience so I dropped out of it in favor of boxing as an older teen. I'd come back if I could find a school that has such a realistic, honest and humble approach. Good on him for trying to evolve traditional martial arts and keeping Parker's work relevant.
The Perfect Weapon is one of my favorite movies period. It’s a movie 🍿 I can always go back and watch. Jeff Speakman is an INCREDIBLE Martial Artist 💯🙌🏼👊🏻
I think going to the ground should be second nature for a kenpoist. One of the first concepts we learn is gravitational marriage in our first technique delayed sword. Gravity is ever present and should be a main weapon in a kenpoist arsenal.
I will qualify by saying that I am not a kempo practitioner but I do consider myself somewhat of a martial arts history buff and have long admired Ed Parker and that lineage of James Mitose, and William KS Chow. I realize that Bruce Lee often gets credit for hybrid martial arts in America but I have said many times that there were many before him and those three are just a few examples of people modifying and evolving what they knew for their times. Jeff Speakman hit it on the nose. That in order for any idea to evolve that it can't ignore that progression must happen. Not to say that many traditional martial arts must adopt new moves. Tradition is tradition after all. No one is going to change a note in Mozart's Symphony 40 and that's fine. But at the same time I find it so frustrating when traditional martial arts unrealistically address the elephant in the room. How many times do we hear, as Jeff Speakman says, some traditional art brush off clinching and grappling by saying, "You should never go to the ground anyway", or "I would poke them in the eyes", and my favorite, "MMA is just a sport with rules. There are no rules on the streets" (I'll get to that one later). The fact is that you do not need a black belt to have just enough proficiency to defend or escape if you should be taken to the ground by at attacker who has no grappling experience. A solid BJJ blue belt level is sufficient for a self defence curriculum where the core is striking. 1.5 to 2 years and you will have just enough grappling skills for survival against an untrained attacker. Why wouldn't you sacrifice 1.5 to 2 years and learn some basic moves that will enhance your own art? But, NO, many martial arts rather just pretend that they will poke a charging attacker in the eyes before they are taken down with a double leg. Ever try poking a charging bull or a bear with an eye poke? As for "never going to the ground" that's not always your choice as Jeff Speakman addressed the elephant in the room. Someone may take you to the ground and you need to be able to address that even in theory (as many martial artists are somewhat pacifists who would avoid fights at all costs). Furthermore, maybe I'm lucky, but when I hear my local news the majority of unprovoked attacks is one on one. Not a swarm; at least in my neighborhood. In other words, I am more likely to be assaulted by a single individual than a horde of The Walking Dead (I don't think that show is on anymore but let me use the reference anyway). Now I would really like to address that rhetoric that really gets me angry. When someone says, "MMA is just a sport with rules. There are no rules on the streets". MMA was born out of vale tudo, and early Ultimate Fighting Championships where there were very little rules. Those leagues were a form of filtering out what works and what does not. MMA is a product of decades of refinement. It is highly efficient. No, it's not a style but an approach not dissimilar to what Jeff Speakman has done with Kempo 5.0. That is to incorporate what has been tested and proven. Also, you need rules when it comes to learning combat sports, martial arts, and combatives in order for them to be sustainable. No one is going to learn an effective martial art if you are allowed to kick to the groin, eye jab, and head butt every class or at all. But making a martial art's practice realistic, and repeatable, is what leads to an effective approach. This includes sparring. Jeff Speakman also made a brilliant remark that I heard Lawrence Kenshin say at his channel: that the legacy of a martial art is reflected in the quality of its students. That is a reflection of both the style, and the instructor is how good the students are. OK, my rant is over! But I am so glad that someone well known in the martial arts community like Jeff Speakman said it without any apologies. Now, I have to go listen to "The Power" by Snap!
I wish I could understand why Kempo keeps adding Judo And JuJutsu and then taking it away and then adding it back again. Also some Kempo moves look a lot like Aikido.
@@ValleyDragon Mr Dan is an expert in the field of American Kempo. I'm just an admirer of it from. afar. However my understanding, and what has been explained by other guests of American Kempo here at this channel, is that Ed Parker's Kempo has offshoots just like many other martial arts. There is an American Kempo family tree but with different flavors of American Kempo but with roots in Ed Parker's Kempo so you'll see differences depending on how each variant interprets what's important in their art. This happens in every martial art. To add to the confusion, American Kempo is totally different than Japanese Kempo (Kempo which denotes Chinese origin). Even Japanese Kempo has varying unrelated styles. Shorinji (shorinji is the Japanese translation of Shaolin) Kempo has aikijujutsu type joint locks and throws and was developed in the early 20th century if my memory of martial history serves me correctly and the founder - according to his own backstory - was a military operative who learned Kung Fu (Chuan fa) in China. There is actually a bio-pic movie, starring the late Sonny Chiba ("The Street Fighter", "Kill Bill") that you can find here on RU-vid. I believe shorinji Kempo is identified as a religion or spiritual belief as well as a martial art. Then you have Nippon Kempo founded in the mid 1930's in Japan as a hybrid art combining karate, jujutsu, and judo. It has a following in western European countries. It has exciting competition with striking combined with throwing and ground grappling.
@@assoverteakettle Also wasn't mr.Parker a black belt in judo. Jiu jitsu/aiki jitsu/judo/Sambo,kali,catch wrestling,kickboxing, and boxing should be taught at every kenpo school.
@@DELL0015 I'm not an expert in Mr Ed Parker's biography to know what other martial arts he knew previous to learning this art that evolved in Hawaii. I'm sure judo would have been prevalent in Hawaii due to Japanese diaspora. Not unlike the judo that went to Brazil in the early 20th century. I know that he was a very analytic man which gave him the ability to break things down. It's one thing to know how to do a technique but knowing why requires another level of analytics. The only problem with incorporating new techniques to an existing curriculum in my opinion is that someone has to filter what stays on and what stays out. Everything is dependent upon what the instructor feels is most important, what is the core philosophies of the art, and the ability and goals of the students. There just isn't enough time in one person's lifetime to learn everything and be proficient in every area of martial arts. I guess Kempo 5.0's approach is a lot like going to college. You major in one discipline (Kempo) and minor in another (ground grappling). One approach that many BJJ clubs do is also offer some type of kickboxing classes. You will often see people crosstrain but usually they will gravitate towards one or the other. Famous MMA coach, Firas Zahabi, highly encouraged crosstraining especially if self defence is important to you.
People forget the 1st ever MMA match in the US was not UFC 1 and the Gracies. The 1st MMA match was Judo Gene Lebell vs Milo Savage Top Ranked Boxer at the time. Guess who was the genius who set up the fight….yup you guessed it Ed Parker. He knew Judo Gene would be able to take the boxer. Ed Parker without a doubt knew the effectiveness of grappling. I have no doubt him seeing how prominent and wide spread grappling is now would make changes to Kenpo.
Hi. Jeff is being very frank in this interview. He undressed a somber diagnosis of Ed´s K.K. which correlates many points I always pointed out . On the other hand, I don't think jiujitsu is a sport. Grappling is a sport. I'm not a BJJ practitioner but I did once trained for a while AKK . BJJ comes out of a Jap martial art. The fact it was modified by the Gracie's doesn't take out its original spirit. In any case, AKK was never defined as martial art but a self defense martial system. I onced questioned why ED PARKER having precticed Judo, did not consider nothing about ground fighting. There are zero GROUND fighting techniques in Ed's Kenpo. K5.0 is the enforced response to the claims made against its perilous conditions in terms of ground self defense/fighting scenarios, and for its sake, had no option but to adopt BJJ,JUDO techniques not only to make it "more complete and efficient" but to compete commercially with, the practically non defeated BJJ and MMA, which everybody is talking about around the world for decades. Kenpo, it had thus to get updated. It had to keep up with nowadays demand, at record-breaking speed by turning away from its set in stone principles' creator, Ed Parker. This restoration is now K5.0 which by the way, speaking when it comes to sparring, I could notice an outstanding similarity with KUDO and equals to MMA fight.
Couldn't agree with Jeff more. Wrestled in high school, studied San Soo and ultimateley the entire 1st degree black belt program in Kenpo in the 70's. I had planned to study jui jitsu after that. Long story short it didn't happen. The facts are that any unschooled person taken to the ground by a competent jui jitsu practitioner will be mostly helpless. Mr. Parker asked that the system be an ongoing evolution . But even more, common sense dictates it.
This is how it looks and sounds when a martial master was otherwise action actor. He not only does know what he’s speaking about, he also knows how to speak about.👍🙏🙇
excellent interview, & very well said by gm Speakman, but yes back in the day, we trained in multiple arts to be well rounded, with or without gear ,,lol, but martial arts was meant to be your own & make it to you from being taught by great teachers like gm speakman, & yes yes there is a sport & street application, but to be truly open-minded to learning different arts & adapt it to you is awesome, but some very ole school teachers are closed minded but great in there art,,, great interview ,,
