AUTOGRAPHS

Kenpo Black Belts – Tell Your Story

A few years back, I published the first volume of ‘The Kenpo Continuum’. The book is a collection of stories about kenpoists who have devoted their lives, or at least spent a whole lot of years, constantly learn Kenpo karate. I’m working hard on composing the second volume of the book and am looking for submissions. To qualify, you must be a black belt in Kenpo Karate and have at least ten yrs. of mat time. Your lineage isn’t important, as far as qualifying, because I’m searching for kenpo enthusiasts from all different lineages. This isn’t about blowing your own horn or showing off, it’s about preserving our Kenpo roots and keeping track of where the many branches have gone. The following is my career, as included in the first volume.

My Kenpo karate journey began in the year 1979, when I was 11 years old. My friend, Roben, was involved in a kenpo class and since I decided she was good friend material, I made a decision to start it as well. (It worked out; we were great buddies for years.) I didn’t know anything about the style, but was lucky to end up in an American Kenpo karate school, which took place at the Belmont, CA YMCA. My first teacher was Vinton Koklich. I trained at that school for a bit over 4 yrs. until later my family moved up to Sacramento. The class was once per week and because I never practiced, I left that school a purple belt with one stripe. But — I was addicted. I’d received my initial taste of Kenpo karate and there was no going back.

I took time away from kenpo to become adjusted to the move, but when a year or so had passed, I began my search for a Kenpo karate school. Kenpo karate is the type of thing that gets becomes part of you. It is impossible to keep away from it. I also found that there wasn’t any other type of exercise which didn’t bore me to tears. I did a short trial at a couple of schools until finally I found 1 I liked. One day, when I was warming up before class, I saw a black belt on the floor stretching, who I had never met. I said hello , then told him my name, then I continued with my kata warm up.

He watched me for a few minutes, walked out of the room, came back in, took my practice sheet, then told me to follow him. He took me to one of the private curtained areas where they conducted private classes, and stated, “I’m your instructor now.” Uh, okay. His name was Ray Arquilla.

I learned to have a love with American kenpo from Vinton, but I think I formed my passion for Kenpo karate because of Ray. He fixed my basics and showed me how to train. And BOY, did we train! I was 17, so, at the time, the three hr. twice-weekly training sessions had been easier to handle then. I was , as it happened, the only woman in the class, so nearly killed myself to keep up with the guys. We undertook some insane workouts. One particular one that I remember specifically was the fivein the morning, crack-of-dawn, November, up-in-the-hills, weekendworkout, nearby the river. Towards the end of the killer workout, the instructor exclaimed, “I want you to follow what I do – no hesitation. Is that clear?” YES SIR! Following that, our beloved leader took off down the hill, through the bushes and went flying headfirst into the freezing cold river! I must have been a bit nuts back then as well because I did it — with only a minor hesitation. (GOD, I DESPISE cold water!) It was a very quick swim, but I still practically froze in place. The guy assisting us on the other shore laughingly said that my head poked up so high out of water that I strongly resembled a turtle.

In retrospect, it was great though. I continued at his school, learning more than I can say, for close to two yrs.

I later attended the school of Bob Liles for about one and a half years, during the time I was around twenty), leaving there later for several years to attend college along with other obligations.

One of the benefits to attending his dojo was that I was in a position to attend a seminar given by, and being an uke for, Mr. Ed Parker Sr., the previous year before he passed. I later moved down to Marin County, where I went to Marin Kenpo, becoming a student of Richard LaFave. He died a number of years ago, but I learned a lot in my brief time as his student. I needed to stop training before he died because I developed Hodgkin’s Disease (Lymphoma). I was deathly sick for about eighteen months, with an additional year or two for general healing. I checked out a couple of different Kenpo karate schools throughout my recovery, but none felt like home for me.

Eventually, I stumbled across Darryl Liner’s school, where I attended for roughly one and a half years, leaving after I found a bun in my oven. 1 kid became two – (it’s magical how that happens) so before long, it had been 6 years that I’d been without my art. During that time, I had become resigned to never receiving my black belt. When my son was two, however, I started to get the itch. I was sick of of feeling like an overweight, dowdy lump. (Raising kids will do that to a person, especially a work-from-home mom.)

I went back to Liner’s school, from which I eventually earned my shodan. The quest for black belt took a mere two and a half decades (total). I tested at Larry Tatum’s 1st Las Vegas camp, in 2004. I felt entirely prepared and had trained solidly for that test, but, as life would have it, my 220lb. instructor fell heavily on my knee sideways during one of the first few techniques for the test. I limped heavily through the rest of the test (plus the next six months). Not the kick-butt impression I dreamed of making!

As soon as I was promoted though, I began to teach a beginner’s adult class. I’d at all times assisted at the many schools I’d attended since becoming a blue belt, but this class was all mine. I loved it.

The only hard thing for me about going to that school was that I had nobody to workout. I did a whole lot of Air Kenpo. I could demolish the air like nobody’s business. After some time, I discovered a great Kenpo forum (www.kenpotalk.com) where I discovered people of a similar mindset as well as 1 of like-location: Through the forum, I met Tara Turnbull, who lives only 45 min. from me. Darryl’s school was right between us, so I asked her to join me for a workout as well as assist me in teaching my class. As she was also a kick-butt Air-Kenpoist, she jumped at the opportunity.

As it happened, she’s a very capable Kenpoist too. We easily formed a bond and not long after my 2nd degree black test, made a decision to break away and start a new school. Sacramento Kenpo Karate was born.

I was with no instructor for awhile, but after having attended quite a few kenpo camps as well as seminars, I found a large group of men and women who offered me assistance. Most of my instructors have been in the Tatum lineage and Tara’s has been in the Planas lineage, so we have a good deal to draw from. Our dojo (and me personally) were very fortunate when Ron Nakamoto joined us in 2008. He is currently a fourth degree black belt in American Kenpo and has not only enhanced the overall quality of our school, but of my personal life as well.

At SKK, we have made use of a lot of various dvds, including Larry Tatum’s and Mike Lambert’s, both of whom have influenced my art. I have found Lee Wedlake to be a wealth of generous knowledge. For the last several years, Dr. Dave Crouch has been my instructor (and very good friend) and We have found our kenpo philosophies to be most similar. I can sincerely say I’ve become a far more devastating killing machine with the knowledge gained from him, in my relatively-small amount of time on the mat with him, than I had learned in the many years at my previous school. Dr. Dave teaches kenpo in a concept-based way, which I can apply to each move in the system. As Dr. Dave says, Kenpo is HOW you move, not the moves themselves. He is one of the the truest example of what Mr. Parker intended, that I have ever had the pleasure of training with. In Sept. of 2011, Dr. Crouch honored me by promoting me to 3rd degree black belt.

Kenpo has been tantamount in molding as well as guiding my life. It has always been something I could lean on. I have met some of my best friends by way of Kenpo karate (you know who you are!)

I attend camps as well as seminars whenever I am able, frequently taking 100′s of photos at each one. I do what I can to give back to the art that that means so much to me.

Our website is the Sacramento Kenpo Karate. If you you are a Kenpoist, then you are family. Stop by anytime be part of a class. We’d appreciate having you.

Amy Long is a 3rd degree black belt in the art of Kenpo karate in addition to being the author for the first volume for the Kenpo Continuum. She is currently on the lookout for submissions for the next volume of stories.

About the Author

Amy is the President of the ULC Seminary and author of multiple books and courses on ceremonies and various spiritual belief systems.

Midsummer Classics (1979)