Online Magazine Interview

:) I was interviewed for an online Martial Arts magazine this week and I'm pretty excited about it! You can read it here! :)

http://truwazama.weebly.com/assistant-instructor-carol-le-elliot.html

What Kenpo Teaches Me: Purple Belt Pledge

"I hold the Art of Kenpo sacred, and freely take upon myself the obligation and responsibility that I shall never misuse my skill to hurt or make afraid. I shall fight only if forced to defend myself and shall be slow to anger, loath taking offense, quick to forgive and forget personal affront." -Purple Belt Pledge

If you had asked me 4 years, 3 months and 26 days ago what I thought karate was about my answer would simply have been; "fighting." Luckily, since my start in American Kenpo I have come to find that karate is much more that fighting. In fact to deduce karate to merely "fighting" seems extremely prehistoric in my opinion.

I am very much a nerd; I enjoy reading, studying and learning about the philosophies that come with training to be a martial artist as well as the physical aspects. I believe that the sayings and the belt pledges are my favorite parts of studying Kenpo. I feel they truly capture what Kenpo is about. The Purple Belt Pledge is my focus for this particular blog entry. I'm going to break it down by sections and discuss my opinions accordingly.

"I hold the Art of Kenpo sacred"

 

These seven words speak volumes; Kenpo isn't something to be tossed around, Kenpo is not a party trick. Kenpo is a fascinating and deadly Art that should be treated with the utmost of respect.

 

 

"and freely take upon myself the obligation and responsibility that I should never misuse my skill to hurt or make afraid."

 

This is not the pledge of an instructor but of a Purple Belt student. The student at this rank is expected no not only understand but practice the belief that Kenpo is not to be used as a means to bully or intimidate. I feel this translates the same in all Art forms. We do not train so that we may use our Art to entice fights or arguments, or to frighten others into submission.

 

 

"I shall fight only if forced to defend myself"

 

 

Here it is spelled out clearly as possible, Kenpo is a self defense system. It is intended for use ONLY when there is no other alternative present. "only if forced" cannot be stressed enough.

 

 

"and I shall be slow to anger, loath taking offense, quick to forgive and forget personal affront."

 

This last section speaks of mindset. Forming the attitude of a Kenpoist. I personally believe this is the most difficult of all. This speaks of overcoming yourself, and bringing yourself to a higher level of thinking, which in turn will affect your actions.

 

 

I've had some situations occur during my time so far training in Kenpo that have caused me to stop and consider the things that I have learned thus far. Last night was one of those instances of reflection. My mind wanted me to think on the pledges I had made throughout my journey up to this point and Purple Belt's struck the deepest inspiration this time.

Kenpo not only teaches me how to defend myself in a physical situation; but it also teaches me how to hold myself to a higher standard. There is so much more to learning karate that just punches and kicks, so much more indeed. 

 





In Response To Mark Bundy

When you run a business of any kind you come in contact with all types of individuals. We've been very blessed in the short time span that we've been open; we have a wonderful caring group of individuals, who are a delight to interact with and inspire us to find new ways to make each student's education at Scholar and Warrior Kenpo Academy as enriching as possible. However, a situation has occurred that requires public attention because that is how it was introduced.

On September 15, 2012 Scholar and Warrior Kenpo Academy hosted an open invitation seminar. Several invitations were sent out prior to many of the surrounding Kenpoists. Included in the 100+ invitations were invitations to not only Mr. Mark Bundy of Cameron, Missouri; but also some of his students.

Three of Mr. Bundy's students accepted this offer. They unfortunately were not able to make it to the specified seminar time for their age group however they did stay and spend the day with us during the rest of the seminars occurring that day because they wanted to spend some time with the instructor. 

These three individuals asked to participate in our regular classes for a short time span, and Gene and I agreed to allow it. After their trial period concluded the individuals decided they would like to transfer schools. Gene and I accepted them as long as they notified Mr. Bundy that they were leaving his school. Notification took place and on October 8, 2012 all three individuals enrolled officially as students of Scholar and Warrior Kenpo Academy. 

On October 13, 2012 Mr. Bundy decided rather than addressing this situation privately with Gene and I he would bring this to the public through Facebook. Mr. Bundy wrote; 

1. "Wow, so now I have to be straight forward to people that deserve neither respect or the rank they wear because of their attitudes. To the Kenpo group in St. Joseph, Missouri. It's one thing to trash talk the man who brought you to the current rank you wear, and gave you your start in Kenpo. It's totally another to talk to his students of 5 years behind his back, and recruit them to your school with sweet talk and lies. When they win their next tournament, have the decency to give credit to the man who trained them to the level of proficiency they possess.....ME. Now I must, because of YOUR attitudes and hatefulness, Deny any and all rank bestowed by me to you. You do not exist in my lineage, and will never be referred to as former students of mine. I certainly hope that someone in the future returns to you, what you have done to me. See you at tournament......be prepared."
   

   
   

These students were not offered promotions of rank, nor any other sort bribe. In fact they were demoted from First Degree Jr. Black Belts to First Degree Jr. Brown Belts because Scholar and Warrior Kenpo Academy does not promote anyone under the age of 16 to Black Belt. Mr. Bundy's former students pursued Gene and I and came to visit our school on their own accord. They were dissatisfied with the instruction they were receiving with Mr. Bundy and sought a new instructor. These things do happen and Gene and I felt there was no reason to refuse them as long as they notified Mr. Bundy that they no longer wanted to be his students. As a man that has had at least four different instructors since I have known him (which is just over four years as I began training in July of 2008)  I would expect Mr. Bundy to be familiar with this process and understand that sometimes students move on. 

Why Mr. Bundy felt the need to handle this situation publicly and even go as far as to add a semi threatening phrase at the end of his rant is beyond me. Unfortunately all it has done is embarrass three children and their parents.