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The 5 Principles
of U.S.S.D.
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Effort -
Putting forth an exertion of strength physically, mentally, and
emotionally.
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Etiquette
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Conventional Code of good manners which governs behavior in
society.
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Sincerity
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Honesty of mind or Intention: truthfulness.
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Self-Control -
Control over impulses, emotions and weaknesses.
Do what you have to do.
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Character
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The person you really are when no one is looking; total
qualities that make you up as an individual.
The 10 Laws Of The Fist
By
CHARLES MATTERA
A 10th degree black belt
and the headmaster of the United Studios of Self-Defense Inc.
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Circle
vs. Line
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The first law of Kenpo
states that when your opponent charges straight in and attacks, you
should use your feet to move your body along a circular path. You
should also consider moving your arms in a circular pattern to
deflect the oncoming force.
When your opponent attacks you in a circular fashion, however, you
should respond with a fast linear attack —along a straight line from
y o u r weapon to his target. Just as the circle can overcome the
line, the line can overcome the circle.
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Strike
First
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This principle has
several meanings. First, it indicates that Kenpo is primarily a
striking art. Seventy percent hands and 30 percent feet is the
classical breakdown, but you can change the proportion according to
the circumstances or your body build.
The second meaning is that if a confrontation is inevitable—a thug
is climbing through your bathroom window at 2 o’clock in the morning
and he starts swinging a baseball bat—you should not wait for the
aggressor to attack first. You need to hit him first with a foot, a
fist, an elbow or a knee. You also need to hit hard and hit
continuously until he is subdued.
The Kenpo curriculum also includes numerous grappling and throwing
techniques, but research has shown they are used in less than 25
percent of the encounters practitioners have found themselves in,
and they are ineffective against multiple attackers. Because
grappling uses four times as much strength and energy as striking
does, it has been deemed a last resort suitable for use only if your
opponent penetrates your first and second lines of defense: your
feet and fists, respectively.
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Multiple Strikes and Kicks
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Kenpo is different from
many karate styles in that it teaches you to strike first and strike
often in rapid succession— high, low, straight in and along a
circular path. While unleashing such rapidfire strikes, it becomes
difficult to kiai (shout) in conjunction with each one.
Therefore, you should forget about issuing a kiai with each blow; in
fact, doing so means you are expending excess energy.
Your first and second strikes should be designed to stun, distract
and slow your opponent. Your third and, if necessary, fourth strikes
are the power blows. Remember the Kenpo maxim: First set your
opponent up, then take him out.
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Strike
to Soft points of Body
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If you had to punch a
hole through a wall, would you rather hit a half-inch of sheet rock
or a 2x4 stud? The answer is obvious, and it’s also why Kenpo
advocates striking “soft” targets. No one ever broke his knuckle
punching an attacker’s temple, no one ever fractured his instep
kicking an attacker’s groin and no one ever injured his knifehand
striking an attacker’s throat.
In Japan the makiwara board is used to toughen the hands, and in
Thailand muay Thai fighters harden their shins by kicking banana
trees. Kenpo is different in that it teaches the path of least
resistance and least pain. Precisely targeting the temple, face,
nose, neck, solar plexus, stomach, groin and floating ribs is
superior to simply pummeling away on random parts of the aggressor’s
body.
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Kick
Low
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Kenpo’s mandate to kick
low is based on logic. A roundhouse kick and spinning reverse
crescent kick to the head may be flashy and impressive, but such
maneuvers take longer to execute because your leg has to travel
farther.
They also expose your groin to your opponent’s kick. Because kicking
high requires superior balance and focus, you should practice your
leg techniques high. But deliver them low for self-defense.
Furthermore, kicking low to the legs—executing a “pillar attack”—can
break your opponent’s balance and his leg.
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No
block principle
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Kenpo emphasizes
economy of movement and economy of time. Hence, its no-block
principle teaches that to avoid being struck by a punch or kick, you
should move your body out of harm’s way. The most advanced defense
taught in the martial arts, it was perhaps best expressed by the old
Shaolin priest in the Kung Fu television series: “Avoid rather than
check; check rather than block; block rather than strike; strike
rather than hurt; hurt rather than maim; maim rather than kill—for
all life is precious.”
Strategically, a block is a wasted move because it does not stop
your opponent from attacking again with his free limb. It is much
better to move yourself out of the way of his punch or kick and
simultaneously counterattack.
This way of fighting is reserved for brown belts and above, however,
because it requires a higher level of skill to employ correctly and
a significant amount of sparring experience to avoid the tendency to
allow your feet to stick to the ground during the crisis your brain
senses.
The no-block principle does not mean blocking plays no part in
fighting. If you were standing in a corner with no way out and an
assailant charged with a club, you would have to block his attack.
That’s why Kenpo teaches eight distinct blocking systems, along with
dozens of traps, yet they all lead to the same maxim: The best block
of all is no block at all.
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Hard
vs. Soft/Soft vs. Hard
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Yielding and
redirecting are best exemplified by the symbol of yin and yang (soft
and hard). When your opponent attacks hard, you should counterattack
soft. If he is weaker than you or attacks soft, you should
counterattack hard to end the encounter quickly and directly.
Aikido includes many techniques that rely on the same principle of
yielding and redirecting. In most karate systems, however, blocking
is extremely hard and may injure not only the attacker but also the
blocker. For the most part, Kenpo does not adhere to this concept of
“a block is a strike.” Instead, it teaches you to block soft and
strike hard.
Redirecting is also of paramount importance. Many arts teach their
practitioners to use a downward block to stop a front kick,
resulting in the dents’ hammerfist being slammed into the attacker’s
instep, but such an impact can break the blocking hand or arm. Kenpo
teaches that it is preferable to parry your opponent’s leg to the
side and spin him off-balance before you counterattack hard. Such a
redirecting movement will usually disrupt his balance and leave him
vulnerable.
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Mobility
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Mobility may be the
easiest Kenpo principle to understand. It holds that a moving target
is harder to hit than a stationary one. As basic as that sounds,
many martial artists fail to implement it.
Kenpo teaches that there are three types of fighters: the statue,
who has little mobility and will not retreat; the runner, who has to
be chased around the ring; and the steamroller, who just keeps
coming at you. If you are any one of these, be careful because you
are predictable and can thus be defeated. To transcend mediocrity,
you must mix things up and no matter what, keep moving. If your
stance is upright and your movement is good, you will be able to put
yourself in a superior position relative to your opponent.
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Upright
Stances
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The law of flexibility
is the law of survival. Kenpo is unique in that it adapts to your
build, personality and spirit. If you stand 4 feet 10 inches tall,
it makes little sense for you to focus on kicking when your greatest
strengths may be mobility and quickness. If you are a 110-pound
woman, it makes little sense for you to grapple with a 230- pound
assailant. The old Kenpo masters showed their wisdom when they
proclaimed that in a fight for your life, you should use what you
know best and forget about the sanctity of the style. Every
practitioner has different attributes that can make him or her
effective.
A tall person with long legs may have an advantage with kicking; a
short person may have an advantage with his hands; and a heavy
person may have an advantage in grappling. The law of flexibility
allows them all to develop their own repertoire of techniques from
within Kenpo.
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Warrior
Spirit
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The final principle of
Kenpo is composed of two essential components: the internal and
external. A rabid dog may pose a formidable threat, but it possesses
only the external component of the warrior spirit. Inside, the
animal is not thinking. To have a complete warrior spirit, you must
be ferocious on the outside but calm and tranquil on the inside.
Samurai warriors used to say that any day is a good day to die. That
did not mean they sought death. On the contrary, they wanted to
preserve life— especially their own. But they knew that if they went
into battle with fear in their heart, they could die or sustain a
serious injury. They knew that only by embracing and accepting death
could they focus everything on the physical task at hand: defeating
the enemy.
Your kiai, facial expressions, stance and on-guard position must all
work in unison. Following the principle of yin and yang, you should
be hard on the outside and soft on the inside. When used in this
way, warrior spirit can be more important than physical skill.
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KEY TO SUCCESS
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Perhaps the best way to
put the 10 laws of Kenpo into practice is to think of them as keys
that can unlock the doors of higher learning. Remember that they are
not written in stone, as there are exceptions to every rule.
In the 35 years I have practiced Kenpo, I have discovered only one
negative side to the 10 laws: A single lifetime is not enough to
learn everything there is to know about them. No doubt many martial
artists would consider that a positive.
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