Almost a year passed since Kennedy had been assassinated; the Civil Rights Act became law; Viet Nam began its insidious grind, kidnapping the lives of millions of Americans; the Beatles landed and quickly climbing the charts; pirate radio commandeered the shores and race riots consumed our cities.
I was 11 years old at the time. My father, an old school Pasadena icon, decided the world was too dangerous for his only son and enrolled me in karate. At the time, there were limited options for martial arts with a choice of three: judo, boxing, karate. My dad took me to Ed Parker’s Kenpo Karate in Pasadena which was biking distance from home.
The dojo had an asian look and feel to it. This was the early 1960‘s and most of Southern California’s architecture were post WWII homes and the old craftsman style bungalows that California is famous for. The dojo front resembled the outside of an asian residence with a set of dark teak looking wood stairs leading to the huge coral door marking the entrance. There was a small administrative type office right in the door. Mr Parker’s office had a big picture window looking over the mats. Mr Parker would sit behind his desk, meeting with various people, who I came to know over the years as Hollywood heavies: Robert Culp, Peter Sellers, Blake Edwards, Joe Hyams, Elvis Presley along with the martial arts up and comers like James Lee, Professor William Chow (Mr. Parker’s teacher), Chuck Norris, Bruce Lee, Dan Inosanto, and Larry Hartsell to name a few.
Saturday mornings, I would bike to the Kenpo studio for the 0900 class. Since I was only eleven, the evening classes were for adults. During the ensuing teen years I observed as many adult classes as I could. A few times, when I was older, I would go to Little Tokyo with Mr. Parker and several of these soon to be famous martial artists who frequented the dojo and ate sashimi.
Mr. Parker felt that the ranks of brown belt and above were reserved for adult students. So as younger students progressed, we were awarded the rank of green belt, which was considered a junior brown. White belts had 4 ‘tips’ , brown with 3 ‘tips’ and black. Nobody was called a grand master back then although Mr. Parker was recognized as the father of American karate. As teenagers, we heard a rumor that Ed Parker possessed a red belt We had little idea what that meant but it was mysterious and we held high regard for Mr. Parker.
I remember the Green Hornet tv show aired during my 7th grade year in school. I could not wait for my father to get home so I could tell him that ‘Kato’ was played by one of the people I had seen working out with Mr. Parker.
We would travel to Mr. Parker’s West Los Angeles school for competitions. That school was run by Dan Inosanto and assisted by Larry Hartsell. In later stories told by Guro Dan, Larry Hartsell was Parker’s ‘enforcer’. This meant that any person entering the studio challenging what was being taught (and back in those days, it was a somewhat frequent occurrence), Larry was the one to ‘take on’ the person. There is a somewhat fun story about the time Larry threw a man through the wall where Mr. Parker had just had an elaborate and expensive Kenpo Crest painted.
Karate was new to America and many people made fun of it. In high school I asked Mr. Parker to give a demonstration. As kids like to do, my peers mocked my Kenpo and I sincerely believed once they witnessed the awesomeness of this man, they would be sold on Kenpo. I rode to my school gym in the front seat of Mr. Parker’s black Eldorado, seated between him and Roger Meadows, a high ranking Kenpoist. I couldn’t have felt more proud. The demonstration lasted a whole class period. It was impressive, but afterward the school coach was chastised me and asserted that a good boxer could take a karate person any day.
Soon after, I approached Mr. Parker and asked him if other fighting styles could beat karate. And if they could, is there a solution to that problem. Mr.Parker suggested that we go out on the mat and see how we could incorporate boxing into Kenpo. There was also another student a year older than me that was also interested in boxing. Through hard work we found that Kenpo could be adapted to deal with other fighting styles. Mr. Parker would see how we could adapt Kenpo to match with various systems. Then we would add weapons to the Kenpo, experimenting how the Kenpo stood up against knife, and chain (we would use a gi belt to simulate the chain). After that, bo staffs and kali sticks were introduced. Mr. Parker alluded a rule that in order to study a style or system, you must get to know the culture and ways of that style or system. To me, he was saying to honor another system, don’t just hijack their moves but understand their context and respect the lineages behind all arts. Into my 58th year of martial arts, I now realize Mr. Parker wasn’t just teaching us how to fight but how to think.
One Saturday, Mr. Parker left with several people and told us to lock up (we had keys to the dojo). ‘No fooling around and remember this time to turn out the lights”. No more than five minutes after he departed, 7 of us decided to practice mass attack techniques. I caught a rear heel scoop under my chin. It required 6 stitches and Mr. Parker was not happy.
During class we would run ‘technique lines’ . While we were executing various Kenpo techniques (five swords, lone kimono, thundering hammers…), Mr. Parker wanted us to add our own moves to ‘adjust’ the techniques. It was clear that Mr. Parker viewed Kenpo as dynamic, ever evolving, never staying the same. He used to tell us that if we were still doing the same Kenpo a year or two from now, then ‘you aren’t doing Kenpo.’
The first Ed Parker International Karate Tournament, in Long Beach, California was held in 1964. My father, myself and a Kenpo friend attended. Once we arrived my friend Jeff and I took off and found Mr. Parker. He told us we could hang around, but that we had to be quiet and stay out of the way. I remember virtually all of the contestants wore white gi’s. There were no colored belts at the time. I noticed a predominate number of brown belts. When Bruce Lee came on for his demonstration, he was dressed so differently. No gi- he looked like a ninja to my young self. All clothed in black gung-fu attire. I remember Guru Dan being there and doing a floor sparring demonstration. After being introduced by Ed parker, Bruce Lee talked about his art and told the group a little about himself. One story he related that hen does not drink or smoke. When he told a man this the man asked, ‘so what do you do?’ ‘I chew gum’ Lee replied. “many men drink!’ the man countered, ‘Ah, but Fu Man Chu’ quipped Lee.
Years later, early 2000’s I was driving around West L.A. with Sifu Larry. On a whim I pulled intro Brian Hawkins Kenpo dojo on Venice Blvd. Sifu and I went in. I remember Mr. Hawkins, recognizing Sifu, halted the class, and had everyone face and bow to Sifu. Sifu Larry was noticeably embarrassed by the attention. During their discussion, it was agreed that Sifu would give a knife seminar and grappling seminar at an upcoming Kenpo gathering. The accompanying photograph shows Sifu Larry and myself at the Kenpo gathering.
For me, this was a return to where it all began. A series of causes and conditions arose, a deliberate emptying of a cup – this path of inclusion and self mastery is forged.
John Doty, is a Senior Instructor in the Jun Fan Jeet Kune Do Grappling Association.