I choose to stress points of agreement

Zach,

I hesitated to respond to your question (which was a valid question) only because I choose to stress points of agreement rather than divergent methods of training.

Kenpo, as Ed Parker first taught it, was based on street REALITY. It was hard, some would say brutal. Some of my students (Tony Martinez for example) still talk about the pain involved. That method of training was directly related to the Ed Parker axiom, "To hear is to be deceived; to see is to doubt; to feel is to be convinced."

The commercial side of running studios had the greatest impact on changing the way Kenpo was taught. American students had little tolerance for pain. Those studios which depended on longterm profits modified training methods the most. Although Ed Parker eventually "softened" the training regimen SLIGHTLY, he retained a much harder style of training than most offshoot schools did.

The "pure Kenpo" advocates, such as Jeff Speakman, are less tolerant of those deviations than others might be. That doesn't make him wrong. It merely demonstrates a different perspective.

Good question, I hope I've answered it to your satisfaction.

Cordially,
Mills Crenshaw