Customer Reviews

Ed Parker's Infinite Insights Into Kenpo: Mental Stimulation

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4 star:		(1)
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The first in a five volume series, this book contains Ed Parker's Autobiography as well as a detailed history of Kenpo as Parker understood it. Parker explains how he learned kenpo in Hawaii from William Chow, began teaching it in the United States, started the Kenpo Karate Association of America (KKAA), which became the International Kenpo Karate Association (IKKA). Explained are all of the symbols of American Kenpo, including the original International Kenpo Karate Association patch, Parker's original Universal Symbol.

This volume goes beyond most basic introductory books in that it includes a significant amont of detail. For instance, in chapter 3 when Parker explains the three divisions of the art of Kenpo, including Basics, Self Defense, and Freestyle, he breaks each one of these three divisions into all of its possible components. Basics includes techniques, combinations, and kata, or forms, physical and mental conditioning, etc. Parker explains each specific term, why it is important and how it applies. Additionally there is a glossary in the back of the book which covers all of the kenpo specific terms used in the book. If you need to refresh on the difference between Paragraphs of Motion versus Phonetics of Motion, you need only flip to the back of the book.

My complaints about this book are few--namely, lack of an index, and the glaring omission of the Family Tree Chart, which was mentioned specifically, but never included in the book. Other than that, I highly recommend this book to practitioners of American Kenpo specifically, as well as practitioners of any of the "traditional" striking arts. Ed Parker was a thinking matrial artist who put his ideas concerning martial arts practice down in a specific way so that others could understand and build on his work. Whether one practices his style of kenpo or not, the principles are worth considering and this book is worth reading.

Chapters in Volume One: Mental Stimulation include:
1. Introduction
2. History of American Kenpo
3. Three Divisions of the art (Basics, Self-Defense, Freestyle)
4. Relationship of Martial arts Systems
5. The Art as Related to Daily Living
6. Ingredients, Stages, and Plateaus of Learning
7. Philosophical Attainment
8. My Philosophy of the Martial Arts
9. Formalities and Rituals (verbal respect, Physical gestures of respect--Parker himself demonstrates the Kenpo Salute)
10. Belt Ranking System
11. Preparatory Considerations (Acceptance, Environmental Awareness, Range, Position, Maneuvers, Targets, Natural Weapons, Natural Defenses
12. Stories of Related Value (Time and Place, Modern Day Ethics)
13 The Ten Commandments of Prevention
14 Conclusion
Glossary of Terminology

This is one of the cornerstones that all Kenpo instructors should be very well versed in. Being well versed in this is what will make the differentiation between a good black belt and a true Kenpo black belt. In addition, this was a tough book to find before I found it here.

I am training with Master Rose in the Art of American Kenpo Karate and reading this book enforces everything he has taught me. It is an excellent book for anyone interested in taking up or participating in the Art of American Kenpo Karate. I highly recommend it.

Well, I am certainly no expert however I feel the sheer fact Mr Parker was able to write the extaordinary accompanying texts to his art deserves 5 stars. Having experienced a taste of Mr Parker's genius in my dojo through the skilled teachings of my instructor, I am doubly happy that there is a textual reference to backup and enforce the knowledge imparted to me. Any true science is benefited by a reference, although there can be no substitute for a skilled instructor. Hopefully this and the other books will act as a compass to keep me pointed in the right direction in years to come.

A very good book to supplement formal training. I use it as a study guide on the basic techniques which are essential to appreciating the art. It has detailed diagrams of stances and foot positions, as well as explanations of why and when you choose particular stances. He did a great job with this. I highly recommend it. It easy to read, imaginative and the illustrative drawings are better than the poor quality photo imaging available at the time of its publishing.

This book is very detailed in the history of Ed Parker style Kenpo. It is very heavy in philosophy and answers all of the questions of how and why he developed Kenpo into the fighting style that it is. This book lays the foundation for all five books, however in my opinion this series would have been better suited as one complete book. As with all of Ed Parker's writings this book goes in depth into his ego. This book is well worth reading and essential to any martial arts library if you are a student of martial arts or studying Kenpo. The only complaint that I have about this book is the printing quality of the book itself.

I'll leave this review to apply to the entire "Infinite Insight" series.

I used to think Ed Parker kenpo was just fakey Hollywood-style martial arts because of his Bruce Lee and Elvis connections. However, on researching more with an open mind I became extremely impressed by what I read and by what I saw in the instructors - enough to be enrolled and taking lessons.

These books are a treasure!

Ed Parker was present at the creation of American Kenpo Karate. He was the essential bridge between James Mitose and the Chow family and much of what we know and do in the karate style of martial arts today in America. Ed Parker for some reason has been relegated to a footnote in martial art history. He was much more than a karate promoter who introduced Bruce Lee to the public. He was a teacher and writer of siignificance. Elvis Presley who by the way was a real martial artist was greatly impressed by Ed Parker. I mention that because some doofus will be so impressed by that tangential tidbit he might buy the books and actually learn something other than punching, kicking, striking, grappling and crying for mommy. Ironically, Bruce, Elvis and James Mitose met an ignominious fate, but that is another story for another day. If, like me, you are a martial artist of the Dan rank and you have not read Ed Parker's volumes on Kenpo, shame on you. Martial-up dude! You need to acquire these volumes and read them. In my opinion the worst martial artist is the unread one because there is no excuse for not understanding the historic, philosophic, and other traditions of karate. Yeh, unread is worse than the fantacist followed by the guys focused soley on the physical aspects of martial arts. You know of course there are four dimensions to martial arts, right? And probably your Sensei isn't going into much detail about the other three dimensions because your sorry ass can't demonstrate a respectable reverse punch yet. Sound familiar? You know of course the story about blank 8 1/2 x 11 sheet of paper held up by the hand of the Master in front of the Kyu rank student. He tears off a very small corner of the paper sheet and hands it to the student saying, "this is what I teach and give to you". He then hands the rest of the sheet of paper to the student and says, "This is what you make of my teaching, and together they make up the sum total of what you know about the martial arts." In other words, if all you do is attend class, not practice and not read books than you will, after 10 years, suck as a martial artist. You will look like many of the wise guys I see in dojos who seem to be working toward getting a black belt arrest record with he local police. Wow, I just learned the flying double front snap kick, I think I'll go to a bar and find some patsy to try this technique on. Guess what, I am the bad ass who knows what a moron you are and smart beats stupid all the time. I digress. Unless you've already guessed, this paper sheet story is a made up metaphor for all teaching and learning whether in school, home or at the workplace. Reading Ed Parker is how you begin to connect the two pieces of paper together. Get it and get it.

Although I am a Goju-Ryu stylist, this series of books has really opened my eyes to aspects of the martial way that previously I have learned only through hard earned experience. A must read for the serious martialist and a great addition to the library.

How introspective. It is the history of the art straight from the master. Not only does it look at the history, the reasons why the art form is used and created the way it is, but it makes you take a long look at yourself and how to invoke a tranquil meditative lifestyle.