Tracy’s
Kenpo
Many
who study this art try to claim it as a pure Chinese art, usually referring to
it as chuan fa, or Chinese kara te, kara being Chinese for tang (Tang Dynasty),
and te for hand, thus making it tang hand, which means Chinese hand, thus
referring to it as a Chinese art. In its roots kenpo is a great mix of Japanese
and Chinese arts intertwined with American idealogies. Tracy’s style Kenpo is a
good art and has much to offer, unfortunately being the first true franchise
martial arts, some of the style has been watered down by some of its people,
and some focus on teaching the large amount of material rather than sharing
their art with others. As with any business when the prime goal is to make
money other things can be let go. This is in no way saying all the schools or
individual teaching Tracy’s kenpo or other styles are not good martial artists,
but there is a better chances of this occurring, with the more people you have.
Tracy’s
Kenpo was founded by James and Al Tracy, who were assisted by such people as
Don Insanto, and they turned their system into one of the top money making
styles ever. Their system is based on eight pre black belts and ten black belt
ranks. To receive a black belt one will learn 250 self-defense techniques, both
right and left handed, and many of the techniques have more than one version,
you will also learn 14 empty hand forms and 8 weapon sets. After black belt you
will learn 30 more self defense techniques, at least one empty hand and weapon
form per rank, now that’s a lot of material!
Here are the empty hand forms
taught in Tracy’s Kenpo system:
Short
Form 1, Short Form 2, Short Form 3,
long Form 1, Long Form 2, Long Form 3, Long Form 4, Long Form 5, Long
Form 6, Long Form 7, Long Form 8, Panther Set, Little Tiger, Tiger & Crane
Set, Mass Attack Set, Finger Set, Moving Finger Set , 2 Man Black Belt Set, and
Tam Tui..
The
weapon forms of kenpo include:
Dark Room Staff Set, Floor Sweeping
middle staff set, Skylight Staff Set, Chinese staff Set, Broadsword set 1 &
2, Japanese kneeling sword set, 8 Point Spear set, and the Chinese Spear Set.
My Tracy’s Kenpo lineage is of
two branches:
William Chow & James Mitose William
Chow & James Mitose
Ed
Parker Ed Parker
Al Tracy
(founder) Al Tracy ( founder)
Rodney
Swinehart
Will Duncan Hugh ?????
Jay C Shrewsbury Mark
Miller
Ken
Ortner