I know I haven’t written in a while but life gets hectic. One thing is for sure, writing a newsletter or blog are both very time consuming. Just to catch you up, I continue to teach my classes weekly and train my own material. Like all things, my material started to degrade from lack of practice. So I follow my own advice and began hitting a practice routine with more vigor. Of course, that means writing time diminishes.
Then there are the other projects I’m working on and having children on Summer Vacation. Now that school started again, I find myself still without a lot of spare time. My advice is to schedule all your activities as if they were job related tasks. If you want to accomplish something, you need to chip away at it one hour at a time if necessary.
So I hope my lack of availability and posting inspires you to keep working. It may remind you that “Yes, I’m a regular dude” too. As always, if you have a topic idea or question, please submit it to me either by email or comments. I read both often.
Please tweet about the blog, join our Facebook page or subscribe to the RSS feed if you want to stay up to date with any new releases. There’s no reliable schedule yet so this is the best way to get notified.
GOLD stands for Guidance on Leadership Development. This program includes comprehensive training on leadership skills that build personal character and life skills. The GOLD Team Program creates a solid, high-quality leadership team, which serve as exemplars to the student body. Benefits of the program include:
Personal development through character enrichment
Effective communication to individuals and groups
Leadership skills essential for getting groups to work together
Motivation skills and how to maintain it in a group setting
How to teach our curriculum effectively
Mentoring other students to help them stay focused on their goals
The GOLD TEAM is (usually) made up of Advanced Training Club or Black Belt Club members who show excellent interpersonal skills and a super-winning attitude. Having Olympic-level technique is not required. Acceptance onto the GOLD team is based mainly upon great attitude, world-class effort, and consistent attendance.
This program allows a student interested in taking a leadership role to be mentored under a Certified Master Instructor. GOLD Team members are eligible for jobs as Junior Assistant Instructor (at lower rank classes) and attend staff workouts and meetings.
GOLD Team is the first step in the journey to becoming a Kempo or Martial Arts Instructor. A candidate student must show a passion for the art of Kempo and excel at displaying all the moral tenets Karazenpo go Shinjutsu / Hawaiian Shaolin Kempo. The candidate should also demonstrate a desire to share his or her knowledge with others and maintain a goal of Black Belt Excellence.
For our younger members (Keiki Kempo), we require a report card that reflects good behavior and good grades along with permission from their parents. To be considered for GOLD, a student would inform the Senior Instructor of their interest.
GOLD team members are considered leaders of our school and are trained to assist in classes along with our professional instructors. It makes a great place to get your start if you are interested in eventually teaching martial arts as a job or career.
Membership Rules
You must be at least 5 minutes early for the class or classes you are mentoring.
If you are unable to make class, you must call the school and call someone on the list to fill in for you.
Always be in a good mood, don’t come in if you are less than 100% (positive attitude, good health, fully rested). Anything less and you are a distraction to the students and parents.
Someone always needs help. Seek them out and offer your assistance.
You must wear a clean school shirt underneath your clean kempo uniform.
If you miss 3 times without calling the school or calling someone to fill in for you –you are off the team.
“Golden Leopard Kempo’s Instructors share a common goal. It is having the passion, enthusiasm, and pride to be able to teach and help others become successful. Having the ability to motivate and encourage students to challenge themselves mentally, spiritually, and physically, to set goals and to achieve them.” — Master Bagnas
All of Golden Leopard Kempo’s Instructors and GOLD Leadership Team are personally taught and mentored by Master Bagnas in GLKO’s extensive GOLD Instructor Training Program (Guidance on Leadership Development).
Regular attendance at weekly and monthly Instructor Training Sessions with Master Bagnas is mandatory. Golden Leopard Kempo expects and seeks the high standards from its students. GLKO’s GOLD Team is expected to attend professional development courses, workshops and seminars throughout the year. Finally, First Aid, CPR, and/or baby-sitting certifications are a mandatory requirement each year to ensure student and community safety. Remember that we are warriors in and outside the Dojo.
September and October have been very busy months for me. The children are back to school and the dojo has added several new students. This has developed into a lack of time to write my articles. Thank you for your patience during this busy time.
Gun defense
Wednesday’s class focused on applying wrist locks from the same side and cross hand grips. Just for the record, the same side grip uses both a wrist and finger lock to cause pain. I showed a follow up move and throw for advanced students. The cross hand grip uses the knife hand to cause pain in the wrist.
With all locks, remember to keep the 90° angle in one if not two joints. They will work better that way. Do each step in sequence. Apply pressure and get the full bend before moving on to the next step or a twist/rotation.
Feel free to send me questions about class or the martial arts. I’ll attempt to answer them.
In the modern day, you are rarely armed when attacked. Between gun control laws, air port security and knife limitations, we don’t have many options. Luckily in Kempo, we can use a bad guy as a weapon against multiple attackers. When faced with multiple opponents, you need all the advantages you can get. They have the advantage of superior numbers, so you need the advantage of superior training and using available resources.
Practicing throws
Once you get a hold of an opponent, turn your waist and fling him into another attacker. Directing his fall into another thug or ruffian. If you have more control over the opponent through leverage or pain compliance, then use him as a shield or obstacle against the other assailants. Then throw him into an opponent when it’s most advantageous.
Don’t be afraid to use their clothes as weapons too. Jackie Chan movies are great for using improvised weapons and items lying around the combat zone. He’ll pull jackets around someone’s arms or put a bag over someone’s head. His characters make use of objects in the environment to gain advantage.
So the next time you find yourself facing off against multiple bad guys, take one as your weapon. Thinking creatively is the key to success.
Golden Leopard Info is a blog for students of Kempo or any style that finds it useful. It is also about the martial arts journey we all take toward self-development. Kempo is a constantly evolving art form that has a depth of theories that utilizes biomechanics and physics to make things work. The articles here will contain some of my lecture notes, recent dojo discussions, reviews of interesting movies and how the Way affects our regular life. This is an Internet Dojo, a place to train the mind, body and spirit.
For fifteen years, I wrote and compiled a dojo newsletter for my school and organization. It was a lot of work but I enjoyed it. That’s probably why I continued to write so long. A blog provides a richer format compared to newsletters because the reader can comment, adding their own insights and reflections. A conversation is much better than a lecture.
You may imagine a strict dojo chief with a stern demeanor and fierce eyes. That’s not me. I like to joke and be relaxed. However training is serious business and should be treated as such. This is balanced with humor and levity during training. Follow the rules and show respect for your fellow human being. That’s the easiest rule to remember — the Golden Rule.
What is Golden Leopard Kempo? It is my personal expression of the martial arts based primarily on my work in Karazenpo go Shinjutsu and Hawaiian/American Shaolin Kempo. Other influences on this base include extensive Jujutsu, Kobudo, Arnis, Escrima, Tai Chi, Ba Gua, Hsing I, Ninjutsu and Silat. I’m also fascinated by European and Indigenous warrior traditions as well as modern combat. If it involves fighting, then I probably will enjoy learning about it.
Uncategorized | Sensei September 23, 2010 | 
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