My teacher is Ed Parkers' Kenpo Son and Black Belt, Master Bob Liles. As a teacher and Manager at Liles' Karate school since 1988, I knew SGM Ed Parke...

My teacher is Ed Parkers’ Kenpo Son and Black Belt, Master Bob Liles. As a teacher and Manager at Liles’ Karate school since 1988, I knew SGM Ed Parker, spoke and ate with him on many occasions, went to 12 of his seminars, and competed at the Ed Parkers’ International Karate Championships 12 times (8 time IKC Champion) as well as won over 55 trophies and medals nationallyin Open tounaments.

I have observed a wide variety of martial arts in my travels, and can tell you that SGM Parkers’ version of Kenpo is quite unique and different from the current Kempo or Kenpo, as well as different from the his training origins. Visibly different. Although SGM Parkers’ origins were as stated in the article, he certainly added in his background of brawling in the streets of Hawaii, as well as his observations of other arts.

Mr. Parker had the unique ability to observe the movement of other systems, extract quality ideas, and finally, integrate these ideas into a very modern martial art. Modern as in street sensible. Ed Parker’s Kenpo truly should have a distinct category listing of it’s own.
How is his art different?

*He includes attacks from all ranges-long (kicks), medium (punches and kicks), and short (locks, chokes, holds and grabs).
He was the first instructor to first instructor to write down in length his complete art in the Ideal Phase (historically teachers pass down such arts verbally, and if they do write some down, it is very little. It is their bread and butter, after all.)

*He made a point to clearly explain and even write about concepts and principles that underlay the reasoning behind and the quality of movement. He took his ideas from many sources, including other martial arts, other walks of life, and his own observations. Though many teachers have some key ideas, he made a huge study of such information and organized and presented in such a way it was a revelation to the martial arts community. If you haven’t read his series called Insights into Kenpo, you should, no matter what art you study. If you heard him teach at a seminar, you knew that his knowledge was not just put together for a book; he was a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. No one had to dub him a Master; you knew it just listening to him.

*To watch him and his senior students move, the differences in movement between his style and others is evident. Mr. Parker, Frank Trejo, Bob Liles, Paul Mills, John Sepulveda, Dian Tanaka, Mike Pick, Brian Hawkins, -when they move, they don’t look like they are doing anything so contrived as a style. They are a study in relaxation, a blur of movement, boneless. The ground sometimes thunders when they apply marriage of gravity, the body of their opponent sounds like a drum upon impact, the clothing and hair shaking with the pop of the impact upon their body.

About Mr.’ Parkers’ Tournament ED Parkers’ International Karate Championships (IKC).
They were the largest and longest running tournament in the US. During the time I competed there, there were about 27 rings, and frequently 40-80 competitors in each division. I believe the number of competitors one year I attended was 7,000. His tournament was open to all styles and counties. You would have to contact Mr. Parkers’ widow, Leilani Parker, at the IKKA for more accurate numbers, as she and the family ran the tournament together.

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