Ed Parker's versus Geoff Johnson's American Kenpo

When creating Geoff Johnson's American Kenpo, my goal was to stay as close to Ed Parker's system of Kenpo as possible, while improving the practicality of the art and addressing ground fighting. You can visit the Belt Requirements link in the sidebar to see the material for each belt level in my Home Study Course.

Summary of Differences

I have re-ordered the techniques in each belt level so that all of the defenses are grouped according to the type of attack (e.g.Grabs and pushes, holds and hugs, chokes and locks from the front, side, and behind; ground fighting; strikes, weapons, and multiple opponents).

I have removed and re-worked several techniques I felt were impractical. I also created a few new techniques.

I incorporated some basic Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to address ground fighting, and created my own, more practical, defenses against knives and guns.

I removed all of the forms. Although they are a wealth of knowledge, I prefer to train my muscle memory for instinctive responses to attacks I am likely to encounter. The forms distract me from this goal. Besides, many of the techniques in the forms were the ones I removed from the system for being impractical.

I have altered the ranking system slightly. In my system there is only 1 degree of brown belt. I did this so that the base techniques are completed by 1st degree black belt.
I have removed the extensions. Most of the extensions did not contain any new information anyways. Any valuable information that was contained within the extensions has been incorporated into the base moves without significantly increasing the length of the techniques. This ensures that the techniques are short, powerful, and immediately applicable for self-defense.

Copyright 2020 Geoff Johnson. Any unauthorized reproduction or duplication of this website or its material, including pictures and logos, is strictly prohibited without permission. Contact Geoff Johnson's American Kenpo at KenpoGeoff@hotmail.com

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