KENPO CREEDS

I come to you with only karate, empty hands, I have no weapons, but should I be forced to defend myself my principles or my honor, should it be a matter of life or death, right or wrong, then here are my weapons Karate my empty hands.

Ed Parker

 

Karate is a brotherhood of all styles and systems It is also an art and a trust, handed down over countless generations by dedicated practitioners.

I vow never to violate that trust by using the art in any way other than honorably, right or just.

Therefore it will perpetuate.

Chuck Sullivan

 

 

Dragon Kenpo Creed

The classical martial arts present themselves as rivals. One a “hard” style, the other “soft”. This one emphasizing kicks, that one specializing in punches, the other takes each opponent to ground and wrestles. Yet the underlying premise is the same for each, in that a narrow system is presented as not only superior but holy. A shrine to the fixed knowledge is created, complete with ceremonies, rites and masters. None may transcend, or even question the institution’s unbending view of reality because of its sacredness.  

The Dragon Kenpo way, however, is the way of never ending learning and discovery. The techniques taught are guides that develop greater skill, not boundaries that no one may cross. Greatness, after all, is not achieved by thinking within limits prescribed by convention. Greatness requires engaging the unknown. It is there, in the mystery, that new discoveries are found.

 

The traditional arts are in the business of setting limitations. Their primary task is the creation of an imposed order and the production of conformity. Yet to adopt that order is to close out everything not included within it. By banishing the unknown the traditional martial artists advance by learning more and more about less and less. To the “masters” of the traditional styles, an unlimited mind is a dangerous thing. A lot of folks have a lot invested in the status quo. Those who choose growth and expansion should not be surprised to find resistance from those devoted to tradition. Choosing to cross boundaries, or even erase them, means coming into conflict with the imposed order.

 

There are no rules in total combat, so the Dragon Kenpo way is the path of free expression. The methods taught begin the process of endless discovery. We have only two choices as martial artists and as human beings : to be ordinary or to be explorers; to be followers or leaders. Regardless of who approves.

 

- Ed Hutchison, Founder of Dragon Kenpo Karate