Thoughts About Kajukenbo as a Striking Art

[smitchell]

During the Wednesday May 12, 2010 class, we practiced ground rotations where the person on the ground would grab at the person doing the rotation. Sifu Phil observed that a number of students would break off their strikes to grab or push/pull at the arm that was grabbing them. He suggested that we should ignore the arm and continue with our strikes. He also stated that Kajukenbo is a striking art and we should not get distracted into grabbing match and that a strike will cause the grabbing arm to disengage.

After some thought, I saw parallels between Kajukenbo's principle of striking and Western military science principles. The principles listed below were derived from the U.S. Army Field Manual FM 100-5. I have listed my take on equivalent Kajukenbo principles below each military principle.

(Military) Offensive – Seize, retain, and exploit the initiative. Offensive action is the most effective and decisive way to attain a clearly defined common objective. Offensive operations are the means by which a military force seizes and holds the initiative while maintaining freedom of action and achieving decisive results. This is fundamentally true across all levels of war.

(Kajukenbo) Strike - Strike the attacker. Maintain the initiative. When grabbed while striking, adjust to the change in situation, but don't react and deviate from your plan of attack. If you react and change, you are no longer executing your plan and keeping the initiative, but are instead giving the initiative to your opponent.

(Military) Mass - Mass the effects of overwhelming combat power at the decisive place and time. Synchronizing all the elements of combat power where they will have decisive effect on an enemy force in a short period of time is to achieve mass. Massing effects, rather than concentrating forces, can enable numerically inferior forces to achieve decisive results, while limiting exposure to enemy fire.

(Kajukenbo) Multiple Strikes - Don't use one strike and stop. Unleash multiple strikes to stun, distract, and damage. Employ fast strikes like jabs and snap kicks to stun and distract followed by crosses and side kicks to damage. I like how our founders combined multiple strikes within our self-defense techniques. The seem to follow the following pattern: neutralize the attack by evasion or parry; destroy the attacking weapon by striking the attacking limb; stun the attacker with multiple stunning strikes; damage the attacker with well-placed, well-timed strikes to vital points; take the attacker to the ground with a takedown; destroy the attacker with ground rotation. In summary, the attacker is overwhelmed with force at decisive places and times.

(Military) Economy of Force - Employ all combat power available in the most effective way possible.

(Kajukenbo) Economy of Motion - Minimize your effort. Take the most direct approach to striking the attacker. Do not "wind up". Do not over extend or exaggerate your motions when blocking or striking. Emphasize technique over strength.

(Military) Maneuver - Place the enemy in a position of disadvantage through the flexible application of combat power. Maneuver is the movement of forces in relation to the enemy to gain positional advantage. Effective maneuver keeps the enemy off balance and protects the force. It is used to exploit successes, to preserve freedom of action, and to reduce
vulnerability. It continually poses new problems for the enemy by rendering his actions ineffective, eventually leading to defeat.

(Kajukenbo) Footwork - Proper footwork will allow one to avoid the attacker and transition from defense to offense. It provides balance to choose when and where to engage the attacker and determine what techniques to use based upon the range to the attacker.

In summary, ours is a striking art, shifting from defense to offense, by seizing the initiative, utilizing multiple strikes, through economy of motion and proper footwork in order to preserve and protect our lives and the lives of our loved ones.

[DANGFU]

Sean, very interesting analogy indeed. Whatever it takes to assist those to see the 'big' picture and to understand the philosophy behind our art. When attacked, do not let the attacker dictate the situation. Address the attack efficiently, quickly, and with the destructive results to avoid harm to you and your family. Continue the level of self-defense until the level of force has subsided. Do not go beyond that level if the attacker is incapacitated. Keep in mind that the Kajukenbo practitioner prepares himself/herself so he/she does not deviate from what the art has been created and or intended to do, mentally and physically. Happy training!!

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