Rich Hale - Ohana Kenpo Karate Association

This year's annual CKF Kenpo Training Camp was absolutely outstanding, with Senior Professors Vinny Anfuso, Rich Hale, Sean Kelley, and Master Mohamad Tabatabai each sharing something unique from their vast, collective experience in the Art of American Kenpo.

Also adding to the diversity of instruction was a extremely eye-opening firearms session with master instructor Paul Pawela and a crash course in MMA training from 4th degree black belt Fred Mergen.

All I can say is that the instructors really brought it this year. It was an honor to take the mat with each of them, and it is, of course, always a privilege to be in the company of Master Rainer Schulte and Special Forces legend Gary O'Neil, who also brought their wisdom to the camp experience.

Big salute to Mr. Kelley for putting together such an awesome event and a huge thank you to Angela Smith for keeping the train on the tracks.

RAINER SCHULTE

A Pioneer of American Kenpo in Europe

Rainer Schulte was born and raised in Germany, and moved to the United States and began studying Kenpo at the age of 25. In 1970, the U. S. State Department asked Mr. Schulte to accept a job at the U. S. Consulate in Germany.

Hearing the news, Mr. Parker gave Mr. Schulte the special assignment of introducing American Kenpo Karate to Europe. Soon after, Mr. Schulte opened a Kenpo Club near Dusseldorf, and went on to establish a branch of the International Kenpo Karate Association in Europe. Due in large measure to Mr. Schulte's determined and persistent efforts, American Kenpo eventually became a major martial arts force in Germany, Jersey, England, Ireland, Holland and Spain. Rainer Schulte - Legends

The Crossover / Cover Out

Described in Mr. Parker's Encyclopedia of Kenpo, a “Cover Out” aka “Crossover/Cover-Out” is described as: A single crossover and step through reverse to increase the distance between you and your opponent, thus enabling you to conclude your maneuver in a safe position of cover.

Although this simple foot maneuver is used in virtually every self defense technique in our system, very few practitioners actually understand it, or do it correctly. Harsh words yes, but after you've read this article, watch a few people crossover and cover out and see if you don't agree. By the way, I'm not picking on anyone in particular, but all you have to do is search YouTube.com with “technique line” and you'll come up with several examples of poorly executed crossover/cover-outs and very few people doing it correctly. Do your own search and you'll see what I mean.

So, first of all, why do we crossover and cover out after a technique? The three most important functions are to increase distance between ourselves and our opponent, surveying 360 degrees of our surroundings in the process, and to place our self in a favorable position in relation to our opponent. But what I see happening in schools, tournaments, exhibitions, and in many videos, is mostly one thing and one thing only – creating distance between them and their opponent . . . but very little of even that.

Creating Distance:

Creating distance is the easiest part of a crossover/cover-out. It would seem that regardless of how poorly executed, simply crossing over, stepping out and then stepping through, would put a fair amount of distance between you and your opponent. But even so, I often see this most basic element of Kenpo executed poorly or not at all.

What's happening is this; Most people don't look where they going when they execute a crossover/cover-out. That being understood, it's also understandable why they cover so little distance, as they're reluctant to sprint backward (any measurable distance) without looking where they're going. Therefore they take a small front crossover step away from their opponent, and then quickly step off to the side (to an area within their peripheral vision) and then . . . continue reading article