Shaolin Kempo Karate
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Shaolin Kempo Karate is a martial art style that combines the Five Animals of shaolin, kempo karate, jiu jitsu, chin na and western boxing. Founded by Grandmaster, Fred Villari, it comprises four methods of fighting.
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[edit] Four Ways of Fighting
Proponents of SKK believe that all martial arts styles can be characterised as
- Striking - to use of any part of the arms (e.g. open or closed hand, elbows, or forearms)
- Kicking - to use of any part of the leg (e.g. foot, shin, or knee)
- Felling - to knock an opponent off his feet (e.g. by throwing, pulling, or shoving)
- Grappling - to clutch or grip (e.g. wrestling, holding, or locking joints).
By combining these four methods it is hoped to achieve a style that will be "complete," or eliminate any area of weakness.
[edit] Belts
Shaolin Kempo Karate has eleven belt ranks (excluding dan ranks). New students begin at white belt and progress throughout time. Ranks are represented both by a color (the color of the belt worn) and a japanese title.
The grading in Shaolin Kempo Karate consists of mainly patterns, techniques and theory. In addition, students are placed in various situations that will help them develop a stronger and more logical mind. Patterns consist of a display of kicks and punches as well as displacements. Theory is displayed verbally and expresses information on the art of Five Animal Kung Fu.
| Rank (Kyu) | Belt Color | Japanese Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 11th | White | ろくばんろっきゅ-6th Rokkyu |
| 10th | Yellow | ごばんろっきゅ-5th Rokkyu |
| 9th | Orange | よんばんろっきゅ-4th Rokkyu |
| 8th | Purple | さんばんろっきゅ-3rd Rokkyu |
| 7th | Blue | にばんろっきゅ-2nd Rokkyu |
| 6th | Blue Stripe Green | いちばんろっきゅ-1st Rokkyu |
| 5th | Green | ごっきゅ-Gokkyu |
| 4th | Green Stripe Brown | よんきゅ-Yonkyu |
| 3rd | Brown 3rd Kyu | さんきゅ-Sankyu |
| 2nd | Brown 2nd Kyu | にっきゅ-Nikkyu |
| 1st | Brown 1st Kyu | いっきゅ-Ikkyu |
| -- | Black 1st Dan | しょだん-Shodan |
[edit] Symbolism Behind Each Belt
“Each belt represents a stage towards the black belt”
White “I begin my training in martial arts.”
Yellow “It is the time of the easy pride. I am proud of my first belt, but I do not know too much if I deserve it. But finally, I start to hold on my legs, and it is much. Gradually, I include/understand the various positions and gestures (blocks, strikes). I.e. I start to distinguish them, to integrate them in the logic of the combat which is at the base of Karate. I know now which precise movements I know and which are those which I do not control. It is within this stage which I identify the things that I cannot make yet, the movements where the leg is lazy, where coordination is missing. If I started to make combat, it is now that I start to perceive what I will need, which are the movements which it is necessary to register in my reflexes to reach or counter the adversary. It is perhaps also the moment when I discover which kind of aggressiveness I have. From which comes that I would be thus cold vis-a-vis the adversary which moves opposite me? Or, contrary, from which comes this animal in me which leap, striking and mark, before even as I did not calculate anything?”
Orange “It is time when I “feel the things”. I “feel” my blow of fist. Or I feel that… I do not feel it yet. I seek in all the “feeling” (whose Bruce Lee in one speaks about his films) that the others around me recognize by the Gi flapping onto my skin, with the glance which changes, with the balance of a body which was.
Purple “It is time or I know my body and I assume it. I located my strong points. My weak points, I work them… , and with the combat, I hide them. It is time when I can work only bus I identified my physical limits. I acquire a safety of myself which shows through in the ease of the movements and the sequences.”
Blue “It is the time of the control and independence. I sufficiently freed myself at this time from the group to go to conquer territories which belong to me into clean from now on. I work of the personal sequences for the competition. I am affinities with a kata and I cultivate it. I have an ideal of karate expert now. I became my clean sensei: a demanding technician. I start to guess the spiritual dimension of karate, because I then to appreciate not only the place that karate took in my life, but also how this discipline could transform me.”
Blue stripe green
Green “It is the time of ripening. It is like an interval, an idle period when nothing of new nor of sensational occur. Time of patience and the deepening. I grind my technique. I invested interior katas. It is time when I put the radical question: why do I make karate? Will continue I to make some? Many gives up with this stage. Those which pass it will almost certainly arrive to the black belt.”
Green stripe brown
Brown 3rd kyu “It is here that I start to involve me for the great day, I correct the details which remains me, I improve my arts, by preparing me physically and mentally for the following stage.”
Brown 2nd Kyu
Brown 1st kyu
Black 1st degree It is time or I is not any more to question me on the basis, my body with now comparable the movements, kicks, blows of fists and displacements. I am delayed now with the more complex things, the such circular motions, and the techniques to advance more. I discover my body and my spirit and what they can become if I apply and practical consequently.
[edit] History
Here is an excerpt from Black Belt magazine in 1975: ‘Villari’s martial arts training started early in his life. After being introduced to Western and Chinese boxing by his father, Villari went on to study jiujitsu and wrestling with the LeBlanc brothers in his middle teens. By the time he was 18, Villari realized his martial arts training was stagnating and sought out Nick Cerio as an instructor of Chinese kenpo. After completing his requirements as second degree black belt with Cerio, Villari traveled to the West Indies where he traded his techniques for karate and kung-fu training. While in the islands, Villari also studied under a Chinese-Australian instructor Soo, and gained his third and fourth degrees. After working with another master Len Chou, Villari received his fifth degree and soon decided to open his own school.’
The original Shaolin Kempo Karate school was United Studios of Self Defense, later becoming Fred Villari’s Studio of Self Defense. It was under this name that the SKK style spread across the northeastern United States. Over the years, several students have left the organization and opened up other schools. Shaolin Kempo Karate is now taught around much of the Northern United States by Tokyo Joes Studios of Self Defense.
Grandmaster Frederick J. Villari's induction as the "Grandmaster of the 20th Century" into the World Masters and Black Belt Federation will be held April 21, 2006 at the Connecticut Convention Center.
[edit] Controversy
Not surprisingly, a great deal of controversy has been stirred up by Villari and his schools. Shortly before press time, Villari announced, much to the consternation of the New England martial arts community, that he had promoted himself to tenth degree black belt-“…the tenth dan style of my own creation Shou Tung Kwok, which draws from all my martial arts training and includes speed movements I have developed myself. I teach this system to only a handful of my top black belts…,” he emphasized.’ Villari declared himself a 10th degree Grandmaster, despite the fact that no one bore witness or has come forth to prove the veracity of his claims.
In his online biography he states that he teaches Mongolian and Tibetan Chin Na. This claim leads many to discredit Villari as no records of him training in either country or with any Tibetan or Mongolian national can be found or verified. Furthermore, Chin Na is wholely Chinese and while Tibet and Mongolia both have grappling martial arts, neither are called Chin Na, and resemble more Shuai Jiao or Greco-Roman wrestling in appearance and application.
