Martial arts..../kenpo?

Question

i know in kenpo they use the 5 animals concept, Tiger, Dragon, Leopard, Snake, Monkey but out of the five do you get to pick wich one you wanna do or do they combine them all

Answer 1

you learn em all but in ur style chances are that u will progress faster in one an they will have u somwewhat master that one[not always but is usualy case] then after that  if ur there long enough u learn to master them all but u cannaot fully master one without the others

Answer 2

Kenpo or Kempo (both are correct) isn’t just a single system, it is rather a family of systems with dozens of branches. Some as you say emphasize the animal concepts others prefer more taxonomic/scientific approaches, it depends on what you want out of the art regardless of the sub style you choose look for a school that is open about answering your questions and has a good ‘feel’ to you, if you don’t like the way a place ‘feels’ you are probably not going to enjoy it for any length of time. There are a lot of schools out there that can effectively help you learn the skills you seek, there are also a lot that will part you from your money quite effectively, try to avoid places that require long term contracts the longer I am around (40+ years now) the more I like to see beginners find a small home or garage school most of the folks teaching in this type situation tend to do so with a good intent i.e.: they love the art rather than just as a commercial endeavor and you are more likely to receive individual attention.



As to the specifics of your question, of course you can specialize in 'one' of the animals however what they actually are is a means of classifying types of movement and to be well rounded you should study them all.

Hope this helped.

Answer 3

as you progress through the kenpo system you are exposed to the animal forms in all of the activities you  do. I would ask you why is it important to know this? the practice of each techniques, perfecting it, doing it 10,000 times to master it and it wont then matter where it really came from, because you will have reconnected to it internally  sprititually and physically.

I practice the jump in with  both  feet and have my  eyes open techniques!

cheers and happy  punching