One of the great things about being part of the Chinese Karate Federation (CKF) is that amount of time we spend working on Kickboxing. Over the past two years, I have had the pleasure of participating in four Kickboxing seminars taught by CKF President Sean P. Kelley (7th Degree American Kenpo Karate, 5th Degree in Joe Lewis’ American Karate Systems), and one seminar on kicking techniques as taught by Bill “Superfoot” Wallace (10th Degree Black Belt), who is also a CKF Board Member. I have also had the honor of teaching a Kickboxing seminar in Bradford, Pennsylvania at one of the CKF events. Most of these seminars finish with some hands-on sparring with lots of opponents before we call it a day.
A key rule that we emphasize in the CKF when working on Kickboxing is to “face our work” by use of high-wide kneel stance. In this stance, the rear foot is positioned on the ground as a bracing angle, allowing the foot to be launched quickly from that location. In essence, the foot is like an aircraft getting reading to take off, positioning itself as a catapult carrying its mass in a forward position. The value of this position is that it aids in the force of a strike when hitting a target. Moreover, by proper use of economy of motion, it eliminates the “and then” by not forcing you to waste energy and time. A good fighter knows this. Indeed, “position” is one of the eight considerations of combat in American Kenpo.
Interestingly enough, the vast majority of Kenpo Karate practitioners do not face their work when they do their Kenpo (I used to be in this boat as well). This can be detected by the posture that people take when preparing to spar or execute self-defense techniques. Just prior to the act of engagement, most Kenpo Karate practitioners will use the neutral bow stance, which the law of physics show is an improper position. In short, learn to face your work!
