There is no doubt that American Kenpo Karate is a right side dominant martial art and that this can be said of many martial arts styles. The reason that it is right side dominant is that most people are right handed. For people who are left handed, they usually have no difficulty learning the system since Kenpo is based on proper body mechanics.
One question that I guessed asked from time to time, and one which is particularly important in American Kenpo Karate where there are 154 self-defense techniques to learn to obtain a black belt, is if one should be practicing their self-defense techniques equally on the left side to balance things out and to make oneself an overall better martial artist? The answer quite simply is no.
Why? The reason is that when we are stressed, and there is someone trying to take our head off, our brain will respond via the dominant side regardless of how much time is devoted to training on the left side. That doesn’t mean in anyway that we don’t need to be effective on both sides. What it means is that the right and left side movements are utilized differently. In effect, what American Kenpo does is take advantage of a person’s strength on both sides.
Moreover, trying to devote time to practicing techniques on both sides takes away from the time needed to practice the system as was designed. It also blinds one’s potential of being able to see things from your style’s dominant side.
I have heard many people claim that they are ambidextrous. Ambidexterity, however, in the truest sense, is not possible. Take advantage of learning your style as designed.
