“To enlighten and evolve through the art of Kenpo”
| Volume 10 |
June - December 2005 |
Issue 2 |
From The President...
From The President...
by Bryan Hawkins, President, UKS
I remember walking into my first Kenpo Karate studio in the fall of 1980. The studio was Ed Parker’s West Los Angeles dojo on the southwest corner of Santa Monica and Sepulveda Boulevards. The very first thing that caught my eye was a 5’x6’ portrait of Mr. Parker. Having already been involved with martial arts for a few years, I certainly knew who Ed Parker was, but to see this almost life-size portrait of the man himself was impressive. The portrait contained two images of Mr. Parker: one of him in a cat stance and one in a reverse bow.
After having trained at the studio for a period of time and seen the portrait every day I trained, I began to notice details and ask questions about the portrait to the instructors at the studio. For instance, I became curious about what year the portrait was painted, what rank Mr. Parker was at the time, and what the patches on his shoulders and arm represented. In particular, Mr. Parker seemed to have one patch on his uniform that even the senior-most instructors at the West L.A. dojo did not have on theirs. One Saturday, Lex Sensenbrenner (one of the senior instructors at the time) was at the dojo, and after a workout I asked him about the mystery patch. He informed me that, although Mr. Parker had schools all around the world affiliated with him, he owned and operated two schools of his own – the West L.A. school and the Pasadena school – so he wore a patch for both schools on his uniform. I, like probably many other Kenpo instructors, use Mr. Parker’s life in general and in particular his many achievements as a guide for setting my own goals and attaining personal standards in my life.
As of September 17, 2005, we opened our second Kenpo Karate studio, located in Granada Hills, California, 25 miles north of our West Los Angeles school. Given that the new school is less than three miles from my home, it affords my wife the opportunity to resume training again and my two oldest sons, Frank, 6 years old, and Johnathan, 4 years old, to begin training. There are certain benchmarks in a man’s life, and for me this is definitely one of them. None of this Kenpo success would have been possible without an outstanding group of instructors. A Kenpoist in my position could not ask for a more honest, loyal, skilled, and humble group of black belts that he can also call his students. This group of men and women have formed the very foundation on which we now build. Probably the most important component in making this transition to dual dojos is my wife Melissa. Her constant and continued love, support and inspiration as a wife, mother, and business partner is irreplaceable. Lastly, I would be remiss not to mention my four young children, Frank, Johnathan, Joseph, and Helena, who on a daily basis remind me why I do what I do.