Well this is the Ke?po forum, so lets get some thoughts. When and where did the notion that slapping yourself somehow helps you fight enter Kenpo training? I believe this is an American Kenpo innovation, but who started it? Was this prevalent in Chow or Mitose's training regimen?

I've also heard of this being done in Silat.

Kempo was invented by Curly

Well this is the Ke?po forum, so lets get some thoughts. When and where did the notion that slapping yourself somehow helps you fight enter Kenpo training? I believe this is an American Kenpo innovation, but who started it? Was this prevalent in Chow or Mitose's training regimen?
I tried American Ke?po once and was quite suprised when they started hitting themselves. The explanation given by the instructor was that it sends ripples of force through your body into the opponent...

He demonstrated this principle by hitting me once without hitting himself and then hitting me a bit harder while hitting himself - thus showing the true power of the slap check (or something).

If I were being cynical I might suggest it was introduced because it makes a nice "slap" noise when you throw a punch.

Sorry, I can't really contribute much aside from "I've seen this too", but it was one of the things that really put me off ke?po.

I don't know anything about Ke?po but the face slapping was a time honoured warm up for Australian rugby teams in the 60s and 70s before a game. Players would stand around hitting each other in the face as hard as possible, supposedly to get them ready for the physical confrontation about to take place.

These days it's generally considered bullshit by professional players, though they still do contact drills like bashing their chests against each other.

I did kempo for a couple of months back in 94, but don't recall seeing that practice - then again, it was a smallish dojo, and the more I read about kempo, the more I realize mine was a bit different.

What the heck is that self-slapping practice again???? Am I reading this right, that they slap themselves when punching/slapping someone???? Or am I reading it wrong?

At the kempo school, we slapped each others abs and chest from different possitions for conditioning (usually from a v-up possition with the abs contracted)... and where slapping would be either like, yeah, an slap to a hammer fist or a downward kick with the heel.

Is that what this thread is referring to?????

they slap themselves when punching/slapping someone
^this^

The self slapping was taught to me to be called "rebounding." Here is a vid of Prof. Kimo displaying it. Watch how he brings his hands back to this chest in between every strike. There was a better vid of him, but it seems they took it down.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1WtzPjC1mM

The theory as it was taught to me, that by keeping your hands in constant motion and "bouncing" them off of your chest, you develop fast and more accurate handspeed. Not only that but they emphasized how by drawing your arms out and back in, you develop shoulder motion to increase power that would be neglected had you not slapped yourself. I compared this to boxers rolling their shoulders and how boxers don't drop their hands in the process, and I got written off again as being close-minded and acting like I "knew it all."

The self slapping was taught to me to be called "rebounding." Here is a vid of Prof. Kimo displaying it. Watch how he brings his hands back to this chest in between every strike. There was a better vid of him, but it seems they took it down.

The theory as it was taught to me, that by keeping your hands in constant motion and "bouncing" them off of your chest, you develop fast and more accurate handspeed. Not only that but they emphasized how by drawing your arms out and back in, you develop shoulder motion to increase power that would be neglected had you not slapped yourself. I compared this to boxers rolling their shoulders and how boxers don't drop their hands in the process, and I got written off again as being close-minded and acting like I "knew it all."
That video doesn't look like a demonstration of that principle though. He re-chambers (or whatever the cool kids call it these days) his hand in between strikes, but that's pretty much unavoidable since it's hard to generate power with a rigidly straight arm.

The class that I went to had the guy throwing a punch with one arm while simultaneously slapping himself on the pectoral/shoulder with the other hand - had he just misunderstood the whole thing as it seemed a little strange to me!

Well the idea that you "bounce" your hands to prevent your arms from "stopping" is flawed, because unlike a boxer rolling his shoulders, when your hands make contact with your body they come to a complete halt before they strike back out again.



That video doesn't look like a demonstration of that principle though. He re-chambers (or whatever the cool kids call it these days) his hand in between strikes, but that's pretty much unavoidable since it's hard to generate power with a rigidly straight arm.

The class that I went to had the guy throwing a punch with one arm while simultaneously slapping himself on the pectoral/shoulder with the other hand - had he just misunderstood the whole thing as it seemed a little strange to me!


How is it unavoidable? Keeping your hands up and bringing them back on guard in between strikes instead of chambering them seems perfectly sound to me.

Thankfully, I didn't do a ke?po that involved self slapping. We had someone visit the school who did slap himself and he explained it as a reminder and a tool for drilling chambering into 'muscle memory' (no arguments about muscle memory, please) and as a way to distract your opponent. I'm not sure if it was the sound or the movement or what that was supposed to be a distraction. It never really distracted me.

There is also a kung fu system called Splashing Hands in which practitioners slap themselves. Have a look at the clips on this site:

http://www.manchesterkungfu.com/syllabus3/index.html

I could be wrong, but according to what I have read, there was some connection between this Splashing Hands and Parker's Kempo.

How is it unavoidable? Keeping your hands up and bringing them back on guard in between strikes instead of chambering them seems perfectly sound to me.
That's what I meant - I just wasn't sure what to call it.

Thankfully, I didn't do a ke?po that involved self slapping. We had someone visit the school who did slap himself and he explained it as a reminder and a tool for drilling chambering into 'muscle memory' (no arguments about muscle memory, please) and as a way to distract your opponent. I'm not sure if it was the sound or the movement or what that was supposed to be a distraction. It never really distracted me.

I think the fact that he thought committing chambering your hands after striking to muscle memory as a GOOD thing speaks volumes in itself.

He was a little taken aback that we trained from a 'fighting stance' (at upper levels, at least).

The chambering idea is almost another issue - yes, momentum is a good thing for a strike, but why at your ribs???

I think the fact that he thought committing chambering your hands after striking to muscle memory as a GOOD thing speaks volumes in itself.
What do you consider "chambering"? I take it you mean something other than returning your hand to a ready position.