Yen Ching Tao Kenpo

[rg555]

I'm trying to find out about a guy I've talked to on the internet named Grandmaster Douglas McLeod.

He claims he founded the Yen Ching Tao style of Kenpo in 1971.

One page about him says "Sifu McLeod introduced Martial Arts to Monterey County and Santa Cruz", which is a pretty big claim. http://realmvision.com/doug.htm

I also found out he is writing a column here: http://www.examiner.com/self-defense...douglas-mcleod

Almost every link I find it a dead end or no longer working.

Have any of you heard of this guy or even the style? I'm drawing a blank and a friend suggested I ask here.

Thanks in advance for any help.

Bec

[rg555]

Yen Ching Tao

I tried to post earlier but I put it in the wrong forum.

I am talking to a man named Douglas McLeod who claims to be the grandmaster and founder of Yen Ching Tao kenpo. I've looked and most things I can find are broken links or pages that no longer exist. A friend suggested I try here.

I found a page that claims "In 1971, Sifu McLeod introduced Martial Arts to Monterey County and Santa Cruz, started the development of his own chain of schools and founded the Yen Ching Tao - Kenpo Karate System."
http://realmvision.com/doug.htm

I also found where he writes a column: http://www.examiner.com/self-defense...douglas-mcleod

But I can't find a lot more.

Has anyone heard of this system or this instructor?

Thank you in advance for any help.

[It is Fake]

This is not MABS worthy.

[rg555]

This is not MABS worthy.

I apologize for not understanding when it was moved without telling me. I thought I made an error.

I've tried finding information on the guy and I can't find anything reliable. I thought that someone here would be able to point me in the right direction. I don't know what makes that a "shitpost".

Is there a place in this forum where a person can ask for help?

[donoraen]

I apologize for not understanding when it was moved without telling me. I thought I made an error.

I've tried finding information on the guy and I can't find anything reliable. I thought that someone here would be able to point me in the right direction. I don't know what makes that a "shitpost".

Is there a place in this forum where a person can ask for help?

Yep, ask away in here Newbietown - No BS MMA and Martial Arts

[WhiteShark]

It would help if you shared your motivations or even what specifically you want to know. Answering extremely vague questions is very difficult. Did you train with this guy? Do you think he is a fraud for some reason? Are you a competitor of his?

The truth is the world is full of possibly crappy Martial Arts instructors. We can't keep track of them all we can only look into specific people with specific claims against them.

[It is Fake]

Yep, ask away in here Newbietown - No BS MMA and Martial Arts

You do realize that it was already in newbietown before you posted that link.

[donoraen]

You do realize that it was already in newbietown before you posted that link.

Nope, definately didn't, was clicking through mabs and assumed it was still in mabs.

[rg555]

It would help if you shared your motivations or even what specifically you want to know. Answering extremely vague questions is very difficult. Did you train with this guy? Do you think he is a fraud for some reason? Are you a competitor of his?

The truth is the world is full of possibly crappy Martial Arts instructors. We can't keep track of them all we can only look into specific people with specific claims against them.

The conversation came about in a roundabout way when I ran across him on a political forum. There were some references made to his style and so I decided to look into the style to see what made it unique.

That's when I found that this style that has supposedly been around for so long doesn't seem to have a lot of info on it. After coming up basicly empty on the net, I went to the library and still didn't get anything. That's when I started to suspect this was some guy who just made up a style to be able to be called "grandmaster".

I started seeing vague claims about how he teaches "top police officers" and things like that. I read the articles he is writing at the Examiner.com site where he presents himself as an expert that has worked at "all levels of security".

If you're asking for a specific thing I can point at and say it proves he is a fake, I don't have one. If I did, I wouldn't be asking for help. It's more of a feeling that something doesn't look right. Why doesn't this style show up in any of the martial arts reference books or encyclopedias that I looked in?

Is there a credible governing body that is responsible for certifying new styles of kenpo? I'm willing to do the work, I'm just asking for some ideas where to look.

What is my motivation? I guess just finding out if this guy is the real deal or if he's selling the public a bill of goods in his column and his school.

Edited to add: No, I'm not a competitor. I don't have any financial interest in any martial arts school. I don't even live close to his state. I gain nothing here except truth.

[Nicko1]

Is there a credible governing body that is responsible for certifying new styles of kenpo? I'm willing to do the work, I'm just asking for some ideas where to look.

One of the problems this site was set up to address is the lack of governing bodies that would make this issue clear. Kyokushinkai, Judo and BJJ have pretty good "policing" of certification (this is why belt tags are available in those arts on this site) and still have to deal with fraud. Kenpo? He could be the baddest dude in the whole damn town or a complete waste of mat space. There is just no way to tell on the information provided.

He has, however, thrown up a few red flags so far. Just the name sounds a bit dodgy IMHO. Check out the "Bullshidoka Arguments" thread stickied in MABS and compare them to his statements. Could be good for a laugh anyway.

[It is Fake]

One of the problems this site was set up to address is the lack of governing bodies that would make this issue clear. Kyokushinkai, Judo and BJJ have pretty good "policing" of certification (this is why belt tags are available in those arts on this site) and still have to deal with fraud.

No, it was to bust frauds regardless of organizations. Yes, even some BJJ orgs and Judo orgs have been fooled and gave out fake rank.

It has little to do with governing bodies and all to do with the body of work. BJJ, Kyokushin, and Judo all compete, MT is grouped under Amateur fighter because, they don't rank. The tags are mainly because they are competition based and the competition does the policing.

[rg555]

Thanks Nicko, I'm glad someone else sees some red flags. At least I know it's not just me.

[Sifu Fallon]

Have you ever thought about maybe asking some other Kenpo Instuctors if GM Douglas McLeod is legit ?

[Bulldog1]

Here's my two cents, for what it's worth. There is a picture on http://realmvision.net/ that shows "GM" McLeod with Ed Parker. I am not computer saavy at all so I don't know if the pic is a fake or not. Some one else may be able to help you with that though. And I guess just because he took his picture with Ed Parker doesn't actually mean he was a student of his but the subtitle under the picture states "Great Grandmaster Edmund "Ke'aloha" Parker, Father of American Kenpo and student, Grandmaster Douglas G. Mcleod".

The site also says that Yen Ching Tao means "Everchanging Way" and appears to be mainly taught out of Hawaii. I don't see him on the Tracy's Kenpo family tree or a very old American Kenpo family tree (1982), but that may not mean anything either. I will ask one of my instructors if he knows of the guy.

And, according to http://books.google.com/books?id=ns4...0kenpo&f=false he was a personal student of Ed Parker's and Mr. Parker even went to his school in Hawaii to teach and hold a seminar. One of the websites that I checked also mentioned that he was going to the "Gathering of Eagles", a big Tracy's Kenpo event in Las Vegas a while back but that he was also pretty sick. I hope this helps.

[Omega Supreme]

Oh, this has bullshit written all over it.