Kenpo Karate and the Use of Duals

 

    Duals are a very common concept in Kenpo Karate. They are a tactical method of delivery used to make you more effective in combat and training. However, there are some essential questions that should be explored with respect to duals. It is not enough to just use them, but one should strive to understand them and how they can be employed in training and in practice. 

    You don't have to look any further than the kata Short Form 2 in Kenpo Karate. One of the main themes in that kata is the use of duals. There is only one way to get better at the use of doing two things at once, and that is to practice, analyze, and employ the concept in different ways. 

    There are a number of techniques that look at this. Conquering Shield, Unfurling Crane, Courting the Tiger, and Desperate Falcons to just name a few. I am going to look through these techniques to just bring some ideas to light in order to inspire other types of thinking an analysis. 

    For Conquering Shield, you have have a blocking strike combined with a front kick. One cancels the height zone while the other cancels the width zone. So, the first move, a dual, allows for the practitioner to not only deliver pain in multiple places while possibly crippling the opponent if it is done well enough, but it cancels the retaliatory options my targeting joints and points of articulation that allow for movement. All done in one move with two different parts of the body. Economy of motion in its full glory. 

    Unfurling Crane, while offers a series of movements that exemplify duals. It moves from simultaneous defensive maneuvers to simultaneous offense/defense on the second move. It shows how to check, cover, and strike with all of its dual moves, doing them in different combinations, at the same time, and sometimes slightly offset to create a compounding effect with the delivery. 

    Courting the Tiger shows how duals can be used when attacked by two people at the same time. The first moves shows how, depending on the context and relative relationship to the opponents' bodies, can drastically change. It also emphasizes the need for efficiency when dealing with two people and duals is a perfect example of that concept. Wasted motion means more injuries and pain to yourself if you do not move with precision and purpose on the multiple strikes. 

    Desperate Falcons shows how the pull and push motions (which are opposites) using duals both set up your opponent and can throw them off balance in preparation for the dual strikes of a left back-knuckle and a right vertical punch. The pull motion brings about a mandatory step by the opponent, forcing them to lean into the duals strikes the reverse the lines of the pulls to become a punch and a strike. 

    These are just some of the ways duals are taught in Kenpo through the great variety of techniques that we have. They are everywhere, waiting to be recognized and broken down so they can be resynthesized into each practitioners own style of movement. They are efficient and effective when properly employed.