Five Swords: An analysis

Five Swords, an orange belt technique in the American Kenpo Karate System, is one of those techniques that you could talk for a long time about. I had started a series of personal journal writings on Yellow Belt techniques, and I was going to continue that originally, but then I found this great photo my wife took of me at the ocean doing Five Swords, so I thought  I would talk about that for one entry here.

Five Swords teaches a multiplicity of things and it seems it can be grafted with so many other ideas and techniques. I know training at my sensei's dojo, Epperson Bros. Kenpo Karate Dojo in Chico, California, we have gone over countless grafts with this particular technique.

I know some people may be asking at this point, "What is a graft?" A graft is when you take two or more techniques and blend them together. First, you have to know the original technique and what it does and how to perform it, but then the fun part comes in where you can go through a technique and stop part way through and ask, "What if?"

Let's face it, nothing ever happens as we plan it in a dojo. We have to expect the unexpected. So, it is critical for us to recognize positions and what if scenarios so we can think on our feet. Just stop for a second and do  the first move of Five Swords. How many different techniques can you move to from there. Or, if you don't like that, stop after the second move, the heel palm to the face, and ask yourself what other techniques do you recognize from there? Or, even better, how would you finish the technique? Everyone is different. They will see something different.

In this photo, my wife caught be between unloading my chop/check and loading my final chop with torque and marriage-with-gravity. There is a transition stance that you hit at this point as you position your hands for the final move. You have the choice to finish, or what if the other hand comes flying around, even by accident? Then you have the right hand in position to throw another block and extend the technique, or even start a whole new one. In Kenpo, you always want to have a backup plan. Your other hand should always be ready to meet the "what if" possibility.

Here is another thing to think about with Five Swords. Think about which power principles you are using to add power to all of your blocks, strikes, and punches. This is a technique loaded with power principles and the ability to really unload a person's potential for power just based on the body mechanics alone. You have backup mass, on the first move, torque on the second move, then there is borrowed force, more torque and marriage with gravity that follow. This is an extremely powerful tool, and powerful knowledge, to think about as you train your Kenpo.

Just like professional athletes, it is important for us to analyze our art and our motion. That  is how we get better. You have to train it, but you also have to analyze it. If you like to study motion, then Kenpo may be the art for you if you are not doing it now.

I hope you have enjoyed the thoughts.

Jesse

Training in Kenpo Karate: A look at Unfurling Crane

This title sounds kind of obvious and lacks the excitement of another title meant to draw attention, but then again, Kenpo is not about fancy anything. It is about getting the job done. That is what I want to talk about. How do we get the job done? We work at it. Kenpo is not a fancy art, although I suppose it has the potential to be fancy if that is one's focus. It is an art that asks you to go to work every day and practice and not give up on your training. It is a part of daily life. Training must be made part of daily life so one can master it and, potentially save your life if it comes down to it.

How does one train in Kenpo? There are as many ways to train as there are people who practice it. It is up to the individual. It is an art of the  individual. What one must do is follow the principles of Kenpo and his or her training will be sound. Kenpo is a set of rules that are designed to protect you if you follow them in the course of your martial arts training and performance. What are some of these principles? There are many.

Take, for example the inside rule. The inside rule states that you can disrupt a person's base and cancel their height zone. If you cancel their height zone, then most of their back-up weapons (open hand weapons) cannot be loaded because they are checked by the fact that your opponent cannot stand up straight.

Take the photo above. My wife, Gina, did a wonderful job of capturing me in the middle of Unfurling crane. If you are not familiar with this self-defense technique, this is a great example of Kenpo principles. This particular moment, you see the Kenpo principle of economy of motion in effect because I am doing three things, actually four things, at once. The leg is completing a front scoop kick, the hand in the middle of the picture is keeping the imaginary opponent standing upright for the soon-to-follow blow of the hand cocked and ready to deliver a chop to the neck, and the foot is not only completing the motion of the kick, it is loaded for a downward side thrust kick to the opposing knee. This technique is one of the more advanced in the Kenpo arsenal. What I described is centered on one motion of three parts of the body. This particular technique is based on multiple attacks and is placed fairly high in the web of knowledge that Mr. Parker designed. 

But not everything has to be complex. Simplicity is at the heart of Kenpo. Complexity is what you choose to train if you like that. Sophistication lies in the movement based on the principles. I single move or concept can be more than enough. 

Take the simple concept and definition of a check. A check, in Kenpo terms, is the nullification of a weapon. If you pin an opponent's arm to his or her body, then that weapon is nullified until you release it. What is important when executing principles is to follow the natural movements and guidelines of the human body. When when you use common sense and logic in figuring out the execution of your moves, then the principles of Kenpo will be largely followed. This simple act can, and often will, be enough to give you that advantage or just avoid the whole situation. Economy of motion is the key. Don't do more than you have to. If you check and cancel all of the opponent's weapons with one move, that might be enough to make them think twice and walk away. You never know, but economy of motion is key.

Unfurling Crane is a great example of Kenpo going to the extreme to show possible combinations. Every technique is about teaching the practitioner a variety of ideas and to get them thinking on possible ideas. Kenpo is a thinker's art, for sure. It is up to each of us to analyze and create the Kenpo that works for us. If you are an athlete and enjoy motion, take Kenpo, because it allows you the freedom to think on your own.

I know from talking with my sensei, Chuck Epperson, he wants us to think on our own. We need to train and practice our art. I start with the basics and try to always reinforce the basics and the principles. That is where everything comes from. There is a reason yellow belt is the foundation of all other belts that follow. If you look carefully at yellow belt, it is an extraordinary training ground for every practitioner to begin with. It is the start of the web of knowledge for Kenpoists. Next time you sit down to train, take another look at that opening belt. What is even more amazing, it is the first thing that everyone is taught!

I hope you enjoyed the article and enjoy training.

Jesse

A Thank You for Our Recent Show

We want to send a big thank you to James and the Giant Cupcake. It was wonderful to show with them. We had a lot of interest and some great conversation was generated by the work from what we heard! We also were able to make a sale, which is always a plus. We also want to congratulate our raffle winner! We had a raffle at the opening and that was very exciting! Caleigh and Euridice have ongoing, rotating shows each month and we encourage people to go by and try their wonderful food and see what new art is going on over there! Their website is: 

http://www.jamesandthegiantcupcake.com/

They are the best people to work with for a show. They are easy to schedule with and take good care of the work and go out of their way to provide a great space to set up an opening. One thing I was really impressed with was the amount of foot traffic they can get during business hours. It gives the art a lot of exposure. This was definitely a great experience for all of us to show our work!   

Coming soon will be a new series I am workingon interviewing artists. My first interview is going to be Kiyomi - a wonderful musician from New York who is on Itunes and has the exquisite music and lyrics that you could ask for. I am going to be talking with her about music and hoping to learn some of the similarities that we share as artists, despite being in two different mediums like music and visual arts. If you are interested to preview Kiyomi's music, her website is:

http://kiyomimusic.com/

Thanks for all your support and check back soon!

Contemporary Art - My Point of View

**NOTE: If you think my blog is interesting, please check out my new one that I am working on now as well - http://theartofthinkingcreatively.blogspot.com/

I read an article this morning in the online magazine "Art In America: International Review" and I was thinking about what this article meant to me, personally, and in general to the community at large. Let's face it, art critic magazines get read by a small percent of the population. I would guess I could ask 10 people walking down the street if they had heard of the publication "Art in America" and I would get 10 "no" answers. What does that mean? Well, art has multiple levels of meaning, or status, however you would like to put it. You have these critic magazines, such as "Art in America" and they review contemporary and nationally/internationally recognized artists. Who does the reviewing at these magazines? Art critics, most likely. People who write about art. They may or may not practice art. Let's face it, art is extremely popular, and it can be extremely valuable. How much it is worth depends who says what about it and gives it a great review and then it is influenced as to where it can be entered (such as galleries, museums, competitions, etc.)

What determines an artist's success? That depends on what each artist defines as success. I have had this conversation with so many artists and it is very interesting. Most artists I have spoken with do not take their art to the deep and intellectual level that most historians or critics would argue. If you have ever sat through an art class critique and listened to what is being said by people, I think it would be clear. I come from a family of artists. I have sat down with all of us and had entire family discussions about art. We, my family, mostly agree, art is something that comes from the intuition and should reflect your own self and style. It is generations of tradition. I think we, myself and my family, would agree art comes in all forms, sizes, and ideas. That does not make any one art more valuable than any other.

Having said that, I believe that art is most powerful when it reaches the masses and makes a difference to them and brings meaning and inspiration to them. One of the great things about this age of art is that there are so many styles and trends, it allows artists to explore new ideas to express themselves in new ways. I tell my family of artists that I think if we educate ourselves and can talk about our choices intelligently, then that  is half of the battle. We have to be able to place our own work in context even as we work intuitively.

I immensely enjoy the academic articles on art, postmodernism, modernism, etc. However, I wonder what the artists really think as they sit and create their work. It is unfortunate that so many artists do not write about their work and or their thoughts, then we would have a better idea of their thinking process.



Sometimes it is hard even to get them to talk when I engage them face-to-face. Others are quite ready to talk about their work. The bottom line that we have to think about is that all art has a story, but what it's value is depends on so many factors, it is hard to figure that our readily. I have been in art discussion boards and read many arguments about these type of topics, and I feel like there is a large disconnect between artists and the way their work is interpreted. I think the academic language that is used in these art magazines creates a wall between the common public and the art that is out there.

Let me give an example of going to SFMOMA with my wife. She wanted to understand the work that was displayed there, but since she had not context to frame her viewing, it was hard for her to really enjoy it. Even when she read the statements and cards by the curators, it was hard for her to understand where it was coming from. When I explained the context and background of many of the movements and ideas, it instantly became much more interesting for her. People want to understand art, but if there is no frame of reference for the viewer, it becomes quite difficult for a viewer to appreciate a work of art.

In education, we use what we call accessing prior knowledge. I think artists would be wise to try to access prior knowledge of more viewers so more people could understand their work. Their should not be different classifications of art, even though there are such labels. There is elite art, academic art, illustrative art, comic book art, popular art, art of graphic design, and the list goes on. Then there are labels within the art world such as postmodernism, modernism, minimalism, figurative, Bay Area figurative, and so much more.

What would my advice be for any artists who are trying to make it out there? I would advise them to learn how to interact with people and talk about their art intelligently. Learn some art history and know how to place it in context. Understand your thinking and processes and be able to discuss your choices. If you can do these things, you are well on your way to getting more appreciation by a larger audience.

**NOTE: If you think my blog is interesting, please check out my new one that I am working on now as well - http://theartofthinkingcreatively.blogspot.com/

Art and Community

Art and community pose an interesting topic. How do artists become more integrated within their community and understand the flow and pulse of what is happening. That is really what it is about. Al art is a reflection of community, either directly or indirectly. The real question is how will each artist choose to interact with others in the community. How will their art become available?

This poses the question of how does an artist choose between a festival, a traditional gallery, and self promoto online, or all three? Art is for the masses. Art can be in corporate offices. That is fine. People can pay a lot of money for art, that is fine as well. However, while it is most likely  goal of most artists to live off of their art work, how does one survive. Selling art of thousands of dollars is great, but it eliminates much of the market from experiencing our work. If you charge peanuts for your work, then it is likely we will feel we are being short-changed for what we are doing, and possibly underappreciated.

I think it takes a very delicate balance to be an artist of the people for the people and still maintain that "higher" academic level of work. Meaning, you try to avoid being labeled just another person who paints to feel good. Yes, their is some serious academic reasoning and research behind art. It is not just painting another pretty flower or landscape, or even screaming at the top of your lungs and saying "Lok at me! My art has meaning! I am a neo-abstract expressionist!" (or whatever other labels are out there)

Here is the bottom line, and I think it is one that we (artists) need to take seriously; art is a language that we need to be able to speak and translate. The educated art community understands the subtleties of imagery, process, context, movements, etc. However, let me illustrate my point by recounting an experience I had with my wife going to SFMOMA. We walked into a room of color field and abstract expressionist paintings and my wife was completely at a loss. Sure, there were a lot of people there besides us, taking in the work. However, how does one understand contemporary thinking and contemporary work? I explained the history, context, etc. to my wife and she understood then more about it. However, this is just like contemporary artists with the modern viewer - we need to translate our work so more people can understand us. Also, for those who paint strictly for visuals and in academic styles, that is fine, but I think it is our responsibility to be able to hold a contemporary conversation about our work and argue for its contemporary relevance.

All art is important and has meaning. It is up to the artist to find their place. My place, I feel, is in the community. For me, all styles are valid, but their needs to be a level of proficiency and excellence and there needs to be an ability to articulate their work to the community. It is up to us to choose how to make our art available to which communities. Art is everywhere and it is up to artists to start taking their place in society and sharing and interacting more with the people. I have heard that "Artists are the conscience of society." I think this is true. However, if the artists do not bring their art to the people and make it have relevance and meaning, then how can we ever hope to be any kind of conscience?

One exception I have to note is my mother. She has raised generations of artists in our family. She has chosen make her immediate community her family. Then, in turn, we have helped to extend that message and art to a larger community by acting as a family co-operative. Art can function in all kinds of ways, and this type of art, that moves from generation to generation and laterally across family members is one of the most valuable kinds because each year we lose more and more art within the schools. So more and more training is going to come from practicing artists and not art teachers. Or, in our case, it comes from within our own family. Just choose a community and share your art, whether it is your own family or your own city.

Jesse Brown

Be sure to come to our openingif you can.

Creating New Art

Copyrights for this art work belong to Jesse Brown 2012

I find that you always learn something new when you push yourself to do more than you think you can do. Brown Art Works - www.brownartworks.com - is going well. We have formed together and we are all pushing to show on August 4 and for the opening on August 10. I posted earlier this summer about the show that is coming up on Saturday. Please come by Pillar Point Harbor and check us out! The other thing that is going on is we are hanging a show on August 5, the day after the festival! Talk about putting the pressure on! The opening for this show is August 10. It is at James and the Giant Cupcake, 6326, Sn Pablo Ave., Oakland, CA, from 7pm to 10pm. This is a wonderful place that works to be part of the community and makes wonderful desserts. It really fits with my point of view and philosophy of trying to get art to the people. I like exposing art to everyday people and this is one of the places we really ae enjoying preparing to show at.

The piece above is a small 4 inch x 6 inch painting that I created recently. This is one of my reactionary pieces where I am reacting to what unfolds on the papers as much as what is on my mind. I like these journal pieces where they are small and personal. What I have come to learn is that is as much about the artist as the art is. If you can understand where the artist is coming from and what their type of thinking is, then you have more insight as to how they may approach bigger and more intricate pieces. Interestingly enough, the inspiration of the bird came from a trip to Redding, CA (I believe) and we saw this small group of geese on the river, near the sundial bridge there.It was a cold and peaceful day. Of course, the rest of the imagery comes from my myriad of experiences and thought processes that I tend towards when I do these small, subconscious works. Of course, also, I combine painting and drawing, as usual. I always enjoy seeing what effects I can create with the combination of watercolor and drawing techniques.

Please see below for the details of upcoming opening!



Farmer's Market

Photo by Jesse Brown, all copyrights belong to Jesse Brown for this image. 2012

On of my favorite places to go on Saturdays is the San Francisco Farmer's Market. This is so for many reasons. There are vibrant colors and smells of abundantly rich food that is locally produced and rich in flavor and all the natural vitamins and minerals that a person needs. By and large, most of the food produced that is brought to market is usually produced in a an eco friendly way that is better for people and the environment as a whole. It also brings a sense of community for the people of the area. It is a gathering place where people meet, talk, look, and get to know their community.

The colors, as you can see above, are amazing and just make you want to run into the kitchen and start cooking with the new food that you just buy. I love just walking through the market and looking at all of the beautiful vegetables and the amazing array of colors that can be seen here. I took a series of photos at the San Francisco Farmer's Market with the intent to do a series of work based around this concept for all the reasons listed above and more. I feel that art should be vibrant and colorful to attract as many people as possible. The subject should be one that they can relate to so there is more of a connection. We are all connected to food in a direct way. I feel if I can draw people in with the innate beauty of naturally grown food of a farmer's market, then I can bring them in further with ideas about why a farmer's market is important.

We have all heard the debate about organic and going local as opposed to going commercial and non-organic at the local grocery store. It takes more money and patience to use your farmer's market nearby, and I understand this as much as anyone else/. However, when you can buy locally produced food that is fresh and oganic, it is a time when you are supporting the environment and your neighbor. There is also no denying the superior quality of home grown food as opposed to mass produced food from a giant farm from some place so far away.

But probably the most wonderful part of a farmer's market is the beauty of a community gathering. It is amazing what I see and experience on Saturday mornings. You see musicians, artists, farmer's, chefs, business people, and just people from all walks of life who are from right in your neighborhood. It creates a sense of connection and identity. That, more than anything else, is something truly valuable and amazing. It is with community and identity that we form stronger bonds and create a better society.

It is the beauty and warmth of the farmer's market that I love to experiece when I go out on Saturdays and see what is happening, what is new, and what new inspiration I can draw from it. I will be doing a series of work on this idea, so keep your eyes open for new posts and entries. If you geta chance, go support your local farmer's market.

Have a great day!

Jesse