Kenpo Karate

It feels like Fall and I sense the crispiness of the air. Yes the air is crispy, not just crisp. I can taste it! Tastes like candy corn, zucchini bread, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and caramel apples!

And although the weather is still relatively nice, our recent activities have been of the indoor variety. The latest and greatest of which was a Kenpo Karate Camp in Evanston, Wyoming.

Allright, I know it sounds super nerdy, and I guess to be fair - it kind of is. But it is also a cool thing to witness and in Jake's case, to be a part of. 

Kenpo Camp 2010

The camp is basically an event to test everyone's skills and give them a chance to level up on their color of belt. The one on the far left in the picture above is Joshua, Jake's older brother.

Josh has been going for a few years now and this was Jake's second year. He's been pretty pumped and dedicated about his Kenpo this year. Let's just say... we've been practicing:

 Hubby has been preparing for his purple belt test, and I in my Kevlar vest, have been learning how to take a hit. Kind of makes me look like a ninja turtle, yes?

As a beginner you start with a white belt. After learning the basics, a few forms, and a few techniques you earn a Yellow belt. Next is Orange. Then Purple, Blue, Green, Brown1, Brown 2, and then you get to the varying levels of Black.

Jake started picking it up here and there in Highschool and went with a friend for a bit in college. But he was stuck on yellow belt for years without a real class to go to or a chance to level up.

In the last few years, there has been an instructor here in Rexburg, and for a while we actually had class in our very own garage. He has recently moved away , so Jake drives to Blackfoot once a week to stick with it.

So he definitely earned the right to be invited to the camp, and show off his mad skills.

 He was able to attend some workshops where they ran drills and learned better technique from the man himself - Paul Mills.

This guy is the President of American Kenpo Karate Internation and holds the rank of 10th degree black belt. They call him the "Smiling guillotine" - he's basically a tough old bird!

 Don't worry, we got Jake a Black Gi for his birthday so he won't stand out as one of the newbies anymore.

 I remember when I first saw Jake doing techniques with his roommate, back in the day, and being pretty impressed. Now that I have seen some of the seriously scary black belts at this camp - I have an even more intense respect for this martial art. It's not so much nerdy, and not so much for sissy's. 

Take a second and watch part of this video. You'll kind of get an idea of how this style works. Lots of speed and energy control:  Paul Mills Kenpo Video

And so I am very proud to say that Jake got to trade his orange belt for a purple. He passed his testing and will now be working on Blue!