quote:


Question one: Let me start by asking you how you came to pick Kenpo as your chosen style. Also, what are your impressions of the late Master Ed Parker?

John McSweeney

"I picked Kenpo after many years in Judo and then later Jujitsu. The man who taught me Jujitsu was Gene Cones. However, both arts are grappling arts which I liked, but it really was not what I favored. I wanted something with striking. I asked Gene where could I go to learn a striking art and he said to go see a guy named Ed Parker in Pasadena. This was perfect as I was living in the L.A. area at the time. Gene told me Parker was teaching an art called Kenpo Karate, which I had never heard of, but I went to see Parker anyway and he took me on as his student. After years of study I became one of his earliest black belts. I started with him in 1959 and left in the end of 1962.

"I consider him to be the greatest master I ever worked under. Explosive hitting power, he really knew his art, not to mention he was a real gentlemen. He had all I was looking for in a teacher so I stayed with him to learn all I could. That's how I came to meet Parker and train with him."