Current list of CKF seminars for 2012

February 11 – 12, 2012

2012 Florida Kenpo Camp

West Palm Beach, Florida

Host: Sean Kelley

Contact: kenpo5@aol.com or call 561-373-5617

Featuring Instructors:

Grandmaster Michael Robert Pick

Senior Professor Sean P. Kelley

Master Jorn Brandt

Senior Instructor Michael Miller

Senior Instructor Mike Friedman

Head Instructor Bill Larson

April 21, 2012

Sean Kelley Seminar

Magnan Martial Arts

Contact Alfred Magnan

May 5, 2012

Sean Kelley’s 50^th birthday bash seminar/dinner banquet

Theme: the Guardian Angels “Stomp the Bullying” program

Boynton Beach, Florida (Courtyard Marriott Hotel)

Host: Sean Kelley

Contact: kenpo5@aol.com or call 561-373-5617

Featuring Instructors:

Grandmaster Michael Robert Pick

Senior Professor Sean P. Kelley

Master Joe Williams

Senior Instructor Michael Miller

Senior Instructor  Mike Friedman

May 18-20

East Coast Guardian Angel’s Conference

Easton, Pa

Special Guest Instructors: 

Senior Professor Sean P. Kelley

Senior Instructor Michael Miller

Miller will give a power point presentation about the “Stomp the Bullying” program.

Seminar Topic: Gun and Knife disarms

June 9, 2012

Sean Kelley Seminar

Advanced Tae Kwon Do

Contact Blake Bannister:  bannisxtreme@aol.com

June 16, 2012

CKF Advanced material seminar Part 1

Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo

Bradford, Pa

This seminar is for adult student’s green belt and up

Contact: Michael Miller 814-368-3725  millhouse23@hotmail.com

Featuring Instructor:

Senior Professor Sean P. Kelley

11:00am – 1:00pm   (2hrs)

Lunch Break

2:00pm – 5:00pm    (3hrs)

July 27 – 28, 2012

Sean Kelley Seminar

Champion Karate

Lake Mary, Florida

Contact Mike Friedman  407 – 322 – 1434

September 7 – 9, 2012

Sean Kelley regular seminar

Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo

Bradford, Pa

Contact: Michael Miller 814-368-3725  millhouse23@hotmail.com

Featuring Instructor:

Senior Professor Sean P. Kelley

A possible special guest instructor TBA

October 12-14, 2012

Chile Seminar

Featuring Instructor:

Senior Professor Sean P. Kelley

November 17, 2012

Sean Kelley Seminar

Magnan Martial Arts

Contact Alfred Magnan

December 8, 2012

CKF Advanced material seminar Part 2

Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo

Bradford, Pa

This seminar is for adult student’s green belt and up

Contact: Michael Miller 814-368-3725  millhouse23@hotmail.com

Featuring Instructor:

Senior Professor Sean P. Kelley

11:00am – 1:00pm   (2hrs)

Lunch Break

2:00pm – 5:00pm    (3hrs)

As a martial arts instructor, one of the greatest benefits you get out of teaching is watching your students grow and blossom into focused, confident individuals who are no longer afraid to look people in the eyes, to answer questions at school, to stand up to bullies, and much more, which produces healthy and happy people who become successful in life and good citizens.  It’s even more rewarding when parents come to you thanking you profusely for the great things you’ve done for their child and that they can see the amazing positive changes in their child.

Mr. Kelley received this e-mail from one of his student’s parents:

Hi Mr. Kelley,

I wanted to write to say thank you for all you have done to help us with Aaron. I will never forget how insecure, quiet and afraid Aaron was when we first started your classes. He would hardly speak and when he did it was always with hesitation and doubt. Aaron’s learning problems in school had made him a target with bullies, it was something he had dealt with since the first day of pre school. Even though he was bigger then the other kids his self esteem was so low that he felt he could do nothing about it except put up with the constant taunting and picking from the other kids. As a parent it is devastating to watch your child go through such a horrible thing.  We would talk to Aaron to help him understand why kids bully but with such low self-esteem he could not grasp that there was something wrong with the bully, he felt it was because there was something wrong with him.

We made the decision to put Aaron in karate to learn self defense so he could stand up for himself should a bully ever get physical. What we never imagined is that he would learn so much more then self defense. You and your team have helped us to build Aaron’s self esteem and self confidence to where he feels that he is worthy of all good things and that he is perfectly made just the way he is. The Stomp the Bullying program has made Aaron feel like he is a part of something. He no longer feels alone and he now knows that bullying is something he does not have to put up with any longer. Because of the adults that rallied around his father and I to support Aaron by lifting him up and showing him that he is important and his feelings matter he is a new kid. He is strong and can protect himself, not just by using the karate skills he has learned but also by using the reasoning skills the bullying education you taught him as well.

Thank you so much for your compassion, your tireless efforts and unconditional love you have for all the kids…. and their families. We could not have done it without God, you and the rest of your team.

THANK YOU!!!!!!

Stephanie Smith-D’Andrea

Director of Outreach Services

New Beginnings Recovery Center

561-906-4507 Cell

877-338-6988 Office

Stephanie@NewBeginningsDetox.com

Www.newbeginningsrecoverycenter.com

We are excited for 2012 and looking forward to many great things this year.  We kick the year off with our annual Florida camp which is being held Friday, February 10 – Sunday, February 12.  The theme of the camp is Kenpo Academics vs. Kenpo Combatives – stages of engagement.  This is a camp you are not going to want to miss as Senior Teaching Black Belt Grandmaster Michael Robert Pick takes the drivers seat once again, along with Senior Professor Sean P. Kelley.  Aside from these great instructors, we have three of our black belts taking the stage to each teach a class:  Mike Miller, Mike Friedman, and Bill Larson.  You are in for a weekend of knowledge, skill, and camaraderie.  We also have special guests Rainer Schulte and Master Jorn Brandt who will be making his first appearance at the camp.    

 Aside from the camp, Mr. Kelley will be holding a 50^th birthday seminar on Saturday, May 12 at Sean Kelley’s VIP Training Center, with special guest Tom Bleecker attending to conduct a book signing for his upcoming book The International Journey.  Bleecker will also be attending Mr. Kelley’s seminar in September at Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo in Bradford, Pa where Bleecker will be a special guest instructor teaching two adult classes and will also conduct a book signing. 

 Also in May Mr. Kelley along with student Mike Miller will be attending the annual East Coast Guardian Angels gathering in Easton, Pa, where they will be conducting a presentation for the “Stomp the Bullying” program and will be teaching a seminar on weapon disarms.

 Miller has a few book projects in the works this year as well, starting with the second Legends of Kenpo biographies.  The first one Rainer Schulte was published in February 2009 and the second one Sean P. Kelley is set for February 2013.  Aside from that project Miller is working on a book titled Stomp the Bullying as well as a martial arts book of articles Miller has written over the years. 

 If you are getting Mr. Kelley into your studio for a seminar this year, be sure to work out the details with him and e-mail Miller at millhouse23@hotmail.com to let him know of the dates so that he can mark you in.

October: Guardian Angel ‘Defensive Tactics’ training Tour (with my good friend Miguel Fuentes)

Location: Friday October 28th Detroit, Michigan & Saturday October 29th Madison, Wisconsin

November 5, 2011 -Greenacres, Florida

location: Advanced Tae-Kwon-Do with Blake Bannister

November 12, 2011 Miami, Florida

location: TBA with Magnan Martial Arts

December 3, 2011 – ‘DNA’ Seminar

location: West Palm Beach, Florida

December 9-10, 2011 ‘Joe Lewis Fundraising seminar’

location: All Star Kenpo Karate- Quakerstown, PA.

December 11, 2011 ‘Guardian Angel’ graduation

location: Quakerstown, PA. with Scott Koppenhofer

The Guardian Angels held their first graduation of their new program, “Stomp the Bullying” on Friday, September 16, 2011 in Bradford, Pa. The program was created by Guardian Angels, Sean P. Kelley and Michael Miller. Kelley came up with the concept to take an active approach to the bullying epidemic our society is facing, and Miller designed the program manual and was the first person to run the 3 month program leading to the first graduation.

Twelve students ranging from ages 7-15 became the first graduates of the program after twelve one – hour sessions at Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo, and became Junior Angels. “Stomp the Bullying” is an educational course that creates Junior Angels and it focuses on five key elements: the Guardian Angels (Junior Angels); leadership; community service; bullying; and verbal, mental, and physical self-defense. Each session includes an education portion – like a school setting, which focuses on one or more of the five key elements, and a physical portion, where the students work on the physical self-defense.

The primary focus of the program is bullying, however, where the students learn how not to become a bully, the different forms of bullying (physical, verbal, emotional, and cyber), the risk factors, common myths, statistics, how to avoid becoming a target, how to recognize the signs of bullying, the 3 t-steps to verbal harassment, the rules of engagement, and what to do if you see somebody getting bullied.

Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo is the East Coast Headquarters for the program and Miller is in charge of teaching other Guardian Angel members how to implement the program. Aside from Miller, Kelley was present for the graduation as well as Pennsylvania Regional Directors Scott Koppenhofer and Jason Weston, both based out of Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

“Stomp the Bullying graduation was a huge success and had a great turn out considering the small population of Bradford, Pa,” Koppenhofer explained. “This goes to show bullying is a concern in all size communities. I have a personal interest in this program considering I was a victim of bullying from middle school through high school. The military, martial arts and the Guardian Angels empowered me not to be a victim anymore.”

The program is now currently being implemented in Pottstown, Pa through Pottstown Shotokan Karate/Crossfit under the direction of Rob Mathews, the Guardian Angels chapter leader in Pottstown. He is the second person to run the program and graduation will be on Sunday, December 11, 2011.

 The program has been well accepted and is gaining a lot of interest. Miller has already been contacted by two schools to come in and speak about bullying and the program “Stomp the Bullying.” Since bullying is at an all time high, this program is the perfect community service program for any community.

“It comes as an honor for me to see leadership being exampled by someone like Michael Miller and his staff that have stepped u and become role models as Guardian Angel volunteers in seeing the first graduation of the ‘Stomp the Bullying’ program become a reality to the global crisis of bullying,” Kelley explained. “The program has set such a profound impact with our tag team efforts that it is now being considered a module program for other Guardian Angel chapters to utilize. We feel confident that between the efforts of myself, Michael Miller and other Guardian Angel leaders across the world, this will begin to make a huge impact in areas that have been effected by such tragedies due to bullying and its serious effects.”

It can still be seen on the news quite often, where a child either commits suicide, or goes on school shooting sprees due to unending torment that he goes through at school. Children bully all the time. In some instances the child cries out, but nobody listens. In other instances the child keeps it to himself until it is too late. As Guardian Angels we hear those cries and we do something about it. We also teach the children to talk about it. There is hope, and there is help. We “dare to care” and now we are daring you.

“This is a program that is needed in every school, martial arts facility, community center, etc. If there is a place where youth are organized then this program should be part of that setting,” Koppenhofer concluded.

Below is our mission: (www.stompthebullying.org)

The Reality

Bullying is a major epidemic in our society. All forms of bullying, such as verbal, non verbal or emotional, physical, and cyber-bullying happen every day in the United States and it causes serious lasting harm to victims leading to severe depression, violence and/or suicide. According to statistics, 19,000 bullied children attempt to commit suicide over the course of one year; on a monthly average 282,000 students are physically attacked by a bully each month; and on a daily average 160,000 children miss school because they fear being bullied. In a recent survey it showed that over 100,000 children carried guns to school as a result of being bullied.

The Dream

That all children will learn the appropriate lessons in life and will have healthy self-confidence and self-esteem, proper values, and a driven purpose motivated by a passion to become all they are capable of becoming. If this dream becomes a reality there would be no need for a child to bully another child.

The Objective

To bring a realistic and active approach to dealing with bullying behavior appropriately by educating about all aspects of bullying through a martial arts standpoint, and to get celebrities, martial arts instructors, teachers, parents, and anybody else willing to join our team to take a stand and become active in stomping the bullying.

The Purpose

To get children and adults to understand the full effects of bullying and why “bully’s” bully; to teach children how to come together and stand up against bullies – strength in numbers; to instill confidence and emotional defenses to protect victims against verbal bullying; and to empower victims with self-defense techniques and principles to protect against physical bullying.

The Plan

To conduct lectures, workshops, and seminars about bullying at schools, martial arts studios, or for any social groups such as girl scouts, boy scouts, youth groups, etc.; to get martial arts schools involved with the Guardian Angels and our concept of “Stomp the Bullying” and get the program implemented within those martial arts studios; and to petition congress to pass strict laws making bullying a criminal offense.

Dear Members:

I apologize for such a delay in updating our site. We have been very busy with many upcoming affairs. This past summer I launched an anti-bullying program with Michael Miller, Buddy Morrison, and Mike Friedman called “Stomp the Bullying.” This has turned out to be a major campaign and Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels, allowed us to bring this program under the banner of the Guardian Angels.

After numerous e-mails, phone calls and personal experiences, I found the need to step up and do something about bullying and address it head on as it is a major crisis globally. I knew we already had a foundation for a great program by using the reputation of the Guardian Angels as well as the martial arts community. Since the education through martial arts would empower victims with self-confidence, self-esteem, and proper skills in making the right decision by using alternative choices, I knew this would be a success.

Through the Guardian Angels we decided to incorporate a program where candidates would be schooled through a 3 month program and then graduate as Junior Angels and volunteer through self-sacrifice in their own communities and offer community service by demonstrating leadership through civic duties.

 That is just one of our current projects going on, and we are proud to announce that we just held our first graduation of the “Stomp the Bullying” program, and it occurred on Friday, September 16, 2011 at Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo in Bradford, Pa. Owner Michael Miller was the first to implement this program and graduated 12 students who became Junior Angels under his guidance. Miller designed the manual that will be used by all people who implement this awesome program. The program proves that children can make a difference in our efforts to “Stomp the Bullying” and can create a support system by banning together and talking about the problem as well as networking with us by holding venues for us to attend. Visit www.stompthebullying.org for more info.

The other current projects we are involved with are the upcoming books soon to be released by our CKF Public Relations Administrator Mr. Michael Miller. Mr. Miller started a book series of biographies titled Legends of Kenpo, with the first legend being Rainer Schulte. I have been chosen to be the second in this series to tell my story about my journey through Kenpo. Mr. Miller has been working diligently on this project and plans to have the book released at the 2013 February Camp.

He is also working on a bullying book as well as a book of all his articles – those he had published in Inside Kung-fu and Black Belt magazines – as well as brand new articles never read. Along with his book projects he has been editing the new CKF Instructors Manual. If Mike Miller is the man behind the pencil I can only say this: you will not be disappointed in the final product. Enjoy the outcome of what he researches and creates in the interest of those who enjoy a good read.

We have also been working on adding advanced training into the CKF, for those who seek it, in both empty hand and weapons. CKF member Buddy Morrison is a firearms instructor with advanced certifications under Paul Castle in the Center Axis Relock (CAR) System and is now offering a defensive tactics program for our organization through Morrison Tactical. We will soon have more details about this and how you can get involved with this type of training. Satellite locations will be listed on our web site as well as those under the direction of Buddy Morrison who are certified to instruct.

As you know, November is the month for CKF membership renewals so I ask everyone to get prepared to send in your list of current student names and updated applications by November 30, 2011, as well as your school/club fee and black belt fee. Please be prompt.

The 2012 Florida Kenpo Camp is being set for the weekend of February 11 – 12 and we are making this a VIP invite only with the first 20 people pre-registered by January 14, 2012. After years of hard work, and numerous instructors, I’ve decided to make the camp more private with myself and Grandmaster Michael Robert Pick being the instructors. We are interested in grooming those who are like minded and want to train and teach the system. We will no longer have an open door policy; therefore, only current CKF members are invited as well as anybody associated with our growing alliance

The theme of this year’s camp with be academic phase vs. combative phase. We will be focused on learning the principles of the art through the science of “Ideal” to “Real Deal” by using the warrior mindset to the mode of “Attack the Attack” for the ability to create a module for advanced training.

Since our Upcoming Seminars and Events link is not working I wanted to put them here.  If you are a CKF instructor and have a seminar that is not listed contact me right away at michael.miller@millersdojo.com

DNA Seminar with Professor Sean Kelley

April 30 & May 1, 2011

Fee : $100

Location: Lantana Florida

@ Sean Kelley’s VIP Center

CKF Seminar at Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo

443 East Main Street, Bradford, Pa 16701

May 20 – 21, 2011

Instructor: Sean Kelley

Topics: Storm Techniques, Speak with the Knife, and Kickboxing

Also, open sparring

Contact Michael Miller 814-368-3725

E-mail: michael.miller@millersdojo.com

www.millersdojo.com

Special VIP Rainer Schulte Birthday Bash Seminar

“Follow that Dream”  June 10 -12, 2011

Inverness, Florida

Main Instructor Sean Kelley

Others TBA

All inclusive family package $199

After April 15 $239

CKF Seminar at Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo

443 East Main Street, Bradford, Pa 16701

September 9 – 10, 2011

Instructor: Sean Kelley

Topics: TBA

Contact Michael Miller 814-368-3725

E-mail: michael.miller@millersdojo.com

www.millersdojo.com

CKF Chile Seminar hosted by Maestro Roberto Vidal

November 2 – 4, 2012

Invited guests:  Grandmaster Michael Robert Pick

Bill “Superfoot” Wallace

Master Rainer Schulte

Senior Professor Sean Kelley

By: Sean Kelley

It’s been awhile since I have been able to sit down long enough to let everyone know updates, events and news within the CKF organization. This past year has been very busy with me traveling doing seminars and both working full-time in the security field as well as teaching my VIP Program.

Our recent Florida Kenpo Camp was another amazing venue with guest instructors Vinny Anfuso, Rich Hale and Mohamad Tabatabai (first time appearing at the camp). As a special addition to the weekend we had MMA/Kenpo instructor Fred Mergen and firearms expert Paul Pawela bring their worth to the 45 VIP Guests who attended this past February 2011 event.

I was honored to see old friends and dedicated students that have trained with me for over 20 years being able to visit us and travel to this year’s event. We had visitors from Pennsylvania, Maryland, California, Kansas, Colorado, North Carolina, Tennessee, Alaska and throughout Florida attend. It was an awesome reunion for CKF members.

We are reviewing the new CKF Instructor’s manual and hope to have this available soon for those interested in getting the revised material as well as the new information that has been created for current CKF Members only. Hard work and effort in this project is being conducted by CKF Black Belts Susan Jordan and Buddy Morrison. We will keep you updated.

We are also planning to add to the web site my daughter Tori performing the forms Short Form 1 through Long Form 2 for those who enjoy a quick visual library. For those interested in getting a copy you can purchase these by contacting me at Kenpo5@aol.com. The investment for this DVD will be $15.95 plus shipping/handling and you can make checks payable to the Guardian Angels. We are using this project as fundraiser for the organization and as a reminder this is a tax deductible donation since this a Non Profit organization. It is our way of giving to a wonderful cause.

I would also like to mention my return trip to Chile has been scheduled for November 2012 hosted by CKF South American Rep Maestro Roberto Vidal. Going along with me will be Grandmaster Michael Robert Pick and Kickboxing Legend Bill ‘Superfoot’ Wallace.  I look forward to my return trip in seeing our CKF South American family.

If you have ever heard of the expression of Shedding New Skin I would like to say I too understand the phrase as of recent. Over the years I have taught hundreds if not thousands of people from ages 3 years old up to a senior citizen who hired me to be a coach, mentor and personal trainer. With over 30 years as a Martial Arts instructor I have given testimonies to many who have asked me to write something for their web sites, jobs, or social media only to help build a long time relationship. Sometimes it works and then there are times it comes to a dead end and we must then move on. I call it Shedding New Skin.

I was recently informed that someone posted on a forum that I was giving credit to a Black Belt as the top CKF student or that they were the best under my lineage. When I heard this I immediately recall the time SGM Ed Parker told me of his situation with having so many so called protégé’s and that some of them he himself never met. He also said he had many within his organization that were very talented but that there was no one person he could say was the guy to take over when he was ready to retire. He did say he had a few chosen Black Belts that were assigned for particular reasons but that was something he kept to himself.

Over the years I have written testimonies for people and even gave the okay for some to be self-written only because I was too busy to do it myself and I guess that could bite anyone in the tail bone down the road; matter of fact it happened to Ed Parker there in his last few years of being alive as I recall.

When someone takes on a career to be a facilitator you might think he/she would groom all his/her Black Belts well enough to end up better than they would be as a matter of producing quality and future leaders in the industry. Some forget though being a Black Belt requires a ‘Teachable Spirit’ and when you become self centered and driven by the idea of ‘I and Me’ versus the ‘We and Us’ way of thinking I would say immediately you need to be back in the class setting of learning the art as a Art not as a Hobby.

Being progressive and free thinking is a healthy stage we all can admit is needed in growing as a Martial Human; but do it with honor, dignity and humility.  Do not use the reputation of others to gain something for your own hidden agenda. This is not a good martial path to be on and in the Kenpo system we created an axe at the bottom of our Crest for a reason. You can be cut off from our inner circle, organization, network and family if you demonstrate disgrace, or are dishonorable as a Martial Human.

If I were to openly announce or even suggest at this time who might be the person I would say is my top student or who would represent me as a person it would be only one individual – my daughter Tori. She has been involved in the martial arts community since the age of 4. She started as a Little Dragon then became a Junior as soon as she turned 11 years old. Now she is 13 years old and ready to turn 14 years old come July 17th and is a qualified 2nd Degree Brown Belt learning the adult material and just finished learning Long Form 3 just like my adult students.

I’m insulted by any person thinking they have the right to take on the title of being my top student when in reality I have taught all over the world to all ages and have taught Black Belts of all levels as well. If we want to be technical I have even taught a few who were much higher in rank than myself only to prove knowledge will always out weigh cloth in my book.

Tori has the hours and years of being in my arena of teaching. She has been around many of my own personal Mentors and has assisted me in teaching as well as participated in seminars and camps where there were times she was the only young teenager in class. I’m proud of her dedication and I’m proud of her devotion in following my foot steps and when the time comes to strap on a Black Belt you can be assure of yourself she will know her stuff.

I do want to say over the years I have chosen a few of my closest Black Belts as assistants to my teaching staff. I have created a review teaching requirement venue called the ‘DNA’ Kenpo seminar series for those who are looking into the system as a Science and for being a certified CKF Instructor. So far people like Mike Friedman, Jeff Lewis, Susan Jordan, John Rhoads, Kevin Kuliga, Buddy Morrison, Alfred Magnan, Mike Miller, Doug Hotaling, Mike Miranda, Tony Capone, Bill Larson, Matt Trejo, Jamie Seabrook, Kurt Snyder, and a few of my Brown Belts have shown an interest in pursuing this level of training which will take a number of years to perfect. I’m proud in saying this will be what the Kenpo Community is missing in making future quality instructors if it is not passed on this way. Ed Parker’s system was a methodical, test proven science of learning how and why his art was so popular in its structure. Our goal is to qualify those interested in being carriers of the Kenpo torch with knowledge, ability to perform and to pass on the art as it was laid out as a science of street fighting with positive results. Those who will learn the academic side of the art will have the Master Key principles to advance into the combative mode for the sake of safety, survival and to protect those in a reality world of crime and disconnection. Use your studies as a means to find balance and peace in our modern day struggle for directional harmony.

Last piece of news is my returning as the leader of the Palm Beach County Guardian Angels here in West Palm Beach Florida. I have brushed off my cob webs on my Red Beret and have stepped back into the arena of leading the organization once again to do battle against bullies, teach crime prevention and to reach out as a speaker in schools or other places and be a voice in the need to create positive role models through martial science and the concepts created by Curtis Sliwa and his 32 years of success by creating a International Organization that lends a hand at helping others where others have stopped caring or in some cases Men forgot their role in life as protectors of the ‘Neighborhood’ when faced with things out of order….I say ‘Court is back in session’ and I’m back!

This is an interview article CKF Black Belt Michael Miller conducted with Guardian Angels’ founder Curtis Sliwa for Inside Kung-fu magazine.  They were about to publish it when they closed their magazine down.  Since it didn’t get published there Miller wanted to share it on the CKF Web site.  It’s a great article about local terrorism and Mr. Sliwa provides some great tips on how to tackle these problems.

Taking a Stand

Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa Provides Ways to Prevent Local Terrorism

Interview by: Michael Miller

INTRODUCTION:

Violence is an everyday occurrence around the world.  We read it in the newspapers and see it on the news daily. Rapes, murders, kidnappings, school shootings, assaults, and bullying are among the common problems we face as citizens in our communities. Perpetrators lurk the streets, schools, and internet creating havoc and increasing the fear we have for our children’s safety.

Curtis Sliwa has made a serious impact on deterring world violence since 1979 while living in the Bronx and watching his city deteriorate through drug and gang infestations.  He knew he had to do something to clean up his streets, so he took an active approach and created the Guardian Angels—a voluntary, weapon free program to take charge by patrolling the streets and making citizens arrests to create a safer environment.

The Guardian Angels began with thirteen people and has grown immensely over the past thirty years.  Aside from constantly patrolling the streets, the Guardian Angels provide education for everyday citizens to take responsibility for their environment. In this interview Sliwa talks about some of the problems we face and what we as citizens can do as preventative measures.

INSIDE KUNG-FU: Local Terrorism such as bullying, school shootings, gang violence, harassment, assaults, and abductions seems to be happening everywhere.  Can you explain why these kinds of activities occur in our society?

CURTIS SLIWA: I think today, because the way young people are brought up, they are exposed to this at younger and younger ages. There’s less supervision at home; less supervision in the community; so, often times, when they either become a bully or they become a victim, they do so at a much, much younger age and there is no intervention.  Nobody is telling them that’s right, or no it’s wrong.  [These negative behaviors are] also promoted by the culture: the rap videos, the hip hop videos, the videos that they see even from people who are successful in the business world.  They brag about how they bullied their way to the top. Like on the ‘Apprentice’ with Donald Trump. ‘You’re fired’, ‘You’re Fired.’ So they see this from the most successful people; they see this in sports, with people talking trash on the basketball court. So it just begins to affect every aspect of their life. Bullies always seem to become number one second to none and if you give into a bully, and as a victim, you just become a human speed bump.

IKF: How can we as citizens stop people from bullying us, and how can we keep from becoming a bully?

CS: I think in terms of the role modeling effect, human beings in general have to show far more humility.  We’ll call it the agony of defeat and the exaltation of triumph.  Too often now we dance on somebody’s grave; we exalt in their pain and their suffering.  We do this on so many different levels.  We need to understand the young people are absorbing all this so we have to show some humility, we have to be humble; there’s almost none of that around.

Simply at a young age we have to do intervention when we can see that a young person clearly is being affected by outside sources or the dysfunction of the home that they’re coming from. Either so much so they become inhibited, they’ve lost self-esteem, they’re introverted, or they themselves have imitated what they’ve seen and become a bully, because it’s very empowering and very exciting. So either or we have to intervene and we have to enable them to be able to change and yet still feel some of those things that excite young people.  That’s really the trick in all of that.  You know, how do you replace the excitement of being a gang member, a thug, bullying people where they’re very empowering?  You need to find something that is going to replace that and yet help them become a protector instead of a predator.

IKF: What is cyber bullying and what does it entail?

CS: Cyber bullying is just an extension of what we have seen in the school yard; what we have seen in homes across America, in neighborhoods, in parks.   And that is where young people will end up taking advantage of other young people and now can do that anonymously from the comfort of their own room.  In front of their computer or terminal they can take on various aliases, have different e-mail addresses, and now can search the networking sites.  They can literally almost stalk you, whether it’s tweeting on twitter, whether face booking, whether posting messages on message boards and virally sending images out that might be very disturbing in terms of what they are attempting to do to another person. It’s almost like a form of psychological warfare.

Cyber Angels is able to conduct that intervention, bring it to peoples attention, outsource a solution to people who deal with the subject matter—people who deal with both the victims and the bullies of cyber stalking and cyber bullying, and try to remedy it so that it doesn’t happen again; so these same people who are either victim or predator don’t fall into the same set of circumstances that triggered their either negative or passive response to begin with.

IKF: The internet seems to be a critical tool for perpetrators and bullies.  What are some things people can do to prevent their children from being bullied or targeted by these perpetrators online?

CS: First off, the main thing is to have an open line of communication with your child.  You don’t want them to just be a good news bear.  You want them to tell you bad things—the things they see.  The whole concept, if you see it, say it. Encourage the child, because they are facing an extraordinary array of pressures, an extraordinary array of peer group pressure that basically boils down to snitches get stitches and end up in ditches.  The idea is that you don’t rat anyone out.  In fact if you’re a victim, they have so perverted it, if you are a victim of bullying whether it be cyber bullying or regular old fashioned bullying maybe you deserved it because you were a punk, you were soft, you were weak.  So instead of people attempted to escape that, figuring out a way out of it, their believing that they are weak anyway and it’s survival of the fittest.

Naturally online it’s even more difficult, because a lot of parents and grandparents and adults are a dollar short and a day late when it comes to their computer skills and the kids can basically bounce rings around them when it comes to operating on the internet, or even operating on social networking sites or texting, or using any of these wireless technology that’s available.  And that’s the problem; parents, grandparents, young adults, they know about old fashioned bullying, but it’s very difficult for them to get a grip on cyber bullying and that usually impacts on children, girls, women, you know those who are most vulnerable.

IKF: Perpetrators lurk in schools, neighborhoods, streets, subways and the internet.  What can be done to identify these kinds of people and how can we as citizens take a stand?

CS: First off they have to be outed.  They cannot be allowed to remain anonymous.  They cannot be allowed to be able to operate in the shadows.  In fact, many of these bullies, those who become leaders of groups who commit these kinds of violations against humans, whether it’s cyberspace or in the normal realm of streets or neighborhoods, they do so and they get a vicarious thrill about organizing others to go out and do the deed.  They need to be outed.  Obviously, we need to put peer pressure on them and make it completely uncool to do it.  And then because some of them love to be a rebel without a cause and they love to be bad, because bad in their mind, according to the sub culture is good, then there has to be commiserate penalties.

If you’re found guilty of committing these violations you either have to face incarceration, or you’re gonna have to face spending some juvie time, or your gonna have to face some serious consequences that require you to go to counseling and then to reciprocate back to the victims or to the community by doing massive amounts of community service.  So we gotta make their lives miserable.  Right now it’s not.

IKF: It seems that the martial arts have played a key role in Guardian Angels training.  Can you explain your thoughts about the martial arts and the involvement they have had with the Guardian Angels?

CS: The martial arts has been a key when taken from it’s old school ways, which is the influence that I had from watching the seven samurai, which eventually was made into the magnificent seven, an American western that was based on the seven samurai:  Those who could defend themselves, but then offer their services to the defenseless—those who could not defend themselves.  The idea was that if you had these skills, if you were adept in martial arts and self-defense that you would use those skills not just in defense of yourself, but in defense of community and everyone else and not necessarily ask for anything in return; a form of selfless service.

Unfortunately, martial arts in the United States has gotten away from that old concept because in America everything epitomizes the individual—I and me.  They don’t think teamwork—us and we.  I have taken the concept initially that others had carried on, by applying the martial arts to group self-defense; protecting those who cannot defend themselves: the elderly, the women, the children.

Taking it to a whole different level, I would say that was the initial roots; whereas in America martial arts has become for the most part very much I and me.  You’re in the ring.  You’re testing your skill against an opponents’ skill.   And although there’s team competition and you might be part of a dojo or you might be a part of a participatory exercise that involves group techniques, it’s really all about you—all about the individual.  I try to stay away from that.

IKF: What kind of martial arts training do you have Guardian Angels go through?

CS: Because we have groups now in 14 countries and 140 cities, we first find who might be available locally in that community to conduct the training.  We have a set training program that involves the fine things that men, women and young adults have to be able to learn.  Let’s say in the case of Sean Kelley.  Here it is Kenpo.  This is his skill.  He moves to Florida from Pennsylvania.  He’s establishing his credentials in the martial arts world there, but he’s also living in a community that’s experiencing increasing crime.  He comes in voluntarily to offer his service, to volunteer and patrol, but he has the accreditation in Kenpo to actually teach others and after looking at the program and figuring out what in Kenpo we could use to help train the local group.

We allow the martial arts instructor to utilize their own form of martial art, those techniques that might actually be applicable to our training program which is pretty extensive.  It’s got two hundred and thirty six pages.  A lot of it deals with physical self-defense and conditioning and group defense.  But then there are other things like citizens arrest procedures, CPR and first aid, and role playing and simulation.

There are Sean Kelley’s all over the world.  Some of them are accredited in Kung-fu, some are accredited in Jiu-Jitsu, and some have been fighters, boxing and wrestling.  There is no one particular martial art or type of self-defense that is preferred.  What we say is, whatever your proficient in, whatever you are accredited in, as long as you can apply what you know of your particular form of self-defense to the training manual and you’re willing to give the time and supervise the training and be a role model and example, we say go for it.

IKF: The Guardian Angels believe in Inter-activism.  Could you explain this concept?

CS: We’re like an open book.  You want to see what we do, how we do it, feel free to do it at any point.  We don’t prevent people from understanding what we do and how we do it.  We encourage people to get involved and that’s where the interaction takes place.  We don’t care who you are: black, white, Hispanic, Asian, male, female.  Everyone is going to be treated equally.  Clearly we’ll give some people opportunities to participate because they have had problems in the past maybe with drugs or alcohol, or they’ve committed a crime or have been dysfunctional.

We give them an opportunity to rectify all that by becoming a guardian angel member, which is unique because there are a lot of groups who won’t do that.  We want to have partnerships with existing organizations whether it’s a boys club, girls club, social service organization, martial arts academy, we want to have as many partnerships in what communities we have a presence in as possible because we understand we don’t have the answer.  We are just one option in a wardrobe of options that people can have access to if they decide they have had enough and they are going to get involved and they want to fight back and they want to do it within the parameters of the law.

IKF: How can people get involved with the Guardian Angels?

CS: The first thing is they have to go to the website www.guardianangels.org to see if there is an existing chapter in their area around the world in the fourteen countries, one hundred and forty cities.  And if there isn’t then obviously e-mail us about the possibility to begin an effort in establishing the guardian angel move.  Those groups range from areas as diverse as Mexico City (population 20 million) to little rural subjects in Western New Jersey (population 4,000) with no police department. It has nothing at all to do with the size of the community whether it’s a urban area, suburban or rural area, whether it’s in the United States or anywhere in the world.  It’s all about whether there is one person who is going to make the difference.  That’s all we need to start—one man or one woman.  If they’re willing to motivate themselves, do the heavy lifting, carry the efforts forward we will give the tactical air support for that.

IKF: It seems that many people complain about violence, but never want to take an active approach to deter it from happening.  What do you say to these people?

CS: Well they’re paralyzed in fear, apathy and indifference.  They don’t think that their participation in anything is gonna make any difference.  They become very jaded, very skeptical, and I understand.  They are also paralyzed because we live in a society where everyone is afraid of getting sued and losing every nickel, dime and penny.

In thirty one years we have done tens of thousands of physical interventions to break up fights and disputes to send people on their own way and it doesn’t necessitate getting the cops involved.  There’s been thousands of citizens’ arrests where we do get the cops involved because we have to physically detain a suspect and turn him over to law enforcement. And in all those years we’ve never once been sued.  In reality use the skills that you’ve been trained with and stop worrying about litigation or sued or losing every nickel, dime and penny you have, because that’s the kind of paralysis that keeps people from getting involved and making a difference.

About the author:

Michael Miller is a free-lance writer and full time martial arts instructor running his school, Miller’s Kenpo Karate Dojo, in Bradford, Pa.  He holds a 4th degree black belt in American Kenpo under Sean P. Kelley.  He can be reached through his Web site at www.millersdojo.com.

CKF Vice President and Kenpo legend Rainer Schulte and his wife Brigitte went to Germany so that Rainer could conduct an American Kenpo Seminar, which took place on December 18, 2010. It was a total success with 49 people in attendance to support Kenpo Team Willich.

The seminar lasted four hours total followed by dinner and a few drinks. Several awesome people attended including Peter Ritters, the first Kenpoist in Germany back in 1972 and the last of the original group to receive his black belt (2008 at Mike Friedman’s CKF Summer Camp).

Also attending was Rainer’s first black belt in Germany, Christian Springer, who flew out on his own dime to support his teacher and friends.  Marcel DeJong from Holland and some of his students made the trip as well as Christian Junge from Saarbruecken, Germany, who made it through horrific snow and ice traveling four hours to make the seminar on time.  Rainer explained that it was a great pleasure greeting Florian Hahn who has supported Kenpo in Germany since 1973.  He’s a true loyal Kenpoist who attended most of Rainer’s demos and tournaments held in Germany.

It was a great weekend with awesome camaraderie between Kenpo brothers and sisters.  You can look forward to seeing and possibly attending a Kenpo seminar in Casablanca in the spring of 2011 as a guest from Marocco has promised to sponsor a seminar.  To stay updated on the CKF visit www.chinesekaratefederation.com. You can visit the CKF European site at www.kenpo.de.