The Evolution of Wun Hop Kuen Do from Kajukenbo, Tum Pai, and Ch’uan Fa

3^rd Degree Essay by Siifu Jason Goldsmith

Introduction:

An analysis of the development and differences between the Tum Pai, Ch’uan Fa, and Wun Hop Kuen Do branches of Kajukenbo requires a defining of the time-periods of those arts, as they have all evolved over time.  For the purposes of this analysis, Tum Pai and Ch’uan Fa will be analyzed as they were originally developed from 1959-66, and Wun Hop Kuen Do will be analyzed from its beginnings in 1969 until modern day. 

Tum Pai:

Tum Pai was the first foray into the softer Chinese arts by Sijo Emperado, Sifu Al Dacascos, and Sifu Al Dela Cruz.  As Sifu Al Dacascos put it in a private conversation ‘Tum Pai was an experiment into the incorporation of the Chinese Arts into Kajukenbo.  We started off with the softer styles, like Tai Chi.’  Given this background, I view the original method of Tum Pai (as opposed to Grand Master John Loren’s modern method, although they are indeed similar) as a style of Kajukenbo that attempted to compensate for the hardness of the original method by introducing much softer Chinese Arts into the style.  As an experiment, Tum Pai also represented the first formal incorporation of the Chinese Arts that Sijo Emperado had studied into Kajukenbo.  While Professor Chang had incorporated Chinese Boxing as the Bo in Kajukenbo, much of the subtly and flow of the Chinese Arts is not present in Hard Style Kajukenbo.  With the additional kung fu experience brought by Sifu Al Dacascos and Al Dela Cruz, there was ample expertise in both Kajukenbo and the Chinese Arts to develop a new, more Chinese style.

The result can still be seen in the modern form of Tum Pai; a soft (but still effective) form of Kajukenbo that today also embraces Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM).  The style emphasizes the development of internal energy and eschews hard style techniques in favor a much softer and definitively more Chinese approach.  While the addition of significant amounts of TCM into the curriculum is more a result of GM John Loren’s evolution of the branch, the soft, internal approach to Kajukenbo seen in modern Tum Pai is firmly rooted in the form that was developed and practiced from 1959-66.

While a successful endeavor that is still practiced widely today, in some ways Tum Pai was overcompensation for the hardness of the Original Method.  In trying to balance the lack of internal and soft disciplines in the Original Method, Tum Pai developed a lack of hard style and to a lesser extent external disciplines, making it equally incomplete in the opposite manner.  Consequently, there was a sense of ‘incompleteness’ as Sifu Al described it, and so further development and integration of the Chinese Arts into Kajukenbo was undertaken.

Ch’uan Fa:

The result of this further integration of hard and soft kung fu was the Ch’uan Fa branch of Kajukenbo.  According to the WHKD historical materials, Ch’uan Fa contains both Northern and Southern kung fu elements.  As described by Sifu Al Dacascos, ‘Ch’uan Fa was a further and broader inclusion of kung fu into Kajukenbo.  It has Northern and Southern elements, hard and soft techniques, internal and external focus.’  Thus, Ch’uan Fa was the first complete incorporation of kung fu into the Kajukenbo system.  It provides a way to express the flow and internal energy typical of many kung fu styles without compromising the hard style roots of Kajukenbo.  It was also the first branch to truly integrate the various component systems of Kajukenbo through the medium of kung fu—using the fact that most martial arts styles are derivatives of aspects of kung fu to re-integrate the component arts of Kajukenbo (karate, judo, jujitsu, kenpo, Western boxing, and Chinese boxing) more seamlessly with each other.  Thus Ch’uan Fa can be seen as a style that enhanced the flow and internal aspects of Kajukenbo, while still looking and feeling distinctively Kajukenbo in many ways.  According to Sifu Ben Fajardo (on the Kajukenbo Café), “Ch'uan fa is only a style when blended with Kajukenbo. Kajukenbo is the foundation. Ch'uan fa is the bricks. Kajukenbo Ch'uan fa fills the gaps between the basic moves. When we do, we save time and energy by using less movement, by working between the techniques.”  As described by Prof. Harry Herrera on the Kajukenbo Café, Ch’uan Fa “put[s] a lot of emphasis on short range techniques, as opposed to the traditional medium and long range strikes, and many of our blocks or checks are sweeping rather that the hard outward block for instance.”  As Sifu Ben Fajardo mentions on the Café,

“Sifu Al's school was called Kajukenbo Chuan fa. Once Prof. Emperado seen it. He said to call it soft style Kajukenbo. The term Sifu was started while at tournaments, students called Sifu Al "Sifu" other students began to ask questions about the difference in the art, which was that Kajukenbo Chu'an Fa filled the gaps between Kajukenbo techniques. Combining Northern and Southern styles of Kung Fu.”

Furthermore, Ch’uan Fa was the first branch of Kajukenbo to include many of the forms present in WHKD, such as: Hau Kuen, Fau Yip, 18 Hands of Lo-Han, Lim Po, Sui Wan, Si-Lum Pak Pai’s #6, 7 and 8, and Lo Han Kuen.  It also included the first evolutions of the WHKD hand combinations, kick combinations, throws and counters, kick counters, and drop & recovers, as well as the Chi Sao and Pak Sao drills.  Thus, we see that Ch’uan Fa is in many ways the first step on the path to the evolution of Wun Hop Kuen Do.  Ch’uan Fa has many of the WHKD requirements and has a similar blend of hard and soft movements to smooth out the Kajukenbo techniques.  In fact, many people, including Sifu Al Dacascos himself, have said that WHKD was simply his personal evolution of Ch’uan Fa.

Wun Hop Kuen Do:

As mentioned previously, Wun Hop Kuen Do started out as Sifu Al’s personal expression of the Ch’uan Fa Kajukenbo, which eventually went in its own direction significantly enough to become its own style.  There are several differences between Ch’uan Fa and WHKD.  The most important distinction lies within the name of Wun Hop Kuen Do, which translates to “combination fist art.”  WHKD is a system without a system, designed to constantly evolve, and “keep its practitioners many steps ahead of the Ch’uan Fa practitioner.” (Sifu Al Dacascos, 1973).  “Wun Hop Kuen Do is the art of ‘blending in’ with all types of opponents and a way of expressing oneself in combat.” (Sifu Al Dacascos, 1973).  There is no one right way of fighting in WHKD, no single set of drills or techniques.  The art evolves and adapts to each person, the environment it is used in, and new developments in training.  There are no ‘components’ in the art of WHKD like there is in the other Kajukenbo styles—one does not do a kung fu parry followed by a judo throw and a jujitsu lock.  One simply parries, throws, and locks.  While this may seem to be just semantics, in practice removing the distinction between the various sub-arts that exist in Original Method Kajukenbo and to a lesser extent Ch’uan Fa allows for a more fluid and holistic approach to the martial arts. 

Sifu Al Dacascos summarizes this central core concept of WHKD: “Wun Hop Kuen Do is a style that is constantly improving its methods to make it the most effective means of self-defense with [an] emphasis on developing chi (flow) or spontaneous action in the deceptive movements.” (Sifu Al Dacascos, 1973)  Thus we see that the central role of deception is another element of WHKD that distinguishes it from Ch’uan Fa Kajukenbo.  A final distinctive element is the inclusion of more close-ranged techniques in WHKD: “unlike Ch’uan Fa, WHKD concentrates on inside close range offensive and defensive tactics.” (Sifu Al Dacascos, 1973). 

From Sifu Al Dacascos’ initial involvement in Tum Pai’s creation, we see a logical and rapid progression from Tum Pai to WHKD, where a new “equilibrium” was reached.  In 1959, Tum Pai was created with the goal of softening Kajukenbo and incorporating the internal arts into a largely external system.  However, in doing so, the pendulum swung too far the other way.  Ch’uan Fa was developed shortly (7 years) thereafter, and proved to be a successful and much more complete incorporation of Kung Fu into Kajukenbo.  However, for Sifu Al Dacascos, the evolution wasn’t yet complete, and only 3 years later WHKD was developed as a formalization of the creative, adaptive, and deceptive principles Sifu Al expressed in his personal martial arts.  The development of Wun Hop Kuen Do has endured for ~30 years without the need for another style; constantly evolving, yet remaining system-less, the development of WHKD symbolized a new plateau in martial arts that has yet to be superseded, and because of the art’s evolving nature, perhaps never will.   

Learning from this Progression:

A study of the development of Wun Hop Kuen Do from Kajukenbo, Tum Pai, and Ch’uan Fa allows a WHKD practitioner to look back at these other styles in a new light, and gain further insight into WHKD and how studying these other branches can help in their personal development of WHKD.  Studying Original Method Kajukenbo strengthens our punch-blocking, our relentless attacking, and our explosion.  It also helps us polish our straight-line force generation.  Studying Tum Pai helps our internal arts: our Qi Gong and Tai Chi, as well as our general sensitivity.  Additionally, it helps us with our medicinal knowledge, an often neglected aspect of the martial arts.  The study of Ch’uan Fa helps us with our flow, with our basic kung fu techniques, and with making the transition between hard and soft movements more seamless.  Thus, the WHKD practitioner has quite a bit to gain by studying the roots of our style, assuming they don’t forgo their regular training, of course.  Just as Sifu Al Dacascos learned and grew through his development of Tum Pai and Ch’uan Fa, which lead to the creation of WHKD, so too can the WHKD practitioner grow and learn by studying those arts that served as the evolutionary steps to WHKD.