Ush,
In the spirit of the Martial Arts, Grand Master Karriem ABdAllah, founder of the K.A. System of karate, would like to both thank and congratulate you for your many years of service. It is in that same spirit and equal enthusiasm that Mr. ABdAllah, after 40 years of providing the highest caliber of instruction, announces his entrance onto the seminar circuit. Grand Master ABdAllah will be bringing to you the strategies and techniques that gained him notoriety through such publications as Black Belt, Karate Illustrated and Official Karate. Long considered to be one of the toughest regions because of its many hard nosed urban instructors and competitors, the “rough†Northeast was virtually reshaped and redefined in light of the K.A. systems development. Now, other than Grand Master ABdAllah’s personal students, you will have the opportunity to learn why and how such events took place. In a friendly but disciplined drill, critique, question and answer and reflex burn (exercises for sharpening reaction time) format, Grand Master ABdAllah will bring to you the secrets and tactics that resulted in champion contact fighters in the pee wee, junior, women’s and men’s divisions during the pre-pad era. More than ever, Mr. ABdAllah’s expertise is of great value given the fact that 30 years before such events as the UFC, Pride, and K1 became popular he trained 11 of the 21 fighters entered into a now legendary full-contact bare knuckle tournament held by Grand Master Frederick Hamilton in New York City. All-in-all a K.A. seminar is an event that you won’t soon forget and an opportunity to learn tried and true tactics and techniques that you will certainly want to remember. Grand Master ABdAllah once again desires to extend his best wishes for your continued success and is looking forward to meeting and seeing you on the floor.
Ush
Special note: In light of many who claim to be what they are not, it should be said that neither Grand Master ABdAllah nor his devoted students are in the business of “putting you onâ€. All claims made in any piece of literature can be verified by referring to the archives of previously mentioned publications.
How is it that instructors can teach a fighting art for twenty years and only develop two bonafide “bangers� The biggest names in the Martial Arts are given credit for doing virtually nothing other than blending one ineffective art with another and giving the result a dangerous sounding name. Consequently, the title of Master is cheapened. What is a Master? Who is a Master? A Martial Artist who puts on spectacular demonstrations will impress a fan of cheap Kung Fu movies but they won’t impress those who do their business with the knuckles. Talk all you want about the spiritual and health aspects of practicing the martial arts but in the end two questions need to be answered: can you fight, and if you can, can you teach others to do the same. When the conversation turns to fighting, it doesn’t really get started unless there is someone present who can talk about the legendary K.A. System, the most innovative fighting system ever developed as it was by Super Technician Master Karriem ABdAllah. While most people were trying to fight fast from a low slow stance, Karriem ABdAllah was in his “laboratory†at 512 Springfield Avenue in Newark, N.J. training to music ( yes, ABdAllah was training and creating to music 30 years ago!) and tailoring fighting styles to his students like a tailor fits a client for a suit. Three decades ago ABdAllah knew that just like a Samurai’s sword is weighted and grip fitted personally for him, so too must a fighter’s stance, footwork, offense and defense be equally personal. The perfect match of a fighter’s style to his or her natural range and manner of motion was demonstrated every time ABdAllah’s fighters stepped onto the hardwood. No matter which of the System’s 25 Fighting Styles ABdAllah chose for his students the result was the same, a well oiled smooth fighting machine. Whether his fighters were twenty years of age or ten you knew that you were looking at the work of a Master Teacher, Tactician and a Doctor of Motion. In the K.A. system you are not awkward; you are the Mix up style. You are not stiff; you are the Robot style. You are not hyper; you are the Freestyle. In “The System†your fighting style is your custom built vehicle and you ride it to victory. If you are fortunate enough to learn more than one style you should consider the opportunity a valuable one, but you haven’t seen anything until you see two K.A. fighters in two different modes feinting, stepping, and adjusting their distance and stance height looking for an opportunity to initiate or counter. The method of ABdAllah is so cutting edge throughout its history the white belts of the system have always looked too polished to be beginners. One reason for that polish is the awkwardness of most beginners in other fighting arts is not because of any physical deformity or incapability, but the result of operating from an unnatural position and trying to mount an offense and defense from a position of discomfort. Do to the genius of Al-Mu’assis (Arabic for Founder) the beginning student quickly settles into the natural fit of the fighting stance chosen for him or her and the techniques flow from that position. The student is so well matched with the position several times in the history of the “System†you could see a K.A. Fighter in a kick boxing match one week and a traditional contact point tournament in another, winning both of them easily. ABdAllah’s insistence on smooth execution and strategy made every match an embarrassment for the opposition. Watch K.A. Fighters and you’re amazed at the ease in which they force the submission of their opponents. Watch closely enough and you learn that one of the secrets to their success is that they are aware of every possible blow that can be thrown from every possible angle while those they are fighting usually have no idea of what the “System†fighter is going to do. When a fighter becomes familiar with the “tools†in your “toolbox†and every possible way that you can use them you are at a disadvantage and that information was usually provided by ABdAllah in the first year of study with him. In addition to the personal and scientific fit of his students to their stances ABdAllah never wastes any time getting to the real life application of the techniques he developed nor does he waste time teaching punches, kicks and blocks from positions that will never be fought from. From the beginning of “System†training you are taught the first set of punches, the first set of kicks, the basic blocks or deflections of your style, the unique movement of that style and you are guided in putting them together. Not one to put on a pressed Gi and just walk up and down the floor barking orders Al-Mu’assis has always been a teacher who uses the “Tell Me, Show Me, Let Me Do It†method. His fighters believe in their techniques because ABdAllah has never had a problem abandoning what does not work. The result of the teaching method, the personalized fighting postion, the execution of a styles unique techniques and the confidence that comes from being surrounded by champions on a nightly basis, is an unbeatable recipe for the Greatest School of Champions America has ever had on its soil. Most instructors are praised for producing two decent “Tag†tournament competitors; Al-Mu’assis Karriem ABdAllah has produced a dozen legends! Ask any old timer who has refereed or witnessed the matches of Mudarris Nashid Abdul Wasi, Wazr Jerry Stewart, Happy “Robot†Crump, Robert “Mr. Graceful†Wright, Mylo Thompson, Earl Thompson, Clarence Boone, Kevin Thompson, Tanya hill, Edward Thompson, Saladin Allah, or Tiney Pringle and they will tell you that there has never been a core of fighters like them before or since. All different fighters, all different men and women, all trained in the K.A. System, all products of the mind and science of Grand Master Al-Mu’assis Karriem ABdAllah. I was once asked to express in words the continued uniqueness of Karriem ABdAllah’s K.A. System and after a long pause I said, “The K.A. System is the only Martial Art that breathes and with every victory of a K.A. fighter the system expands its chest.†Thirty years after its founding, “The System†remains formidable, effective, impressive and dominant. That fact is irrefutable. That’s Science!
THAT’S THE K.A. SYSTEM!
Article written by:
Sayfullah “Sayf†Carman
7-28-07