During the four days at "Gathering of Eagles", which Grand Master Ralph Andersen was given the keys to the U.S. TAI Kenpo Association, founded by David German. IT was not only a logical move, it was earned by Ralph through many years of studying under David. I had met David over 40 years ago, and , though I thought he was a bit eccentric, I also realized what a talented and skillful martial artist he was, a genius at transitioning to different styles and concepts.

All of us benefited immensely from that freedom of thinking and doing. Both Ralph, and David have been inducted into the Kenpo Hall of Fame. WHile there, I talked with Jeff Speakman, learning that he was incorporating many of David's techniques of combining Kenpo and Jiu Jitsu into an integrated style called Kenpo 5.0. Kenpo now is including techniques that come from all over the world, including Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Thai Boxing, and others. Jeff reminded all of us that Kenpo is a true individualist's style, always subject to change as the practitioner and his/her environment change. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the traditional aspects of other styles, because I believe we can better understand the culture each art comes from.

Tradition is ritual; it helps us to better understand the culture and people each art comes from. But, the world is changing at breakneck speed, and to be any one thing, is no longer enough on the street.

I believe that Kenpo 5.0 is the next evolution in the development of true self-defense. None of us can ever be Ed Parker, or David German. As these masters passed on, it became "My Art". Yes, all the tradition, but with many additions to it that make it much more unified. As my sensei once told me, "there are no bad arts. All are effective. Only the teacher can make it bad, only the teacher can make it ineffective".

We do need to exchange information, skill sets, ideas, theories, throughout the martial arts community. As we do, we can only get better.