Stephen Salaka is a martial arts instructor from Melbourne, FL, USA. In this interview he talks about his passion for martial arts and Kenpo Budokan Karate, the House of Kenpo Warriors.
Martial arts have been part of your life for so long. How did it all start?
When I was 3, we were living in Ramstein Germany, and we had the standard military TV service, and one of the programs I remember watching watching was Kung Fu with David Carradine. My mother saw me kicking and punching all over the place, so she signed me up for a few lessons on the Air Force Base. I knew, from that point, I had found my passion, and started trying to learn everything about the martial arts. I would spend my allowance on the Black Belt magazine, or go to the library and check out books on Martial Arts. I didn’t really get to start studying full time until I was around 7, and it wasn’t until I was 10 that I started down the path of American Kenpo Karate as my primary martial art. Since then I’ve studied and ranked in over a dozen different martial arts styles and systems from instructors all around the world.
When did you become and instructor and who were your mentors?
I’ve always been the go-to person when it comes to knowing things – both in school and outside, so it was just a natural extension that I would be helping other students in the class with their material and working on improving my own techniques in the process. I was 14 when I started as an assistant instructor, and 16 when I became a full time instructor. Since then I’ve taught thousands of individuals in various martial arts throughout the years. I would say the biggest influence and my primary mentor over the years has been Robert Vanelli. I’m still regularly training at the Karate Studio weekly. However, over the years I have had the honor and privilege of training under many of the great Martial Artists of our time, Bill Wallace, Jeff Speakman, Paul Mills, and many others. One of the great things about the martial arts community is that because it is so small, you really get to meet a lot of individuals as you travel and train.
What lead to Kenpo Budokan Karate?
KBK has been in development for over 16 years now. Although my first roots are primarily Kenpo, I’ve trained in a lot of other systems since then. When teaching students traditional American Kenpo, one of the primary complaints is having to memorize 24-32 techniques per level (their names, their applications, hundreds of their variations, etc…). Students get easily frustrated with the overwhelming amount of information they have to deal with, so the attrition rate is unusually high. KBK simplifies this progress, by accelerating the rank advancement, by playing to the psychological retention of accelerated early ranks, and slower later ranks. The primary motivation behind KBK is to distill the 750 some odd traditional kenpo techniques into a system that is much more easily accessible. It’s goal is to get students to a theoretical level of proficiency with the kenpo concepts as rapidly as possible, and then have the students start going back and filling in the blanks as the progress through the black belt levels. We still retain the same 11 forms from Kenpo, but instead of the 750 techniques from Tracy and Ed Parker system, we’ve isolated 48 techniques that I would consider the core of the system. These are broken down to 8 techniques per level, with the intermediate ranks extending on the techniques learned during the beginner level.
How is this different from other karate schools?
The primary focus of KBK is to bring self-defense lessons to everyone, regardless of their location or financial situation. All of the material on CMATOS is free for everyone to use in any manner they see fit. We are primarily supported through ad revenue and through official rank certification and annual memberships. None of which is necessary to study the CMATOS system. We want everyone to be able to utilize the material. In addition, although we have a set of 48 base techniques and 11 forms, we are designed with flexibility in mind – specifically in working with people with physical challenges. While the fundamental concepts and techniques stay the same, the ability to perform the material should be based on one’s own ability. A mantra we teach with CMATOS is “Do what works”. Just because we teach Parting Wings (name of a kenpo move) one way, does not mean that this is the only way or “right way”. The “right way” is the way that works for you (which may be completely different than what is taught).
Give us more details about the CMATOS system.
The under belt ranks (before black belts) is broken down into 11 ranks – white through red belt with black stripe, and focuses on the 11 forms and 48 techniques. In addition, each level there are 8 fundamental concepts which are taught to ensure that the fundamentals are drilled into the students from the beginning. The second 4 ranks, the intermediate ranks, are essentially a repeat of the first 4 ranks, with further focus on the fundamentals, additional forms, as well as extensions to the 32 moves learned during the beginner levels. The last 3 ranks introduces the students back to the kenpo roots, and starts to drive the students to learn the remainder of the Kenpo material. Once the student achieves their black belt, they will be focusing on learning the remaining 750 self-defense techniques within the kenpo system, but at the same time are required to start training and learning material from other systems. The goal is to expose the students to as many styles as possible so that they can synergize their own style of all the pieces which “works” best for them.
How do the free online karate learning lessons work?
All the material lessons from CMATOS will be available on the website. Students can start off at the 10 Kyuu (Ju-kyuu) white belt level, and work through the material lesson by lessons. Each lesson consists of both a video lesson and written material to allow all students with all their learning preferences having something to learn from. In addition to the online lessons, students are required/highly encouraged to set a regular training schedule and pairing up with a partner to practice the material on their own. It’s one thing to learn by reading, it’s another to physically go through the motions and start to develop the muscle memory. The curriculum is designed to slowly introduce the students to the fundamentals and concepts of the CMATOS system. Students can submit their recorded demonstrations for free feedback and can continue learning just as if they were inside a traditional Dojo. If the student wishes to get “officially” ranked within the CMATOS system, they can submit their video a ranking test. In addition to the Free lessons, we offer a paid coaching service which allows the students to have a much closer work with an instructor and a much more customized curriculum.
Is the online course internationally recognized?
Our school is currently affiliated with the International Kenpo Karate Academies, World Martial Arts College, International Independent Martial Arts Association, Combat Martial Arts Association, and International Martial Arts Council of America – we are currently pursuing ITF and WTF association for our Taekwondo lessons, and WKF and JKF affiliation for our Shotokan and Goju Ryu lessons. Students in KBK can choose to either be ranked only through CMATOS or can have their rank recognized with these international associations.
Watch the introduction to Lesson 1:
Once you’ve mastered the first lesson, move on with your Kenpo Budokan Karate studies on Stephen Salaka’s YouTube channel.
