Potomac Kempo

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Three Awarded Fourth Degree Black Belts at Potomac Kempo

Potomac Kempo - Santillo Simpson Gibbs Jelsma - Fourth Degree Black Belt

Sometimes the best amongst us are the humblest, which is certainly the case with these exemplary martial artists.

For many people, the practice of martial arts is a strange—possibly intimidating—concept. People often wonder what happens in a ‘dojo’ with unfortunate misconceptions often perpetuated by movies and television. But the martial arts, and specifically the art of Kempo, which we choose to practice, is not strange or mysterious. It is an ancient self-improvement practice with fitness training and self-defense fitted in to fill out the edges.

In life, we often find that our greatest adversary is ourselves, as we all too often stand in our own way—sometimes going so far as to sabotage ourselves actively. But in Kempo, we work to overcome these traits by developing and utilizing methods that work in the studio and as well as in other aspects of life. By doing so, we work to create well-rounded, successful, and healthy lives.

In this spirit, we wish to acknowledge the accomplishment of three of our most esteemed students. In December 2021, Kevin Simpson, Jon Jelsma, and Geof Gibbs earned their Fourth Degree Black Belts in the Art of Kempo. They are the first students to reach this level in Potomac Kempo’s seventeen-year history, representing less than one-tenth of one percent of our students.

These gentlemen have practiced the martial arts for an average of twenty years, teaching as well as training, and have studied multiple arts.

In addition to his Kempo practice, Kevin Simpson has studied Ninjutsu, Hapkido, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Army Combatives, in which he is a Level 2 Certified Instructor. He is a Sergeant First Class in the US Army Band, and he volunteers to teach both Kempo classes and grappling basics.

Before practicing Kempo, Jon Jelsma studied Tae Kwon Do, Shorin Ryu Karate, and Fencing. Amidst his Kempo practice, he has also studied Jeet Kun Do, Pekiti Tirsia Kali, Inosanto Academy Kali, and Kosho Ryu Kempo. He is a patent examiner for the US Patent and Trademark Office and volunteers to teach Kempo and Kali classes throughout the week.

Geof Gibbs began his martial arts practice with Kempo and has since come to supplement it with the study of Kali and Kosho Shorei Ryu. Having left a former life as a computer scientist, he is now a career instructor, acting as our Senior Staff Trainer and the Chief Instructor of our Huntington Metro studio location in Alexandria, Virginia. In addition to teaching Kempo, he leads our Kosho Club. Consistent with our relatively new tradition of passing on belts, Geof was presented with my own Fourth Degree Black Belt that I wore when I was that rank.

We are honored by their accomplishments and are proud to have them as part of the Potomac Kempo team. It is rightly said that “You are only as good as the people you train with,” and these exemplary practitioners are an asset to all of Potomac Kempo. Their work is a testament to lifetimes of dedication, learning, and growth.

One final thought:

As I sat on the floor of an empty studio presenting belts to three very sweaty persons, I searched for words to capture the moment, for praise that would not seem redundant or superfluous. My mind circled twice, and I settled back on humility. I have known these men for decades; we have spent more hours training together than I could begin to count. They are my most accomplished students, yet they may also be my most humble students. And I don’t think that is an accident or coincidence. In martial arts, we tell the story of a student whose cup is so full it will not hold any more tea. Through all of these years, Kevin, Jon, and Geof have all managed to keep an empty cup, space to learn, never believing that they have learned it all.

I wish them a lifetime of continued success and health.

Chris Santillo, Sensei
Potomac Kempo
Founder, Headmaster
Godan, Shihan, Master, Guru

Potomac Kempo Simpson Gibbs Jelsma Fourth Degree Black Belt

The Long Way to Belgium

The Long Way to Belgium

Our path to Belgium started a decade ago in Pennsylvania. Obviously.

One of my students was headed to a martial arts seminar in Pennsylvania. I reached out to the host, and he graciously invited me to join the roster of instructors. It was a humbling experience, and I say without reservation that I learned far more than I taught and am still a student of the host, Sensei Jeff Driscoll, Kyoshi.

While in Pennsylvania, I met another of Sensei Driscoll’s students, Sensei Bart De Backer, Shihan. He, in turn, invited me to join with the other instructors at a seminar that he hosted. Again, it was a humbling and enlightening experience to be amongst such a host of skilled martial arts professionals.

Potomac Kempo - Santillo - The Long Way to Belgium

While at Sensei De Backer’s seminar, I met Sempai Bart Matthijs, Sempai Bene Laloo, and Sensei Rik Moelaert, Renshi, who, many years later, invited me to teach at their event in Belgium this Fall. This seminar was in honor of Shinkai Kempo Karate’s Tenth Anniversary and was impeccably professional and impressively international.

Instructors from five different countries gathered to inspire students of all ranks and ages to achieve a new level of martial arts understanding. Here was a chance to interact with the larger world of martial arts and see that, even in a different country, with instructors speaking many different languages, we have a common language of martial arts principles.

In addition to being a rewarding intercultural and educational experience, this seminar was particularly memorable because I had the privilege of sharing it with Sensei Gary Covington, Sensei Geof Gibbs, and Sensei Kevin Simpson, who flew across the Atlantic for the opportunity to participate.

Potomac Kempo - Santillo - The Long Way to Belgium
Potomac Kempo Family Reunion in Belgium

Furthermore, we were all the more delighted when the host instructors invited us to guest teach Shinkai’s next evening of classes. Sensei Holly Santillo, Renshi taught the children’s classes, and I led the adult classes. What a wonderful group of enthusiastic students! It was a delight and a joy to get to work with them.

There may be many ways to get to Belgium, but the most direct way seems to be to meet people, make friends, and accept invitations. Regardless of where opportunities and invitations arise, if you have the chance to participate in such events, I encourage you to do so! Spending dedicated time immersed in the practice of martial arts, surrounded by people of similar passion, is truly fulfilling.

And you never know where it might take you!

Respectfully and gratefully,
Sensei Chris Santillo, Shihan

Potomac Kempo - Santillo - The Long Way to Belgium

Relax, you’re falling.

What do you think about as you fall headfirst towards the ground?

Or, more to the point, what should you think about?

If the surface is pavement or gravel?

Should you tense for impact?

No, obviously, you should just relax.

In the case of falling, as in so many instances, our instincts are flawed. If you are falling towards the Earth, you should not tense for impact. Instead, relax and roll with it. Fall intentionally. There is no guarantee that you won’t be injured, but rolling with a fall will minimize its impact. And make no mistake, it is a skill best practiced in advance.

And so we practice, class after class. In the dojo and hopefully at home too, we practice falling and rolling forward, backward, to the side, with a twist, with only one leg, blindfolded, and while holding a glass of water. We practice these skills so that when we find ourselves heading towards the ground more precipitously than intended, we can bring ourselves to rest safely.

It might be worth noting that, despite our martial framework, in life we are much more likely to fall towards the ground for a banal reason than as the result of an attack. We sometimes stumble over a curb, trip amidst a friendly game of soccer, jump over one of our children, or comically slip on a banana peel. But falling is falling whether someone threw you down or you fell of your own accord. Relaxing and going with energy is always the best way to prevent or minimize injury.

Let’s go further. As is so often the case when discussing martial principles, I am compelled to find the broader application of a particular practice.

In this instance, we can consider the ground to be a difficulty, obstacle, or challenge. We are so often tempted to tense as life’s little speed-bumps come hurtling towards us. But that seldom does us any real good, and much more often does us actual harm. When we become rigid in preparation for conflict, we are bracing for when and where we believe we will take the brunt of the impact. But life—and rolls—are seldom like that.

We often like to rehearse important conversations in our head, maybe asking for a promotion, requesting a grade be revised, or discussing a political position. But to the extent that we believe we have structured the conversation in advance, we have degraded our ability to feel the conversation as it unfolds and respond appropriately in real-time.

If we’re nervous about anticipated pain—perhaps getting an injection—your tension will make the pain worse by double. Tensing a muscle causes the needle to cut more fibers, not fewer. Here, as in so many instances, we are best served by breathing and relaxing. It’ll only last for a moment. 

Inevitably the real force that we encounter is from a slightly different place, time, or direction than we anticipated. And stay with me—this is the whole point—to the extent that we brace for one kind of impact, we make ourselves more vulnerable for all others.

As we tumble to the ground, we may believe that we know precisely when we will hit, at what angle, and how much the ground will—or won’t—give. We’re never quite right.

Instead, our best bet is to feel the impact and relax around it—exhaling and dynamically structuring our bodies in a slowly expanding curve while tucking in our pointy bits. 

No conversation will ever go as planned, and no two will ever be the same. In the same way, no fall will ever go as you anticipate, and the ground will never be the same twice. 

So relax.

Potomac Kempo - Chris Santillo - Relax youre falling
Photo credit: Cascades Photography. Click here for the complete video.

Singleness of Purpose – Overcoming Life’s Obstacles Without Punching

Some people describe a punch in terms of the structure of the body that supports and projects the arm and fist. Others harken to the term “throwing a punch” and explain that a punch is led by the hand and that the body needs but to form behind it. Of course, they are both correct as far as each goes. However, I like to take a step further back, beyond the body and to the mind that initiates the idea of the punch in the first place. 

A punch begins with a thought. An intent and a target create motion from stillness. The idea propels the fist and simultaneously structures the body behind it. To the extent that the individual understands and is well practiced in the posture, skeletal alignment, and muscular fluidity necessary for a strike, the punch will come into being to fulfill the intent created by the mind. 

Singleness of Purpose - Overcoming Life's Obstacles Without Punching

If all of this sounds esoteric, that’s because it is.

But everyone who has ever practiced has had moments when a strike was better (or worse) than the physical input should have made it. Inevitably, it was the mind overplaying (or underplaying) its role that created the mismatch. 

But what about all of the moments in life when we’re not punching people?

I’m glad you asked. As you have probably noticed, there are surprisingly few problems in life that can be solved by punching. Most issues need a much more subtle approach. Luckily, there is a direct translation between the skills associated with punching that you practice in your martial arts studio and the methods appropriate to solving and overcoming the other problems and challenges that life presents you with. 

In particular, the notion that the execution of a strike is initiated by the intention in the mind and formulated through the whole being as a single unified action directly translates into daily life. In this way, when we are confronted with a difficulty—be it an assignment at work or school; an interpersonal conflict with a friend, colleague, or stranger; or a developing a legacy project—you can apply the same single-mindedness of purpose that you practice with every punch you throw.

By so doing, you align your entire being behind your purpose. You bring not just your physical body but the greatest intentions of your mind and also the formidable powers of your spirit to bear on the problem at hand. And when you do, few things can stand in your way.

Except when it doesn’t work.

It is worth pointing out—and it’s worth writing a separate blog post discussing—that it doesn’t always work. In the same way that a powerful, focused, targeted strike will not settle all physical confrontations, a direct approach will not overcome all of life’s challenges. And in those instances, it is our ability to be flexible that will help us to prevail. 

But let us leave those greater subtleties to another day. Today let us simply relish the feeling of strength that we feel when we fully align our mind, body, and spirit and appreciate how much we can accomplish when we do so.

Two-Thirds of a Block — The Complexities of Blocking Simplified

At the risk of seeming to oversimplify a complicated issue, allow me to state that a block consists of three parts. The three parts are an inward check, and outward clear, and movement. 

Now, before anyone takes exception to my broad generalization, allow me two caveats. The first is that there are myriad actions one can take before, during, and after a block that could conceivably confuse the isolation of a block. Secondly, and to my mind, most interestingly, a sufficiently proficient practitioner need only execute two of the three parts. 

To understand the three parts and how they work together, we must first understand our limitations and our objective. For simplicity, let’s confine our discussion to a single punch being thrown towards the face (though the principles we’ll discuss hold regardless). In that case, our objective is to clear the area between our opponent and ourselves—the space through which a fist needs to travel to reach us. Our limitations, as it pertains to this discussion, is that our hands and arms only function with optimal speed and power in a relatively small area. Place your hands together at shoulder level, bend your elbows down to ninety degrees, and imagine the area proscribed by your arms. Only in that space do your hands work with maximum effect.

Potomac Kempo - Two-Thirds of a Block — The Complexities of Blocking Simplified

The Four Blocking Methods

So, as an arm travels towards you, you have a couple of options. The first is to utilize all three parts of a complete block. The other three are to use two of the three components. Thus:

  1. Movement, Inward Check, Outward Clear
  2. Inward Check, Outward Clear
  3. Movement, Inward Check
  4. Movement, Outward Clear

I will discuss these three options, but first, feel the need for some more caveats and notes. For most people, the movement mentioned will be a full footed step to the inside or outside. To the sufficiently advanced, it may only be a properly-timed and executed rotation. It perhaps goes without saying, but in the case of using some movement along with an inward check or an outward clear (but not both), your second hand is available for an extra strike before, during, or after the block. 

Option 1. Movement, Inward Check, Outward Clear

After training basics in a stationary stance with the inward check and outward clear that we will discuss in Option 2, we typically move onto this scenario: Movement, Inward Check, Outward Clear — or if we didn’t we probably should have. By using all three parts of a complete block, we maximize our chance of success. 

By moving, we accomplish several things, but for this discussion, we’re focussing on the fact that we can move to a place where our arms can move more effectively relative to the incoming strike. Then we can apply our inward check and our outward clear as in Option 2, but with an even greater chance of success. 

Moving Beyond Option 1.

From this grounding, we can work to remove each of the three components of our block one at a time. We can come to appreciate how proper stepping can position us such that fewer movements are necessary or, when movement is prohibited for some reason, we can make do without it. 

Eventually, we can learn to make our steps and our arm movements progressively smaller while maintaining effectiveness. Finally, we may discover that proper rotation can replace the need to step, but it is counterproductive to focus on—or attempt—this before one is ready. 

Option 2. Inward Check, Outward Clear

This is where most of us began our martial arts training: standing in a horse stance practicing blocks. We may have worked only inward checks for a period or only outward clears for a time, but eventually, they came together.

Abstaining from footwork, we are reliant on both hands operating in the space in which they are each most capable. So, one hand executes an inward check pressing from its side of center to a little past center, and the other hand performs an outward clear from just past center to its side of center. All done with only a modicum of necessary hip movement. 

That this works is terrific, but its inclusion here is more for category completion than anything else; if we can move our feet, we should.

Options 3 and 4. Movement, Inward Check OR Outward Clear

In the absence of proper movement, the range and angle of both the inward block and outward clear will be compromised, causing decreased efficacy and lowered chance of success. There are various other benefits to moving that are beyond the scope of this article, but for our purposes here, what we intend to accomplish by stepping is to move to a place where the triangle created by our arms is to one side of their arm. This allows us to rotate and apply either our inward check or our outward clear effectively. 

Remarkably, by positioning correctly, we can create a situation where one of our hands can accomplish the entire block without the support of the other hand. Thus we free up our other hand for all of the other things you might want to do with it, such as striking or holding a bottle of water. 

Two-Thirds of a Block

Blocking is an expansive topic, and I tried to simplify the discussion adequately to fit it all in one place. We have left out discussions of timing, ranging, preparatory movement on your part or that of your opponent, and much more. We can discuss these elsewhere, but I am going to leave off here and save that for another day. Thank you for reading; please share your thoughts.

Martial Arts are for Real People

I was extremely fortunate, oh, those many years ago, when I wandered into a martial arts studio for the first time. Fortunate that I found Kempo but more so because I found Sensei Alen—now Master Alen Babayan. Sensei Alen ran a fantastic studio full of interesting people who were inspired and inspiring. What struck me most about the people in Sensei Alen’s studio was that they were real people. They weren’t tough guys or meatheads; no one was training for a full-contact fight in Thailand, and no one had ‘Kempo’ tattooed on his head. They were just ordinary people who had discovered that Kempo was a great way to become healthier, happier, and more well-rounded.

Potomac Kempo - Santillo - Martial Arts are for Real People

To be honest, I wasn’t yet a real person myself—just a teenager excited about the world he had walked into. I often trained with a lawyer who had kids my age and drove a high-end sports car. One woman, whose son was taller than me, was a Ph.D. and did research that totally went over my head. Another gentleman I worked out with ran a huge electronics distributor. They were all real people. They had jobs and lives, and families and priorities. The only thing we had in common was that Kempo was one of our priorities.

At the time, I didn’t appreciate what I had found. Years later, as I began to teach, meet other instructors, and visit other studios, I realized how rare Sensei Alen’s haven of ‘real’ really was.

That was long ago and thousands of miles away. Now I’m a real person too, with a wife and children and my own competing priorities. But Kempo is still one of those priorities—to train, teach, and share what I started learning from Sensei Alen a quarter century ago. The vision I still hold of that haven for real people continues to be our inspiration and motivates us to create that same sort of space where real people can gather to learn and grow.

I am so grateful to Sensei Alen for being who he is and for creating that space for so many of us to learn and grow. And I’m grateful to all of the real people who choose to train with us now. I’m grateful that amidst their jobs, lives, and families, they choose to be part of our haven of real people.

With gratitude
Chris Santillo, Shihan

Potomac Kempo - Santillo - Martial Arts are for Real People
Me and my wife with Sensei Alen