Kekoa Fighting Systems - West Coast

04/30/2026

As an 58y/o Martial Artist who has trained for 51 years of it, and self-proclaimed health nut, I had to ask myself about the risk/reward aspects of training any Martial Arts. The likelihood of you actually "needing" to use it is minimal at best...unless you actually go out looking for it. Many will train their whole lives and never have an encounter.
Is Self-Defense or Fighting a sole/legitimate reason for training? Are you a competitor that does it for hobby or aspire to go pro?
I cannot tell you how many people I know who do BJJ that have bad hips (it's from the forces placed upon your hip joint in guard), or people who do MMA that eventually can't take the hard sparring that the US gyms think is necessary.
At the end of the day, or the twilight of your life, will you even be able to move with enough grace to even defend yourself from just tripping over a rock?
IMO, you can do both, have the necessary skills to fight AND be healthy, agile and mobile.
It comes with a cost. You have to discard what you think your sole reasoning for training is, analyze the effects on your body and augment it with other aspects of any martial arts that is NOT fighting based but movement based.
I was just in Vietnam and Thailand for 3 weeks and it would be hard pressed to find an elderly person confined to a walker or wheelchair. Early morning or evening walks and exercises in a park was what I observed.
So re-evaluate you what are losing vs what you are gaining. If you're honest with yourself, the answer will surprise you.

05/31/2025

I have taught hundreds of seminars throughout my 50 years of being in the Martial Arts. Initially, it wasn't easy for this introvert who once had a stuttering problem; now it's "old-hat".
The skillset to teach to total strangers in mass requires skillset of reading the room, teaching tempo, concise and accurate communication, time management, and getting everyone involved. These skills require honing, otherwise you become one of those instructors that lose people because you talk too much about yourself.
Newly minted Black Belts under me are "required" to do at least one seminar to gain this initial experience. It is a daunting task to get someone to accept you, kind of like asking for a job. However, in this case, they do it at No Charge. It really is to benefit to "newbie" instructor more than anyone.
As teachers, it is our responsibility to Give Back. I recently had my student Black Belt go to a school in San Diego where I've supported for many years to ask to "teach". I surely thought this was a No Brainer. The owner proceeded to ask in a way, "What will I get out of this" and boast of his rank, his leadership position etc.
This was disheartening. If someone were to ask for my help and all they needed from me is Time and Attention, I would gladly extend my hand.
We need to do better and support other people on their Martial Arts journey even if it's not the one you pave for your students.

05/10/2025

Many people today will attribute their art as a "life changer". I've actually seen them coin it "..., is life".
If you gain happiness from the community, and you are good at what you do and can't wait to go back...you need to assess the rest of your life.
Is the rest of you life in the toilet? You're not great at your job, relationships, finance, communication etc.
There's a good chance that 1) your art doesnt actually make you a better person 2) it might be a cult 3) you would get the same endorphins and serotonin release from jogging or going to the gym, but you credit your martial art.
Grappling, Kicking, and Punching should be the least valuable lesson you learn everyday from your dojo.

05/09/2025

Two Things to know about Martial Arts:
- Everything works in a controlled classroom
- Nothing works in a fight until it's been empirically proven by YOU

01/31/2025

In most schools, Black Belt is the goal. In ours,brown belt is where it's at.
The expectation is so high and the requirements daunting. 99% will quit and never reach this. It is why only 5 have ever made it to Black Belt under me.
The benefits of not having a commercial school is that my expectations hasn't changed since the 80's and we don't have to lower them for anyone.

01/11/2025

KATA: Why is it important?
With classic/ traditional Martial Arts competing with MMA, many believe that KATA doesn't have purpose. My dear departed teacher SGM Ted also believed that.
I challenged him on that merit as a therapist and he valued my opinion and knew I was correct. I eventually had him doing Tai Chi. Face it, if you fear that you will get into a street fight every weekend, you have other things that you need to discard, kata isn't one of them.
Kata is a set routine, if done correctly, meant to challenge balance, timing, and strength. As a teacher judging Kata, I assess from the ground UP. What/where are the feet, what does balance look like? How are hips aligned and flexed? is the spine stacked or leaning? Is shoulders square, or is there a curve? Where is the head? Hands? etc.
As a healthcare consultant that assesses mobility, I can tell you as FACT, that the first thing to go is Balance and Lower Body strength.
As we age, we must change emphasis on our training for longevity. Are you a teacher well into your 50's, 60's that can't do the things that you expect your students to do, so you defer that to a younger teacher?
Many can and will argue the merit of Kata in Martial Arts as not being practical. Practical for what? If the question is Combat, no; but if the question is for Martial Arts Longevity, Movement, and Balance...then absolutely.
I've heard many who don't do kata in their system tell me "I'll just hit the bag and jump rope to keep my physical ability".
Those are great workouts, but never really challenge your body for strength, flexibility, and balance. You'd be better off augmenting Yoga into your routine...or do a Kata.

12/03/2024

People are going nuts over Tawanchai's "no switch" left leg round kick.
You know what? That is a basic front leg round kick that's been around since the beginning of martial arts. White Belts learn this

09/04/2024

This is a VERY GOOD interview and insight to why Gracie is NOT BJJ.

I confronted Ryron Gracie from to learn Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for self-defense vs. sport.Filmed by William Ustav☯️ BIO: Jesse Enkamp a.k.a The...

08/04/2024

Not every person will become a manager.
Not every enlisted person will make Chief.
Not every officer will become a General.
In my school, not everyone will make Black Belt.

07/26/2024

Remember this phrase by one of my teachers, "If you don't teach people to realistically survive, you are teaching them to Die".
We will revisit this.
Just because you Do Martial Arts, Know Martial Arts, or Teach Martial Arts, doesn't mean you know anything about self-defense, particularly "women's self-defense".
I see way too many people teaching so-called "women's self defense". When I ask for the curriculum...*crickets.
Way back in 1992 when I was the trainer for the USAF security forces, I was asked to teach an Anti-Rape/ Anti-Abduction course to Wright State University. I asked for several months to prepare. This was daunting, fighting is NOT self-defense, and self-defense is not what women need. To be clear, there is NO SUCH THING as self-defense for women. A course for women self-defense is to eliminate the fear of men in the room. You don't know what the participants have gone through.
When women get attacked and abducted, they most likely will not survive.
I went down a rabbit hole in statistics of attacks on women, studied the mindset of predators, and had to isolate When, Where, and How these things happened before I was comfortable even addressing a course as important as this.
Fast forward 20 years later, Cal State University requested a lecture (pic below), many things have changed regarding social culture, and I had to change my talking points to reflect today's environment.
Please do not advertise "women's self-defense" course to drum up interest for your school if you don't REALLY know anything more than the martial art that you train. It is insufficient for such an important topic.