Lesley Jackson speaks with Police Officer and new Martial Edge contributor Phillip Allen Humphries about his historical and practical knowledge of the martial arts.
Forget watching Law and Order, CSI or any other cop show on television, here at Martial Edge we have a real life all action police officer and investigator, who also happens to have over 30 years of martial arts experience. Phillip Allen Humphries has worked in various police departments, as a SWAT officer, for the US Navy NCIS criminal investigation (and yes, that is the same department as the NCIS TV show), an Army intelligence analyst, undercover drug investigator and for a short while, a private investigator. During this time, he has also earned black belts in Seieikan karate and SDS Bushido Kempo as well as training in various other martial arts. Will someone please give this man his own TV show?
Phillip’s martial arts career started when he was 17 in the early 1970s when he took up Goju-ryu karate, and he enjoyed some competition success. He then moved onto Chung Do Kwan (WTF) Taekwondo whilst studying commercial art at University, which he stuck with for several years. However, Phillip’s first black belt was in Seieikan karate which he describes as “eclectic American sport karate.” Again, competition success followed but his interest in scoring points on the tournament mat waned as his “interests leaned more towards street applications.” During this time, Phillip had taken up his career in the Police and it was with two of his fellow police officers that he “practiced freestyle martial arts for a period.” Between them, they blended Phillip’s karate and taekwondo training with another officer’s aikido background, learnt under “Steven Seagal Sensei of Aikido and action movie fame.” This is where Phillip began to appreciate other systems and different approaches, telling me that he “learned a lot from these guys.”
Black Belts
Yet Phillip still values his time studying USKS Seieikan karate, which he describes as “orthodox classical karate.” “USKS was a freestyle school that fully embraced Bruce Lee’s eclecticism theory, so we added stuff from other systems and modified techniques when we felt it to be beneficial. I enjoyed, at the time, the tournament play and participation in Seieikan kept me in great physical shape.” It was in this style that Phillip earned his original 1st Dan grade which he “cherishes because my Seieikan black belt was my first.”
Since then, Phillip has earned another black belt in SDS Bushido Kempo which is “an American, combat-oriented mixed martial discipline derived predominantly from Karate, Chinese Kenpo, Japanese Jujitsu, and Aiki techniques. It incorporates traditional weapons training, as well (knife, jo, and katana). SDS Bushido Kempo is a ‘living’ art that incorporates new techniques and continually evolves. Bruce Lee’s concept of ‘taking what is useful’ is alive and well within Bushido Kempo. Bushido Kempo is a no-nonsense street martial art that is very well rounded, employing strikes, kicks, punches, deflections, joint locks, throws and weapons defence training. Bushido Kempo is amongst my favourite martial systems; I am particularly fond of its Aiki, Jujitsu, Chin Na, and Chuanfa elements. “
Street Applications
Due to Phillip’s background in the Police, his martial arts training has served him well on a very practical basis as it has “allowed me to survive multiple physical altercations without serious injury.” His real life street combat experience enabled him to have a deeper and more practical understanding of his martial arts as he “distinguished between sport applications of martial art and the street, self defence applications, nowadays often referred to as ‘reality based’ martial arts. Closing to grappling range and ending confrontations quickly was a preferred method within law enforcement circles. My background in martial arts afforded me an understanding of body mechanics and a better grasp of the dynamics of interpersonal combat.” It was from this street experience that Phillip chose to amend some of his previous martial techniques as he “developed less interest in kicking (except low kicks) and focused on close range hand techniques and pain compliance control methods found in the grappling of Jiu Jitsu.”
However, even though a good knowledge of grappling is essential to the well rounded martial arts expert, Phillip’s streetwise background advises that “going to the ground is typically not a great idea in a street confrontation, especially if there are multiple assailants involved.” Basically in any street confrontation, simplicity is the key, which is where martial arts containing superfluous movements, such as taekwondo or capoeira, are not so useful as. “When the human heart rate is beyond 145 beats per minute, which occurs under the sort of stress experienced in life or death physical struggles, what you are left with are gross motor skills only. Unless one is a Zen master or has extensive training under that level of stress, the physical techniques that require complex fine motor skills will be nearly impossible to execute.”
Martial History and Purpose
Even though Phillip wouldn’t personally use some of the dynamic techniques that appear in taekwondo and capoeira, he still appreciates their respective histories. For example, in taekwondo the, “high kicks became a trademark skill set within Korean martial arts because originally, infantry fighters could hit cavalrymen on horseback.” Similarly capoeira “was brought to Latin America by African slaves where it was modified by its practitioners as the martial techniques could be hidden in acrobatic dance.” Yet Phillip emphasises the purpose required in choosing a martial art as, “there is nothing wrong with the practice of either of these arts, or any other system, for that matter. It depends on what the practitioner seeks out of his or her martial arts involvement. For self defence, the proven street techniques tend to outshine the flashier ‘Hollywood’ stuff, because they work reliably.”
Phillip develops this idea when he speaks of other aspects associated with a traditional martial art. “I believe that Kata practice can be very beneficial, providing the practitioner understands the bunkai, or application.” Also that “sport competition can be very beneficial; it builds endurance and typically develops a superior level of cardio fitness, balance, and agility... Providing one understands the difference between tournament technique and street applicable self defence technique, there is nothing wrong with sport martial arts.”
Esoteric Future
Now Phillip has a deep physical understanding of the purpose of his martial arts, he is currently developing the more esoteric area of his skills. He comments that “I am striving to develop the ability to better focus my intrinsic energy and develop a superior mental attitude. In my current studies with Soke-dai Blankinship, developing and channelling Ki to enhance martial power is part of our curriculum. I believe that many things are possible for those who can unite body, mind, and spirit. The human mind can conjure awesome power.” Of course, Phillip is also channelling his extensive experience in martial arts into writing, from which he would like to “eventually migrate from my government career into a private sector writing career within the martial arts media and martial arts entertainment industries.” With a little help from Martial Edge, naturally!
Even though Phillip has grown a great deal in his thirty years involved in the martial arts, he says of the future that, “I see myself as a lifelong student of martial arts. I hope to still be practicing one form or another of martial art when I am 70, 80 and beyond. It fascinates me, all aspects of it, and I couldn’t envision ever being detached from it.”
I believe that many things are possible for those who can unite body, mind, and spirit. The human mind can conjure awesome power - Phillip Allen Humphries
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