Company: Panther Productions
Tape Name: Kenpo-Jujutsu Connection
Tape
Cost: $49.95
Length of Tape/Time:90 minutes
Number of Moves/Techniques:
Return
Policy: Return on damaged or defective tapes only!
Experiences in dealing with
this company: Fair
The Instructor: David German
Company's Address:
1010 Calle Negocio, San Clemente, California 92673
Company's Phone Number: 1-800-332-4442
Web
Page: Century purchased Panther's entire library
http://www.centurymartialarts.com/accessories/media
E-Mail:
panther@rsabbs.com
Primary Grading Criteria:
1.
Production/Tape Quality: 9
2. Instructors demonstrated skill level: 10
3. Comprehension
Score/Immediate Understanding: 7
4. Degree to which this will make someone a better
Martial Artist: 9
5. Score on delivery vs. hype: 9
6. Degree to which we'd
recommend this product: 8
7. Wasted Time (The higher the number, the less "fluff"/repetition):
9
8. Playback Score/Watching it over-and-over again: 10
9. Would I purchase
more of this company's products: 9
10. Overall grade based on cost vs. value:
9
Grand Total: 89% (2.25 stars = fair)
Secondary Grading Criteria:
1.
Beginners benefit: low
2. Intermediate benefit: low
3. Advanced benefit:
excellent
4. Time to benefit: Immediate
5. The need to buy additional tapes
to understand this one: None
Written Summary:
WOW, this
guy has a lot of enthusiasm. If nothing else this tape will get you thinking about
some alternative techniques and situations that you might not have thought of before.
David German is a whirlwind in this series in which this tape is the first of 4.
Moving quickly from one technique to the next, he almost never stands still except
to catch his breath. As such this is not a tape for beginners, it is for advanced
martial artists that already have a good understanding of the basics of an art.
Although
the tape's title is the "Kenpo-Jujutsu Connection" its target audience
seems to be all martial artists looking for some help on transitioning from striking
to grappling which is the basis of his TAI system. He just happens to use kenpo
names for some of the attack sets he shows. Most of the techniques shown are ones
that finish off an attacker with a throw, lock, or choke, after you have softened
them up with a few good strikes. The techniques are painfully effective but you
have to look close the first time to see them. He may show the techniques once or
twice but then he moves on to something else- with the idea that if you're a good
martial artist will be able to pick up on the techniques.
I have a few nit-picks
with this tape. One is that David German is so enthusiastic that he will start explaining
one technique or idea and get off on a tangent, demonstrate 3 or 4 totally different
techniques and then go back to his original train of thought. This means that yes,
you do get a lot of great techniques packed into the tapes, but that they are a little
hard to keep up with. Also the last 30 minutes of the tape is an interview between
David German and Joe Jennings about German's TAI system and martial arts background
and self promotion to 10th Dan. Its not a bad interview, but there's nothing in
it that you can't find in a magazine article, and the 30 minutes could have been
spent on more techniques, or taking more time to show a particular set of techniques.
Still if you are an advanced martial artist, who is looking to add some grappling
transitional moves to your repertoire, this is a fair tape that shows classical techniques
can still be put to effective use.
PH
