Shaolin Kempo Karate... Thoughts?

[NJM]

I had the opprutunity to take Shaolin Kempo Karate for only 2 or 3 months about 15 yrs. ago. It was good from what I remember and very practical. My instructor was a woman named Joan. Unfortunanetly she left to go open a school in either KY or TN. I wish it were still available here.

Hello, Snake.

As you can see by the previous posts in this thread, the USSD/SSK corporations are not regarded highly in the Martial Arts community. I personally think that they are Bullshido McDojos that jeopardize the future of our art, and that they should be prosecuted for fraud.

However, it is possible that your teacher Joan, through her experience and training, was able to develop her own combat theory that rubbed off on you in a positive way.

[SenseiShellie]

I had the opprutunity to take Shaolin Kempo Karate for only 2 or 3 months about 15 yrs. ago. It was good from what I remember and very practical. My instructor was a woman named Joan. Unfortunanetly she left to go open a school in either KY or TN. I wish it were still available here.

Your teacher is in KY and is a 9th degree now. Her name is Joan Richert. She's still around.

[Snake77]

Your teacher is in KY and is a 9th degree now. Her name is Joan Richert. She's still around.

Awesome! She was an excellent instructor.

[sk girl]

I had the opprutunity to take Shaolin Kempo Karate for only 2 or 3 months about 15 yrs. ago. It was good from what I remember and very practical. My instructor was a woman named Joan. Unfortunanetly she left to go open a school in either KY or TN. I wish it were still available here.

Hey snake77,
Joan is still with Fred Villaris and she was promoted to 9th degree last year.
http://www.gokempo.com/

[Harley_man67]

This is one of things that irritate me about ussd. You never knew if your instructor was any good or if he was really a blue belt. A red belt or 1st degree should not charge 200 a month for karate lessons. A $100 is a fair price for a ussd red belt/black belt not $200 for an unqualified green belt at best.

After I worked there for a while I noticed certain instructors were promoted fast based on sales skills. Nothing about sparing or knowing the art it self just how many people they signed up. A real black belt should run a school not a 20 year old black belt who has only studied for a year and a half and is now a black belt.

All in all ussd's instructor black belts are green belts at best.

I am new to this forum and to the MA world in general but my experience with USSD has been very different from what I see posted on here. My wife is a 1st dan in TKD and has been looking to train in a different art with a great teacher for a few years now. As a matter of fact at least 50% of the students in our class have achieved black belt status in other arts. I state this fact because I followed the recommendations of more experienced students before signing up for this style. I have now trained for almost 1 1/2 years and am now a green belt. I also volunteer for the instructor's class and assist during the children's classes. I do not have to pay anything for the instructor's class and there is not one red belt who ever taught an adult class, period. We do not teach the children's class either, we only take them through warm-ups and never without the chief instructor present. For my wife and I to take classes it is under $200.00 and my son is allowed to take classes for free as long as he maintains a certain GPA. Our school is run by a husband and wife and they are a 2nd dan and 3rd dan respectively and both close to testing for the next rank. I personally think they are great teachers and overall it is a good system. But I also know that my experience is limited so I trust in the judgments of fellow students who have trained in all different styles and for many years. I also admit having little knowledge of how it is run on the west coast as we are the only school in Pennsylvania and have no contact with them. I understand and respect some of the gripes on here concerning the shaolin connection but to completely bash an entire system it's teachers, and students is just plain ridiculous. I know I have been taught to show respect to all students and styles whether I agree or not and I try my best to follow that way. If any of you are ever in or near Pittsburgh please stop by and visit our school, we probably won't change your mind but we will make you feel at home.

Much Respect

[SenseiShellie]

I am new to this forum and to the MA world in general but my experience with USSD has been very different from what I see posted on here. My wife is a 1st dan in TKD and has been looking to train in a different art with a great teacher for a few years now. As a matter of fact at least 50% of the students in our class have achieved black belt status in other arts. I state this fact because I followed the recommendations of more experienced students before signing up for this style. I have now trained for almost 1 1/2 years and am now a green belt. I also volunteer for the instructor's class and assist during the children's classes. I do not have to pay anything for the instructor's class and there is not one red belt who ever taught an adult class, period. We do not teach the children's class either, we only take them through warm-ups and never without the chief instructor present. For my wife and I to take classes it is under $200.00 and my son is allowed to take classes for free as long as he maintains a certain GPA. Our school is run by a husband and wife and they are a 2nd dan and 3rd dan respectively and both close to testing for the next rank. I personally think they are great teachers and overall it is a good system. But I also know that my experience is limited so I trust in the judgments of fellow students who have trained in all different styles and for many years. I also admit having little knowledge of how it is run on the west coast as we are the only school in Pennsylvania and have no contact with them. I understand and respect some of the gripes on here concerning the shaolin connection but to completely bash an entire system it's teachers, and students is just plain ridiculous. I know I have been taught to show respect to all students and styles whether I agree or not and I try my best to follow that way. If any of you are ever in or near Pittsburgh please stop by and visit our school, we probably won't change your mind but we will make you feel at home.

Much Respect

Come talk to me when you have been completely disrespected by them. You only have your experience...good for you. However, you don't have the experience of people that have been in SKK for 20 years. Your entire system was created by a man named Fred Villari...where is he in your lineage?

[sanjuro_ronin]

Hey snake77,
Joan is still with Fred Villaris and she was promoted to 9th degree last year.
http://www.gokempo.com/

Holy crap, going over their instructor profiles and where do all these 4th degrees come from?
Is there a mill somewhere ???

[Harley_man67]

Come talk to me when you have been completely disrespected by them. You only have your experience...good for you. However, you don't have the experience of people that have been in SKK for 20 years. Your entire system was created by a man named Fred Villari...where is he in your lineage?

I have read alot of your posts and I feel sorry for you. You carry around alot of resentments and have a bitterness that is tragic. I hope you find peace and serenity someday.
Much Respect

[NJM]

I have read alot of your posts and I feel sorry for you. You carry around alot of resentments and have a bitterness that is tragic. I hope you find peace and serenity someday.
Much Respect

And to you, I hope that you test your skills against a practitioner in another art someday. I know there is no point in arguing Villari's tyrannical nature with you, because that is like trying to convince members of a religion that one of their founders was a mass-murderer. It never works when someone has made up their mind to take security over truth.

[SenseiShellie]

I have read alot of your posts and I feel sorry for you. You carry around alot of resentments and have a bitterness that is tragic. I hope you find peace and serenity someday.
Much Respect

You don't know me. I only speak about what happened to me so that way to save others from the same fate. I have found peace. I've found teachers and arts that I love to train in...with instructors that are good and honest people. Not instructors that only want to milk you for money. You'll find that out soon enough. Don't worry though, you like the style. Your school isn't charging standardized rates...they will get fined. If you and your wife train for only $200 a month combined, then that's going against the standardized rates. That's a $150 fine per student, if I remember correctly. Hopefully you're not on ABC billing. That's the only way headquarters will find out. That's only being done to compete with the Fred Villari schools in Penn. anyway. Watch your rates go up soon. Oh wait...have you started the academy? That'll be fun! Watch more money disappear. That's how it works. Just being blunt. I'm not bitter anymore. I have better things to do.

And to you, I hope that you test your skills against a practitioner in another art someday. I know there is no point in arguing Villari's tyrannical nature with you, because that is like trying to convince members of a religion that one of their founders was a mass-murderer. It never works when someone has made up their mind to take security over truth.

It's worse...he's a USSD persona. Cute, yeah?

[sun dragon]

I am new to this forum and to the MA world in general but my experience with USSD has been very different from what I see posted on here. My wife is a 1st dan in TKD and has been looking to train in a different art with a great teacher for a few years now. As a matter of fact at least 50% of the students in our class have achieved black belt status in other arts. I state this fact because I followed the recommendations of more experienced students before signing up for this style. I have now trained for almost 1 1/2 years and am now a green belt. I also volunteer for the instructor's class and assist during the children's classes. I do not have to pay anything for the instructor's class and there is not one red belt who ever taught an adult class, period. We do not teach the children's class either, we only take them through warm-ups and never without the chief instructor present. For my wife and I to take classes it is under $200.00 and my son is allowed to take classes for free as long as he maintains a certain GPA. Our school is run by a husband and wife and they are a 2nd dan and 3rd dan respectively and both close to testing for the next rank. I personally think they are great teachers and overall it is a good system. But I also know that my experience is limited so I trust in the judgments of fellow students who have trained in all different styles and for many years. I also admit having little knowledge of how it is run on the west coast as we are the only school in Pennsylvania and have no contact with them. I understand and respect some of the gripes on here concerning the shaolin connection but to completely bash an entire system it's teachers, and students is just plain ridiculous. I know I have been taught to show respect to all students and styles whether I agree or not and I try my best to follow that way. If any of you are ever in or near Pittsburgh please stop by and visit our school, we probably won't change your mind but we will make you feel at home.


Much Respect

It seems like you have a good deal there. What kind of plan are you on? Is it all groups?
Do you get privates for $200 a month? The ussd schools on the west coast are very expensive.
$225 A month. Your a green belt and you like their system thats good for you. But I wouldn't throw stones at SenseiShellie. She's been studying shaolin kempo for over 20 years.
Also ussd is not the best place in my opinion to study at. The art is ok for a beginner but before you say how great your school is you should check out some other schools first.
Also your instructor's lie about where they came from. They came from Fred Villari www.villaristudios.com I have yet to see one shaolin form in the whole system.
The pinons and katas you are learning are not shaolin!!!
So do me a favor Harley and ask your instructor what form or DM is shaolin?
I think you'll be surprised at his answer

P.S.I would be very wary of people that lie to me and also take my money

[sun dragon]

Here's some Villari schools in Pennsylvania.
If your going to train in villari kempo you should learn it from the source.

http://villarispennsylvania.com/contact.htm

Villari's of Chalfont
4275 County Line Road
Chalfont, PA 18914

(215) 997-2222

Villari's of Dresher
1400 Twining Road
Dresher, PA 19025

215-200-0600

Villari's of Elverson
2661 Ridge Rd
Elverson, PA 19520

(610) 286-7878

Villari's of Horsham
4275 County Line Road
Horsham, PA 18914

(215) 441-0504

Villari's of Mechanicsburg
4930 Carlisle Pike
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050

(717) 975-2111

Villari's of Ivyland
36D Vincent Circle
Ivyland, PA 18974

(215) 675-7747

http://www.villarispa.com/

If you look on the Villaris web site www.villaristudios.com you will see Mattera and Damasco will never be able to open a whole bunch of schools on the east coast because Villari has over a hundred there.

Wait tell that $15,000 instructors teaching fee hits you.

You just be singing praises about ussd.

[Harley_man67]

It seems like you have a good deal there. What kind of plan are you on? Is it all groups?
Do you get privates for $200 a month? The ussd schools on the west coast are very expensive.
$225 A month. Your a green belt and you like their system thats good for you. But I wouldn't throw stones at SenseiShellie. She's been studying shaolin kempo for over 20 years.
Also ussd is not the best place in my opinion to study at. The art is ok for a beginner but before you say how great your school is you should check out some other schools first.
Also your instructor's lie about where they came from. They came from Fred Villari www.villaristudios.com I have yet to see one shaolin form in the whole system.
The pinons and katas you are learning are not shaolin!!!
So do me a favor Harley and ask your instructor what form or DM is shaolin?
I think you'll be surprised at his answer

P.S.I would be very wary of people that lie to me and also take my money

I am definitely not trying to throw stones at anyone nor spark even more controversy. If you go back and read the posts about USSD they are pretty much the same. First the complaints started about the business end and not making enough money then it went to the lineage. If these people were so concerned about lineage why let yourself go that far in the system and open your own school knowing it was a lie? In my first post I already proved that we do things differently here at our school with no contracts, low fees, no red belt instructor fees, etc...plus the fact that my son can take classes for free as part of a scholarship program we have. Obviously the east and west coasts differ greatly and I am grateful for the way it is here. Our sensei's have a different style of teaching than what I have read here and it's alot of fun so i will enjoy it. To answer your other questions:My wife and I get 2 classes a week for under $200 a month and my son goes free as I described. Private lessons are separate but we are a smaller school so some classes are 6 or less which is like a semi-private class. There is no cost to take the instructor's class, which is a 2 year program I believe, and there are no contracts. I don't dispute that it is Villari's system and that the forms at this level are not shaolin because I researched it all on the web.
However, I have seen from the higher ranking belts that there is alot more of the shaolin being introduced into our sytem here and when I asked about it I was told that Grandmaster Demasco is bringing more of it into what we do here. Hopefully he will start changing the system around and living up to the lineage it claims. Thank you for the insights and comments.

Much Respect,

[Harley_man67]

Here's some Villari schools in Pennsylvania.
If your going to train in villari kempo you should learn it from the source.

http://villarispennsylvania.com/contact.htm

Villari's of Chalfont
4275 County Line Road
Chalfont, PA 18914

(215) 997-2222

Villari's of Dresher
1400 Twining Road
Dresher, PA 19025

215-200-0600

Villari's of Elverson
2661 Ridge Rd
Elverson, PA 19520

(610) 286-7878

Villari's of Horsham
4275 County Line Road
Horsham, PA 18914

(215) 441-0504

Villari's of Mechanicsburg
4930 Carlisle Pike
Mechanicsburg, PA 17050

(717) 975-2111

Villari's of Ivyland
36D Vincent Circle
Ivyland, PA 18974

(215) 675-7747

http://www.villarispa.com/

If you look on the Villaris web site www.villaristudios.com you will see Mattera and Damasco will never be able to open a whole bunch of schools on the east coast because Villari has over a hundred there.

Wait tell that $15,000 instructors teaching fee hits you.

You just be singing praises about ussd.

There is no fee for instructors class here. You really should read more thoroughly. As for testing my skills against other styles, it really is unwise to underestimate someone without knowing them better. I may not have extensive MA experience but I have fought all of my life and served as a combat marine so I can handle myself rather well thank you. Lastly, all of those schools are over 5 hours or more from where I am. Thank you for the input.

Much Respect

[SenseiShellie]

I am definitely not trying to throw stones at anyone nor spark even more controversy. If you go back and read the posts about USSD they are pretty much the same. First the complaints started about the business end and not making enough money then it went to the lineage. If these people were so concerned about lineage why let yourself go that far in the system and open your own school knowing it was a lie? In my first post I already proved that we do things differently here at our school with no contracts, low fees, no red belt instructor fees, etc...plus the fact that my son can take classes for free as part of a scholarship program we have. Obviously the east and west coasts differ greatly and I am grateful for the way it is here. Our sensei's have a different style of teaching than what I have read here and it's alot of fun so i will enjoy it. To answer your other questions:My wife and I get 2 classes a week for under $200 a month and my son goes free as I described. Private lessons are separate but we are a smaller school so some classes are 6 or less which is like a semi-private class. There is no cost to take the instructor's class, which is a 2 year program I believe, and there are no contracts. I don't dispute that it is Villari's system and that the forms at this level are not shaolin because I researched it all on the web.
However, I have seen from the higher ranking belts that there is alot more of the shaolin being introduced into our sytem here and when I asked about it I was told that Grandmaster Demasco is bringing more of it into what we do here. Hopefully he will start changing the system around and living up to the lineage it claims. Thank you for the insights and comments.

Much Respect,

That explains a lot. You're not a standardized school. Wait till Mattera finds out. He's never happy when Steve DeMasco starts doing stuff on his own. Call any school on the west coast and ask them about what happened when GM DeMasco sent him an east coast USSD shirt. That shirt was shot with a shotgun if I remember correctly. Ask your instructor why Steve DeMasco lost 20 schools in CT in what seemed like a weekend...ask him why all the Long Island schools left USSD. It has a lot more to do with DeMasco than you would think.