THOS ANTONIADES "I'm not taking anything away from kenpo - I'm adding to it"
(Combat July 2000)

Athos Antoniades is quietly spoken and respectful, a Martial Artist who has served a long apprenticeship in both the external and internal arts. An articulate, intelligent man, he has also channelled his energies into showbusiness to good effect, making a name for himself in a production of the acclaimed play "Bouncers". It came as quite a shock, once the interview got underway, to find out how controversial his views were, dispite being delivered in his always polite manner. Known for his American Kenpo, Athos has been radically adding to his art, integrating his internal knowledge with the external striking style that Kenpo is noted for. His answer to alarmed detractors is that he is honestly developing the art in a way that Ed Parker would have approved of, given the great man's visionary approach.

COMBAT: You say that you've "internalised" American Kenpo, what do you mean by that?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: Although I'm well known for teaching American Kenpo, and establishing clubs in London, what's not so well known is that for the last 12 years I've also been practicing the internal arts. I started Chi Kung intitially whith Simon Goh and for the last four years I've been doing Earle Montague's Old Yang style Tai Chi Chuan, with his London instructor Paul Brasier. American Kenpo has always been criticised for being a "slapping" art, and although it's a fast, rapid style, based on a rapid successsion of strikes, I could, to a degree see the criticism. So I began to suspect that Kenpo could be made more powerful by using the internal aspects as taught in Chi Kung and Tai Chi.

COMBAT: And what are these internal aspects that you incorporate?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: As opposed to using mere muscle power we can use internal energy, chi, and this can be transferred to jing, which translates to explosive power or energy. In order for this to work, the first thing I teach my students is relaxation. You have to be completely relaxed. I believe that by matching external with internal energy, you can generate up to 7 times fore power. Chi, or Ki, will not flow if you are tense, you only tense at the point of impact, and then relax again. The next thing is connectivity, the whole body must act as one connective unit, as the Chinese classics say "the body is a weapon". Now the Chinese are very secretive about their classics, they used to fool us, they used to say yes, the head is a weapon, the leg is a weapon, ...but that's not what the classics mean. What they mean is that the whole body must be behind every strike, starting from the foot upwards.

COMBAT: Part of what you teach is the "reptilian mind", can you elaborate on this for us?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: Again, I was taught this through my Tai Chi training. Basically we have 3 brains, the reptilian brain, which was the first brain that anything had, shall we say, reptiles, crocodiles, snakes, they still only have this brain. Then you have the mammalian brain, dogs, cats, all animals have, and then we've got the human brain. We have all 3 brains. The reptilian brain is a survival brain, and to be totally effective you have to go into this brain, without realising it. After years of training we can quite naturally go into this brain, you often hear people doing feats that are not humanly possible when their survival is threatened. To reach the top level of Martial Arts fighting you will have to go into this brain. It's not just something you "play around" with, so we won't go into too much detail, because it can cause problems if you don't know how to react once you are in this brain.

COMBAT: So it should always be supervised?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: Yes. You should only be taught how to get into it once you've had adequate training. Once you have the skill the results are amazing, you're in a different world. It's like everything is in slow motion. Never try to be quicker than a snake because a reptile doesn't actually see you in the way we see someone. No matter how fast you are, to a reptile you're combating towards them in slow motion. As long as they don't feel you are endangering their space, you're okay, when you get too close they will attack and then just go back to doing what they were doing before because that's all they know. It's now been proved by science that this brain exists at the stem, and there are several ways to go into it. We as humans have very little use for this unless we are involved in the internal arts. I teach my students this as a little "gift" once they have got their black belt. Then, should they ever need to, they will be able to automatically go into that brain. You have to have experienced this state, the feeling that your opponent is attacking you in a slow motion, to fully understand what I am talking about.

COMBAT: What is the distinction yo u make between peripheral and "eagle" vision?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: Another internal aspect that I'm introducing into American Kenpo is Eagle vision. Again, it was already in existence in the art, because Ed Parker talks of peripheral vision, whereby you're not looking at the opponent directly, you're looking at the space surrounding the opponent. you look at it as one complete unit. Should he attack, if you are in the reptilian brain, you will react in accordance with his attack, in other words you don't have to look at his individual weapons, I'll give you an example why I call it eagle vision. When an eagle zooms down from a great height and picks off a mouse he is not looking at the mouse directly but the whole area surrounding the mouse. Whatever way the mouse moves the eagle is locked onto it.

COMBAT: Dim-Mak, It's a very controversial subject, "death touch". What are your views?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: I've studied this in some depth, and Ed Parker, if you read his writings, he actually knew Dim Mak. A book he wrote in 1964 talks of Dim Mak but doesn't go into great detail because at the time it was frowned upon. If you read interviews with people that were around Ed Parker at the beginning, they talk about energy disruption, which is what Dim Mak is about, which makes me believe that Dim Mak has always been about (in kenpo) and these luminaries in the States knew about it.

COMBAT: So what is the "energy disruption"?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: Let me explain in lay terms using acupuncture as an example. The Chinese philosophy is that of prevention rather than cure and they believe that when you have a problem, the chi energy isn't flowing. The electricity within us that gives us "life". So if there is a blockage and energy is not flowing, the only way to get it flowing again is to go to one of the four hundred and one acupuncture points in our body and sticking a needle into it. Dim Mak is the opposite of this, you cause the disruption, you stop the energy flow to cause death or severe injury with a very light strike. Because of the nature of Dim Mak I only hint at it to my students until they are at least brown belt I wouldn't even hint at how they could get into the reptilian brain, for instance. I have to know their character. There are people going around the world doing demonstrations, knocking people out, and this is very, very dangerous.

COMBAT: What about the delayed death touch?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: That's a strike to stomach 9, and depending on how hard you strike someone just an inch either side of the larynx, if you strike lightly you knock them out, if you strike hard enough you kill them immediately, if you strike in-between the two they could die p to 7 years later because the artery deteriorates. These people going around the world saying how brilliant they are because they can knock someone out are causing those people (they knock out) a lot of possible future health problems. Its a very serious thing.

COMBAT: What has been the reaction in the Kenpo world to these internal elements that you have brought in?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: I've had two varying views. One is that this stuff was always there anyway. So why didn't anyone talk about it? I admit that some people in America have indicated about energy disruption, but I feel I have taken it further than anyone before. I would challenge anyone to say they have actually taught this (the techniques etc that we have discussed) in American Kenpo. The other view is who do I think I am, telling people that Kenpo isn't everything it should be? The luminaries, who tell me I have no write to do what I am doing. To those people I would say they have a misunderstanding of what Ed Parker is about. He was about innovation, about updating his art. He took an ancient Chinese art and Americanised it, brought it up to date to make it suitable for current street-fighting. All I'm doing is taking it a stage further. I'm not taking anything away from Kenpo, I'm adding to it. Those going around saying they are teaching traditional Kenpo, what I would say is they have misconceived Ed Parker. He was totally against tradition. I believe that every art should develop as a living thing, you have to keep developing.

COMBAT: How did did your students take your "developments"?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: Before I told them I was internalising Kenpo, I actually experimented in class, and the response was amazing. They preferred everything, they felt more powerful, were faster, they fell in love with it. Basically this is what made me go public with it, because it can only enhance the style without taking anything away.

COMBAT: Unless they are using internal energy, and learning how to "build" their own internal energy, how can you teach them these principles?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: That's a good point. I'm now actually spending 15 minutes at the end of each class actually teaching the students how to develop their energy with Chi Kung exercises, moving or standing meditation. There are certain movements, certain postures that if you do in connection with specific breathing, you can increase your internal energy. One of my most senior students was skeptical at first but now he is beginning to understand the principles he wants more. A lot of my students were external Martial Artists and had no idea what I was talking about (laughs), now they love it and ask me for more and more.

COMBAT: There are the opposing views at the heart of Kenpo politics, those like yourself who innovate, and those that rigidly stick to Ed Parker's techniques.

ATHOS ANTONIADES: When Ed Parker was alive he was the top man, he was the head of the IKKA and that was it, everyone respected that. Unfortunately he died in 1990, then all his top students proclaimed themselves as his natural progressor. They all set up their own organisations and started promoting themselves. The ones to avoid (laughs) are the ones who say they are teaching traditional Kenpo, those people do not understand what Ed Parker was all about, and that's where the problems started.

COMBAT: Are Kenpo strikes simply an extension, or copy, of Wing Chun principles?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: I've actually studied Wing Chun with Austin Goh and Simon Lau and I would say there are similarities, especially the centre line concept and the zone theories. The reason I chose Kenpo over Wing Chun is its speed. Kenpo is based on a rapid succession of strikes, it's called the style of overkill because once we've committed ourselves to an offense, then we carry on the motion until we have overwhelmed or subdued our opponent. Wing Chun is slightly linear for my liking, Kenpo is linear and circular. Because of my Kickboxing experience I also prefer the Kenpo kicks, the Wing Chun kicks are slightly limited.

COMBAT: Would you say that Kenpo is a difficult art for a new student to pick up?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: Funny you should ask that. I had a new stained t come to me the other day and say I'm never going to be able to do this, it's too fast! He was a weightlifter. You don't necessarily get big classes but you tend to get dedicated students. I have students travel to me from all over London. Once they've realised Kenpo is for them, the travel does not concern them. I have a lot of dedicated students. As you get older Kenpo develops with you, especially the way I teach it, even if you are 70 if you move in the right way and strike someone at a certain point, it doesn't matter how flexible or strong you are, it will have the same effect. With the internal side, I teach my students more and more as they advance. The older they get, the more they get to realise what they are doing, it is the kind of art you can do throughout a lifetime.

COMBAT: Should Martial Arts be a sport, a hobby, a traditional value system, a self defence system, all or some of these things?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: I think it should be a combination of all these things, depending on the individual. For 11 years I did Mugendo Kickboxing. I did it then as a sport, and it was excellent, they've created untold numbers of champions. As I got older, and suffered a knee injury, I looked for something with more hand techniques as I recovered, and I came across Kenpo. Then I started to look at Martial Arts in a different way. As you get older you realise that there is more than the sport element, but I'm still in touch with the people that taught me kickboxing, we still train together, I simply moved on. So it is not a clear cut thing.

COMBAT: What about weapons training?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: Once again I've changed the syllabus. Ed Parker taught the escrima sticks at 4th dan, I teach them for 1st kyu brown belt, gun techniques as well. I brought the knife set into 1st Dan black belt. The reason we teach weapons is not just so that we are able to use them, but the techniques we do with the sticks, for example, are the same ones you do with your hands. Now I have never told my students what to expect, I teach them the stick form, and then ask them to do the same thing empty handed, and they realise the form seams easier, the techniques become a lot faster. Weapons training adds to your speed and power.

COMBAT: How do you feel Kenpo differs here, compared to The United States?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: In the Sates I feel they understand the insights into Kenpo more. Over here, I don't want to criticise anybody, but basically they seem to concentrate on the techniques, the forms, but that is only the beginning. They are only there to develop you into a spontaneous Martial Artist, they are not the end in themselves. In the States they actually understand this, as opposed to just teaching the techniques themselves. Its not enough to just learn the techniques, grade, then go on to the next techniques, we do what's called blending or grafting of the techniques, you learn how to swap from open technique to another, so that they become one continuous form. It's not the techniques themselves, it's what they teach you. You develop the "body mind", so that your body will take care of itself, the subconscious takes over.

COMBAT: On a completely different track, Jeff Speakman isn't the only Kenpo instructor with active ambitions, is he?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: I was approached about choreographing the fight scenes for a film called "Ashes to Ashes" and when I showed them what I could do, and what Kenpo was all about, I actually got a part in the film. I developed the part and it ended up quite a substantial role, I was the henchman of one of the Mafia bosses, I really enjoyed the experience and wanted to do more. I teach American Kenpo to a drama class in London and I mentioned to the Director, Mr Jones that I wanted to do more on the acting side, he put me in touch with a director, we put together a script, and we actually did a short film called "The Chase", promoting Kenpo. This was a bonus on one of my training tapes "The Principles of American Kenpo" and the response was very good. A West End Agency took me on and we've developed a script called "Deception", which they are now trying to produce, and if it takes off this will take me more mainstream.

COMBAT: You also had a role in a theatrical production of "Bouncers".

ATHOS ANTONIADES: The drama school where I teach asked me to choreograph the fight scenes in the play and to cut a long story short I ended up playing one of the bouncers. First of all we had a private showing to an invited audience only, and the response was amazing. We then had two nights at a small theater in the West End called the Diorama Arts Centre, sold out, it was extremely successful. Now we have a three night booking in July at the Westminster Theater in the West End, some dates in Margate, and more bookings combating up.

COMBAT: Is this how you want to see your career develop?

ATHOS ANTONIADES: Martial Arts are my first love, I realised this even during filming, but I would like to get more involved in film-work, and hopefully "Deception" will take off. In Martial Arts terms I have a couple of students at black belt level and I want them to start up their own clubs, teaching American Kenpo Tai Chi, as opposed to just American Kenpo, because that is the way I feel it should go in Ed Parker's tradition.