The Perfect Weapon, an interview with martial artist and Hollywood action star Jeff Speakman

Рет қаралды 3,314

6 ай бұрын

Martial Artist and Hollywood action star Jeff Speakman joins Brad to share his journey from the cold winters of Chicago as a springboard diver and gymnast, working with legendary martial artists Lou Angel and Ed Parker, adapting Kenpo to grappling, what it was like to work with the legendary Ed Parker on the set of The Perfect Weapon, surviving stage 4 throat cancer, and much much more...
Jeff shares his beliefs on America's decline, and preparing the next generation of martial artists.
If you are a martial artist, this is an exciting interview with a martial arts legend, who didn't let Hollywood seduce him, carrying on the legacy of Ed Parker.
About Jeff Speakman:
Jeff Speakman is best known from his martial arts films The Perfect Weapon, Street Knight, The Expert and Land of The Free.
Jeff started his athletic career very early in life. Training and competing as a gymnast during the school year and as a springboard diver in the summer consumed much of his young life.
He has earned black belts in American kenpo karate and Japanese Goju-Ryu.
As one of the last students of the Grand Master of Kenpo, Ed Parker, Jeff Speakman has carved out his own niche with the art, adapting Kenpo to modern fighting styles by adding grappling to the mix.
As he stated "taking Kenpo to the ground was no easy task...but we did it." He calls this next level Kenpo 5.0.
Jeff has been inducted into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, the World Martial Arts Hall of Fame and the Masters Hall of Fame with over 50 Kenpo 5.0 dojos (training centers), in over 20 countries.
Jeff and his wife Kim reside in Las Vegas.
Host: Brad Szollose

Пікірлер: 13

@jezza24 5 ай бұрын

I Am apart of Mr speakmans kenpo organisation and he is a awesome gentleman to be in the presence of whether he is speaking or teaching

@creightonfreeman8059 6 ай бұрын

I realize everyone comes from a different background, but I find it amusing that Mr. Speakman says "we" didn't know what to do on the ground. Several years before I started Kenpo, my introduction to Asian martial arts was with Olympic Judo through the YMCA. The teacher was on the US National Judo Team and his dream was to compete in the Olympics. My Kenpo teacher in the Tracy lineage was training partners with another 1st Dan in the school who was also 3rd Dan in Kodokan Judo. Needless to say he knew how to throw and how to work on the ground. I trained with the Shuai Jiao Club (Chinese Wrestling) while at OSU, and while it doesn't have ground techniques, grappling principles are grappling principles. Also, my understanding is that the Mitose branch of Kenpo (Kenpo JuJutsu) had locking, throwing, and sealing the breath and sealing the vein techniques in it. Perhaps William Chow did not focus on it as much so his lineage lost some of those techniques, but my Kenpo teacher definitely knew them anyway. Despite this, it is not true that 70% of fights end up on the ground (for both fighters). Perhaps 70% of MMA fights end up on the ground, but that is an artifact of the rules. A more accurate statistic is that 100% of street fights put one person on the ground if at least one fighter knows how to hit. In any case, police records disprove the "70% of fights...." thing. Of course if both fighters only know how to grapple and not how to hit, the ground is probably where it is going.

@richardjones6949 6 ай бұрын

I’m a fan of Jeff. I loved him in perfect weapon. I studied with Grandmaster Ralph Castro Shaolin Kenpo in the early 90’s. He was a good friend of both Ed Parker and Bruce Lee. Ed never trained Bruce Lee. They probably worked out together but let’s not act like for one minute he trained Bruce Lee. I had a lot of one on one conversations with Grandmaster Castro about Bruce and Ed

@nemesisprime2993 6 ай бұрын

Master Speakman all my respect to you, you are one of the greatest and fastest martial artists of all time.

@skipskiperton4992 6 ай бұрын

this was a surprising interview…in a really good way. Thank you. It is nice to discover this channel, and nice to get to know a bit about Jeff Speakman. A deep bow 🙏🏼

@AwakenedNationPodcast 6 ай бұрын

I am so glad you enjoyed this episode. THANK YOU for subscribing...and I promise to always bring great guest to the show.

@fletchkeilman2205 6 ай бұрын

Speakman is a class act, and an amazing martial artist with a wealth of knowledge to share. Awesome interview as well, good sir

@AwakenedNationPodcast 6 ай бұрын

Much appreciated! Thank you...you said it; Class Act.

@user-xk1ds3nj8v 6 ай бұрын

Loved his movies and it truly is a beautiful art

@AwakenedNationPodcast 6 ай бұрын

I love Kenpo, or Kempo...it truly is a beautiful yet devastating martial art.

@williamtoad8040 2 ай бұрын

It’s such a shame Speakman’s film career never took off, but it most likely benefited him as a person and as a martial artist. He’s the anti-Steven Seagal, legitimate, very honest, humble, easy-going, respects other martial artists other than himself and the more you learn about him and hear his views and martial arts knowledge the more you like him, the exact opposite of Steven Seagal.

@AwakenedNationPodcast 2 ай бұрын

Hi William...he was supposed to be the star in Speed. Keanu Reeves got the part. But I agree with you. He's the real deal.

@williamtoad8040 2 ай бұрын

@@AwakenedNationPodcast true, he had a four picture deal with Paramount the fourth planned film was a sequel to The Perfect Weapon. His Kenpo 5.0 where it mixes all the styles he learned over the years and combines it focusing on usefulness and simplicity. It’s a bit of a sense it’s much like a spiritual successor of Bruce Lee’s Jeet Kune Do instead of being based primarily on zip Man’a Wing Chun as a foundation it’s based on Ed Parker’s Kenpo.