The Birth of SubLevel Four Kenpo in Europe 

A FEW WORDS BY KEVIN J MILLS - EUROPEAN DIRECTOR SL4

In November of 2000 I was fortunate enough to be taken and introduced to an old student and personal friend of the late SGM Parker, the person making the introduction was his son, Ed Parker, Jr.  At the time I was with 3 other friends and students and we were taken to a studio in the back streets of Inglewood, Los Angeles, well off the beaten track so to speak. It was my first of many visits to the “Hood”.  At the time I had absolutely no idea who or what I was going to see. Nothing could have prepared me!

The person I was about to meet was Dr Ron Chapél. 'Ron' Chapél is the world's foremost authority on Advanced American Kenpo Concepts and it's SubLevel Four Kenpo Curriculum. Since the passing of Ed Parker Sr., "Doc" Chapél has become a sought after, internationally well-known lecturer. He continues to develop "Advanced American Kenpo Concepts" to continue the legacy of his teacher, mentor, and friend, Ed Parker Sr and was the first person to grade SGM Parker’s son, Edmund, to 1st Degree black belt, in what has now become known as SL4-Kenpo.

At the time of my introduction to SL4 I had 20 years experience of American Kenpo behind me. I had completed the full American Kenpo system and had learnt and taught many of the principles and theories contained within this art and was an effective and practical practitioner of American Kenpo.  

During the first class I was exposed to an old and trusted Kenpo technique Five Swords, the one all Kenpoists know and love. The first thing that was put to the test was my ability to survive the initial assault and with a simple test I found that my blocks were certainly effective, but not as good as I would have liked.  I was then shown the blocks, which were being employed by the SL4 group, which I found to be more effective than my own. I remember thinking, how does this work? I came away from that first lesson eager to learn the advanced principles and body mechanics being used by Dr Chapél's students to enhance my own effectiveness.

It was not long after my first exposure to SL4 and having taken further lessons under Dr Chapél, that I began to notice a distinct increase in my power and speed and an overall improvement in the effectiveness of the basics being utilized. I was sold, and knew that I had to learn this material and was very fortunate to be accepted as a personal student of Dr Chapél.

Since that time, I have continued to learn the SL4 material, travelling to and from the USA for my training under Dr Chapél and have integrated it into our motion based Kenpo system under the British Kenpo Karate Union. This has enhanced all of our students’ basics and their ability to perform their techniques with greater power, speed and overall effectiveness.

Throughout the time I have spent travelling to and from the States for my training in SL4 it has become apparent to me that this material has up until now had very limited exposure throughout Europe and I began to think how I could be instrumental in its growth in this area by making it accessible to not only the Kenpo fraternity but indeed to other martial art disciplines, as the principles of SL4 are NOT exclusive to Kenpo and if taught correctly can be applied to just about any Martial Art - hence the formation of "SL4-Europe" which has been set up for the sole purpose of spreading SL4 throughout Europe and to provide accessibility to this material and share the knowledge I have acquired to date to like minded and open individuals/organisations who recognise that there is always more to learn.

It is my hope that more Instructors and students will follow, whether it be learning the pure SL4 material or incorporating aspects of it into their existing martial art.

"the mind works best when its like a parachute – open!!"  

(SGM Edmund K Parker)