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Secret weapon
(Shanghai Daily )
Updated: 2006-06-29 14:35


A martial art that involves a simple 60-second routine of easy-to-learn
and stunningly effective movements is being championed in China by its
creator, US martial arts expert Joseph Simonet.




Joseph Simonet flexed his muscle and started preaching his gospel, not in
words but in chops and punches.

In the carpeted grand hall of the Shanghai Longwu Kung Fu Center on
Shanghai's Maoming Road last Friday, Simonet, known as "America's
best-kept martial arts secret," set off on the latest and perhaps the
most uncertain adventure in his three-decade-old career: gaining a
foothold in and grabbing the interest of the Chinese martial arts
community.

The opening act was a sample demonstration of his scarcely heard of (at
least in China) "KI Fighting Concepts." The shifu, or master, acted the
role of a drunk bully in the bar, "harassing" Addy Hernandez, his wife
and most loyal student. She subdued her "attacker" in less than 10
seconds through a clear-cut combination of simple parries and hauls.

"I have developed the KI Concepts myself just like the Chinese devised
Shaolin kung fu and tai chi hundreds of years ago," says Simonet, 53.
"The skills and systems of fighting keep evolving as the world advances.
We need answers to the progress and I am offering one."

It looks like a simple answer as Simonet declares that the essence of his
art lies in a mere 60-second form he refers to as a "slam set." The
"60-seconds database," as he refers to it, is actually a set of punches
and chops incorporated into a wooden dummy-based training regime.

"All the moves derive from this basic set, which is simple and accessible
to people of any age and physique," he says. "Those who command the
basics to the most subtle details will have accomplished the mastery of
my art."

But behind the simplicity of these moves are a myriad of experiences
gathered throughout his more-than-30-year career in the world of the
martial arts.

As an avid competitive power lifter in the early 1970s, Simonet embarked
on his martial arts journey by studying Japanese karate. By 1974, at the
age of 21, he was managing a martial arts studio in Kirkland, Washington.
Approaching his newfound career with a wide-open mind and an insatiable
thirst for knowledge, Simonet spent the remainder of the decade exploring
goju-ryu, tae kwon do and hung-gar kung fu.

But it was not until his discovery of Wing Chun kung fu that Simonet
found the cornerstone of his own art.


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