Legends of Kenpo: Sean Kelley: Co-Founder of Stomp the Bullying

By Michael Miller

This is the 2nd book of a series of biographies meant to provide clarity to Kenpo practitioners worldwide about the history of where Ed Parkers art came from, how it evolved into what it is today, and who some of the key soldiers were. This series will serve as a historical documentation of the garden produced by the seeds sowed by Ed Parker and some of his most decorated dignitaries.

This is Sean Kelleys story--the story of the constant new kid at school, moving eleven times throughout Connecticut and Pennsylvania before turning 11 years old, dealing with bullying and a troubled childhood, to becoming a successful international Kenpo instructor, dodging bullets as a Guardian Angel, and becoming the co-founder of Stomp the Bullying, Inc. changing thousands of childrens lives.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jan 14, 2014
• ISBN: 9781491716335

Michael Miller

Michael Miller is a prolific and best-selling writer. He has written more than 200 books over the past three decades on a variety of nonfiction topics. He graduated from Indiana University and worked in the publishing business. He lives in Minnesota with his wife Sherry.

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Copyright © 2014 Michael Miller.

Cover art by Manny Fernandez

Art work in the About the Author section by Edmund K. Parker Jr.

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ISBN: 978-1-4917-1632-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4917-1633-5 (e)

iUniverse rev. date: 01/09/2014

CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1   Thrust Into Darkness

Chapter 2   Martial Arts—The Beginning

Chapter 3   American Kenpo

Chapter 4   The Aftermath

Chapter 5   Chinese Karate Federation

Chapter 6   Teaching Internationally

Chapter 7   The Guardian Angels

Chapter 8   A New Chapter

Sean’s Thoughts About American Kenpo   —Insights From A Legend

Testimonials   (Thoughts About Sean Kelley)

About The Author

Bibliography

This book is dedicated to Sean’s mother Elizabeth and his daughter Tori Elizabeth

The intelligent man is one who has successfully fulfilled many accomplishments, and is yet willing to learn more.

—Ed Parker

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

There are so many people for me to thank; and there are many more that deserve to be thanked but I could write an entire book thanking everybody who has made a difference in my life. In my first book I thanked certain family members. They know how I feel so I do not have to be redundant. I do want to thank my wife Kathy, however, for understanding all the hours it takes to write a book, and for supporting me during the last couple of months of writing when I spent hours a day on the project. She is such an amazing woman and I don’t tell her that enough. I have to thank my instructor Sean Kelley. I am honored that he trusted in me to write his biography. This was an amazing process and only brought me closer to my teacher. I would like to thank two other men who have taught me a lot throughout my journey—Grandmaster Michael Robert Pick and Master Rainer Schulte. The lessons I’ve learned from these two great men have helped carve me into the martial artist and instructor I am today. I respect these two warriors more than most.

I would like to thank three men who have all been like big brothers to me—Kevin Kuliga, Bill Larson, and Mike Friedman. They have made my journey in Kenpo a pleasure just by being on the mat with me along with all the times we’ve hung out outside of the workout floor. Ever since I met all three of them I have looked up to them. I have learned a lot from them. I honor their friendships and their expertise. I would also like to thank Tony Capone. I respect him greatly and love his mindset and abilities to take care of business. I am proud to call him a friend and fellow 5th degree black belt.

I want to thank kickboxing legend Bill Superfoot Wallace for writing the foreword for this biography. I am honored to have been able to train with him many times and I love every conversation we have. Thank you Manny Fernandez for his awesome artwork for the cover of this book. I look forward to working with him on future book projects. I would like to thank Keith Adkins of Adkins Photography (www.adkinsphotography.com) for all the great photography work he has done for me, my studio, the Guardian Angels, Mr. Kelley, and the Chinese Karate Federation; most of which he donated his time. He is a true gentlemen and I am proud to know him. I would like to thank Megan Uscinski—who is one of my top students—for being so active in Kenpo, and for always assisting me with anything I need. She is a valuable asset to me and my studio.

I also want to thank my most senior student Steven El Drag Bennett. He has been with me since the start of my teaching career. Not only is he my most senior student, but also he has always been loyal, has never chased belts, and has been a delight to have as a student.

Thank you David Monroe who has always been a great friend, one of the best friends anyone could ever ask for. We’ve been through a lot together, and I have always appreciated everything he has done, including being one of my proofreaders for this book. I want to thank Tom Bleecker for giving me Mr. Kelley’s transcripts from both Journey books. It was a big help during my research process. A big thank you goes out to Chuck Sullivan, Curtis Sliwa, and Jeff Speakman for providing me with blurbs for the back of the book. I respect all three of these gentlemen for taking time out of their schedules to assist me. Lastly, I would like to thank Lori Grebinger Kelley for all her help with editing this book. She had a major impact on the finalization of this book.

—Michael Miller

In my career of over 30 years, I have been honored to have some very special people come into my life. I would like to recognize those people who I feel deserve to be recognized for being important people in my life. I would like to thank Tony Capone, Kevin Kuliga, Bill Larson, Mike Friedman, Susan Jordan, Mike Miranda, Dr. Chris Oldrich, Tammy Brennaman, Scott Johnson, Ramon Martinez, Tom Ramiccio, Doug Hotaling, Rebecca Holbourn, William Winkel, Blake Bannister, Arnold Salinas, Tom McCarthy, Peter Wein, Anthony Espina, and Quentin Kubala.

I would like to acknowledge two people who taught me a lot about the Kenpo system as they were both my instructors at one point during my journey. They are Lee Wedlake and Richard Huk Planas. Both of these men taught me the ability to communicate the art within the academics portion of our art and taught me to understand the vocabulary used within the system. Thank you both.

I have had many mentors in my life. I would like to thank two people who have been mentors to me in the motivational speaking arena who I also consider to be close friends of mine. These two gentlemen are David E. Stanley and Paul Martinelli. They both walked me through dark times when I felt helpless, but their love, patience, and support guided me through them.

I have had two mentors who taught me the fight game, and they are none other than kickboxing legends Joe Lewis (RIP) and Bill Superfoot Wallace. Joe was a great man who I am proud to have a 5th degree black belt under. Bill is in a league of his own. I am proud to have the relationship I have with him. Over the years he has become a close family friend along with his wife Jayne. I have so much gratitude for both of them and I love them both.

I must thank two people who I love talking with almost weekly to seek counsel or to just talk—Rainer Schulte and my instructor Grandmaster Michael Robert Pick. Both of these men have involved themselves with serving the Kenpo community far greater than some may ever realize. They are both veterans with intense combative experience. Rainer is called Uncle Ray in my family. He is like the uncle I never had, and his wife Brigitte is called Momma for a reason. We have adopted each other for the need of love, gatherings, and spiritual balance.

As for Michael Robert Pick, there is no short sentence explaining my respect, loyalty, and love for this man in my life. He is my Old Man and I admire him beyond words. Although he is my teacher, I am not a UKF member. I would never disrespect those senior black belts under the UKF, but I do train, learn, and utilize the principles and concepts Mr. Pick shares with me and the freedom he has allowed me to use within my organization.

I would also like to mention a particular person who is one of the greatest men I have ever had the privilege of knowing—Guardian Angels founder Curtis Sliwa. He taught me to never give up in what I stand for. He also taught me the language of the streets along with Paul Martinelli, Thomas Tut Hunt, Scott Kopenhoffer, Jason Weston, and Arnold Salinas. Curtis Sliwa is a modern day American hero and his mission to Dare to Care will go down in the history books. I want to thank Master Fransisco Conde (RIP) who was my instructor who originally brought me up the ranks. He was the man who introduced me to Ed Parker in 1978. That introduction led me to the place I am today. Conde was a private man who instilled loyalty and honor in his black belts.

Lastly, I want to thank someone who has been like an adopted brother to me. He has always been there for me no matter what the circumstances were. This wonderful man is Jay Neloms. He is not only a brother and a student of mine, but he is one of those people who are unconditionally loyal. He was always there any time of the day whenever I needed him. I think Jay Neloms and I came together because of the spiritual connection. I can’t thank him enough for all he has done. Not only is he a Kenpo black belt but he’s the example of what the dragon stood for.

—Sean P. Kelley

Lastly, we would like to thank all those who contributed to this book with testimonials and interviews and everyone who assisted in finding facts throughout this process.

FOREWORD

I started to get to know Sean Kelley in the mid 1980s after he had called me up to do a seminar for him. We had met before a couple times, however. Sean and I hit it off right away. His school was on Lake Worth Boulevard. We had an absolute ball together. We became friends, and I kept doing seminars for him over the years as our friendship continued to grow and grow.

I did many camps with Sean, primarily in Florida and throughout Pennsylvania—Lancaster area, Philadelphia area, Pittsburgh area, and at Michael Miller’s school in Bradford, PA. Sean’s big annual Florida camp was always amazing. It was fantastic. I taught at his camps many times; and the times I didn’t teach I always tried to show up to support him. He always had a lot of people show up. I enjoyed them because I got to meet new people, and meet people I knew I was going to see again. On top of that, I always learned a lot. The great thing about Sean’s camp is we have ideas. It’s not an it has to be done exactly like this approach. When I do seminars my job is to give some ideas. Your job is to take those ideas and modify them so they work for you. That’s what I like about Sean and his art American Kenpo created by Ed Parker.

I first met Ed in November 1966, when I went to his studio in Pasadena to workout. Jim Harrison, Mike Stone, and many others were there for the session. I was a 1st degree black belt at the time. My first impression of Ed was that he was a very nice guy. I didn’t know anything about Kenpo at that time. All I knew about was the Okinawan’s. I was used to the hardcore punches like the reverse punch and the backfist. Then I watched Ed do some of his stuff, and I was fascinated by such fantastic technique, especially for a big guy.

As a martial artist Sean Kelley is fantastic. He knows what he’s talking about, he’s very intelligent, he knows why he’s doing what he’s doing, and he is a superb technician. As far as a human being, he’s amazing and he’s my friend. I don’t have too many great friends but he’s one of them. I respect him for all that he has done, and I was honored to go on a few patrols with him with the Guardian Angels. I was at Sean’s studio doing a seminar when Sean said, Come on, we are going on patrol. I said, Okay, what kind of patrol is that? He told me that we were going to go on a Guardian Angels patrol. I had no clue who they were so Sean explained them to me, and Curtis Sliwa showed up. I thought Curtis was a wonderful guy. His heart was in the right place. His goal was to get our neighborhoods safe. He went the extra yard so people would take care of their neighborhoods and watch out for each other because most of the time they weren’t.

My first patrol was interesting. I’m from the mid-west. The only fights I ever got into were pushing contests. I didn’t know what to expect. I had never had a brick thrown at me before. It was a different experience but it was exciting. We were driving around in a pickup truck with chicken wire over the top of it. I was thinking what the hell is this? Then I found out why. It repelled bricks, bottles, and rocks pretty well. It was a great experience, and I was honored to have Sean Kelley alongside me.

Bill Superfoot Wallace

Undefeated World Kickboxing Champion

INTRODUCTION

This is the second book in the Legends of Kenpo series. The first, Rainer Schulte: Pioneer of American Kenpo

Reviews for Legends of Kenpo

[Kristine Sutton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

George dillman is a master of defense and teaches it. I love it because one doesn't have to be big and strong to put a bully down