GUIDED CHAOS COPYCATS*

*You can paint stripes on a house cat but it won't make him a tiger.

THE REAL DEAL:

• (1978) KI CHUAN DO created by John Perkins, using the principles of guided chaos and emphasizing those principles over techniques. Key Training drill: "Contact Flow" a free-form, principles-based sparring exercise.

• (1987) KI CHUAN DO logo created by John Perkins.

• (2000) ATTACK PROOF book published describing the principles of guided chaos.

• (2006) KI CHUAN DO name officially changed to GUIDED CHAOS.

We always knew this would happen eventually, but the number of wannabe's either directly plagiarizing our terminology or "re-packaging" our drills and concepts has been on the increase. Granted, certain generic martial arts terms and concepts have been around since the first caveman bashed the first unruly neighbor in the head with a rock, but the discerning reader can tell what's unique, what's leather and what's vinyl.

We have no problem with borrowing concepts as long as credit is given, because then people have the choice of checking information at its source for its validity. But when you throw around terms like "guided chaos," "contact flow" or "principles vs. techniques" without credit, you create a dangerous scenario where people can either 1-- set back their development by decades by getting recycled info from impostors or 2-- put their life in danger when the proverbial feces hits the oscillating device because they spent years training fake or incomplete versions of the real thing. If by some chance someone else used these terms first then the public still needs to be able to compare the content.

Some of what we've seen on the web would be laughable if it wasn't being offered as self-defense. In the case of ersatz "contact flow" video clips out there, the principles of sensitivity, balance, body unity and looseness are clearly lacking as the practitioners attempt to mimic what they've seen elsewhere and think they're still "getting it." As we've said repeatedly, this is virtually impossible unless you've "felt" what real flow actually feels like from John or one of his top students. Practicing bogus flow only reinforces bad habits. This can create in the practitioner a false sense of security that is perilous because it's built on a shaky or non-existent foundation.

Even in the case of dedicated long distance practitioners, we have seen how the benefit of some concentrated guidance from GM Perkins or his master level students can result in explosive skill development (e.g. black belts B. Miller and K. Freeman) that might otherwise have turned awry. We sometimes get visitors who have been practicing on their own exclusively and when they finally come to NY you initially find their structure stiff as bricks and sensitivity remarkably dull. There are common errors and traps that everyone experiences when beginning contact flow (trading real body unity and sensitivity for speed and power and using them as ego crutches; non-pliable looseness; misunderstanding pulsing and using it too early in your training; confusing combative motion with external power; misunderstanding moving behind a guard)...the list goes on and on.

CERTIFICATION

Authentic GUIDED CHAOS (Ki Chuan Do-KCD) can only be learned from an instructor certified to teach it by John Perkins. In our classes, we take your personal development seriously and never just "throw you to the wolves." You get personal attention, even in group classes, that is unmatched by any self defense school, anywhere. A list of the only certified Guided Chaos schools in the world can be found here.