Check it out

In Kenpo, there is a principle known as the check. This basically is keeping your opponent in check at all times whether it is a possible attack from another limb or an incidental one after you strike or block.

The concept is a little more complex than just simply keeping the non-blocking or striking hand in the opposite zone. A wrist-lock or arm-bar, for example, could check an opponent from striking you with the free hand such as a case with a lapel grab with the intent to throw a punch. You could also check an opponents leg with your own by stepping in and bracing his leg with yours while executing a strike.

In time, a check becomes part of a Kenpoists arsenal, an unconscious thought. A check can also be a strike. For instance, if one were to step inside and attacker and execute a hammer strike to the groin, the opposite hand would be placed in a position to prevent an incidental head butt as the opponent's natural reaction would be to lurch forward after being struck in the groin. This check could be used to poke in the eyes or execute a palm to the nose. Done properly, this becomes part of the counter-attack itself.

There is an old saying in Kenpo, "When is a strike a block and a block a strike? Always!".

A check can be a valuable tactic for self-defense.

“To hear is to doubt, to see is to be deceived, but to feel is to believe.”

—Senior Grandmaster Edmund K. Parker, founder of American Kenpo Karate