{"id":634,"date":"2025-10-23T23:17:09","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T04:17:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?p=634"},"modified":"2025-10-24T21:58:25","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T02:58:25","slug":"episode-82-a-c-rainey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?p=634","title":{"rendered":"Episode 82 &#8211; A.C. Rainey"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>This episode of <em>My Empty Hands<\/em> features host <strong>Reggie Darden<\/strong> talking with Kempo veteran <strong>A.C. Rainey<\/strong> about his extensive journey in martial arts, from his unexpected start in Kempo to his candid views on training, and the mentors who shaped his career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Start of the Kempo Journey<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A.C. Rainey describes how Kempo found him in the 1970s while he was focused on college football and wrestling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>The Challenge:<\/strong> After a tough wrestling match, he was at the gym when <strong>Dave Hebler<\/strong> and <strong>Paul Dy<\/strong> put on a Kempo demonstration and challenged anyone to fight (00:02:06).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Accepting the Challenge:<\/strong> Paul Dy&#8217;s challenge prompted him to accept, and he used his wrestling skills to take down the first two opponents (00:04:12).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dedication:<\/strong> He was invited to their school and began what he calls a &#8220;love affair&#8221; with Kempo. Alongside his roommate <strong>Paul Dy<\/strong>, he devoted <strong>16 hours a day<\/strong> to practicing, earning his Black Belt in a remarkably fast <strong>22 months<\/strong> (00:07:49).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Air Force and Teaching:<\/strong> After his school closed, he joined the <strong>Air Force<\/strong> and has been teaching Kempo ever since, tallying over <strong>50 years<\/strong> in the art (00:08:28).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key Mentors and Influences<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>A.C. Rainey credits a small group of individuals for grooming and advancing his art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Jim Thompson<\/strong> took charge of his technical development, even leading to stories of &#8220;pissing blood&#8221; from intense training sessions (00:05:53, 00:30:19).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ron Chappelle<\/strong> (Sefu) was the main person to improve his fighting skills (00:06:54, 00:33:28).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Phil Kanti<\/strong>, a Golden Gloves boxer, helped him understand the aggressive, fighting side of the art (00:29:42).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Dion Steckley<\/strong> is described as the &#8220;fastest man in Kempo&#8221; that A.C. Rainey had ever met (00:32:00).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>He also recalls being introduced to <strong>Ed Parker<\/strong> early on, at the Blue Belt level (00:12:56).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Philosophy on Training and Martial Arts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>The conversation delves into A.C. Rainey&#8217;s strong opinions on specialization and the core principles of Kempo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Against Ground Fighting:<\/strong> He expresses his strong dislike for ground work, believing it&#8217;s impractical in a real fight, and calls the sport of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu flawed because opponents won&#8217;t willingly go to the ground (00:17:56, 00:21:47).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Specialization vs. Cross-Training:<\/strong> He considers himself a <strong>&#8220;one-martial-art guy&#8221;<\/strong> and believes cross-training is a &#8220;fad.&#8221; He argues that attempting to be great at multiple arts is often driven by <strong>ego<\/strong> and prevents one from becoming truly superior in a single discipline (00:23:08, 00:24:45).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The Genius of Ed Parker:<\/strong> Mr. Rainey asserts that Ed Parker was always <strong>ahead of his time<\/strong> but that many instructors struggled to pass on his full teachings (00:37:47).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Kempo Principles:<\/strong> He stresses that Kempo is not about the &#8220;big motion&#8221; but about the <strong>small motion<\/strong> and the &#8220;tiny things that go into creating power&#8221; (00:39:55).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Memorization is Flawed:<\/strong> Mr. Rainey explains that Mr. Parker did not want students to memorize techniques (00:41:08). His greatest difficulty was &#8220;not understanding how to break down the memorization of motion,&#8221; a problem he only solved through teaching (00:42:01).<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Final Regret:<\/strong> He shares that he spent the last <strong>15 years relearning the principles<\/strong> that Mr. Parker wanted, noting that Kempo practitioners&#8217; egos often prevent them from going back to the basics (00:45:32).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lightning Round Favorites<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Anyone to Train With (besides Ed Parker and Danny Inos):<\/strong> Bruce Lee (00:44:44)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Favorite Technique:<\/strong> Destructive Twins (from BKF) (00:43:29)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Favorite Form\/Set:<\/strong> Long Form Six (and TND Set Number 2, which he teaches to all students) (00:43:56)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Favorite Weapon:<\/strong> Knives (00:44:32)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"powerpress_player\" id=\"powerpress_player_4950\"><audio class=\"wp-audio-shortcode\" id=\"audio-634-1\" preload=\"none\" style=\"width: 100%;\" controls=\"controls\"><source type=\"audio\/mpeg\" src=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/AC_Rainey.mp3?_=1\" \/><a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/AC_Rainey.mp3\">https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/AC_Rainey.mp3<\/a><\/audio><\/div><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_links_mp3\" style=\"margin-bottom: 1px !important;\">Podcast: <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/AC_Rainey.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_pinw\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Play in new window\" onclick=\"return powerpress_pinw('https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?powerpress_pinw=634-podcast');\" rel=\"nofollow\">Play in new window<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/podcast\/AC_Rainey.mp3\" class=\"powerpress_link_d\" title=\"Download\" rel=\"nofollow\" download=\"AC_Rainey.mp3\">Download<\/a><\/p><p class=\"powerpress_links powerpress_subscribe_links\">Subscribe: <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?feed=podcast\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_rss\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"Subscribe via RSS\" rel=\"nofollow\">RSS<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/?page_id=96\" class=\"powerpress_link_subscribe powerpress_link_subscribe_more\" target=\"_blank\" title=\"More\" rel=\"nofollow\">More<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This episode of My Empty Hands features host Reggie Darden talking with Kempo veteran A.C. Rainey about his extensive journey [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-podcast"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=634"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":636,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/634\/revisions\/636"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myemptyhands.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}