- Home
- Martial Art Styles
- Kempo
Martial Arts Styles: Kempo
Kempo is descended from Chinese Martial Arts, and can be traced directly to the Shaolin Temple. About 800 years after a traveling monk named Bodhiharma brought the first Martial Arts movements to Shaolin, called 18 Lohan or (Enlightened Hands), an experienced practioner of the Martial Arts named Chuen Yuan arrived at Shaolin, became a monk and changed Shaolin Martial Arts.
Chuen Yuan had been an expert in empty hand techniques and sword fighting before he became a Buddhist monk. And after he arrived at Shaolin and began his training there, he realized that Shaolin Kung-Fu was too external, and used too much force against force movements.
Chuen Yuan began to believe that Shaolin Kung-Fu was not complete and could be improved. So he left Shaolin and traveled throughout China to try to gain more Martial Arts knowledge. He visited other famous fighting schools and learned from many different teachers.
Chuen Yuan returned to Shaolin and increased the 18 original hand movements to 72. Chuen Yuan eventually became partners with two other famous Martial Artists Li Sou, and Bai Yu Feng and along with them added to the 72 hand movements and brought it to 172 hand movements.
This completed the new Shaolin system and was called the 5 Animal Form.
Each of the animals, the Tiger, Leopard, Crane, Snake, and Dragon compliment each other, but have different and distinct features.
After adding the 5 animals Shaolin Martial Arts were called Chuen Fa. Kenpo descended from the Chuen Fa style of Kung-Fu.
Over the next several centuries it's not known exactly what happened to Chuen Fa, and how it developed into Kempo. Chuen Fa is still practiced today in China. But its teachings spread to the Okinawan Islands, and then to the Japanese mainland. In both Okinawa and Japan it was referred to as "Law of the Fist" or Kempo.
Traveling monks spread the art of Chuen Fa, from China to Okinawa, and Japan over an 800 year span, between the Sui and Ming periods, which explains why it was so widespread.
James Mosayoshi Mitrose introduced Kenpo to Hawaii at the beginning of WWII. William K S Chow trained with Mitrose and is considered the modern day founder of Kenpo. He was a student of his father who taught him the ancient Chinese Art of Chuen Fa which had been passed down from Chuen Yuan.
Some of his students were Ed Parker (Father of American Kenpo), Adriano Emperado (Founder of Kajukenbo) and Ralph Castro (The Grand Master of Shaolin Kenpo). Parker and Castro are responsible for bringing Kenpo to the U.S mainland. Today there are several different styles of Kempo.
Kosho-Ryu Kenpo is a form of Shaolin Chuen Fa blended with Ju-Jitsu, brought to the U.S by James Mitrose who learned it from his uncle in Japan.
Shaolin Kenpo Karate was founded by Fred Villari, a student of Kajukenbo, Shorinli Kempo, and other Martial Arts. This system has an emphesis on 5 Animal Chuen Fa. And added White Tiger Chin Na techniques, and Aikijujitsu throws and locks. American Kenpo Karate is an offshoot of William Chow's Chinese Kempo Karate.
Ed Parker took what William Chow taught him and organized every technique so that it could be broken down into levels for all students.
White Tiger Kenpo Karate is the Art of John McSweeny and James Saviano, taken from the different Martial Arts that these men studied, including Judo, Ed Parker's Kenpo, White Crane Kung-Fu, Karate, and Northern Kung-Fu styles.
Chinese Kara-Ho Karate is an offshoot of Kenpo, founded by William K S Chow, a student of James Mitrose, and is a blend of Kosho-Ryu Kenpo and 5 Animal style Kung-Fu.
