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Kempo

A Brief History Of Kempo 

No one is really sure where Kenpo originated  Many Martial Art's historians  believe that what we now know as Kenpo originated from the Shaolin Art of Chuan Fa which is Chinese for Fist Law.

The art of Kempo, also written as Kenpo, is unique as far as its history goes in two respects. It is considered, by many, as the first eclectic martial art, as well as having its founding roots stretching back to 520 BC, during the Chou Dynasty. The person who was one of the first noted catalyst of the way of Kempo, by Chinese history records, was a prince and warrior of Southern India called Bodhidharma. According to the records of the Lo-Yang temple, Bodhidharma was a Buddhist monk under the tutelage of Prajnatara and it is presumed that upon his death bed that Prajnatara requested Bodhidharma to travel to China, where he felt that the principles of Buddhism were in decline and that the knowledge of Dhyana (Zen Koans) should be known.

It is estimated that in 520 BC, during the southern dynasties that Bodhidharma entered China and traveled northward to the kingdom of Wei, where the fabled meeting with Emperor Wu of the Liang Dynasty began. This meeting is recorded, due to the intense conversation and discussion of Buddhism and Dhyana, which took place. The meeting was to no avail, his words to the worldly emperor meant nothing and, thus, sullened by his attempts, Bodhidharma left the palace of the Emperor and traveled to the Honan province, where he entered the Shaolin temple and began a martial arts history.

Bodhidharma's depression grew once he reached the famed Shaolin temple for Prajnatra's telling was true. The monks were in a ragged condition physically and mentally diminished, due to the excess amount of time the monks spent in meditation and little else. Many of the monks would often fell asleep in meditation, while others needed assistance in the basic necessities of life - so feeble was their condition.

For an unknown period of time, Bodhidharma meditated in a cave at the outskirts of the temple, seeking for a way to renew the feat of Buddha's light as well as letting the monks regain control over their lives. Upon his return, Bodhidharma instructed the monks in the courtyard, from the strong to the feeble, and began to explain and work with them in the art of Shih Pa Lo Han Sho or the 18 hands of Lo Han. These techniques which are the foundation for almost all of the martial arts, today, were never originally intended to be utilized as methods of fighting. They were a manner in which the monks could attain enlightenment, while preserving their physical health.

During the Sui period, approximately forty years or so after the death of Bodhidharma, it is told that brigands assaulted the Shaolin monastery; one of many attacks that would occur until the early twentieth century. During this first invasion, the monks attempts at defending their temple was futile, their skills were not attuned to fighting techniques.  It looked as if the temple would fall. A monk of the temple, with reference only as the "begging monk", during the last siege of the temple by the brigands, attacked several of the outlaws with an array of aggressive hand and foot techniques killing some and driving the remaining attackers away. The other monks were so inspired, by the display of this single priest, that they requested tutelage in this martial style as a means of protection. In later scripts, this fighting art was recorded as Chuan Fa or Fist Method.

Over several decades, the fighting arts of the Shaolin temple grew and, it is said that, over 400 art styles prospered, over the next several centuries. Several decades after the fight of the begging monk, a master of Chuan Fa, called Ch'ueh Taun Shang-jen, was said to have rediscovered the original Shih Pa Lo Han Sho, which had been lost for many years. Ch'ueh, over a period of time, integrated his art of Chuan Fa with that of Lo Han, increasing the total number of techniques from the original eighteen to total of seventy-two. For several years after this period, Ch'ueh traveled the country side of China promoting his art in several grueling fighting matches, until he came upon a man named Li in the province of Shensi. Li, a master of Chuan Fa as well as other martial ways (including rumors of Chin Na), traveled and trained with Ch'ueh for some time, developing the curriculum of Chuan Fa to form a total of one-hundred and seventy techniques. Furthermore, they categorized these techniques into five distinctive groups distinguished by various animals whose instinctive reactions best reflected the movements of this new Chuan Fa.

 

Animal styles in Shaolin Kung Fu

The 'classical' and 'non-classical' animal styles are all complete fighting styles based upon the movement and character of animals familiar to the Shaolin monks (though one, the dragon, is, of course, mythological). Each animal embodies a particular range of strategies; a well-rounded fighter is assumed to be familiar with all the animals, so as to be well-equipped to choose strategies appropriate for different situations. At the same time, monks traditionally specialized in a style that was well-suited to their physiques and characters.

The five classical animals each correspond to a particular aspect of training, and each embodies a strategy. This document will only attempt to describe the strategies in so far as the author understands them:

Tiger:
Strengthens the bones. Relies on frontal assault, aggression, and power. Lots of breaking, ripping, and tearing.

Leopard:
Trains for muscle strength. More precise than the tiger. Relies on great muscular strength. The Leopard employs many crushing techniques and a lot of internal strikes with the hands. It gets in close to do it's damage.

White Crane:
Trains flexibility. Prefers to work at a distance from the opponent and at angles off-line from his attacks. Requires great flexibility for its attacking and evasion techinques. The Crane has excellent balance and is very at distrubing the balance of others. It has strong wings and uses them often and effectively.

Dragon:
Trains spirit. Uses simple, basic techniques with a challenging strategy of movement complementary to the opponent's (when he advances, I retreat; when he retreats, I advance). Prefers zigzagging motions. The Dragon has a lot of floating motion and a lot of swinging around and whipping.

Snake:
Trains chi (Internal Energy). The Snake goes for vital points. The eyes and throat being common targets.

The non-classical animals are more concerned with particular strategies and techniques, and not as much with an all-encompassing worldview of combat. Nonetheless, they include some very fine fighitng systems.

Praying Mantis:
Praying mantis style is a very famous style, developed in the 1700s by a fighter named Wang Lang. He supposedly developed it specifically to defeat the monks of the Shaolin Temple. The story is that he had been a very successful fighter who decided to test himself against the monks and failed miserably in his first fight. He then supposedly devoted years of his life to developing a fighting system with which he could defeat them. The result, we are told, is Praying Mantis style (named, it is said, the praying mantis whose defeat of a much larger cicada inspired Wang Lang to study its movements) The monks, in a pattern that was repeated many times in history, adopted the resulting style into the curriculum of the Temple.

Praying Mantis is a combination of a set of sophisticated deflections, counters, and grappling movements with Monkey style footwork (see Monkey style, below). The fundamental strategy of Praying Mantis is to wait patiently for an opening (often in the form of an attack), then tie the opponent's arms with a grappling technique and strike into soft areas and nerve centers.

Shaolin Bird:
Shaolin Bird style is one of the older fighting styles, being derived from the very old Lo Han style by way of the later China Hand style that seems to form the basis of much of the familiar Korean and Okinawan styles. (Many of the movements in Okinawan karate and such styles as Tang Soo Do closely resemble movements in China Hand and Shaolin Bird styles).

In Shaolin Bird style the hard, linear strikes and kicks of Lo-Han and China Hand first begin to acquire some of the circularity and fluidity that is characteristic of many later Chinese styles.

The strategic assumption is Shaolin Bird style is that the opponent is larger and stronger. The Bird stylist compensates by leaping in to deliver a flurry of strikes, and then leaping back out of range; or, again, by goading the opponent into a charge and sidestepping while striking. Bird style relies on quick transitions between low and high attacks and stances, sudden reversals of direction, long-range jumps to cover ground quickly, and well-developed stamina. Bird forms emphasize elbows and finger thrusts to soft targets.

Monkey:
Monkey style is an advanced style that demands much of its practitioners. Like Shaolin Bird style, it assumes that the opponent is larger and stronger, and compensates by making it hard to reach or hold onto its practitioner. The Monkey stylist jumps, flips, rolls, and climbs to avoid his attacker. He attacks from peculiar angles, and contorts his body to strike when the opponent believes himself safe.

A monkey stylist, if faced with an opponent who likes the lunging attacks and strong stances of, let us say, a Shotokan stylist, might sidestep the lunge, climb onto the opponent's knee to elbow into the head, and then dive into a roll to escape retaliation. Monkey stylists strike with the backs of the forearms, with the elbows, and with hook kicks and ape kicks (like a front snap, but twisted inward to strike like a roundhouse, but with the leg turned the opposite direction). Monkey stylists like to tease their opponents into rash action and take advantage of their rashness.

Eagle claw:
Eagle claw style is an animal style derived from the grappling art of Shaolin Chin Na. It relies on very powerful seizing, pinching, twisting, and locking techniques to immobilize or punish an attacker. Eagle claw stylists work hard on developing their grips to facilitate application of painful locks and nerve pinches. Like jujutsu, Eagle claw employs leverage and joint manipulation to defeat an opponent.

Other styles:
There are many more Shaolin animal styles. A suggestive list might include White Ape, Wild Horse, 10,000 Bees, and Golden Centipede. Obviously I have done nothing more here than to suggest the variety of Shaolin animal styles.

 

Weapons

In Kempo schools, defenses against knives and clubs are seen from yellow belt and up, they are considered prime weapons in which to defend against. Kempo, also, teaches its students how to use weapons, to increase their understanding of defense. Weapons that are taught are both Chinese and Japanese in variety and vary widely. Some schools of Kempo teach the 8' staff, while others teach Chain Whip and Sai. Commonly seen in Kenpo schools are the twin sticks of Escrima. Weapons training often begins at the green belt level, although, in some schools, it is restricted to those of black belt level and higher. In most Kempo schools, the primary weapons skills taught are:

  1. - Knife
  2. - Sticks
  3. - Half Staff (Jo) (Pole)
  4. - 6' Staff (Pole)
  5. - Sword (Typically the Chinese  Broadsword)
  6. - Chain

 

Forms

Many people think that because Kempo is a highly-directed "self-defense" art that it contains no kata or forms. This is very untrue. Kempo has many forms with a notable characteristic of having both circular and linear movements, as well as hard and soft techniques. Kempo forms are used to teach speed and coordination of strikes; as well as movement, projections and immobilizations, and various principles of fighting. Many Kempo systems utilize a numbering system for their forms, instead of referring them by name, making them simpler to remember. It is far easier to remember Kata #3 than Naihanci-dai. The American Kenpo and Shaolin Kempo systems use a numbering system for many forms. In American Kenpo, there are numbered Long Forms and Short Forms. Shaolin Kempo has numbered Pinan and Kata forms. Both systems also have "named" forms, such as Statue of the Crane, and Swift Tigers. These are typically more advanced forms. Another interesting thing to note is the use of the Okinawian Pinan forms in many Kempo systems.

When James Mitose first taught Kosho-Ryu Kempo in Hawaii, he taught the Naihanchi form.
After Thomas Young took over teaching full time, he added the Pinan forms. This was done with Mr. Mitose's permission.
William Chow's "sets" were expanded into full forms by both Edmund Parker and Sam Kuoha. Other forms were added by the Kajukenbo system. Numerous Chinese Kung Fu forms have also been added to various Kenpo systems.

 

Kempo's Speed Striking

An often interesting topic is Kempo's "speed striking" techniques. The speed striking technique is primarily for building up the hand speed of the Kempo student, which will eventually translate into combat effective speed of strikes in a confrontation. A good example of speed striking is seen throughout the movie The Perfect Weapon, and it is a key training and fighting method. A Kempo student tries to build his reaction speed to a point, where 10 or more strikes can be applied in a few seconds.

 

Similarities between Kempo and other arts

Kempo and other martial arts have various similarities in technique and principle, primarily, because of the diverse and eclectic background of Kempo.

 

Taekwon-Do and Kempo

Many of the aerial and spinning kicks of Taekwon-Do have been brought to Kempo in the recent times, often used primarily in "sparring situations." Certain jumping and spinning kicks were inherit in the Kempo system, such as the Jumping Front, Side, Back and Roundhouse kicks; as well as Spinning Back, and Crescent kicks.

 

Karate and Kempo

Karate and Kempo share the closest similarities in techniques, due to similar backgrounds. It is believed, by many, that Karate has its origins as an offshoot of Kempo. (An early book on Japanese Karate was entitled: Kosho-Ryu Kempo: Karate) 95% of all Karate techniques, if not more, can be found in the Kempo systems.

 

Jujutsu and Kempo

Many of Kempo's immobilization and projection techniques arrived from the Japanese Jujutsu. The various loin throws, shoulder and hip projections, as well as sweeps are a direct inheritance of Jujutsu. Kempo, though, does not contain as wide an array or extensively developed series of throws as Jujutsu.

 

Aikijutsu and Kempo

In the last few years, many Aikido and Aikijutsu techniques have found their way into the Kempo art, gracing the study of Chin Na with new principles and ideas. The most common techniques are Shiho nage, Irimi nage, as well as en-no-irimi projections.

 

Kung Fu and Kempo

Although Kempo was originally a "Kung" style, it has over the years thrown away many of its Chinese aspects for a more Japanese "hard style" approach. Still, many soft techniques can still be seen in Kempo, primarily the five animal techniques, chin na, and weapon skills.

 

Ninjitsu and Kempo

There is a Kempo system that claims that James Mitose was also a master of Koga-Ryu Ninjitsu. This system is taught exclusively by the Koga Ha Kosho-shorei Ryu Kempo schools, based in Philadelphia. The head of this system is Shihan Nemir Hassan. Mr. Hassan used to go by the name of Terry Lee. That is that name he used when he was the last student James Mitose actively taught.

 

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