Question about kenpo...

[Menjo]

Im not interested in joining or anything, however its one of the martial arts i hear about and have no idea what it really is? Can anyone tell what its like and its focuses?

[KempoTiger]

Im not interested in joining or anything, however its one of the martial arts i hear about and have no idea what it really is? Can anyone tell what its like and its focuses?

It's a hybrid style of martial arts created in Okinawa and has since spintered into various branches the most prominent of those in the US having been founded in Hawaii under James Mitose. (Parker Kempo, Tracy Kempo, Cerio Kempo, etc...)

Most of these schools take a stance of using what works from various systems and combining them. In my system we have a combination of Five Animal Shaolin Kung Fu and Jujitsu being the primary basis of the system, while we incorporate many various theories and concepts into our fighting that range from Boxing to Chin-na to even Aikido in some aspects.

One might say it's the mongrel of martial arts perhaps?

[Mr. Mike]

http://www.karateconnection.com/history.htm

that is a bit wordy, but should point you in the right direction.

The style of Kenpo, as said above, is an evolution of all things that work, and discarding what doesn't. Give it some thought...I think you'll enjoy it.

[y2_sub]

I don't know much about kempo either , any way , if it was developed in okinawa , how comes that there is chinese /shaolin kenpo ??

[Kajukenbopr]

kenpo was developed in China- some samurai around the (700-1300ad) brought that knowledge to JApan where Karate was born from this and in Okinawa (I cant really remember but I know was after 1300ad), Kenpo-Karate was formed from the Chinese fighting arts.

like KempoTiger said, Kenpo is a hybrid martial art which mostly derives from Kung Fu but leaves out most of the art from Kung Fu and makes it a harder style to give it more "effectiveness"(tries to end fight faster and doesnt really use a lot of forms or katas.

As Kenpo evolves, it keeps taking concepts from other styles that work for the senseis who teach them.an example of this is okinawan kenpo karate,kosho ryu(this style is similar to japanese karate) - in hawaii Master Chow founded KAra-ho kenpo(a harder version, rapid fire strikes.) - from kara-ho kenpo were born both American KEnpo(circular mvements were added to make it more fluent) by Ed Parker and KAjukenbo(mixing kenpo with karate,judo,jujitsu,and chinese boxing) by the Black Belt Society.

Hope this is helpful for you

[KempoTiger]

I don't know much about kempo either , any way , if it was developed in okinawa , how comes that there is chinese /shaolin kenpo ??

Depends which off-shoot of Kempo you are referring to. Kempo itself is an offshoot of the Shaolin arts, because many Okinawan styles of fighting were created out of the fleeing of Chinese monks to the Island for safety. Okinawa also being a highly used trade route between China and Japan led to it becomming a melting pot of cultures as well as martial arts theories.

If you're talking about Chow's Hawaiin Kempo, then it's a little bit more fuzzy. Chow was the son of a Shaolin monk but to what extent his father taught him beyond the religious aspect of his teachings isn't exactly certain.

Regardless though, all Kem(n)po comes from Okinawa which had it's influences from the Shaolin monks. Personally, I don't feel Kempo is a style per-se but more of an idea about how to train.

[KempoTiger]

kenpo was developed in China- some samurai around the (700-1300ad) brought that knowledge to JApan where Karate was born from this and in Okinawa (I cant really remember but I know was after 1300ad), Kenpo-Karate was formed from the Chinese fighting arts.

I know Parker Kempo subscribes to this idea, but honestly I don't believe that what we would call "Kempo" originated in China. Firstly the word Kempo itself is a Japanese translation into romanized form. The chinese had a quite many different number of styles, but they weren't as hard or linear as many Kempo techniques are. Chinese martial arts primarily followed the theories of mimicking life and flowing. Most of these styles followed the Buddhist frame of thought.

like KempoTiger said, Kenpo is a hybrid martial art which mostly derives from Kung Fu but leaves out most of the art from Kung Fu and makes it a harder style to give it more "effectiveness"(tries to end fight faster and doesnt really use a lot of forms or katas.

As Kenpo evolves, it keeps taking concepts from other styles that work for the senseis who teach them.an example of this is okinawan kenpo karate,kosho ryu(this style is similar to japanese karate) - in hawaii Master Chow founded KAra-ho kenpo(a harder version, rapid fire strikes.) - from kara-ho kenpo were born both American KEnpo(circular mvements were added to make it more fluent) by Ed Parker and KAjukenbo(mixing kenpo with karate,judo,jujitsu,and chinese boxing) by the Black Belt Society.

Hope this is helpful for you

Yup

[Kajukenbopr]

kenpo was developed in China- some samurai around the (700-1300ad) brought that knowledge to JApan where Karate was born from this and in Okinawa (I cant really remember but I know was after 1300ad), Kenpo-Karate was formed from the Chinese fighting arts.

I know Parker Kempo subscribes to this idea, but honestly I don't believe that what we would call "Kempo" originated in China. Firstly the word Kempo itself is a Japanese translation into romanized form. The chinese had a quite many different number of styles, but they weren't as hard or linear as many Kempo techniques are. Chinese martial arts primarily followed the theories of mimicking life and flowing. Most of these styles followed the Buddhist frame of thought.

like KempoTiger said, Kenpo is a hybrid martial art which mostly derives from Kung Fu but leaves out most of the art from Kung Fu and makes it a harder style to give it more "effectiveness"(tries to end fight faster and doesnt really use a lot of forms or katas.

As Kenpo evolves, it keeps taking concepts from other styles that work for the senseis who teach them.an example of this is okinawan kenpo karate,kosho ryu(this style is similar to japanese karate) - in hawaii Master Chow founded KAra-ho kenpo(a harder version, rapid fire strikes.) - from kara-ho kenpo were born both American KEnpo(circular mvements were added to make it more fluent) by Ed Parker and KAjukenbo(mixing kenpo with karate,judo,jujitsu,and chinese boxing) by the Black Belt Society.

Hope this is helpful for you

Yup

I call it like I see it. Samurai families took the knowledge from China and developed their own style fo Kenpo.

Still, Kenpo, is a word to clasify this hybrid martial art. It actualy DID come from China, Japanese practitioners just gave it the name Kenpo.

In China Kenpo is "Chuan Fa" or "Fist principles"(this is a lot older than "Kenpo"), and in Japan, Kenpo means "fighting method". Pretty much means the same.

you can find the info on Kenpo here: http://www.answers.com/topic/kenpo

Like it says on the webpage, Kenpo is Kung Fu(or Chuan Fa) with teh faster Karate training for more effectiveness.

[Menjo]

Thanks for all the info!

[Kajukenbopr]

glad I could help