Okinawan Kempo vs. American Kempo

[stonecrusher69]

Are the Katas the same in american kempo and okinawan kempo?

[Sauzin]

Well I'm sure Kosho-ryu or Kajukenbo would have more similarites to Okinawan Kenpo then American Kenpo would. And hey, don't worry about the wrong foot thing. I get a bit uppity when my art gets grouped in with arts that it has not connection to. Not because I dislike the other arts, but because I, like anyone, don't like to be labeled with things that don't fit. I'm sorry if I come off a bit strong as a result.

It's difficult to specify a specific motto or a single sentence foundation that Okinawan Kenpo revolves around. The branch of Okinawan Kenpo that I practice is a small man's art. It comes from a man by the name of Seikichi Odo who trained under and was the senior student of the founder of Okinawan Kenpo Nakimura Shigeru. Odo was unique though. You see Okinawans are small people, but even around them he was almost a midget. He was a little over 4 ft tall if I recall correctly, and giant tossing was his forte. You can imagine a little 4ft 2" 80lb man walking up to a 270lb marine and effortlessly tossing him across the room. It seems impossible but that's exactly what he did, and he had this funny smile that he got when someone who didn't believe it could be done saw it done so easily...or had it done to them.

Because he was so small he had to learn how to effectively generate power, and how to effectively remove it from others. Odo moved with such emphasis and power that he often resembled a rag doll who was ripping his own arms off by shooting them out so powerfully. In Okinawan Kenpo we make a lot of sacrifices for these things that others might not make in their art. But the results are exponential.

Odo also had a great fondness for weapons. He was known as being without equal with the bo. He taught new students this weapon from day 1. And he used it to guide the empty handed arts that he taught as well.

As far as stances go, well we use all kinds. Our main fighting stance is a shortened version of a front stance. Shoulder width wide and about the length of the lower portion of our leg, perhaps a little less. Since we enjoy taking opponents down and controlling them we also use a lot of deep stances to support such maneuvers. We really don't stay in one stance for long though and we move between them so frequently and fluidly that you'd be hard pressed to single our stances out.

In our art, since it is a Karate-do, kata is everything. Every move in every kata is utilized and has a purpose. Each move has at least 10 meanings and even a yellowbelt could show you at least 5 for each move they do. That's because we teach our kata with heavy emphasis on applications. We have a lot of kata. I practice about 70. Odo practiced closer to 50.

As you could probably figure we are a bit less of a striking art then most. Grappling is included from day 1 and we combine it with strikes, throws, and blocks which we rarely use just for blocking.

We are very heavy believers that having a straight back does not mean having it perpendicular to the ground. We always maintain a forward cant. This affects every aspect of the way we fight.

We use our hips. A lot. More then any other art I've ever seen. We use our hips for punching, throwing, stepping, blocking, evading, everything. We do both subtle and not so subtle hip work and we do it almost everywhere. It is a huge emphasis in our art.

We do very little sparring, but what sparring we do is largely full contact with traditional budo gear or continues controlled. I'd call it light contact but it really isn't ever light.

We are heavy believers of crossing our arms when we block and transition. We don't believe in bringing both our arms back while advancing and we like to use the arm that is already at lead to transition to the arm at the rear.

We aren't huge into kicking, what kicks we do use are largely low and utilized to remove balance and manipulate an opponent’s base. We love to kick out knees and then stand on them.

We don't believe in speed and we don't focus on it. Timing is everything. Speed means nothing. We will often purposely wait to move when we see an attack.

Well that's a summary, anything you would like me to expand on?

[Sauzin]

Are the Katas the same in american kempo and okinawan kempo?

Oh absolutely none of the katas are the same. They don't even look similar. My understanding is that Ed parker made up most of if not all of his kata. But even if he hadn't, since we don't have a common lineage, they still would be different.

[Goju_boi]

So weapons are part of Okinawan Kempo?What weapons are used and are they used like in Kobudo?

[Sauzin]

Any Okinawan art that practices weapons is Kobudo, since Kobudo refers to Okinawan weapon arts. In fact Okinawan Kenpo is responsible for quite a bit of the proliferation of Kobudo that exists. Odo was one of the most "American friendly" Okinawan teachers out there and he taught weapons to many people outside of his art. Oyata still does the same. So if you practice Kobudo in the states then there's a very good chance at least some of it came from Okinawan Kenpo. If not Okinawan Kenpo then it came from Shorin-ryu such as what came from Matsumura. This is where Gojo got theirs.

[Goju_boi]

I see all I know is that our lineage traces back to some guy in wisconsin.Anyways what I was asking is that if the weapons learned in kempo are kempo or kobudo?

[Sauzin]

OK, I think something is being missed here. Okinawan Kenpo is a style (or type) of Karate. Kobudo is the name for the weapon arts that are taught with Karate. So what we practice is Kobudo.

Kenpo means "fist law" and is not a style or even a group of styles. It's just a name that some styles use. Most styles with the word "kenpo" in them have almost no relation what so ever. So there's no such thing as Kenpo weapons, since Kenpo isn't a style. To refer to a style or even group of styles with any kind of relation you really have to be more specific.

I hope this clears it up.

[Goju_boi]

OK, I think something is being missed here. Okinawan Kenpo is a style (or type) of Karate. Kobudo is the name for the weapon arts that are taught with Karate. So what we practice is Kobudo.

Kenpo means "fist law" and is not a style or even a group of styles. It's just a name that some styles use. Most styles with the word "kenpo" in them have almost no relation what so ever. So there's no such thing as Kenpo weapons, since Kenpo isn't a style. To refer to a style or even group of styles with any kind of relation you really have to be more specific.

I hope this clears it up.

It clears up alright.I had just thought it was part of the curriculum like other styles.For example I've heard of TaeKwon Do schools teaching weapons along with their art.Anyways I get waht you said.

[Sauzin]

Um, well I'll just say Okinawan Kenpo is good.

[Goju_boi]

Um, well I'll just say Okinawan Kenpo is good.

lol,ok.How similar and/or different would you say it's to Goju-Ryu?