Shotokan or Kenpo?

[Shotokannon]

Hey Guys,

I've been doing some thinking recently, and I've found that my current dojo is very sport oriented (We've done ippon kumite about 10 times in the 18 months I've been there), and I want to try something a little more self-defense oriented, there's a class local to me that specializes on Ju-Jutsu (chief instructor is 10th dan apparently), but I wanted to cross-train into their Kenpo classes, which incorporates a lot of self defense (gun defenses, knife defenses, etc), which isn't covered at all in my current shotokan class, and I was wondering if anyone else has had any experience of kenpo, has ever cross trained into it and if so, what was your experience? =]

thanks everyone!

[JR 137]

Kenpo is a very broad term. It's pretty much as broad as karate.

Forget styles. Even within the same organization, never mind same style (such as Shotokan, Goju, etc), there's going to be variation between the emphasis of teachers. I study Seido Juku. There are some dojos who do a ton of point fighting and the majority of the students are kids. There are other dojos (such as the one I go to) that are predominantly adults doing a padded version of knockdown. And there's everything in between.

Shop for a dojo, not a style. The right teacher and student body will make the training effective for you. TKD gets a bad rap by a lot of people. All dojos definitely aren't little kids in full body armor doing the kangaroo sparring. All BJJ schools aren't cranking out UFC fighters, all Muay Thai schools don't have Tong Po from the movie kickboxer calls by the shots.

Find a dojo, not a style.

[Montana]

Agreed, kenpo is pretty generic, like karate. The first thing I'd be VERY leery of is the head of the school is a 10th Dan? He'd better be at LEAST in his late 50's to have attained that high of a rank, and even so, that makes me VERY suspicious!

Please, do they have a webpage you can share with us? I'd love to see it, and it would help us give you some better informed opinions.

[Shotokannon]

Agreed, kenpo is pretty generic, like karate. The first thing I'd be VERY leery of is the head of the school is a 10th Dan? He'd better be at LEAST in his late 50's to have attained that high of a rank, and even so, that makes me VERY suspicious!

Please, do they have a webpage you can share with us? I'd love to see it, and it would help us give you some better informed opinions.

Agreed, I had the same suspicions but I'm fairly convinced after I had a good look through his website and did some research on the instructor, they do have a website as follows; https://www.tai-jutsu-kwai.com I can believe he may genuinely be 10th dan; the guy seems to be in his mid 60's

[Wado Heretic]

He holds a 5th Dan in Judo (whether that is Kodokan I cannot find) so that speaks well of his ability. You do not get to a 5th Dan in Judo without knowing your stuff.

I would say the weapon material has led to a raised eye brow, but I have seen far worse, and in context I can see why he is doing what he is doing. Otherwise, I have seen far worse, and if he's had over 50 years in the martial arts then 10th Dan is feasible.

As he uses the term Kempo Karate, my guess is it is Hawaiian or American Kempo; thus the emphasis will be on goshin-waza, or self-defence techniques. However, such styles often have their own tradition regarding forms and the like. If you are looking for self-defence while continueing in your shotokan training, then jujutsu might be a better fit over kempo.

[JR 137]

There's just way too many 10th dans out there IMO. I don't know the teacher in question, so it's not a knock on him personally. I don't think the founding fathers of various martial arts were even 10th dan holders while they were alive. Most were awarded 10th dan posthumously by the organizations they started or by bodies such as the Dai Nipon Butoku Kai.

Sorry if I'm being cynical. No matter how good I got, how long I was in the arts, or how much I accomplished, I'd never accept one. Posthumously is another matter. But that's another thread for another day.