Difference Between Kenpo and Shotokan?

[bball197046]

What is the difference in kenpo karate and shotokan karate?

[Nidan Melbourne]

What type of Kenpo have you trained in previously? As there seems to be Okinawan, Japanese and American.

From my knowledge Kenpo is a lot more fluid whereas Shotokan is more strength and straight to the point.

[vantheman]

Shotokan Karate developed from a mix of Okinawan arts and White Crane Kung Fu. Very structured and the quintessential "hard" art.

Kenpo can refer to Shorinji (Japanese) Kenpo, Okinawan Kenpo, and a broad group of styles know as Kenpo Karate.

Shorinji Kenpo is interesting: It literally means "Shaolin Ch'aun Fa" (think Shaolin Kung Fu) in Japanese. It is considerably "harder" than many forms of kung fu, but sometimes incorporates shallower stances and a little more Japanese Jujitsu than karate.

I'll admit I don't know much about Okinawan Kempo. I haven't seem too much of it around.

You asked about Kempo Karate, so I will give it the most coverage:

Kempo Karate is probably the largest category, and was developed initially in Hawaii from Japanese kenpo. There's a lot variety here, but in general, it tends to be a little more circular and looser than karate. Depending on the specific style, you'll see various levels of grappling. Major branches are American Kenpo and its offshoots (Ed Parker) and Shaolin Kempo and its offshoots (Fred Villari). Both schools have their pros and cons. There are other kenpo karate schools out there that don't fit in those two categories, but they tend to be similar from the perspective of the art. Kempo is not a "purebred" art. Over the years, a lot of other stuff has been mixed into it, including the Pinans (Heians) from Shotokan. What is taught is often highly continent upon the sensei and who taught him/her. Unless you're in Villari's (or one of his former students) franchise associations, there is not a tried and true cannon, except for combinations and forms (and even then, there's a lot of variability).

Kempo Karate is technically not a type of karate. It was initially called that in Hawaii because nobody knew what "kempo" was. It was also called Kempo-Jujitsu... more of a way of letting people know what it was and associating it with better-known arts.