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| What Is Kempo? |
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What is Kempo
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The term Kempo is often translated as hard fist or even as law of the hard fist. Chinese Kempo is simply a term for Chinese Boxing systems that have been exported in whole or part. Though the actual term Chinese Kempo is frequently used to describe small village and family self defence systems as well as variations of larger combat systems that have been absorbed into these local self defence systems of Chinese Communities. The term has also been used to describe a predecessor of Bhodidharma's Shaolin Chaun Fa, an indigenous martial art of China.
Japanese Kempo's are usually part of the curriculum of Japanese Ju Jutsu systems where empahsise is placed on Atemi (Strikes).Japanese Kempo is known by a variety of names including Hakuda, Hade (As in Takenouchi Ryu), Shabuka or its alternative name Shahaku. It has also been suggested that Kempo was one of the precursors of Ju Jutsu like Yawara Ge, Kugusoku, Kumiuchi and Tori Te.
According to the Donn F Draeger many of the striking aspects in Japanese martial arts, known as Atemi Waza, have their origin in traditional Chinese fighting methods, however no complete system of Chaun Fa was ever transmitted from China to Japan.
Kempo is basically a striking art with some grappling and throwing techniques, the origin of which is in all probability to be found in Chin Na, the Chinese grappling system. Some believe that traditional Japanese Ju Jutsu may have also had its basis in Chin Na.
Another view suggests that Kempo had evolved out of a style called Poki Ryu. Legend has it that this style was based on the movements of a temple cat called Po who outwitted a large dog, unfortunately this cannot be confirmed.
An alternative spelling for Kempo is Ken Po where the Ken meaning fist and the Po is the law or the way. It is therefore more likely that Poki Ryu actually meant the way or the law of Ki.
In Chinese Martial Arts, especially those having their origin in Shaolin, the hard is always learnt before the soft and then the two are blended into harmony.
It is therefore more likely that Poki Ryu was no more than a descriptive name for those Chaun Fa techniques that had their basis in the so called soft or internal boxing methods of China such as Tai Chi Chaun, Hsing I, Pau Kua.
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Ken Fat and Kun Tao
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In the Fukien dialect of Southern China the term Ken Fat (Chaun fa or Gong Fu) is pronounced as Kun Tao,
The Japanese term Kempo (Alternatively Kenpo) is often translated as law of the fist, way of the fist, or law of the hard fist, it is the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese term: Chaun Fa (Mandarin) and Ken Fat (Cantonese) more commonly known as Gong Fu or Kung Fu. It is Interesting to note that in the Philippine region of Sulu, there is an art of Chinese origin called Kun Tao that is still practised today and which may be regarded as a Kempo.
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Kempo in Hawaii
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Hawaiian Kempo has its origins with the Japanese and Okinawan communities that emigrated to Hawaii at the beginning of the 20th Century. The earliest immigrants arrived in about 1900 on a merchant vessel called the S S China It is therefore possible, by looking at the Okinawan Martial Arts Community in Hawaii at the beginning of the 20th Century, to gain a glimpse of the traditional Okinawan Martial Arts scene where both striking and grappling arts were practised.
Some of the earliest pioneers in Karate Kempo Jutsu included settlers such as Kuniyoshi, Kizo Teruya and Seiichi Urasaki and Seishin Uehara (1901-1956), the latter was also known for his role as a Sumo referee in Hawaii as was one prominent visitor from Okinawa to visit Hawaii, KentsuYabu (1866-1937), a forner student of Sokon Matsumura and Ankoh Itosu.
Also based in Hawaii during the early period were Henry Seishiro Okazaki, the founder of Danzan Ryu Ju Jutsu and James Mitose of Kosho Ryu Kempo, which was to later devlop into the American Kenpo Karate styles based on the teachings of James Mitose, William Chow and Edmund Parker. There is however a number of discrepancies concerning these last three characters for example where Mitose actually learnt Kosho Ryu and whether or not Chow was a student or contemporary of Mitose. Chow's student Edmund Parker is often believed to have developed his Kenpo karate.separate from Chows influence.
What is certain is that Mitose's book What is Self Defence not only gives acknowledgement to Chokki Motobu as a master of Kempo but also in many ways resembles Chokk Motobu's own book Okinawan Kempo.
Other visitors to Hawaii included Chojun Miyagi, the founder of Goju Ryu who during his visited the Ju Jitsu dojo of Professor Henry Seishiro Okazaki.
Japanese visitors to Hawaii also included a senior member of Tokyo Imperial University Zuiho Mutsu, who had in 1929 visited Okinawa and met with Kentsu Yabu after which Zuiho Mutsu wrote a book called Kempo Gaisetsu (1930) which he authored under his original name Mizuho Takada and co-authored with Miki Misaburo. Prior to visiting Hawaii in 1930 Mizuho had compiled one of the earliest definitive works called Karate Kenpo which was published in that same year. The 1933 work depicted diagrams of defences against Punches, Grabs, Knife, Sword and staff attacks and involved joint locking and throwing techniques. When Mizuho arrived in Hawaii he did so with Kamesuke Higaonna and did a display in which he was assisted by Seishin Uehara, and Thomas Shigeru Miyashiro. This dsiplay included Tamishwara or the breaking of boards with knuckles, elbows, feet, various methods of attack as well as defences against unarmed and armed attack. the armed attacks include short sword and spear. Restraint techniques to use against rowdies were also demonstrated
The characteristics of the Kempo of this period was mainly dominated by defensive drills, pairing off patterns and Kumite, whilst the types of techniques practised included throws, sweeps, joint locks and pressure point fighting. Kata practise was limited with a small number of kata if any practised. The most common kata of the period was Naihanchi kata, though Wanshu, Passai and Kusanku were also taught. Naihanchi, passai and Kusanku are regarded as Koryu style kaarte kata and contain some of the essence of Te.
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Japanese Kempo
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What is called Kempo in Japan refers to those empty handed combat systems that emphasise striking as well as grappling techniques and which are believed to have been influenced by Chinese boxing at some point. Other terms for Kempo are Hade (in Takenouchi Ryu), Hakuda (in Fudo Chishin Ryu) as well as Shubaka and Koppo Jutsu (Bone Method). The Japanese Ju Jutsu style known as Tenjin Shinyo Ryu Ju Jutsu with its emphasis on striking and Choking is a Japanese Kempo style
Chin Gem Pin:
An important Kempo figure in Japanese Ju Jutsu is the Chinese Pottery Master Chin Gen Pin who arrived in Nagasaki, Japan in 1619 who served the Owari Daimyo and who taught Chinese Kempo at Kokushoji monastery to various Samurai who incorporated his teachings into their own Ju Jutsu systems.
One student of Chin Gen Pin was Fukono Shichirouemon, a student of Yagyu Muneyoshi of the Shin Kage Ryu.
There is little doubt that Chin Gen Pin had a great influence on the development of Atemi (striking) Jutsu (arts) of the Japanese Bugei (Martial) Ryu Ha (Schools). Although Chin Gen Pin may have had a substantial impact on many Japanese Ju Jutsu Schools during the period that he lived and taught in Japan contact with Chinese Martial arts began much earlier.
Given that Japan had contact with Korea and China from the Tang Dynasty when Buddhism first spread to Japan and the association of Kempo with Chinese characters and Monasteries it is extremely likely that Kempo originally arrived from T'ang China in to Japan during the reign of Prince Shotoku in the Nara period around 650AD.
The original name for Karate was Tang Te meaning Chinese Hand, the name T'ang refers to China of the T'ang dynasty.
For more on the various theories about Japanese Kempo see http://maxpages.com/hakudaryu/Kempo_History_China_to_Japan |
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| Nihon Go Shin Kage Ryu & Hakuda Ryu Kempo Jutsu
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| Essex |
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| Sensei983@yahoo.com
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Page Updated Fri Mar 13, 2009 12:08pm EST
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