# In a nut-shell, what is Kenpo/Kempo?



## geocad (Jul 24, 2007)

I'm interested in finding out what Kenpo/Kempo is.  That is, how does it compare to other styles?  

I trained Hwa Rang Do during college (waayyy coool MA), wrestled in HS, did a little MT (in Mexico of all places) one summer, and am now in TKD and starting up with Judo again (tonight!).  My TKD instructors also mixes in Hopkido on the Saturday classes.  

I'm interested because, well, I'm curious to know about other styles of MAs and I want something that is really well rounded for me and my kids.  Are there weapons training?  Grappling?  Is it sport oriented or is there a lot of Asian tradition?  What are the reputable federations or associations? Did you convert from some other system and if so, why?

I know I can look it up on WIKI or something like that but I would like to hear from first hand practitioners.

Many thanks!!

~G


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## Jdokan (Jul 24, 2007)

Here's the BEST way to know....Go rent the movie: "The Perfect Weapon" with Jeff Speakman....One Movie is worth a million explanations....


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## Touch Of Death (Jul 24, 2007)

Jdokan said:


> Here's the BEST way to know....Go rent the movie: "The Perfect Weapon" with Jeff Speakman....One Movie is worth a million explanations....


That is not the best way but it is an OK start. Try typing Kenpo into a you tube search engine.
Sean


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## Monadnock (Jul 24, 2007)

Most Kenpo/Kempo systems are modern American variations of a mixture of Chinese/Japanese/Okinawan arts. Few have Asian tradition, and most cater to men, women and children as they are the backbone of the martial arts industry here in the US.

They tend to be geared towards self defense, with mental and spiritual training coming in a close second and far away third. You can find a ken/mpo school in almost every major city. Tuition is rather steep and they often use payment plan contracts to keep you going the first year.

Sound slike you may be looking for yourself and/or family, and they are a pretty good start. A lot of people find it suits their needs and stick with it for life.


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## Touch Of Death (Jul 24, 2007)

Monadnock said:


> Most Kenpo/Kempo systems are modern American variations of a mixture of Chinese/Japanese/Okinawan arts. Few have Asian tradition, and most cater to men, women and children as they are the backbone of the martial arts industry here in the US.
> 
> They tend to be geared towards self defense, with mental and spiritual training coming in a close second and far away third. You can find a ken/mpo school in almost every major city. Tuition is rather steep and they often use payment plan contracts to keep you going the first year.
> 
> Sound slike you may be looking for yourself and/or family, and they are a pretty good start. A lot of people find it suits their needs and stick with it for life.


I think kenpo has up front spritual bennefits; however, it does shy away from pushing eastern spritualism.
Sean


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## MJS (Jul 24, 2007)

geocad said:


> I'm interested in finding out what Kenpo/Kempo is. That is, how does it compare to other styles?
> 
> I trained Hwa Rang Do during college (waayyy coool MA), wrestled in HS, did a little MT (in Mexico of all places) one summer, and am now in TKD and starting up with Judo again (tonight!). My TKD instructors also mixes in Hopkido on the Saturday classes.
> 
> ...


 
Weapons: Form 7 is a kata that focuses on club use.  There is also a staff set.  As you can see, there is some weapon work, but IMO, not as in-depth as other systems.  I supplement my weapons work (stick and knife) with Arnis.

Grappling:  Oh boy, this is bound to ruffle some feathers.   On this subject, you will find mixed results, with some saying its in there, and you just need to find it and others saying that it is not there.  I supplement my ground work with BJJ.

Sport/tradition: I'd say it would depend on the school.

Reputable Assoc.: There are many out there such as Larry Tatum, Huk Planas and Joe Palanzo.  Each seem to have a strong following, so I'd have to say personal preference.

Convert from another system:  Yes.  I origanally started in the Villari system, changed to Parker and now currently Tracy.

There are some good Kenpo clips out there.  YouTube has some good ones.  There are some good clips on Larry Tatums site as well.


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## marlon (Jul 24, 2007)

semi traditionalized street fighting, multiple strikes off a mobile base using striking to lead into musculo-skeletal manipulation..focus on lethal end results for the most part..there is more but you asked for a nuitshell answer
marlon


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## Kosho Gakkusei (Jul 27, 2007)

Most of the answers you've had so far concern the kenpo line derived from Parker.

There are other lines from Chow; Kara Ho Kenpo, Chinese Kenpo, Hawaiian Kenpo & Kajukenbo to name a few.

There are also other lines from Mitose; Kosho Ryu Kempo, & Kosho Shorei Ryu.

There is also Terry Lee or Nimr Hassan's school in Philly.  I think it's Koga Ha Kempo

I can't answer for the other lines but I will present some answers for Kosho Shorei.

Weapons: Sword, Knife, Staff, & Sticks.

Grappling: Fairly extensive, mostly stand up jujustsu type stuff.  Most  practice at slow pace with emphasis on form & developing sensitivity rather than full speed, full power randori.

Sport or Tradition: Most schools will have a very traditional Japanese flavor - use Japanese terms, practice Japanese Calligraphy, Japanese Massage, & attempts at Japanese ettiquette.  Not too much sport as the focus is True Self Defense (no body contact) & Self Defense (contact).

Striking: Long range kicking, Midrange hands & feet, Short range hands, feet, elbows, & knees. Hard "linear" attacke are studied as well as softer "circular" fast techniques are employed.  Nerve centers are targeted & meridial strikes are employed.

Reputable Association:  There is only the SKSKI http://collectivesociety.com/skski there may been a few schools that have broken off for political reasons as well as a few illegitimate claim jumpers.

Convert from another system:  I was originally in a derivitave of Tracy Kenpo that had elements of Aikido and Shotokan.  I began studying Kosho to learn the escaping arts (footwork to evade attacks) and got hooked.

_Don Flatt


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## cfr (Jul 27, 2007)

Touch Of Death said:


> That is not the best way but it is an OK start. Try typing Kenpo into a you tube search engine.
> Sean


 
I just saw this post and you tube'd "Kenpo sparring". Looked as though most was point sparring, but this seemed really cool.


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## KenpoDave (Jul 27, 2007)

A standing, sub art of jujitsu that deals with striking and/or kicking the vital points of the body.


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## Mark L (Jul 27, 2007)

What Marlon said.

I see a trend, largely due to MMA popularity, towards extending 'traditional' kempo to include some degree of ground fighting.  I think that's a good thing, adding that component (emphasis on component).  My particular flavor adds ground fighting variations to more than half of the techniques, just in case.


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## Touch Of Death (Jul 30, 2007)

KenpoDave said:


> A standing, sub art of jujitsu that deals with striking and/or kicking the vital points of the body.


A sub art? hardly.:soapbox:


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## KenpoDave (Jul 30, 2007)

Touch Of Death said:


> A sub art? hardly.:soapbox:


In a traditional japanese ryu, kenpo is listed as one of the empty hand arts covered under the scope of jujitsu.  Sub arts of kenpo include kyusho and tuite.


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## Monadnock (Jul 30, 2007)

KenpoDave said:


> In a traditional japanese ryu, kenpo is listed as one of the empty hand arts covered under the scope of jujitsu. Sub arts of kenpo include kyusho and tuite.


 
That's kind of a mixed bag in that statement.

As far as traditional Japanese ryu, well, many had nothing in common, yet a lot in common. Without timeframes and details, youy are being kind of vague.

I'll lay out some categories of training based on range where there may be overlap between them. Starting with weapons, (Yari, Naginata, bo (broken yair or naginata), hanbo (broken yari, naginata or bo), to sword, to kumiuchi (with or without a short blade (wakizashi, tanto))

The kumiuchi, or grappling, could be empty hand. Call it ju jutsu, yawara, kempo, well, I don't think that was the term in all ryu (or any) but it could have been. But it is nothing like the Ken/mpo of today -- in America.

But I see your point of (the empty hand arts) being a part of a larger spectrum. Nowadays, the Kempo guys are rolling back in the grappling and weapons and thinking they have built the ultimate modern system. Ahh -- no -- go back a few hundred years and see what was ALREADY done.


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## thetruth (Jul 31, 2007)

I'm sorry but there isn't a lot in common between American Kenpo and Japanese/Okinawan arts.  I don't study American Kenpo any more but I would say that Ed Parker put together one of the most unique system of the past 100 years and easily the most unique system to come out of the western world.   I think using the Japanese/Okinawan origin of Kenpo/Kempo isn't the best way to help someone decide which art to choose.  

I would say that if the school title uses 'n' in the Kenpo then it is American Kenpo or an off shoot and if it uses an m in the Kempo then it is Dillman based karate(DKI) or an off shoot (ie. dragon society, kyusho international etc).  

With the 'm' it is possible it may be Shorinji Kempo which is of Japanese origin but with an 'n' it is almost certainly of American Kenpo origin.


Cheers
Sam:asian:


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## DavidCC (Jul 31, 2007)

thetruth said:


> if it uses an m in the Kempo then it is Dillman based karate(DKI) or an off shoot (ie. dragon society, kyusho international etc).
> 
> Cheers
> Sam:asian:


 
I think you mean Villari / USSD, not Dillman / DKI.  Most "Shaolin Kempo Karate" schools come out of that lineage, one way or another; and are not with Dillman at all.


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## Blindside (Jul 31, 2007)

thetruth said:


> I would say that if the school title uses 'n' in the Kenpo then it is American Kenpo or an off shoot and if it uses an m in the Kempo then it is Dillman based karate(DKI) or an off shoot (ie. dragon society, kyusho international etc).
> 
> With the 'm' it is possible it may be Shorinji Kempo which is of Japanese origin but with an 'n' it is almost certainly of American Kenpo origin.


 
Then you've got the "m" systems that derive from off the kajukenbo lines like "Universal Kempo," or the "n" which also derive from the same parent lineages like "CHA-3 Kenpo."  Confused yet?

Most of the kenpo/kempo in the US is only vaguely martialy related to whatever they were claiming as their parent lineages as short as 100 years ago.  Claiming the "shaolin" or "samurai" or "okinawan peasants" as your lineage is a great sales pitch, but what they did is pretty different in training method and execution from what you are likely doing.  

Lamont


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## Touch Of Death (Jul 31, 2007)

KenpoDave said:


> In a traditional japanese ryu, kenpo is listed as one of the empty hand arts covered under the scope of jujitsu. Sub arts of kenpo include kyusho and tuite.


So say the Japanese.


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## KenpoDave (Jul 31, 2007)

Monadnock said:


> That's kind of a mixed bag in that statement.
> 
> As far as traditional Japanese ryu, well, many had nothing in common, yet a lot in common. Without timeframes and details, youy are being kind of vague.
> 
> ...


 
Well, the question asked for an "in a nutshell" comparison of kenpo/kempo to other arts.  It is my opinion that no matter what else is in the curriculum of modern systems of kenpo, at the root of it, you will find striking of vital points.  Without that, in my opinion, it is not kenpo.  So I shall stand by my answer.  The additions make it (insert adjective) Kenpo.  For example, weapons training is a part of the curriculum of many kenpo schools.  But weapons training is not a part of kenpo, which is what I believe you were basically saying above.  Complements and supplements it nicely in many respects, and may even be vital to kenpo training, but strictly speaking, weapons training is something else.  Both can be subarts of a larger curriculum.  Kenpo is a subart of jujitsu that deals with striking and/or kicking the vital points of the body.

Back to the point of a quick comparison of kenpo/kempo to other styles...in my opinion, if vital point striking is not involved, it is not kenpo.


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