# Kenpo's origins



## Manny (Jul 16, 2009)

O.K. all I know about Kenpo Karate history is a sensei named Mitose brought the Kenpo to Hawai, then he had two brother students named Chow, The Chow brothers teach Kenpo to Ed Parker who emigrated to USA and become the father of the Kenpo Karate.

Can you give more info about Kenpo Karate?

Manny


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## Twin Fist (Jul 16, 2009)

oh boy

ok, Mitose goes to hawaii, and starts teaching what is essentially traditional japanese karate with some jujitsu.

He only promotes FIVE people to Blackbelt before he takes off

One of his BB's was named William Chow.

Chow takes the hard training of Mitose, and adds FLOW from chinese arts (he claimed to have learned from his dad, that is disputed)

Chow starts teaching. his senior student is named Emperado. Adrian Emperado. Adrian has a brother named Joe. They go one to create Kajukenbo with some other guys. Thier blackbelts went on to create lotsof Kenpo sub systems like kenkabo, kajukenpo, hawaiian kenpo, etc etc etc

One of Emperados bb's bb's bb's was named Fred Villari, he went to Mass and created Shoalin KeMpo

One of Chows Black Belts is Ed parker, he goes to california and creates American Kenpo. 3 of Parkers BB's, the Tracy brothers create Tracy Kenpo

One of Chows Black belts is Ralph Castro, he goes to california and creates Shaolin KeNpo

One of Chows BB's, named Nick Cerio, created Nick Cerios Kenpo

Other than the Okinawan and Japanese Kenpos, all kenpo is traced back to Chow.


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## Kembudo-Kai Kempoka (Jul 16, 2009)

Chow and his half-brother, "John" Chow-Hoon, uused the kung-fu their pops taught them to ... politely persuade folks in the community to honor their extra-cirricular debts. As a kid, before meeting Mitose. 

Parker added influences from Danzan-Ryu Jujutsu, Hawaiian Lua, and Chinese Gung-Fu, from a number of sources. Most notably, from the instructrion of Ark Yuey Wong and some of his senior students, as well as from brief study clinics with Bin Lau of the Hong Sing CFL kwoon in Califrisco, and with the input and assistance of Xifu James Wing Woo. After Mr. Parkers death in 1990, there were dozens of different factions formed as each senior or semi-senior student started their own organization, and modified the cirriculum to reflect their preferences.

Several of the kajukenbo practitioners over the years have also added extra influences to their training, including jujutsu, kung-fu, escrima/kali, others. During sundry developments within the organizations, many would change the name of their kajukenbo sub-systems to reflect their differences from the original methods put forth by GGM Emperado. Some are very hard and linear with clear karate emphasis, some are very circular with clear Chinese gung-fu emphasis. Once in a while, a kaju group would seperate from the fold, and take to calling their system "kenpo" rather than "kajukenbo".

Even among Chows surviving senior students, there is a great deal of variance to what is being taught. Chow kept revising his focus, with changes in technique to reflect that focus. To ask what he taught, one must also ask when he taught whichever person you are asking. The same holds true for students of Mr. Parkers. 

Hope it helps,

D.


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## Rabu (Jul 16, 2009)

Manny,

Ah!  What a question.

You can read more on arts brought through Hawaii here:

www.seinenkai.com

You can see books, publications and articles written by some decent scholars, some of whom post here.

As for the origins of Kempo in the united states, you have had some good replies.  

Mitose is an extremely controversial character and interesting to read about.  Yes, he is a lynch pin in the origin of most American Kempo organizations.  The qualifications to teach, moral character and training history of most of the 'original pioneers' in the US is sketchy and questionable at best, filled with extravagant and wild tales.

Your best bet is to learn what you can about the history, but not to let it bring down your spirits.  Learn what you can and ENJOY your training.

Best of luck,

Rob


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## Danjo (Jul 17, 2009)

Thanks for this post, but let me clean it up a bit.



Twin Fist said:


> oh boy
> 
> ok, Mitose goes to hawaii, and starts teaching what is essentially traditional japanese karate with some jujitsu.


 
Correct. It's difficult to tell where he learned his Kenpo, but since he shared floor space with Okazaki who taught Danzan Ryu Jiu Jitsu, he likely picked up those JJ tricks there.



Twin Fist said:


> He only promotes FIVE people to Blackbelt before he takes off
> 
> One of his BB's was named William Chow.
> 
> Chow takes the hard training of Mitose, and adds FLOW from chinese arts (he claimed to have learned from his dad, that is disputed)


 
Yeah pretty much as far as I can tell.



Twin Fist said:


> Chow starts teaching. his senior student is named Emperado. Adrian Emperado. Adrian has a brother named Joe. They go one to create Kajukenbo with some other guys. Thier blackbelts went on to create lotsof Kenpo sub systems like kenkabo, kajukenpo, hawaiian kenpo, etc etc etc


 
_Adriano _



Twin Fist said:


> One of Emperados bb's bb's bb's was named Fred Villari, he went to Mass and created Shoalin KeMpo


 
Gascon wasn't a black belt under Emperado. When he trained under John Leoning in California he was still a colored belt. He might have been up to brown belt when he broke off to form his own school. He only trained Pesare up to purple belt before Pesare left for the East Coast to form his version of Kempo (Pesare eventually earned black belts in TKD and Judo as well). Nick Cerio earned his blck belt from Pesare, and Villari earned it from Cerio. But even in Pesare's stuff, there was precious little Kaju left in it.



Twin Fist said:


> One of Chows Black Belts is Ed parker, he goes to california and creates American Kenpo.


 
Parker was only a brown belt when he left Hawaii. He was eventually given a black belt by Chow.



Twin Fist said:


> 3 of Parkers BB's, the Tracy brothers create Tracy Kenpo


 
I'm not sure Will Tracy got his black belt from Parker. He claims otherwise in his various surealistic stories.



Twin Fist said:


> One of Chows Black belts is Ralph Castro, he goes to california and creates Shaolin KeNpo


 
Castro did eventually get his black belt from Chow, but like many others, he came over to California without one. Very talented guy.



Twin Fist said:


> One of Chows BB's, named Nick Cerio, created Nick Cerios Kenpo


 
Again, Cerio was Pesare's black belt. He only trained with Chow for two weeks. His black belt was more of a rank recognition.



Twin Fist said:


> Other than the Okinawan and Japanese Kenpos, all kenpo is traced back to Chow.


 
Correct in terms of it being undisputed. However, there are many in EPAK who feel that what Parker created was so original (arguably so), that their lineage starts with Ed Parker, and that Chow is mentioned as his original teacher. I concur with this view since that's also how most of us in Kajukenbo see it with regards to Sijo.


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## Manny (Jul 17, 2009)

Oh boy so much names,well the only thing I know is I am studiying Kenpo Karate, my sensei is student of Hernan Carrasco Flores who was astudent of Ed parker and now is student of Skip Hancock, that is all I Know.

Kenpo seems to me a good martial art/self defense system, I am enjoying every single class.

Manny


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## MattJ (Jul 17, 2009)

> Parker was only a brown belt when he left Hawaii. He was eventually given a black belt by Chow.


 
That point is in dispute, and not certain.


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## John Bishop (Jul 17, 2009)

MattJ said:


> That point is in dispute, and not certain.



What is disputed?


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## Twin Fist (Jul 17, 2009)

i was gonna say, most histories i have seen have Ed Parker as a Brown when he went to BYU and started teaching.


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## Danjo (Jul 17, 2009)

MattJ said:


> That point is in dispute, and not certain.


 
The only point that is disputed by some is whether Parker was _ever_ given a black belt by Chow. I tend to believe that he was.


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## Danjo (Jul 17, 2009)

Manny said:


> Oh boy so much names,well the only thing I know is I am studiying Kenpo Karate, my sensei is student of Hernan Carrasco Flores who was astudent of Ed parker and now is student of Skip Hancock, that is all I Know.
> 
> Kenpo seems to me a good martial art/self defense system, I am enjoying every single class.
> 
> Manny


 
Well, that's what counts. The rest is just gravy.


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## Twin Fist (Jul 17, 2009)

Danjo said:


> The only point that is disputed by some is whether Parker was _ever_ given a black belt by Chow. I tend to believe that he was.



who has ever said that?


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## Danjo (Jul 18, 2009)

Twin Fist said:


> who has ever said that?


 
A nutbag who claims to know all the "real" history of Ed Parker. I'll PM you since I don't want to get into it publicly. (um, I can't seem to PM you since your account has some restricted thing on it.)


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## Twin Fist (Jul 18, 2009)

j_tygart@hotmail.com


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## Milt G. (Jul 18, 2009)

Danjo said:


> A nutbag who claims to know all the "real" history of Ed Parker. I'll PM you since I don't want to get into it publicly. (um, I can't seem to PM you since your account has some restricted thing on it.)


 

Hello, Mr. Weston...

Be interesting to hear who the "nutbag" is?  Does he "openly" claim to know all the "real" history?  If he openly claims it, I can see no reason to not post his identity.  If not open about it, I do understand.
I would like to know who it is, as well and can be found at mguinette@comcast.net  if you should feel led to drop me a line.
I agree...  I just do not throw names around if their claims do not seem, or appear, out in the open.  I also understand that almost every website contradicts every other "non related" one on points of history and related issues.
Thank you, Mr. Weston
Milt G.


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## Danjo (Jul 19, 2009)

The reason that I don't mention his name is to avoid a prolonged internet argument. Put it this way: The person said that Ed Parker wasn't promoted to Shodan until the 1960's even though Parker claimed it was 1953. As evidence, here is a copy of Parker's certificate:


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## Doc (Jul 19, 2009)

Danjo said:


> The reason that I don't mention his name is to avoid a prolonged internet argument. Put it this way: The person said that Ed Parker wasn't promoted to Shodan until the 1960's even though Parker claimed it was 1953. As evidence, here is a copy of Parker's certificate:



According to Ed Parker, when he came to the mainland to go to school at BYU Utah, he was teaching as a Brown Belt, but when he entered the military (Coast Guard) he was fortunate enough to be stationed in Hawaii, so he continued to train and earned his black under Chow while still in the service.


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## LawDog (Jul 19, 2009)

Doc,
What year?


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## Milt G. (Jul 19, 2009)

Danjo said:


> The reason that I don't mention his name is to avoid a prolonged internet argument. Put it this way: The person said that Ed Parker wasn't promoted to Shodan until the 1960's even though Parker claimed it was 1953. As evidence, here is a copy of Parker's certificate:


 
Hey, Mr. Weston...

Where was this certificate copy obtained?

If authentic, (and I am not claiming it is not, in any way) it would validate the point.  Sadly, so much of the evidence of "everything and anything" is questioned and disputed "ad nauseum".  Even practitioners personal accounts, who were there during the time and "present" at the event in question.

It is extremely frustrating to try to piece together any historical representation of our art.  For every point, there is a counter point, it seems.  Chess, anyone...?   

Thank you for posting it.
Milt G.


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## Danjo (Jul 19, 2009)

Milt G. said:


> Hey, Mr. Weston...
> 
> Where was this certificate copy obtained?
> 
> ...


 
It's been years since I copied it from somewhere on the web. I'll see if I can re-construct it and figure out where I originally found it.


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## Doc (Jul 19, 2009)

Milt G. said:


> Hey, Mr. Weston...
> 
> Where was this certificate copy obtained?
> 
> ...


This copy has been floating around for years, and I was shown the hard copy original by Mr. Parker. It was subsequently put in Mrs. Parker's book after her husbands death, and obviously before she too, passed away. I think many of the old-timers had copies on their computers.

What is really interesting is Mr. Parker didn't think much of certificates in the old days. He said there were lots of guys with certificates who were plain lousy in the arts, while "Joe Blow" down the street was working on his "street diploma" and good whoop your a** even if you showed him your diploma.

Mr. Parker used to tell a story to illustrate how some get "full of themselves" in his "King of the Jungle" anecdote.


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## Danjo (Jul 19, 2009)

Doc said:


> This copy has been floating around for years, and I was shown the hard copy original by Mr. Parker. It was subsequently put in Mrs. Parker's book after her husbands death, and obviously before she too, passed away. I think many of the old-timers had copies on their computers.
> 
> What is really interesting is Mr. Parker didn't think much of certificates in the old days. He said there were lots of guys with certificates who were plain lousy in the arts, while "Joe Blow" down the street was working on his "street diploma" and good whoop your a** even if you showed him your diploma.
> 
> Mr. Parker used to tell a story to illustrate how some get "full of themselves" in his "King of the Jungle" anecdote.


 
Thanks Doc. Yeah, hard to knock someone out with a certificate.


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## Milt G. (Jul 20, 2009)

Doc said:


> This copy has been floating around for years, and I was shown the hard copy original by Mr. Parker. It was subsequently put in Mrs. Parker's book after her husbands death, and obviously before she too, passed away. I think many of the old-timers had copies on their computers.
> 
> What is really interesting is Mr. Parker didn't think much of certificates in the old days. He said there were lots of guys with certificates who were plain lousy in the arts, while "Joe Blow" down the street was working on his "street diploma" and good whoop your a** even if you showed him your diploma.
> 
> Mr. Parker used to tell a story to illustrate how some get "full of themselves" in his "King of the Jungle" anecdote.


 
Thank you, Sir, for the information.
I, we, appreciate it!

Milt G.


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## Manny (Jul 20, 2009)

Good pointes about Mr.Parker. I am one of the guys who thinks a certificate o diploma does not say so much of the holder of that piece of paper,there are so many new marial arts and so many organizations around us that is hard to believe some times in the diplomas.

For instance, I am 1 Dan Black Belt in TKD under JiDo Kwan México and have no KuKiWon Certification but this has not afected me cause I know what I am, just a plain Black Belt who loves MA, howevere I've been in some dojos where the sensei is a high rank black belt in 2,3 or more MA and most of this certificates are fake. In the other hand I've been in humble dojos where the sesnsei is full of wisdom and know how to teach and pass his/her knowledge.

I have no doubt Mr.Parker was the pioneer of Kenpo in USA and have no doubt Mr.Parker was a truly MA man.

Manny


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## Carol (Jul 20, 2009)

Danjo said:


> Thanks Doc. Yeah, hard to knock someone out with a certificate.



Never been hit by tree... :rofl:


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## celtic_crippler (Jul 20, 2009)

Danjo said:


> Thanks Doc. Yeah, hard to knock someone out with a certificate.


 
Yeah...but you can give someone a wicked paper cut!


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