# Kosho Ryu Kempo Looks



## LegLockGuy (Dec 4, 2006)

I was wodnering about Kosho Ry Kempo. What usually is in the system? Is it primarily striking only, or is there a good amount of grappling/groundfighting in it? I heard it's philosophy is very good. (similar to JKD) And that it's a flowing system, but I still would like to know what kind of techniques are in it. (though I've heard it has no "techniques)


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## kosho (Dec 4, 2006)

Hi,
    Kosho is the study of natural law.  the highest level is no body contact. then escapeing arts, controling arts, throwing arts, locking arts, and finally striking arts. depending on your teacher. he or she may follow a set list of things. but yes there is no set teq. the teq, comes from studeing the katas, and what not. here is a breack down on it.


PHILOSOPHY 

Kosho literally means old pine tree. Shorei means school of encouragement. A traditional Ryu is a school of thought pertaining to an art form. A Japanese Buddhist priest meditated under an old pine tree around 1235 AD and received enlightenment, as he discovered universal laws and natural principles pertaining to our existence and the resolution of conflict. 
The Shaolin Kempo Training Center encourages students to move toward this same enlightenment through studying natural law.

Kempo means Fist Law. This is the Kosho Shorei Ryu form of martial arts. The predecessors of Kempo are Chaun Fa, in China, and before that Vajra Mukrti in India. Kempo's philosophy is to study and understand man's relationship with nature. Kempo is the study of natural law pertaining to mankind. Kempo does not just deal with the physical arts; it also deals with the spiritual side of oneself, and one's ability to better understand yourself and those around you. Kosho is a way of life and an understanding of the process of life. Learning to enjoy the process and the journey of what we are doing is a much forgotten idea in an age when most people are rushing from point to point. Kosho philosophy teaches the student that the most important part of accomplishing a goal is to enjoy and learn from the process we go through to get there.

EMPTY HANDS ARTS

The controlling arts are used to manipulate and control an opponent without causing them harm, as well as in ways which will damage an attacker. These arts involve the use of the folding arts such as throws, joint locks, holds and pins. They also include non-fatal strikes to the limbs of the attacker to numb and temporarily negating the use of these limbs to strike the defender. The controlling arts would be the main arts used in the context of law enforcement. These arts are used to prevent the opponent from gaining the body posturing and body alignments necessary to effectively continue to attack, and/or subdue him without inflicting permanent injury. 
The striking arts are used to control an opponent, or in situation where controlling or escape is not an option, cause destruction to an opponent. In Kosho Ryu, the strikes are broken into two groups, Onna No Atemi (Female Strikes) and Otoko No Atemi (Male Strikes). Onna No Atemi strikes are soft, quick strikes that take place when the attacker is in transition and rotating to hit the defender, thus enabling the defender to have maximum impact and damage on the attacker with a soft, quick strike. The Otoko No Atemi strikes involve the connection of the upper and lower body spheres of rotation, using proper triangulation of movements, muscle groups, and meridians to engage maximum energy in the destructive striking force to a stationed or rotating opponent.




ESCAPING ARTS 

The escaping arts represent the highest form of physical martial art. The escaping arts are practiced in order to teach a student to avoid physical conflict of any type. By understanding natural principles pertaining to eye training, hearing, sensitivity to movement and other things involved in mastering the senses, a student can totally escape from harm, never being touched by a would-be assailant. The cornerstone of the escaping arts is awareness. To teach this, the angles of the octagon are used to familiarize the student with their options of escape. The escaping arts also are the foundation of a student's striking and throwing arts, allowing the student to maneuver to a position where the attacker's follow-up attacks are awkward and difficult, making the defender's striking and throwing techniques more effective and powerful.

WEAPONRY 
A student of Kosho Ryu will be exposed to many different forms of weaponry. The student will study the use of the Jo (4 foot staff), Bo (6 foot staff), Katana (Japanese Sword), as well other weapons of Japan and Okinawa. The student of Kosho Ryu learns that the weapon is an extension of their spirit and is connected to the innermost part of them.

CULTURAL & HEALING ARTS

Cultural arts such as Shodo (Brush Calligraphy), the study of Japanese terminology, and the study of history, gives the Kosho Ryu student an understanding of the

Japanese culture from which our art comes from. Shodo is done by the student as a form of meditation as well as for studying the characters of the Japanese language. Shodo is also done by the student as a way of learning to use the center in martial and daily life applications. 

Shiatsu (Pressure Point Massage) is taught to the adult student to give them a better understanding of the human body and the energy flow which keeps us healthy. Students learn the meridians of the body and how to massage and correct energy blockages to alleviate symptoms such as headaches, neck and back problems, joint and muscle problems, as well as many other common ailments.
for more info you can go to my web page 

www.shaolinkempotraining.com 
and click affiliations and then click bruce juchhnik Hanshi web page info.
hope this helps.
steve​


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## LegLockGuy (Dec 4, 2006)

Yes, I have read that and similar materials before. I wish for a simple answer though. I've read the philospohy and principles. I just want to know what the training resembles, and how much striking and grappling there is.


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## kosho (Dec 4, 2006)

I truly love the Kosho system. I would say go to a seminar  or a dojo that teaches it  and watch a few classes. Myself I teach BJJ with kosho idears, shaolin kempo, and kosho ryu kempo...behind the teq. it works well. In my school I teach a lot of striking arts, and what not. it really is hard to put in words, you have to see and feel what Kosho ryu is all about. I have a seminar with Pat kelly sensei in march in mass...
steve


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## sksk (Dec 4, 2006)

Leglockguy

Kosho has 3 main physical areas of study Escaping arts, Push/pull or folding arts and destructive arts which includes strikes. there is material done from seiza positions, but no ground grappling in the way of BJJ or Judo. This is brief description, hope this helps.


George


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## Benjp (Dec 4, 2006)

Hi LegLockGuy,

The primary techniques that I can think of:
  + escaping to the 90 deg. angles
  + avoiding to the 90 deg. angles
  + late/on-time/early motion-aided manipulation
  + early attack recognition
  + "tricking" the attacker with defense postures
  + using opponents force against themselves.

A typical training (I'll be doing something like this tonight) in my Sensei's school consists of:


~10 minutes yoga or energy collection
~5-10 minutes warmup (more yoga, hopping patterns, or basic kicking/punching/blocking out of a horse stance).
~5-10 minutes falling/rolling breakfalls
(sometimes we play games to work on timing: handball with tennis balls, Koosh ball keep away, kooshball kick-tag, etc.)
(sometimes we sit down and listen to a Japanese language lesson, or history, or something else along those lines..)
~5 minutes partner escaping randori
~5 minutes partner avoiding randori
~10 minutes of partner folding
~10 minutes of advanced randori (multiple punch/kick attacks)
~the rest of the working hour is for kata, weapons, shiatsu, or shodo/Kanji research.

Each segment is prefixed with some training that is appropriate to each students experience level.  Each class is ended with a koan, or a story to make one think. 

Hope this helps..

Ben


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## bushidomartialarts (Dec 5, 2006)

not so much with the ground fighting, although you could apply many principals to your grappling.

it's kind of like jkd.  in fact, it's on my personal list (along with jkd) as styles that make awesome second arts.  meaning i love my training in kosho, but feel i wouldn't have gotten nearly as much out of it had it been my first art.  

gotta learn the rules to break the rules, ya know?


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## Kosho Gakkusei (Dec 6, 2006)

I went to a seminar by Kyosho Pat Kelly, where at the end he translated the principles to the ground and demonstrated on a student that was studying BJJ. Pretty amazing stuff.  Sensei Kelly also talked about how Bruce Juchnik used to "roll" with his students before he had knee surgery.

From what I saw applying kosho principles was very effective on the ground.  As far as locks, many schools study classical jujitsu locks - which are the basis for the modern BJJ submissions.

_Don Flatt


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