History of Kenpo
Kenpo pronounced kempo (although some styles actually call their style Kempo) Is a martial art style that emphasizes fast hand techniques used in rapid succession. Kicks are less common, and usually directed at the lower body because high kicks are slower to execute and potentially compromise the practitioner's balance.
Kenpo originated in China So long ago that its hard to determine when it was created but documents refer to it as far back as 2 A.D and was later brought to Japan about 700 years ago by the Yoshida Clan
and then finally to the US in the 1940's by James Mitose. In China It was called Chuan-Fa (Chuan meaning fist and fa meaning Law) once it was brought to Japan It was known as Kenpowhich is the literal translation of Fist (ken) and law (po) which is where we get the term kenpo.
James Mitose brought Kenpo from Japan to Hawaii in he early 1940's and started teaching his style which was called Kosho Ryu kempo and later changed the name to kenpo jiu-jitsu. He wrote one of the most sought after rare books in Kenpo called WHAT IS SELF-DEFENSE . One of Mitose's top students was a man named William K.S. Chow who received a black belt under Mitose and was also learning kung fu from his own father at the same time. Later on Chow blended the two arts slightly and taught what he called Go-Shinjutsu Shortly before his death in 1987, Chow renamed his system to Kara-Ho Kempo (Amazon has a book on it) William Chow's little brother Frank Chow taught a man named Ed Parker but eventually got to the point where he taught Ed everything he knew so frank introduced Ed Parker to his older brother William Chow and he Started training under him and eventually received his black belt under William Chow.
Now that Ed Parker was a black belt he wanted to open his own school but was concerned that Chow wouldn't approve so he wrote Chow and asked for permission. It took about a year to get that permission but by that time Ed Parker had already started teaching but instead of calling it Go-Shinjutsu he called his style Kenpo Karate and published a book called Kenpo Karate (with karate being a better known term at that point) . At this point Kenpo did not have any forms or katas so Ed Parker and a Kung Fu instructor that taught with Ed Parker named James Woo developed many of the Kenpo forms still used today.Other forms were influenced strongly by other styles like which you can still find on Amazon ,Splashing Hands, ,San Soo, Tai Chi Chuan and Hung Gar all of which you can see throughout the forms Parker taught in his system. From that point Kenpo broke off into some more offshoots due to Ed Parkers constant search for more knowledge and being influenced more and more by Chinese Martial Arts.
So we will stop here with the introduction of Kenpo to Hawaii and the creation of Kenpo Karate in the US and I will break the other main styles of Kenpo down in later post. My first two articles will be on Tracy's Kenpo Karate and American Kenpo
With William Chow changing and renaming his style,parker changing the style and renaming his style a couple times, Then after Ed parkers death many in American Kenpo left and started teaching their own styles of Kenpo and different variations of American kenpo. It didn't take long before there were so many styles of Kenpo out there that you couldn't write them down as fast as they was popping up. Add to that the fact that Kenpo was so effective in tournaments that schools started saying that the style they taught was Kenpo. There was Tae Kwon do schools claiming to be Kenpo just because the name Kenpo brought students through your door. Now we have Shoalin Kenpo,Chinese Kenpo,Okinawan Kenpo ,One offshoot That should really be taken seriously is Kajukenbo which was created by a group of instructors from many styles to form one style.Ka (Karate) Ju (Judo) Ken(kenpo) Bo (Boxing) The result is a very effective style that has stand up and ground work.
As far as I know Traditional Kenpo Is only taught in Tracy Kenpo, It's the only branch that stayed true to What James Mitose brought to The US.
In Ed Parkers own words American Kenpo is Only about 10% Kenpo.
For more on the History of Kenpo check out Al Tracy's page. Nobody has done more research on Kenpo or knows more about It's history then this man. He trained and received his black belt under Ed Parker and I have heard him speak at he gathering of eagles and this man knows his stuff. I have had he privilege of training under him and the Finn's both and I can tell you he is a great man with a wealth of knowledge and you need to check out his site.
I remember the first time i ever met Al Tracy , I was in my mid 20's and in the middle of class when I was training under Rodney Finn in Danville Ky. This man walked in wearing his black gi and black belt , he did nothing to interrupt the class in any way but i couldn't stop looking at him. I knew just buy seeing him walk in the room that this man was important. There was this presence in the room that I could feel but didn't understand at the time. He smiled and giggled and when he talked was one of the most sincere nicest person that you could imagine. Even though he was smiling and giggling His presence was one that i couldn't help but respect. I did not know who this man was at the time and was sad when I later found out that I was just talking to Al Tracy and didn't know who he was at the time. PLease do yourself a favor and visit his site.
http://www.tracykenpokarate.com
Bare with me as I try to explain the spread and changes of kenpo that I know of from different instructors and try to make it easier to follow along.through the branches. I will list instructors and their offshoots of Kenpo they created
Kenpo was brought to the US. by James Mitose -He taught Kosho Ryu Kenpo
and later on changed it to Kenpo jiu jitsu
He trained
William K.S. Chow - created Go-shinjutsu and later Kara Ho Kenpo
He trained
William Q.C. Chun Sr - created Chinese Kempo
Masaichi Oshiro - created Tek-Ken Jutsu Kai
Adriano Emperado - one of the creators of Kajukenbo
Ralph Castro -created Shaolin Kenpo
Ed Parker - changed the name to Kenpo Karate
Then later on created
Chinese Kenpo
Ed Parkers Kenpo Karate
American Kenpo
He trained
Jeff Speakman - created Kenpo 5.0
Al ,Will and Jim Tracy - Of Tracy Kenpo Karate (Which is still the traditional Kenpo Karate they just added their name which was tradition when a student opened a school of their own.
From will Tracy's website is a chart that shows the evolution of Kenpo to American Kenpo through
Ed Parkers lineage
First generation 1954-1961 (Original Kenpo)
Second Generation 1961-1963 (Traditional Kenpo) (Juijitsu was removed and forms were added)
Third Generation 1963-1969 (Chinese Kenpo)
Fourth Generation 1970-1981 (Ed Parkers Kenpo Karate) Split off into Tracy's Kenpo Karate after Mr Parker let the Tracy brothers take over so that he could work on developing American Kenpo.
Fifth Generation 1982-1990 (American Kenpo)
There are many many other branches of Kenpo that have been renamed re branded and completely reworked by others starting their own schools..