Exactly what is the differance between Kenpo and traditional Karate? Obviously I'm not a practitioner of either or I might already know the differance between the two.
Tough question. It is like asking what the difference between spelling and writing is. I don't think anyone could answer your question fully. There are too many different styles of Karate to make all comparisons. Kenpo is a form of Karate that was introduced to Hawaii in the 1950´s and modified by Ed Parker. He is more or less know as the pioneer that introduced Karate to America. He incorporated many new training methods and was very insightful as how to use the whole body to defend oneself and in a logical way. I don't want to go into it more than I have already written, as I am by no means an expert on the subject. I can only say that anyone who studies Kenpo (under a competent instructor) is someone to stay away from. Kenpo will enhance just about any style you train if you let it.
I'm not really an expert either, but from what I can gather from reading about the history of Kenpo it was brought to Hawaii by James Mitose. James Mitose was a Japanese American who was born in Hawaii but was sent to Japan as a teenager to live. In Japan he learned his the art of his family clan which was called 'Kosho Ryu Kenpo'. Kosho Ryu Kenpo included many soft and circular elements from chinese kung fu as well as joint locking and striking to vital targets such as the eyes, throat, etc....Some people say that this was mostly Japanese in character and represents pre-Funakoshi karate or the "empty-hand war art" that predated the dissolution of the samurai class and the beginning of the "karate for the masses" Anyway in the 1930's James Mitose opened a club in Honolulu and began teaching American navy personnel self-defense. One of his students was William Chow, who was of Chinese descent. It is unclear how much William Chow changed Mitose's art. I have read that William Chow tried to blend Mitose's art with his family's kung fu. Anyway, Ed Parker was a student of William Chow, along with several other influential people. In the 1950's I think Kenpo really began to become popular. The history of Kenpo is a bit convoluted. It has Hawaiin, American, Japanese and Chinese roots. It's a hybrid art that seems to have been changing over the years. When people ask me what kenpo is like I tell them that it is a system of self-defense that incorporates alternating circular, straight, hard, and soft movements in a flowing pattern of continuous strikes to vital targets in quick succession. We don't do alot of high kicking or point sparring. Kenpo is a close-range fighting style that uses a system of body checks and body leverage along with striking. It really is a stand-up style. Kenpo people do not want to go to the ground. Our theory is to put your opponent to the ground within a few seconds of beginning a conflict even if that means going on a pre-emptive offense. Flashing Dagger
In Parker's 5th book in the Infinite Insights series, he describes a visit to his school in Pasadena by Mitose. I don't want to try to quote or paraphrase because I don't have the book here with me, but from what he wrote it seems clear to me that Chow's influence on Parker's early style was LARGE. Mitose's style featured very little circular technique, for example. From reading about Kara-Ho Kempo it makes sense that Chow would have added this. I think American Kempo shold look to Chow family style more than Mitose as a founding influence. just MHO. David
American Kenpo found its' roots in Professor Chow's Chinese Kara-Ho Kempo. Makes sense since GM Parker trained with Chow after he broke away from Mitose. As did Adrian Emperado, Ralph Castro, and many other great masters..... Kosho-Ryu is impressive and is fairly linear- it resembles a hard Japanese style at a glance- (Which I dig!) Origins and techniques of Kempo/Kenpo are amongst the most debated issues in the MA community!
I wasn't aware that Mr Parker had EVER trained under James Mitose. My understanding, (from Mr Parker), is that he trained under Professor William Chow, after being introduced to Kenpo by Professor Chow's brother Frank. Mr Parker began his training with Professor Chow in 1949, shortly after he (Professor Chow) had started teaching independently from James Mitose. Respectfully, Les
Razor, It seems I misunderstood what you had written. Looks like we're on the same page. Apologies, Les
Parker Yes, Ed PArker didn't trained under James Mitose or Bill Chow. He trained under Bill Chow's brother. In fact, Ed Parker left to the U.S. mainland when he was only purple belt.
Parker trained with Professor William Kwai Sun Chow... Nobody debates this- yes he did move to the USA before reaching black-belt level..
He did not trained with Bill. It was with his brother. He later hanged with Bill before he left but originally studied with Bill. My uncle was there at that time with Bill. Now if you ask those who were with Bill, they'll tell you that Ed PArker wasnt training with them because he was with Bill's brother. He only hanged with Bill's group. People in Hawaii knows this.
So is Kenpo, in some ways to Jui Jitsu/Hapkido? Also, how would it blend if you come from a boxing, muay thai background. And do you practice weapons in Kenpo?
Because of its logical and practical structure, Kenpo will enhance any other martial art. As to 'blending' thats really down to the individuals depth of knowledge of both Kenpo and the art they already have skills in. Generally, the weapons that Kenpo practitioners train with are the club and the knife, as they (or variants of them) are the most common weapons encountered on the street. In the AKKI, there is a seperate syllabus for both club and knife, independent of the belt syllabus. You can see the syllabus on my website, www.americankenpo.co.uk Click on the syllabus link. There are also self defence techniques against a gun, and there is a staff set in the syllabus. Other weapons may my included by some instructors or associations. Les
Are you referring to Prof. Chow as "Bill"? (Or Bill Chun?) I do believe MR Parker may have trained with Frank Chow before studying briefly with Professor - Cheers!
I found an interesting link at Al Tracy's kenpo website. I think it is called tracykarate.com or something like that. Anyway, he took his only copy of Mitose's book "What is self-defense?", removed all of the pages and scanned them onto his site. He has the entire book posted with each page as a JPEG. I'm not sure exactly what Ed Parker said in Vol. 5 about being disappointed that Mitose removed all of the circles from the art but the book features ALOT of joint and stand-up jujitsu-like techniques as well as some circular stuff. Salute
Throughout his life, Professor Chow emphasized that he was not a student of Mitose's, merely a collaborator. I do not know whether or not this is true, just that he said it. What is important to note is that Kenpo really has two very different influences: traditional Japanese style Kenpo, and modern Kenpo as created by Chow which has a heavy Chinese influence. So really, it depends which style of Kenpo you are looking at.
