History of Kosho Shorei Kenpo

At the beginning of the seventeenth century, two families, Kumamoto and Nagasaki, brought knowledge of Kenpo from China to Kyushu in Japan. This art was modified through the years into its current form which is referred to as Kosho Shorei Kenpo, or Old Pine Tree school and it is from here that most modern forms of Kenpo are derived. In 1916 at the age of five, James Mitose was sent to Kyushu from his homeland in Hawaii for schooling in his ancestors' art of self-defense called Kosho Shorei Kenpo. For fifteen years he studied this art, which was a direct descendent of the original Chuan Fa. After completing his training in Japan, Mitose returned to Hawaii and in 1936 opened the "Official Self - Defense" club in Beretania mission in Honolulu. It was here that the five major Kenpo influences, Thomas Young, William Chow, Edmund Howe, Arthur Keawe and Paul Yamaguchi, would study the art and bring Kenpo to the world.

During the next few decades Chow made many innovations to the system, including the use of circular techniques of his Kung Fu, as well as various kata or forms based on the primary linear and circular techniques of his art. One of Chow's most able students was a Hawaiian native named Adriano Emperado. Emperado, in 1947 was part of the Black Belt Society that developed the art form currently known today as KAJUKENBO.

What Is Kenpo

On the surface, Kenpo's uniqueness lies in its comprehensive and various means of unarmed defense. Kenpo Karate proper is both an armed and unarmed system of combat. On an external level, Kenpo is a "no-holds-barred" fighting system of offensive and defensive methods with equal emphasis of striking techniques with the hands and feet, immobilization and controls, projections and take downs, weaponry, and various spiritual and healing arts. Kenpo is a street-wise defensive art that does not restrict its students in methodology. Clawing hands evolve into slashing feet. Cunning joint locks turn into devastating hip throws. Evasive blocks turn into chokes. The possibilities are endless. The only true fighting systems are those where there are no rules applied.

Nothing is impossible to a willing mind.

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