Kenpo may also refer to the Constitution of Japan (憲法) The Constitution of Japan has been the founding legal document of Japan since 1947. ...

Kenpo or Kempo (拳法 Kenpō; lit. fist law) is written with the characters 拳 and 法. Kempo itself is a common Japanese term for martial arts in general that is the translation of the Chinese quánfǎ (or ch'üan² fa³), meaning "fist principles", "way of the fist", or "law of the fist form." It is a term used to refer to a wide variety of martial arts, and is sometimes used as a blanket terms for martial arts in general, especially in East Asia. Hawaiian State Grappling Championships. ... Quan Fa is simply a term used for open hand chinese boxing. ... East Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms. ...

Kempo or Kenpo

The Kanji (拳法) can be transliterated into English as either "Kempo" or "Kenpo". The first character "Ken" means "fist", while the second one "po" means "law". However, a popular system for translating Japanese into English is the Hepburn romanization method for creating Romaji, where the "Ken" would become "Kem" when it precedes an "h" sound, and the "h" takes on a "p" sound. Thus, "Kenho" becomes "Kempo". The common reference to "Kenpo" comes from the book that James Mitose produced in 1953 entitled What is Self-Defense? Kenpo JiuJitsu as a textbook on martial arts and due to a spelling mistake by the printers who printed an N instead of M the spelling of kenpo came about. In English, it is correct to use either term, though their particular usages have become somewhat stylized. The term stayed with his students, and when William Chow and Edmund Parker went to create their own Kempo schools, they took the "Kenpo" name with them. Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Romaji ローマ字 The Hepburn romanization system (Japanese: ヘボン式, Hebon-shiki) was devised by the Reverend James Curtis Hepburn to transcribe the sounds of the Japanese language into the Roman alphabet for his Japanese–English dictionary, published in 1867. ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Romaji ローマ字 The title given to this article lacks diacritics because of certain technical limitations. ... James Masayoshi Mitose, born Masayoshi Mitose, (December 16, 1916 — March 26, 1981) [1]was a Japanese American martial artist who brought the art of Kempo to the United States starting in the 1940s. ... Edmund Kealoha Parker (March 19, 1931 - December 15, 1990) was an American martial artist, exhibitionist, and teacher, perhaps most famous as the founder of American Kenpo. ...

Both "Kempo" and "Kenpo" are acceptable forms of transliterating the Japanese name however, and regardless of how you spell it in English, the Japanese spelling with Kana would not change. It should be noted that a syllable final "n" in Japanese will naturally assimilate with a "p" "b" or "h/f" character and will be pronounced as an "m". This is a natural transformation, and a similar transformation can also be seen in the distinction between the different pronunciations of "thin" vs "think". When pronouncing "kenpo" vs "kempo" even an English speaker will not actually produce a truly different pronunciation as this transformation is a completely natural habit, and unconscious action of all humans to assimilate the nasal to be an "m". (As a perfect example take the English word "impure", which comes from the negation "in" and root "pure".) Thus, the writing of an "n" as opposed to an "m" in this case is entirely aesthetic. The most authentic pronunciation is actually a blend of "n" and "m" together. The second mora begins as a slightly nasalized "n" with the tongue pressing against the roof of the mouth and the lips slightly apart. The mora ends as an "m"-like sound with the lips pressing together but the tongue remains on the roof of the mouth, unlike the conventional English pronunciation of "m". Mora (plural moras or morae) is a unit of sound used in phonology that determines syllable weight (which in turn determines stress) in some languages. ...

Kempo in the West

In the West, Kempo is mostly known as a mixed style that combines a heritage in Chinese martial arts, especially Shaolin, with karate (and sometimes called 'Kenpo Karate'), often mixed with elements of other Japanese arts like jujutsu and aikijujutsu. In Japan, Kempo can refer to a large number of different (and mostly unrelated) systems of martial arts, mostly stemming from families in the feudal period - the term Kempo being used as an abbreviation, since the names are long. This article provides a general overview of Chinese martial arts. ... For the style associated with Gu Ruzhang, see Northern Shaolin (martial art). ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Jūjutsu training at an agricultural school in Japan around 1920 Jujutsu (also Jujitsu, Ju Jitsu, Ju Jutsu, or Jiu Jitsu; (from the Japanese jūjutsu gentle/yielding/compliant Art) is a Japanese martial art that utilizes a large variety of techniques in defense against an opponent. ... Aikijutsu, also known as aikijujutsu, is a form of Japanese martial arts. ...

There is a faction of Kenpo from Okinawa that has no American influences. This system is known as "Okinawa Kenpo" or Ryūkyū Hon Kenpo". Hon means "original" and refers to the kenpo from the old Kingdom of Okinawa taught by the Late Grandmaster Seikichi Odo. Master Odo (1926- 2002) operated the Shudokan Dojo in Gushikawa, Okinawa. Some of his senior students such as Richard Gonzales, Dennis Branchaud and Larry Gradolf established the art in the U.S. during the 1970's and 80's and continue to teach this old system in its original form. The style is built upon the karate of Shigeru Nakamura, a fellow student of Gichen Funakoshi under Master Ankoh Itosu. It preserves the old kenpo from China with the addition of several kata taught to Odo by Seiki Toma, a student of Choto Kyan. There are influences from the indigenous Okinawan art of Ti and there is also a weapons component comprised of 11 different weapons. Odo's weapons art contains techniques from Shinpo Matayoshi, Seiko Kinjo,Shigeru Nakamura and Seiki Toma. Okinawa Kenpo is reknown for its unique sparring method called "bogu kumite". Exponents spar with full contact using body armour that is similar to that worn by Kendo practitioners. The system is a blend of hard and soft (external and internal) arts and includes throws,heavy bag work and makiwara practice. There is a strong emphasis on character development and maintaining a strict code of conduct.

Some practitioners follow that Kempo uses much of the same path as Chinese martial arts, but in order to shorten the amount of time to train a person, methods from Karate were used as the basis to quickly allow a person to learn the basics, and techniques. Whereas it often takes 10 to 20 years of continuous effort to master one form of kung fu, Kempo practitioners often can be black belted in around 3 to 5 years, depending on the instructor and system. Today the "style" of kempo/kenpo has become diverse. It has evolved into hybrid versions of jujitsu (kempo / kenpo Jujitsu). This article provides a general overview of Chinese martial arts. ... Alternative meaning: Kung Fu (TV series) Kung fu or gongfu (功夫, Pinyin: gōngfu) is a well-known Chinese term used in the West to designate Chinese martial arts. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Partial List of Styles Systems & Groups

• American Kenpo (Parker)
• Shaolin Kempo Karate (Villari)
• Kajukenbo
• Karazenpo Go Shinjutsu
• Kiyojute Ryu Kempo
• Shorinji Kempo
• Kenpo kai