 Now, today we wanted to talk about an art-related topic that I get asked all the time, basically what are the different types of Kempo and how do they compare to American Kempo, my home art. To be honest, this one is not entirely easy to answer because the term Kempo is a little muddy in application and its context has been spun through the political blender so it is applied in a lot of ways that don't always seem related. As always, I encourage anyone to contribute to this conversation as this is just a starting point of discussion and it's impossible for me to list every single art that uses the word Kempo or its variation Kempo in its name. Now, if I don't mention the version of Kempo that you've studied or know about, it doesn't mean that I'm purposely disrespecting it, it just means that I'm trying to keep this list as broad as we can just to explore the meaning of the word or quite honestly it might be a branch that I'm unaware of, which is where I hope you'll come in and contribute. You know, I learned a lot from you guys as well. With all that being said, let's take a look at some different types of Kempo. Okay, so what are the different types of Kempo? Well, first let's take a look at the word itself since that is the first area of confusion. You may have seen two variations of spelling, Kempo with an N and Kempo with an M. So is there a difference and if so, which one is correct? Well, the word traces back to the Chinese word Fuanfa, which is the translation also found in various spellings. This word basically translates to fist law or fist method. When the word was translated into Japanese, it becomes Kenpo. Now in the rules of kanji, when the character ends with the letter N, it will be pronounced with the N sound unless it's followed by a character that starts with P and that instance, the N makes an M sound. So technically speaking, it should be spelled Kenpo, but pronounced Kempo. Now through romanization, you will sometimes find it also spelled with the M and at this point, the word has gone through enough translations that both versions can be considered correct. Through this grammar, you also sometimes come across the same thing with the word Senpai. I've also seen it spelled and pronounced as Senpai. Now there can be further distinction found and I've come across this a few times. If we go back very briefly and look at the word karate, we will find some of that political pull on the translation. Karate means empty hand, but originally the characters in Japanese meant Tong or Chinese hand. Now political relations between China and Japan weren't on the best grounds and when the Okinawan arts, which had a lot of Chinese influences in them, were brought to Japan by Gijin Funakoshi, the Japanese character for China was changed to mean empty. As a result, sometimes the word Kenpo is applied to martial art systems that come through Japan from Chinese roots. And using the term Kenpo is acknowledging the history when the word karate was altered to bury it. In addition, you will sometimes see people using the word Kenpo with an M designated spelling to refer to these arts that came through Japan as opposed to American Kenpo, which really traces its roots from China to Hawaii to mainland USA. So there is that distinction you will come across at sometimes. Interestingly, the word Kenpo doesn't hold the same meaning in Okinawa, where very often it's just an alternate way of saying karate. In Okinawa, the words karate and Kenpo are often used interchangeably. Now, when it comes to the word Kenpo in the United States, nine times out of 10, it is referring to Ed Parker's American Kenpo or some variation of it. But we're going to come back to this one. We're going to take a quick look now at some of the more common styles of Kenpo. Now, again, we are taking the objective look at this point. I know there are a lot of opinions, conjecture and politics surrounding somebody's founders, slash arts, slash practitioners. So I do ask that we focus this discussion on the history and development of these arts and leave the hate and politics out of it. Kosho Ryu Kenpo is the name of the art brought to the United States by Grandmaster James Mitosi. He was born in Hawaii and at the young age of four, he was sent to Japan for a formal education and also to study the family martial arts. Now, the Mitosi family trained in Chuanfa and through their generations, they continually modified and adapted the art until it became their own family style. Now, the complete name of the art is Kosho Shirei Ryu Kenpo, which translates to Old Pine Tree School, Fist Law. Now, at one point in time, Mitosi did refer to it as Kenpo Jujitsu and it's even known to be referred to as Shrineji Kenpo, which translates to Small Forest Temple Kenpo. This art was a blend of Chuanfa with an influence of Japanese Jujitsu and the philosophy of Ruth Deep and Buddhism. Mitosi wanted Kosho Ryu Kenpo to be more than just a fighting system. According to his family, he placed a lot of importance on internal balance as well as physical skills. Kosho Ryu Kenpo also heavily included philosophy, meditation, Japanese yoga, calligraphy, escapes, and the healing arts. Now, after training for 15 years in Japan, James Mitosi returned to Hawaii and he began teaching his family art to the public. According to the family website, Mitosi only promoted a handful of people to show it on a black belt. One of those people was William K.S. Chow, the founder of Kara Ho Kempo. Now, interestingly enough, even though William Chow was a student of James Mitosi, his philosophy behind the martial arts was very, very different. To William Chow, studying Kempo had the purpose of destroying your attacker. It was strictly about self-defense. In a quote posted to the Kara Ho Kempo website, Professor Chow once said, survival in the street first, everything else is second. Chow was born in Honolulu in 1914 and he grew up studying a variety of fighting arts, including karate, wrestling, jujitsu, and boxing. He was a tough martial artist, which had to make up for his small frame. At a height of only five-two, William Chow often demonstrated his technique and power and he was known for putting together sequences of technique combinations fired in rapid succession. Now, after he studied under James Mitosi, he formulated his art of Kara Ho Kempo. He had several notable students, such as Edmund K. Parker, Nick Serio, and Adriano Imperato. Each of whom went out to spearhead their own fighting systems. After his passing, his organization fell into the shoulders of San Kuoha, one of Chow's most dedicated and successful students. Grandmaster Kuoha continues to run the organization today, which claims to have over 5,000 students. Now, I have covered this topic extensively in a three-part series, The Origin of American Kempo, The Evolution of American Kempo, and The Kempo Crest. If you want to learn the background and development of the art, then I definitely recommend watching those. I covered the art in pretty expanded detail in the hour combined between the three episodes. Now, I have to include it on this list because it has encapsulated the word Kempo so much that when someone in the United States says the word Kempo, it is usually referring to Ed Parker American Kempo or one of its derivative styles. Ed Parker was a martial artist who grew up in Hawaii and he trained in judo, karate, boxing, and eventually with William Chow. Ed Parker combined a lot of elements of Kempo and mixed it with a lot of other arts, including Tuan Fa, and he created his own blend of techniques. This system went through so many changes over the sixties, seventies, eighties, and even still today. It once went by the names Chinese Kempo, Kempo Karate, Ed Parker's Kempo, and eventually American Kempo. The system changed greatly with Ed Parker and his disciples constantly altering and adjusting the art, adding and removing elements, and he put the system into a never-ending trend of fine-tuning, which still continues today. As a result, he has spawned many other systems that have become their own strong entities. I can't list all of them because I don't think YouTube will allow a video upload that long, but here are some of the more notable or popular or common Kempo offshoots. First, we have Tracy Kempo. Now again, I also covered this in more depth in the evolution of American Kempo video, but just to sum it up, Al and Jim Tracy were students under Ed Parker early in his system. When Mr. Parker started doing drastic changes to the art, they broke off on their own and they continued to teach their own version of Kempo, which they say is more based on the original blend that Ed Parker was working with. Their organization often calls it traditional Kempo and claims a greater connection with Hungar to retain that traditional lineage. Now the differences between Tracy and Parker Kempo can be very subtle, yet significant to those who have trained in one or both of the styles. They share a lot of the same techniques and forms, often with different names. The Tracy system also includes some forms in later ranks that bear more similarity to the Chinese forms and less to the Ed Parker long forms. Ed Parker Kempo was taught in long sequences of self-defense techniques. Approximately 150 of them depending on which version of the art you train in. Tracy Kempo claims over 600 techniques because they have shorter sequences but they modify them in A, B, C, D versions. In the end, it's about the same amount of material but it's just spread differently. The first school I studied at taught Tracy Kempo and after about four years we switched over to Ed Parker Kempo. The differences between them are sometimes hard to describe but basically they approach the same training goals but from slightly different philosophies. Kempo 5.0 is a version of American Kempo spearheaded by Jeff Spiekman, one of Mr. Parker's last students. Now Mr. Spiekman has taken Kempo forward into a very different direction by adding a lot of grappling into the system and amplifying the resistance combat training included. I also covered this in the American Kempo series and much like American Kempo it continues to adapt constantly. I had the fortune of training in Kempo 5.0 for a few years and it provided a lot of new insight and flavor to what I personally feel was already a great system. It's also very different now from when I trained in it but it continues to change and grow to this day. Kempo sub-level 4.0 is a system developed by Dr. Ron Chappelle another student of Ed Parker's Kempo who took the material and he decided to delve into another aspect of the system. The name refers to the different fighting ranges that we study in Kempo. One, out of range, two, within range usually for kicks or advancing techniques, three, punching range or medium range and four, close range. Now the concept is that this fourth range can be broken down into different sub-levels to understand and study pressure points, joint structure at a very close examination. The BKF or Black Karate Federation was founded by Sijo, Steve Muhammad and Grandmaster Donnie Williams. Both men grew up in times of extreme racism and despite those challenges they both went on to accomplish successful careers in the martial arts. Both men served in the military both accumulated along with the tournament victories and they both even had appearances in motion pictures including Enter the Dragon. Now after Williams won the title at the 1977 International Karate Championships in Long Beach he devoted himself to religion and founded the Family Church International and he continues to work as a bishop today. Steve Muhammad continues to teach and he was one of Ed Parker's most notable students. He was known for his extreme speed to the point of even Bruce Lee saying that Muhammad was one of the fastest martial artists he'd ever seen. That's saying something. But he went on to modify the material himself developed something called the five-speed theory and the 12 basic moves of Kempo and he continues to be a positive influence on the martial arts today. I had the honor of meeting him at a seminar a few years ago and he is a humbling individual. Such a rich history behind him and he's one of the most genuinely nicest people you'll ever meet. We really hope to do a video covering the BKF in the near future. Now Chuck Sullivan was yet another notable student under Ed Parker and his influences felt deeply in the Kempo community. He began the training with Mr. Parker back in 1959 and he is one of the highest ranking students to be promoted by Mr. Parker himself. Now in 1990, Mr. Sullivan founded the International Karate Connection Association with one of his top students, Vic Leroux. Together they formulated their own version of Kempo with a combination of their backgrounds. Mr. Sullivan is a lifelong student of Kempo and Mr. Leroux had a mixture of Kempo, Eskima, Huincheng, and Jikundo. Their system shares a lot of the same roots of Ed Parker's American Kempo. However, it does differ in many areas and they do refer to it as the IKCA Chinese Kempo. It is self-defense focused and it shares many of the same techniques as American Kempo, but it also features many of their own variations, concepts, modified basics, and a completely different set of self-defense-based CODIS. They also have a popular and well-established online training program, which I have spoken to a few of you about out there and I've received positive feedback about it. Now one thing I really do wanna caution on and I'm only bringing this up because I've had this conversation with multiple viewers is that many people mistake the system for Ed Parker's Kempo. The system is not American Kempo. American Kempo is specifically referring to Ed Parker's American Kempo. The IKCA is their own offshoot with their own curriculum. Many people don't realize this when they sign up because they think they're training in Ed Parker Kempo. If you ask them directly, they're very open and upfront about them not being the same system and they actually call their art Chinese Kempo on their site, but it's still an easy mistake to make if you don't already know. I have heard positive things about it and if you train in it and you wanna sign up for it then by all means give it a try but just understand this is a different art. Then we come to Thomas Conner. Now I received a lot of grief from some of you out there for not including them in my previous Kempo videos. You know who you are, this is for you. And also your reason is I wasn't that familiar with him at the time. I have had contact with a few different versions of Kempo but this was not one that I had crossed paths with. So I looked into it and I wanted to include him on this list this time around because he did have influence that is still around today. Mr. Conner started training in the martial arts at the young age of seven in Newark, New Jersey and New York. He trained in the Hungar and Wing Chung before listening to the Army during World War II. Now upon returning from the war he had become quite a successful combatant and he took up work with the US government as an operative in Central America and Mexico. He included Jiu Jitsu into his training and he retired from the government in 1960 and in 1965 he was running his own very successful martial arts program. Now Conner continued his training and he formed a partnership with Ed Parker which he called Co-Park Kempo and he became a prolific student of the art as well as adding Chinese martial arts into his own regimen. In 1970 the partnership expanded to include the Tracy brothers which so they all formed the Traco part system. Now eventually through the partnership dissolved and Conner and the Tracy's continued forward with Traco Kempo. This system became very successful and they spread out into several schools. Mr. Conner passed away in 1989 but you will still find Traco students training to this day. I also found one of their lower belt training manuals and it was quite the interesting read. It included the concept of the three circles of Kempo. The first circle composes the basics of breathing, balance and form. Now these are very important foundations to any martial art. The second circle included the development of sensitivity, the increase of energy when training and the establishment of moral conduct. The third circle encompasses using meditation as a tool and embraces compassion, commonality and controlling your ego. Now interestingly enough when I looked further at the required techniques for this entry belt level I immediately recognized them and I knew them as techniques from the Tracy system. So when it comes to Kempo in the United States you're going to find a lot of overlap in the systems and see that they influence other systems. So there's a lot of commonality between them. So that's just a very quick summary of American Kempo of some of its related systems. Now as we go down the list we can still find some other variations of Kempo. Nick Serio was one of the aforementioned students of William Chow. Mr. Serio himself is a highly respected martial artist and he had quite the mixed flavor of training. He grew up knowing struggle and worked at odd jobs at the age of 10 just to help his family get by. And he was also known to get into various street fights in the streets of Providence, Rhode Island. As a teenager he began formal training in boxing which was the beginning of his academic look in the fighting. Studying theories of angulation and concepts of motion he even had a successful fighting experience boxing while in the Air Force. Now after leaving the military in 1958 Serio added judo to his training and three years later switched to taekwondo. He didn't stop there and his resume of arts just grew to an impressive list. He trained under George Passara in the art of Karazen Pogoshin Jitsu and through his tournament career he met Ed Parker. Now Nick Serio did not train directly under Parker but the two remained close friends for almost two decades and Serio once said that, "'Ed Parker was never my instructor "'but he was like my coach. "'He was my senior because we came "'from the same Kempo family. "'I used a lot of Ed Parker's ideas in my system.'" Now his training under William Chow was not easy. Chow was known for his tough regimen and grueling training and he claimed that this instruction influenced his later teaching of his own system. After adding Hakoryu Jijitsu, Sil Lung Kung Fu and Okinawan weapons training Serio went on to establish his own system of Nick Serio's Kempo. Now his Kempo was a unique blend of all his previous experiences he'd accumulated boxing, Sim Lung Kung Fu, judo, Jijitsu and even Shodokan. Nick Serio was definitely a factor in the spread of Kempo in the United States predominantly in the New England area. I also mentioned Adriano Imperato also a student of Chow. Now technically his system isn't really a Kempo system but I would like to add it because it would be doing an injustice if I left it off this list. Mr. Imperato was a skilled fighter in Karahou Kempo and together with four of their martial artists they formed the hybrid system of Kajukenbo which is very popular today. Each founder brought with them their own martial art background to create this pretty well balanced system. The name Kajukenbo is a portmando of various arts used to combine it. Ka is for Karate. Ju is for Judo and Jijitsu. Ken is for Kempo and Bo is for boxing. Imperato brought the Karahou Kempo and a scream of contribution. Joseph Hulk brought Judo. Frank Ardoñez with Dunzen Rui Jijitsu. Peter Yong Il-Chu with Tang Sudo, boxing and Shodokan Karate and Clarence Change with Chen Na a form of Chinese joint locking. Now this is quite the intricate mix of martial arts and it was consistently adapted to keep the techniques that were effective in the street and discard the ones that weren't. Now this is another art that we're gonna be circling back to in the future but we wanted to mention it here today because it is related to Karahou Kempo and it does share some similar roots. Shurinji Kempo was mentioned earlier as one of the names James Matosi used for his Koshoriyu Kempo. Now this is not to be confused with the art of Shurinji Kempo founded by Japanese martial artist Doshin So. Doshin So formed his art as a way to raise morality among Japanese citizens following the aftermath of World War II. He blended his experience in the Chinese arts with Jujitsu and possibly elements of karate. The system is divided into three parts. Self-defense, mental training and health training. Doshin So felt that training should encompass both the physical body and the human spirit. Now even though So passed away in 1980 his art still flourishes today with several organizations continuing to teach the system. This is another one that we will come back to later and take a look at in the full detail. And now for some honorable mentions. White Tiger Kempo was founded by master John McSweeney and Thomas Saviano. Both men had various experience in different arts including the Parkers Kempo and Judo and several styles of kung fu such as Sansu, White Crane and forms of Northern Kung Fu. Their art is a unique blend of their experience. Shaolin Kempo is another very common term and an example of how the word Kempo gets blurry sometimes. In the United States Shaolin Kempo is a popular variation of the art founded by Fred Valari. Valari was a student of Nick Serial and William K.S. Chow and he used his experience to alter and create his own fighting system called Shaolin Kempo Karate. It claims to combine the five animal fighting style of Shaolin Kung Fu, the core framework of Kempo, the stances and explosive power of karate and blends in the grappling arts of Jiu Jitsu, Mongolian wrestling and the Chinese joint locking art of Jinnah. Valari focuses the training on four aspects of fighting striking, kicking, felling of takedowns and grappling. Now Valari has attracted some criticism from the various martial arts communities by appointing themselves 10th degree black belt and later 15th degree. Now I don't have any experience to have any opinion on this but if you researched this art you can expect to come across this controversy so make of it what you will just be aware that's there. In any case Valari Shaolin Kempo Karate is a unique blend and a very popular system in the United States. This is not to be confused with Shaolin American Kempo a system devised and established by Grandmaster Jim Brassard. Brassard describes his system as a mix of Shaolin American Kempo Karate, Kung Fu, Jiu Jitsu and Chinese boxing. Now it doesn't seem to have much relation if any to Fred Valari Shaolin Kempo. Now I can't speak very much about the system as I am unfamiliar with it but I do urge doing further research. There are some concerning elements though on the main website such as claiming to be the most effective strength system bodybuilding and self defense program available out there and pictures such as this to advertise the program. Now I'm not sure if the focus is more on self defense or fitness and I invite anyone watching that if you have any experience with the system I would be very interested to know what your feedback is and I'm curious to know by any light that you can shed on the art. Now this is still not to be confused with Shaolin Kempo with an N established by Grandmaster Ralph Castro. Castro's Shaolin Kempo organization is often mistaken for Fred Valari Shaolin Kempo Karate system. Castro was also a student of William Chow and generally speaking, systems that use the word Shaolin in the name are usually trying to establish a lineage back to traditional Shaolin kung fu roots. And the last mention on this list is Ryu Kukenpo. Now the two common versions of this art is the first one established by Taika Seyuu Oyata and I apologize if I mispronounced that and it focuses on the close combat fighting utilizing close and striking grappling just like Jiu Jitsu and joint locking and escapes. It also utilizes Okinawan weapons training or Kabuto and it has several branches over the world. The other one is Ryu Kukenpo Tomari Te established by George Dilman. Now there is an incredible amount of controversy around his system, mainly that Dilman pushed heavy marketing and campaigns on the idea of light pressure point work and no touch knockouts. No touch knockouts are definitely a point of contention in the martial arts community and I'm not quite sure we're ready to touch on this topic just yet. See what I did there? What are you doing? So as an overview, the word Kempo has grown to take on some several meanings, origins and adaptations. It could be confusing and sometimes when you hear art subscribed to Chinese Kempo, Shaolin Kempo and the like, it's really worth the additional research to make sure you understand the exact context of it. Now I hope you enjoyed this episode and if I missed one that you know of, please by all means comment below and tell us more about it. If it has some good history, it might be one that we'll go back and pick up and develop into an individual episode. Thank you so much for watching and celebrating the law of the fist with us today. Please be sure to join us on Patreon to bring you more art based history videos and other channel goals. Warrior and scholar signing out.