From China to Japan to Hawaii to You

In the sixth century AD, an Indian prince of the Kshatriya warrior caste traveled to China. Bodhidharma was considered wise in the ways of Dhyana (Chinese; Chan, Japanese; Zen). When he came to the Shaolin Temple in Honan Province he taught the monks there exercises to strengthen their bodies and spirits.

At that time Taoist and Buddhist monks shared ideas and sometimes lived together. At a later date, China was invaded from the north. Generals and officers of the Chinese army fled to temples in the country side to seek shelter from persecution. Often these soldiers disguised themselves as monks to escape detection from the invaders.

While in hiding at these temples the Taoist and Buddhist monks shared ideas with these soldiers and in return the soldiers were allowed to practice their martial arts. A gradual blending took place. The soldiers martial arts took on a Taoist and Buddhist influence, and the Taoist and Buddhist monks gained an understanding of battlefield martial arts which they could use as a form of self-defense.

This form of self-defense was called Chuan Fa or Fist Law in English. The Chinese characters for Fist Law are pronounced Kempo in Japanese (spelled Kenpo In English due to the subtleties of translation)

As time went by various other forms of fighting were developed in China. Legend states that the original exercises taught by Bodhidharma are still taught today. But that a method of fighting called the Shih Pa Lo Han Shou, or The 18 Hands of the Lo Han had been lost.

A monk named Ch'ueh Taun Shang-jen rediscovered the original Shih Pa Lo Han Shou, which had been lost for many years. Ch'ueh integrated his art of Ch'uan Fa with that of Lo Han, increasing the total number of techniques from eighteen to seventy-two.

For several years Ch'ueh traveled the countryside of China promoting his new art. In the province of Shensi, he encountered another Shaolin monk named Li, who was a master of Ch'uan Fa as well as other martial ways. Ch'ueh traveled and trained with Li for some time expanding the scope of Ch'uan Fa to total one hundred and seventy techniques.

The two of them categorized their techniques into five distinctive groups, which were distinguished by various animals. Upon their return to the Shaolin temple they presented Wu Xing Quan, the five animal form, to the other monks, and took the Shaolin temple to a new stage in martial arts evolution.

JAPAN:

Shaolin monks traveled to Buddhist temples all over Asia, taking Chuan Fa with them. Eventually, the art made it’s way to Japan. The Samurai Yoshida Clan adopted Chuan Fa as their family martial art. Here, as it was refined and preserved, Chuan Fa became an even more brutal, deadly and effective method of close quarters combat.

The Japanese pronounce the Chinese characters for Chuan Fa “Kempo” (spelled Kenpo). The Yoshida Clan referred to this pure form of Chuan Fa as Kosho Ryu Kenpo or Old Pine Tree Style of Chuan Fa.

James Masayoshi Mitose was responsible for bringing Kenpo to the western world. He was born in Hawaii on Dec 30, 1916 as the second child of Otokichi Mitose and Kiyoka Yoshida. As a child Mitose was sent to Japan to live with his mother's family and be schooled in the family's art, Kosho-Ryu Kenpo.

HAWAII:

Eventually, James Mitose became the 21st Great Grand Master of Kosho-Ryu. Mitose returned to Hawaii in 1937, formed the Official Self-Defense Club, and taught from 1942 to 1946. He left Hawaii in 1954 for the mainland United States where he would spend the remainder of his life. Mitose died on March 27, 1981 at the age of sixty-five.

William Kwai Sun Chow was one of James Mitose's top students. He was a tough fighter. He practiced each Kenpo technique over and over, hundreds of times a day. He was not a man to back down from a challenge and he used his Kenpo skills often to deal with the harsh environment he found on the streets of Hawaii. His reputation grew and he was soon nicknamed "Thunderbolt" for his lightening fast and hard hitting way of fighting.

He left Mitose in 1949 and opened his own Kenpo school. It was William Chow who coined the term "Kenpo Karate", possibly because the term Karate was more well know than the term Kenpo. Or to distinguish his system from James Mitose's Kenpo Jiu-Jitsu, although both styles were the same. William Chow then took the title "Professor" and renamed his system Go-Shinjitsu. Approximately twenty years later, William Chow renamed his system "Chinese Kempo of Kara-Ho Karate."

Edmund Kealoha Parker was born in Hawaii on March 19, 1931. He began his martial arts studies with judo and earned his black belt in judo at the age of fifteen. Ed Parker was introduced to William Chow and said shortly thereafter "kenpo would become my life's work." Parker studied with Chow intermittently while attending Brigham Young University (going back to Hawaii periodically) and serving in the coast guard (while stationed in Hawaii). He received his black belt from William Chow on June 5, 1953. Parker opened his first school in Provo, Utah in 1954.

U.S.A.

After teaching in Utah while in college, Ed parker moved to Pasadena, California in 1956 and taught "original" kenpo as he had learned it from William Chow.

In 1961, with help from Kung-Fu master James (Jimmy) Wing Woo, Parker developed "Traditional Chinese Kenpo". Woo developed most of the forms and sets (which are still performed), with help from Parker's first black belt James Ibrao and Parker himself.

The Tracy brothers started studying Kenpo under Ed Parker in 1957, while attending college as pre-law students. The Tracy's developed a close relationship with Parker, and were eventually put in charge of all beginner and intermediate classes.

In the spring of 1962 the Tracy brothers opened their first studio in San Francisco. They named it Kenpo Karate Studio, and it became the northern branch of Ed Parker's organization. It was there that the Tracy brothers added three new kyu ranks and created the colored belt system. Ed Parker adopted the new eight-kyu system, but rejected the colored belts. He finally converted to the color system in 1966. The Tracy brothers also wrote belt manuals (which contained 40 techniques per belt at that time) and gave the techniques names like Attacking Circle, Raising the Staff, etc.

The Tracy brothers opened a second school in Sacramento in 1962 and a third in San Jose in 1963. They later changed the name of their schools to Tracy's Kenpo Karate.

By 1982 Ed Parker had modified American Kenpo so much so as to make it, in Parker's own words, "no more than 10% Kenpo."

It was around this time that the Tracy's completely broke from Ed Parker in order to continue teaching Original/Traditional Kenpo which includes all of the Jiu-Jitsu and Chinese aspects of the system, and establish themselves as teachers of the purest form of kenpo available in the world.

The Tracy System of Kenpo contains the Jiu-Jitsu aspects of Original Kenpo and the Chinese aspects of Traditional Kenpo combined into a unified, comprehensive whole.

Nexus Kenpo™ teaches the complete curriculum of the Tracy's System of Kenpo Karate.