What is Kempo?

Kempo is an extensive, but now fragmented, group of former martial crafts (bugei) and martial arts (bujutsu) that were disbanded in their original form before or around 1868. Ken means "fist" and/or "sword" depending on which Chinese character is used to write it, while Po means "method".

Today we just have fragments of the once more complete Kempo systems that went before. However, the former systems were so extensive that the surviving fragments still represent a huge body of methods. It has been said that Kempo enthusiasts are very much museum curators rather than martial artists - they are the custodians of the last remnants of long dead martial crafts. It has often been suggested that the term "martial craftsman" rather than "martial artist" may thus be appropriate for the practitioners of Kempo. This is one example of Kempo not fitting into modern conceptions about martial arts - there are many.

As a result of people's preconceptions about martial arts modern Kempo practitioners have tried a wide variety of terms to explain what they do, without much success - these include Karate (meaning "Chinese Hand", not "Empty Hand"), Japanese Kung-Fu, Japanese Kickboxing, Sword and Fist Method, Bujutsu, Tojutsu, and so on. The reality is that no short term can define Kempo because it must first overcome preconceptions about the nature of martial arts before conveying what Kempo is, Foremost among these preconceptions is the belief that Chinese and Japanese martial arts developed separately and are independent strands. This misconception is more a result of the social consequences of the modern Japanese occupation of large parts of China up to 1945 than it is of the historical reality of the feudal period during which Kempo developed.

A more accurate description of Kempo would be "Mostly Chinese martial arts conveyed to Japan prior to 1868 and/or Japanese martial that came under heavy Chinese influence prior to 1868; in both cases the formal schools (ryuha) that constituted these arts were disbanded before or around 1868". The significance of 1868 is that it marked the disbandment of the Samurai and the end of feudal rule in Japan.

It should also be noted that more recently the term Kempo has also been used to refer to some martial arts that were imported to Japan well after 1868, including Karate, Taikyokuken, Taikiken, several kinds of Shorinji Kempo, and western-style boxing or kickboxing type of methods. Furthermore, older Kempo systems have been reformulated into new systems that are intended to meet modern needs or to hold over something of the past in a form that is acceptable in modern times. This latter type of Kempo is perhaps most famously represented by Nippon Kempo, but there are many other systems including Kaido Miwa Ryu Kempo, the style that we study. Modern martial arts, such Karate and Judo, have also been incorporated into some modern Kempo styles, and the term has in a few instances been used to refer to combinations of Karate and Judo without any prior Kempo style being incorporated.

What was Kempo?

It is much easier to say what Kempo was in former times rather than what it is today. Kempo had its heyday during the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries when the original purpose of this diverse group of crafts was political expediency, that is, they were used to train people whose job it was to maintain the political status quo in the Japan of that time. That basically meant keeping the ascendant Ashikaga clan and its many allied families in power, and helping to facilitate a healthy trade relationship with China that the early Ashikaga Shoguns tried hard to cultivate. Many of the Kempo arts were based on the school of Shinto whose guardians were the Yoshida (formerly Urabe) family. This was not just coincidence, many of the Yoshida were supporters of the Ashikaga, and also it was found that the normal Zen training of the bushi (warriors) was not suitable for many of the kinds of political applications such as the "protection" of strategic members of important families to prevent them from becoming the focus of power groups, and counter-piracy to pacify the Chinese Emperors who had concerns about the Japanese pirates or Wako. So selected groups of bushi were instead trained in Yoshida Shinto, which made them more effective in these "non standard" roles.

What is the difference between Kempo and Kenpo?

There is no difference whatsoever - these two terms in roman letters are just one term in Japanese, consisting of two characters: ken, meaning sword or fist, and po, meaning method. When you put these two characters together some Japanese pronounce the "n" as an "m".

I've heard the name of Kempo but nothing else about it, why?

Given the highly politicised nature of their original applications, it is perhaps not surprising that even today a great deal of secrecy surrounds these crafts, many of which became latterly associated with right wing politics in Japan (something that today is a bit of a non-subject in its own right in Japan). It should be noted however that this latter aspect was very much a feature of what happened after 1868, and not of what went before. The feudal groups with whom Kempo was originally associated fell largely into the fairly liberal, outwardly looking political camp. Indeed had it not been for the desire of the early Ashikaga Shoguns to establish friendly relations with China Kempo would never have come into existence.

Today there is not really any good reason for Kempo to be overly secretive other than its long established tradition of secrecy. Thus it is very much a matter of secrecy for secrecy's own sake. Rather than evaluating this as a good thing or a bad thing, it is better simply to accept it as a neutral fact, because taking any other position will inevitably restrict ones ability to learn more.

How did Kempo come to be as it is today?

Many Kempo masters agreed that the continued existence of their arts as formal ryuha (schools) after the Meiji Restoration (1868) was inappropriate. Most of Kempo today consists of fragments of traditions that, if they ever were organised ryuha (and many were not, even during the feudal period), were disbanded as such long ago. Furthermore, the past of the crafts that we now call Kempo was not altogether free of shame, and during the feudal period Kempo always had a cross-training type of attitude because of its strong Chinese connection, so Kempo does not fit neatly into the modern Japanese conception of formal, highly organised martial arts schools. Kempo has always had an attitude similar to the modern idea of "absorb what is useful", only qualified with "once you have mastered it ". Thus in Kempo to reject a method as useless one must first master it, then reject it, not just reject it because it doesn't seem to work at first. In general Kempo has huge numbers of methods already, so today there is little incentive to add yet more.

What is the Chinese connection?

Although there are exceptions, in general to be called Kempo a martial craft or martial art must have either originated in China and been imported into Japan before 1868, or else have originated in Japan and subsequently been heavily influenced by Chinese culture, again before 1868. The significance of the year 1868 is that it represented the end of warrior government in Japan and the abolition of the bushi (warriors), along with such branches of Kempo that were formally organised into schools or ryuha. After this time enthusiasts collected and kept different parts of the different Kempo systems for posterity.

How effective is Kempo?

For the purposes for which they were originally developed, the Kempo methods were very effective. Today people tend to have a distorted understanding of what martial arts are for compared to what they were actually used for in the past. To criticise Kempo for not being "effective" like a modern martial art would be like criticising a screwdriver for its inability to cook pasta. This is not the purpose for which screwdrivers were invented (i.e. to drive screws), and if you're asking this question you're probably not thinking about Kempo's original applications when you ask it.

Certainly Kempo is virtually useless for self defence and sporting applications in the commonly understood sense, and while an advanced practitioner could potentially use it in this way, a beginner or intermediate student probably could not do so. If Kempo were "really used" in such a situation it would produce undesirable results as it uses weapons, even when apparently "barehand", so against unarmed arts serious injury or death would be likely to result. In former times that (small) part of Kempo which could be considered in any way similar to modern martial arts was concerned primarily with killing rather than with competing, so in the modern age it is wholly inappropriate to use Kempo as it was used during the feudal period.

Today Kempo is simply studied out of interest, not for actual use.

Why do some Kempo styles have ryu names?

The original ryuha (formal martial arts schools) that most Kempo styles came from were disbanded, so today when you see a ryu name applied to a Kempo school it is usually a modern re-systemisation of Kempo that has been given a new name. This is also true of the name of our school Kaido Miwa Ryu, which is not the original name of any of the original schools that the arts we practice came from. Modern Kempo practitioners tend to practice cut-down sets of Kempo as the original arts were extensive to the point that it would not be possible for the average person to devote enough practice time to the full systems. Further, Kempo styles were rarely practiced in isolation - several different styles were often practiced by one school.

What is Kaido Miwa Ryu?

Kaido Miwa Ryu is a modern ryuha of Kempo that is a combination of the fundamentals of five different Kempo arts/crafts into one system. None of the five systems is represented in its entirety, but rather those fundamentals that were formerly considered the most important and/or characteristic principles of each of the five arts are included. Even though Kaido Miwa Ryu is a heavily cut down Kempo system it still represents a huge body of methods when compared to most modern martial arts, covering five very different styles of fighting across more than 20 different weapons. As a result Kaido Miwa Ryu Kempo remains a time consuming subject to study, and it is not a good bet for someone wanting to learn self defence in a hurry. It is much more likely to appeal as a matter of interest and a long-term challenge to an already experienced martial artist. That is to say, Kempo makes an interesting study for experienced practitioners of other martial arts styles not because it compliments what they do, but just the opposite - because it is so different.

The phrase "Kaido Miwa Ryu" breaks down into Chinese characters (kanji) as follows: Ka (transform/change/smelt), -i- (will/volition), -do (method, way), Mi (from mitsu meaning three), -wa (ring, segment), Ryu (tradition/school). The three rings refer to the three realms of the Yoshida Shinto cosmology: Takamagahara, Nakatsukuni and Yominokuni.