Question For Advanced American Kenpo Practitioners?

Question

I believe that the system Ed Parker taught was very different from what Mitose taught. I think that when you are studying American Kenpo you are really studying the parts that Mr. Parker liked and what he thought worked best. Not only for him but the average person. Just a great system, very fancy too w/ a lot of flow, I think thats what first attracted me to it. What do you folks think ? Thank you for your answers :)

Answer 1

OOh! Me too!!

And from what I understand, all Okinawan Martial Arts can be called Kenpo, providing no one is secretly studying/learning "Ti".

For Okinawan MA, the term Kenpo is used for the arts that come from the synthesis of "ti" with what the Okinawans learned from the Chinese from the time of the Sapposhi until now.

Someone correct me if I am wrong!

Answer 2

absolutely correct. Ed incorporated alot of ideas from other arts.

his entire goal was a truly american style of karate. he has been quoted as saying it is really only about 10% kempo.

no learning japanese or chinese terminology. no mystical wisdom of the sages...just learn the skills taught, in your own language.

ed parker never studied with mitose at all. he studied with professor chow and others. even chow's background is sketchy. he didnt have a set curriculum. and really didnt have much formal kung fu training from his father like he claimed (from what ive heard)..and alot of what he taught was from danzan ryu jujutsu actually.

mitose on the other hand basically taught karate. he called it kempo (which alot of other masters did too) ..

there is alot of shady history in the kempo arts of hawaii (which is where most of them were born) ...everything from outright lies....to being legbreakers for organized crime!!

mitose>>chow>>>parker ....chow changed what mitose taught him, and parker changed what chow taught him...and alot of parkers students have changed what he taught them.

Ed Parker did not designate a successor to his art because he did not want anyone "traditionalizing" it....in other words...he didnt want everyone bickering and fighting over whether or not he (Ed) taught it this way, or that way, or try to teach it exactly as he did. which most do...they miss the point entirely!

Ed himself did not have a set curriculum most of the time...it was always evolving....and he wanted this to always continue. but now you have all these guys who teach "original ed parker kenpo" ...he clearly did not want this to happen in my opinion.

look at guys like Chuck Sullivan and Vic Leroux....they completely changed kempo...but its still kempo! and its very good kempo...very quick and easy to learn.

everyone does it a bit differently...but the 'essence' is still kempo.

Answer 3

From the few conversations I had with MASTER PARKER I got the impression MITOSE  was a wee bit flaky and a cultist.

He died in prison convicted of murder which he put a student up to doing arming him with a hammer and s***w driver .

He claimed to be the 22nd grand master of kosho ryu kempo in a direct bloodline descent .How he attained this bloodline is a mystery as  neither his birth father or adoptive father knew martial arts .If you consider that 22nd descendant idea if each master only lived 50 years that is 1100 years .There is no record of kosho ryu kempo beyond MITOSE as that is a generic term covering many systems with many masters .

MASTER PARKER was taught by KWAI SUN CHOW in HAWAII  MITOSE was merely an administrator and left the teaching to CHOW who taught OKINAWAN KEMPO along with his familys kung fu.

Answer 4

Hope no one minds if I jump in here. The first two answers were great. I can add nothing to what they said.

My purpose here is to bring up the fact that there are other arts that have roots running back many centuries yet are unrelated to the American Kempo/Kenpo styles that are well known. i say this only because I have studied and teach one of these Kempo systems.  Although I have the highest respect for other Kempo systems, I almost wish that what I do was not called Kempo. My reason is simple, My kempo system is not related to or similar to any of the well known systems. When I meet someone new, as soon as they learn that I teach kempo they automatically assume that I do Parker Kenpo, or similar. I guess I should be flattered. Still it takes a while to get people to understand just how different our Kempo is.  In any case we train to fight at all four ranges. We also have many throws, joint locks, ground fighting, ....  In other words we have a well rounded system of self-defense.  Again I hope no one minds me jumping in here.  All the Best!