Chōjun Miyagi had summed up the numerous styles of Karate as being “different methods of teaching the same thing.” I personally think when you look at it this way, it reminds us not to take individual ‘styles’ too seriously. If the original intent of the pioneers was self defence against non consensual violence, what works works.

Kempo technique names always sound like Dragon Ball Z attacks.

I'm a former Villari Kempo student and I remember it being a lot of fun - my favorite form being "Stature of the Crane." I remember my school became a United Studies of Self Defense dojo and there were some changes I didn't like. Sparring, for example, became "no contact" which felt silly. I also remember it suddenly being more expensive too.

I respect Chuck Sullivan for attempting to reduce the vast amounts of techniques in the curriculum of American Kenpo as well......and a little disappointed you didnt review the most devastating form of Kenpo, so profoundly dangerous that it far surpassed the Kenpo it likely came from, New Mexico's Ameri-Dote....formulated by the venerable Master Ken! (He might be 20th degree by now)

Thank you for including Prof. Nick Cerio

15th Degree Black Belt?!? Seems like Fred Villari was Master Ken before it was cool.

Thank you for adding Tracy's Kenpo; I'm REALLY interested in KENPO 5.0, but Tracy brought me to the dance.

I trained in Chinese kenpo in the Traco system under Tomas Connor (thats how he spelled it at the time) in Phoenix, AZ. As far as his martial arts background is concerned, the only thing the senior instructors said was that he had been a boxer. He originated the 5 low priced introductory lessons approach to gaining new students. This was something he learned as a dance instructor for Arthur Murray Studios. He had been a weightlifter when he was in California, and became a competitive bodybuilder in he 50's. He was very strong and muscular and had a complete bodybuilding gym in his main studio. We became friends and I was one of only a couple students who were invited to Tom jr's wedding. I feel privileged to have known him.

I started up Kenpo Taijutsu about three months ago, studying under Grandmaster Dr Taylor. I'm really enjoying it so far, but I'm not deep enough into it to be able to distinguish it from other forms. I'm super excited for next April; I get the opportunity to meet Dr Jeff Speakman and Demetrius 'Oaktree' Edwards!

Thanks for the honorable mention of Saviano and McSweeney. Very well put together.

I thought karate tournaments was wack until I went to first one being a blue belt at Fred Villaris tournament never seen so many brown and black belts with mouth piece flying out and ribs nearly broken. It was quite impressive. I didn’t think villaris karate could get as brutal like others. I was proven wrong (Wisconsin)

Elvis Presley studied Kempo under Ed Parker I believe.

Hey Mr Dan another great episode. Every time I watch another one of these Arts and styles videos I feel like I learn so much.

Finally some Shorinji Kempo representation! Looking forward to any future videos expanding on it further!

Thank you. I'm so grateful. I've been practicing mma and Mo Duk Pai Kajukenbo 25 years. It is so nice to find advanced teaching on history and stuff. Thank you times infinity million.

Studied this topic for years. Yours is the most precise and accurate narration I have ever heard on the history of Kenpo/Kempo and the descriptions of it's different branches. Kudos to you Sifu, you really did your homework.

In a nutshell when Ed Parker came here from Hawaii there were around 3 lineages of kempo including kajukenbo. Now there’s prob almost close to 10 that were associated at one time and broke away from one another or some folks have never heard of. My lineage is the Nick Cereo lineage.

Another excellent video. I always appreciate not only how well thought-out the content is, but how respectful the tone remains. A couple points: -I have seen the "m" vs. "n" used to distinguish lineage as well. -Funakoshi may have popularized 空手 over 唐手 but there are records of the former ("empty hands") being used as far back in the 18th century; Japanese, like English, was reaaally fluid back in the day. Initially, in Okinawa 唐手 was originally TOUDE (or TOUDII) until around 1901 when it started being promoted as KARATE, which led to the gradual shift toward 空手. Thank you again, and OSU Mr. Parker.

This is best Kenpo video I've ever come across. Thank you for your detailed and lucid explanations.

Taking on this topic took a lot of courage, my hats off to you. Although there is much to comment on, I will refrain and only point out a couple discrepancies. ie. The B.K.F. (Black Karate Federation) is not a "Kenpo" organization or style. Second, The Black Karate Federation was not founded by either Steve Sanders (Muhammad) or Donnie Williams. The Black Karate Federation was founded by Myself, Dr. Clifford Stewart, and Grandmaster Jerry Smith. A little digging will verify this. You might also contact the CEO of the Black Karate Federation Mr. K.C. Jones through the BKF Facebook Page. Steve Muhammad was a student of Chuck Sullivan not Ed Parker Sr. I love what you're trying to do and it is obvious you work hard to present a valuable educational aspect of the arts. Keep up the good work Brother - Dr. Chapél

Hi everyone, I have experience training under GM Jim Brassard as mentioned. I trained in Shaolin Kempo for 16 years, 9 of which as a full-time dojo manager. Then I found GM Jim Brassard in 2012, and have stuck with him since. Grandmaster Brassard believes in no-nonsense Kempo, so he created Shaolin American Kempo. He found the most practical uses from many Kempo arts and teaches the best principles from them. A lot of this involves deleting forms and techniques. Like Bruce Lee, he teaches that physical fitness is the foundation of any capable martial artist, so fitness is highly emphasized in his program. It is designed to get you fit and conditioned while learning self defense, and it works! One of the things I love most about training under GM Brassard is that he gets you thinking. He doesn't just teach movements, he teaches principles and practical street sense. There is a time and place for different types of movement, and he has created a science of it. I have seen many types of Kempo/Kenpo, and I believe GM Brassard has done an outstanding job with his Art. GM Brassard has perpetuated my skill and understanding light years beyond what it was before I met him. I love Kempo, and to pay homage and give credibility to our style, I made a quick video demonstration - search in KZfaq for "Kempo Rocks". I hope this is helpful to some of you! Brad Randolph

Ed parker is a legend thanks to strong ties with others

This topic is intriguing to me as My Chinese Kempo instructors Sensei perished in a helicopter accident in the military back in the 80s i believe by the name of Major Rodney Ventar. After he was discharged, my instructor competed in Forms and weapons forms in the international circuit, which led to him meeting Professor Harold Laranang, whose style i believe was technically Kajukenfu, and trained under Adriano Emperado. The style had Kata, and Ko-budo weapons kata, but also had Arnis curriculum as my instructor had come from the Phillipines at 17. It would really be great to determine Professors lineage.

This was very informative. I am not a student of martial arts, so the content, explanations and descriptions were extremely helpful. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.

Jim Brassard was a student of Fred Villari. The systems are the same but Jim has added his own rapid fire flare.

I study kajukenbo 12 yrs now. Yay emperado!

Black belt in Tracy Kenpo and Kajukenbo. Represent!

I was waiting for this video. Keep up the good work

Interesting information. I am old and knew most of the guys on the west coast from tournaments or training with them. Ralph Castro was a good man as well as teacher and his students could fight well. I don’t know his roots. Most of the time then (the 70s) people didn’t not talk to much about the style so much as they did about who they were training under. The guys then were serious dudes and a lot of us were Vietnam vets and we enjoyed being with the guys again that could relate and for some of us the martial arts was what we used.

That was really good! thanks for improving my martial arts history knowledge...

These videos are amazing! The best part though was the groin kick at the end. Good times!!! Keep up the great work, Sir!

I love the history of all of this. Thank you for placing some things for me. And thank you for your video. I studied a form of Kenjo, offshoot of Kenpo/Kempo from Okinawa. The Grand Master was Jerry Knowle, his first student was James Crowder, and Master Crowder became Grand Master after Grand Master Knowle died about 20 years ago. My discipline was Crane. It was very different but I loved it very much until an injury took me completely out of commission. I can no longer practice martial arts in any capacity and I miss it so much. When I found it, and it found me, I was searching for something in my life and had searched for something most of my life, it filled that void. I've seen other forms of Kenjo that are nothing like what I experienced. It was very deadly and very aggressive. I will never forget the feeling of being able to perform my Crane Kata. Bo staff, and chucks, double chucks. It was a wonderful time in my life. Thank you for sharing your knowledge with us.

I used to train in a style of Kenpo called "twin cats" it's aptly named because of the many techniques borrowed from Fou Jiao (tiger claw kung fu) Sadly it's not really a well-known system - my guess is because it's likely traded hands with many chinese families (triads) Nowadays I'm training in Tang Soo Do (Korean Karate) and loving every minute of it!

I'm from Indonesia. I learned Kenpo for around 3 years when I was 11yro until 13yro. Shorinji Kempo, with a horizontal flip swastika logo, called Manji. And I was told by my senpai that once I learned/join Shorinji Kempo, I shouldn't join other martial arts. There was nothing weird, apart from the fighting art, I did learn lots of moral value was taught and also meditation. Although he doesn't mention much about Shorinji Kempo in this video, after ages I finally understand the differences.

Thank you for putting so much time into this video. You stayed neutral and fair yet it had lots of good information. I studied Chua Fa out of Hawaii and it was nice to hear more of how the art spread, I don't normally know all this stuff because I just focus on training. Thank you sir.

Recently found your channel, I appreciate your educated description and sharing of Kempo.

I practice kyokushin, this past weekend we held our local tournament and we had a school of shorin kempo guys show up. They honestly cleaned up out tournament. With their fighters taking out most divisions. I myself lost to a kempo fighter in the final. Very strong style

I really enjoyed the video. I have been studying Taika Oyata's Ryukyu Kempo for 2 years now. I am an E-Dan in Tang Soo Do as well. And yes you pronounced Taika's name correctly. Thanks.

that ending was funny. thank you for including Villari , trained in that style for eight years, got my instructor patch and left, too commercial, too much politics, and they didn't like that I new Shotokan and still used it( but it worked and I was all about what worked and what didn't). and there were so many belt colors. still practice it on my own ( along with Shotokan and all the other styles I took since 1979) and went to the fillipino styles. got the 23 Larry Tatum DVDs and LOVE them. if he was my teacher, maybe I wouldn't have left. I don't know. still feeling some of my old injuries from our " gotta know what it feels like" sessions. and of course we didn't have matts for the grappling. ( short shag carpet- lots of rug burns on elbows and knees). but the art had alot of good points to it. really taught me all about flow through techniques.

I commend you on your efforts in researching all the systems of kenpo/kempo with its multi-cultural roots and lineage. What an endeavor ... You've sparked a lot of interest, so I'll be looking forward to your next video submission(s).

I would love to see a video on "no touch" martial arts. As a magician, I can tell you it's all psychological. No different than psychics. You might as well fight using astrology.

William Chow's brother John Chow-Hoon created the Chow-Hoon Goshin Jitsu system.

I am from the "Koga Ha Kosho shorei ryu," "Shorei Ryu tiger claw," and "Manjidani Koga Ryu Wada Ha Shinobito" traditions under DR Raymond Pi. DR Pi was loosely connected with grand master Mitose through his daughter. I must say that I salute you good sir, and I am most thankful for your clarifications and comprehensive commentary. Continue forward, represent with integrity, practice well, peace and blessings to you. ❤️🙏

this is the video i've been looking for. i'm still not sold on the system itself but i'm sure that's not what your aim is but to educate us on the roots of Kenpo. thank you for this video because it's answered a lot of my questions on the lineage of Kenpo.

For history sake: SGM George Pesare was the teacher of Professor Nick Cerio, Professor Nick Cerio later taught GM Fred Villari Although they have a straight line lineage their respective hearts look very different from each other. SGM Pesare was taught earlier by Victor Gascon who was a Kajukenbo instructor. I was extremely fortunate to directly train under SGM George Pesare for my black belt

Hello! A couple of points I wanted to clarify: 1.Fred Villari never trained with Prof. Chow 2. James Brassard's original training was with Fred Villari in Shaolin Kempo. Later, he would incorporate Ed Parker's American Kenpo to create his own hybrid. His brother Len has been involved in American Kenpo for decades. Thank you for correcting your earlier comment regarding John Mcsweeny and Tom Saviano. I was hoping you would mention David German's T.A.I, his system of Kenpo jujitsu made him one of the pioneers of MMA in this country and he was the first person to combine Ed Parker's Kenpo Karate with jujitsu.

21:57 lmao omg this is epic! Love the video and please make several on this subject like a part 2 etc... This channel and masterful Dan can't be touched "see what i did 😉, seriously tho, just AWESOME sir. Thank you we all appreciate the time & knowledge you put in sir. SALUTE

Dan, you really put together a great video on the Kenpo subject. What a sticky wicket, I must say. After reading through the comments, I thank Ed Parker for giving us the freedom to explore within our own system due to the fact so many 'traditional' styles are so concerned to not change anything. This brings out the fact that how important it is for a Kenpoist to train in something classical to give them a foundation to build on.

As a person that’s trained in Kenpo most of his life I have come to know a bit of the history as well. Basically, Kenpo split into two main paths after Professor Chow’s Karaho Kenpo. One being your lineage American Kenpo and two being Kajukenbo. My family tree ties into this branch. Kajukenbo lead to Karazenpo Goshinjutsu, which lead to Pesare’s Kenpo, which lead to Nick Cerio’s Kenpo, and finally lead to Shaolin Kempo Karate. Each founder like you said added other martial arts to help form their systems. But as you mentioned we all come from the same family tree. In some ways we are cousins in the Kenpo family.

The Kenpo style I study seems to come from Chow's student Ron Alo. When Alo brought Kara-Ho Kenpo to California, there was not really any forms in the system. Alo got a Dan rank under Robert Trias. Trias was taught by a student of Choki Motobu. Mitose had also referenced Choki Motobu as a great Kenpo master. The addition of Okinawan Kata in Kara-Ho Kenpo by Alo has been what is the Okinawan Kenpo I study in Arizona. The Ryukyu Kenpo is actually more varied. Motobu and Funakoshi both referred to karate as Ryukyu Kenpo/Kempo. Oyata had actually changed the name of his system to Ryu-Te because of controversy with Dillman. Basically, Okinawa Kenpo Tomri-te is what was passed down from Nakamura. Odo and Oyata brought the system to the USA. Dillman took the vital point strikes that Oyata taught into the "pressure point KO" and the "no touch KO". One of the students of the Arvisos here in Yuma, AZ has put himself under the Dillman organization. I do not study there, and will not study there, because of this issue. The lineage I have seems to go this route: To Alo... Me Cano Sensei Porchas Sensei Arviso Sensei Alo Sensei Alo lineage 1... Alo Sensei Chow Sensei Mitose Sensei (Reference to Motobu Sensei by Mitose) Alo lineage 2... Alo sensei Trias Sensei Hsiang Sensei Motobu Sensei I consider AK to be a sibling of my system. I also see some influence from AK in our system, as the Arvisos and Porchas families have often competed at competitions that Ed Parker and AK students also would attend. I have a deep respect for both the systems from Hawaii, and see the value in the systems and how they can improve my undrstanding of martial arts.

Nice Job! Loved the Video.

This is so informative I absolutely love it.

Thanks for mentioning Oyata Ryukyu Kempo.

surprised we didn’t hear about hawaiian kenpo or kempo (shrug) that chuck liddell put on the map

Great video I love the knowledge u bring

Informative as always. I had an instructor in my early training who told us many times that to be considered truly knowledgeable by ones peers in the martial world, one should not only be able to recognize many arts on sight, but know something of their history, their proponents and factors leading to their present state of development. These videos you do where you explore other arts are a good tool for that. I find that even after 40+ years in the martial arts, there is much I do not know about many other arts...

I’ve been doing Kempo at United Studios Of Self Defense for 32yrs and I love it. It was Villaris but then they split. Maybe u could do ab episode on the Kempo i study. I would love 2 help out. I love this show!!

Do a video covering shorinji Kempo

Thank you for getting GM Cerio's Information correct, so many people don't

Awesome video! Great history. Many thanks :) I also loved the way you dealt with the gentlemen in the white gi ;)

In case you are not aware Ryu-te (Japanese: 琉手 Hepburn: Ryūte) is an Okinawan martial art founded by Seiyu Oyata Formerly : Ryu Kyu Kempo is now Ryu-Te . Master Oyata dedicated his life teaching Martial Arts to American when is want popular. Research his story, it is worth your time.

I have studied IKCA kenpo my grand master is chuck Sullivan and vic leroux i love kenpo in all its forms I studied shorin ryu karate till I was 15 achieving my black belt but I always felt out of place with the style something felt missing for myself then I tried Chinese kenpo and found what I was missing kenpo is a great martial art

I never really took you seriously in watching your other videos. However this one caught my attention and kept it from the beginning.. Thank you for a very well presented explanation of the different forms of Kenpo that are out there. It really helped my understanding of the Kenpo tradition of martial arts.

Do not forget that sword arts were also once called Kenpo. I study Kenpo, as well as Taisha Ryu (classical swordsmanship from Sengoku era). Taisha Ryu is also a form of Kenpo, though it uses sword. There we go, more confusion for everyone.

I remember something Bruce Lee said about Parker, both were reaching for the same goal, natural fighting( wrong term, but close) Lee held the non-traditional approach, training you freedom from the start, Parker, traditional, gaining freedom as you develope!

As always a fun, entertaining, and knowledgeable video. Thank you. I briefly studied Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo for about a year. I enjoyed it immensely and wouldn't mind taking it up again or finding an American Kempo school near me. There is a Villari school, but from my research it seemed very sketchy. Right now I'm studying Uechi Ryu Karate-Do,. If I may suggest, there is a wealth of information about Uechi Ryu and might make a pretty good video or two.

I really love your channel I do shaolin Kung fu and I love learning about different martial arts! Keep up great work!

Great video and aligned to a lot of what I was taught!

I learned a lot and I give you a 10 for the back kick 😂😂😂

Great explanation. I come in the Nick Cerio line, but have gravitated to Larry Tatum. But in the end, all forms of Kenpo/Kempo are similar and we are all one family in the end.

Great breakdown of different systems in Kenpo.

Interesting history of Kenpo/Kempo karate. I keep hearing Okinawa being mentioned in the early formations of so many martial arts. It's also interesting that Kenpo is adding more grappling techniques. Thanks for the history lesson. It's troubling to see 20 different variatiions come out of the style with every major teacher going off and teaching "His style" of Kenpo.

Around 2 and a half months ago I started doing shaolin kempo

I'm a 3rd degree BB under Jean Guy Angell in Canada, who''s a BB under George Pesare from Rhode Island. Kenpo is Canada has a significant presence primarily in Eastern Canada.

Great video and a phenomenal channel! 👊🏼

This is very well done. Thank you.

I have a black belt in shaolin kempo. Technically it is almost identicial to Karazenpo goshinjutsu as taught by George Pesare and Nick Cerio Kempo. The kata series, 1-5 are the same ones taught by Pesare and the Pinian series are the same ones taught by cerio, which are themselves heavily modified versions of the okinowan/japanese Pinians. Additionally students learn 26 "combinations" taken almost directly from Karazenpo. The main difference is that Villari added a whole bunch of extra techniques on top of the core 26 combinations. These include combination 27-108, and awhole bunch of extra "Kempo" techniques. The art itself has a lot of good techniques and a whole lot of overwhelmingly bad techniques. A a student I had to learn 37 hand striking techniques, some of which were wildly impractical. The main problem I have seen in SKK, as well as virtually every other kempo system, is a focus on quantity over quality. Students learn hundreds of different self defense techniques, but never actuall learn how to throw a decent kick or punch. This leads to a lot of sloppy slapping, kicking, and flailing when a quick jab cross combo would do. That being said, as a competative kickboxer and Mixed martial artist Kempo continues to be the core of my own personal fighting style and I have used a lot of the technniques and concepts I first learned in Kempo both in the ring, and in my dy to day job as a police officer

Trained with Sijo Muhammed in a seminar and had the privilege of receiving training from his student in Cleveland under Sijo Saheim. Very giving and humble men.

A very informative video thank you for sharing I studied kempo many years ago

Very interesting video and information! Appreciate it

I really don't know much about Kempo, I'm just here to observe.

I got my foundational training in Okinawan Kenpo, while growing up in Hawaii. The system was founded back in Okinawa by Shigeru Nakamura in the 1950s. In 1969, Seikichi Odo took over as Grandmaster till his passing in 2002. Odo Sensei added several kata to our curriculum as well as Kobudo. Incidentally, Seiyu Oyata also trained under Nakamura. I have a few videos on my channel performing some of the kata & kobudo forms. I left Hawaii in 1991, so my kata is from that time period - other videos elsewhere on KZfaq will have different variations as the system has continued to evolve. Re: Kara Ho Kenpo - I had the honor of meeting Master Sam Kuoha at a recent seminar. He had a lot of great knowledge to share!

Absolutely loved this. My first instructor, William Marciarelli, of Fall River Mass., was a student of William K.S.Chow, and a close friend of Nick Cerio of Providence, R.I. The two cities are only a 20 minute drive from each other. I have seen videos of the two men training with Prof. Chow in Hawaii. I also had the pleasure of meeting Nick Cerio on several occasions, when I was a youngster. I have also spent some time in the Fred Villari system, and find similarities in that system and Prof. Chow's system as well. Thanks so much for the in depth history of Kenpo. Quite frankly, I knew it was tangled web, but you have managed to clarify with chronology and even etomology the history of the art quite beautifully. Thanks again.

nice job. very informative and seamless.

I took kenpo when I was a child all the way through brown belt. The school closed down that is why I had to stop. To this day I have no idea what kenpo I took.

22:00 you forgot to restomp the groin

Fantastic informative work! Thanks!

As someone who has a background in Villari's Shaolin Kempo Karate and Saviano's White Tiger Kenpo I found this video very interesting. Thank you for making it. You should see if Master Saviano would do an interview with you...there is a lot of history and knowledge there.

I learned Kenpo through a Dan Inosanto affiliate. Dan Inosanto received his black belt in American Kenpo from Ed Parker and is well known for his involvement in Bruce Lees JKD which I think was heavily heavily influenced by the teachings of Ed Parker from a philosophical and developmental view point. Ed Parker and Bruce Lee were very close friends and I believe Bruce Lee was inspired to cross train in Boxing and western arts by Ed Parker who crossed trained in various arts before founding his American Kenpo. Lee even wears what are known in JKD circles as Kenpo gloves in one of his famous movies. It seems that the concept of hybrid martial arts training in America comes from Hawaii for a large part with all the cultures on the Island sharing and giving birth to styles like American Kenpo, Danzan Ryu Jujitsu, Small circle Jujitsu, Kajukenbo and Hawaiian Kenpo.

I went to USSD for ten years and Villari for 2. A lot of the material is very similar with small differences.

This is one of my favorite episodes. I’ve watched this so many times I’ve lost count

Great history lesson! Much respect.

For the last 19 years I have been a student of Sam-Pai Kenpo I was awarded my black belt in 2007 under Russell Kauffroath he was awarded his black belt 1977 under Mr. Darwin Jones. The founder of Sam-Pai is Grandmaster Joseph Leon Dimmick Student of Grandmaster Edmond Parker.

Did you guys mention Kwon Bop? Also, please do a video with Kenpo Joe Rebelo

White Tiger with Master Sav! Great school and sorry he recently retired.

Thank you, amazing explaination. I practice Kajukenbo, and now it's everything much more clear about its style, roots and relationship with Kempo.

The first time that Karate was written as empty hand kanji was in 1902, not by Funakoshi sensei (due respect) the chinese even read them as Kong so, which is close to sound kung fu. Funakoshi sensei adopted the idea strongly when in Tokyo, but it was only a general adoption in 1936 in a masters meeting in okinawa, where the shotokan founder was not present. At that meeting it was established Karate-Do! as the martial art - the way of empty hand

Been wondering if anyone can find more in depth knowledge of this Japanese Kenpo/Kempo system. Shinto Tenshin Koryu Kempo

Thanks for taking a shot at unraveling a complicated topic. I swear it's worse than trying to explain all the different varieties of Protestantism. It's important for people to understand that much of the history of ke(m|n)po wasn't documented by any authoritative source, and what is there is told from certain points of view. So we do the best we can, and the differences or inaccuracies aren't really worth worrying about too much.

I have a few friends you would enjoy talking to. One of my teachers was a student of Professor Chow. And one of my other teachers was well acquainted with Ed Parker. Over the years it has been really interesting to learn the little snippets of history they have shared.