Prescott Valley House of Karate

Darumi Taishi (Bodhidharma)

( In other histories, Bodhidarma arrived in Honan ( Hunan ) province at the Shaolin temple, only to find the monks practising meditation, but in very weak physical condition. He introduced exercises that were combined with the meditative aspects, to improve their condition. Sanchin breathing was said to have come from Bodhidarma.

The teachings consisted of both physical and spiritual development; etsukinkio and senzuikio (Kio = teaching, Etsukin = physical endurance, senzui = internal organization and cleansing of spirit).

From the book Kenkoshisu, a simplistic form of kenpo did exist prior to Bodhidharma's arrival. Continuous tribal feuds and wars occurred, with the temple being repeatedly attacked, but thanks to an elderly monk and his fighting art, it was defended. In the temple murals, there are figures in many different fighting stances, practising various hand and foot positions.  Many are based on the movements of animals, such as the leopard, snake, crane, dragon, mantis, tiger, and monkey.  Imitating their movements, the monks utilize different advantages of each style; the quickness of the snake, the power of the tiger, the snap of the dragon, and the accuracy of the crane.

 For centuries after, the monks of Shaolin have practiced their forms in the temple, and the stone floors are worn deep by all of the monks who have practiced their forms there.

In the Shaolin monastery the monks perform extraordinary feats such as push-ups for an hour, holding horse stance with pottery vases of water balanced on their shoulders and thighs ( low horse stance ! ), and acts of balance by running along the top of walls.  Many of their demonstrations of "chi" can be seen on their "Wheel of Life" tour which came through North America in 2002.  Though they may seem unbelievable, many of the acts rely on basic science principles.

Other great men such as Hu'a To (190-265 A.D.), a brilliant doctor, and Yuen Fei, a popular general (who lived during the Sung dynasty 960-1279 A.D.) are considered to be the forefathers of modern-day Kenpo. Before Bodhidarma came to China, martial arts were militaristic in nature. Only noble and professional soldiers were allowed to openly study the fighting arts. Spears and swords were the most common weapons, and training in their use was reserved for the military. If the public was taught, it was on a limited scale. 

     The Tang dynasty (618-907 A.D.) was a warring period in China's history. Martial arts and the development of more personalized specialty weapons flourished during this era. Shaolin Temple monks, at the request of the Tang government, used their martial training to help fight threats to the Tang rulers. From that time, the rest of China knew that some Shaolin monks had been martial artists before joining the Shaolin Temple and their new duties were to protect its occupants and land. Martial art training within the Shaolin Temple had served to expand and polish their fighting backgrounds. 

     At the end of the Ming dynasty (1368-1644 A. D.), a practitioner-turned Shaolin monk named Zhue Yuen changed the course of Shaolin martial arts. Zhue Yuen had been an expert in empty hand fighting and sword techniques before he became a Buddhist monk. When he joined the Shaolin Temple, he realized Shaolin kung fu was too external and employed too much force against force. Zhue Yuen redesigned the Shaolin system to fit a more balanced structure of external and internal strengths. he traveled throughout China incorporating unusual, but still practiced, martial arts into his new Shaolin system. 

     Zhue Yuen and two other famous martial artists named Li Sou and Bai Yu Feng eventually returned to the Shaolin Temple and founded the five animal form. This completed the new Shaolin system. Each of the animals: tiger, crane, leopard, dragon and snake, have different outstanding and distinctive features. 

     According to Bai Yu Feng, all people must develop five aspects of their being to condition the entire body. They are: physical strength, bone development, libido, chi development, and internal spirit. The first two are external training and the last three are internal training. Bai Yu Feng also believed when all five are combined, the result is a far superior martial artist. The Shaolin five animal form was devised to assist in the development of all five categories. 

Each of the five classical animals correspond to a particular aspect of training, and each embodies a strategy. 

Tiger
Strengthens the bones. Relies on frontal assault, aggression, and linear power. Lots of breaking, ripping and tearing. Elements: Sun, lightning, fire. 

Crane
Exercises flexibility. Prefers to work at a distance from the opponent and at angles off-line from its attacks. Requires great flexibility for its attacking and evasion techniques. The Crane has excellent balance and graceful movements. It has strong wings and uses them often and effectively with great speed. Elements: smoke, shadow, wind 

Leopard
Trains for muscle strength. More precise than the tiger. Relies on great muscular strength, speed, and agility. The leopard employs many crushing and internal strikes with hands. Most of the damage is created from close-range. Its countering moves are both angular and linear. Elements: water, mirror, mercury 

Dragon
Trains the spirit. Uses simple, basic techniques with a challenging strategy of movement complimentary to the opponent's. The dragon utilizes a lot of swinging, spinning, and whipping movements. Elements: mountain, heaven, clouds 

Snake
Develops chi (internal energy). The snake strikes to vital points, mainly the eyes, throat and other soft-tissue targets with lightning speed. The snake also utilizes trapping and seizing movements. Joint manipulation locks known as "Chin Na" are exercised extensively. Elements: earth, rocks, roots

As Chuan-fa grew in popularity throughout China and began to spread to other countries, one major influence was that of Okinawa. Okinawa had begun to develop a very effective method of hand to hand combat called simply Te (tay), meaning hand. Over time, this name was changed to Okinawa-Te meaning Okinawa-Hand. At that time three major styles were developed according to the location of the main villages of Okinawa; Shuri, Tomari, and Naha. Each village developed its own particular martial art.  When the Japanese conquered the island, the Okinawans and Chinese became allies and began to share their martial arts techniques with each other.  In Japanese, the Shaolin Kenpo was called Kara, meaning China. When combined with Okinawan-Te, we have the new word Kara-te or Karate. The blending of these two systems probably created the most effective form of empty hand combat in the world.

Okinawan Kenpo is generally credited with the origins of kata as taught by most styles of Karate. In learning the different kata, the student is taught the various self defense techniques and applications. Intermediate and advanced students would begin training in the Kobudo (weapons) system once the basic material was mastered.

There are 36 major styles of Karate in the world today, with 52 variations, and literally hundreds of eclectic systems taught in different countries. However, we can identify four classifications of Kenpo Karate: Chinese (Chuan-fa), Japanese (Shorinji), Hawaiian (Kajukempo), and Okinawan (Te).

According to modern legend, in 1916 at the age of five, James Mitose was sent from his homeland in Hawaii to Kyushu for schooling in his ancestors' art of self-defense called Kosho-Ryu Kenpo. After completing his training in Japan, Mitose returned to Hawaii. Near the beginning of World War II in 1936, Mitose opened the "Official Self-Defense" club in Honolulu. It was from here that the five major Kenpo influences; Thomas Young, William K. S. Chow, Edmund Howe, Arthur Keawe and Paul Yamaguchi would study and bring Kenpo to the rest of the world.

William K.S. Chow adapted Mitose's approach and "Americanized" the art. He is perhaps responsible for the largest leap of Kenpo to the general public. In 1949, Chow opened a school of his own at a local YMCA and referred to his art as Kenpo Karate.


Ed Parker

Edmund K. Parker, who is probably the most famous of Chow's practitioners, began studying Kenpo with Chow at the age of 16. Parker further adapted the methods so that they would prove practical in an actual fight and opened the first commercial Karate studio in 1954. He created a logical organization for the basic Kenpo techniques, dividing them into eight categories, such as stances, blocks, punches and so on. Parker graduated from Brigham Young and moved to California where he opened his second school in 1956 and also founded the International Kenpo Karate Association the same year. Parker taught the martial arts to many actors and celebrities such as Elvis Presley and Steve McQueen. He also appeared in movies and television shows like "I Love Lucy." Grand Master Edmund Parker is the undisputed "Father" of American Kenpo Karate.

When Mr. Parker died in December of 1990, the International Kenpo Karate Association went through some major restructuring due in part to political differences, as well as other reasons. Many of the senior students went off to create their own associations and promote their own style of the American Kenpo system. Today Kenpo remains very strong in the martial arts industry.

P.V. House of Karate Kenpo

We at the PVH0K pay our greatest respects and admiration to Grand Master Ed Parker and his skill and insights into Kenpo Karate and the lasting legacy he has left.

 
At this school we are not involved in the disputes of the Kenpo societies. Kenpo as taught by Ed Parker or any of Ed Parkers students who ever they and their down lines are, is still Ed Parkers Kenpo. It really makes no difference if its Tracy Kenpo, TRACO, Tatum Kenpo, White Tiger Kenpo, Shisso Ryu Kenpo or EPAK (Ed Parkers American Kenpo) it still came from the same source, Senior Grandmaster Ed Parker. Kenpo is a sophisticated system of pure self defense and is easy to learn. However, it takes a lifetime to master.

Kenpo Today

The Kenpo systems today have moved on, just as SGM Parker continued to change his system. The masters and grandmasters of Kenpo today continue to grow and adopt.  Tradition has a place in all martial arts but so does change. For instance, the flying side kick was originally designed to remove horsemen from their saddles, this is not important today. Is it? For traditions sake, maybe, but not really practical.

For the student to really understand Kenpo they need to visit the different styles and draw their own conclusions.  If one looks hard they will see there are only slight differences in the techniques and the way they are taught. They will also notice some techniques adopted from other styles that have been "kenpoized". This simply means adopted to there style of Kenpo.  The point is in Kenpo and all martial arts "leave your ego at the door and try to learn". No one knows it all and we all have room for growth! We here at Prescott Valley House of Karate, do not claim to have the best Karate in the world. What we do promise is that we will do all we can to help you realize and develop your full potential. The growth of our students is and always will be our top priority.