Shorinji kenpo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Shorinji kenpo (少林寺拳法
Shōrinji Kenpō) is a
martial art form of
Kenpo was invented by Doshin So (宗 道臣,
1911-
1980) in
1947, who incorporated
Japanese Zen Buddhism into the fighting style. This form of Kenpo literally can be both a
religion and a fighting form at the same time much like
Shaolin Kung Fu from which it borrows part of its "brand name". It could be seen as a combination of
Karate,
Judo,
Aikido built on Kung Fu framework, except that this art has no killing moves because of its respect for life. It is a form of Kenpo that tries to get its practitioners to move through life doing minimal damage whenever possible.
Three objectives form the basis of its study:
A set of principles guides the practitioner in study. The true meaning (which goes deeper than their "obvious" and quite trivial one) comes with time and practice to become the student's life principles. Among those are "Love and Strength Stand Together" and "Body and Mind are the Same".
Shorinji Kenpo's training emphasizes cooperation and is almost exempt of the bias that competition brings - turning martial arts into sports. Shorinji Kenpo competition relies on paired demonstrations called embu where the accuracy, the rhythm, and the realism are noted and compared (with something like "technical" and "artistic" marks, as in gymnastics or ice skating).
Shorinji Kenpo has grown into a popular artform in Japan, the United States, and some European and Asian countries.
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