Is Kenpo a type of Karate (philosophical question)

American Kenpo uses many similar stances, strikes and kicks. We favor fighting from a profile. There is Japanese influence. But Kenpo is not part of the Okinawan fighting arts heritage. So, philosophicly speaking, is American Kenpo a true Karate?

Its a fair debatable point ..

Kenpo as devised by James Mitose and master Chow was the art that eventually Ed Parker used as his base for his Kenpo.. the name is relatively new as such

However KEMPO is the Japanese way of pronouncing the term CHUAN FA

so Shaolin Chuan Fa would be pronounced Shorinji Kempo..

Kempo is avery old term in Japanese martial arts history, but Kenpo is more modern

I remember in some old Ads of Ed Parkers back in the 60's he used both Gung Fu and Karate-Kempo as almost the same thing

so maybe you ccould also ask is Kenpo a form of Kung Fu?

good grief

That is also an excellent point, that Kenpo could also be referred to as a style of Kung Fu. Side note on the pronunciation. In the kana syllabaries, n is the only consonant that does not have to have a vowel sound proceding after it. On certain letters, such as b and p, the sound is pronounced more like an m. However, in translation, that fact is sometimes lost, as the particular character is referred to as "n".

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kyokushara:
good grief[/QUOTE]

I don't understand. Could you please clarify.

Certainly. But first I would like to ask a question.

Philosophically speaking, why wouldn't American Kenpo classify as a true Karate?

What is true Karate?

By whose definition?

Why are we dragging philosophy into it?

whose philosophy?

Good grief, I created so many questions out of the question my brain started to hurt.

Bushinoki is correct. The sound of the character is "n" but occasionally "m". Ed Parker didn't know this. He said (in an article I read YEARS ago) that he used "keNpo" to differentiate it from "keMpo". This can be compared to a non-english speaker proclaiming that he wished to be called "The Cat" but in order to eliminate confusion w/ Gogen Yamaguchi, his name will pronounce "Sat" (because 'c' can sound like a "k" or "s").

"I am 'The Sat', master of 'KeNpo'. Get it?

I have always felt that Kenpo was a hybrid of both Kung Fu and Karate. The hand strikes and a lot of the stances favor karate while a lot of the footwork and some of the stances favor Chinese MA's.

Look at the close kneel, leg buckles, and the twist stances. They clearly resemble movements from Kung Fu. Some of the hand techniques look as if they have borrowed concepts from Chinese Arts as well.

For example, those of you who have a Kenpo background will follow this easier, but like in Striking Serpent's Head, I have not seen a first movement similar to that in any other form of karate. I have seen similar movements in Kung Fu. Snaking talon has a similar feel.

I say we call it a hybrid and leave it at that. Just a thought.

Agreed, a hybrid was what Ed Parker intended.

He used to call it "chinese karate" back in the 1950's, for god's sake.

kenpo = kung fu , thus kenpo karate = kung fu karate.

I don't think he meant to step on anyone's "pure" style - he was just trying to describe what he was doing with a nod towards the arts that came before.

A hybrid it truly is, then. The mix of two different styles in the hope of bringing out each styles' strengths, while tempering out weaknesses.