Shorinji Kempo

                                                             The Art of Self-Defense

Shorinji Kempo was established at a town of Tadotsu in Kagawa, Japan by the founder DOSHIN SO in 1947. This was a way for Doshin So, to teach people mutual trust and cooperation. Its techniques originates from what Kaiso, the founder learned in China. When he returned to Japan he added his own techniques, to what he had learnt, and this style was named SHORINJI KEMPO.

Shorinji kempo is a discipline for the training of the mind and body. The main practice of Shorinji Kempo is designed to benefit you in three areas of your life: Self Defense, spiritual development and improved health. Every person is faced with difficulties and disadvantages. So the Kongo Zen approach is to:

Do every action with alls one heart, and live each moment to the full.

Shorinji Kempo is designed to help develop people who will help others. The qualities that will help you to do this are Bravery, motivation, intelligence and a sense of what is right. That is Shorinji Kempo is designed to help you develop these qualities in yourself. For an untrained beginner the essence of Shorinji Kempo is:

To strive with all the energy, bravery, intelligence and other qualities you possess to help make a society which values all its members.

Shorinji Kempo is a method of SELF-DEFENSE, to protect yourself from violence, In order to allow the weaker to CONTROL the stronger. The techniques are on the basics of dynamics and physiology. Anyone regardless of strength, sex and age can practice from these TECHNIQUES.

Goho refers to those techniques used when you seek to overwhelm your opponent. On the offense, Goho refers to strikes, kicks, hammers and slashes. When on the defense, Goho is the term for dodges, parries, deflections and blocks.

Joho are techniques used when in contact with an opponent. By changing the contact it is possible to gain control over an opponent. Defense forms, releases, joint reverses, throws and pins are the principal Joho techniques.

Shorinji Kempo, takes these two systems of hard and soft techniques combines them. In Shorinji Kempo Hard and Soft elements unite to form each technique. This is a major characteristic of Shorinji Kempo techniques.

To make a analogy the relationship between hardness and softness is like that between teeth and lips, the lips are soft and unlike the teeth, cannot bite, crush or chew, there is little we could eat without teeth, however without lips the food would fall from the mouth. As with eating, so with kempo is constructed to be EFFECTIVE by using BOTH