Kenpō
| Also known as | Kempo |
|---|---|
| Focus | Striking |
| Country of origin |
 China/ Japan
|
| Creator | Unknown |
| Kenpō | |||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinese | 拳法 | ||||||||
|
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| Japanese name | |||||||||
| Kanji | 拳法 | ||||||||
| Hiragana | けんぽう | ||||||||
|
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| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Standard Mandarin | |
| Hanyu Pinyin | quánfǎ |
| Wade–Giles | ch'üan2 fa3 |
| Transcriptions | |
|---|---|
| Revised Hepburn | kenpō |
| Traditional Hepburn | kempō |
| Kunrei-shiki | kenpô |
Kenpō (?) is the name of several Japanese martial arts. The word kenpō is a Japanese translation of the Chinese word "quán fǎ". This term is often informally transliterated as "kempo", as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization, but failing to use a macron to indicate the long vowel. The generic nature of the term combined with its widespread, cross-cultural adoption in the martial arts community has led to many divergent definitions.
Shorinji Kempo (少林寺拳法 shōrinji-kempō?, meaning "Shaolin Temple Fist Method") is considered as a modified version of Shaolin Kung Fu (using the same kanji). It was established in 1947 by Doshin So (宗 道臣 Sō Dōshin?), a Japanese martial artist and former military intelligence agent.
Some Okinawan martial arts groups use the term kenpō as an alternate name for their karate systems or for a distinct but related art within their association. This can be illustrated by the official full name of Motobu-ryu style named as "Nihon Denryu Heiho Motobu Kenpo" ("Japan's traditional tactics Motobu Kenpo") and by the International Shorin-ryu Karate Kobudo Federation, where Shōrin-ryū is the actual karate style practiced, whereas "hakutsuru kenpo", or "hakutsuru kenpo karate" is a related but distinctive style also taught by the association. Both the "n" and "m" romanizations are used by various groups.
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Wikipedia