![]() |
|
Also known as | SKK, Villari Kempo |
---|---|
Focus | Striking, Kicking, Felling & Grappling |
Hardness | Point Sparring |
Country of origin |
![]() |
Creator | Fredrick J. Villari |
Parenthood | Kosho Shorei-ryū Kempo, Shaolinquan, Shōrin-ryū Karate, Danzan-ryū Jujutsu, Chin Na, Bökh |
Olympic sport | No |
Shaolin Kempo Karate (or "SKK") is a martial art style that combines the Five Animals of Shaolin Kung Fu (Shaolinquan), the core competency of Kempo, the hard-hitting linear explosiveness of traditional Karate, as well as the power of Western boxing and the felling and grappling arts of Jujutsu, Chin Na, and Mongolian wrestling. This system was founded and developed by Fredrick J. Villari (a former black belt student of Nick Cerio and William Kwai Sun Chow), who devised a hybrid system which integrated the four ways of fighting: striking, kicking, felling, and grappling to eliminate the inherent weakness of martial arts systems that focus on just one or two of fighting techniques.
Shaolin Kempo Karate is primarily taught through a chain of Villari's Martial Arts Centers in the United States and Canada, although there are several unaffiliated organizations that teach variations of the style. These include schools founded by former students of Fred Villari.
The roots of Shaolin Kempo Karate can be traced back to three main sources of Asian martial arts:
Because of the diversity of Asian, Polynesian, and American culture in Hawaii, the arts of Kenpo, Kajukenbo (which was an early hybrid martial art), and Kenpo Karate were formulated mostly by street fighters like William Chow and Adriano Emperado. Ed Parker helped bring Kenpo to mainstream America through his work in Hollywood and with celebrities such as Elvis Presley and Bruce Lee. Through later work of George Pesare and Nick Cerio, Kenpo was brought to the East Coast of the United States, where Cerio would meet and train Villari. Villari's use of Kenpo, which he later changed to "Kempo," would be the vehicle by which he would bind together the principles of the traditional martial arts: