Mushindo-kempo.org.uk

Mushindo Kempo is a form of Karate which concentrates also upon the spiritual and health giving aspects of the Sino-Ryukyuan martial art. It evolved from a form of the Shaolin Buddhist training originated by Bodhidharma and was associated with several Chinese Buddhist temples. It was taken to the Ryukyu Islands by various Buddhist missionaries including the Monks Se-Ke- Ko and Chu-te-Cho (see'Bodhisattva Warriors'by N.Tomio. Pub:S.Weiser.1994 ISBN:0-87728-785-6] and was taught as an esoteric teaching from sometime around the 1400's onward. Unlike modern Karate its teachers have prefered to keep a low profile and do not associate themselves with commercial teachings. It considers itself along with the Okinawan Akito-ryu and Jonaburu-Ryu to one of the three forms of unchanged styles of practice which preserve the most ancient forms of Chinese meditational Kata. The teaching lineages of these 3 schools form an alternative line of the transmission of Karate teachings in Okinawa to those of teachers like Matsumura & Sakugawa. It was taken to France during the 1950's by Master Otomo Ryoshu and from there came to Gt Britain where it was practiced at first in private clubs mainly by American Intelligence personell based at the London Embassy. Other American servicemen also took it to the USA at this time. Master Otomos father Gunto was a teacher of Itosu Anko. The Mushindo school interprets the name Japanese term 'Kempo' in its Buddhist sense of 'Ken' meaning 'closed hand' and 'Po' meaning the 'teachings of the Buddha' for this is what the original Chinese radicals indicated in the temples. The organisation in Britain produced the first English language studies in the history and philosophy of Karate. More details can be seen at www.mushindo-kempo.org.uk