When it comes to the history of the various martial arts it really is a complex, or maybe I should say a complicated, subject. Over the last 50 years alone there are now more martial art style names than you can shake a stick at. Many of those names are nothing more than made up names for various reasons and often by people who are not even old enough to know as yet what the combat arts, and all that goes with it, are all about.
However there are many martial art styles that have been developed, or modified versions that have come along, going way back in the mists of time. These new branches of an original combat style makes for difficulty when trying to trace back some of those fighting styles. This of course is a very common thing to find in the martial arts and for sure it will continue to be the case in the future. These days if you mention the term ‘a mixed martial art’ many will think of those clubs that claim to teach different martial art styles or those that intermix fighting methods, however in reality all martial arts are a mix of techniques and methods from various other fighting styles. At this point it should be noted that the terms ‘style’ and ‘system’ both have their own meaning. Style is what a fighting art looks like, with some noticeable distinctive features, and system is the way you are trained in the combat arts, but to keep things more simple to understand many will just say style by default. Kenpo, or as some call it Kempo, is a typical example of how both the Japanese and Chinese combat arts are mixed together. Kenpo practitioners will openly promote the fact that both the Chinese and Japanese martial arts are mixed together, and in addition also say that it is what many people would call a westernised version of the fighting arts. Surprisingly however this is not a new thing. Many martial art styles are in fact a combination of both these days and have been for a very long time over the years. Many would agree, if not all, that the father of the martial arts is Kung Fu, Chinese Boxing, and that the Japanese developed their own version from the Chinese combat arts, so that being the case you would imagine that any martial art that is a mix of both the Japanese and the Chinese martial arts would be more recognised, based on origin, as a Chinese fighting style? However that is not always the case. Kenpo as a perfect example added the title of Shorinji to the name to show that Kenpo is a Japanese martial art. Shorinji in Chinese is Shaolin by the way. But what’s in a name? On condition that it is a practical and an effective combat style then that of course is all that matters in the end. Kenpo is also known as Japanese Kenpo, Karate Kenpo, Hawaiian Kenpo or American Kenpo but these variations in the name are not unique to just Kenpo. Kickboxing is yet another perfect example as it is also known as American style Kickboxing or British style Kickboxing, and of course freestyle kickboxing. But when you take into account that in the specific case of Kickboxing you can only do so many kicks and punches - so it all ends up looking the same anyway. It all comes down to a brand name in the end. Same with any martial art style name when you think about it? I must say on a final note that it is clear to see that Kenpo is a very popular martial art style and for those with a trained eye you can clearly see the original Chinese influence still being there even though it is somewhat westernised now. For a related article click >HERE< Comments are closed.
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