History Of Shaolin Kempo Karate(shaolin Chuan Fa)

To explain the origin of Shaolin-Kempo-Karate we should first look at the origins of its components.

The Shaolin temple was first built around 495 A.D. by Chinese Emporer Hsiao Wen for an Indian monk. It was in the great Shaolin temple, in the Songshan mountains of central China, that Buddharama, a 6th century Indian monk, introduced Buddhism and a form of meditation methods and fighting techniques. He introduced, to the temple monks, a form of breathing exercises based on animal movements, mostly exercises for strengthening and conditioning the body. The reason he taught the monks these exercises was to purify their bodies and develop inner strength. Then came the movements of the animals which were taught for self defense purposes.

Over a period of time, the monks changed and perfected these movements, gearing them toward fighting. This style became known and feared as the art of Shaolin Temple Boxing. Buddhism and Shaolin Temple Boxing were the Shaolin Temples' main legacy to the world.

In the 1600's, Japan conquered Okinawa, so the people of Okinawa were restricted from using any weapons to prevent retaliation. The natives had no alternative but to practice the art of empty hand fighting known as Te. This name was derived from the Chinese T'ang Dynasty, a period when many open handed fighting sytles were popular. The Okinawans changed the name of their martial art from Te to Karate, and many styles were developed. It was eventually brought to Japan where even more styles were developed.

Long before the Chinese or the Okinawans practiced and developed their arts, the Tibetans and Mongolians had their own form of combat from which the venerable art of Chin na or the White Tiger was further developed - a devastating form of locking, seizing, holding and grappling. The Tibetans and the Mongols were the masters of the grappling arts.

The art of Shaolin Kempo Karate has developed from numerous styles of the martial arts including: SHAOLIN TEMPLE BOXING, JIU JITSU, KUNG FU, KEMPO, different styles of KARATE, as well as the secret art of the WHITE TIGER (Chin Na). Each fighting system offers something both unique and special, but each also has it's weaknesses that make a fighter vulnerable. The ultimate in self defense lay not in one way or style of fighting, but by the integration of these methods of fighting into one.

In essence, the knowable universe is composed of opposite components, whether physical, moral, or biological, which may be classed as either YANG or YIN. When combined, existence is produced, and is manifest in movements. Neither yin nor yang can exist independently.

The philosophical martial arts are largely agnostic, looking to nature for the secrets to harmony and bliss. As a result, martial artists mimicked animals in their quest for martial arts techniques, and many styles, including Dragon, Snake, Leopard, Crane and Tiger, show distinct patterns of nature mimicry. However, the theistic sects of Shaolin Kempo believed that by understanding the harmony of nature, you could alter nature. In addition to alchemy, theistic Monks developed complicated schools of ceremonial magic, and developed the martial arts style of Shaolin Chuan Fa (KEMPO KARATE).