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Concept
Shorinji Kempo
Summary
is a Japanese martial art claimed to be a modified version of Shaolin Kung Fu. The name Shōrinji Kempo is the Japanese reading of Shàolínsì Quánfǎ. It was established in 1947 by Doshin So, a Japanese martial artist and former military intelligence agent who lived in China for many years before and during World War II.
Shorinji Kempo is a holistic system, whose training methods are divided into three parts: self-defence training, mental training and, health training. The basis are the concepts that "spirit and body are not separable" (心身一如: shinshin-ichinyo) and that it is integral to train both "body and mind as one" (拳禅一如: kenzen ichinyo).
Through employing a well-organised technical course outline, Shorinji Kempo aims to help the practitioner "establish oneself" and to promote "mutual comfort". The philosophy and techniques of Shorinji Kempo are outlined in their master text, (少林寺拳法教範) Shōrinji-Kempō-kyōhan.
There are two sides of Shorinji Kempo which are believed to be true budō (武道) and educational system. As the latter, the organisation is well known for their mental training institution as well as body training facilities dōjō (道場).
The founder, Doshin So, wanted to establish not only an organisation which incorporated mental and physical training but also wanted to educate Japanese people who had been completely demoralised by World War II.
His aim was to defuse those who had lost their way and rebuild Japan for the future. It is said that he tried to teach Buddhist philosophy but no one followed him. Later on, So reportedly saw a vision of Bodhidharma, which inspired him to pursue teaching martial arts, as Bodhidharma was believed to have done. Both of these are later to become the main training methods of Shorinji Kempo.
Shorinji Kempo includes a broad curriculum of self-defense techniques, known as hokei (法形). For demonstration or competition purposes, these are combined into a choreographed sequence known as an embu (演武). The embu consists of (typically) 6 sections and each section includes a series of gōhō (剛法) or hard techniques and jūhō (柔法) or soft techniques.
Official source
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