Mushindo Kempo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Mushindo Kempo is a form of karate which concentrates also upon the spiritual and health giving aspects of the Sino-Ryūkyūan martial art.
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[edit] History
Mushindo Kempo 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 Ryūkyū Islands by various Buddhist missionaries including the Monks Se-Ke-Ko and Chu-te-Cho and was taught as an esoteric teaching from sometime around the 1400s onward. It was taken to France during the 1950s by Master Otomo Ryoshu and from there came to Great Britain where it was practiced at first in private clubs mainly by American Intelligence personnel based at the London Embassy. Other American servicemen also took it to the USA at this time. The organisation in Britain produced the first English language studies in the history and philosophy of karate.
[edit] Temples
Early temples in this practice were named after their principal concentration, such as '5 Elements Hand' (Wushsingshou), 'Arahant Hand' (Lohanshou) 'Hand of Intent' (I Shou). These temples generally were exclusive to members of nobility and the royal court; only people of privilege or great talent were accepted. Any novice accepted to study at the temple was expected to learn under the same master for a period of 7 years after which time they could choose to leave and continue their lives, or stay and serve the temple.
This tradition continued when the practice spread to Europe, except that after the 7 year period, the apprentice would be accepted in to the guild and allowed to practice independently or take apprentices of their own. This was most likely influenced by the guild system that permeated Europe at the time.
[edit] Current Practice
Unlike modern Karate its teachers have preferred 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 be 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 three schools form an alternative line of the transmission of karate teachings in Okinawa to those of teachers like Matsumura and Sakugawa. Master Otomo's 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.
[edit] References
'Bodhisattva Warriors' by S.Nagaboshi. Pub:Weiser Books.1994 ISBN 0-87728-785-6 'Okinawan Kempo' by C.Motobu. Pub:Masters Publication.2005 ISBN 0-920129-36-6
