The modern history of
American Kenpo began in the 1940s, when Great Grandmaster
James Mitose (1916-1981) started
teaching his ancestral Japanese martial art,
Kosho-Ryu Kenpo, in Hawaii.
Mitose's art, later called Kenpo
Jiu-Jitsu, traditionally traces its
origin to
Shaolin Kung Fu and
Bodhidharma. Kenpo Jiu-Jitsu
emphasizes punching, striking, kicking, locking, and throwing.
Mitose's art was very linear, lacking the circular motions found in
American Kenpo.
William K. S. Chow studied Kenpo
under James Mitose, eventually earning his black belt. He
had also studied Chinese Kung Fu from his father. Chow began
teaching an art, which he called Kenpo Karate, that blended the
circular movements he had learned from his father with the system he
had learned from Mitose. Chow experimented and modified his art,
adapting it to meet the needs of American students.
Ed Parker learned Kenpo
Karate from William Chow, earning his black belt. The
system known as American Kenpo was developed by Ed Parker as a
successor to Chow's art. Parker revised older methods to work in
modern day fighting scenarios. He heavily restructured American Kenpo's forms and techniques during this period. He moved away from
methods that were recognizably descended from other arts (such as
forms that were familiar within
Hung Gar) and established a more
definitive relationship between forms and the self-defense technique
curriculum of American Kenpo. Parker also eschewed esoteric Eastern
concepts (e.g. Ki, Chi,
Qi) and sought to express the art
in terms of scientific principles and western metaphors.
The evolution of Kenpo
Karate has been continued by many, including Paul Mills. Paul
Mills was a direct and private student of Ed Parker's for over ten
years. Mr. Mills received his black belt from one of Mr.
Parker's first generation black belts then became a direct and
private student of Grandmaster Edmund K. Parker in 1980. Mr. Parker
promoted Mr. Mills up through his fifth degree black belt. Mr. Mills
is well known for his phenomenal speed and power, and his unique
methods of generating both. Paul Mills is now the President
and founder of the American Kenpo Karate International (AKKI)
association and holds the rank of 10th degree black belt. He serves
as the Chief Examiner at all international tests and is the Chairman
of the AKKI's Board of Directors. He has been consistently training
in the art of American Kenpo since 1966.
