Laine Nakachi
07-25-2001, 06:25 AM
Around 1200 A.D., Genghis Khan began his conquest of China and in the process attacked a region containing one of the Shaolin temples.A high priest of the temple escaped to Japan where he met a Shinto priest whse name was Kosho .Kosho
had already mastered a variety of fighting arts including:Kendo ( Sword Fighting ) ,
Naginanta ( Lance Fighting ),Kyudo
( Archery ),fighting on horses and swim fighting. The high priest taught the
Ch'aun Fa ( Fist Law ) system to Kosho.
After becoming a master of all these systems combined,he changed his name to Mitose and began teaching his martial arts ( Kosho-Ryu Kempo ).
Nearly 80 years later,a buddhist descendent of Mitose (Kosho) founded the Kosho-Shorei (Old Pine Tree) temple.
In order to teach his philosophy of true self-defense (self-defense without body contact).Kosho-Shorei contained a complete system of wartime self defense (Kosho Ryu)
as well as a system of teaching religion,arts,and humanities (Kosho-Shorei). The wartime art of Kosho-Ryu Kempo,was taught only to family members (insiders).Kosho-Ryu was passed on from generations in order for the family members to be familiar with it and to be able to defend against it.[Golub,Reference]
Though these Japanese generations,the ancient Chinese art was extensively modified from its original circular movements to the more strict linear format
preferred by the Japanese.The linear movements and takedowns incorporated into the modern American Kenpo can be traced directly to Kosho-Ryu.
Dr. James Mitose (1915-1981) Mitose is a great grand master of Hawaiian/U.S. Kempo ,and we can trace part of our lineage to him.At age 5.Mitose was sent to Japan to study the Mitose family tradition of Ch'uan Fa ( or " Kempo " in Japanese) at the Mt.Akenkai Kosho-Shorei temple.As stated previously,the ch'uan Fa tradition had already been modified by successive Mitose masters until it became known as Kosho-Shorei Kempo (Old Pine Tree Style).
After fifteen years of training in his family's temple in Japan,Mitose returned to Hawaii.Following World War ll,he opened the Official Self-Defense Club to begin teaching his family's wartime art of Kosho-Ryu Kempo to the general public.During the next fifteen years of teaching.Grand Master Mitose awarded black belts to only six of his students:
Giro Nakamura,Thomas Young,Paul Yamaguchi
,Arthur Keawe,Edward Lowe and Wiliam K.S. Chow [Corcoran,1984]
Best Regards,
Fe luk
had already mastered a variety of fighting arts including:Kendo ( Sword Fighting ) ,
Naginanta ( Lance Fighting ),Kyudo
( Archery ),fighting on horses and swim fighting. The high priest taught the
Ch'aun Fa ( Fist Law ) system to Kosho.
After becoming a master of all these systems combined,he changed his name to Mitose and began teaching his martial arts ( Kosho-Ryu Kempo ).
Nearly 80 years later,a buddhist descendent of Mitose (Kosho) founded the Kosho-Shorei (Old Pine Tree) temple.
In order to teach his philosophy of true self-defense (self-defense without body contact).Kosho-Shorei contained a complete system of wartime self defense (Kosho Ryu)
as well as a system of teaching religion,arts,and humanities (Kosho-Shorei). The wartime art of Kosho-Ryu Kempo,was taught only to family members (insiders).Kosho-Ryu was passed on from generations in order for the family members to be familiar with it and to be able to defend against it.[Golub,Reference]
Though these Japanese generations,the ancient Chinese art was extensively modified from its original circular movements to the more strict linear format
preferred by the Japanese.The linear movements and takedowns incorporated into the modern American Kenpo can be traced directly to Kosho-Ryu.
Dr. James Mitose (1915-1981) Mitose is a great grand master of Hawaiian/U.S. Kempo ,and we can trace part of our lineage to him.At age 5.Mitose was sent to Japan to study the Mitose family tradition of Ch'uan Fa ( or " Kempo " in Japanese) at the Mt.Akenkai Kosho-Shorei temple.As stated previously,the ch'uan Fa tradition had already been modified by successive Mitose masters until it became known as Kosho-Shorei Kempo (Old Pine Tree Style).
After fifteen years of training in his family's temple in Japan,Mitose returned to Hawaii.Following World War ll,he opened the Official Self-Defense Club to begin teaching his family's wartime art of Kosho-Ryu Kempo to the general public.During the next fifteen years of teaching.Grand Master Mitose awarded black belts to only six of his students:
Giro Nakamura,Thomas Young,Paul Yamaguchi
,Arthur Keawe,Edward Lowe and Wiliam K.S. Chow [Corcoran,1984]
Best Regards,
Fe luk