Kempo vs Chuan Fa.

[Laughing Cow]

Hi All.

Just a quick question.

I always hear the terms Kempo thrown around, but not sure what the actual difference is between this and Chuan Fa.

BOTH Kempo and Chuan Fa use the same Chinese characters (Fist method or Fist law).
One(Kempo/Kenpo) is simply the Japanese method of pronounciation of the idiom.

I know that the Okinawan (RyuKyu) arts are either heavily influenced or were directly imported from China as were many other things.
Hence I can understand the difference in naming due to location.
Pls, note that Okinawan is a language that doesn't share much with japanese.

Now how does this relate to American Kempo (all styles), now shouldn't a new American chinese based style also be called "American Chuan Fa" than?

Or preferably they should drop both the Kempo & Chuan Fa label.

So how would a kempo style differ from a chuan fa style, both share the same origins way back when.

Or has the Kempo label been wrongly given to what bassically is a CMA?

Just confused.

[dezhen2001]

its all just confusing imo chinese kempo, american kempo, american chuan fa...

dawood

[Serpent]

Hmmm, look out. Can of worms!

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Serpent
Hmmm, look out. Can of worms!

From what I have been told about the term "kempo" is as follows:

"Kempo" in Japan is used for styles that recognise their chinese origins.
Example:
Shorinshi Kempo (Shaolin Fist method)

Many styles were originally refered/suffixed as kempo, but with time and changes to the system the "Kempo" label was often dropped.

Just confused about the multitude and mismash of style names out there that use "kempo".

Cheers.

P.S.: Not passing judgement on any of these styles.

[Sho]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow
Pls, note that Okinawan is a language that doesn't share much with japanese.

Okinawan is a Japanese dialect no matter how hard you try to disprove it!

'Kempo' is a Japanese equivolent for Chinese 'quanfa' - they both share the same characters. Kanji (onyomi) is Chinese, not Japanese. The original set of Japanese characters or letters is katakana, and if some one disagrees and says that katakana is a derived form of writing descended from Chinese characters, it's completely false. Please refer to revealed passages from the Takeuchi Monjo for further proof - the only manuscript left from Pre-Ancient Japan. You'll also find similarities between Japanese and Jewish (Hebrew) scripture and connections between religions (Shinto & Judaism).

Now, to the original point. Kempo and quanfa are only common nouns. Kempo is not a distinct system of martial arts, neither is quanfa. They are only used to personify the meaning of a school or a system of martial arts. I believe American Kempo is a registered trademark (heh) and that's okay, but people are often mislead by this. Okay, now they know that American Kempo is a martial style, so then they start to intrigue how the Japanese "branch" of kempo might look like, which is absurd, because there is not a single fighting system that carries just the name 'kempo'. There is Ryukyu Kempo and there is Shorinji Kempo, but there is no style that is just kempo. I suppose 'Japanese Kempo' can be used to generalize Japanese striking arts similar to how Chinese arts are generalized as kung fu by the western crowd. And Laughing Cow is correct, Japanese styles that use the suffix 'kempo' have Chinese temple origins. Even the word 'po' (derived from 'ho' and Chinese 'fa') itself means 'method' or 'Buddhist teachings', which has an indirect religious connection to these arts.

[Laughing Cow]

Sho.

AFAIK, Katakana came to Japan from Korea.

As for your point about Okinawan language, you talking the language commonly spoken there NOW or the original language that was there before Japan took over Okinawa/Ryukyu??

My Japanese friends say that proper Okinawan shares little with Japanese.

[Former castleva]

Whatever,I have heard okinawan has died out for long and has about as much use as a dead language.

"Now how does this relate to American Kempo (all styles), now shouldn't a new American chinese based style also be called "American Chuan Fa" than?"

Oh man I wish someone would let Gracies know about this.
Verbally a similar case,but AKK also prefers using plenty of english terms and promotes it´s national character,I think this is considered important.There were also new principles and stuff added to a degree,not a rip-off.
Besides such,this is not among remarkable cases (maybe dnc101 happens to check this thread)
While you can check this thread:
http://www.martialtalk.com/forum/sho...&threadid=6152

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Former castleva
Whatever,I have heard okinawan has died out for long and has about as much use as a dead language.

I guess as much dead as Welsh or similar.

[Former castleva]

Dunno about welsh.

[Laughing Cow]

FC.

Welsh as spoken in Wales/United Kingdom.

Here is some info about "hogen:

Okinawan

Cheers.

[Former castleva]

Thanks for the site.
A quick study shows that it is somewhat similar in "mood" to japanese but with considerable differences,reaching to grammar even.

[Sho]

Originally posted by Laughing Cow
Sho.

AFAIK, Katakana came to Japan from Korea.

As for your point about Okinawan language, you talking the language commonly spoken there NOW or the original language that was there before Japan took over Okinawa/Ryukyu??

My Japanese friends say that proper Okinawan shares little with Japanese.

I'll have to disagree with you. Katakana actually originates from Israel to be very exact. Japanese language itself still has about 2000 words from Hebrew.

I know what you mean by the Okinawan language. It is basically its own language, even though many don't speak it anymore, but it still isn't a separate language. I don't speak original Okinawan myself, but I know for sure that it's from the same family as other dialects in Japan. The case is quite similar to the most distinct dialects in China (Mandarin, Cantonese and Hakka).

[Sho]

However, the "race" of Okinawa slightly differs from Mainland Japanese.

[Laughing Cow]

Originally posted by Sho
I'll have to disagree with you. Katakana actually originates from Israel to be very exact. Japanese language itself still shares about 2000 words from Hebrew.

Let me run this past my Japanese teacher, I am sure she will enjoy the hebrew connection.
As well as the origin of Katakana.


Japanese does use foreign loanwords, majority being portugese, english & german.

Cheers.

[Sho]