Welcome to

The Art of Kenpo Karate

Kenpo is a Japanese unarmed fighting art brought from China to Japan about 700 years ago by the Yoshida Clan and was quickly adopted by the Komatsu Clan. The word Kenpo means literally "Fist Law" and also refers to its Chinese origin. The Japanese adaptation of this Chinese style was well suited to defend against the various unarmed Japanese martial arts of the 12th century. A few modifications were required for Kenpo to overcome the new unarmed systems that developed over the next 7 centuries, which came to be known as Karate (Japanese of "Empty Hand"). However, for the Yoshida and Komatsu Clans, who developed their art into a truly Japanese style, the term was simply Kenpo. During this same period, the Chinese system from which Kenpo was derived underwent so many changes that, while most Kenpo techniques can be found scattered among the hundreds of Chinese fighting systems, no single system in China today resembles Kenpo.