For the same reason that many other styles are sometimes simply listed as "karate", Kenpo has long been strongly linked under the general banner of "karate". However, recognition for it being a different style of martial arts is emerging quickly. And in many ways, this art is finally getting the notice it should. Kenpo is known for its near explosive, short-ranged attacks that often move faster than the opponent can see.

Kenpo is a Chinese Martial Arts that can trace its roots back to the Shaolin monks of China and was brought to Okinawa where it started its development into the Kenpo most know as Karate. Master "To-De" Sakugawa (1733-1815) from Shuri, the ancient capital of Okinawa, traveled to China in the 18th century to train with the Chuan Fa masters (Chuan Fa is what Chinese Kung Fu was called at that time). On his return to Okinawa he developed what became known as Shuri Te, from which Kenpo was later born. In contrast, the Okinawan martial arts developed in Naha, the modern-day capital of Okinawa, first became known as Naha-Te, and developed later on into Goju-Ryu Karate). Even though Kenpo's development started in Okinawa, and unlike most Japanese Karate Do, what most people think of as karate, kenpo karate origins are always linked back to China and still have very strong influences from the original Chuan Fa system.

The name, "Kenpo," also sometimes spelled "Kempo," is derived from the Japanese pronunciation in kanji "Ken" and "Po" from the Chinese charactes "Ch'uan" and "Fa". Literally translates, it means "Fist Law" or "the method of the fist/hand." This seems to be a very close translation into Chinese of what "karate-te-do" means and might have come about as a means to bridge a language divide between the two countries.

Ken Ch'uan Japanese Chinese Fist

Po Fa Japanese Chinese Law

It is not uncommon for a Kenpo artist to both use traditional Japanese and Chinese style techniques. The difference lies in that because of the strong Chinese influence, the moves tend to emphasize more fluidity than most of the other Japanese styles. And because of the Japanese influence, there is a stronger focus for shorter stances and movements than other Chinese styles.

American Kenpo Karate
In 1916 a young Hawaiian named James Mitose traveled to Kyushu in Japan where he learned Kosho Ryu Kempo. He later returned to Hawaii where he taught William Chow, who further developed the art. To differentiate his system from that of Mitose, William Chow called his school Kenpo Karate. As a visual break from the traditional Japanese and Okinawan Karate styles, Mitose and Chow introduced the wearing of black gis for Dan ranks, to indicate that Kenpo was a different and more of a “combat art” than the increasingly sports-oriented, white-Gi-wearing Karate styles.

Ed Parker, also a Hawaiian, was a student of William Chow. Ed Parker is considered the father of American Kenpo, as he had the greatest modern day influence on the spread of Kenpo around the world. Ed Parker, at the age of only 23, opened the first ever university campus martial arts school in the USA in Utah in 1954, at the age of only 23.

Once Parker had accumulated significant information and skills, he decided to title his art "American Kenpo" because the system was created on American soil. Although the word "karate" was later less favored by Parker, the general public more quickly understood that word as opposed to the word "Kenpo." Continued efforts to shape the art into a distinct form led to replacing most Asian language terms with English terms. This also involved inventing entirely new principles to express ideas that had previously been encapsulated within traditional metaphors such as qi, but which Parker aimed to harmonize with scientific principles and American culture.

Parker also heavily restructured American Kenpo's forms and techniques during this period. In many cases, he moved away from methods that were recognizably descended from another art (such as forms that were familiar within Hung Gar) and established a more definitive relationship between forms and the technique curriculum.

Parker took his art through constant evolution. Students from various parts of the country and world seem to produce varied interpretations on American Kenpo's applications, much of it can be credited to an American Kenpo concept known as tailoring. Parker always suggested that once you learn the lesson of the "ideal phase" one should search for some aspect that can be tailored to your personal needs. Furthermore, Parker's students learned a different curriculum depending on when they studied with him. Some students preferred older material to newer material, wanted to maintain older material that Parker intended to replace, or wanted to supplement the kenpo they learned from a particular period with other martial arts training.