Shorinji Kempo

Shorinji is the Japanese way of saying Shaolin temple. From the roots of Shaolin martial arts, several styles called Shorinji are derived. These are some notes on one of those styles...

A little over 50 years ago, So Doshin returned to his native Japan, from China. While in China, he had learned certain self-defense techniques, which he believed could bring some discipline and self-respect to many of his young compatriots. This was after WWII, and Japan was in need of reconstruction. Corruption was rampant, and only by helping individuals better themselves, he decided, could he make a difference.

Today, over a million practitioners learn the six principles of Shorinji Kempo. They learn that body and mind are one, and that strength and love stand together, for each is incomplete without the other. They learn to defend first, and only then attack. They make it their way to protect people avoiding injury to themselves or others. They learn to combine hard and soft together in fighting techniques and in their daily lives. And they base their learning on the fundamental value of working in pairs, where real progress can be achieved and measured.

Though the roots of Shorinji Kempo trace back to ancient India and China, today's art is a modern discipline, involving techniques of three kinds: hard or goho, soft or juho, and healing or seiho. The healing techniques take the form of therapeutic massage, promoting relaxation and good health.

During training, much effort is put into learning the weaknesses of the body. Knowing those weaknesses makes it easier to avoid or neutralize attacks, and to better use one's body. This focus makes Shorinji Kempo attractive for people of different sizes and degrees of strength. Because of its goals of self-reliance and self-improvement, this art welcomes all those who would seek to become better persons, and so be better able to share their well-being with others.

So Doshin identified in the problems of persons the root of all major trouble, up to and including war. So, he concluded, only by improving the individual can those problems be effectively addressed.

The World Shorinji Kempo Organization in Tokyo offers information in Japanese and in English. One can get an idea of the global reach of the school is by touring the Shorinji Kempo Web Ring, or by visiting the United States entries from Yahoo and the World Bank Shorinji Kempo club, as well as the Helsinki Shorinji Kempo club.