The Shaolin Temple was first built around 495 ad, by the Chinese emperor Hsino Wen.  It was in the great Shaolin temple in the Songshan mountains of central China that Buddharama, a sixth century Indian monk first introduced Buddhism and a form of mediation and fighting techniques.  He introduced a form of breathing exercises based upon animal movements designed to strengthen and condition the body as well as the mind.

The art of Shaolin Kempo Karate has developed from numerous styles of the  martial arts including: SHAOLIN TEMPLE BOXING, JIU JITSU, KUNG FU, KEMPO, different styles of KARATE, as well as the secret art of the WHITE TIGER (Chin Na).  Each fighting system offers something both unique and  special, but each also has it's weaknesses that make a fighter vulnerable.  The ultimate in self defense lay not in one way or style of fighting, but by  the integration of these methods of fighting into one.

The Shaolin Kempo Karate fighting system is one of the only system's that incorporates the movements of the original five animals: TIGER, LEOPARD, DRAGON, CRANE, and SNAKE.  It is a system that promotes health and wisdom.  Shaolin's theory of fighting is based upon effective multiple strikes off  a  powerful mobile base, with  linear, angular and circular offensive and defensive motions with simultaneous manipulation of the opponent's upper and lower body masses.

The art of Shaolin Kempo Karate with it's graceful movements for development of the internal energy & balance of the body's external strengths is the essence  for producing a superior fighter.  Shaolin Self Defense Centers believes by  applying the physical and mental aspects of the martial arts into your personal lives, one will achieve harmony and balance.
 

 

 William "Thunderbolt" Chow 
Chow, a Hawaiian Kempo pioneer and instructor, began the study of martial arts at age 7 under the guidance of his father ( a kung-fu master). During his youth, Chow also studied boxing, wrestling, jiu jitsu, sumo, and karate. He learned Kempo from James Mitose and became one of only five students to attain a black belt under him. Chow started teaching in 1944. His first school was at the Nuuano YMCA in Hawaii.
In his new school Master Chow made several modifications to the Kempo that he learned from Master Mitose. These modifications enhanced the system's fluency, power development, and versatility. Chow went on to award the rank of black belt to a number of students since 1949. Among those, the most notable are Ralph Castro, Edmund Parker, Nicholas Cerio, Paul Pung, and Adrian Empendao. 

James M. Mitose (1916-1981) 
At the age of five Mitose was sent from Hawaii to Kyushu, Japan for schooling in his family's ancestral art of self defense (Kempo). From 1921-1936 he studied and mastered his families teachings which were based directly on Bodhidharma's Shaolin Kung-fu. According to Mitose family tradition, clan members in Kumamoto and Nagasaki brought the knowledge of Shaolin Kung-fu from China shortly before 1600. This art was modified by successive masters until Kempo was born. After completing his training in Japan Mitose returned to Hawaii in 1936. In 1942 he organized the official Self-Defense Club at the Brestania Mission in Honolulu. Only five of his students (Thomas Young, William K.S. Chow, Paul Yamaguchi, Arthur Keave, and Edward Lowe) had attained the rank of first degree black belt.