Byakuren Kaikan Karate Kenpo?

[slait]

Hi all!

Could someone tell me anything about Byakuren Kaikan Karate Kempo (somekind full-contact emphasizing offshoot of Shorinji kempo)? I tried to search information about it via Google, but results were very limited.

The following quote is the best I found, but tell me something more.

Byakuren was founded in 1984 by Masayasu Sugihara after So Doshin (founder of Shorinji Kempo) passed away. He was one of the youngest 6th dans the style never had (6th dan at 28!) and bodyguard of Master So Doshin. Master Sugihara left Shorinji because the style changed to "non contact" and "no competition" and he was one of the few Master So Doshin allowed to enter the full contact karate tournaments.
So the style has two sides: a hard side (go-ho) including the strikes (ressembles a lot Enshin or Seidokaikan Karate) used both in the street and the full contact tournaments and a soft side (ju-ho) including joint locks, throws and different submission techniques.
The Byakuren Kaikan organization has the honbu dojo in Osaka and has several international branches (USA, Canada, France, Holland, Spain,Italy,...).
Best regards,
Santeri Laitinen
Jyväskylä Shorinji Kempo Branch
Finland

[Steve Williams]

Copied from the Karate forum.

Any of you got any (constructive) information to add??

[Kimpatsu]

Gassho.
A quick search of Japanese websites turned up this. (http://seido-atokawa.hp.infoseek.co.jp/byakurenjr.html) The art bills itself as Karate, and the wallpaper implies a connection with Seidokan. The pics of stances and so on don't much resemble Shorinji Kempo, so I don't think there's much by way of connection. What was the source of the quote?
Kesshu.

[luar]

Well I did my own search and came across this Argentinian site.

http://www.byakurenkenpo.com.ar/historia.html

It does mention in its history that is derived from Shorinji Kempo but only in the literal meaning of those two words rather than indicate any direct lineage or relationship with our style. There is no mentioning of Doshin So.

[Kimpatsu]

Gassho.
It's been said before, but I'll make the observation again: "Kempo karate" is an oxymoron. That fact doesn't reflect on the quality of technique, but it does make me question the Japanese language ability of whoever coined the phrase.
Kesshu.

[slait]

Gassho!

At first I noticed two videos about techniques of Byakuren Karate Kempo being advertised in Budomart.com (http://www.budomart.com/acatalog/Online_Catalogue_Karate_11.html).
The quote in my previous message is taken from KarateForums.com (http://www.karateforums.com/viewtopic.php?t=2457).

Santeri Laitinen
Jyväskylä Shorinji Kempo Branch
Finland

[migjohns]

There are several Byakuren Kaikan dojos in the Osaka area, Sugihara Sensei was a former Shorinji Kempo sensei (I have met some of his former students). It appears that karate schools like Byakuren Kaikan and FSA Kenshinkan were both developed by former Shorinji Kempo sensei who wanted a "harder", or more sports-oriented, approach than Shorinji Kempo offers.

I was wondering if anyone knew the story behind Ken Zen Do USA, it appears to be a similar kind of karate school opened by a former Hombu Teacher (Muraoka Sensei). Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers,
Mike Johnson
Yamashiro Tanabe Doin

[Morgray]

Hi, Slait
I replied you at the Karate Forum.
And yes, the Go-Ho looks like Seidokaikan, but the direct link to Shorinji lies in the Ju-Ho.


Best Regards.

Alejandro Delgado
Byakuren Kaikan Spain

[Sum dum guy]

Hi,

The term Kempo Karate is very unlikely to coined or used by a native Japanese speaker.

When I ask my instructor what the meaning of the words were, he said

"Karate is a Japanese word that means a martial art that comes from Okinawa and before that China"
Kempo is a Japanese word that means a martial art that comes from China directly"