Japanese Kenpo

Kenpo is the name of several martial arts. The word kenpo is a Japanese translation of the Chinese word "quánfa. This term is often informally transliterated as "kempo," as a result of applying Traditional Hepburn romanization, but failing to use a macron to indicate the long vowel. The generic nature of the term combined with its widespread, cross-cultural adoption in the martial arts community has led to many divergent definitions.

In Japanese martial arts, kenpo is used to designate Chinese martial arts, (much as the term kung fu is used in English-speaking countries), some koryu jujutsu styles as well as several gendai budo such as Shorinji Kempo and Nippon Kempo. The "m" romanization is often preferred when describing such arts in a Japanese context to avoid confusion with terms romanized as "kenpo" in the government of Japan and some forms of kenjutsu, such as that practiced within the Bujinkan. The various arts that are called "kenpo" or "kempo" in Japan do not necessarily share any lineage, theory or technical corpus.

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