The concepts of Ryukyu Kempo bridge the gap
between styles and aid students in defining their
techniques - regardless of style.
Ryukyu Kempo (also known
as Chinese Kempo, Te, Tote, ect) has been the
way of martial arts in Okinawa for hundreds of
years. It translates to the native fighting
style of the Ryukyu Islands of Okinawa before
the transition to ‘Modern Karate’ in the early
20th century. Much of Ryukyu Kempo’s basis comes
from the influence of Japanese Bojitsu and
Chinese Kung Fu. This system encompasses many
Okinawan arts with emphasis on life-protection
techniques, regardless of an individual's size.
Ryukyu Kempo incorporates many
of the same concepts as 'Acupuncture';
dealing with over 300 pressure points of the
body, chi flow (also call Qi, Ki, or
Bio-electric energy), yin & yang (positive &
negative), the 12 bi-lateral body meridians, and
the 5 elements (earth, wood, fire, metal,
water).
Ryukyu Kempo consists of two areas that are
not included in Modern Karate and most other modern
Martial Arts:
Kyusho Jitsu is the
vital area, or acupuncture pressure point, striking
encompassed with the art. More than simply knowing
where a pressure point is, one must know how to
strike the point as well as with proper angel and
direction. Utilizing Kyusho in fighting techniques
allows one to incapacitate the opponent quickly
through body kinetics, pain compliance, knock outs,
joint releasing (leading to hyperextensions or
breaks), and in the furthest level to kill (Dim Mak).
Tuite, or "grab hand". This refers to the
grappling and joint manipulations
contained in Ryukyu Kempo. Everyone's body is weak
in the same manor. These weaknesses occur near
joints, nerves, tendons, and muscles. Tuite should
not be thought of as an art unto itself. Tuite
works in conjunction with Kyusho-Jitsu in that the
pressure points are the keys to releasing the joints
attacked by Tuite.
Parts of the text on this page have come from
Grandmaster George Dillman's 2nd book: Ryukyu
Kempo: Advance Pressure Point Fighting.
Coinciding information on this page also comes
from a continuous study of different works both
online and in books. One such book -for
example-is The Bible of Karate, Bubishi;
published by Tuttle Martial Arts. If you truly
study the history of Martial Arts, you will come
to find that the roots of all arts are from
similar -if not the same- sources.
