THE NEW DISCIPLINE: SHORINJI KEMPO
Hello! I’m Carla from 4ºA, and today I’m leaving you a new interesting article. As you can see, the subject is about a type of martial art that I regularly practise. This is Shorinji Kempo. Most of you are going to learn new things after reading it, so let’s do it.
Shorinji Kempo is a method of personal defense and individual growth, a way to cultivate your soul and very useful for people who have trust, courage, and sympathy, thanks to its philosophy, techniques, and its educational system. This humanist and positive philosophy is transmitted by acts and not words; it trusts and believes in man as the solution to human problems. So Shorinji Kempo teaches us how to live happily supporting each other, promoting values like generosity, justice, solidarity, and tolerance.
Shorinji Kempo was founded by So Doshin in Japan, in1947. This man recorded all its knowledges on martial arts, that he had acquired since he was a child, firstly with his grandfather, and later with his Chinese teachers. And he brought everything together to join his talent and martial ingenuity creating this new discipline.
As regards the technical part, it’s divided in two aspects:
-Goho: movements and hitting techniques with fists, hands and arms, kicks, defenses,…
-Juho: actions like escapes in the face of different grips, immobilizations, and techniques of pressure to vital points.
It also includes different traditional therapeutic methods (Seiho) that include pressures to points and massages to ease different ailments, to relax, to revive,…
Some interesting facts about Shorinji Kempo are that teachers are not paid, and partners’ fees are for their own formation (to get material, to pay the place where we train,…); the group is mixed, there are men and women from different ages; furthermore, there are no competitions, so they aren’t included in the club’s activities, (at least here in Almeria). Perhaps, this is the reason why Shorinji Kempo isn’t as known as other types of martial arts, like tae kwon do or karate, which are also part of olympic games. Its philosophy doesn’t promote a competitive spirit, quite the opposite.
Finally, I have to say that I love it, because I have spent funny moments learning many things, and although there have sometimes been bad moments, I have never given up, because I know I will have gratifications after all. So, I hope you like it and feel curiosity to know more about it and that you will come to try Shorinji Kempo one day .
Portoview magazine 
