Shorinji Kempo Ryu is a purely Japanese martial art that combines Chinese Shaolin martial arts with Japanese budō principles.

Shorinji Kempo Ryu of the International Shorinji Kempo Association is based on the techniques and philosophy of Shorinji Kempo, which originated in the northern Shaolin Monastery (Shàolín-sì 少林寺) in China, where Buddhist monks trained their bodies and minds to master not only self-defense but also inner peace.

The practical background was also to defend the monastery from roaming gangs. Doshin So (born in 1911 as Nakano Michiomi), the founder of Shorinji Kempo, traveled to China in the 1930s and studied these ancient martial arts and the associated philosophy.

In 1947, in the city of Tadotsu on Shikoku, he founded Shorinji Kempo, an art based on the principles of Zen Buddhism and the Chinese Shaolin arts.

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The 6 pillars:

ken zen ichinyo – Body and mind are one

riki ai funi – Strength and love go hand in hand. Strength without love is nothing more than violence, and love without strength is powerless.

shushu kōjū – Defend first, then attack

fusatsu katsujin – Do not kill, but give life. The saying “one blow, certain death” is not found in Shorinji Kempo Ryu. The goal should be to stop evil and convince the opponent to desist.

gōjū ittai – Hard and soft are united. Shorinji Kempo Ryu as self-defense serves the purpose of protecting oneself from attacks. See below for the principles of Juho and Goho.

kumite shutai – Joint training comes first. So Doshin repeatedly and clearly condemned thinking in terms of victory and defeat and striving to defeat others.