The roots of Shaolin Kempo Karate can be traced back to three main sources of Asian martial arts: • The
Shaolin Temple where
Kung Fu and other Chinese martial arts are commonly referred to as "boxing" or "temple boxing". The Chinese aspect of the art is also the source of the 5 basic animal forms:
Tiger,
Crane,
Snake,
Leopard, and
Dragon which all have very different postures and focuses. • The Yoshida and Komatsu clans of Japan who founded the system of
Kenpō.
James Mitose was a member of the Yoshida family, and is commonly credited as the founder of modern Kenpo/Kempo. • Mongolian, Chinese & Tibetan wrestling from which most Asian grappling arts (such as
Chin Na and
Jujutsu) descended. Through later work of
George Pesare and Nick Cerio, Kenpo was brought to the East Coast of the United States, where Cerio would meet and train Villari. Villari's use of Kenpo, which he later changed to "Kempo," would be the vehicle by which he would bind together the principles of the traditional martial arts: Villari's martial arts training started early in his life. After being introduced to Western and Chinese boxing by his father, Villari went on to study jiujitsu and wrestling with the LeBlanc brothers in his middle teens. By the time he was 18, Villari realized his martial arts training was stagnating and sought out
Nick Cerio as an instructor of Chinese kenpo. After completing his requirements as second degree black belt with Cerio, Villari traveled to the West Indies where he traded his techniques for karate and kung-fu training. While in the islands, Villari also studied under a Chinese-Australian instructor Soo, and gained his third and fourth degrees. After working with another master Len Chou, Villari received his fifth degree and soon decided to open his own school. for the sake of being shared with the masses. From this breadth of source material and original work by Villari, Shaolin Kempo Karate was codified to include 108 fighting combinations and the following
katas: Two Man Fist Set, Sho Tun Kwok, 12 Hands of the Tiger, Nengli South, Nengli North, 11 Hands of Buddha, Invincible Wall, Branches of the Falling Pine, Lost Leopard, Iron Fortress, Tai Sing Mon, 1000 Buddhas, Five Dragons Face the Four Winds, Wounded Tigers, Immortal Monkey and the Plum Tree Blocking System. ==Four Ways of Fighting==