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  ELIENS, Anton, Amsterdam, kenshi nr: 573-27253-1
  date of birth: 12/3/1952, age: 58, gender: male
  

2. History and Founding of Shorinji Kempo

Shorinji Kempo was founded by Doshin So in postwar Japan in 1947. Doshin So based his teachings on a variety of techniques that he learned from different masters during his stay in China.

The name Shorinji Kempo is derived from shaolin quanfa, the method of chinese boxing practiced by the Shaolin monks. According to tradition, it was originally Boddhidharma who brought these fighting techniques from India to China, some 1500 years ago, and installed these in the Songshan Shaolin temple, which is in the area currently known as Henan. The Shaolin monks practiced these technques both for spiritual enlightment as well as to obtain effective methods for self-defence, sorely needed in times of turmoil and banditism.

The time-line sketching the history of Shorinji Kempo and the life of Kaiso, the Founder of Shorinji Kempo, is as depicted below:

  • 1928: Kaiso travelled to China and learned a great variety of techniques of the masters he met during his work.
  • 1945: After the defeat, Kaiso witnesses the cruelty of human actions, and
  • 1946: returning to Japan, he decided to revive his country by nurturing its people, and in
  • 1947: Kaiso started teaching the techniques he had learned in China in the place of Tadotsu, a small harbor town, in Kagawa Prefecture.
The 1975 movie Shorinji Kempo with Sonny Chiba as the lead actor gives a good impression of the state of post-war Japan, immediately after the defeat, with pity criminals, injustice, and dispirited people [3]. looking for orientation in a time of chaos. It is here where the teachings of Kaiso, and the nature of Shorinji Kempo as a gyu offered a way out, by building on the strength of the individual's character and bringing about a spirit of compassion and involvement with the fate of human mankind.

The efforts undertaken by Kaiso and his first pupils is well depicted in documentaries that were shown in Hombu, telling the story of spreading Shorinji Kempo over Japan, by giving demonstrations for interested spectators, moving from place to place in mini-vans. Apart from their historic interest, these scenes are impressive because of the enthousiasm and sincerity with which the first Shorinji Kempo pupils spread the message of Kaiso.

As a consequence of these efforts, and the obvious relevance of the teachings, Shorinji Kempo knew prosperous growth in the beginning years, as illustrated in the time-line below, that lists the foundation of the various organisations supporting Shorinji Kempo, as instigated by Kaiso:

  • 1951: Kongo Zen Sohonzan Shorinji
  • 1952: Nihon Shorinji Bugei Semmon Gakko
  • 1957: Zen Nihon Shorinji Kempo Zemmei
  • 1963: Shorinji Kempo Federation of Japan
With the founding of the Shorinji Kempo Federation of Japan a strong focus came to be the training of young people, as a most effective means of improving the morality and physical constitution of the country.

In 1980 Doshin So, after that honorifically called Kaiso, died. Shorinji Kempo is now, the year of writing is 2010, a world-wide organization with over 1.500.000 members, in more than 30 countries, being led by Yuuki So, who is honorifically referred to as Shike Doshin So II.

Shorinji Kempo is in close contact with Budo organizations all over the world, as testified by the (impressive!) demonstration given in the Netherlands, 8 november 2009, in commemoration of the 400-year relationship between the Netherlands and Japan [4].

After adopting a new international symbol in 2005, the se-on, the World Shorinji Kempo Organization has a strong focus on global cooperation and educating the youth all over the world in the spirit of Budo, mental and physical health and cooperation. Concluding we may observe that in our times, where respect between humans still need improvement and where large parts of the world are still behind common standards of well-being in comparison to other parts of the world, the spirit and discipline of Shorinji Kempo, as a gyo, is without any doubt of great relevance, since improving the world is, in the words of Kaiso, in the hands of the individual, in other words dependent on the courage and moral strength of individual human beings that cherish the value of life.

resources

  1. tokuhon -- syllabus (English version), Chapter 5, section 1, p. 70
  2. history -- www.shorinjikempo.or.jp/wsko/history/index.html
  3. general -- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shorinji_Kempo
  4. demonstration -- www.shorinjikempo.or.jp/wsko/b-report/334.html


(C) Æliens 04/09/2009

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