Kempo translates from Japanese as Fist Law. The meaning runs deeper than the name.

It traces back to the mudra, the hand postures shown on the Kosho mon. Each posture holds both the physical and the spiritual. The right hand represents the physical. The left, the spiritual and the moral. Together, they teach one thing: self-study. Every hand position in Kempo carries both realms at once. They cannot be separated.

Kempo is not a style of martial arts. It is not a collection of techniques. It is a philosophy.

James Mitose Sensei brought Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo from Japan to Hawaii in 1936. Kosho means "old pine tree." Shorei means "spiritual calling." The name honors a stranger who sat in meditation under an old pine tree and discovered a single truth: "There are many nations, but only one truth."

This is the heart of Kosho. The study of similarities. The study of natural law. The study of self.

It is a philosophy of growth, of study, and of struggle. Struggle is the law of growth. Nature itself is a moving process.

Understand that process, and the martial arts become simple. Even self-evident.