Poway Kenpo Karate was founded in 1984 by Barry Barker who is still the Chief Instructor today. Mr. Barker is an 8th degree Black Belt in Kenpo Karate with almost 40 years of martial arts experience. He also has a Master’s Degree in Traditional Oriental Medicine (MSTOM) and is a California and Nationally Licensed Acupuncturist (L.Ac and Dipl. OM). He has produced 15 videos on martial arts and his wife Rosie is a 5th Degree Kenpo Black Belt, son Josh is a 3rd Degree and son Jordan is a 2nd Degree Black Belt.

All ages and levels are taught in a structured, disciplined yet still fun environment.  It’s a great place for kids to build confidence, for teens to have a productive physical outlet and for adults to get a great workout all while learning real skill and making new friends while accomplishing goals and gaining rewards far beyond what they may have expected of themselves.  All of the instructors at Poway Kenpo have been trained in house, most since they were small children, so the instruction is consistent and at a very high level.  This is a family owned and operated facility where you will not find the ‘franchise’ mentality so prevalent at martial arts schools these days.

The Art of Kenpo Karate comes from a progressive Shaolin based  street self-defense method with the Ed Parker American Kenpo formula as the system. Kenpo utilizes linear and circular movements with spherical connecting points to incapacitate an opponent or opponents. Kenpo is a complete fighting system that teaches correct  body posture, movement and mechanics as it relates to self-defense.  Like other  physical disciplines it takes a thorough understanding of body mechanics, structural alignment and leverage to move efficiently and with effectiveness.  Additionally, knowledge of force, timing, footwork, methods and angles of striking, pressing,  grabbing, checking, pushing, twisting, squeezing, pulling, and manipulation are also taught.

Unlike sport fighting systems, street systems like Kenpo  train at every angle and range of fighting.  Kenpo uses pre-arranged self-defense  techniques to build our knowledge and awareness of interactive movement then can give way to free form self-defense movements.  These self-defense applications teach us to feel the concepts and principles of applied motion at work.  This helps us gain insight into the most appropriate method of defense as determined by the attack.

Aside from being in a confrontation the ultimate skill level goal of the Kenpo practitioner would be to be able to defend against the mass attack, or multiple opponent  attack.  Kenpo Karate is one of the few systems that has this as a primary goal of training.  With ‘sport fighting’ being so prevalent many people who train in these styles believe they are preparing for street defense as well but most would not be prepared if attacked by someone much larger or by several attackers, possibly with weapons.  Kenpo incorporates every method and range of fighting to attain this objective of winning an unfair fight as we are experts at ‘dirty fighting’.  

American Kenpo Karate History

The Kenpo Karate system we teach at Poway Kenpo is commonly referred to as American Kenpo Karate, named by Edmund K. Parker, because it is an original system that the American culture has had a major influence on.  This  system of martial arts has been and is continuing to be developed into a system that fits current fighting methodology, the American mind set and the methods of learning we are accustomed to, plus the freethinking, questioning spirit we are  famous (or infamous) for.

There are numerous books on the history of the  martial arts evolving from the Shaolin Temple.  I will not repeat that whole story because it is already covered extensively in other publications.  The  history contained here begins in Hawaii where American Kenpo was born.  Kenpo is spelled with an ‘n’ here because we choose to use the linguistic spelling rather  than the phonetic ‘m’ spelling.

Kenpo Karate is a modern, progressive, street self-defense art originally taught in Hawaii by James Mitose who was born  in Hawaii but raised as a youth in Japan where he learned his family art of Kosho Ryu Kempo.  He returned to Hawaii as a teenager and lived there for many years.  His national loyalty was called into question with the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941.  This must have been a very trying time for him but he decided  that his loyalty was to the United States of America which had taken him in as  one of there own.  He began teaching martial arts to the Territorial National Guard shortly thereafter.

James Mitose taught his Kenpo Jiu Jitsu (title of his 1947 book) to, among others, William KS (Thunderbolt) Chow in the 1940′s.  Professor Chow, as he would become known, combined this new Kenpo knowledge with his previous knowledge from his families Gung Fu art, which he learned from his father, Hoon Chow.  He combined all of this knowledge with his experience as a  well-known and feared island street fighter and began teaching his Kara Ho Kempo  to other local tough guys who wanted to learn how to fight better.

In those days especially Hawaii was a melting pot of many Asian cultures.  Japanese, Chinese,  Koreans, Okinawans, Filipinos, etc.  In addition, American military personal and local indigenous peoples found themselves mixing together in the local neighborhoods.  With the level of pride these cultures have in their fighting  arts one could imagine how much real life testing was going on in those days on  the mean streets of Honolulu.  Rumor and story has it that those were tough days out of which came some very effective martial arts.  Professor Chow’s Kempo was  respected as one of the most fierce and effective arts to emerge from that  era.

Several of Professor Chow’s students went on to evolve their own arts or to expand and evolve what the Professor had shown them.  Adriano Emperado trained under William Chow then went on to contribute to the formation of Kajukenbo.  Nick Cerio and Sam Kuhoa went on to form their own systems using what they had learned from William Chow as their base system.  Probably Chow’s most  well known student was Edmund Kealoa Parker (1931-1990) who went on to form what he called, and we continue to call, American Kenpo.

Mr. Parker’s training with Professor Chow would prove to be his calling in life.  After high school he attended Brigham Young University in Provo Utah where he graduated  with a major in Sociology and a minor in Psychology.  He had taught some self-defense courses to other students and law enforcement personnel in the area.  Through his connections he received a job offer in Los Angeles.  He moved to L.A. where that offer fell through so he decided to open a Kenpo Karate School in Pasadena in 1956.

Mr. Parker’s school is said to have been the first martial arts school open to the general public in the country.  Others  challenge this claim but we can definitely say that his was one of the first commercial martial arts schools in the United States.  Mr. Parker was a great  practitioner and teacher, but he was also an outstanding entrepreneur.  He ran a  successful school, formed what would become the largest Kenpo organization in the world (the IKKA) and started what became the largest and most prestigious  karate tournament in the country, if not the world, for many years.

The  International Karate Championships became the showpiece that launched the martial arts careers of many well-known practitioners who then became  entertainers as well, most notably Bruce Lee and Chuck Norris. Other well known practitioners whose lives and careers were influenced by Mr. Parker include Jeff  Speakman, Joe Lewis, Bill Wallace, Bennie Urquidez, and Dan Inosanto, to name a  few.  It would not be an exaggeration to say that Mr. Parker’s tournament was the seed from  which sprang the most influential martial artists of the 20th Century.  He is responsible for discovering and/or displaying the talent that would bring  martial arts to the mainstream of American society.

For Kenpo  practitioners Mr. Parker’s greatest gifts are the books that he wrote and left for us to study, analyze, reflect, and learn from.  His love of motion is obvious  when reading through any of these books. His analytical and organizational skill  provides an incredible amount of insight into the levels of learning and discovery contained within Kenpo technique.

It is unfortunate that Mr. Parker passed away before he could complete his video project.  He did complete two videos for commercial distribution, one on stances and one on foot  maneuvers.  The thoroughness with which he covers these subjects shows how much thought was put in and the depth of knowledge this man possessed.  When talking  with “old-timers” who trained with Mr. Parker personally there is still this  very strong sense of loyalty, respect, admiration and amazement at his abilities, knowledge, and wisdom, he is surely missed.