Shorinji te?

[Colin_Linz]

I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this guy at http://www.shorinji-te.com/4436.html He is trading heavily on Shorinji Kempo with the wearing of the Hoi, a number of the pictures are recreations of famous Shorinji Kempo pictures. He uses the Nio guardians that stand at the gates of our Hombu in his naming of his technical systems and art. Where we say Goho he says Nio Goho and so on. If anyone knows or trains with him, I would be interested to know how much Shorinji Kempo he has done and what rank he claims. Somehow I don’t think it would be much, as his title (Kaiso Supreme Priest Master) demonstrates a lack of understanding of basic Shorinji Kempo philosophy.

 

[The Kai]

The vest thing would seem to be Shorinji Kempo turf

 

[still learning]

Hello, Today we must not judge to quickly. At the same time we must beware of all kinds of "Martial art" than are being introduce. I will go with my instinct? of what I believe? keeping it to myself.........Aloha

 

[Colin_Linz]

The following is straight from his web site;

“American Shorinji-Te is based on comprehensive styles such as Shaolinssu Chuan-fa, Shorinji Kempo, Shoreiji Karate, Aiki-Jiujutsu, Sohei Jujitsu Kempo, Yamabushido-Te and Kobudo. The style consists of "hard movements," such as strikes, thrusts, punches, blocks, parries and kicks. It also combines "soft techniques," such as interlocking wrist twist joint throws, clever escapes, foot sweeps, hip throws, grappling, controlled locks, chokes and pins. After mastering "open-hand" skills, the student can practice with various weapons, including bojutsu (sticks art), spear art, guns, knifes and others disarming arts.”

He is clearly saying that Shorinji Kempo is a part of his style. This with the imagery used and the religious connotations of the modern urban warrior monk system; the use of the Nio; the use of Goho, Juho and Seiho terms; the re creation of famous photos; and the use of the Hoi, all justify asking what sort of experience he has had within Shorinji Kempo. If you have a look at the link below, you will see in some of the pictures a photo of what looks like our Kaiso, Doshin So. It is blurry but he is a fairly individual looking man and this image certainly resembles him.

http://www.budovideos.com/shop/customer/product.php?productid=17200&cat=288&page=1

It is a little disconcerting to me as Shorinji Kempo comes under fire often as being cultish. His martial art and its close visual connection to us could be confusing and misleading regarding our philosophies, and possibly further this perception of us.

I should make it clear. I don’t have a problem with him starting his own style, and he may be very good at what he does. I just feel uncomfortable with the way he has sought to tie himself to us. I also wondered if he had ever studied Shorinji Kempo, and if he was falsely claiming any rank or experience with us, as this could also further muddy people’s idea of Shorinji Kempo and its techniques.

 

[Colin_Linz]

The vest thing would seem to be Shorinji Kempo turf

I posted that last post before I read your edited post.

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

Shaun is an amazing martial artist with a strong background in Shorinji Kempo. Trained at the LA temple (Konko Zen ... sp?). Prior to starting Shorinji, had black belts in jujutsu, wado-ryu, and another hard-style karate system with judo blended in, started by his father who was one of the first, and most dangerous, black men in the history of wado.

Shaun studied Shorinji dilligently for many years, and became a very proficient black belt. He combined his deep appreciation for Shorinji technique & methodology with some of the boxing, sparring/kumite, & gymnastic skills (plus a bit o the ground fighting of BJJ) to form American Shorinji-Te.

Anyone doubting his excellence should try getting on the mat with him. An incredible talent with profound conditioning. One of the few creative minds worthy of breaking from the pack to initiate a new one. Again, proof is in the pudding. Hook up with him, train with him, and your doubts will be set free.

D.

 

[Colin_Linz]

Shaun is an amazing martial artist with a strong background in Shorinji Kempo. Trained at the LA temple (Konko Zen ... sp?). Prior to starting Shorinji, had black belts in jujutsu, wado-ryu, and another hard-style karate system with judo blended in, started by his father who was one of the first, and most dangerous, black men in the history of wado.

Shaun studied Shorinji dilligently for many years, and became a very proficient black belt. He combined his deep appreciation for Shorinji technique & methodology with some of the boxing, sparring/kumite, & gymnastic skills (plus a bit o the ground fighting of BJJ) to form American Shorinji-Te.

Anyone doubting his excellence should try getting on the mat with him. An incredible talent with profound conditioning. One of the few creative minds worthy of breaking from the pack to initiate a new one. Again, proof is in the pudding. Hook up with him, train with him, and your doubts will be set free.

D.

Thanks for the reply, I appreciate it. He is being discussed in ebudo and so far no one has offered any comment on his experience with us, just that he is a good guy and skilled.



Shorinji Kempo kenshi are concerned because of his obvious attempts to draw association with us, and inferred abilities with our system. When looking at his site it becomes apparent that he lacks understanding of some basic Shorinji Kempo philosophy. He doesn’t even know the correct name of the organization he claimed membership with. If these are lacking I have to wonder about his understanding of our techniques. Personally I’m concerned students training with him will draw association with his techniques to ours. Even If he attained Shodan in our system his technical understanding would be quite low. I also worry about the weirdness that prevails his site, and its effect on people’s perception of us. We have had a number of criticisms because of our religious ties, and the perception of cultish behaviour.



I think that he would be better served by not trying to market himself in our image. He would be better off using an American name or just a generic style name. His use of Shorinji te is incorrect grammatically "Shorinji" is the on-yomi (Chinese reading) of the kanji, and "te" is the kun-yomi (Japanese reading). This causes some degree of scepticism in others when they view this. There are many dodgy self-made styles around, and these sorts of things will effect the way others perceive him. While he has every right to market himself how he likes without breaching copyright, he perhaps should just rely on his skill and his system without trying to market himself using another arts image, and dodgy Japanese names.

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

You make some excellent points. He attained higher than shodan, and was active at the LA konko-zen for many years. I know there were some issues, as classes were conducted in Japanese as an extended function of the L.A. Japanese Cultural Center.

He will likely not look like proper Shirinji kempo, because he doesn't do proper shorinji kempo. Liked the system, but also brought a rich kumite background to his training; something that is a significant difference between shorinji & wado. I saw a summary of his video as being "Afro-centric" interpretation of his training. Not sure what that means, but he certainly does like adding gymnastics to his stuff, and "switching up" between modes of combat...one frame you're engaged with a wado-ryu combatant, and just when you think you're getting his number so you can respond effectively, he changes gears to shorinji, then jujutsu, then chikara, and so on. You never really quite get a bead on the guy, and that's the way he likes it.

He also lived in Northern California for a spell, where he trained a lot with guys from Wally Jays crowd, Fillipino arts, and some other great stuff. Shauns greatest skill is also his greatest curse: He can pick up the requirements for a system in months instead of years, and often perform them better than the teachers he gleaned them from. Bright minds get bored quick, but also see how various types of information complement each other (the strength of his eclecticism).

I went with him a few times to the temple (what a sight...a brother, a cracker, and a whole bunch of stodgy Japanese oldsters). I've known Shaun since we were both in high school together in the late seventies & early eighties (we used to slap-fight during P.E. with a guy who dated one of Parker's daughters, and trained with him at the house...ahh, the taste of bloody lips. Incidently, Shaun was the only guy who ever beat him at the hand-speed thing). He has always been one of those guys who picks up on stuff super quick, and combines that innate ability with his natural athleticism to outshine everybody else around. I also trained a few times with he and his father & their crew in their yard, and at various studios. Willard Cephas, Shauns father, is a true master with skills beyond reproach. Been in karate since a kid in Philly, and still going (longest arms you've ever seen...could grab hold of you and throw you from a distance most people can't kick you at).

Last I saw Shaun, he had also been picking up the Brazilian stuff (and doing it well, of course). I had spent about a year with the Gracies in Torrance, and another 6 months at one of Rickson's satellite schools. Shaun spent about a month rolling with one of his fathers black belts who cross-trained in BJJ...I couldn't catch shaun. Unheard of, if you were around the Gracies in the early days. Also showed him some simple chiropractic manipulations...made him all the rage with the Japanese during the therapy sessions at the end of training (seiho). Again, he was better at it than I in a very short time. And I do it for a living. He is big into the small circle theory...uses shorinji techs to engage and start the cycle, but once he has his hands on you, starts the up-down-up-down "follow-the-leader" stuff from Wally Jay.

If there is an e-mail address on his site, try messaging him with your concerns. You might not get a reply, but you also might get one. It might not be one you like, or it might be. Only way to find out...

Personally knowing Shaun, I'd rather have him with me in a fight, silly outfit with lousy Japanese grammar and all, than almost any famous, properly pedigreed martial artists you could think of. An awesome athlete; awesome fighter; good man.

Regards,

Dave.

PS -- If you raise a reply, tell him Crouch says hi.

 

[Colin_Linz]

Thanks once again for the reply. I may send him an email, a number of others on ebudo have already done this and his replies have not really addressed my concerns. This is why I sought the thoughts of others that may have had personal experience with him.

Not having done Karate I don’t understand the meaning of Kumite. So I may be missing the understanding behind his inclusion of it. If he is saying that there is no free fighting practice in Shorinji Kempo I would have to disagree strongly. Randori is a key tool used to develop application. I can’t imagine a dojo that did not use it. The extent of use will differ with individual branch masters, and the type will differ with skill level, but non-the less it is a key skill development area in Shorinji Kempo, it is included in the syllabus from early on, and is a component of most grading examinations. This carries more importance and weight as the gradings progress.

There are certainly people around that can pick things up very quickly. I’m a little sceptical of this with Shorinji Kempo because of my own experiences. I’ve been training in it for 16 years, both here and Japan. Every time I go to a study session I come away thinking that I have so much to learn and that even simple techniques like the Gyaku Gote that Shaun taught at Wally Jay’s seminar can be studied many years before a good understanding is developed.

My issue is not with his competence at self-defence. I know a few of very good fighters. But I wouldn’t want people to think that what they do is representational of Shorinji Kempo. The grammar critique was only offered as reason why people may develop the wrong impression of him. People that have studied some Japanese systems for any length of time become jaded because of the amount of people reinventing the wheel, just because of some ego issue. We often hear how people have studied something and improved it, but when you find out about it you realise they haven’t improved it, they have just not learnt it properly and have changed to something they understand better. Poor Japanese grammar is usually an indicator of this. This experience means that we have unfortunately become suspicious people.

From your post I can see that he is probably not the crazy guy living in a fantasy world that I thought of initially. I can see that he appears well respected as a person and a martial artist. I would still feel more comfortable if he would distance himself from us though.