Kempo is a traditional martial art with a strong emphasis on practical self-defence. Rather than specialising in a single aspect of fighting or training primarily for competition, you will develop skills across the major elements of unarmed combat.
This article provides a brief overview of the different categories of techniques you will encounter as you progress through your training. Don’t worry about understanding every detail at this stage—your instructors will introduce each area gradually through the curriculum.
Training begins with simple, fundamental movements before progressing to more advanced applications. As your experience grows, you will learn not only how to perform techniques, but also when and why they should be used.
Striking
Striking techniques include punches, kicks, open-hand strikes, knees and elbows.
Initially, you will learn striking primarily in the context of practical self-defence. Particular emphasis is placed on simple, reliable techniques that can be delivered quickly and efficiently against vulnerable targets. Open-hand strikes, knees and elbows are especially valuable at the close ranges often encountered in self-defence situations.
As your skills develop, you will learn combinations, counter-attacks, close-range striking and how to integrate strikes naturally with other techniques.
Throws and Takedowns
Throws and takedowns allow you to unbalance an opponent and bring them to the ground under control.
Initially, these techniques are introduced mainly as responses to common grabs, holds and chokes, or as natural follow-ups to effective striking techniques.
As your understanding develops, you will learn a wider variety of throwing methods together with the principles of balance, timing, positioning and body mechanics that make them effective.
Finishing Holds
Finishing holds include joint locks, chokes and strangles. In sporting martial arts these techniques are often referred to as submissions.
Joint locks can be applied to many of the body’s joints, although your early training will focus mainly on techniques affecting the wrist, elbow and shoulder.
Chokes generally fall into two broad categories. Air chokes apply pressure to the windpipe, while blood chokes (also known as strangles) restrict blood flow through the major arteries of the neck.
Initially, finishing holds are taught primarily as part of escaping grabs and holds, or as a natural continuation of a successful takedown. The aim is not to voluntarily enter prolonged entanglements on the ground, but to understand how these techniques can be applied effectively and safely when appropriate.
Defence and Control
Perhaps the least obvious, but arguably the most important, category of techniques involves defence and control.
These include blocking, parrying, redirection, positioning, controlling an opponent’s limbs, creating angles and managing distance.
Rather than simply stopping an attack, these techniques are designed to place you in a more advantageous position from which you can safely disengage or apply strikes, throws or finishing holds.
As your experience grows, you will begin to appreciate that good self-defence is often determined not by the final technique, but by the quality of the positioning and control that precedes it.
Putting It All Together
Although these categories are described separately, they are not intended to be used in isolation.
A strike may create the opportunity for a throw. A throw may naturally lead to a finishing hold. A defensive movement may become a counter-strike or an escape.
One of Kempo’s defining characteristics is the way these different elements are combined into a single, adaptable system. As your understanding develops, you will learn to move naturally between striking, throwing, controlling and finishing techniques, selecting the most appropriate response according to the situation rather than relying on a fixed sequence of movements.
Ultimately, the goal is not simply to learn a collection of techniques, but to develop the judgement, adaptability and technical understanding needed to apply them effectively in practical self-defence.
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