The name Okinawa Kenpo in Chinese / Japanese...

沖縄拳法 is the title for Okinawan Kenpo/Kempo in Japanese Kanji.

アメリカン拳法 is the most common name for American Kenpo or American Kempo in Japanese.

You may also see this as アメリカ拳法 (dropping the “ン” or “N” sound from American) or 米国拳法 (uses the older Japanese name for America as “Rice Country” along with Kenpō).

Note: Because this selection contains some special Japanese Katakana characters, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

沖縄/沖繩 is the title for Okinawa prefecture of Japan.

Note: The second Japanese Kanji is a variant of the original Chinese character which looks like the image shown to the right. Other than that, this is how to write Okinawa in Chinese as well.

沖縄空手 is the title for Okinawa Karate.

日本拳法 is the title for Nippon Kempo, Japanese Kempo, Nihon Kempo, or Nippon Kenpo.

While Kempo or Kenpo is already a Japanese term, this has the word “Japan” (Nippon) to drive home the fact that this refers to the Japanese martial art of Kenpo.

沖縄剛柔流空手道 is the title of the Okinawa Goju-Ryu Karate-Do school of martial arts.

少林寺拳法 is a specific type of martial art in Japan that claims origins in the Kung Fu practiced in the original Shaolin Monastery of China.

The first three characters mean “Shaolin Monastery,” and you might notice the Japanese is pronounced in a very similar way. The reason is, many words were “borrowed” from the original Chinese when Japan did not have a written language and simply absorbed Chinese characters into their language around the 5th century. When a Japanese word did not exist, the Chinese pronunciation was often absorbed as well as the written form.

The last two characters mean “fist law” or “method of the fist.” It has long been argued as to whether the Japanese for these characters should be Romanized as “kempo” or “kenpo.” The official method should be “kenpou” but it's common to drop the “u” that comes after the “o.”

I imagine if you are looking for this title, you already know what it means, so the above is simply extra information that a student of Shorinji Kempo might want to know.

The first two characters mean “fist law” which is Romanized from Japanese as “Kenpo” or “Kempo.”

The last two are a secondary way to express “karate.”

Notes:
The more common way to express “karate” is literally “empty hand” (meaning “without weapons in your hand”). This version would be translated literally as “Tang hand” (as in the Tang Dynasty) or “China hand” (sometimes “Tang” means “China” in Japanese). Even though the character for “Tang” is used instead of “empty,” it's still pronounced “kara-te” in Japanese.

拳法唐手 is not commonly used in China - so please consider it to be a Japanese-only title.

Many Japanese people will say the last two Kanji are the old and antiquated way of saying Karate. This fact does not stop this title from existing, as these four characters are often seen in Kenpo / Kempo Dojos around the western world.

拳法 is a form of martial arts that can be translated in several ways.

Some will call it “fist principles,” “the way of the fist,” or even “law of the fist.” The first character literally means fist. The second can mean law, method, way, principle, or Buddhist teaching.

Kempo is really a potluck of martial arts. Often a combination of Chinese martial arts such as Shaolin Kung Fu with Japanese martial arts such as Karate, Jujutsu (Jujitsu), Aikido, and others. You may see the term “Kempo Karate,” which basically means Karate with other disciplines added. In this way, Kempo becomes an adjective rather than a title or school of martial arts.

These facts will long be argued by various masters and students of Kempo. Even the argument as to whether it should be spelled “kenpo” or “Kempo” ensues at dojos around the world (the correct Romaji should actually be “kenpou” if you precisely follow the rules).

The benefit of Kempo is that the techniques are easier to learn and master than pure Kung Fu (wu shu). Students are often taught basic Karate moves, kicks, and punches before augmenting the basic skills with complex Kung Fu techniques. This allows students of Kempo to achieve a level where they can defend themselves or fight in a relatively short amount of time (a few years rather than a decade or more).

Because the definition of this word is so fluid, I should make some notes here:

1. Purists in Okinawa will claim that “Okinawa Kenpo” or “Ryukyu Hon Kenpo” is the original and true version of this martial art from the old kingdom. It is actually little or no connection between Okinawa Kenpo and the way the word is used elsewhere.

2. In Chinese, where these characters are pronounced “quan fa” (sometimes Romanized as “chuan fa” because the Chinese-pinyin “q” actually sounds like an English “ch” sound), these characters do not hold the connotation of being a mixed martial art. It is simply defined as “the law of the fist.”

3. My Japanese dictionary oddly defines Kenpo as the “Chinese art of self-defense.” I personally don't feel this is the most common way that people perceive the word but just something you should know.

琉球 refers to the Ryukyu (Ryūkyū) Islands which include Okinawa and are located between Japan and Taiwan.

This can also refer to the Ryukyu kingdom of old Okinawa. Ryukyu is also used in martial arts terms for styles with origins in Okinawa.

白鶴拳法 means White Crane Kenpo.

This can be romanized as Hakutsuru Kempo or Hakkaku Kenpō in Japanese.

沖縄剛柔館 is the martial arts style Okinawan Gojukan or Okinawan Goju-Kan.

The meaning is “Okinawa hardness [and] softness hall.”

沖縄 = Okinawa.
剛 = Hard, firm, or strong.
柔 = Soft, softness, flexible, supple, yielding, gentleness, or pliant.
館 = Hall, building, school room, or an alternate word for a dojo.

沖縄古武道 is the title for Okinawa Kobudō.

少林流 is the Japanese martial arts title “Shorin-ryu.”

Though the first part of the title comes from the Shaolin (small forest) monks of China.
In Japan, this refers to the Okinawa School of Karate.

Note that often in Japanese, the first Kanji of this title was changed to the version shown to the right. If you prefer this version, please click on the Kanji to the right instead of the button above.

なんくるない or nankurunai is an Okinawan word, written in Japanese that means “Don't worry, be happy.”

沖縄/Okinawa and/or the 琉球/Ryūkyū Islands have a more laid-back “island style” approach to life. So the nankurunai idea is a perfect match for that lifestyle.

Note: Because this title is entirely Japanese Hiragana, it should be written by a Japanese calligrapher.

砕破 is the title “Saifa” written in Japanese Kanji. This literally means “smash and tear.” Like most styles of martial arts, Saifa has origins in China. It was Higashionna that brought Saifa to Okinawa.

Saifa is generally associated with Gōjū-ryū as a title for a kata.

Notes: While Saifa is often written as 砕破, it can also be written 碎破 (just a variation on the first Kanji). Sometimes written in Japanese Katakana as サイハ.

少林寺流 is the Japanese martial arts title “Shorin-ji-ryu.”

Though the first part of the title comes from the Shaolin temple in China. In Japan, this refers to an Okinawa school of karate.

Note: Sometimes, this title is written without the “ji” or “temple” Kanji.

一心流空手道 is the full title for Isshin-Ryu Karate-Do.

The literal meaning is “one heart method empty hand way.”

There are other ways to translate this, but if you are looking for this title, you already know that.

This would make a great wall scroll for your dojo or private studio if you study this form of Japanese (technically from Okinawa) Karate.

Because this is a specifically-Japanese title, I strongly recommend that you select our Japanese Master Calligrapher to create this artwork.

空手拳法 is the Kanji title for Kempo Karate.

The first two characters mean “karate” - technically they express “empty hand.”

The last two express “fist law” which is Romanized from Japanese as “Kenpo” or “Kempo.”

That “empty hand” translation can be understood better when you grasp the idea that karate is a martial art without weapons (other than the weapons organic to your body, such as your foot, hand, fist, etc). When you practice karate, you do so with empty hands (no weapons).

Note: There is also an antiquated way to write karate. It has the same pronunciation but a different first character which means “Tang” as in the Tang Dynasty. Some dojos use that form - let us know if you need that alternate form, and we'll add it.

Taidō (The Way of the Body) is a style of Karate practiced in Japan and popular worldwide.

Taidō or 躰道 traces a lineage from Genseiryū (玄制流), which came from Shuri-te (首里手), one of the original martial arts schools of ancient Okinawa.

The first character 躰 is a variant of the original Chinese character 體. In modern Japan, they tend to use 体, a more simple character form. 体 is also the modern Simplified Chinese form of 體.
The 躰 character is correct for this 躰道 martial arts title. But it can be confusing with so many variants out there, not to mention other homophonic Japanese words that also romanize as Taidō or Taidou.

To have a bit more fun with this 躰 character, it has a 身 radical on the left, which sets it apart. The meaning doubles up on the “body” as 身 (shin) is a character that also means body in Japanese and Chinese. On the right is 本, which often means root, stem, origin, source, or fundamental (but can also mean “book” in some contexts). This has deviated from the original 體 which was 骨 (bone) + 豊 (vessel). Hence, the body was your “bone vessel” in ancient Asia.

The meaning of 躰, as well as 體 and 体, is usually translated as the body. When related to the physical body, it can also refer to the torso, trunk, build, physique, or the constitution of a person. As an extension of this, it can also refer to someone's health (good body = good health).
However, depending on the context, it can encompass other meanings such as form, style, system, experience, aspect, corpus, corporeal, substance, or essentials.

The second character, 道, is recognized and well-known as the “Way” and is the same “do” as in Karate-do or Aikido.