Is Shorinji Kempo effective?

A question we are sometimes asked: is Shorinji Kempo effective?

That’s an interesting question, and deserves an interesting answer. But first, we need to define the question a bit better.

Effective at what?

Is Shorinji Kempo good for self defence? Getting or keeping you fit? Will you develop confidence doing Shorinji Kempo? Will your ability to concentrate increase? Is it effective at making friends?

What you get out of training in Shorinji Kempo (any martial art really) will depend to a certain extent what your goals are going in.

Healthy Mind

Shorinji Kempo, like all martial arts, takes concentration and dedication to learn. You can’t turn up to one or two classes and expect to become Bruce Lee overnight.

But that very difficulty is also one of the benefits.

Practice your focus and dedication in one area of your life and you’ll soon find that it spills over into others. You’ll find it easier to focus on other things. You won’t give up every time you encounter a tiny difficulty, but instead will push through and keep trying until you succeed.

Not only that, but knowing that you have the ability to do this, to make progress in a difficult skill, will increase your confidence in many situations.

Someone yelling at you? That happens in the dojo, it’s not that bad. And what if they get violent? People have punched you before, you can cope with that. (Of course, better to talk them down, but if they did throw a punch at least you’ve been practicing your dodging skills!)

On a personal note, I have definitely seen confidence spill over into other areas of my life. Especially since I started teaching, but even before that – my ability to stand in front of a room of people and talk, or walk into a new pub on my own, or any number of other things. When I was younger I was the type of person who would deliberately arrive at the pub late because I didn’t want to be the first one there and have to stand on my own looking awkward waiting for my friends. Not a problem these days!

Healthy Body

Is Shorinji Kempo good exercise? Will it keep you fit?

Yes.

Simple answer there. Let’s break it down a little.

If you’re looking for two hours of full-throttle, hard cardio with no breaks, you’re going to be disappointed. But if you’re looking for a full-body workout that hits all the functional movements without killing you, you’re in luck.

We do cardio (lots of moving around when you’re fighting!), and twisting and bending and pushing and pulling. We do flexibility (not enough to make you do the splits, but enough to be a human doing normal human movements without trouble). We do strength – again, not enough to win any power lifting competitions, but a sensible amount for a normal healthy body.

But what if you’re not already fit?

One of Shorinji Kempo’s philosophies is that everyone should train to their own level. That means level of experience, but also level of fitness, level of physical and mental health, and so on.

If you’re young and fit, and having a great day – train hard. Do more repetitions of the movements, keep going longer before taking a break, be faster and more precise.

If you’re not so fit, or are injured, or are tired, go slightly slower. Concentrate on your form and be precise even if you only do half as many punches or kicks as others in the class.

If you’re having a bad day, or a bad month (we’ve all been there), use your time in the dojo to escape from it. Concentrate with all your mind on the class so you don’t have space to worry about anything else.

And yes, I know I just talked about healthy mind in the healthy body section of this article, but mind and body are really the same thing, so I have no regrets.

Self Defence

Ok, so if self defence is defending yourself, the obvious question is “defending yourself against what?”. Who or what are you likely to be fighting?

Are you a lion tamer? Kempo doesn’t have many techniques for defences against lions, but I’m sure you could apply the principles and come up with something sensible.

Do you live in a dodgy area and are constantly being mugged? We’ve got a few things to help you (but remember how I said two lessons won’t make you Bruce Lee?).

Physical defence techniques are obviously a large part of martial arts training, and Shorinji Kempo techniques are designed to be very applicable in self defence situations. Non-lethal but effective.

There’s also the confidence aspect – people who walk with confidence and pay attention to their surroundings are less likely to be victims of random crime (because most petty street thieves are actually cowards and will always go for the easiest option).

Even if you don’t ever expect to get into a fight in “real life”, we can still help you with self defence. Improved balance so you don’t fall over. How to fall safely so that if you do trip you don’t hurt yourself. Situational awareness so you can avoid getting into dodgy situations. These are all important aspects of looking after yourself.

Community

Meeting people who share your interests is a good way of making new friends, and if you’re interested in martial arts then you can be reasonably certain to find people who share your interest at a Shorinji Kempo class!

Even if you’re actually just in it for the exercise, you’ll find that as a general rule Shorinji Kempo students are pleasant people to be around. We’re diverse, inclusive, and welcoming. You’re bound to find someone you get on with!