The modern history of Kenpo America began in the 1940s, when James Mitose (1916-1981) began teaching the martial Backlink Profile arts of the Japanese ancestor, Kosho-Ryu Kenpo, in Hawaii. Mitose's martial art, later called Kenpo Jiu-Jitsu, traces its origins to Shaolin kung fu and Bodhidharma. Kenpo Jiu-Jitsu emphasizes punching, punching, kicking, locking, and throwing.
William KS Chow studied Kenpo under James Mitose, finally got a first-rate black belt, and also learned Chinese kung fufrom his father. Chow finally taught the art, which he called Kenpo Karate, which mixed circular movements which he learned from his father by combining it with the system he learned from Mitose. [Chow experimented and modified art, adapting to meet the needs of American students.
Ed Parker learned Kenpo Karate from Chow, finally getting a black belt, Parker initially called the art of Kenpo Jujitsu. He began teaching other Hawaiian Islands and at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah in 1954. In 1956, he taught commercially in Provo. Late in 1956, he opened a studio in Pasadena, California. He published a book on the martial arts system in the early 1960s, and this influenced
many of the kenpo martial arts in Japan including the use of linear and circular movements, "focus" techniques and key jiu-jitsu-style, holding, and throwing. When Parker improved the content of the Chinese martial arts system, he began to refer to the art as "Chinese Kenpo". Based on this influence he wrote The Secret of Chinese Karate, which was published in 1963.