■April 03, 2015
Events of the 40th Anniversary of Shorinji Kempo in the UK – London, 2014
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With the generous support of the Japanese Embassy, an event commemorating the 40th anniversary of the UK Shorinji Kempo Federation was recently held over two beautiful days in London (August 2nd and 3rd, 2014). The UK Shorinji Kempo Federation, whose first branch was established by Toshiaki Yoshida in 1974, turned forty this year. |
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As part of the celebrations, a 2-hour demonstration has held at the Shaw Theatre (100-110 Euston Rd, London NW1 2AJ). Bonds of friendship were formed as over 100 members and spectators from seven countries took part in the various study sessions and celebratory events which were held in conjunction with the demonstration. |
 Mr. Hideki Asari,Envoy from the Embassy of Japan in the UK |
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‘As part of the 40th anniversary commemorative celebrations, we weredelighted that a ‘This Is Shorinji Kempo’, a hardback book providing a comprehensive guide to Shorinji Kempo, was published in the UK. The book is available from all good bookstores and the purchases at the event showed the book to be very popular with both members of the public and Shorinji Kempo members who attended.’ |
Shorinji Kempo was founded in 1947 in Japan, when the Japanese citizen Doshin So drew on his studies of martial arts in China and envisioned it as a “gyo for nurturing people”. Shorinji Kempo is a unique defensive martial art whose methods employ a re-envisioning of Japanese martial arts and Chinese martial arts Shorinji Kempo, one of
the 9 member organizations that make up the Japanese Budo Association, is currently practiced by over 1.8 million members in 37 countries.
Shorinji Kempo focuses not just on the improvement of technique, but on the nurturing of the individual.
One unique aspect of Shorinji Kempo is that its instructors, rather than being full time, provide their instruction
above and beyond their day-to-day jobs. It is the federationfs hope that Shorinji Kempo continues to find success in the UK.
