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Shorinji kempo (少林寺拳法) is a martial art form of Kempo was invented by Doshin So (宗 道臣, 1911-1980) in 1947, who incorporated Japanese Zen Buddhism into the fighting style. This form of Kempo literally can be both a religion and a fighting form at the same time much like Shaolin Kung Fu from which it borrows part of its "brand name". It could be seen as a combination of Karate, Judo, Aikido built on Kung Fu framework, except that this art has no killing moves because of its respect for life. It is a form of Kempo that tries to get its practitioners to move through life doing minimal damage whenever possible.
Three objectives form the basis of its study:
A set of principles guides the practitioner in study. The true meaning (which goes deeper than their "obvious" and quite trivial one) comes with time and practice to become the student's life principles. Among those are "Love and Strength Stand Together" and "Body and Mind are the Same".
Shorinji Kempo's training emphasizes cooperation and is almost exempt of the bias that competition brings - turning martial arts into sports. Shorinji Kempo competition relies on paired demonstrations called embu where the accuracy, the rhythm, and the realism are noted and compared (with something like "technical" and "artistic" marks, as in gymnastics or ice skating).
Shorinji Kempo has grown into a popular artform in Japan, US and some European and Asian countries.
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