Kempo has been appropriated as a modern term: A name for multiple martial
arts that developed in Hawaii due to cross-cultural exchange between
practitioners of Okinawan, Chinese, and Japanese martial arts.
Several other styles have added elements to Kempo over the years.
In the United States Kempo is often referred to as Kempo/Kenpo Karate.
The most widespread styles have their origin in the teachings
of James Mitose and William Kwai Sun Chow.
This lineage also includes Kajukenbo, an art that does not use the
Kempo name itself, but which possesses recognized offshoots that do.
These arts have spread around the world through multiple lineages.
Kempo employs evasive movements, linear and circular movements with a
signature "rapid fire" combination of strikes to vital areas of the body.