The term Kempo is amongst the most difficult of martial arts terms to describe accurately, but for the sake of posterity we will attempt to do so here.

The most commonly accepted translations for the term Kempo are "Fist Law" "Law Of The Fist" or "Path Of The Controlled Hand" and are used to describe a multitude of divergent martial arts each with a portion of shared lineage or combative methodology. Some Chinese and Japanese enthusiasts describe Kempo as Chinese or Japanese Boxing respectively, however the term Boxing in modern uses is by no means an accurate one. Traditional Kempo uses numerous methods of punching as well as rakes, gouges, finger strikes, elbow strikes, forearm strikes, kicks, stamps, knee strikes as well as a number of locks, throws and trips.

The vast majority of what are now referred to as Kempo systems were introduced to the western world by Japanese immigrants prior to the Second World War. The Japanese arts of Kempo were an ancient hybridisation of Chinese Chuan Fa systems and native Japanese fighting methods joined centuries earlier. Interestingly the Chinese arts of Quan Fa were themselves also an ancient hybridisation; mixing ancient Indian fighting methods with the native Chinese martial arts.