ShorinjiKempo is a Japanese martial art. It is the practice method for a philosophy known as Kongo Zen. The art was founded in 1947 by Doshin So (known to us as Kaiso, meaning "the Founder"; photo at left). Kaiso studied martial arts in China for 17 years before and during World War Two. In time he was designated by his Chinese master, Wen Taizong, as the 21st-generation head master of a style known in Japanese as Kita Shorin Giwamon Ken (Northern Shaolin Giwamon Fist).

After witnessing the moral devastation of war in his home country, Japan, Kaiso had an epiphany that he expressed in a famous utterance, "The person, the person; everything depends on the quality of the person!" Kaiso dedicated himself thenceforth to the education of individuals who would be spiritually and physically fit enough to build a better world--ideally, a perfect world. But how would he do it? What would be a suitable method?

At the Shaolin Temple in Henan, China, Kaiso was moved by a mural depicting Chinese and Indian monks smiling as they together practice martial arts. He worked hard to see that scene reproduced by ordinary people.