Foundation
The British Shorinji Kempo Federation (BSKF) is a non-profit organisation run entirely on the free time of its members. It was established in 1974 by its Chief Instructor, Sensei Mizuno, 8th Dan (Sei-Hanshi), and serves to promote and administer the practice of Shorinji Kempo in the UK.
As well as Chief Instructor, Sensei Mizuno's responsibilities include Board Director, Public Relations Officer and Official Examiner of the World Shorinji Kempo Organisation.
Sensei Mizuno's efforts to promote the aims and objectives of Shorinji Kempo in the UK were rewarded recently by the Japanese Ambassador to the UK, Sadayuki Hayashi. On November 16, 2000 Sensei Mizuno was awarded a "Year 2000 Ambassador's Commendation" at the Japanese Embassy. The award was made in recognition of his achievements through many years of effort toward Japanese-British friendship. Sensei Mizuno was one of eight people honoured at the event, but Shorinji Kempo was the only martial arts organisation recognised.
Whilst attending the BSKF 25th anniversary celebrations in July 1999, the Ambassador said, "It would seem that people from most fields could benefit from the important lessons of mutual co-operation enshrined as fundamental principles of Shorinji Kempo."
Affiliation
The BSKF is a fully recognised national federation within the World Shorinji Kempo Organisation (WSKO) established by the Founder, Doshin So, in 1974 following the foundation of the Kongo Zen Sohonzan and the Japan Shorinji Kempo Federation.
From its seat in the Shorinji Kempo headquarters in Tadostsu, Japan, WSKO establishes the standards for and oversees the transmission of the technical and philosophical teachings and traditions of Kongo Zen and Shorinji Kempo.
Through the WSKO Constitution, the various national federations throughout the world are charged with the responsibility for overseeing the local promotion and administration of activities in their home countries.
Individual membership of WSKO is obtained via branch and national federation. Each individual's training record is maintained by WSKO and advancement through the grades, whilst conducted by local WSKO authorised examiners (up to the level of 3rd dan) must be approved by WSKO.
WSKO offers a range of regular training seminars at Shorinji Kempo Headquarters, which are open to individual members via branch/national federation introduction and organises a quadrennial international seminar and convention. National federations also benefit from the participation of full time WSKO instructors who are regularly despatched to take part in local seminars throughout the world.
In addition to operating a full time Shorinji Kempo academy, in keeping with the primarily educational aims and objectives of the organisation Shorinji Kempo Headquarters is also a state recognised educational establishment offering general curriculum high school education.
Important:
Despite the fact that "Shorinji Kempo" and the Soen symbol are internationally registered trademarks of WSKO, thanks to the generic aspects of the name, a number of martial arts styles use either Shorinji or Kempo in their title. Some even make reference to the teachings of Doshin So as being in someway associated with their own practice whilst in reality they teach something entirely different. It should be clearly understood that no such associations exist and the only true source of Shorinji Kempo instruction is that available through recognised branches and federations.
Should you be in any doubt, a complete list of all WSKO recognised branches and national federations is available from the WSKO web site. However, if the particular branch you are interested in is not listed, it may be a probationary branch affiliated to a recognised branch. In such cases the instructor should be able to provide details. If you are in any doubt, please contact us.
You can get in touch by email at
BSKF
