Nishi Hiei Kinkaizan Daishi Kyo temple,
where Kosho Shorei Ryu was developed, c. 1235 a.d.

Following is a history of the art of Kosho Shorei Ryu, as I, David LoPriore understand it. Much of what is written below has been corroborated by several independent sources. Some information is from only one source. Other information is my own opinion about what is most likely to have occurred based on indirectly related facts of Japanese or Kempo history, or my own personal experience. In each instance, I have sought to give the fullest, most likely explanation possible with the information available to me. If you have information you would like to share, corroborate or refute, please This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to discuss it. I am interested in the Truth.

Little is known about the development of the technical aspects of the art of Kosho Shorei Ryu itself. It is likely that, like all other long-standing lineages, various headmasters in the 23 generations of the art each have made their own contributions, some to a great degree and others to a lesser degree. But we have no knowledge at this time of who these men were or what their specific contributions might have been. Certainly 21st-generation Headmaster James Mitose Sensei was a huge contributor, bringing the art from Japan to the U.S. in 1936, and teaching it for the first time to the public in 1942. George Santana Sensei rescued the art from near certain death by studying with Mitose in the last four years before Mitose died, from 1977-1981. Bruce Juchnik Sensei also played a key role in spreading Kempo, the martial arts of Kosho Shorei Ryu. Santana Sensei continues the tradition of teaching the full art of Kosho Shorei Ryu, from the perspectives of both martial and philosophical development. And I do my part by reviving and re-integrating traditional Japanese teachings in all eight of the arts of Kosho Shorei Ryu. I teach them integrally with deep and broad internal and external martial arts of kempo, complete physician-level Japanese healing arts, authentic Japanese etiquette, terminology, philosophy, and other authentic teachings. Another unique contribution I am making is the use of acupuncture theory combined with high-level martial arts for appropriate use of what the Bubishi (an ancient Okinawan martial arts text) calls "Death Touch" points, and the use of resuscitation practices to train with these lethal techniques responsibly. To be sure, the acid tests of whether any practice of Kosho Shorei Ryu is authentic, are whether it involves all eight of the arts, and whether it is taught in the context of Kosho Shorei: "Encouragement of Diligent Self-Cultivation".

The story of Kosho Shorei Ryu must begin with a short history of the temple where the art was inspired, founded and developed. In the year 778, Shozen Daishi was born. He was so bright that he was called the "Child of God". When he was thirteen years old he decided to become a monk, so he shaved his head and began his studies of Buddhism at Yakushi temple at the foot of Mt. Ikura, in Kyushu, Japan. One day he climbed Mt. Ikura and was very impressed with the mysterious clouds over Mt. Kinkai (called "Golden Sea Mountain" because it overlooks the Sea of Japan, which glows golden in the sunlight). Eventually, he built a home there. When he was twenty-one years old he enshrined a statue of Shaka, a Buddhist deity in the house. A few years later he rebuilt the house and called it Shaka-In (Buddha's House).

Later Kanmu, the emperor of Japan, became very sick and called for the monk, who was by then a famous healer, to heal him. He was successful, and the emperor gave him the official title Shozen Daishi, which is a title of high mastery generally reserved for Samurai, and almost never given to anyone of lower social stature, such as a monk. In addition, the emperor contributed huge rice fields and a large territory to Shaka-In. He constructed a temple complex on the grounds of the present Nishi Hiei Kinkai Zan Daishi Kyo. This construction concluded around 804 a.d. Shozen Daishi died in 835, at the age of 57.

Around this time, the temple may have had close to 100 buildings in all. We know that in the year 850 Shaka-In caught fire and many of the then 75 monks' houses burned. Later, in the 1100s, fire again ravaged part of the temple area as marauders attempted to destroy it.

Around the year 1235 a monk whom twenty-first-generation Grandmaster James Mitose Sensei called his "first ancestor" sat under an old pine tree on the temple grounds meditating, and contemplating a philosophical dilemma. According to Mitose Sensei, this man was a martial arts master and a Buddhist priest studying at the temple, who found it difficult to be both. His Buddhist spiritual path taught him pacifism; his martial art taught him how to harm or even kill others. He needed a way to reconcile the apparent contradiction. He decided to meditate on this under a big old pine tree on the temple grounds. A few years earlier, legend has it that a fire in the Buddha house had forced the spirit of Shaka out of the building and into the nearby pine tree. Many monks would go there to meditate so they could be close to their inspired Teacher. After meditating there for a long time according to Mitose Sensei, the monk finally, "with the help of God", received enlightenment. He then knew that it was spiritual diligence that would be required to reconcile humanity's righteous destructive potential with his need to evolve spiritually and build character.

The monk came to an understanding of natural law which gave him a perfect method of defense and escape. He believed that True Self-defense involved no body-contact. Physically, his methods pre-postured him toward opponents in such a way as to make subsequent attacks only continue to put the attacker further and further at a disadvantage. Using his illuminated strategies, the monk could make the attacker undo his own attack, and this could be done in a way that allowed for both aggressor and defender to remain uninjured. The octagon would be used as a symbol for a method of movement in which jumping to particular angles based on timing and combative-distancing allowed strategies to be employed which confused and off-balanced the opponent without causing unnecessary harm, while gaining tactical advantage for the practitioner.

But there was much more. He also realized that cleansing his mind and body of imperfection and "the contamination of ignorance and delusion", and focusing his intention on his True Nature would be his greatest "self defense". It would make him and his students for generations to come practically unattackable. He understood the hermetic laws of attraction and repulsion, and knew that like attracts like and repels the opposite. So, becoming as peaceful, wise and serene as possible would attract only this into his life! Reforming criminals to become contributing members of society would become one of his main facets of missionary work. He and generations of his successors of headmastership developed the art of Kosho Shorei Ryu as we know it today with all of this in mind. The monk chose this name for his art to reflect its spirit and its origins. Kosho Shorei Ryu means Old Pine Tree School of Encouragement to Spiritual Diligence.

The famous Sho Chiku Bai mon, which is the Pine-Bamboo-Plum crest of Kosho Shorei Ryu, features a central octagon and is still in use today as the symbol of Kosho Shorei Ryu. The monk wore a version of this crest. Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo, our martial art, as well as all other aspects of Kosho Shorei Ryu, are based on the revelation received by the monk under that old pine tree over 750 years ago.

Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo was a separate area of Kosho Shorei Ryu which was studied only by the Sohei. The sohei were warrior monks whose job it was to protect the temple and its territory as well as to fight in wars supported by the temple. They typically wore normal monks' robes during peace time and carried a short staff known as a jo. During war time, they would wear armor under their robes, and ninja-like masks covering their faces, or adopt full armor of the type samurai wore, considering that many had been samurai before they took their vows. Their primary weapons during battle were a large halberd known as a naginata, as well as a typical Japanese long sword known as a tachi. They also were masters of kyu-jutsu (Japanese archery). The sohei of Kosho Shorei Ryu were skilled in escaping arts, controlling arts, and destructive arts, and well-schooled in the moral propriety of the use of each.

Konishi Yukinaga, left, the Christian Daimyo (note the crucifix on his chest),
and Kato Kiyomasa, right, "The Devil General"

James Mitose Sensei said that at one time there were over 400 monks living and studying at the temple. These warrior-monks were a potential threat to the political control held by Konishi Yukinaga, the Daimyo of Kyushu at the time. The Shogun had outlawed the practice of martial arts by monks to try to control their influence, but it had not worked. So, in 1588, Konishi sent 5000 samurai to destroy the temple. The approximately 400 sohei at Shaka-In were defeated by the overwhelming mass of samurai, but still somehow managed to protect some of the most precious temple artifacts, documents, and the sacred old pine tree itself. Konishi confiscated all of the temple's territory and burned down many of the monks' houses, as well as the 49 branch temples in the area.

Kata Kiyomasa

Konishi's head was later removed by perhaps one of the most famous warlords in Japanese history, Kato Kiyomasa. Kato was the Daimyo of nearby Kumamoto Castle and a very convicted Buddhist. Konishi was a Christian and had earlier gone against the samurai code of bushido by refusing to commit seppuku, ritual suicide, after being disgraced by allowing himself to be captured. He and Kato had been commanders together during the Japanese invasion of Korea years before. Kato held disdain for Konishi ever since his refusal to commit seppuku when captured, which in Kato's eyes, brought dishonor to Konishi, to himself, and to all samurai.

Thirty-two years later, the son of Kato Kiyamasa and a great samurai in his own right named Kato Tadahiro rebuilt the temple. From that time on the martial arts of Kosho Shorei Ryu and other martial arts of warrior monks, because they were deemed illegal to practice, were forced to be taught only in secret. They were taught only to family members and insiders in order to protect the precious knowledge, and continue to allow for its survival growth.

Kosho Shorei Ryu martial arts were passed on in secrecy for the next several generations until 26-year-old 21st-generation inheritor Grandmaster James Mitose brought the art to America, specifically Hawaii, in 1936. He had been born in Hawaii, but returned to train at the temple in Japan at four years old. He described learning all of the other arts of the monk along side his religious brothers, such as meditation, transcribing scriptures, healing ats of acupuncture, shiatsu and herbology, and of course philosophy. But he also stated that his "grandfather" (likely his elderly teacher, or his teacher's teacher, not a blood relative) took him aside separately for hours a day, away from the other monks, and taught him the "family secret" martial arts, which are all based on careful observation of nature, and the application of natural principles in combat. When the Japanese began imperialistic invasion of nearby China, Mitose objected and left the country, returning to Hawaii, where he was born. That was in 1936.

In 1942, after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December of 1941, Mitose Sensei decided to teach the arts for the first time in public again. He formed the "Official Self Defense Club", on Campbell street in Honolulu. By trade he made his living there as an acupuncturist and herbalist in the Kosho Shorei Ryu tradition.

Mitose Sensei stopped teaching martial arts formally in 1946, once the war was over. One motivation to do so might have been that people in the post-World-War II culture of Hawaii wanted to continue to learn destructive war arts, but he wanted to teach peace. Later, Mitose moved to California to better continue his work as a Christian Minister, and founder of the Japanese-American Friendship Society, which promoted post-war relations between the two countries.

Honorable General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Honorable Alvin M. Mitose (son of Honorable Great Grand Master), and Honorable Great Grand Master James M. Mitose. Honorable General Eisenhower was the Honorary President of the American and Japanese Goodwill and Friendship Society. Honorable Great Grand Master James M. Mitose, is Head of all Kosho-Shorei Ministers and is the Founder and President of the American and Japanese Goodwill and Friendship Society. (-source: Eisenhower Library)

Then tragedy struck, Mitose Sensei was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and sent to prison. His only mainland student, a man named Terry Lee (who later changed his name to Hassan Namir), killed two elderly people who owed Mitose Sensei money. In the time of the Charles Manson murders, it was all painted like another cult-conspiracy, Mitose Sensei took compassionate responsibility for his student's foolish actions. He was sent to prison for life. Terry Lee served only three years and was released! A saintly man to all who knew him, even in the hard core environment of Folsom State Prison, Mitose Sensei should never have been there. Interviews with the warden himself have revealed that even he fully trusted Mitose Sensei's character. He let Mitose have "full run of the place", and even employed him as his personal gardener.

When asked why Mitose Sensei was kept in prison for so long then, the warden simply replied that it was out of his hands, and that state authorities kept refusing parole for political reasons. It is now believed that Mitose Sensei may have been a double agent working against the Japanese during World War II, and the powerful Japanese political lobby at the end of his life used its clout to keep him incarcerated! Things are not always what they seem, and sometimes the truth is more strange and unbelievable than what would seem to be more likely. What if Mitose Sensei was truly a sagely man, who did the right thing for the right reasons through-out his whole life, even if it ended up sending him to prison for the remainder of his old age? Would an enlightened Kosho Shorei master object to his destiny concluding in this place, where he could follow the Kosho Shorei tradition of reforming criminals?

From prison, it was unlikely Mitose Sensei could teach anyone the art, or pass on the precious secrets of Kosho Shore Ryu. For a time, he must have thought that the then-21-generation-old art would die with him there. But then in 1977, a prison guard, who was also a martial artist named George Santana took a great interest in Mitose Sensei's art. They became close, and Mitose Sensei eventually asked Santana Sensei to publish his manuscript, explaining the deep spiritual and martial significance of the art. But Santana could not do so because of his employment- as a guard he could have no relationship with an inmate. So he introduced his martial arts teacher to Mitose Sensei, Bruce Juchnik. Mitose was in prison for a crime a student of his committed, which he took responsibility for. Santana Sensei knew he was a good man. Santana practiced the arts he learned from Mitose privately because, as a prison guard, he could have no official relationship with Mitose Sensei.

George Santana Sensei and David LoPriore Sensei, in 1998

Santana Sensei retired from the California Department of Corrrections in 2006, and is now able to actively teach Kosho Shorei Ryu as Mitose Sensei wanted. Mitose had directed Juchnik Sensei to learn the Eight Arts of Kosho Shorei Ryu as best he could. Much more interested in the martial arts, Juchnik practices and teaches what he calls "Kosho Ryu Kempo", which is almost exclusively the martial aspects of Kosho Shorei Ryu. As a martial artist, he is a very talented practitioner.