Kenpo . . . (literally "Fist Law") is a Chinese/Japanese martial art emphasizing practical self defense and logical flowing efficient motion. Kenpo fighting methods include soft circular and hard linear movements, hand strikes, kicks, throws, joint locks, and attacks to vital points of the human anatomy. Originating in China, the system was transplanted to Japan around 1200 A.D. where it became the family jujutsu system of the samurai Yoshida clan. A Yoshida descendant, James Mitose, brought the art to the Hawaiian islands, where it was first taught to non-family members in the 1940s. One of the first of Mitoses students to achieve black belt rank was the legendary William K.S. Chow. Chow taught native Hawaiian Edmund Kealoha Parker, who was the man responsible for bringing Kenpo to the continental United States in the early 1950s. Three of Parkers earliest students were the Tracy brothers, Al, Will, and Jim. Al and Jim Tracy received black belt rank from Ed Parker in 1962. Will Tracy had already received his black belt directly from William Chow in 1961. The brothers founded the Tracys system of Kenpo in the early 1960s. Smiling Tiger instructor Jerry Samuelson has been a personal student of Grandmaster Al Tracy since 1979.

Jerry Samuelson today ...and in 1989 with Al Tracy