About our Certificates

Wording: This is to certify that (space for name) having met all requirements and demonstrating high proficiency in prescribed techniques as the result of an examination completed in accordance with the rules and regulations as set forth by this dojo is hereby awarded the rank of (space for rank/title) We expect this student to continue a diligent study of the art. Good for both Kyu and Dan ranks.

PDF fillable certificates enables you to easily fill your students name, rank, date and your school name, your name, rank, and title and print them out on your computer with the free version of Adobe Reader.

Please note: All rights reserved: Not for Sale or Comercial Distribution. Unauthorized use prohibited

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The Unique Artistic Value of the Martial Arts Certificates

A certificate of achievement in the United States is seldom ornate. Centered in the certificate will be the primary information, like the awarding organization, the name of the recipient and the achievement for which he is being presented a certificate. It is something to be proud of, but certainly not a work of art.

In the case of martial arts certificates, however, you will find something very different. Each time a student of the Asian martial arts passes a rank, he or she is presented with certificate. Rank certificates are custom created in Asian calligraphy. Great pride is taken in the unique artistic nature of each certificate, and no two are alike.

In fact, these martial arts certificates can be considered works of art. Each certificate is an originally created document, with relevant information written in calligraphy, often with Asian style artwork as a border or accent. This may be a dragon, or a temple, or some other depiction common in Asian art.

While rank certificates are all unique from one another certain pertinent information will be included on each one. These include a statement that it is, in fact, a certificate; the school seal, which will be unique to that student's martial arts school; the student's name and the rank achieved; a statement certifying that the student has passed the test necessary to advance; the date; the issuing authority, which is often the school; and the seal of the one or more instructors involved.

Writing on rank certificates is vertical and starts in the upper right hand corner. The artwork used as a border or as a corner accent is used at the discretion of the creator. There are agencies available who specialize in creating these martial arts certificates. It is their one-of-a-kind nature that makes them valued by aficionados and collectors.

American Kenpo or Kenpo Karate is a system of martial arts created by Ed Parker, characterized by the use of quick moves in rapid-fire succession intended to overwhelm an opponent. It is largely marketed as a self-defense system, and is derived from traditional Japanese martial art and other martial arts such as Southern Chinese kung fu found in the cultural melting pot of Hawaii.

Parker introduced significant modifications in his art, including principles, theories, and concepts of motion as well as terminology, throughout his life. He left behind a large number of instructors who teach many different versions of American Kenpo as Ed Parker died before he named a successor to his art.

The modern history of American Kenpo began in the 1940s, when Great Grandmaster James Mitose (1916-1981) started teaching his ancestral Japanese martial art, Kosho-Ryu Kenpo, in Hawaii. Mitose's art, later called Kenpo Jiu-Jitsu, traditionally traces its origin to Shaolin Kung Fu and Bodhidharma.  Kenpo Jiu-Jitsu emphasizes punching, striking, kicking, locking, and throwing. Mitose's art was very linear, lacking the circular motions in American Kenpo.

William K. S. Chow studied Kenpo under James Mitose, eventually earning a first-degree black belt. He had also studied Chinese Kung Fu from his father. Chow began teaching an art, which he called Kenpo Karate, that blended the circular movements he had learned from his father with the system he had learned from Mitose. Chow experimented and modified his art, adapting it to meet the needs of American students.

Ed Parker learned Kenpo Karate from William Chow, eventually earning a black belt, though Chow was later to claim Parker had only earned a purple belt. Others have claimed Parker had only earned a brown belt from Chow, possibly because this was his rank when he started teaching in Utah in 1955. Al Tracy claims that Chow promoted Parker to sandan (3rd-degree black belt) in December 1961.

The system known as American Kenpo was developed by Ed Parker as a successor to Chow's art. Parker revised older methods to work in modern day fighting scenarios. He heavily restructured American Kenpo's forms and techniques during this period. He moved away from methods that were recognizably descended from other arts (such as forms that were familiar within Hung Gar) and established a more definitive relationship between forms and the self-defense technique curriculum of American Kenpo. Parker also eschewed esoteric Eastern concepts (e.g. qi) and sought to express the art in terms of scientific principles and western metaphors.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia