Shurite Kempo: Life Protection
Hard Style Karate
From Grandmaster Gary Music
Shurite Kempo is not a sport—and it is not simply a style.
It is a method of life protection practiced by martial artists from primarily hard-style systems who share a common understanding:
Kata is not choreography. It is application.
This approach has been developed and refined over more than four decades.
I began my training in traditional Japanese and Korean karate systems, including Taekwondo and Hapkido. In 1981, as a second-degree black belt, I became the senior student under Sensei Stan Hart.
What he showed me changed everything.
Sensei Hart taught a completely different way of understanding kata—not as performance, but as a functional method of defense.
A system where:
-
The attacker initiates
-
The defender responds
-
Control is established immediately
A system based on life protection—not fighting.
We were influenced by several Okinawan Kempo instructors, though we were never formal members of their organizations. This is out of respect for both those instructors and Sensei Hart.
The foundation of Shurite Kempo, however, comes from the work of Sensei Stan Hart.
He continued to refine and develop this method throughout his life, and in my experience, his level of skill and understanding went beyond those who influenced him.
He was open-minded, willing to think beyond convention, and dedicated to training until his passing in 2007.