There is a lot of confusion, dispute and general uneasiness in the lineage of Shaolin Kempo Karate, which is one of the reasons Shihan Seifer broke off and created Tenchi Bujutsu. Much of what is thrown around on message boards and e-mail lists these days about the origins of Shaolin Kempo are rumors, though with people such as Professor Mike Rash, KenpoJoe Rebelo, Matt Barnes and many others, these roots are finally becoming more generally known. Here we will try to get as accurate description of our styles lineage as we can:

For the PUREST Shaolin Kempo Lineage description we can get, we would have to start with Ankoh Itosu and his art of Shuri-Te.

He in turn taught Choki Motobu, who developed Nippon Motobu Ryu Kempo.

 William Kwai Sun Chow (1914 - 1987) in turn developed Chinese Kara-Ho Kempo.

From here, Grandmaster Chow taught many students; prominent among them were Edmund K. Parker (1931 - 1990)and Adriano "Nonoy" Emperado (1926 -). (Senior Grandmaster Ed Parker would later form Ed Parker's American Kenpo Karate.)

Sijo Adriano Emperado would in turn develop the art of Kajukenbo and train Victor "Sonny" Gascon. (1933 -)

It is from Sijo Gascon that we get Shaolin Kempo as we know it today, although his art is called Karazenpo Go Shinjutsu.

Sijo Gascon taught George Pesare (1937?) who in turn taught Nick Cerio (1936 - 1998).

Professor Cerio developed Cerio's Kenpo karate and among his students was Frederick J. Villari III.

Grandmaster Villari developed Villari's Shaolin Kempo Karate, and in turn taught it to Jon Fritz (9th Dan) and Mark Grupposo (8th Dan), who in turn taught Vincent Difini (3rd Dan) and Rob Whitney (4th Dan) who in turn taught Shihan Seifer in the early 90's, it should be noted that Shihan also took private lessons from Mark Grupposo and trained in T'ai Chi (and was certified as an instructor in said art) by Jon Fritz.

During this time, Shihan also trained with Sipo Chen Li (1904 - ???) in China Town Boston in 5 Animal Kung Fu, T'ai Chi Ch'uan and Shaolin Ch'uan Fa (very similar to SKK) until she decided to return to her homeland of China. From 1995 to 1998 Shihan continued his study under Master Jose Garcia (1962 - ) (now 8th Dan) in Shaolin Ch'uan Fa.

In 1999 Shihan began training in Wado-Kai Karate under Master James Obradand who's master had learned from Tatsuo Suzuki, who had learned directly from the founder of Wado-Ryu Karate-Do, Grandmaster Hironori Ohtsuka (1892 - 1992) (10th Dan)

Most recently, Shihan is continuing his training with Martial Arts historian and Master Joseph "KenpoJoe" Rebelo, and by becoming affiliated with Professor Feliciano "Kimo" Ferreira's "Kempo Jutsu-Kai International", hopes to expand the art of Tenchi Bujutsu even more.

In addition to the above-mentioned arts, Shihan Seifer has trained in the following arts:
Combat Ju-Jutsu - 2nd Degree Black Belt
5 Animal Kung Fu - Black Sash
American Kickboxing - 2nd Degree Black Belt (note: not all styles of kickboxing have ranks)

For the Tenchi Bujutsu Curriculum, please Click Here