The American Kenpo foundation is based on the pricible of disabling opponents quickly, allowing the defender to deal with multiple attackers at once. It is mainly a street-fighting style, but it still has ties and is influenced by traditional Chinese martial arts.

American Kenpo, founded by Ed Parker, officially took on its new title in the early ‘80s. Before this, it was usually referred to as Kenpo Karate, Chinese Kenpo or Parker Kenpo.

 After studying Chinese styles and styles from his native Hawaii, he eventually decided that a more practicle form of self-defense was needed. After testing supposedly sound self-defense theories, he realized much of what he had been taught would be usless in a true fighting situation. He set about creating a more dynamic style, based as closely as possible to true fighting encounters. He pulled as much useful information from existing styles as possible, and invented items when needed.