The Makings of Potomac Kempo

It goes back to some coffee shops and cheap burger joints in Los Angeles. I used to sit around and chat with other young instructors. We were all pretty new to teaching and excited about how much people seem to benefit from Kempo.

Most students only know their own success stories but instructors get the privilege of hearing countless examples of how Kempo helps people. I heard from a student who had become so much healthier he no longer needed to take medications for his blood pressure, hypertension or cholesterol. I met a woman who almost glowed as she spoke of incapacitating a man who tried to steal her car. Another student told me that Kempo had given him the confidence to apply for — and get — a promotion that he had wanted for years. All the stories were different but the theme I kept noticing was that everyone was happier. I understood it back then but it was years before someone finally put it into simple words for me: “Kempo People are Happy People.”

So as we sat around our cheap burger joints and coffee shops (I don’t actually drink coffee, but I’m a sucker for an overpriced iced tea) we got to thinking about how much better the world would be if more people studied Kempo — better not just for themselves, but for all of the people around them. People who do Kempo are happier, more centered and have less stress, which means that everyone they bump into benefits from their happy, centered, low stress presence. We got excited when we decided that if even one in a hundred people that you met each day did Kempo the world could be just a little bit happier and a little bit better.

That is what got me excited enough to open my first studio, and each one since.

By studying Kempo you can become a more peaceful, happier and more centered person. Every day, in small ways, you can pass this happiness on to the people around you. Together we can all make the world just a little bit better.

Remember, “Kempo People are Happy People.”

Master Chris Santillo