1587: Chen Yuan-pin, later known as Chin Gempin, is born in China. He later becomes one of the last Chinese military experts to
emigrate to Japan before the country is locked down by the Tokugawa, just at a time when modern conceptions about "martial arts" were
starting to form in Japan. He was an expert in fighting systems derived from the ancient Chinese Jiao Di
1674: Chin Gempin dies
1806: Birth of Chan Heung in King Mui Village, Guangdong Province, China
1813-1825: Chan Heung begins his martial arts training under his uncle, Chan Yuen-Woo, learning Fut Gar (佛家) style, likely influenced by Shaolin
1825-1836: Chan Heung studies under Choy Fook, learning Choy Gar (蔡家) style, and Li Yau-san, learning Li Gar (李家) style
1836: Chan Heung formally establishes the Choy Lee Fut system, combining the techniques and principles learned from his three teachers
1838: Miki begins teaching in Shoyashiki, Nara, Japan
Mid-19th Century: Chan Heung begins teaching Choy Lee Fut to his disciples, including notable figures like Chan On Pak and Chan Koon Pak
1853: Commodore Matthew Perry humiliates the Tokugawa Shogunate, forcing Japan open to trade with the threat of modern warships.
The supposed superiority of the samurai class is undermined
1968 January - the Battle of Toba-Fushimi
1868: The Meiji Restoriation - Masuno Shobei is a bodyguard of Emperor Meiji
1870-1890: Birth of Tam Sam
1889: Kenwa Mabuni born in Shuri, Okinawa
1899-1901: The Boxer Rebellion
1908: Hao En Guang begins teaching Xing Yi in Japan
1910-1930: Tam Sam establishes his own school in Siu Bak (Xiao Bei), Guangdong Province
1911: Fall of the Qing Dynasty
1916: Start of the Warlord Era
1917: Kenwa Mabuni makes his first journey to teach Kempo in Japan
1927: Start of the Chinese Civil War
1928: End of the Warlord Era
1929: Kenwa Mabuni opens his Dai Nippon Kempo dojo in Osaka. However, bowing to pressure from the Japanese government he later
reluctantly changes the name to Shito Ryu Karate and formalises the system. Many of his early students continued to use the name Kempo
however. Several of Mabuni's early students from this time later founded their own Kempo systems in the Osaka area: Muneomi Sawayama changes the name Dai
Nippon Kempo to simply Nippon Kempo, the Takagi family incorporates Dai Nippon Kempo into their own highly eclectic system, and Sakagami Ryusho
popularised the government-approved Shito-Ryu system
1930: The Kansai University Karate Study Group is established in Osaka
1931: Kenichi Sawai moves to Manchuria and begins to learn from Wang Xiangzhai, a student of Guo Yunshen
1932: Sawayama Muneomi founds Nippon Kempo from Dai Nippon Kempo and influences from other arts
1937: Start of the Second Sino-Japanese War
1945: End of the Second Sino-Japanese War
1947: Kenichi Sawai returns to Japan and begins teaching a Kempo style he calls Taikiken, which is a derivation of Da Cheng Chuan, the
name that Wang Xiangzhai gave his Xing Yi-based Kempo system
1949: End of the Chinese Civil War
1952: Kenwa Mabuni dies
1954: The development of the Shin Kakutojutsu Kempo system begins as part of the effort to form the Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF). Over
the years it contiunes to grow and evolve, taking in influences from other martial arts, particularly old-school Kempo systems, Judo and
Muay Thai
1975: Damon begins training in martial arts, subsequently taking up Kempo in 1977
1985: Start of the Yama-Ichi War in Osaka - it becomes influential in the development of Kempo
1985: Damon starts learning Xing Yi under Yeoung Kote, and also begins studying a number of Osaka-based Kempo systems (his university, Stirling, had an exchange programme with Kansai University in Osaka)
1985: Shooto is founded by Satoru Sayama (a.k.a. "Tiger Mask")
1988: Damon becomes the instructor of Stirling University Karate Club, one of the oldest martial arts clubs in Scotland. He also
opens a Kempo club at the university
1989: End of the Yama-Ichi War
1989: Shooto evolves into a Mixed Martial Arts promotion, predating the UFC by 4 years
1992: Zhu Guang and Damon together found Leeds University Tai Chi Xing Yi Society
1992: Damon opens Leeds University Kempo Club
1992: Kato Eiichi becomes Damon's mentor and teacher, and remains so for the next 25 years until Kato Sensei passed away
1994: Mishima Kempo founded at the Mishima Shrine in Nara Prefecture, Japan
1994-1996: Batu Iredui, teaches Mongolian Wrestling to Damon and some of his students
1998: Damon goes to Beijing and opens a branch office of the company he worked for in those days. He begins studying under several
Chinese masters, mostly in Xing Yi, but also in some other arts
2002: Damon begins training in Choy Lee Fut under Sifu Raymond Rand
2003: Gavin begins training in Taekwondo
2011: Gavin begins training in Wing Chun
2013: Gavin begins studying Traditional Chinese Medicine
2015: Damon's students Paul Andrews and Josef Sykora found Xing Yi Academy
2025: Damon and Gavin open the Three Tigers Dojo in Newlyn East, Cornwall
