Genealogy of Alaskan Kempo
アラスカ拳法の系譜

Alaskan Kempo begins in approximately 1958 with my father learning combatives (hand-to-hand combat) in basic training in the U.S. Army and then serving in the Alaska National Guard (1958-1966). Rising to the rank of Sergeant First Class in the infantry. He joined forces learning as he fought his friend, Stuart sensei, many times drawing blood in the fighting exchanges. Cmdr Cunningham remembers as a little boy watching the bloodfest as the conditioning was so visceral and impressionable to a young mind. He knew this was his life's path. The way of the warrior.

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In terms of lineage, everything in Alaska was learned from any source and added to our system. Old kempo was such an endeavor historically. It surely was the truth for the development of Alaskan Kempo. When looking at the whole of kempo history, what is presented here is the research to show that history is in relation to Alaskan Kempo development. It is not perfect, may have errors, and is a relational model.

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Stuart sensei taught many people over a long life, including, special trainings with his training partner, Cunningham sensei, and Cmdr Cunningham. Cunningham sensei exclusively taught Cmdr Cunningham as a private student, father to son. Cmdr Cunningham, like his father, teaches privately to law enforcement, military, and special organizations requesting his expertise. 

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When it was time to be tested to become a black belt (shodan), called "Raven," it had to be when Cmdr Cunningham was eighteen years of age. You could not be tested to shodan before this age. You had to be able to stand toe to toe with another human being and hold your own at the moment that battle is joined, just as he witnessed his father with Stuart sensei so long ago. This became the hallmark of Alaskan Kempo and everything Cmdr Cunningham did within his professional career.