Shorinji Kempo is something more then just martial techniques, it is a practice for both body and mind (see more on the pages of the special characteristics of Shorinjikempo).

The technical part contains of three main parts. These are:

Gōhō 剛法, or hard methods, that includes strikes, kicks, blocks etc.

Jūhō 柔法, or soft methods means techniques when an opponent grabs hold on you and you perform escapes, take-downs, throws, pins etc.

Seihō 整法, translates approximately as correcting methods and is techniques for healing of the body. Mainly this means acupressure massage and simple forms of bone correcting (mainly the spine).

The actual training in Shorinji Kempo can be divided in four equally important parts. They are kihon 基本, hōkei 法形, embu 演武 and randori 乱捕り. They are explained in more details on the following pages in this section.

Shorinji Kempo practice is mainly done in pairs, where one takes the role as attacker and the other practice the actual technique, then one alternate role. Shorinji Kempo contains techniques against all possible types of attacks, that can be adapted depending on the situation.