The American Academy of Self Defense's logo was designed to honor our American flag.
The colors red, white and blue stand for Honor, Courage and Purity.
Our logo has 10 stars on a field of blue to symbolize the 10 degrees of Black Belt. There are 4 white stripes to symbolize the first four degrees of black belt. There are 5 red stripes to symbolize 5th - 9th (Master to Professor) ranks. A gold circle borders the field to symbolize a Grandmaster rank.
On Shaolin Kempo Karate: The Shaolin temple was first built around 495 A.D. by Chinese Emperor Hsiao Wen for an Indian monk Batou, or, as known by the Chinese, Fo Tou. It was in the great Shaolin Temple in the Songshan mountains of central China that Buddharama, a sixth century Indian monk, first introduced Buddhism and a form of meditation methods and fighting techniques. He introduced to the temple monks a form of breathing exercises based upon animal movements, mostly exercises for strengthening and conditioning the body. The reason he taught the monks these exercises was to purify their bodies and develop inner strength. Then came the movement of the animals which were taught for self defense purposes. Over a time, the monks changed and perfected these movements, gearing them toward fighting. This style became known and feared as the art of Shaolin Temple Boxing. Buddhism and Shaolin Temple Boxing or Shaolin Chuan Fa were the Shaolin Temple's main legacy to the world. So it was in China that the philosophical and religious systems upon which many martial arts depend were first created and nurtured. The teachings of Lao Tzu, Confucius and Buddha were blended with the development of the various Chinese martial art systems which spread to many other Asian countries
Belt Ranks
