American Combat Kempo Karate, the system that was founded by Carter Hargrave in 1992 and has been recognized by multiple international organizations as a new and distinct martial art designed for pure self defense situations.



The combat or self defense art was developed to meet Hargrave's desires to have a martial art that would be simple to use under high stress circumstances, and one that would follow the student / practitioner well into old age or one with injuries and physical limitations. The style uses strikes from Okinawan Karate, Pain Compliance techniques from Ju Jitsu, and Weapon defenses and weapon usage from Kobu Jutsu. While the weapon art may sound antiquated Carter Hargrave has heavily modified the moves to fit his unique standard of optimum results for minimum effort that includes modern weapons including for master level advanced and proprietary firearms usage.