KAJUKENBO

Kajukenbo is a hybrid martial art that combines western boxing, judo, jujutsu, kenpo karate, shotokan karate and kung fu. It was founded in 1947 in Oahu, Hawaii, at the Palama Settlement. The original purpose of the art was to deal with local crime, and to help the people defend themselves from U.S. Navy sailors who would drink and start fights. The founders were Sijo ("founder") Adriano Emperado, Peter Young Yil Choo, Joe Holck, Frank Ordonez, and George Chang (sometimes mistakenly referred to as Clarence Chang), who called themselves the Black Belt Society. The founders of Kajukenbo wanted to develop an art that would be readily useful on the street.

Kajukenbo uses hard, fast strikes to vital points throughout the body, take-downs involving high impact throws and many joint and limb destruction techniques—usually as follow-ups to take-downs. There are also many blocks from attacks such as punches and defenses and disarmament of offensive weapons. The name works in two ways: "ka" ("long life"), "ju" ("happiness"), "ken" ("fist"), "bo" ("style") or "ka" ("karate"), "ju" ("judo"/"jujutsu"), "ken" ("kenpo"), "bo" (Boxing and/or Chinese Boxing Kung Fu), leading to the art's philosophical meaning: "Through this fist style, one gains long life and happiness."

Kenpo emerged as the core around which this new art was built. Although uncredited by name, other influences included American Boxing (Choo was US Army Welterweight Champion) and Escrima (Emperado also studied Kali and Arnis Escrima). From its beginnings, Kajukenbo was an eclectic and adaptive art. As time has passed, Kajukenbo has continued to change and evolve. Currently, there are a few distinct, "recognized" branches of Kajukenbo: Kenpo ("Emperado Method" or "Traditional Hard Style"), Tum Pai, Chu'an Fa, Wun Hop Kuen Do, and Gaylord Method. In addition, there are numerous "unrecognized" branches, including CHA-3 and Kenkabo. While this may be confusing for an outsider, it is the essence of the art. Students are not required to mimic the teacher, but are encouraged to develop their own "expression" of the art.

HISTORY

In the late 1940s, Palama Settlement was a violent area and fist-fights or stabbings were commonplace. In 1947, Adriano D. Emperado and four other martial artists made a secret pact to create a street fighting combination of their arts. The foundation would consist of the following:

• Adriano Directo Emperado - Kenpo (Kosho Ryu) and Escrima
• Joseph Holck - Judo (Danzan Ryu Jujitsu)
• Peter Young Yil Choo - Kaheka Lane Kenpo Karate (Tang Soo Do) and Boxing
• Frank F. Ordonez - Kaheka Lane Danzan Ryu Jujitsu

George Chang was not a martial artist, but was a photographer in the US Army who participated in the founding of Kajukenbo by taking photographs of all the techniques that the above four members worked out amongst themselves.

When the Korean War broke out, Joe Holck, Peter Choo, Frank Ordonez, and Clarence Chang were drafted, leaving only Adriano Emperado to carry the system on. Sijo Emperado, along with his brother Joe, introduced Kajukenbo to the public by opening the Palama Settlement School in 1950. They called the school the Kajukenbo Self Defense Institute (K.S.D.I.). The training there was notoriously brutal. Their goal was to be invincible on the street, so the training had to be realistic, and the students sparred with full contact. The number of students soon dwindled to only a few. Those who remained developed into tough fighters with a reputation for employing their art in street fights with only a little provocation. Several students who came out of the school would become very prominent martial artists themselves, such as Sid Asuncion, Aleju Reyes, Joe Halbuna, Charles Gaylord, and Tony Ramos.

The art slowly began to grow in popularity, and soon Emperado had 12 Kajukenbo schools in Hawaii, making it the second largest string of schools at the time. Joe Halbuna, Charles Gaylord, Tony Ramos and Aleju Reyes, who all earned a black belt from Emperado, brought Kajukenbo to the mainland in 1960. They each opened Kajukenbo schools in California. In 1969, Tony Ramos trained with and exchanged ideas and methods with Bruce Lee. Tony's version of Kajukenbo became known as the "Ramos Method" and is kept alive by numerous instructors, most notably Emil Bautista of Vallejo, Aleju Reyes died in 1977 and Tony Ramos died in Hawaii in 1999. Charles Gaylord has since continued on with the art and has developed the "Gaylord Method". He is the President of the Kajukenbo Association of America and has acquired a legacy to continue the art of his Sijo.

In a 1991 interview with Black Belt, Emperado was asked who some of the Kajukenbo tournament stars were and this is what he said, Emperado: Al and Malia Dacascos won many tournament championships. Al Gene Caraulia won the 1st Karate World Championship in Chicago in 1963 when he was still a brown belt. Purple belt Victor Raposa knocked out world rated Everett "monster man" Eddy at the 1975 "World Series of Martial Arts". Carlos Bunda was the first lightweight champion at the Long Beach International Karate Championship (IKC) in 1964. Bunda once defeated TV star Chuck Norris in competition where he broke Chuck's cup involved a kenpo groin kick.
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In 1959, Sijo Emperado continued to add more Kung Fu into Kajukenbo, shifting the art to a more fluid combination of hard and soft techniques. Since then, Kajukenbo has shown to be a very improvement base, continuously evolving-open style, willing to accept whatever works. John Leoning, who taught Doug Bunda, the brother of Carlos Bunda, also help brought out the "bo" of kajukenbo. John Leoning pointed out that there should be no wasted motion.

MODERN

Kajukenbo is also known as Kajukembo, derived from the two spellings of kenpo/kempo. Kenpo originated in the north of China, and Kempo originated in the south. From a stylistic standpoint, there is little difference today between the two except for the spelling. Originally, southern style was typically faster, shorter close range striking techniques. Northern style was exemplified by longer slower more powerful and further reaching techniques. Kajukenbo, as it stands today, has more grappling moves than regular kenpo, and incorporates joint breaking, low blows, and combination attacks. While it does include some competitive elements, its primary focus is on realism and practicality. It is generally thought that "unfair" moves such as strikes to the eyes or groin are perfectly acceptable, as is whatever else the practitioner feels is necessary to get home that day.

Training workouts emphasize cardio conditioning and functional strength. While individual schools may show variation, it would not be unusual to train with sandbags or boxing gloves. There is a core of self-defense techniques at the heart of Kajukenbo, and most schools eschew impractical, flashy moves and acrobatics. Most kajukenbo curricula feature counter-attacks to punches, kicks, knives, sticks, guns, and grabs. While this base of common knowledge will keep schools' styles similar, there is plenty of room for variation. Given how different the four foundational styles of Kajukenbo are, it is impossible to fully incorporate everything and some specialization is inevitable. This openness tends to encourage schools to incorporate other arts, such as escrima or aikido, into their practice.

Some schools of Kajukenbo feature 26 katas that are broken down into 13 "pinyans" (also called "Palama sets" in some schools) and 13 "concentrations". Each of the concentrations have their own name such as concentration number one is titled crane strike/tiger claw. The name of each concentration is given to that kata because it features that particular strike or movement in it. For example, concentration one features the crane strike and tiger claw. Katas are incorporated into Kajukenbo to help the student refine his/her skill. Every movement in the katas has meaning behind it. For example the first movement in pinyan 1 is a right outward strike while moving to a left back stance. This movement would be used to block a punch. The katas also focus on multiple enemy combat.

An important part of some kajukenbo classes is the Kajukenbo Prayer, written by Frank Ordonez, although a fair number of schools are completely secular. In some classes it is customary to end class with reference to the Kajukenbo trinity: spirit, mind, and body (each with their own hand sign). After the trinity, students and instructors alike open their hands to represent peace, then bow their heads in respect. A stylized Kajukenbo salute is also part of many school customs: students salute the American flag and their instructors to show respect. Students and instructors alike salute black belts when they enter the training floor.

In the late 80's, sigung Patrick McDaniel and James Cox put together the Noble System with the blessing of Sijo Emperado. The Noble System instituted a new series of drills called "Noble Drills" designed to target vital points of the body in random order. The purpose being to train the student to immediately identify and target these vital points, thus adapting to whatever situation arises. The Noble system has also incorporated Brazilian Ju Jitsu techniques for the purpose of ground grappling. Cox has joined Sijo Emperado in the black belt hall of fame for his contribution to Kajukenbo, the Noble System of Kajukembo, and martial arts as a whole.

Ranking hierarchies vary widely from school to school. One common belt order is as follows: white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, green, brown (3 levels), student black, followed by the various degrees of black belt. Some schools have "in-between" belts that feature a white or black stripe running down the center of the belt. Black belt rankings and titles can also vary, but student black belt through second degree students are usually given the title of Sibak or Sisuk. Third through fifth degree are given the title of Sifu.^[1] Sixth and seventh are Sigung. Eighth degree black belts are Professors, and ninth degree is a Grandmaster. The founder, Adriano Emperado, holds the title of Sijo and is a 10th degree black belt. The titles given to the black belt ranks are Chinese names. Sijo, being the highest rank, means founder. Sigung means the teacher's teacher, Sifu means teacher, Sibak means teacher's assistant. The literal translations are: Sijo - Founder or grand master; Sigung - Instructor's Uncle; Sifu - Instructor; Simu - (female) Instructor, or wife of instructor; Sibak - Instructor's brother; Sisok - Junior (or assistant) instructor.There are also other titles that, while used, are much less likely to be found in a training environment and used by students.

KAJUKENBO: THE PERFECTED ART OF STREET FIGHTING

by William Beaver

Originally an article in Karate/Kung Fu Illustrated (February 1992)

The streets of Pacifica, California, where Bob Maschmeier, a high-ranking kajukenbo instructor teaches, are far from the rough and tough ghetto where the art began. Five martial artists, calling themselves the Black Belt Society met in the Palama Settlement on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu. They came together in 1947 with only one purpose: to perfect a martial arts system which would allow to survive any streetfight situation. Peter Y.Y. Choo brought his expertise in the Korean art tang soo do. Frank Ordonez contributed years of experience in se keino jujitsu. Clarence Chang was a teacher of shaolin kung fu. And the fifth member of the black belt society, a master of Chinese kara-ho kempo and Filipino escrima was Adriano Emperado. After two years of exchanging ideas and techniques, these five martial artists created a street-wise, highly effective combat system which derived its name from the first letters of the styles that comprised it. KA (from a Korean style of karate) JU (from judo and jujitsu) KEN (From kenpo) BO(from Chinese boxing, kung fu) Since then this now-familiar style had developed a reputation as "the perfected art of dirty streetfighting," as Sigung Maschmeier likes to call it. Emperado, the man now generally recognized as the founder, had a rugged childhood in the rough and tumble back streets of Honolulu. His initial martial arts training was in escrima, which later influenced aspects of kajukenbo. Emperado later took up kempo and reached the rank of fifth-degree black belt while studying under William K.S. Chow. The first kajukenbo school was opened in the Palama Settlement, and operated by Emperado, and his brother Joe. The brutal training that took place there is legendary. Since the goal was to be invincible on the street, the training had to be realistic, and students sparred with full contact. Broken bones were an everyday occurence, and the trauma of training caused some to become sick to their stomachs. The number of students in the school soon dwindled to a dedicated few. Those who remained developed into tough fighters with a reputation for employing their art in streetfights with very little provocation. Emperado's school turned out several future instructors who would themselves leave a mark on the international martial arts community, including Sid Asuncion, Tony Ramos, Charles Gaylord, Aleju Reyes, Al Dacascos, and Joe Halbuna, just to name a few. Maschmeier, a direct student of Halbuna, teaches kajukenbo with a two-part philosophy: teach students to survive a streetfight, and encourage them to explore other martial arts, looking for techniques which will make them better fighters. The emphasis on survival is primary in kajukenbo, and in Maschmeier's Coast Karate Studios. "Anyone can learn to kick and punch, but to teach them how to survive in a violent street situation, you have to develop their animal instinct," says Maschmeier. The animal instinct is described as a feeling, one which Maschmeier conjures up for himself by imagining someone trying to injure one of his children. "If you put together the martial artist's knowledge of vital targets, how to strike, and the concentration of power combined with anger and rage at the thought of someone hurting your loved ones, the person can be a devastating fighting machine." Maschmeier points out that, at least in his school, he teaches the junior students differently than the adults. Children are still taught self-defense techniques, but the training to bring out the animal instinct is not emphasized. The second factor of the kajukenbo philosophy is the notion of taking what works and not being afraid to try other martial arts styles. "I tell my students that I try to open doors for them, teaching them as much as I can, but also having them experience other forms of martial arts," says Maschmeier, who regularly takes students to the annual Danzan-Ryu jujitsu camp. Maschmeier himself also studies kyudo, the art of Japanese archery. "One of the things I like about kajukenbo is that whatever works is acceptable. So the kajukenbo people are exposed to, and use, a variety of things, including karate, judo, kung fu moves, tang soo do kicks, aikido takedowns, and jujitsu joint manipulations." The goal of the variety is the ability to achieve one objective: surviving a street situation. Winning A Streetfight According to Maschmeier, there are several tactics that kajukenbo teaches in order for the martial artist to win on the streets. ANYTHING GOES: The first thing to remember is to to do anything it takes to win. Even if you have to bite, scratch, and kick, there are no rules. You have to fight like an animal if necessary. The old phrase in the martial arts is "be humble," but be humble only to a point. Be a person because you choose to be, not because you're intimidated. FIGHT FAST, FIGHT HARD: If you find yourself in a position where you have no other choise but to fight, do it fast and get it over with. DON'T BE STUPID: Remember that a good streetfighter is as good as, or better, than a black belt in a street situation. Some of the streetfighters go out and fight every Friday night. They know how to take a punch. They know how to use a beer bottle. They know how to use a lot of things and they move like a cat when they fight. STRIKE WHILE HE ARGUES WITH YOU: If you can hit your opponent while he's in the middle of a sentence or a word, you have the element of surprise. He can't think of two things at the same time. SPIT IN HIS FACE AT THE EXACT MOMENT YOU STRIKE: Normally, a grown man will flinch because he doesn't like the idea of someone spitting in his face. USE UNEXPECTED DIVERSIONS AND DISTRACTIONS: An older person can fake a heart attack long enough for the opponent to hesitate and be caught off guard by a couterattack. Surprise is always an advantage. ATTACK THE MOST VULNERABLE TARGETS: Kajukenbo emphasizes attacking the most vulnerable targets including the eyes, the throat, the groin and the knees. DON'T STOP UNTIL THE PERSON IS FINISHED: One or two moves may or may not be enough to take a person out. The kajukenbo strategy is to stike or kick a person, get him down to the ground, and then continue until he stops. The Spirit of Kajukenbo Although many styles adhere to a near-religious degree of training, oriented towards perfecting character, and in some schools, even attempting to reach some form of enlightenment, kajukenbo, at least as taught by Maschmeier, tends to be more pragmatic. "Being a little more practical about what I teach, and what I believe the kajukenbo is all about," says Maschmeier, "I'm not saying that meditation or having a religious feeling about martial arts is wrong. I think kajukenbo teaches that you should be nice to people and not hurt people. But at the same time, you can't let someone hurt you." Maschmeier believes that if there is anything that makes kajukenbo unique as a style, it is both the willingness of the style to evolve and grow, and the old Hawaiian idea of ohana or family. This means that if a person is a member of kajukenbo, he is a member of the kajukenbo family. But ohana is only half of the kajukenbo spirit. The other half is a fighter's axiom--"Take the opponent out, and go home."

KAJUKENBO: AMERICA'S MARTIAL ART

by John Bishop (Black Belt, Feb.98)

The title of this article may sound like a bold statement, but it's completely true. Kajukenbo was the first martial art developed on American soil, by American's, to meet the unique self defense needs of Americans.

Kajukenbo's Origin

Kajukenbo's inception came about in 1947 when five Hawaiian martial arts experts calling themselves the "Black Belt Society" set out to develop a comprehensive American self defense system. Although these five men were masters of Asian fighting systems, they felt that Americans had more modern and unique self defense needs. They felt that designing techniques for use against modern weapons such as knives and clubs was more beneficial than training to defend against classical weapons like swords and spears. They also felt that having just grappling skills or just striking skills severely limited one's self defense abilities. The five men responsible for the creation of kajukenbo were Peter Choo, the Hawaii welterweight boxing champion, and a Tang Soo Do black belt. Frank Ordonez, a Sekeino Jujitsu black belt. Joe Holck, a Kodokan Judo black belt. Clarence Chang, a master of Sil-lum Pai kung fu. And Adriano D. Emperado, a Chinese Kenpo black belt, and Escrima master.

For three years these men trained together several hours a day, taking advantage of each others strengths and weaknesses to develop their new art. When Joe Holck and Peter Choo would spar Holck could see judo's weaknesses in striking techniques, and Choo would realize that a tang soo do man was vulnerable once he was on the ground. Emperado, in turn was able to show Choo how a kenpo man could work inside a kicker's range with rapid fire hand techniques. Chang showed the others how the circular, flowing techniques of Sil-lum Pai were used to evade and strike while conserving energy. And Frank Ordonez showed everyone how to blend with an attackers force and then re-direct it against him with painful locks and throws.

Because the founder's wanted their system to be one comprehensive system, not five systems combined, it was decided that kenpo would be the base to build on. Added to this base were various tang soo do kicks, jujitsu joint locks, judo throws, and sil-lum pai circular techniques. The name "Kajukenbo"; ka for karate, ju for judo and jujitsu, ken for kenpo, and bo for Chinese boxing (kung fu) came from Joe Holck.

Kajukenbo techniques

When kajukenbo was founded, people no longer had a need for ancient battlefield training. Warriors armed with swords and spears had over the centuries been replaced by street thugs armed with knives and clubs. Kajukenbo's techniques met this need for change. Like most karate systems kajukenbo has katas or forms. These 14 katas are known as "Palama Sets" 1 through 14. ( These katas were formerly known as Pinans until February 1993 when Professor Adriano D. Emperado renamed the katas to show their origin, the Palama Settlement of Honolulu, Hawaii.) Like traditional systems, many of kajukenbo's self defense techniques are found in it's katas. Along with the Palama sets the system contains a large number of structured self defense combinations.

These self defense combinations are arranged and categorized into 15 grab arts, 21 punch counters, 15 knife counters, 15 club counters, 9 two and three man attack counters, and 26 advanced alphabet techniques. From these structured combinations the advanced kajukenbo practitioner can also create an limitless amount of additional self defense combinations. The combination of techniques from tang soo do, judo, jujitsu, kenpo and kung fu, adds immense versatility to the system. For example, if faced with a punch, the kajukenbo stylist may step into the attack at a 45 degree angle while blocking with a soft kung fu palm block. He would then counter attack with several rapid fire kenpo hand strikes followed by a judo foot sweep. Once on the ground the attacker could be struck again or controlled with a jujitsu lock. Unlike many traditional systems, kajukenbo's emphasis is on combination techniques. These combination techniques are arranged so that each technique will set up the next by following the natural reaction of the attacker's body. While some traditional martial artists may describe this as overkill, the kajukenbo stylist feels that an attacker may not be stopped by one strongly focused blow. Therefore the theory behind kajukenbo is that it is better to counter with a multitude of techniques that can be ended when the threat no longer exists, than to rely on one technique and find that it is not enough.

Kajukenbo Training

Even the best designed self defense system is useless if the training and instruction is weak.

In the early years the brutality of the kajukenbo workouts was legendary. Broken noses, bruised ribs, and black eyes were a common occurrence in the early kajukenbo schools. Professor Emperado had a motto, "The workout isn't over until I see blood on the floor". His philosophy was that if someone was afraid of pain, they would be defeated the first time they were hit. He also felt that his students had to get used to receiving painful blows. This enabled them to find out which techniques worked and which didn't. Because of these realistic workouts numerous martial artists from other systems undertook kajukenbo training.

Today's kajukenbo schools have had to alter their training somewhat due to the times. In the early days very few if any women or children trained. Also, nobody worried about lawsuits or liability insurance.

Today's kajukenbo schools still conduct full contact training, but the students are gradually eased into it, and it's not an absolute requirement. Most instructor's believe that the hard contact training is a very important part of the art because it is as close to reality as one can get in a class situation. This is now accomplished by working up to it slower, using protective equipment, and avoiding hard contact to the face and vital areas.

In Conclusion

From it's inception, kajukenbo was designed to meet the extraordinary self defense needs of the American people. The creation of this type of system could only be possible in America because of the vast martial arts richness that was brought by Asian immigrants seeking the American dream.
As to the brutal reputation that kajukenbo has acquired over the years, San Clemente kajukenbo instructor Gary Forbach had this to say. "Kajukenbo is designed to defend against many types of vicious attacks. I don't teach my students to be violent, but I also don't teach them to turn the other cheek. My students are taught to respect their fellow man, but they are also prepared to protect themselves completely if the need arises. In other words, It's better to know how, and not have to; than to have to, and not know how."