History of Kajukenbo

In 1947, in the Palama Settlement of Hawaii five martial artists got together and formed a pact: They would take two years to create the ideal fighting art, one that would make them invincible in the toughest streets of Hawaii. These five men were Frank Ordonez, P.Y.Y. Choo, Joe Holck, Clarence Chang and Adriano Emperado. This organization became known as the notorious Black Belt Society.

In the beginning they trained only a few top artists in this art form. However, later they began to teach this style to the public and the name of the school was called the Kajukenbo Self-defense Institute or KSDI for short. In 1950, there were a total of 12 schools under Adriano Emperado, after the Black Belt Society split up. There arecurrently four branch styles within the Kajukenbo system including: Kajukenbo Kenpo, Tum Pai, Ch'uan-Fa and Wun Hop Kuen Do. The system has grown such that there are currently hundreds of Kajukenbo schools and it is taught in many countries throughout the world.

The word Kajukenbo is derived from the letter of the styles that contributed to the creation of the art. Together they make up the philosophical meaning of Kajukenbo: Through this fist style, one gains long life and happiness.

KA (long life) - comes from the word Karate, an art form that places the emphasis on hard and powerful techniques. The karate influence was from Tang Soo Do brought by P.Y.Y. Choo.

JU (happiness) - comes from Judo and Jujitsu, art forms that emphasize throwing, locks and sweeps. The judo and jujitsu influence was from Kodenkan Danzan Ryu brought by Joe Holck and Se Keino Ryu brought by Frank Ordonez.

KEN (fist) - comes from Kenpo, a form of karate that not only stresses the hard and powerful movements, but emphasizes multiple and fluid hand techniques. The kenpo
influence was from Kosho Shorei Kenpo brought by Adriano Emperado.

BO (style) - comes from Chinese and American boxing. Chinese boxing means Kung Fu, which puts emphasis on flexibility and agility, parrying and evasive movements that flow together. The Chinese boxing influence was from Northern and Southern Sil-lum styles
brought by Clarence Chang.

During the early years, Kajukenbo was developed and practiced with such intensity and
realism that the Kajukenbo students were banned from competition in traditional Karate Tournaments. This was due to their intensive training in strictly life and death situations. When competing, Kajukenbo students found it very difficult to control their techniques and stop them short because they were not taught to hold back when practicing. To other martial artist who competed in traditional Karate tournaments, the Kajukenbo practitioner seemed to have no control of their techniques and often inflicted heavy injuries on their opponents. Today's Kajukenbo practitioners have now included tournament point-fighting, self-defense and forms competition into their training schedules. Today's Kajukenbo practitioner can compete in tournaments where they often place at the top of their selected divisions. Kajukenbo practitioners believe our system is the best, because we have the best of every system, and because our system is allowed to grow.