In 1947, Adriano D. Emperado and 4
other skilled martial artists: Joe Holck, Peter Young Yil Choo,
George "Clarence" Chang, and Frank Ordonez, made a secret pact to
combine their arts into a street fighting combination of their arts,
which were:
- Adriano Directo Emperado - Kenpo
(Kosho Ryu) and Escrima
- Joseph Holck - Judo (Danzan Ryu)
- Peter Young Yil Choo - Karate
(Tang Soo Do)
- George "Clarence" Chuen Yoke
Chang - Chinese Boxing (Chu'an Fa Kung-Fu)
- Frank F. Ordonez - Jujutsu (Se
Keino Ryu)
When the Korean War hit, 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. 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 marital 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.
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.
