KAJUKENBO was synthesized in the Palama settlements of Hawaii during the years 1949-1952. Five practitioners of their
respective martial arts developed KAJUKENBO to complement each other's styles to allow effective fighting at all ranges and
speeds. The man credited with the founding of KAJUKENBO is Sijo Adriano D. Emperado who practiced Kenpo, and
Chu'an Fa Gung Fu (Chinese boxing); hence the name KA-JU-KEN-BO (Tang Soo Do was shortened as a form of Karate).
To test the effectiveness of their original techniques the five founders would get into fights around the Palamas settlements (the
worst slum in Hawaii at the time). If the technique succeeded consistently in street fighting it was kept as part of the system.
From these field test came KAJUKENBO's Pinions (known as the Palamas sets (forms or kata), Natural laws (art of
self-defense), Tricks (art of close-quarters fighting), and Grab Arts (art of escaping from a grab), and Punching Attacks (art of
defending from a singular to multiple punches).
KAJUKENBO concentrates on being an effective art at all ranges of fighting ( Kicking, Punching, Trapping and Grappling).
While many schools of Chinese, Japanese and Korean martial arts concentrate on Katas, KAJUKENBO stresses the
self-defense movements over the relatively fewer forms in the art. The reasoning behind this is that a practitioner must be
capable of defending himself in street fighting situations before turning inward to perfect the 'art' of KAJUKENBO. At higher
levels there is even meditative and chi training.
KAJUKENBO stresses the following-up of techniques based on an opponent's reactions and not stopping with just one hit.
The reasoning is that while one should strive to end a fight with the fewest techniques necessary, it is important to know how
an opponent will respond to attacks, and how best to take advantage of his reactions.
The training is physically intense and very demanding. Exercise is a part of the class structure to insure that practitioners will be physically capable of defending themselves outside of the dojo. The warm-up and calisthenics typically last 1/3 of the class period. Emphasis is placed on bag work (kick, punching, elbows and knees) as well as sparring and grappling (contact with control). After a certain amount of time training, students begin to throw real punches at each other and their partner is expected to react appropriately or face the consequences. Learning to absorb and soften an impact is also a major facet of training. Pinions (Kata) are performed to fine-tune a persons's movements while working with partners for self defense teaches a student how to manipulate an opponent and follow up on his / her reactions.
The five original founding members were:
1. Peter Choo -- Tang Soo Do Karate
2. Frank Ordonez -- Kodenkan Jujitsu
3. Joe Holke -- Kodokan Judo
4. Adriano D. Emperado -- Chinese Kenpo and Escrima
5. Clarence Chang -- Northen and Southern Sil Lum Gung Fu