What is Kajukenbo?

Kajukenbo is an eclectic martial art that was createdkung fu techniques to evade and strike. Or he can
in Hawaii in the late 1940s.It was invented in 1947 inuse judo or jujitsu to throw an attacker to the
Oahu, Hawaii, at the Palama Settlements, to deal withground or restrain and control him. Forbach feels that
local crime, as well as to help the people defendthe strength of kajukenbo is in how these techniques
themselves from U.S. Navy sailors who would drinkare combined. For example, if the attacker punches,
and fight with the locals. The inventors were Sijothe kajukenbo stylist may step into the attack at a
("founder") Adriano Emperado, Peter Young Yil Choo,45 degree angle while blocking with a soft palm block.
Joe Holck, Frank Ordonez, and Clarence Chang, whoHe would then counter attack with several rapid fire
called themselves the Black Belt Society.kenpo hand strikes followed by a judo foot sweep.
The system of KajukenboOnce on the ground the attacker could be struck
Brutal, deadly, overkill, street effective.again or controlled with a jujitsu lock. Unlike most
These and many other such terms have been usedtraditional systems, kajukenbo relies heavily on
to describe the martial art system known ascombination techniques. These combination
kajukenbo.techniques are arranged so that each technique will
Kajukenbo gained it's reputation for being brutallyset up the next by following the reaction of the
effective decades ago in the U.S. Territory of Hawaii.attacker's body. Although some martial artists may
In the Hawaii of the 1940s the enemy was not thedescribe this as overkill, Forbach feels that an
ancient battlefield soldier, it was the common streetattacker may not be stopped by one strongly
criminal. Instead of swords and spears he armedfocused blow. Therefore the theory behind
himself with knives, clubs, and guns. Even whenkajukenbo is that it is better to counter with a
unarmed he did not fight by any rules. He punched,multitude of techniques that can be ended when the
kicked, gouged, bit, and stomped. If you encounteredthreat no longer exists, than to rely on one technique
one of these brutal street fighters you were in for aand find that it is not enough.
life or death battle. Kajukenbo was designed to winKajukenbo Training
such a battle.Seattle Kajukenbo practices the Gaylord Method of
Since then it's eclectic use of five martial arts and it'sChuan Fa Kajukenbo Kung Fu which includes elements
no-nonsense approach to self defense hasof Teng Su Do Korean Karate, Kodokan Judo,
contributed to it's rapid growth and strong reputationJu-jitsu, Kara-Ho Kempo, and Chinese Boxing, or Kung
as an highly effective self defense system.Fu. Designed as a comprehensive art, Kajukenbo
Two ways of the nameemphasizes close-in street fighting strategies, which
The name works in two ways: "ka" ("long life"), "ju"includes refinement of self-defense judgment and
("happiness"), "ken" ("fist"), "bo" ("style") or "ka"techniques, as well as practice in more traditional
("karate"), "ju" ("judo"/"jujutsu"), "ken" ("kenpo"), "bo"forms and fighting sets. Chuan Fa Kajukenbo
(Chinese Boxing Kung Fu), leading to the art'sincorporates the soft and the hard characteristics of
philosophical meaning: "Through this fist style, onemartial arts training, from classical Kempo movement
gains long life and happiness."to classical Chinese Kung Fu.
Kajukenbo TechniquesToday kajukenbo is practiced all over the world. The
By combining techniques from tang soo do, judo,principal organization for kajukenbo is the "Kajukenbo
jujitsu, kenpo and kung fu, the kajukenbo stylist canSelf Defense Institute of Hawaii, Inc. based in San
defend himself in many ways. He can use soft circularDiego, California.