Joseph Holck, a black belt in Kôdôkan Jûdô and Danzan-ryû(Kodenkan)
Jûjutsu.Jûdô was created in Japan by Kanô Jigorô in 1882. Danzan-ryû
Jûjutsu was founded by H. Seishiro Okazaki, a Japanese immigrant to
Hawaii, in 1924. Frank F. Ordonez contributed elements of Sekeino Jûjutsu
to the new system; the origin of this style of jûjutsu is obscure. Adriano D.
Emperado added kenpô to the Kajukenbo arsenal. Kenpô, commonly
translated as “law of the fist” because of its reliance on atemi(Japanese;
striking techniques), is said to be of Chinese origin. Tradition holds that the
twenty-eighth patriarch of Buddhism, Bodhidharma (Daruma in Japanese),
brought Shôrinji Kempô (Japanese; Shaolin Boxing) from India to China in
the early sixth century A.D. Kenpô was introduced to Japan (Okinawa) dur-
ing the Kamakura period (1192–1333). Emperado had learned kenpô from
William K. S. Chow (in the form of Kara-hô Kenpô) and James M. Mitose
(in the form of Koshô-ryû Kempô-Jujitsu,known as “Old Pine Tree Style”).
Mitose was the twenty-first consecutive bloodline kenpô master. Adriano
left Chow’s tutelage in 1946. Adriano’s brother Joe and his sister DeChi
also studied under Chow and were later to play important roles in the his-
tory of Kajukenbo. Adriano Emperado also contributed the European box-
ing he had learned from his natural father, Johnny “Bulldog” Emperado,
and Filipino escrima (i.e., fencing), a martial art of the Philippine archipel-
ago, which he had learned from his stepfather, Alfred Peralta. As has been
noted, boxing came to Kajukenbo from a number of sources. Peter Choo
was a welterweight champion and Marino Tiwanak—flyweight boxing
champion of Hawaii, one of the first students of Kajukenbo, and first re-
cipient of a black belt in the art—obviously brought a strong European
boxing component to the art as did Adriano Emperado. The other boxing
influence was Chinese boxing, the striking arts popularly labeled kung fu,
contributed by George C. Chang.
The tradition of Kajukenbo is based upon Hawaiian culture, where
family comes first. In keeping with this value, there is a modern Black Belt
Society that meets annually on Father’s Day to celebrate Adriano D. Em-
perado’s birthday on June 15. This family reunion allows practitioners of
Emperado’s Method to gather for seminars, tournament competition, and
a ritual luau (Hawaiian festival).
Kajukenbo practitioners wear black kimono as uniforms. The colors
used symbolically by the system are black, red, and white. In 1965, a coat
of arms was created, with a white clover as the central feature. This sym-
bol refers to the Old Pine Tree Style of kenpô-jûjutsu. Adherents of the Ka-
jukenbo Self-Defense Institute (KSDI) practice Emperado’s Method, which
is based on kenpô. According to Emperado, the sole purpose of Kajukenbo
is self-defense. Nevertheless, Kajukenbo competitors can play exceptionally
well in open tournaments against other martial arts styles, due to their abil-220 Kajukenbo