Kajukenbo
The first martial art created on American soil as a deliberate blend of five schools. It took shape in 1947–1949 in Hawaii, where five masters of different systems met.
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About Kajukenbo
Kajukenbo was the first martial art created on American soil as a deliberate blend of several systems. It took shape between 1947 and 1949 in the Palama Settlement on Oahu, Hawaii, where five masters of different schools met and set about beating on one another's styles until only what survived a street fight remained. The name is an acronym of the arts involved: KA for karate, JU for judo and jujutsu, KEN for kenpo and BO for Chinese boxing. The founders were Peter Choo, Joe Holck, Frank Ordonez, Clarence Chang and Adriano Emperado, who became the driving force of the project and led the system for decades. Palama was a poor and violent neighbourhood, and it shows in the result. Kajukenbo is not trained as a sport: the emphasis is on hard contact, on attack as defence, and on chains of techniques meant to finish an opponent before he can answer. Training sets carry names such as the Palama Sets and are built around specific assaults. Five recognised branches grew out of the original core — Original Method, Tum Pai, Ch'uan Fa, Wun Hop Kuen Do and the Gaylord Method. They differ in the balance of hard and soft elements, but all share the priority of practicality over tradition.
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