Adriano Emperado
Hawaiian martial arts teacher of Filipino descent (1926–2009), one of the five founders of Kajukenbo and its longtime main teacher with the title Sijo.
Quick Facts
United StatesBiography
Adriano Directo Emperado was a Hawaiian martial arts teacher of Filipino descent and one of the five founders of Kajukenbo. He was born on 15 June 1926 on Oahu, while the Texas State university page gives 6 June. He died on 4 April 2009 at the age of 82, on Maui according to a column in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin.
According to English Wikipedia, his father and uncle were professional boxers. According to the Reyes Kajukenbo Archive, he began studying escrima at the age of twelve. At nineteen he joined the army, in the 1st Filipino Regiment, and in 1947 he was honorably discharged. According to the same archive, he received his black belt in Kenpo in 1949 from William K. S. Chow and James Mitose. Sources differ on when he received his fifth degree.
Kajukenbo arose between 1947 and 1949 at the Palama Settlement in Honolulu from the so-called Black Belt Society of five black belts, whose arts are reflected in the name of the style. After the others left for the army, Emperado was its main teacher, and tradition gives him the title Sijo. In 1950 he began teaching an open class with his brother Joe under the name Kajukenbo Self Defense Institute, and later he ran a number of schools in Hawaii.
His students brought Kajukenbo to the US mainland in 1958. Emperado went on to develop the Tum Pai and Chuan Fa branches, and the sources differ on their dating. Al Dacascos, the founder of Wun Hop Kuen Do, came out of his lineage. We have not found a quotation from Adriano Emperado with a traceable origin.
Early life
Adriano Emperado was born on 15 June 1926 on Oahu to Juan Panis Emperado and Severina Directo Emperado, while the Texas State university page gives 6 June. According to English Wikipedia his father and uncle were professional boxers, and his stepfather was Alfredo Peralta. The Reyes Kajukenbo Archive states that he began studying escrima at the age of twelve and training in 1934. At nineteen he joined the army, in the 1st Filipino Regiment, and in 1947 he was honorably discharged. The magazine MidWeek writes that during the Korean War he stayed in Hawaii with the harbor police.
Training and teachers
According to the Reyes Kajukenbo Archive, he received his Kenpo black belt in 1949 from William K. S. Chow and James Mitose. Sources differ on when he received his fifth degree. The Texas State university page gives 10 August 1950 from Chow and Mitose, the Reyes Archive gives 16 March 1951 from Mitose in its history and a promotion by Chow without a date in its summary. From 1952, according to the same archive, he taught at the Palama Settlement in the Kenpo Karate Club of Hawaii. At the beginning of 1952, according to Will Tracy, Ed Parker also trained with him for about two weeks.
Contribution and innovations
According to Charlie Walton, the administrator of the website kajukenbo.org, the Black Belt Society arose between 1947 and 1949 at the Palama Settlement from five black belts, whose arts are reflected in the name Kajukenbo. In 1950 Adriano and Joe Emperado began teaching an open class and named the school the Kajukenbo Self Defense Institute. Emperado opened a second school at the Kaimuki YMCA and, according to Walton, soon had twelve schools in Hawaii. The Reyes Archive dates the development of the Tum Pai branch to 1959 through 1966 and the development of Chuan Fa from 1966, while Texas State and MidWeek place the addition of Chuan Fa in 1959.
Legends and documented facts
Kajukenbo tradition gives Emperado the title Sijo, that is, founder. English Wikipedia, however, names five founders and describes Emperado as the main teacher after the other four left for the army. The year of founding is given as 1947, as 1947 to 1949, or as 1950 for the first school. The magazine MidWeek printed an account by Emperado's stepson Clarence Emperado Luna that in the nineteen-seventies Emperado challenged Bruce Lee to a sparring match at a tournament in Long Beach and Lee declined. Another source does not confirm this story.
Legacy
According to Walton, John Leoning brought Kajukenbo to the US mainland in 1958, and English Wikipedia gives the first school outside Hawaii at Travis Air Force Base in the same year. According to English Wikipedia, the Kajukenbo Association of America was founded in 1967, and Al Dacascos of Emperado's lineage founded Wun Hop Kuen Do. According to a column by Ben Wood in the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, the actor Don Stroud trained with Emperado for fifteen years. Emperado died on 4 April 2009 at the age of 82, the Star-Bulletin gives Maui as the place, English Wikipedia gives Honolulu and 5 April.