Most
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Who is Sijo Emperado?
Sijo Adriano Directo
Emperado is one of the originators and the founder of
the KAJUKENBO system of self-defense.
2. What is KAJUKENBO?
KA- karate; JU-
judo/ju-jitsu; KEN- kenpo; BO- Chinese boxing (Kung Fu)
3. What other meanings can KAJUKENBO have?
KA- longlife; JU- happiness; KEN- fist; BO- style or
universe. This makes the
KAJUKENBO motto read: Through this fist style one gain happiness
and long life.
4. Who are the other persons and what did
they contribute to the makings of the
KAJUKENBO system?
Mr. P.Y.Y Choo: Korean Karate
Mr. Frank Ordenez: Ju Jitsu
Mr.
Joe Holek: Judo (Kodokan)
Professor C. Chang: Chinese boxing (Kung Fu)
Professor A. D.
Emperado: Kenpo & Escrima (arnis)
5. What is the Black Belt Society?
The Black Belt Society
was the name they called themselves before the
KAJUKENBO system was
developed. The black belt society no
longer exists.
6. What was the period of/or length of
time in development of this system?
From early 1947 to late 1949. It was never practiced and perfected in one
training place for more
than once or twice for fear that this unique system might
be exposed.
7. Where were the headquarters then and
now for the KAJUKENBO Self-Defense
Institute
(KSDI)?
Palama Settlement, Vineyard Street,
Honolulu, Hawaii. It is now called the
Kajukenbo Self-Defense
Institute of Hawaii Inc.
8. Who is Sijo Emperado in real life
outside of the martial arts?
He was employed by the Federal Government,
Harbor Division as a Law
Enforcement
Officer, now retired. Married, has
children and resides in Honolulu,
Hawaii.
9. What art other than Chinese Kempo is
Professor Emperado a Master in?
Escrima, a form of Filipino stick fighting
and Chinese Gung Fu (Tum Pai)
10. What do the original 5 colors symbolize?
The five colors represent the five basic
systems used in the Chinese Martial Arts.
HUNG, LI, MO, CHOY and
FUT. The five originators of the
KAJUKENBO system.
Holek, Choo, Emperado,
Chang and Ordenea. The five arts which
make up the
KAJUKENBO system; Korean
Karate, Kodokan Judo, Ju Jitsu, Kenpo/Kempo, and
Chinese boxing (Kung
Fu).
11. What are the 5 basic systems?
The 5 basic systems of
the Chinese Martial Arts: HUNG- power
punches, PUT-
sliding techniques, NO- blocking
and breaking. All of these techniques
or
systems are greatly used
in the KAJUKENBO style of defense. You
could actually
say then that the
KAJUKENBO style is the hard style of Kung Fu, or Jung Ga Kin.
12. What style/system is this school
teaching?
Ch`uan Fa KAJUKENBO is
our style of teaching, both hard and soft styles.
13. What do you mean by Northern and Southern
styles?
In China, the Northern systems of Gung Fu
were noted for their fine kicking
techniques, jumping,
long power punches and vocal sound. The
Southern
systems had little or no
yelling sounds and kicks were usually never higher than
the groin region. They were skillful on inside hand techniques
using short strikes,
pokes and slicing slap
techniques. The Southern sets were
usually long with a
medium and sometimes
slow tempo. The Northern sets were
generally fast with a
lot of jumping and high
kicks.
14. What about Karate and where did it come
from?
To the Chinese, Kara mean China, while Te
would be fist, or “art way”. Meaning
China way, China fist or
China’s arts. It is actually a Chinese
word. To the
Japanese, Karate means “empty
hand”. Kara- empty and Te- hand. Karate
comes out of the Jung
system of Gung Fu using power punches and power
blocks. Karate can also
be called Japanese Gung Fu.
15. What about Ch`uan Fa or Kempo?
Ch`uan fa is a Chinese
word meaning “fist way” or first step”.
In China, all
unarmed martial arts (Wu
Shu or Kgi Guk) are called ch`uan fa (fist way) or
ch`uan shu (fist
art). To the Westerners it is called
Kempo or Kenpo.
16. Which is correct, Kenpo or Kempo?
Both. The “n” in Kenpo is sometimes substituted
with an “m” to pay respect to
Professor James
Mitose. Also, Kempo is the correct
Chinese way of saying it
especially if the
schools’ doctrine is inclined to the Chinese methods. Kenpo is
used mostly by schools
who are heavily influenced by Okinawan and Hawaiian
methods. Kenpo or Kempo stresses more Southern (hand)
techniques with low
kicks. It is still within the Hung system using
power blows (hard style).
17. Why do we yell (kiai) when delivering a
strike?
Extra strength and speed is gained when
delivering strikes while yelling. It
also
absorbs shock when
falling as used in Judo. Energy force
should also be
concentrated in the
lower stomach.
18. What is the correct way to yell (kiai)?
Any yell that comes from
the lower stomach. Many of the Gung Fu
schools shout
“sot” which in Chinese
means kill or execute.
19. How old are the Chinese Martial Arts?
History in China dates
back 2754 years ago. This was the
beginning of the
development of the
Chinese characters as used in Chinese language. It may
have been longer. Black Belt Magazine lists it to be a
thousand years earlier than
3754. T`ai chi ch`uan marks the beginning of this
trend. However, Bodi Dharma (Budda)
helped to form Kung Fu when he taught the Shaolin Monks yoga exercises leading
to the first form, 18 hands of Lohan.
20. What are the color ranks in Gung Fu?
In some systems of Gung
Fu, the color usually starts off with black, then working its
way to white, gold or
silver. But, anywhere between black and
white, other
colors are
included. Example: black, blue, green,
yellow, red and white. White
would mean Professorship
and red would mean Instructor or Master.
Not all color
systems have their own
way of ranking. In our system, the
color ranks are used on
belts and on the
sash. Example: if you are a purple sash then you would have
a
black sash with a purple
stripe across the end indicating the purple belt rank. This
would apply all the way
up to your belt rank. When you achieve
the rank of 1st
degree black belt. This applies all the way up to 4th
degree. When you become
a 5th degree
the sash is solid red. 6th
degree is a red sash with one gold stripe.
7th
degree is a red sash
with two gold stripes. 8th
degree is a solid gold sash. 9th
degree is a gold sash
with one white stripe, and 10th degree is a solid white sash.
The sashes in our system
are white, yellow, orange, purple, blue, green, brown,
student black belt and
then 1st degree black belt.
21. How many forms or kuens must one know to
be a good practioner and what is the
purpose of forms?
Some schools have ten sets, some eighteen,
some eight, some have none, but
concentrate on
techniques. It depends on the system or
the school, but most of
all on the individual
them self. The purpose of forms is to
develop retention, agility,
proper focus, speed and
timing, without affixing to stereo mechanical moves.
The idea is to transform
from one technique the next spontaneously in a
continuous fashion. Some systems use it as a means to hang on to
the classical
or traditional beliefs.
22. Which system is better?
As said before, there are over 300
systems/styles of Gung Fu. Over 1,000
different
systems of martial arts in the world.
All systems are good. It also
depends on the person himself, and the
techniques that are faster, simple,
less wasted motion and
direct that generally comes out ahead, but we believe
after
many years of research, KAJUKENBO & WUN HOP KUEN DO are superior.
23. What is the shadowless kick?
The Chinese are colorful in giving names
to everything. The shadowless kick
is no more than a
diversion in which one uses distracting hand motion to draw an
opponents’ attention,
allowing to sneak a kick into the lower region. The fast kick
in our system can also
be called the shadowless kick. The
human eye picks up an
image and transfers it
to the brain in 1/16th of a second.
There are people who
can do this technique
faster than the eye can record an image.
24. Why do we wear black Gi’s if we are
learning Ch`uan Fa KAJUKENBO Gung Fu?
A black Gi is easier to get and need not
have a near perfect fit like the traditional
Chinese outfit. Also, it is the true and oldest type of
outfit the Chinese use. Those
of you who have seen
Chinese movies, will note the Chinese collar and frog
buttons were not used
until 2-3 hundred years ago. The
regular wrap around was
the most practical.
25. How many kinds of strength are there in
the Chinese arts?
Six: body,
breath, bone, internal, external and hidden/darkened strength.
26. What is the deadliest blow in any system?
Internal blows.
27. Mentally, what will Gung Fu teach us?
Gung fu will teach you concentration,
patience, belief, honesty, perseverance,
self control, courage
and a personality that becomes better.
28. Physically, what are the primary goals?
Health, alertness, body
conditioning and overcoming minor illness through
improved health.
29. What are the four main systems practiced
today?
They are hard, soft, internal &
external systems. Many schools combine
all four.
30. What is the term “poison hand”?
Poison hand techniques are attained by
snap and speed. Also, some techniques
use a poisonous powder
or liquid on the hands to be inserted beneath the skin.
31. What
is “iron hand”?
Iron hand is
developed after a person practices with the use of aids like hitting
materials. Its techniques require strength. It is called iron hand because a
person’s
hands and feet become strong and rough like leather.
32. What
is Dim Mak?
Dim Mak is the
deadliest and most dangerous blows in the advance system of
Gung Fu. Usually touch and pressure type finger
applications. Persons who study
this art
need to know the chart and timing systems before applications. The
internal and
poison hand methods are used like dotting the letter “i”.
33. What
is kwoon?
The word kwoon
is a Chinese word meaning training hall or gymnasium.
34. What
are the two most important things in sparring?
Timing and
distance. The others are deception,
accuracy, speed and power.
35. What
is the meaning of Wun Hop Kuen Do?
It means combination fist art style/system. It was created by Sifu Al Dacascos in 1971.
36. What
do AKBBA, IKA, KAA AND KSDI stand for?
They are
acronyms for various associations.
AKBBA- American Karate Black Belt
Association. IKA- International Kajukenbo
Association. All members who study
Wun Hop Kuen
Do Gung Fu under Sifu Al Dacascos and his instructors belong
to this
organization. The headquarters is in
Denver, Colorado. KAA- Kajukenbo
Association
of America. This was the first large
organization to be formed outside
of Hawaii on February 22, 1967 with it’s headquarters located in California.
KSDI-
Kajukenbo Self Defense Institute, is the forefather of all Kajukenbo
associations
and it’s headquarters are located in Honolulu, Hawaii under the
directorship
of Professor Emperado.
37. Why
are the styles of uniforms or outfits in this school?
Black Gung Fu
pants and black shirt with school logo.
You can also wear a
fighting
top, with school logo, usually reserved for tournaments and training during
the
winter months. A black karate Gi with
school logo is acceptable, no white
shirts or
non-school logo apparel is permitted with the exception given temporarily
to new
students. Wrestling or Gung Fu shoes
are optional at this school.
38. Who
are the active black belts at the school?
Simo
Cropper, Sihing Yetter, Sihing Williams, Sihing R. Rivers, Sihing D. Rivers
39. Is
it necessary for students to compete in tournaments?
The primary
job of this school is to teach you to defend yourself in the street first.
Playing in
tournaments is second. However, it has
been necessary for some
students to compete in tournaments to develop the proper winning
attitude
whether win or lose in competition. Tournament competition though has helped
this studio gain respect from other systems because of our
fighters’ abilities.
40. Where
is the Sil Lum Temple?
The Shaolin or
Sil Lum temple monastery was located in the foothills on the north
side of the
Shao-Shin Mountains in the western part of Teng-Feng-Hsien, Honan
Province. It was
erected during the Northern Wei Dynasty, during the reign of
Tai-Ho in 479
A.D. Many more monasteries were erected
during that period, but
this one was given
credit for the advancement and development of the Chinese
fighting arts.
41. What
makes a well-rounded martial artist?
One who has
mastered the use of the legs, hands, throwing techniques,
paralization, breaking, grappling or grab arts, weapons,
remedies and herb
practice, philosophy and anatomy of the body. To put it simply he had to know
all phases
of everything to do with the martial arts.
42.
What are the four most
popular countries responsible for the advancement of the
Martial Arts?
China,
Okinawa, Japan & Korea. Although in
this country 52% of all martial arts
practiced come from the Korean style. This does not mean that they are the best
or biggest. It is only
because the Chinese system had a late start in promoting
their style in this country.
The Okinawan, Japanese and Korean systems had a
good 20-25 year head start in America. Most Chinese systems were strictly
confined to mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and outside of Asia,
San Francisco-Chinatown, Honolulu an
other small Chinese communities in the
U.S. With the combined forces of the Japanese,
Okinawan and Korean
practioners in the world, they only number no more than perhaps
8-12 million,
whereas the Chinese practioners amount to well over 200
million. 175 million
practice
Tai-Chi style. The rest study various
province styles and Sil Lum systems.
Chinese martial arts are 2500 years ahead of the other systems. Most karate
books
on the market today will confirm that the mother country responsible for
the development of the martial arts is China.
43. Where
did Professor Emperado train and from whom did he receive his title?
He attended instructors
advanced training given by Professor James Mitosi in
1951. These classes
were held at the Professors’ residence and gym located on
Emma Street and was
known as the Official Self-Defense Club.
He received his
instructor's certificate from Professor Mitosi in 1952. The title of Professor was given
Emperado by the late Professor Lum and the still living Prof.
Lau-King, Prof. Namfu
and Prof. Wong of the Chinese physical cultural society of
Hawaii. Through the
years, Sijo Emperado has to his credit the training of thousands
of men, women
and children in the arts of self-defense through the practical
application of the
martial arts. He has taught armed forces personnel,
Honolulu PD & Vice-Squad.