Kajukenbo is an eclectic martial art that combines Karate, Judo, Jujitsu, and Kung fu. It was invented in 1947 in Hawaii, at the Palama Settlements, to deal with the rough streets there. The inventors were Adriano Emperado, P.Y.Y. Choo, Joe Holck, Frank Ordonez, Clarence Chang, all members of the black belt society.
The name works in two ways: "ka" ("long life"), "ju" ("happiness"), "ken" ("fist"), "bo" ("style") or "ka" ("karate"), "ju" ("judo"/"jujitsu"), "ken" ("kempo"), "bo" ("boxing").
While the path to black-belt status in Kajukenbo is long, the form has a reputation for teaching a lot of practical self-defense early, being a bit heavier on practical fighting technique than on the more meditative side of martial arts.
Kajukenbo has many more grappling moves than regular kempo, plus this art is very brutal, it has a lot of joint breaking moves, and low blows. The workouts can easily get the heart rate up and last about two hours. This school of martial arts train with sandbags, boxing gloves, and every male student is given, as part of their uniform, a cup to protect the testicles.
