Adriano Emperado

From MartialTalk Online Martial Arts Encyclopedia Project

Adriano Emperado was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 15, 1926. One of the founders of Kajukenbo.

Martial Arts History

His first exposure to the martial arts started at the age of 8, in boxing, Escrima, and Judo. At the age of 20, he began his training in Kenpo under William Chow. He was Chow’s first black belt.

It was in 1947, while still training under Chow, that he joined with 4 other black belts from other styles to develop a style of their own. These five called themselves the "Black Belt Society". The product of their work created a new system called Kajukenbo. It was in 1950, after the other four members went to the Korean War, that Adriano Emperado founded the "Kajukenbo Self Defense Institute of Hawaii". It was located in the Palama Settlement.

He also worked in the law enforcement and the security field. In 1962, he took the job of harbor police in Hawaii. In 1976, he served as guard to the Governor. Then in 1977, he took the position of head of security for the Kukui Plaza. During this time he spent his spare time teaching, training in other systems, and refining Kajukenbo and his skills.

Here is a link to an interview of Adriano Emperado, from John Bishop's Kajukenbo site: http://www.kajukenboinfo.com/sijointerview.html