Adriano D. Emperado was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on June 16, 1926. He was born to Filipino-Hawaiian parents in the poor Palama section of Honolulu. Like a lot of poor areas, the Palama settlement was a violent place to live. Confrontations and fights were a daily occurrence. Because of this Emperado started his self defense training at the age of 8. At this time in his life both his father and uncle were professional boxers. His next training came at the age of 11 while he was living with his older brother in Kauai. There he learned the basic 12 strikes of Escrima. At age 14 he found himself back in his old Palama neighborhood. There he trained in judo under Sensei Taneo at the Palama Settlement Gym. A few years later at the age of 20 Emperado undertook the serious study of Kenpo taught by the legendary Professor William K.S. Chow. Professor Chow had been a student of Kenpo Jiu Jitsu instructor James Mitose, and also held a 5th degree black belt in judo. Emperado trained daily with Chow and soon became his first black belt. Emperado spent many years with Professor Chow becoming his Chief Instructor and attaining the rank of 5th degree black belt.
It was in 1947, while still training under Chow, that Mr. Emperado joined with 4 other black belts to develop a style of their own. These five called themselves the "Black Belt Society" The members were: Adriano Emperado - Kenpo, Peter Choo - Boxing/Tang Soo Do, Frank Ordonez - Jujitsu, Joe Hlock - Judo and Clarence Chang - Kung Fu. These men developed a new system that they named, Kajukenbo.
In 1950, after the other four founders went to war, Emperado started the first Kajukenbo school at the Palama Settlement Gym. At the Palama school students could train for $2.00 a month. The workouts that took place there are legendary for their brutality. Emperado has been quoted as saying that a workout wasn't over until there was blood on the floor. He went on to say "that you have to experience pain before you can give it. You have to know what your technique can do. We lost a lot of students in those days, but we also got a lot from other schools, including black belts. These students would look at what we were doing and realize that we had a no nonsense effective system".
Although he was very successful in the martial arts he never made a living at it. Because he taught at Y.M.C.A.'s and recreation centers he always kept his student fees low. A lot of Emperado's knowledge of street fighting came from his many years in law enforcement. He had spent 14 years as a harbor policeman for the Hawaii Department of a Transportation, and a year with the Hawaii Attorney General's Office. While with the Attorney General's Office he served as a body guard to the governor. He then entered the private sector as the security director for a large company. He worked in the corporate security field until he suffered a heart attack in 1982.
All of his life Emperado studied various martial arts. In his lifetime Emperado saw his Kajukenbo style grow into a major martial art that is practiced all across the United States and in several countries.
Sijo Adriano D. Emperado passed away peacefully in his sleep on April 4, 2009 at approximately 11:15 pm. He passed away on Maui, Hawaii the island that he loved and was home to him. While this was a great loss for everyone in Kajukenbo worldwide, we honor him daily by maintaining the hard-hitting style he created. Our students and our Ohana represent the best that Kajukenbo has to offer.
The Corder family was fortunate enough to spend time with Sijo on many occasions. We were able to spend time with him in Maui in July of 2008. We treasure these moments and appreciate all that Sijo has provided for us. We will continue to honor his legacy in all areas of our lives.
Happy Birthday, Sijo!
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