Learn Kajukenbo or each style individually?

[Alan Armstrong]

For those that enjoy practicing a variety of martial art disciplines for many years, perhaps you are already well on the way to become a Kajukenbo master without knowing it!

Would you rather learn Kajukenbo as a style or learn each of the elements that make up this style individually?

I have an opportunity to join a Kajukenbo club and was wondering if it would be of any benefit to do so.

From what I know, Kajukenbo is a hybrid martial art developed in Hawaii, using a combination of various martial arts, from which its style and name derived: KA for Karate, JU for Judo and Jujutsu, KEN for Kenpo and BO for Boxing.

Kajukenbo training uses a blend of striking, kicking, throwing, takedowns, joint locks and weapon disarmament.

Something I like and appreciate regarding Kajukenbo (contrast to many traditional martial arts) that students are encouraged to develop their own "self expression"

A few Kajukenbo videos.

Coordination tips

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLHwfHD9SvsegRLXPWYpYJFtJHAIfi6r0N&v=CiIH_vBitIQ

I see the benefit from learning Kajukenbo as a whole, with the benefit of fusing many styles into one, in a shorter amount of time; what do you think?

Do you have any suggestions on Kajukenbo that would be helpful?

[MatsuShinshii]

I have recently had the opportunity to watch a bit of this art and IMHO it seems like a well rounded combative art. As far as I can see I'd give it two thumbs up.

Of course I have no actual experience in the art. So I say this purely after watching a bit of the methodologies and hearing a bit of the concepts.

As far as learning it as a whole or learning the individual arts... that would be for the individual to decide for themselves.

[bushido_man96]

If one is looking for a combination of styles to be more well-rounded, then I'd say its a great opportunity. And if one would then choose to delve deeper into one of the singular arts at its core, then it gives a nice foundation to start with.

[JR 137]

I really liked the Fight Quest Kajukenbo episode. If you want to get all hyped up by Kaju, watch that one. I got so hyped up about it that I went to a semi-local Kaju school when I was looking around to restart training. What I saw on tv and what I saw there didn’t exactly match up. Seemed like nice people who were very well intentioned, but just not the right place for me for several reasons.

Regardless of the style, what’s most important is who’s teaching and how it’s being taught, and who you’ll train alongside.

In regards to the question of Kaju first vs the individuals first, I’d say Kaju first. If you want to delve deeper into one aspect or even train the weakest link, then go that route specifically.

[sensei8]

I have recently had the opportunity to watch a bit of this art and IMHO it seems like a well rounded combative art. As far as I can see I'd give it two thumbs up.

Of course I have no actual experience in the art. So I say this purely after watching a bit of the methodologies and hearing a bit of the concepts.

As far as learning it as a whole or learning the individual arts... that would be for the individual to decide for themselves.

Sometimes that's just enough to appreciate the purity of any MA, no matter how different it might seem.

[MatsuShinshii]

Very true. A bit of info is sometimes all that is needed to spark interest.

[tallgeese]

For those that enjoy practicing a variety of martial art disciplines for many years, perhaps you are already well on the way to become a Kajukenbo master without knowing it!

Would you rather learn Kajukenbo as a style or learn each of the elements that make up this style individually?

I have an opportunity to join a Kajukenbo club and was wondering if it would be of any benefit to do so.

From what I know, Kajukenbo is a hybrid martial art developed in Hawaii, using a combination of various martial arts, from which its style and name derived: KA for Karate, JU for Judo and Jujutsu, KEN for Kenpo and BO for Boxing.

Kajukenbo training uses a blend of striking, kicking, throwing, takedowns, joint locks and weapon disarmament.

Something I like and appreciate regarding Kajukenbo (contrast to many traditional martial arts) that students are encouraged to develop their own "self expression"

A few Kajukenbo videos.

Coordination tips

https://m.youtube.com/watch?list=PLHwfHD9SvsegRLXPWYpYJFtJHAIfi6r0N&v=CiIH_vBitIQ

I see the benefit from learning Kajukenbo as a whole, with the benefit of fusing many styles into one, in a shorter amount of time; what do you think?

Do you have any suggestions on Kajukenbo that would be helpful?

I think it's preference and what you're looking to get out of training. It's certainly a viable entry point.

That said, when you look at this, and JKD, there can be some quality control issues because you're really looking a framework in SOME cases rather than an in depth understanding. Again, not saying always.

I kind of like the idea that you're dealing with each art individually. This lets you get a really deep look at not just the techniques of each but the overall strategy. This lets you start to have a better understanding of how to best work them together. For you.

Roy Harris talks about this quite frequently when it comes to developing individual art skills, then you pit them against each other, then you start to meld them once you understand the strengths and weaknesses of each. It's a long process but, I think, ultimately more well rounded.

Then questions is how much do you need to know of each. I'd argue that a strong grasp of the fundamentals and tactics of each. That's around high blue or purple in BJJ. Probably brown or black in many karate arts. A couple of years boxing or MT. It's dependent. I also think that this can occur concurrently, it's dependent on the time available to the fighter.

Just some thoughts. As with all things, each individual will have to best judge what works best for their situation.

[Trailer_Ape]

Sorry it took so long to respond to this.

I trained about 7 months of Kaj, before leaving Florida. I actually had the privilege of training under an 8th degree Professor who KNEW Professor Sid Asunchin and met William Chow. He was real deal. Former SWAT, the whole 9 yards. Everything he taught was based on the actual mechanics of hurting people who are trying to hurt you. Which is the biggest thing (as others already said) WHO IS teaching.

A for the art itself, ya gotta take something into consideration before listening to my opinion - I believe ALL arts are "hybrid" arts. Unless you hop in a time machine and go train under Bodhi himself, there are outside influences in ANY and EVERY (so called) pure art.

One thing I look for is how far removed is an art and lineage from actual field testing. I mean - my instructor learned this devastating technique from his instructor who learned it from his instructor who learned from a guy who actually used it. Make sense?

The beauty of Kaj is its founders not only beat each other up, to find the weak points in their game, but then went to bars and got into brawls to test it out and this was not all that long ago. If you can find someone who teaches an art like that AND has themself been in a position where they had to fight (not spar) you can gain excellent real world insight BUT you still need to pressure test your methods. Ask them if they do.

Kaj made such an impact on me that, after I moved, I sought out a Hawaiian Kempo school that I drive an hour each way to. Not all Hawaiian Kempo is Kajukenbo but all Kaj is HK. Make sense. My current school is NOT Kaj, but that is just a lineage branch. We are cousins, both my current school and my last school trace back to Mitose and Chow.

[OneKickWonder]

I'd never heard of it before, but it looks impressive.

To be honest though I only saw karate in the clips. Not the more common heavily sanitised karate, but what karate is supposed to be.

From the description given at the start of this thread, it sounds very much like what tang soo do is supposed to be. In fact in the first YouTube link I saw something very similar to some of our one steps. Except again, unfortunately TSD has become overly sanitised to the extent that some of our syllabus stuff actually got modified to be less effective, on purpose, because some students found them too frightening. For real.

[Spartacus Maximus]

Kajukembo is made up of more than three different systems. It is a pool of knowledge and skills from experts of each of the components. A system of its own. It would take much more time to become proficient in one or more of the components than it might take to be comfortable with kajukembo, the synthesis of several systems.