Ryu Dojo Hawaiian Kenpo Legacy

About Ryu Dojo Hawaiian Kenpo Legacy
Mitose Sensei - Kosho Shorei Ryu Kempo Our own style branched out at the beginning of the seventeenth century, when two Japanese families (Kumamoto and Nagasaki) brought a version of Chinese Kenpo (Chuan Fa) to Kyushu in Japan. This style was maintained with their families, and gradually modified over the next 200 years to become Kosho Ryu Kempo, or “Old Pine Tree School”. In 1916 a five year old boy named James Mitose returned from Hawaii to Kyushu Japan to learn his ancestor’s art of Kosho Ryu Kenpo from his uncle Choki Motobu, a Kempo master. James Mitose returned to Hawaii in 1936 to open the “Official Self-Defense” club in Honolulu, and thus is credited as the first to bring Kenpo to the United States. His first students to be promoted to black belt included Thomas Young (who took over his school), William K.S. Chow, Edmund Howe, Arthur Keawe, Jiro Naramura, and Paul Yamaguchi. William Chow - Chinese Kara-Ho Kenpo Karate William Chow had four brothers, all trained in Jujitsu. Knowledgeable authorities claim that he may incorporated some of these jujitsu techniques into MItose’s style of Karate, and did not borrow any circular movements of Kung Fu, to form the style he eventually called Chinese Kara-Ho Kenpo Karate. He does seemed to have opened his own dojo in 1949 in a local Hawaiian YMCA, and according to some, was the first use of Kenpo spelling to signify his break from the Mitose style of Kempo. William Chow, also known as Professor Chow, passed his knowledge on to a great many students, before he died in 1987. One important note: there really is no huge difference between Kenpo and Kempo karate. While some say that William Chow was the first to use the term “Kenpo” Karate, others state that the confusion between the two results from a difference in the translation from the original Kanji to English. Using the rules of the Kanji language, the spelling is Kenpo and Kempo should be pronounced the same, and both mean the “The Law of the Fist” Students of William Chow included Adriano D. Emperado (founder of Kajukembo), Ed Parker (founder of American Kenpo), and Bill Ryusaki [pronounced “RHHE-you SOCK_ee”] founder of Hawaiin Kenpo and our own Great Grandmaster. Bill M. Ryusaki - RyuDojo Hawaiian Kenpo Karate Sensei Bill Ryusaki was born in Waimea on the big island of Hawaii. Sensei Bill’s father, Torazo Ryusaki, held black belts in both Judo and Shotokan Karate, and required all his seven sons (he also had four daughters) to train two martial arts. At the age of 8, Bill Ryusaki began training in Judo. While his brothers chose Kendo (Japanese sword fighting) and Aikido, Sensei Bill selected Judo and Kenpo Karate, and was taught by William Chow and Sonny Emperado, students of James Mitose. In the late 50’s, Sensei Bill came to southern California, and worked with Ed Parker. In 1962 he opened his original Ryu-dojo in North Hollywood, but moved his studio to his home in Van Nuys in 1979. Sigung John Bishop, Kajukembo instructor, was kind enough to e-mail us with the following information in September 1999: ”Great Grand Master (GGM) Bill Ryusaki is one of the true pioneers of Kenpo in the United States. Here is some additional information to fill some gaps in his bio. After coming to the mainland in the late 1950’s, he started training with Ed Parker In his garage. He also trained with Ed Tabian, a student of Ed Parker’s. he then trained with John Leoning (a black belt under Adriano D. Emperado), the first Kajukenbo instructor on the mainland, in 1957. GM Bill Ryusaki received his black belt in Kajukenpo from John Leoning in 1961. Sensei”s Bill first black belt was Dan Guzman. In 1988 I [Sigung John Bishop] gathered this information from GM Bill Ryusaki, Otto Schumann, Cecil Peoples, Ed Parker, and Dan Guzman. They all have copies of my thesis “The History and Evolution of Chinese KENPO Karate”. Although Sijo Emperado told me he never trained GM Ryusaki directly, his student Marino Tiwanak and his instructor William Chow trained GM Ryusaki in Hawaii. GM Ryusaki also trained with Chow’s student Bill Chun while in Hawaii. “ Movie Industry GGM Bill Ryusaki has appeared in numerous films as an actor and stuntman including work with Bruce Lee on the “Green Hornet”, and in “Hawaii 5-0”, “Wild, Wild West”, and with David Carradine in “Kung Fu” (Remember the assassin sent over from China?”). Other credits include “Knots Landing”, “China Beach”, “Planet of the Apes”, “Above the Law”, with Steven Seagal, “Rambo-First Blood Part II”, “Karate Kid II”, “Showdown in Little Tokyo”, “Robocop II”, “Black Rain”, “Double Impact” ( where he shot it out with Jean Claude Van Damme), “Welcome to Paradise”, and “Universal Soldier” ( one of the men rappelling down the face of the dam was Sensei Bill). You may also have recognized our Sensei getting punched by Bridget Fonda in “Point of No Return”. GGM Bill Ryusaki has appeared in “Beverly Hills Ninja” with Chris Farley, and he is the co-star of “The Beginner”, a short subject film which also features many of our Sensei instructors. Sensei BillRyusaki (GGM) held: 10th – degree (Ju-dan) black belt in Hawaiian Kenpo Karate / Kajukenbo 7th – degree black belt in Judo. 3rd- degree Shotokan Karate Shodan Aikido Great Grandmaster passed away in Los Angeles on December 4, 2016. We are honored to continue his legacy.