William Kwai-sun Chow (July 3, 1914 – September 21, 1987, AKA William Ah Sun Chow-Hoon) was instrumental in the development of the martial arts in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, specifically the family of styles referred to as kenpo/ kempo. Born in

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...

Chow was the third of sixteen children and the first son born to Sun Chow-Hoon (AKA Ah Hoon-Chow) and Rose Kalamalio Naehu. Chow's father came to

at the age of 19 and worked in a

laundromat A self-service laundry, coin laundry, laundromat, or coin wash is a facility where clothes are washed and dried without much personalized professional help. They are known in the United Kingdom as launderettes or laundrettes, and in the Unit ...

as a laborer. His mother was of Hawaiian descent. One of his brothers, John Chow-Hoon, would also become a well–known martial artist. Chow left school at age eleven when he was in the sixth grade.

Training and lineage

Chow studied several types of martial arts as a young man. These styles most likely included:

boxing Boxing (also known as "Western boxing" or "pugilism") is a combat sport in which two people, usually wearing protective gloves and other protective equipment such as hand wraps and mouthguards, throw punches at each other for a predetermine ...

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

jujutsu Jujutsu ( ; ja, link=no, 柔術 , ), also known as jiu-jitsu and ju-jitsu, is a family of Japanese martial arts and a system of close combat (unarmed or with a minor weapon) that can be used in a defensive or offensive manner to kill or subdu ...

, and karate. Though he stood no more than 5’2” tall, he was well known for his powerful breaking techniques. Chow eventually studied “Kenpo Jiujutsu” or “Kosho Ryu Kenpo” under the direction of

James Mitose James is a common English language surname and given name: *James (name), the typically masculine first name James * James (surname), various people with the last name James James or James City may also refer to: People * King James (disambiguat ...

. As he progressed he often tested his prowess against US military personnel in street fights. In spite of this, it was never recorded that Chow ran afoul of the law. William Chow became one of five people awarded black belts under Mitose. Chow's black belt certificate was signed by Thomas Young. Young was Mitose's senior student and instructor.

Instruction style

Chow had a reputation for being a tough instructor, although this quote from Nick Cerio seems to indicate that the intent was to train, not to harm:

I got banged here and there with the old man, but not in a malicious way, Chow was tough and gave you a good strong workout. He was adamant about physical conditioning and when he did a technique, he meant business. I believe he didn’t have the intention of hurting you. It was just that he was so powerful and quick that he didn’t realize himself how much damage he did when he demonstrated a technique on you.

Influence

Kenpo Karate

In 1944 Chow began teaching what he called “ Kenpo Karate” at the Nuuanu YMCA in Honolulu. As Mitose had referred to his art as "kenpo jujitsu," rather than "kenpo karate," this was a departure for Chow. His many students included Edmund Parker, Joseph D. and Adriano D. Emperado, Ron Alo, Abe KAMAHOAHOA,

Bobby Lowe Robert Lincoln Lowe (July 10, 1865 – December 8, 1951), nicknamed "Link", was an American Major League Baseball (MLB) player, coach, and scout. He played for the Boston Beaneaters (1890–1901), Chicago Cubs (1902–1903), Pittsburg ...

, Ralph Castro, Sam Kuoha, Matias Ulangca Jr, Bill Chun Sr., John Leone, William G. (Billy) Marciarelli (Kachi/Kenpo), Walter Liu, and Paul Pung. He did not create or perform any kata but focused more on individual techniques.

Spread of Kenpo Karate

William Chow's legacy grew as kenpo spread to the

mainland with its introduction by Edmund Parker and other students of Chow such as Ralph Castro (Shaolin Kenpo), Adriano Emperado (

Kajukenbo Kajukenbo ( Japanese: カジュケンボ) is a hybrid martial art from Hawaii. It was developed in the late 1940s and founded in 1947 in the Palama Settlement of Palama, Hawaii. The name Kajukenbo is a combination of the various arts from whi ...

, Karazenpo go shinjutsu) and later from Sonny Gascon, his student George Pesare, who founded the East Coast branch of Karazenpo/Kempo, and his student Nick Cerio, who were instrumental in bringing kenpo to students in the eastern

. Additional students such as George Pesare and Ron Alo who was one of the first practitioners to bring Kara-Ho Kempo to the mainland, where he taught Chow's art in Southern California before developing his own Alo Kenpo system.

Warrior ethos

In spite of his heavy influence on the martial arts in the United States and his many notable students, Chow never had a dojo of his own, often teaching in the park and is thought to have lived in near poverty much of the time. Cerio once stated, "He was a very cautious individual who had no business sense whatsoever." Chow referred to his style as an “War Art” and focused largely on techniques that he felt worked in the streets.

Death

Shortly before his death in 1987, Chow renamed his system Kara-Ho Kempo. Chow died of a cardio-ventricular accident due to hypertension.Kuoha, Sam with Ka'imi Kuoha. ''Chinese Kara-Ho Kempo Volume 1''. Unique Publications, 2000. p. 20.

References

Sources

* Corcoran, John, Emil Farkas, ''Martial Arts Traditions, History, People'', W.H. Smith, 1981. LCCN 82-11940 *Breen, Andrew. "Professor Nick Cerio, Evolution Of A Kenpo Master"

Inside Kung Fu ''Inside Kung-Fu'' was a monthly United States magazine founded in December 1973. Its last issue was in April 2011. History The magazine featured articles on modern wushu and kung fu as well as tournaments and events in the United States and ...

, July 1997: 40-45, 102-103 *

External links

John Chow-Hoon (William Chow's brother)

Karaho kenpo official website