The Foundations of the art were formulated in the tough Paloma Settlement of Hawaii in 1947. The area was flooded with demobilized soldiers and sailors looking for a fight. The Chinese, Japanese, Filipinos, and Koreans who were there were glad to give them one-and as racial tensions escalated, they were equally glad to rip each other apart. The time and place was right for five men to make a pact: they would take two years to create an ideal fighting art: one that would make them invincible on the toughest streets in the world. These five men were:

Walter Choo: Welterweight boxing champion and tang soo do expert

Frank Ordenez: Jujitsu expert

Joe Holke: Kodokan: judo stylist

Clarence Chang: Master of Chinese boxing and Si lum kung fu

Adriano Emperado: Kenpo expert who learned from the legendary Masters William K.S. Chow and James Mitose

These five men made up the notorious Black Belt Society. They made a pact to quit their jobs and dedicate two years to training full time. Meeting in secret in old abandoned buildings, they would train trying their techniques against one and other. Everything was written down. and that was the way that Kajukenbo was created: Ka from Korean Karate; Ju from judo; Ken from Kenpo; Bo from Chinese Boxing (Kung-Fu)

After the Korean War the society split up. Adriano Emperado was the only one left outside the military. He began to teach his art and the brilliance of his eclectic system soon drew hundreds of students. In 1950, Emperado organized one of the first chains of martial arts schools under the name Kajukenbo Self-Defense Institute. In subsequent years the art was introduced to the mainland, and now there are Kajukenbo instructors all over the world. Kajukenbo remains one of the most formidable and effective fighting arts ever created.