“Gaylord Method”
KAJUKENBO ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA “Gaylord’s Method”
The Kajukenbo Association of America (KAA) was originated in 1967 by notable KAJUKENBO Masters, Aleju Reyes, Joe Halbuna, Tony Ramos, Charles Gaylord . The original organization existed until the early 1970’s. In 1980, GRANDMASTER Gaylord, with the advice of his top active Black Belts, decided to once again develop the KAA into a strong and united organization. The KAA Board of Directors decided to add the “Gaylord’s Method” to the original KAA patch (original design is by Al Dacascos) since the KAA now represented the schools directly under GRANDMASTER Gaylord. All of the KAA Chief Instructors are directly under GRANDMASTER Gaylord and teach his method of KAJUKENBO. The purpose of the KAA is to preserve and promote the art of KAJUKENBO “Gaylord’s Method”
GRANDMASTER CHARLES H. GAYLORD Grandmaster Gaylord has been actively training in the art of Kajukenbo for over 52 years. In 1980. He received his 9th degree Black Belt from the Kajukenbo founder, Sijo Adriano Emperado. Grandmaster Gaylord began his training in Hawaii under Kajukenbo Black Belt George (Paul) Seronio. In the early 1960s he moved to Northern California where he began teaching in San Leandro . He brought to the mainland the effective hard and heavy hitting style of Kajukenbo which he had learned from his instructors. Over the years, has developed his internal and external Martial Arts Skills through practical application training, along with meditation and constant research of mind over body studies. In September 1995, the K.A.A. and all of its Black Belts promoted Grandmaster Gaylord to the honorary rank of 10th degree Black Belt. The K.A.A. believes that this was necessary to ensure the desired level of excellence for their organization. Since then, Sijo Emperado has also recognized him as such. Grandmaster Gaylord has been recognized and inducted into three Martial Arts Hall of Fame. The World Martial Arts Hall of Fame, for Grandmaster. July 12th, 1997. Masters Martial Arts Hall of Fame, for Life Time Achievement. July 20th, 2000. And the North American Martial Arts Hall of Fame, for Sokeship. September 16th, 2000.
Grandmaster Gaylord has produced countless quality Black Belts who have become top competitors and instructors both nationally and internationally. To ensure the quality of his instructors, he holds a monthly Black Belt Class, where he teaches over 70 Black Belts who have schools located in the Western United States. He also provides special seminars to those schools which cannot regularly train with him.
KAJUKENBO ASSOCIATION OF AMERICA What When Why Where Who? What: The KAA is dedicated to bringing to the world the art of Kajukenbo. Our schools must maintain only the highest standards in order to promote Kajukenbo as it should be – in its purest form, as a constantly evolving art for the spirit, mind and body. Who: GGMG himself oversees the KAA bringing with him over 52 years of experience in the martial arts. The KAA is more than just an organization, the KAA is ohana, family. All of our schools in the bay area get together monthly to exchange ideas, training techniques, and exercises. This monthly workout is a feeding ground for our art to evolve, and also is a way that we bond together as family. Why: As we study, picking up and absorbing the enormous amount of knowledge out there, we must realize that learning is only the halfway point. It is only by sharing what we have learned that we truly begin to find purpose in our training. By having a unified organization, the KAA, we can provide a structured, organized network of martial artists and schools to the world. Where: The KAA is located in Fremont in Northern California. The Bay Area is fortunate to be the chosen home of GGMG, where we are able to learn from his many years of experience. When: Every month.
Charles Gaylord was born in Honolulu on the island of Oahu. At the age of 17, I decided that I wanted to take martial arts. An old friend told me about a school in Kaimuki, YMCA, and that’s when I became very interested in learning the martial arts and getting back in shape. I started learning the martial arts in 1954 under Paul Seronio. I worked very hard to become the best that I could be. I received my belts through the years from Paul Seronio and at that time, also from Chief Instructor Emperado. The training was very vigorous and when I walked into the school, there were 200 students. As time went on, there were only 100 students still training, and to my surprise, after two months, only 30 people were still training to the martial artist’s way of life. I really couldn’t express the way we trained. We trained two days a week, and as far as I was concerned, I needed more work. We wore white uniforms and at the time, and we were told to change them to black. The black uniforms were worn until they eventually turned gray. Try to imagine all of us street fighting with no protective gear at all. We all sparred with no gear or any control fighting until the instructor said to stop. There was also a controlled sparring with a stick. It was very hard fighting. If you made a good hit, it was worth a point and back then, three points was the winner. The people at the school, I considered them family. We wanted to learn how to protect ourselves-there was no politics or jealousy-only love and compassion for the art and nothing else. After over 50 years of being in the martial arts, it’s very difficult for me to accurately remember the dates and places of the promotions from my white to green belts given to me by Paul Seronio and Chief Instructor Emperado. From 1954 to 1963, I received my ranks in different areas and locations. All my promotions from white to black belt were given to me at the Kaimuki school. I was a black belt recognized by Paul Seronio and Chief Instructor Adriano Emperado. Before I left for California, I broke away from the conflict that was going on in the Kajukenbo world at that time. I decided to open up my own school-“12 Disciples” was the name. The students were there to do the best that they could and to have fun. Those were the days-and sometimes I really miss them. Continuing with my career in the martial arts and running a school with only 12 students-the 12 Disciples, they really dedicated their lives to learn the Kajukenbo way and to fully understand the way of life. I remember when Emperado came to the school that I had built for the workouts, asking me if I’d consider going back to the school in Kaimuki. I declined. I was happy where I was. I was Emperado’s friend for a long time and I even lived in the same housing area with him for many years. I am the second generation of Emperado method of Kajukenbo. In my time, right didn’t mean too much for anyone-we never thought about it. We just wanted to learn the martial arts and nothing else. Time has changed and will continue to change. Similar to new cars, homes, and many other things in life, teaching methods will also continue to change. I decided to travel to the mainland because work was not prosperous for my family and me. Before I left Hawaii, my instructor promoted me to be Black Belt holder in the art of Kajukenbo in February 1963. It is very difficult for me to tell you the exact dates of my promotions because the only things we received from our instructors were belts, no certificates or ID cards. I decided to move to the mainland for work and to start a new life with my family. When I was living with my brother, Bob, I never thought I was going to open a karate school. When Bob saw me working out in the backyard, he encouraged me to open up a karate school-we became partners and did very well. This started in the San Leandro area, and later moved to Fremont and Richmond.
Contact Information for Kajukenbo Association of America
GM John E. Bono DC
Bono’s Jeet Kune Do and Kajukenbo
639 Tully Rd
San Jose, California 95111
(408) 298-2663 (office)
(408) 420-2584 (Kaju cell) Office Cell(408)772-1009
stfightr@pacbell.net
Great Grand Master Gaylord’s GrandMaster and Professor List
Sr Grand Master James Juarez 9th degree
Sr Grand Master James Nordlie 9th degree
Sr Grand Master Wolf Hillesheim 9th degree
Grand Master James Williams 9th degree
Professor Tom Theofanopoulos 9th degree
Grand Master John E Bono DC 9th degree
Grand Master James Williams 9th degree
Sr Grand Master Tino Paz 9th degree
Grand Master Frank Wohler 9th degree
Grand Master Brian Yoshii 9th degree
Grand Master Ron Esteller 9th degree
Sr Grand Master Max Pallen 9th degree
Grand Master Jose Quiroz 9th degree
Sr Grand Master Pete Morales 9th degree
Professor Coleen Gragen 8th degree
Grand Master Melcor Chavez 9th degree
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