Kara-Ho Kenpo?

[gmkuoha]

Yes, hello everyone. My name is Sam Kuoha and I was asked by several friends to go unto this web as there are many of you seeking for questions about me and my training in the arts. After much deliberation I decided to respond personally rather then having my aide do it. Be mindful that I am extremely busy and may not always respond to your questions. I travel quite frequently and often so my time on the computer is usually kept just for my instructors in 30 different countries but I will make every effort to answer your questions about me, my training in the arts, my professor, William KS Chow et all? Just be patient with me.

Thanks,
Sam A. Kuoha
head of the Professor Chow's Chinese Kara-Ho Kempo Karate System

 

[tshadowchaser]

Welcome to the forum, We hope your stay here will be enjoyable.
As you can see there is a small but interesting group of people in the Kara-ho Kenpo section.
There have been many good disscussions here and I hope you will contibute by asking and answereing qustions.
We all enjoy learning an exchanging information.
Sheldon

 

[The Kai]

GrandMaster
I have one of your tapes from Budo International, as well I've had the oppurtunity to work with you at the gathering a few times (I have you on tape breaking down a jointlock on me!) . I am always interested i9n anytime you choose to share
Todd

 

[gmkuoha]

Welcome to the forum, We hope your stay here will be enjoyable.
As you can see there is a small but interesting group of people in the Kara-ho Kenpo section.
There have been many good disscussions here and I hope you will contibute by asking and answereing qustions.
We all enjoy learning an exchanging information.
Sheldon

Thanks, I will do my best with the amount of time that I have. I will be here for a week then off to Hawaii for a couple of weeks where I will be tribute to my teacher, who have passed on in 1987 and his wife, Patsy Chow. I will be visiting with Dr. Perry (Professor Chow's advisor and personal friend and also Master Kuihana and train with my longest instructor, Shihan Kahananui). This will also be my 40th high school reunion. Graduated from Farrington High School in Kalihi where Professor Chow lived for many years. Also Professor Wally Jay and Ed Parker came from the rough area of Kalihi. Upon coming home, I will be very busy in pre-production with a motion picture that will be shot here in San Diego and Los Angeles but will try to get on my laptop inbetween times.
Thanks,
GM Kuoha

 

[gmkuoha]

GrandMaster
I have one of your tapes from Budo International, as well I've had the oppurtunity to work with you at the gathering a few times (I have you on tape breaking down a jointlock on me!) . I am always interested i9n anytime you choose to share
Todd

Thanks, and I hope that I will be a tribute to the knowledge thast I have obtained over these past 54 years. Seems like a long time, but when I think of what I have to learn, it seems so little of the time I have been training. A wise man (Professor Chow) told me once that to say that you have been taking arts for 20 years from someone that knows nothing still equals nothing. But to train for a year with someone that has allot of Akami (brains) equals a lot of knowledge. I have taken that all my life as my father (a Hawaiian lua champion) has also taught me these principles, so this is why I have searched out training with only the best all my life, no matter what the costs might be, (I was not a conveniant learner) and I only hope that I can pass some of these things to my students and others along the way. I especially am trying to keep the legacy with my daughter, Sensei Ka'imi Kwai Sun (named after Professor Chow as he was the 1st one notified when she was born and he asked me to name her after him and since William was not a good choice we gave her his middle name who he referred to Kwai all her life). Ka'imi remembers Professor Chow picking her up when she was only 3-4 years old and watching her perform and he told her on tape that she would be the next leader to "his" system. This has motivated her all her life to keep training. Now a 4th dan she has been training for all her life and trains 5 days a week even if her schedule is worse then mine. Was she there at the Gathering with me and if so did you have the opportuinity to work out with her?
Mahalo,
Grandmaster Kuoha

 

[The Kai]

I do'nt know if she was there klast year, but I do remember her teachinbg one year. Very cool stuff

 

[TIGER DRAGON FIGHT]

my understanding of kara-ho kenpo is it has influenced other branches of kenpo. the forms and open hand techniques as well as the black belt forms resemble.

 

[gmkuoha]

I do'nt know if she was there klast year, but I do remember her teachinbg one year. Very cool stuff

Thanks, I will tell her that you enjoyed training with her. She tries to amke it there every year but her scheduling is so crazy that at times if she is there, it is a miracle and by what has been coming in, she will be almost impossible to attend anything.

By the way she was inducted into the Master's Martial Arts Hall of Fame to be held in August of this year in LA. You can go to their website: www. martialartshalloffame.com
Grandmaster Kuoha

 

[gmkuoha]

my understanding of kara-ho kenpo is it has influenced other branches of kenpo. the forms and open hand techniques as well as the black belt forms resemble.

That is correct! Though many believe that I have changed the system, that is an incorrect statement. Professor Chow saw me doing some high kicks in the early 70's so he asked me where I had learned them so I told him then he told me to do them again several times, and then he said that would be a good idea to teach high kicks so if you know how to do them, you will also know how to defend against that also. He however revised the kicks so they were not a whipping type kick as I was doing them, but a chambering of the knees until the last second. Then he had me do them with an extension of chi to create a force much greater then a normal person could exert and making it much more powerful. If you watched one of our students (perferably an instructor) you will see the big difference between these kicks and those of what I originally learned which was Tae Kwon Do. Many things were innovated between the years 72-87 and many people were not around to see these things change and still kept the original art. If you get to find one of our black belts that is 2nd degree black belt or higher, ask him/her to do any technique from #6-10's or even higher #11-15's and you will see the new Professor Chow.
And to rest everyone's mind, our two small schools here in San Diego were the only ones that supported him and his wife throughout their life. Our small organization then even set up an account at the bank in Hawaii and every month all his bills were paid from money that we put into and he was given money that month to live off of. When he passed away there was over $4,000 in coins in shoe boxes hidden under his bed and when Patsy Chow was asked where all that money came from, her response was Samuel. After Professor's death we took care of Patsy Chow also and put her in a real good home where we paid about 25% of her expenses, then twice a month we paid my sister (who lives there) to go and pick her up and get her things that she might need and to take her to the gravesit to visit Professor. There was no one else that did that and that was confirmed by his advisor, Dr. Perry. He stated that everyone took from Professor but people forgot to give back. Let's put it this way when Professor passed away he had about 2-3 students and I went back home to visit Patsy Chow about twice a year and she said that none came to visit her except for my sister every month and me. Kinda tells you what we as human's are made off, huh? We get caught up in our own world and we tend to forget what's really important to us all.
Grandmaster Kuoha

 

[Big Pat]

Grandmaster Kuoha,

It is an honor and pleasure to have you post here. It is always valuable to hear {read} another prespective on the evolution of Kenpo.

EKP RIP

Big Pat
:asian:

 

[gmkuoha]

Grandmaster Kuoha,

It is an honor and pleasure to have you post here. It is always valuable to hear {read} another prespective on the evolution of Kenpo.

EKP RIP

Big Pat
:asian:

You're welcome and I hope that I can add something to all your questions and enfluence all martial artists in a positive way. This is what Professor Chow would have wanted me to do.
Grandmaster Kuoha

 

[John Bishop]

Good to see you here, old friend. It's always great to have our seniors availiable to share their knowledge and experiences with us.

 

[DavidCC]

Quote:
Originally Posted by TIGER DRAGON FIGHT
my understanding of kara-ho kenpo is it has influenced other branches of kenpo. the forms and open hand techniques as well as the black belt forms resemble.

That is correct!

Hello GM Kuoha,
As I analyze the style of Kempo I am trainnig, how can I recognize the influences of Prof. Chow? What are the tell-tale signs that might have survived through all the generations to make it to my school?

Thanks!
David

 

[TIGER DRAGON FIGHT]

sir, it is an honor to have you note somthing so profound. always give thanks to those who have touched your life in some way or form and to continue to grow as a martial artist yet perfect it, much like your life.

 

[gmkuoha]

Good to see you here, old friend. It's always great to have our seniors availiable to share their knowledge and experiences with us.

Thanks and hope that I can help others who are searching for a little light on the things that I know of such as Professor Chow in the latter years and the Chinese Kara-Ho Kempo Karate System. You encouraged me to get on line several months ago but it so hard with my schedule as it is always hit and miss for me, but I'm sure you understand. I am 10X more busy then when I was in law enforcement. You take care,
Grandmaster Kuoha

 

[gmkuoha]

As I analyze the style of Kempo I am trainnig, how can I recognize the influences of Prof. Chow? What are the tell-tale signs that might have survived through all the generations to make it to my school?

Thanks!
David[/QUOTE]
First of all I don't know what style of Kenpo/Kempo you are learning but I think if anyone told me that they followed the roots and branch of the famed Professor William KS Chow I would look for some low line fighting techniques, vital strikes to points that would cripple or destroy an opponent and the coverage of defeating several opponents at once with rapid strikes. I don't mean striking an opponent with a series of slaps and blows that would antagonize him but put that person out of commission. Professor Chow's system is a no nonense system that is highly dangerous and can be extremely lethal and that is why Ki is the most important ingredient in the basis of training. This is to encourage a student to be more humble, respectful and having great control. A Kara-Ho student at an advance stage can be very deadly though they are trained to be humble. Take for instance, my head of the security program and a student/instructor in the Kara-Ho System is a former Sgt/Maj in the USMC staged to teach all the recons. He was deployed in the 1st Gulf War and was a short distance away from Saddam Hussein but was ordered not to take him out at that time. He was there with a small amount of elete group before our government knew they were there in the Imperial Palace. He has two sides to his personality yet if it wasn't for the teachings of Kara-Ho he might have gone off the edge. Then another one of our instructors is a Lt. Col. in the Marine Corps assigned as the assistant to the Joint Chief of Staff. Both men will be awarded into the Master's Martial Arts Hall of fame this coming August at a black Tie affair in LA. Many of our instructors are law enforcement officers in several different departments, including my own brother and many of them are teaching self defense to their prespective departments. My instructor also taught the Navy SEALS underwater combat here in San Diego. So they will only use what they are taught if the need arises and only then.
Hope this helps,
Grandmaster Kuoha

 

[gmkuoha]

sir, it is an honor to have you note somthing so profound. always give thanks to those who have touched your life in some way or form and to continue to grow as a martial artist yet perfect it, much like your life.

Thank you and I believe that the more we emphasize these principles to those around us, the more we will leave some good in this world for others to follow. My dream is to continue leaving good positive Ki to those I come in contact with till the Good Lord decides to take me home.
Grandmaster Kuoha

 

[The Kai]

Gm Kuona

If you have the time and want to take a trip down memory lane, could you remember what a class was with GM Chow? I am curious, and would apprieciate your time
Todd

 

[Mark L]

GM Kuoha,

What forms are the basis of Kara-Ho, and what is there origin?

 

[DavidCC]

"I would look for some low line fighting techniques, vital strikes to points that would cripple or destroy an opponent and the coverage of defeating several opponents at once with rapid strikes"


Thanks!, that was the kind of information I was looking for.

David C.