Hawaii’s Own Martial Art
Kempo Karate, also known as American Kenpo, was developed in Hawaii and is still going strong more than 40 years later. Hawaii, home to many martial arts styles developed in Asia, can also boast its very own style. It’s called American Kenpo, and it has karate-chopped its way to the top of the martial arts chopping block.
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Hawaii, home to many martial arts styles developed in Asia, can also boast its very own style. It’s called American Kenpo, and it has karate-chopped its way to the top of the martial arts chopping block.
Developed in the Islands as a cross-cultural exchange between practitioners of Ryukyuan martial arts, Chinese martial arts and Japanese martial arts - to name a few - American kenpo is also known as Kenpo (or Kempo) Karate.
And with each block, kick and punch, Universal Kempo Karate Schools skillfully trains both youths and adults of all ages in the art of self-defense. This premier kempo-karate school has been in the West Oahu community since the late 1960s, and now both the Aiea Newtown and Pearl City Highlands branches have moved to a new location behind Buzz’s Steakhouse and adjacent to Pearl City Florist at 98-713 Kuahao Place.
Professor Martin Buell heads the Universal Kempo Karate Schools Association and Pearl City Highlands Branch, while his daughter Terri Buell Smith and her husband Anthony Smith serve as assistant professors of the Aiea Newtown Branch. Both Terri and Anthony are eighth-degree black belts.
“What makes Universal Kempo unique is our many years of experience and dedication to the art of Chinese Kempo-Karate,” says Terri, who began training when she was just 3 years old and in 1981 became an instructor at the Newtown Branch while in the ninth grade. Today she has a master’s degree in special education and clinical psychology.
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“Our cohesive curriculum is specific to the age bracket of the student - which includes self-defense, character education and physical fitness,” she adds.
Contributing to each individual’s well-being, Universal Kempo Karate Schools has 90 locations nationwide, all tracing their roots back to our island home. The school also has trained thousands of students over the past 50 years with no plans to stop anytime soon. Each instructor is trained in the Universal Kempo Karate method, utilizing basic and advanced techniques of Chinese Kempo, Karate and Jujitsu.
Buell began his martial arts career in 1953 when he studied at the Kaimuki YMCA. With much force and dedication, Buell soon became a martial arts master, learning the Kajukenbo System, Emperado Method under professor Emperado himself. Other mentors include instructors Paul Seronio, Al Reyes and Walter Godin.
To preserve his love for Kempo Karate, Buell opened many schools under his leadership. For instance, the Universal Kempo Karate Schools Association’s hard style and training have remained constant throughout the years, as Buell continues to enforce hard-body contact training, the animal and street-fighting methods throughout his teachings.
According to Terri, Chinese Kempo Karate is a combination of self-defense and awareness of the vital areas of the human body. Kempo teaches one to deal instantly and effectively in any harmful situation.
“It makes you physical-
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