Harold Rogelio Laranang Sr.
| Harold Rogelio Laranang Sr. | |
|---|---|
 Harold R Laranang Sr. | |
| Born | September 24, 1940 Pepeekeo, Hawaii, US |
| Died | August 18, 1998 (aged 57) Houston, Texas, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Style | Kajukenfu |
| Teacher(s) | Adriano Directo Emperado |
| Rank | Kaisho Judan 10th Degree Master and founder Kajukenfu |
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Harold Rogelio Laranang Sr. (September 24, 1940 – August 18, 1998) was the founder of Kajukenfu self-defense system.[1]
Life[edit]
Childhood[edit]
Harold Rogelio Laranang Sr. was born September 24, 1940 in Pepeekeo, Hawaii, a small sugar cane plantation, to George Nebris Laranang and Augustine Illac. Shortly before the end of WWII, Harold’s father moved the family to Honolulu to the Kahili neighborhood.
In 1948, Harold attended a Community Church, Kahili Southern Baptist Association Church. The church had many activities for children of the neighborhood and mostly catered to the Japanese-American Population nearby, teaching things like Japanese language classes, history and culture. The Church also had a Judo class for the children. It was there, Harold began his journey into the martial arts. The classes were taught by Sasaki. Harold only attended these classes for two months, as he was young and as a child, not completely focused on the arts yet. However this brief taste of martial arts would ingrain itself in Harold’s blood and remain there for life.
In 1949, Harold and some friends began taking Chinese Kempo from Juanito Candelerio in his back yard. Candelerio was only a Brown Belt in his particular style but he intensified Harold’s training. It was there that Harold earned his first kyu belt. In 1951 to 1953 Harold trained with Lauriano Deluma, one of Candelerio’s associates. Harold knew that he wanted to stay on the path of martial arts and kenpo, he realized he must make a move to a more suitable teacher.
In 1953 he began training with Simon Eli. Eli was a student of Thomas Young, one of Mitose’s black belts and a member of the original Self Defense Club. Harold excelled under Eli’s guidance in Kosho-Ryu Kenpo He promoted all the way to Ikkyu Brown Belt. However, in late 1954, Eli fell ill and was unable to teach, so he turned his students over to Arthur Keawe. Keawe was also a direct student of Mitose and a founding member of the Self Defense Club. It was in Keawe’s dojo that Harold would defy tradition and receive his Shodan – Jr Grade (Uncertified due to age - 15) from Keawe in 1955. He was not allowed to wear his black belt in public or outside the dojo and it was only recognized by Keawe’s school. It was also here at Keawe’s school that he was introduced to Iaido by way of Yasu Yoshimoto (Yoshinaga) of the Hawaiian Iaido Association. Due to Harold’s age, he was not permitted to handle a live sword so he learned with Bokken and Shanai as he regularly practiced Kendo with the other students.
Teenage years[edit]
In 1957, some friends introduced Harold to Mariano Tiwanak and John Leone, who were teaching some new style of Kenpo over at Palama Settlement community center. This fast paced, hard hitting and aggressive style of Kenpo was new and addicting to Harold. The neighborhood he lived in was a tough one and to survive as a young man you needed to be tough and Harold was of small stature, in fact, it is rumored he had the nickname “Little Man”. The Head Master of the School, Adriano Directo Emperado was a local legend, a Police Officer that trained under the infamous Thunderbolt William Kwai Sun Chow and Tiwanak was the former Heavyweight Boxing Champion of Hawaii who came to study under Emperado after Emperado defeated him in a fight. Harold knew this was where the rubber met the road and the training was hard. Sijo Emperado’s motto was if there was not blood on the dojo floor, there was no training. Harold decided he wanted to join in on this new style of hardcore training, however Tiwanak would not allow Harold to train as a Shodan, and he had to start over at the beginning. This devastated young Harold as he had worked so hard to get where he was and it effected his performance in class. Tiwanak and Leone recognized this lack of effort and counseled Harold. Tiwanak explained to Harold that it is not the color of one’s belt that defines his abilities. Tiwanak was stern and told Harold to get it together or go. Harold heeded Tiwanak’s advice and started to excel. The style was incorporating many different styles together, Kosho-ryu, Kenpo, Kung Fu, Boxing, Shotokan, It was a bastardized mix that developed into one of the most effective self-defense systems on earth. Many students would contribute to the system under Sijo Emperado and the technique was tested in the dojo and on the street, after it was proven effective, it was incorporated into the system we know today as Kajukenbo.
Adulthood[edit]
In 1960 after reaching brown belt in Kajukenbo, Harold decided to join the U.S. Army. Harold was enlisted as an airborne infantryman and was deployed in combat to the South East Asian Theater in the Republic of Vietnam, where he earned the combat action badge, bronze star medal and various other decorations for his service.[2] After his tour(s) in Vietnam, in 1970 Harold became a Drill Sergeant, training young soldiers for the Army. This duty brought him the Ft. Polk, Louisiana to the Drill Sargent Academy. It was here Harold began to mold his dream of creating his own system. With his love for Kajukenbo, but realizing he wanted to incorporate weapons and Iaido into it, he needed to develop his on system. Kajukenfu was then born in his mind and quickly took up most of his spare time, Harold started the Kajukenfu club of Ft. Polk and took in fellow Martial arts practitioners, all teaching each other, much like he witnessed Emperado and Tiwanak do, and they slowly developed Kajukenfu. It was at Ft. Polk he promoted his first two Shodans by cross grade. George Shorter and William Day. Harold, George and William would work tirelessly to build a foundation for Kajukenfu, traveling to tournaments and reaching out to other systems for assistance. Harold made many friends in the Louisiana Martial Arts community that would be extremely beneficial to the system in the future.
In 1973 Harold was transferred to Hawaii and there he contacted Curtis Scryton and Tokanoya of the Hawaiian International Karate Federation and his old teacher, Now Arthur Keawe M.D. With their assistance, the HIKF promoted Harold Laranang to Nidan. Harold had been a Shodan from 1955 to 1973. (17 years).
Harold had been teaching self-defense to soldiers and dependents at his post near Leesville, Louisiana, this is where he met Lola Irene. Irene was a teacher at the Louisiana State School in nearby Leesville and had been physically assaulted by a mentally challenged student. Irene was eager to learn self-defense to prevent this from occurring again. This relationship grew into a romantic courtship that resulted in holy matrimony. Harold and Irene would start a family together in Louisiana or wherever the Army took them.
In 1976, Harold found himself transferred to Germany. He found Germany was a smorgasbord of martial arts knowledge. He cross-trained in Tae Kwon Do, Kung-Fu, Shotokan and several other styles while there. He also contacted the All Okinawan Kempo Association about promotion to San Dan, in late 1976 Harold was transferred back to Ft. Polk Louisiana and received official Notification from the All Okinawan Kempo Association that he had been promoted to San-Dan 3rd degree.
In 1977, Harold received his promotion to Yondan 4th degree from the World Kyung Chung Do Martial Arts Association. Certified by Shihan Victor Provincio and Shisheki San Ben Dunham. All this while, Harold continued to teach self-defense classes to soldiers and families. In 1980, Harold met with Jay Vera (Kajukenbo) and they trained together. Harold teaching Jay Iaiado and Jay sharpening Harold’s Kajukenbo techniques. Harold would meet with other stylists around Louisiana and develop solid relationships. Mark Williams had taken over the Keichu-Ryu System from Soke Marx and Sifu Johnny Lee had a grand Kung Fu school in Alexandria, all were great friends.
In 1981, Harold transferred to Minneapolis Minnesota for duty, there he contacted his old Kajukenbo teacher Mariano Tiwanak, who now was the master of CHA-3 Kenpo, for assistance in obtaining promotion to Go-dan . Tiwanak referred Harold to the Nippon Jensai Karate Do in Hakkaido Japan. After Reviewing Harold’s application, the board of regents decided he was over-qualified for Go-Dan and recommended and approved promotion to Roku-dan with the title of Shihan-Sama and Go-Dan retroactive to 1978.
It was in Minneapolis he met with Angelito "Bobby” Bronagan, Carl De Los Reyes, Roger Zopfi and others at a tournament he was attending. They all quickly became friends and eventually formed a brotherhood like no other. Together they formulated the groundwork for a Unified Kempo Karate System (UKKS) that would include several schools.
After retirement, Harold returned to Leesville to Irene and Family. There he worked on Kajukenfu, night and day. He had opened several dojos, struggling to make ends meet, it was a rough go. Finally Kajukenfu took roots and took off like lightening. The stars seemed to align just right and the current dojo they were in at Hwy 1212 and then Billy Goat Hill was changed to an old 7-11 store at 1801 Nolan Trace, Leesville. There Harold established the Hombu for the Kajukenfu Budo Kai Kan Kenpo Karate system on November 26, 1983.
Several schools were opened after the Hombu, KBKK branched out to Deridder, La. Natchitoches, La and Coushatta, La. Harold enjoyed watching his system grow and flourish. Harold’s wife was very active in the school, and the KBKK Yudensha included his daughter Ailina, His Son George (Corey) was also a student. Kajukenfu became a way of life and all his students became family. However, due to some unfortunate circumstances, the Humbug closed in 1987 and all classes in Leesville effectively ceased. The schools in Natchitoches and Coushatta remained operational. Harold’s Martial arts career was sent into retirement as he moved to Houston, Tx. There he became a JROTC instructor at a local high school and built a championship team of cadets who were recognized by the State of Texas in many competitions. Harold was visited by his longtime friend Soke Bobby Borongan and company and Harold was promoted to Judan 10th Degree “Kaisho” Master and Founder of Kajukenfu Budo Kai Kan Kenpo Karate on behalf of the Unified Kempo Karate Systems.
Death[edit]
Harold Rogelio Laranang Sr. died on August 18, 1998 of health complications. He was 57 years old.
References[edit]
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