Long before the UFC craze came along, Adriano Emperado was teaching mixed martial arts in Kalihi.

Emperado, one of the founders of the martial art called Kajukenbo, died of natural causes last month on Maui. He was 82.

"You see how popular this MMA stuff is today? Kajukenbo was doing that in the 1940s," said Emperado's son, Clarence Luna. "All these MMA guys today are training in jiu-jitsu, judo, all kind different stuff ... my father had that idea a long time ago."

Emperado is regarded as an important and legendary figure in the martial arts world. From humble beginnings in the Kalihi-Palama area, he helped spread Kajukenbo around the world.

His son estimated "hundreds, maybe thousands" of similar schools in at least 33 countries around the world can be traced to Emperado's teachings in Kajukenbo.

There are at least a dozen schools that come under the official banner of Kajukenbo Self Defense Institute, including locations in Arizona, Nevada, California and Canada, as well as throughout Hawai'i.

"And then you get these others that maybe took some ideas from my dad's teachings and incorporated into something else," said Luna, who is now a grand master of Kajukenbo. "That's why I say there's so many that can be traced to Kajukenbo, even though they might not be called Kajukenbo."

Emperado is actually one of five founders of Kajukenbo. The others were Peter Choo, Joe Holck, Frank Ordonez and Clarence Chang.

They each brought black belt expertise in various disciplines to create the new martial art in 1947. They named it Kajukenbo because it combined "ka" for karate, "ju" for judo and jiu-jitsu, "ken" for kenpo, and "bo" for Chinese boxing (kung fu).

By 1950, Emperado started teaching the martial art to students at Palama Gym.

Jan Harada, executive director of Palama Settlement, said Emperado holds a significant place in the history of the area.

"This is the birthplace of something that has a connection to the rest of the world," Harada said. "In researching this, we found that Kajukenbo kept a lot of kids from the area out of trouble, and that alone is significant."

Harada said two Kajukenbo instructors from Texas came to Palama Gym last year because they heard it was Emperado's first school.

"They were taking pictures and asking about (Emperado) and the school," Harada said. "That was neat to see how it touched people so far away."

Sonnie Rodrigues, Emperado's youngest daughter, said she had no idea of her father's international influence.

"He was humble, so he never really talked about himself like that," she said. "I'm finding out now how many people knew him. It's amazing."

Emperado has also influenced thousands in Hawai'i.

John Pascua started taking Kajukenbo classes in 1957, and is now an instructor at one of the schools.

"It teaches so much discipline," said Pascua, 67. "Not just for Kajukenbo, but in your way of life."

Pascua said Emperado was a "very strict" instructor who emphasized mental preparation as much as physical.

"When (Emperado) was teaching the class, it was real rough — we didn't have the kind of mats we have today, so we used to train on the concrete," Pascua said. "But the thing I remember most is he always used to tell us, 'Think! That's why you have that head on your shoulders. Think about your next move, your attacker's next move. Always think.' "

Luna said Kajukenbo was — and still is — a defensive martial art. Because of that, he said the students rarely enter tournaments.

"We teach you how to defend somebody, not attack somebody," Luna said.

Still, Kajukenbo became recognized internationally as an effective martial art.

During the heyday of martial arts in the 1970s, Luna said Emperado was treated like royalty.

"People would line up to kiss his hand," Luna said. "And when they found out I was his son, they would kiss my hand, too."

Emperado stopped teaching classes about 20 years ago, but was still able to travel around the world because of his Kajukenbo connections.

"He would leave here with one plastic bag and come back with seven suitcases," Luna said. "Gifts from all his students and other instructors."

In the end, Luna said, Emperado was more than just a Kajukenbo founder and instructor.

"He used to say that being a teacher of Kajukenbo made him learn different jobs," Luna said. "Some days he had to be like a doctor, some days a lawyer, a banker, a bus driver ... everything you can think of. So, yeah, he helped a lot of people in a lot of different ways."