William Kwai-sun Chow

In 1944 Chow began teaching what he called “Kenpo Karate” at the Nuuanu YMCA in Honolulu. As Mitose had referred to his art as "kenpo jujitsu," rather than "kenpo karate," this was a departure for Chow. His many students included Edmund Parker, Joseph D. and Adriano D. Emperado, Ron Alo, Abe KAMAHOAHOA, Bobby Lowe, Ralph Castro, Anthony S.Agisa, Sam Kuoha, Matias Ulangca Jr, Bill Chun Sr., John Leone, William G. (Billy) Marciarelli (Kachi/Kenpo), Walter Liu, and Paul Pung. He did not create or perform any kata but focused more on individual techniques.[5]

William Chow's legacy grew as kenpo spread to the United States mainland with its introduction by Edmund Parker and other students of Chow such as Ralph Castro (Shaolin Kenpo), Adriano Emperado (Kajukenbo, Karazenpo go shinjutsu) and later from Sonny Gascon, his student George Pesare, who founded the East Coast branch of Karazenpo/Kempo, and his student Nick Cerio, Anthony S. Agisa (founder of Goshin Kenpo Ka Ju) who were instrumental in bringing kenpo to students in the eastern United States. Additional students such as George Pesare and Ron Alo who was one of the first practitioners to bring Kara-Ho Kempo to the mainland, where he taught Chow's art in Southern California before developing his own Alo Kenpo system.[6]

In spite of his heavy influence on the martial arts in the United States and his many notable students, Chow never had a dojo of his own, often teaching in the park[7] and is thought to have lived in near poverty much of the time. Cerio once stated, "He was a very cautious individual who had no business sense whatsoever."[8] Chow referred to his style as an “War Art” and focused largely on techniques that he felt worked in the streets.