The Early Years

Born march 5, 1927 in Kipahulu Maui, Hawaii. The youngest of 13 children born to Hoon Chow and Lily Malualani Kiha.

Prof. John (Kwai Chin) Chow-Hoon got his first taste of the martial arts after his family moved to the island of Oahu and lived in a town called Kakaako, next to a Japanese school. the school offered Judo and Kendo to any student who was interested.

Every chance he got he would watch those classes and became more and more in-love with the martial arts. Finally, a friend and school mate that he knew asked him to join. being small for his age, he was placed in the Judo class. his instructor at that time was Sensei Yamamoto. Eventually, they both , heard about Prof. Henry S. Okazaki's dojo and about Jujitsu. upon joining Prof. Okazaki's dojo, he was placed under the supervision of Bing Fai Lau and Sig Kufferath.

Along with regular classes, Prof. Chow-Hoon was sent to study long-life massage at Prof. Okazaki's Nikko Sanitarium. There were several people he admired that were skilled in long-life massage. people like John Cahill, Jerry Turatani, Moses Pang, Bill Costa, Boyd Andretti and others.

Prof. Chow-Hoon retired from the military after over 20 years of service. He decided to settle on the Monterey Peninsula in the city of Pacific Grove, after retiring from the Army. Prof. Chow-Hoon worked as a P.E. teacher at the Del Mar elementary school in Marina, California. It was here that Prof. Chow-Hoon was approached by Mr. Art Clark to teach the martial arts in the community of Marina. Prof. Chow-Hoon taught at three elementary schools until 1968 when the gym at Los Arboles school was built. Then he combined the three blubs into one big class.