INFO

Name: Mitchell Powell
Title: Grandmaster
Rank: 9Th Degree
System: Kajukenbo
Method: Emperado Method/Ramos Method
Branch: Original Hard style
School: Powell's Mixed Martial Arts Academy
LIVED: 1960-Present
TRAINED: 1975 - Present
INSTRUCTOR: Ahgung Tony Ramos, SGM Calvin Shin, SGM Emil Bautista, SGM Joseph Davis
Lineage: Ramos Method: Ahgung Tony Ramos > SGM Calvin Shin > GM Mitch Powell
Lineage: Emperado Method: GGM Aleju Reyes > SGM Jospeh Davis > GM Mitch Powell
AFFILIATIONS: KSDI

Grandmaster Mitch Powell is the historian for the Kajukenbo Self-Defense Institute and the Chairman of the United Kajukenbo Federation (UKF), an organization created to preserve and promote the Emperado Method of Kajukenbo. He is a lifelong Kajukenbo practitioner who holds the rank of 9th Degree Red/Silver Belt in the art of Kajukenbo with the title of Grandmaster.

Grandmaster Powell has been married to his wife Angela since 1982 and they have two sons Matthew and Dean, who are both Kajukenbo black belts. Grandmaster Powell is a retired sergeant with the Oakland Police Department and holds a master’s degree in liberal studies/Criminal Justice, a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice management, and an associate degree in psychology.

History

Grandmaster Mitch Powell was born in Fairbanks, Alaska in 1960 and in 1963 moved with his parents to Winters, California. At the age of 14, GM Powell began training in Korean Karate under Sensei Bill Soto. During that training GM Powell met Ramiro Jimenez, a 21-year-old former golden gloves boxer. Over the next four years GM Powell spent a few nights a week at Ramiro’s gym practicing the art of boxing.

In 1975, Sensei Soto took a job as a corrections officer at the State Prison in Vacaville and closed his school. GM Powell’s childhood friend Frank Lucero then introduced GM Powell to Ahgung Tony Ramos and GM Powell began training at Ramos’s Fairfield, California school. In the summer of 1976, GM Powell took a break from formal training but continued to practice Kajukenbo with Frank Lucero in local garages around Winters.

In 1978, GM Powell restarted his formal Kajukenbo training under SGM Calvin Shin, the first student to earn black belt under Ahgung Ramos at his Fairfield school (1964). GM Powell went on to earn his Kajukenbo black belt in 1985, and in 1986, he earned his black belt, 1st Degree and his Instructor’s Certificate.

In 1986, GM Powell opened Powell’s Kajukenbo in Vallejo, California. Although he greatly enjoyed teaching, GM Powell closed the school just under the two-year mark to focus on a career in law enforcement which led him to take a police officer position with the Oakland Police Department. GM Powell continued his Kajukenbo training under SGM Shin until SGM Shin closed his Fairfield school in 1989.

Later that year, GM Powell began training in Small Circle Jujitsu under Professor Wally Jay in Alameda, California. GM Powell credits Professor Jay for teaching him important techniques that kept him safe during his career as a police officer.

In 1992, GM Powell moved his Kajukenbo training directly under SGM Emil Bautista, the third student to earn black belt under Ahgung Ramos (1966). In the years that followed, GM Powell had the honor of receiving his advanced Kajukenbo ranks from SGM Bautista and (at times) from Sijo Adriano Emperado to include the ranks of black belt, 2nd degree through black belt, 8th degree, and the titles of Sifu, Sigung, and Professor.

In 2000, GM Powell traveled to Japan to enhance his study of the martial arts.

In 2001, SGM Bautista introduced GM Powell to SGM Joe Davis and provided him with the opportunity to learn the Emperado Method of Kajukenbo as it was taught to SGM Davis by his teacher, GGM Aleju Reyes. SGM Davis taught GM Powell the entire Emperado Method of Kajukenbo and provided him with a certificate authorizing GM Powell to teach the Emperado Method.

In 2004, GM Powell began teaching Kajukenbo to several fellow Oakland police officers and by 2005, stopped teaching for SGM Bautista and opened Powell’s Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Fairfield, California.

In 2005, GM Powell traveled to China with a martial arts group headed by SGM Eric Lee. During their time there, GM Powell and others did several Kajukenbo demonstrations, including on top of the Great Wall, at the Shaolin Temple, and inside the Forbidden City.

In 2009, GM Powell had the honor of being promoted to Grandmaster, 9th Degree. The certificate contains the following signatures: Sijo Adriano Emperado, GGM Al Novak, GGM Charles Gaylord, SGM Ted Sotelo, SGM Al Dela Cruz, SGM Al Dacascos, SGM Eugene Sedeno, SGM Joe Davis, SGM Ron Lew, GM Bill Ryuasaki, and GM Greg Harper.

In 2010, GM Powell retired from the Oakland Police Department.

GM Powell continues to play a role in Kajukenbo as the historian for the KSDI, as the cofounder of the United Kajukenbo Federation, and as an instructor providing Emperado Method certification through his website ukfcertified.com. He now resides in Las Vegas, Nevada.

HIGHLIGHTS

1975 Started Kajukenbo training under Ahgung Tony Ramos

1985 Received black belt from SGM Calvin Shin

1986 Received black belt, 1st degree, Instructor Certificate, from SGM Calvin Shin and opened Powell’s Kajukenbo

1991 Gold medal winner at the 25th Summer Police Olympics

1994 Received 3rd Degree from Sijo Emperado

1995 Received 4th Degree from SGM Emil Bautista

1997 Received 5th Degree certificates from both Sijo Emperado and SGM Emil Bautista

1999 Received 6th Degree and title Sigung from SGM Emil Bautista

2001 Received 7th Degree from SGM Emil Bautista. Certificate witnessed by Sijo Emperado

2003 Received 8th Degree and title of Professor from SGM Emil Bautista. Certificate witnessed by Sijo Emperado

2004 Created the Kajukenbo Alphabets DVD with SGM Joe Davis

2005: Opened Powell’s Mixed Martial Arts Academy

2009 Received 9th Degree and title of Grandmaster from Sijo Emperado

2017 Formed the United Kajukenbo Federation (UKF)

2022 Established the UKF website ukfcertified.com

BLACKBELTS

Sam Carter, Joe Quintela, Matthew Powell, Michael Clauson, Vinay Clauson, Jason Agan, Lori Lee, Amin Saleh, Ryan Welsh, Phil Lampe, and Dean Powell.