Larry Kongaika

 

The oldest son of 9 children, William Larry Kongaika was born in Nuku'alofa, Tonga in 1969. Seeking a better opportunity for their children, his parents moved to Los Angeles, California when he was three years old. Mr. Kongaika's father, Sioeli, was a noted boxer throughout the Tongan Islands and felt it was important to impart the boxing skills he learned to the Kongaika boys at a young age. Moving from one rough neighborhood to another, Larry found his boxing skills a necessity as he was regularly faced with confrontation.

The Kongaika family later moved to a Los Angeles suburb of Rowland Heights -- where Mr. Kongaika, along with other family members began to study Budokan Tai. His instructor, Mr. Jerry Bradford, was a student of first generation Ed Parker black belt, Mr. David German.

Mr. Kongaika resumed his martial arts endeavors by training at Ed Parker's Pasadena Studio. Under the instruction of Ed Parker Black Belt -- Mr. Tommy Chavies, Mr. Kongaika was taught a solid foundation in basics and freestyle. Shortly before Larry and Sheri were married, he stopped working as a diesel mechanic and accepted a position as the assistant manager of the Pasadena Studio. His Kenpo training went from part time to full time and his love for the system grew into a life long passion.

Along with assisting in management at the Pasadena Studio, Mr. Kongaika ran the membership department of the International Kenpo Karate Association, and functioned as the Producer for Ed Parker's Long Beach International Karate Championships. Additionally he aided in the development of the Encyclopedia of Kenpo.

As a green belt, Mr. Kongaika desired to refine different elements of Kenpo and pursue training under IKKA Representative Mr. Paul Mills in Evanston, Wyoming. Mr. Mills was instrumental in teaching Mr. Kongaika the principles and concepts he learned from Mr. Parker -- which helped enable him to create power, speed, and energy. Mr. Kongaika greatly benefited from his training with Mr. Mills and respected him as an instructor. His training continued from green belt to 2nd Degree Black Belt under Mr. Mills. Subsequently the relationship between student and instructor began to take on different paths. Mr. Kongaika painstakingly made the decision to discontinue training under his instruction.

Realizing the importance of expounding upon his Kenpo knowledge, Mr. Kongaika reached beyond his circles to gain better insight and understanding into other martial art systems. Mr. Kongaika trained for several years with Ed Parker's good friend, the late Master Al Thomas, founder of the Mako Budo System. He was part of an elite group specifically trained to teach branches of the Marine Corp in underwater defense tactics. The team trained extensively in the ocean, certifying in all levels of scuba diving and rescue dives, to develop an operative defense curriculum for one-on-one under water enemy attacks.

Mr. Kongaika is honored to be one of the few invited to serve as a member of the California Martial Arts Advisory Panel for the Los Angeles Police Department. Among the martial art's members he serves with are Gene Le Belle, Gokar Chivinchian, Gracie Brothers, Mercado Brothers, Dr. Joe Verna, Jeff Imada, and formerly with the late Al Thomas, among others. The purpose of the panel was to revamp the L.A.P.D.'s present defense tactics training program and perpetually keep them current on legal effective defensive control procedures. In 1998, Mr. Kongaika humbly received a certificate of recognition from the Mayor of Los Angeles for his service to the county of Los Angeles and the L.A.P.D.

Understanding the need to internally develop both the emotional and spiritual aspects of Kenpo, Mr. Kongaika is additionally studying the internal healing art of Qigung under Sigung Antione Alferos, a student of Grandmaster Clarence Tai Lee and former student of the late Arc Wong. Sigung Antione is also advisor to Mr. Kongaika and helping guide Mr. Kongaika -- taking him through the same steps Mr. Parker used to pave the direction of his martial arts journey.

Mr. Kongaika is currently the Manager and Head Instructor at Ed Parker’s original Pasadena Studio and is personally instructing many Kenpo black belts as well as Black Belts from other martial arts backgrounds. His goal is to perpetuate the art of Kenpo by not compromising the quality and substance of the system. The art of Kenpo evolves by applying the universal principles and concepts of motion and adding upon the base of the system -- not by deleting. He hopes to play a significant role in helping to unite our Kenpo family together again—believing that we can continue to grow by unifying our talents for the benefit of our own students.