History of Karate Institute of America

Karate Institute of America was formed by AlGene Paulo Caraulia in 1969.  Caraulia was born in Wahiawa, on the island of Oahu, Hawaii on December 22, 1940.  In 1954, Soke Caraulia began his long career in the martial arts in middle school by studying Judo with Instructor Sargeant Revis and continued his training as a student of Aikido.  He became interested in learning self-defense after a fight with a school mate.  Later he joined Adriano Emperado’s karate club at the local YMCA where he trained in Kaju Kembo with Tony Ramos and other instructors. 

In 1963, the United States Karate Association (USKA) promoted the first World Karate Championship Tournament. Caraulia intended to perform an aikido demonstration but entered the tournament instead as a competitor. He fought eleven matches and as a brown belt, defeated a third-degree black belt for the grand championship victory.  He later was hired by Gene Wyka to teach Judo and Karate classes at the Chicago Karate Center and earned Shodan rank by the USKA in Chicago.

Although Caraulia had an award winning career with numerous tournament victories, he stated that he never entered a tournament to win a trophy, but entered to test his techniques, improve his emotional skills, and to practice the art of connecting with his Ki, or intrinsic energy.  Caraulia earned a degree in music from Northern Michigan University.  He found the discipline and repetition required to learn music similar to that of martials arts training. 

The system KI Kajukenpo evolved partly from the older Kaju Kembo system with a heavy emphasis on self-defense and improved kicking methods.  The 1^st and 2^nd Series that students learn at the Karate Institute of America are based on self-defense techniques that Caraulia used in a real fight.  Caraulia said the series developed naturally and evolved over time as he taught at Karate and Judo.  Later he developed other self-defense techniques based on his experiences.  His goal was to enable his students to defend themselves in a way that easily made sense, so he developed protocols that had clear explanations regarding how and why they worked.  All self-defense teachings were guided by a philosophy intended to make his students reflect, look inward, and understand that there are many ways to approach a situation.

On Monday, January 26, 1970, the original Karate Institute school opened at 4179 Pearl Road, in Cleveland, Ohio. Within the year more than 100 members had enrolled for classes.  Shortly after, Caraulia met David Praim and David Prue. Praim and Prue were the directors of the top karate schools in Michigan, and they collaborated with Caraulia to join his expertise with theirs in an organized effort to promote and maintain quality within the martial arts.