March 27, 2017

Meet Bryan Hawkins of Bryan Hawkins Kenpo Karate in Mar Vista and Granada Hills

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Bryan Hawkins.

Bryan, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I started Martial Arts when I was 14 years old after having done some boxing and wrestling. I tried Martial Arts and fell in love with it.

In 1983, I opened a limousine/body guard service in which I hired a lot of my fellow Kenpo Karate Black Belts who worked with me. That led to some personal body guard work with a number of high profile celebrities.

In 1987, Ed Parker, the Founder of American Kenpo Karate, called me and asked if I would manage his flagship school in Santa Monica, California. I accepted the job and left a very lucrative career as a personal body guard and became a full-time Kenpo Karate Instructor.

In December 1990, Ed Parker passed away and in June 1991 I started my own Kenpo Karate School in West LA.

In 1995, I met, and soon married, my wife Melissa. We moved to the small community of Granada Hills, which is 25 miles North of West LA. Before too long we had five (5) children of our own and needed a place for them to train in Martial Arts locally. So, in 2006, we opened our second Kenpo Karate school in Granada Hills, California.

We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc. – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
Although the Martial Arts market is very competitive in the United States right now, especially in Los Angeles, I’ve always known we have the best product in the market and over the years have developed a tremendous staff of loyal and qualified Instructors so our success has been relatively smooth for the last 26 years. The only practical challenge we ever faced was finding ourselves in the position of having too many student and would have to move locations to accommodate our growing student body.

So, as you know, we’re impressed with Bryan Hawkins Kenpo Karate – tell our readers more, for example what you’re most proud of as a company and what sets you apart from others.
Our primary focus is teaching a practical, comprehensive and yet, highly sophisticated form of Martial Arts that is designed specifically for actual street self-defense. Although we do host a large tournament throughout the year, we are not focused on Sport Karate as much as many other Karate schools are.

One of the things we are proudest of at both our Kenpo Karate schools is our close relationship with the local community. We have been teaching long enough, technically, I’ve been teaching Karate since 1980, that we have had multiple generations of families come through and train with us over the years. Many of the students that we taught as children in the 1980’s and 1990’s has brought in their children to train with us as well.

Another thing that we take great pride in is the scholarship fund we started many years ago that helps low-income families attend our school and also join one of our many camps we have throughout the year.

Many years ago we put together a kids’ demonstration team which has had tremendous success. Our Bryan Hawkins Kenpo Karate Dragons Demo Team has traveled extensively and has won 1st place in some of the largest tournaments all around the country. In addition to competing, the BHKK Dragons have done countless shows and benefits for schools, businesses and charities.

One of the things I believe sets us apart from most other Martial Arts schools is the longevity/loyalty of our Instructors. My core group of Black Belts, who serve as my primary Instructors/Advisers, have all been with me for more than 20 years, some for 30 years.

So, what’s next? Any big plans?
Kenpo Karate is a continuously evolving Art form. My staff and I are constantly working on different aspects of methods and applications of various aspects of the Art that we teach.

We have a number of satellite schools and affiliates around the country that is growing all the time.

At the present time we run 12 weeks of camps throughout the calendar year for both kids and adults and we actually hope to expand in the coming years to provide even more of these camps to our students.

In the 1950’s, Ed Parker, who is my Instructor, was the first person to choreograph Martial Arts fight scenes integrating Martial Arts techniques in television and movies. Mr. Parker taught, advised and gave rise to a number of famous Martial Artists and celebrities, including Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris and Elvis Presley. I myself, have been involved with a number of television and movie projects throughout the 1908’s and early 1990’s, having stopped so I could spend more time with my young children. I have been asked to be a part of a number of projects as a Kenpo Karate Adviser/Fight Choreographer and now that most of my kids are in their teens, I am considering working in that filed again, and of course, still teaching at both my Kenpo Karate schools.

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