Remembering Ralph Castro, the SF Peninsula’s trailblazing martial arts master
Charles Russo
Mar 5
From his friendship with Bruce Lee to the many thousands of students he taught over a lengthy career, Castro was a key contributor to martial arts culture in the Bay and well beyond.
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A portrait of Great Grandmaster Ralph Castro set up in remembrance within his longtime martial arts studio in Daly City. Castro passed early last week at the age of 87. (Photo by Charles Russo, with permission by Vince Ronan)
1958.
When it comes to martial arts culture in America, the date can land like pre-history, a forgotten and hidebound era before Black Belt Magazine or Enter the Dragon or high-profile UFC fight cards. But it was 1958—more than 60 years ago—when Ralph Castro first began (formally) teaching kenpo karate around the San Francisco Bay Area.
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Castro moved to the San Francisco Bay Area after growing up in Hawaii and then serving in the U.S. Coast Guard. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)
Castro passed away last week at the age of 87, leaving behind a martial arts legacy that in many ways mirrored the trajectory of the culture within America: from early hot spots in Hawaii and the Bay Area, through the boom times of the “kung fu craze” of the 1970s and the Karate Kid mania of the ’80s. Castro was not merely present within this evolution, but a factor in shaping it, a role that was reflected in the many photographs that lined the walls of his longtime school in Daly City where he was pictured alongside the likes of Bruce Lee, Ed Parker and Chuck Norris.
“Grandmaster Ralph Castro was a true pioneer for martial arts in America, especially the San Francisco Bay Area,” explains Gene Ching, publisher of Kung Fu Tai Chi magazine. “Beyond being the founder of Shaolin Kenpo, he was a true gentleman and a stalwart 49ers fan.”
Castro’s recent passing reflects the final days of the pioneering generation within the Bay Area who made significant contributions to the foundations of martial arts culture in America and around the world.
“Ralph went to a really rough high school in Honolulu and he was the toughest guy there.” —Coach Willy Cahill, San Bruno
Island Origins
Castro emerged from the mid-20th century martial arts culture of Hawaii, a diverse, dynamic and seriously rough-and-tumble fight culture that was the first great (though often forgotten) martial arts melting pot in the world.
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Castro (left) pictured with his kenpo teacher William “Thunderbolt” Chow. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)
Predicated on the work opportunities within the islands’ cane fields, Hawaii experienced a robust influx of immigrants from around the Pacific (and the world) in the early 20th century. The workers brought their respective martial arts styles with them, and—after factoring in the great many U.S. servicemen stationed nearby—a unique, rugged and otherwise unprecedented martial arts laboratory soon developed.
Born of Spanish and Hawaiian descent, Castro grew up in close proximity to the islands’ fight culture. In fact, his father—Rafael “Boss” Castro—made extra money by fighting in underground bareknuckle boxing matches along the docks in Honolulu in order to help support his wife and eight children.
In time, the young Castro began his own martial arts career by studying under William Chow, a gruff and volatile character who, at five feet two, went by the nickname “Thunderbolt.” Chow’s classes were notorious for their stark physicality, and as one student described the practice environment: “[Chow] was into full-on fighting in the classroom rather than sparring. I used to get broken ribs. It was bad. That’s how we learned it.”
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Family affair: (from left) Ralph Castro with his children—Boss, Rob, April, May, June, July and Mia. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)
Eventually, Castro moved to the mainland with his wife Pat and their young family (they would ultimately have seven children, and named their daughters April, May, June, July and Mia). In San Francisco, Castro began teaching in his spare time in a variety of locations, including the family living room (which was put to a halt after one of his students came dangerously close to falling out an open window). In 1958, Castro opened his first formal location on Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Mission District.
“I can’t tell you the number of late nights that [Bruce Lee] spent with Ralph Castro, and Wally Jay, James Lee, Allen Joe, all those guys. Many late nights where they would go around the room demonstrating things.”—Linda Lee Cadwell (Bruce Lee’s widow)
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Castro (right) with friend and colleague Ed Parker. The two served in the U.S. Coast Guard together and then later learned that they had the same martial arts teacher back in Hawaii—William Chow. (Image via Shaolinkenpo.com)
Early pioneers
In California, Castro partnered with Ed Parker, another of Chow’s students, who would also make his mark on martial arts culture in America. Operating out of Pasadena, Parker was profiled by TIME magazine in 1961 as the “High Priest of Hollywood’s Karate Sect” for teaching martial arts to a number of celebrities, including Warren Beatty, Gary Cooper, Steve McQueen and—most notably—Elvis Presley.
Castro became part of Parker’s International Kenpo Karate Association, an organization that would play a major part in enrolling seemingly countless Americans into martial arts practice in the years to come. Far ahead of the curve for the early 1960s, Castro offered training programs at his school for women and children in an industry that largely catered only to adult men at the time.
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