New York City was the birthplace of Hackleman, but his early life took a dramatic turn when he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii at the tender age of four. This marked the beginning of his journey in martial arts, as he started studying Judo around the age of nine.
As he entered high school, Hackleman's passion for martial arts only intensified, as he became a Golden Gloves boxer and a competitive kickboxer. Additionally, he had some exposure to Shotokan Karate, but it was his training under Walter Godin in Judo and KaJuKenBo that would shape his martial arts style for years to come. KaJuKenBo, a unique blend of Kempo Karate, Tang Soo Do, Judo, Jujitsu, Chinese Kenpo, and Chinese boxing (Kung Fu),was developed in Hawaii between 1947 and 1949, specifically as a street fighting art.
In 1979, Hackleman enlisted in the Army in response to the Iran hostage crisis, where he spent three years as a member of the Army boxing team. During this period, he won the state and regional Golden Gloves titles. After leaving the Army, Hackleman pursued a career in professional boxing under the management of Don King Promotions. Although his professional boxing record is shrouded in some mystery, with some sources claiming 17 wins, 3 losses, with 15 knockouts, his record maintained by BoxRec is 8 wins, 4 losses, with 7 knockouts and 1 draw. Two of his losses were by knockout.
In 1985, Hackleman relocated to California and rebranded his martial arts style as Hawaiian Kempo. One of the schools that adopted the Ke-m-po spelling instead of the more commonly used Ke-n-po is The Pit, which uses Hackleman's style. Hackleman describes his style as more hardcore than other Hawaiian Kenpo schools. He gave his school the style name "KuZen," a word derived from the Hawaiian god of war, "Ku," and Zen Buddhism. This name was intended to attract children and families to his school.
