Kaleo Kwan was born and raised in “God’s Country,” Waimanalo, Hawaii.  Kaleo comes from a large family, being one of 6 children.  They are extremely close and live the Hawaiian style.  Following his family’s lead, Kaleo and his wife Jenn have 6 beautiful children of their own.

Kaleo got a late start in the martial arts.  Avoiding fights his whole life, Kaleo only got into two fights as a kid growing up.  It was at a whim that he accepted a friend’s invitation to go to Waimanalo boxing gym because he said that they were allowing people to jump in the ring to spar.  Kaleo was 21 at the time.  Kaleo’s natural athletic talent translated well to boxing.  Under Coach Johnny Chavez, who was originally from California, told Kaleo that he had a lot of potential and should continue training.  Kaleo had a great time sparring and continued his training with Coach Johnny.  After only a month of training, Kaleo had his first amateur boxing match and destroyed his opponent.  Kaleo loved boxing and continued boxing and taking as many amateur boxing matches as he could.  Shortly after, he met a kickboxing coach and Kenpo master named Tony Villallor, who wanted to put together an elite team of 10 fighters that he could focus on and take to compete.  Kaleo was one of those that were chosen for this team.  He continued to train in boxing during the day and kickboxed at night.  In a short period of time, Kaleo racked up over 25 amateur boxing matches and 20 amateur kickboxing matches.  He went on to go undefeated in 13 professional kickboxing matches and is even 1-0 in a professional boxing match.   

Before long this dedication led to Kaleo winning the Hawaii State Welterweight Kickboxing Championship in 2001.  His kickboxing skills were honed enough to capture the Punishment In Paradise Hawaii State Welterweight Kickboxing Championship and the Hawaii State Golden Gloves boxing title in 2004.  Due to being Hawaii’s Golden Gloves Champion, he had the opportunity to compete in the National Golden Gloves Championships in Kansas City, Missouri.  In the same year, Kaleo entered the SUMA (Stand Up Martial Arts) 8-Man Tournament which brought together the best kickboxers that Hawaii had to offer and a couple of fighters from outside of Hawaii.  This tournament was held under K-1 rules.  Kaleo became the SUMA Champion and also won a super fight in the next event. 

Always looking to challenge himself, Kaleo jumped in the world of mixed martial arts.  Kaleo competed in almost every promotion in Hawaii and also national events such as EliteXC and Strikeforce.  Kaleo was on a roll and also won the Hawaiian Fighting Championship Lightweight MMA title.  His boxing and kickboxing skills were second to none, but his lack of a ground game produced mixed results.  This all changed when Chris and Mike Onzuka and the O2 Martial Arts Academy were looking for a kickboxing instructor to start a kickboxing program and, with the recent passing of Kaleo’s kickboxing instructor, Tony Villallor, Kaleo was looking to share what Tony had taught him. 

Kaleo officially started the O2 Martial Arts Academy Kickboxing classes in February of 2007.  Kaleo’s phenomenal kickboxing skills were matched by his ability to teach those skills.  His outgoing personality entertains as well as educates kids, women and men from many different backgrounds.  All the while, Kaleo soaked up his Gracie Jiu-Jitsu training like a sponge, making him a more complete MMA fighter.  These new skill sets coupled with his outstanding striking recently culminated to his earning of the Destiny Hawaii State Lightweight Championship.

Here's a list of his accolades:
• Hawaii State Welterweight Kickboxing Champion (2001)
• SUMA (Stand Up Martial Arts) 8-Man Tournament Champion (2004)
• SUMA (Stand Up Martial Arts) Super Fight Champion (2005)
• Rumble On The Rock 8-Man Lightweight MMA Tournament 2nd Place (2005)
• Punishment In Paradise Hawaii State Welterweight (165lbs) Kickboxing
• Champion (2006)
• Hawaiian Fighting Championship Lightweight MMA Champion (2008)
• Destiny Hawaii State Lightweight Champion (2009)