Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 10, Number 11, 1 Nowemapa 1993 — Hawaiian martial art enjoys resurgence [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Hawaiian martial art enjoys resurgence

bv Jeff Clark The ancient Hawaiian martial art known as lua is being learned and practiced anew. Twenty years ago the art was nearly lost, but a connection to the past was provided by Charles Kenn, a scholar, writer and authority on Hawaiian sports, recreation and history. Kenn died several years ago, but in 1974 he selected about 10 Hawaiian hau-

mana (students) to whom he could teach lua. Jerry Walker, Richard Kekumuikawaiokeola Paglinawan, Dennis Eli, Dr. Mitchell Eli and Moses Kalauokalani were the only ones from that group to graduate, and they studied under Kenn for four years. They assumed the term for a master of the art, 'ōlohe lua. Paglinawan, a fourth-rank black belt in kenpo-karate, says lua is "totally different" from the other martial arts. "Lua is in harmony with nature. You go with the flow of things, and you use it to your advantage. Lua is fluid, like hula. "Hula and lua at one time were almost one and the same, because men were the dancers. Lua was the 'hard' part, hula is the soft. So you could relate it to yin and yang, or Kū and Hina. That's what 'lua' means, that duality." In 1991 Walker and Eli were selected by the Native Hawaiian

Culture and Arts Program to research lua so that the ancient art might be preserved. Paglinawan and Kalauokalani were volunteers. NHCAP is trying to revive lost traditions, and Paglinawan remembers that the four, realizing they were getting on in years, thought, "If we don't impart that knowledge, who else is going to? So we decided to start exposing

people to what lua is, and see where it went from there." The researchers identified 359 'ai, or fighting moves, 35 of whieh they were able to replicate and photograph for the NHCAP project. Some of the 'ai names, like ke-alapi'i-a-ka-'ōpae ("stairway of the shrimp"), are poetic; others, like mō-ka-ihu ("nose cut off") and ka-hua'i ("to disembowel"), are more literal. Weapons include spears, both long (puolo) and short (ihe); daggers (pahoa), clubs, both long (lā'au pālau) and short (newa); shark-toothed weapons (lei o mano), tripping weapons (pīkoi, 'īkoi), stone hand clubs, slings (ma'a), strangling cords (ka'ane) and canes (ko'oko'o). Sculptor Rocky Jensen replicated some of these weapons for NHCAP. The shark-toothed lei o mano is so sharp that the lua fighters have to be extremely careful when using it in demon-

strations. They wear heavy blue jeans and long-sleeved shirts to avoid any ehanee of injury, but on occasion a slight slip of the hand will result in shredded clothing, an accelerated heart rate and an increased respect for the weapon's power. As Paglinawan puts it, "You cannot mess around." There is another side to lua, a side whieh Paglinawan calls the "magical part" and whieh involves attack with the mind. He says he and the NHCAP practitioners are aware of but have not have not explored this aspect of the art, but Paglinawan asserts that at one time there were those who could tie people in knots by the strength of their words. Lua involves more than fighting; there is an elaborate regimen of 'oli (chants), mo'olelo (stories and legends), ceremonies, rituals and behaviors relevant to the practice. The NHCAP project encompassed researching as many of these cultural eomponents as possible.

The group has performed exhaustive research on the subject, reading - more than onee - the Hawaiian dictionary word for word, poring over hundreds of books and old Hawaiian newspapers, haunting Bishop Museum and the state archives, perusing unpublished manuscripts and material from private collections, and listening to interviews with kūpuna. The work is arduous, and sometimes a 400-page book will yield just two sentences on lua, Walker says. The researchers have amassed quite a store of information, but they aren't pau. "It's an ongoing pursuit. It's probably something we'll all pursue until we die," Walker says. The dedication of the 'ōlohe is obvious; Walker is conscious of lua even when working in his job as a hospital administrator: "As far as we're concerned, with lua, when you're not doing it physically, your mind is preoccupied with the philosophical, spiritual and cultural aspects. These are with you all the time. You can't separate it from your daily life:

lua is something you live." "Lua is first a way of life, then an art, and finally a means to protect oneself. ... Just like the revival of navigation and eanoe building, it's part and parcel of the larger whole, and that's to share with the current population as mueh of the cultural things that have been lost over time as is possible." Thirty-one men and women were indoctrinated into the world of lua during sessions presented by NHCAP at Nu'uanu Elementary last September. NHCAP held another workshop last month on the island of Hawai'i that included members

of Nā Koa o Pu'ukoholā and the builders of the eanoe Mauloa, among others. In an exhibition Sept. 26, Paglinawan and Quentin Kūhiō Kawananakoa performed the kā ali'i, the ritual greeting of an ali'i by throwing a spear at him. Kawananakoa represented his aunt, Princess Po'omaikelani Kawananakoa, and caught the barbed spear thrust at him from 15 feet away by his teacher. "My only fear was that Kūhiō would freeze up," Paglinawan said afterwards, adding that the last time the kā ali'i had been performed was more than a een-

tury ago at a now-famous cultural event at Kaniakapūpū, just a mile or so up Nu'uanu Valley from where the art of lua was being revitalized. After enjoying brutal-looking demonstrations of hand-to-hand combat techniques by the four 'ōlohe, the onlookers were treated to sham battles in whieh long spears were thrown, attackers were beaten back, and the bloodcurdling screams of the ancientstyle slayers careened off the valley walls. Paglinawan said the haumana had to be Hawaiians at least 21

years old, and had to have dedication, commitment, a strong interest, and a willingness to undergo strenuous exercise. They were selected mostly through 'ohana contacts, with the stipulation being that the prospect not be a trouble-maker who would be likely to misuse the knowledge. "You don't go looking for trouble, in fact you avoid it," Paglinawan stresses. But onee trouble starts, "You fight to maim kill, and you're also prepared to be maimed or killed." Paglinawan says he has never had to test his skills in such a manner.

Captain Cook views district champions engaging in mokomoko (boxing) during makahiki activities at Ka'awaloa, Kealakekua in this 18th-cen-tury drawing by James Webber Hawai'i State Archives print

Quentin Kūhiō Kawananakoa strikes a pose and an imaginary enemy with the lei o mano. Photo by Jeff Clark

Richard Paglinawan, left, demonstrates the ka'ane (strangling cord) on Jerry Walker. Photo by Jeff Clark