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Mo'olelo
KUʻIALUAOPUNA is dedicated to making a lasting impact through education and traditions in the Hawaiian fighting art of Lua. We look to our stories, our history, and ancestral practices as sources of knowledge in the profession of Lua.
Every month we will be sharing stories so that connections can be made with the different cultures in our Pacific family group. These short stories are told here to inspire our thinking about ourselves. They reveal the thoughts and history of a people.
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E Ho'i No 'Ai i Kou Kahu
Certain akua took the form of fire and flew; these balls of flaming fire were and are still called akualele or flying gods by Hawaiians. Moolelo of our kupuna states these gods entered the kauila, nioi or ʻohe trees growing on Maunaloa on the island of Moloka'i. These trees became poisonous only at the Molokai location at Maunaloa. These same three trees found anywhere else are noa and remain harmless. One moolelo states that this grove of trees was inhabited by the spirits o
Kuialuaopuna
1 day ago7 min read
E Kahea ana
Kii: Ku'ialuaopuna Neneikahuluiokaimu is the name and energy of this land In tradition, it is expected that we introduce ourselves to our environment and the energies that abound within the space. This includes the divine energies of nature, of elements and of the spiritual. These energies have been around for many lifetimes, since even before the land's formation and that of this world. We are all just using the space for our needs, as we do not own it, but care for it s
Kuialuaopuna
2 days ago3 min read
Kahea
Kii: Kawainui Kane In the past, it was customary for travelers to announce their arrival upon entering certain destinations. It was the normal expectation for all kanaka. The kahea from these visitors would be answered with a response from the host. If no kahea was given, then it was considered rude and inapropriate for one to enter into the space of the host. For those in the practice of lua, death would be the response from the host if no kahea was given before entry. If t
Kuialuaopuna
3 days ago1 min read
Legends of Olohe and Dog Men
Kii: Jack Becket HAWAIIAN MYTHOLOGY Martha Beckwith with a new introduction by Katharine Luomala UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII PRESS HONOLULU Copyright © 1970 by University of Hawaiʻi Press pgs. 344-351 Kapakohana, after killing the kupua Kalae-hina who has terrorized the island of Maui, goes on to Oahu to challenge the hairless cannibal (olohe) of Hanakapiai. Finding himself unable to overcome the olohe in wrestling, he pretends friendship and gathers men to burn him while asleep
Kuialuaopuna
6 days ago10 min read
Palila, the Warrior of Koloa
Kii: Abbie Matthews FORNANDER COLLECTION OF HAWAIIAN ANTIQUITIES AND FOLK-LORE THE HAWAIIANS' ACCOUNT OF THE FORMATION OF THEIR ISLANDS AND ORIGIN OF THEIR RACE, WITH THE TRADITIONS OF THEIR MIGRATIONS, ETC., AS GATHERED FROM ORIGINAL SOURCES By ABRAHAM FORNANDER Author of "An Account of the Polynesian Race"WITH TRANSLATIONS EDITED AND ILLUSTRATED WITH NOTES BY THOMAS G. THRUM Memoirs of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum Volume V‒Part I HONOLULU H.I. BISHOP MUSEUM PRESS 1998.
Kuialuaopuna
Nov 198 min read
A KINGDOM TO GOVERN Kamehameha’s Life on O‘ahu
Kamehameha and his warrior Kekūhaupi‘o Written in Hawaiian by Reverend Stephen L. Desha Translated by Frances N. Frazier Kamehameha Schools Press Honolulu • 2000 Copyright © 2000 by Kamehameha Schools Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate. Pgs 453-469 Kii: Ku'ialuaopuna When some maka‘āinana sailed out to the forei gn ships, taking their produce to sell to the foreigners, they received something of value from the foreigners. Kamehameha never asked that person to give him a portion of
Kuialuaopuna
Nov 1823 min read
Wehiatua
Kii: Ben Thourad Kaulana keia Aumakua Mano ma Hawaii kahiko a hiki i keia la. Kapa mākou i kēia kupuna hanohano ʻo Wehiatua. Aia kona wahi noho ma ka mokupuni li'ili'i o Tahiti ma kahi i kapa ia o Teahupo'o. He mano mea nui ʻo Wehiatua i ka wā kahiko. ʻO ia ke aliʻi kiʻekiʻe o Teahupo'o i hele mai i Hawaiʻi i hoʻokahi kaukani makahiki aku nei. ʻO kāna huakaʻi i Hawaiʻi i hele mai ma hope o kona kipa ʻana i na moku o Tahiti a pau, e holo ana i na moku o Te Henua Enata, i lai
Kuialuaopuna
Nov 173 min read
Ku laua o Hina
Kii: Division of Forestry and Wildlife HAWAIIAN MYTHOLOGY Martha Beckwith UNIVERSITY OF HAWAII PRESS Honolulu, pages 12-19 KU and Hina, male or husband (kane) and female or wife (wahine), are invoked as great ancestral gods of heaven and earth who have general control over the fruitfulness of earth and the generations of mankind. Ku means “rising upright,” Hina means “leaning down.” The sun at its rising is referred to Ku, at its setting to Hina; hence the morning belongs to
Kuialuaopuna
Nov 1310 min read
Mamao, Te Aho Ura
Kii: https://www.tahiti-rando.fr/rando-raiatea-mont-temehani-en.php Mamao is a fighting art rooted in Hawaiian Lua fighting. It was a term used by the poe kahiko who remembered the connected relationship of Lua entwined within their own family fighting arts. Mamao means remote, far off, distant. Our Hawaiian Lua is a combination of various fighting traditions from ancient Tahiti, Marquesas, Samoa, and other ancient homelands. Hawaiian Lua encompasses many disciplines of fig
Kuialuaopuna
Nov 122 min read
Piimaiwaa and Imaikalani
Kii : nandorszotak MEMOIRS OF THE BERNICE PAUAHI BISHOP MUSEUM OF POLYNESIAN ETHNOLOGY AND NATURAL HISTORY VOLUME IV HONOLULU, H. I. Bishop Museum Press 1916–1917 Fornander Collection of Hawaiian Folk-lore. pg 226 CHAPTER 10. UMI CONQUERS OTHER DISTRICTS . Hua-a was the king of Puna, but it was conquered by Umi and his adopted sons, Piimaiwaa, Omaokamau and Koi, the daring youths and famous generals and also noted ministers during Umi-a-Liloa’s administration of the gover
Kuialuaopuna
Nov 123 min read
Kūʻonoʻono ka lua o Kuhaimoana
Kii: Xpda, Wikimedia Commons XVIII. "Ka Moʻolelo o Kuhaimoana" – Story of the Shark God, Kūhaimoana:Excerpts from an Account of the Shark Gods and Watersof Kaʻula, Lehua, Niʻihau and Kauaʻi (translation by Maly) The story of Kūhaimoana, was given to J.S. Emerson, by W.M. Kinney of Waimea, Kauaʻi on March 4, 1907. The account, in Hawaiian, is housed in the collection of the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum (HEN II:94-108). The narratives tell us of guardian sharks and fishes o
Kuialuaopuna
Nov 86 min read
Opaelolo
A skilled fisher and wrestler from Waikalua, Oahu, sailed out of his fishing grounds to a nearby district on the Koolaupoko coast. His fame in fishing and wrestling traveled with him as he made many stops along the coast. His canoe came to rest at a shoreline, some miles away from his own, and he soon met up with the native fishermen there. This skilled fisherman of Waikalua, began to boast about his skills in catching octopus and wrestling. The encounter between this tr
Kuialuaopuna
Oct 312 min read
Mo'ikeha
Kii: Herb Kawainui Kane ...
Kuialuaopuna
Aug 1426 min read
Pohaku a Kane
Kii: Ku'ialuaopuna Traditional K.K. Ku'ialuaopuna E hu ia mai ka lani me ka honua e Kanenuiakea Eia na pulapula o ka lani, ka hu, ke kamaaina, me ke alii E hu mai ko kakou aloha no neia aina, me ka aina ala E kapae ke kapu o ke kanaka, ke kapu o ka wa i hala E ho mai i ke ola, e ola mai, e ola mai. e hoola mai! Bring together the heavens and the earth, oh Kane of the great expanse Here are the descendants of the s
Kuialuaopuna
Aug 42 min read
He Moolelo
Kii: Bec Munro This story was told to me in the land of Koolaupoko, O'ahu by a lua man of over 80 years old. I will keep his name silent for now. Here is a short moolelo passed down from a lua practitioner of O'ahu. He is still alive today and is a close friend who continues to practice his art into his eighties. We had trained together for many years, long ago. This Hawaiian man, I will call Ae'a. Ae'a, as a child, comes from a lineage of Hawaiian Lua fighters. His gre
Kuialuaopuna
Jul 253 min read
The Offering of The Chief
SAMUEL M. KAMAKAU Ruling Chiefs of Hawaii (Revised Edition) KAMEHAMEHA SCHOOLS PRESS • HONOLULU CHAPTER IX Events of Ka-lani-ʻopuʻu's...
Kuialuaopuna
Apr 44 min read
Oʻahu Wai Ahupuaʻa
Kii: Herb Kawainui Kane Images of Old Hawaiʻi Oʻahu ‘Wai’ Ahupuaʻa December 1, 2023 by Peter T Young https://imagesofoldhawaii.com/oahu-wai-ahupuaa/ Kamapuaa, the all seeing and knowing akua of remote antiquity is also a deity of Lua practitioners of old. He is know to have the the ability to change body forms from man , boy, fish forms and nature forms such as clouds, winds, and rain. The skill of the puaa was seen in its ability to run, dig and fight as well as its intelli
Kuialuaopuna
Jan 295 min read
Kamehamehas Returns to Kohala
Kii: Britney W. Originally published in Ka Hoku o Hawaii Kamehameha and his warrior Kekūhaupi‘o Written in Hawaiian by Reverend...
Kuialuaopuna
Jan 313 min read
Urukehu
E imi oe i ka waiwai o na tupuna, e huli i kou alo i hope, aia ke kaula ula o ko kakou piko! E na koa, e ala mai, e tu paa ma ke ala o na...
Kuialuaopuna
Dec 13, 20242 min read
Kuialuaopuna
Dec 13, 20240 min read
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