Hawaiian Pastimes

Kii: Webber

Hawaiian Antiquities

David Malo

HONOLULU HAWAIIAN GAZETTE CO., Ltd. 1903

https://hawaiian-grammar.org/resources/Malo-Hawaiian-Antiquities.pdf

Pgs. 304- 306

CHAPTER LV.

 MOKOMOKO

1. During the Makahiki season, when the Makahiki god made his rounds, the people of different districts gathered at one place and held boxing matches.

2. The multitude being seated in a circle, the backers of one champion stood forth and vaunted the merits of their favorite, who thereupon came forward and made a display of himself, swaggering, boasting, and doubling up his fists.

3. Then the other side followed suit, made their boasts, had their man stand forth and show himself; and when the champions came together, they commenced to beat and pummel each other with their fists.

4. If one of the boxers knocked down his opponent, a shout of exultation went up from those who championed him, and they grossly reviled the other side, telling him perhaps to "go and eat chicken-dung."

5. The one who fell was often badly maimed, having an arm broken, an eye put out, or teeth knocked out. Great misery was caused by these boxing matches.

 NOTE TO CHAPTER LV.

The Hawaiians do not seem to have used the fore-arm, after the manner of modern practitioners of the "noble art." Each boxer sought to receive his opponent's blow with his own fist. This meeting of fist with fist was very likely the cause of the frequent broken arms.

CHAPTER LVI.

HAKOKO WRESTLING.

 1. Hakoko or wrestling was a very popular sport in ancient Hawaii. It was generally done in the midst of a large assembly of people, as the boxing game mokomoko was.

2. The multitude formed a circle, and the wrestlers took their stand in the center, and then, having seized hold of each other, they struggled to trip each other with the use of their feet, striving with all their might to throw each other to the ground.

3. The one who was thrown was beaten. A man who was a strong and skillful wrestler was made much of. Wrestling was much practiced about the court, very little in the country districts.

CHAPTER LVn.

SUNDAY MINOR SPORTS.

In addition to the games mentioned, there were a great many little informal sports. One of these was koi (a child's game, played with a crooked stick, with which one dug into the earth or sand, at the same time repeating some word-jingle or other.)

Panapana (a child's game played with a niau, the small midrib of the coconut leaf. This was bent into the form of a bow in the hand, and, being suddenly released, sprang away by its elasticity.)

Honuhonu (a game in which one boy sat astride on the back of another boy who was down on all fours.)

Loulou. (Two people would hook fingers together and then pull to see who would hold out the longest, without letting go or straightening out their fingers.)

Pahipahi (played by slapping hands together, as in the game "bean-porridge hot, bean-porridge cold," etc.)

Hookakaa (in which boys turned over and over or turned somersaults on the grass or in the sand.)

Lele-koali (swinging on a swing suspended by a single line, for which purpose the strong convolvulus vine, koali, was most often used. When permitted, youths of both sexes delighted to enjoy this sport together, the girl seated on the lap of the boy and facing him.)

Lele-kawa (jumping off from a height into the deep water.)

Kaupua (swimming or diving for a small, half-ripe gourd that would barely float in the water.)

Pana-iole (shooting mice with a bow and arrow. This was a sport much practiced by kings and chiefs. It was the only use which the Hawaiians made of the bow and arrow. A place somewhat like a cockpit was arranged in which to shoot the mice.)

Kuialua. (This was an exhibition of lua for amusement. Lua was a murderous system of personal combat that combined tricks of wrestling with bone-breaking, the dislocation of limbs, and other thug-like methods that put it outside the pale of civilized warfare. It was used by robbers.)

 NOTES TO CHAPTER LVII.

It seems remarkable that David Malo should make no mention of a large number of games that were of established vogue and popularity among the ancient Hawaiians. Such as Konane, a game played with black and white pebbles on a checkerboard laid out in squares at right angles to each other, the squares being represented by hollows for the pebbles to rest in. The game consists of moving one's pieces in such a way as to compel the opponent to take them. The number of squares on the konane board was not uniform. I have seen them with nine on a side, making eighty-one in all ; I have also seen them with such a number that the board was longer in one direction than the other. Hci. Cat's cradle is a game that deserves mention. There were many figures into which the string was worked. It was a game at which the genius of the Hawaiian was specially fitted to excel, for by nature he was a born rigger, skilled in manipulating and tying ropes and knots. Kilo, jackstones, a game at which the Hawaiian boy, and more especially the Hawaiian girl, excelled. This list might be greatly extended. Hoolele lupe, kite-flying, deserves special mention as a pastime that was dear to the Hawaiian heart, and the practice of which recurred with the regularity of the seasons.