HAWAIIAN LUA KAIHEWALU

Written by Michelle Manu, Allen Woodman

Photographs by James Trotter

Her name is Michelle Manu, and this is her 40 th year in martial arts Michelle is a high ranking Kumu Lua (Teacher of Lua) and ‘Alihikaua (General) of the Lua - family lineage under ‘Olohe Solomon Kaihewalu.

Lua has a rich history, so this is just the tip of the spear Kapu Ku’ialua is its original name, and it is the only indigenous warrior art of the People of Hawai’i. Today, some of its practitioners and teachers modernly call it Lua.

She is also the Kumu Po’okela (School Head and Chief Instructor) of Na Koa and Pa Lua o Manu. Michelle has been given the designation of Knight Commander by the long-established Royal Order of Kamehameha, The First, O’ahu Chapter, for the perpetuation of the Hawaiian culture through the Lua. Her cultural kuleana (responsibility) is to protect, educate, and perpetuate the Lua.

Everything about Michelle fulfills her responsibility to her culture – her spirit, her physicality, her way of life, and how and how much she teaches.

To some practitioners, it is a cultural practice, and within this cultural practice, is the martial aspect. To other practitioners it is seen as, studied, and taught only as a martial art with no spiritual teachings of and the connection to the elements, animals, land, sea, and other living things.

Ancient warriors also studied war strategy, metaphysics, fishing, hula dance, lualomi or lomilomi koa (warrior massage), medicine, gymnastics, wrestling, swimming, breathwork, and more.

The techniques were originally open-handed with the intention to protect and stop a physical altercation, thus Lua’s joint dislocation reputation. But as the culture changed, so did the Lua when it evolved to include closed hands and weaponry, and the mindset of maximum kills.

Every lineage of Lua differs from the other. It varied based on the community’s need (war), the school, kumu (teacher), district, island, and if the lineage is a blood family lineage –passed carefully throughout the generations –or is a lineage based on a compilation of research. There were also specialized male warriors while women warriors were used like many other cultures – as intelligence officers, assassins, and on the battlefield.

The variances and specialties of Lua still vary today. Such as Hakaka-a-moa, the aerial kickboxing fighting method with the lower body somehow got absorbed into the designation of Lua. But, at one time, Hakaka-a-moa stood on its own.

Some Lua master practitioners became bodyguards to chiefs and kings. When the Ali’i (royal class) began to adopt the Calvinist form of Christianity in the 1820’s, Lua was first banned and shortly after the Hula banned from public display. In the pitch dark and to avoid allegations of breaking the new restriction in town, the Lua was concealed within the Hula.

Outside of town, Lua was still practiced in secret and out of watchful eyes. King Kalakaua tried to revive Lua during his reign, but Lua remained underground after the overthrow of his sister, Queen Lili’uokalani, in 1893 before another attempted revival in the 1960s In the 1960s, Solomon Kaihewalu brought his family’s Lua to the continental United States

‘Olohe Solomon Kaihewalu was a personal friend to me for years. He would commonly attend any and every event I held with a warm smile and a cordial attitude. I have been a direct witness to Sol's teachings and his student’s abilities and understanding of the arts he taught.

‘Olohe Solomon Kaihewalu was a thirdgeneration olohe (expert) in his family’s lineage. His mother, of the royal Kaleikini family from Ka ua’i, was highly trained in Lua. His father’s favorite weapon was the Ko’oko’o (long bo), so much so that his nickname was “Bo.” Sol’s mother and father trained him in Lua; his mother started him with Hula at the age of 3.

Sol served in the U S Air Force and used his Lua in competitive American boxing bouts while he served.

While stationed in Germany, where he met the love of his life, he taught pilots how to use their shoelaces as the Ka’ane (strangulation cord). This was in case they had to land or crash and were captured.

He ultimately landed in Southern California where he taught his family lineage to dedicated students for over 50 years. Michelle said that she is truly grateful to have been one of the few to be with him in-person for over 20 years. I know Sol and know that he only taught those who displayed above-average character – discipled, resilient, and respectful - which included more non Hawaiians than Hawaiians.

He was constantly evolving his family lineage to make Lua viable for today’s world – for athletes and for real life self protection. Some of Sol’s disciples are evolving his family’s art, while some teach only what they were taught I know this happens in all fighting systems.

Sol’s Lua divided the physical body as the man/kane (waist down), woman/wahine (waist up including head), children/keiki (arms), and grandchildren/mo’opuna (hands and fingers).

Each family member has a job, and they must work together as an ‘ohana (family). The father carries the mother and children (not off-balance with a strong core), the children and grandchildren go out and through blocks and weapons, then come home to report back to the mother and protect her.

The body is trained to emulate animals, nature elements, and utilitarian movements. Some of upper body weaponry are the ram, shark, hawk, dolphin, spear, feline, snake, eel, octopus, crab, and butterfly. Some of the lower body weaponry is mostly from the boar, ram, and goat.

It comes as no surprise that Michelle uses Hula to teach her students superior Lua footwork, angling, timing, balance, transition and micromovements of the feet, and how to efficiently manage and use the upper body with the lower body at the same time.

Michelle said that her way of teaching is unorthodox, but to her – having fluency in Lua and Hula – it’s a no-brainer as they are too intimately intertwined to attempt to separate the two energetic forms of expression. Plus, it helps her dedicated students to greater understanding of their bodies, control of their mana, timing, and appreciation for the beloved cultural practice of Hula.

Michelle was once a professional Polynesian dancer for ten years touring the Midwest She says that dance was a forced ‘girl’s activity’ that felt like a disadvantage to her and other girls. But recently, she realized it was actually a huge advantage to women in the martial arts.

Michelle has said that, for her, Hula and Lua are similar, if not sometimes, identical movements She says that unless someone has fluency of both Lua and Hula, the concealment isn’t open and obvious.

Michelle’s personal belief is that Lua and Hula are the same source of energy and that it is merely the intent of the practitioner who determines how this energy is expressed.

Hula is non-contact whereas Lua is f contact. This is a beautiful and perfe example of duality in the ancient Ha culture.

As the Hawaiian warrior culture evo mea kaua (weapons) were incorporate Original weapons were and are still m of la’au (wood), pohaku (rocks), niho (shark teeth), kumu la’au (jagged tree roots), and iwi – fish (i’a) As the culture further changed, the metaphysical w way of life evolved into the goal of maximum battle kills and eventually incorporated mea kaua made of metal.

King Kamehameha became enthralled with metal weaponry, trading and purchasing with his favorite trader, a Scotsman named Captain William Do

Many weapons, such as the many ‘ih (spears) from ancient times, are at the Bishop Museum but are not on display.

Today, Michelle appreciates working Ron Burns and Greg Shaner, both the longest-active students, and Kumu L Olohe Kaihewalu on making weapon They make beautiful, commissioned training weapons, which can be found Facebook as Hawaiian Weaponry.

Today, in the martial world, there are sports martial, competitive martial, traditional martial, self-defense, and military or tactical martial. I asked Michelle what category she feels Lua in today.

“Lua is not just a martial art. It was the cultural practice of the Hawaiian warriors. It was their sacred way of life.”

– Michelle Manu

She is battle-tested and continues to evolve it. Since 2001, Michelle has been teaching self-protection to people in high-risk environments such as pilots and flight attendants, real estate professionals, healthcare and mental health professionals, university students, adult entertainers, women experiencing domestic violence and homelessness, everyday women, and young girls with specific circumstances. Hula and dance help to keep the education safe, light, and serious when teaching women.

In the Hula community, new chants are being composed, and dances are being choreographed to document history today. Michelle says that those students under her watchful care will continue to learn ancient and evolved movements, techniques, Hula (martial forms), and biomechanics with respect for who came before and with integrity of the sacred information.

Michelle and photographer James Trotter released a weapons book in art photography a couple years ago. It is dramatic, stunning, and a very unusual or unorthodox depiction of the Hawaiian weapons shown in a provoking art-photography-coffee-table sort of way. You can find this book on Etsy.com.

Michelle lives, breathes, and teaches the timelessyet sometimes forgotten ways - of what it means to be a warrior. Her master’s thesis was on the woman metaphysician-warrior, voicing her belief for the balance of the intellect and intuition through action.

Her book, Archetype of the Woman Protector, edited by professional writer and teacher, Mark Sevi, will be released this summer.

Michelle did this by taking the male magician, male sage, and male warrior-hero archetypes, combined them, and made the archetype female. She believes that this was the way of the ancient woman warrior in every culture. Her book also makes a strong case of how spiritual training and martial training must both be cultivated to truly understand one ’s power and to step into the live-giving warrior energy.

Michelle has teamed up with Michael Matsuda of the Martial Arts History Museum. Together they will create the first exhibit of its kind – a permanent Women Warriors Exhibit.

Michelle moves powerfully through the world, giving us a real-time view of what a woman warrior was and is. She continues to bring Lua, a hardly seen warrior art, to film. Working with Rob Davidson on the Silent Horror film, she made her directorial debut in Indiana last February. Paul Casey of KKHoF informed Michelle that this June, she will be presented with the 2024 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award for her decades of community service. When I asked Michelle how she felt, she quickly replied, “I can’t believe it. Now? There is still much work to be done”.

We are honored and excited to have Michelle be our first woman cover.

Michelle Manu is internationally known for her accomplishments as a 10th Degree Black Belt, ‘Alihikaua (General), and Kumu Lua (teacher) of the evolved indigenous Hawaiian cultural practice and warrior art of Lua (Kaihewalu and Manu lineages).

At this time, Kumu Manu is currently the only high-ranking female teacher of this art and currently the only public representative of a Hawaiian woman warrior in over 200 years. She is presently the only woman to be given the designation of “Knight Commander” of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I (O’ahu Chapter), for her continued work in protecting, educating, and perpetuating the Hawaiian culture through the Lua.

Kumu Manu has been a legal professional for twenty-eight years this May. She has earned a Juris Doctorate (JD), business credentials from George Washington University, senior executive leadership credentials from Harvard Business School, a master’s degree in Metaphysical Science (MMsc), and is a candidate for a PhD in Philosophy (2024) with an emphasis in personal transformation.

Kumu Manu has been featured in magazines such as: Black Belt Magazine; Hawaiian Airlines Hana Hou!; Martial Arts Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow; Martial Arts Xperience; Inside Kung Fu; Sports Illustrated; Martial Arts Masters Magazine; Seni Beladiri (Malaysia); Tae Kwon Do Times (Korea); USAdojo.com; Kenpo Girl; Herstory; Martial Arts Illustrated UK; Warrior Magazine (Germany); Martial Journal; Immersion Labs; and El Camino The Way (Spain). Some of the noteworthy awards she has been given: 2024 Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award, 2024 Inductee, Kenpo Karate Hall of Fame, 2017 Inductee Argentina Martial Arts Hall of Fame, 2017 Woman of the Year Kenpo International Association, 2016 Hall of Fame Inductee Martial Arts History Museum, 2006 Inductee Masters Hall of Fame