Series host Terry Schappert with the men of Pa Ku'i A Holo at Kualoa Ranch. - Photo: Courtesy of High Noon Entertainment

Hawaiian warriors to showcase
lua on national television

By Lisa Asato / Ka Wai Ola Loa

Deadly, yet healing. Bone-breaking, yet graceful. Secretive, yet slowly opening up to the public. Such is the nature of the Hawaiian martial art of lua – which after centuries of underground training is about to burst on to the national scene in an episode of "Warriors," set to air May 7 on the History Channel.

Filmed on O'ahu and Hawai'i islands, the hourlong show will feature hand-to-hand combat, the use of ancient weapons like the 'īkoi, a flying club that can be used like a bolo, and the leiomano, which is embedded with shark teeth. The episode will also feature the ha'a, a traditional dance for men that builds up psychology and unity for battle, land surfing on Hawai'i Island using hōlua, an ancient sled used on grassy slopes favored by chiefs, battle sites and other facets of lua.

Terry Schappert demonstrates the use of leiomano, a shark-toothed weapon, on a banana stump. - Photo: Courtesy of High Noon Entertainment

Hosted by Green Beret Terry Schappert, the lua episode will be the finale of the 10-part 'Warriors' series, which has attracted almost 1 million viewers per episode covering warrior cultures around the world, from samurai to Vikings to Zulu to Barbarians. On O'ahu, Schappert worked with Pā Ku'i A Holo led by 'Ōlohe Dr. Mitchell Eli, who helped write the book on lua, literally, with four others who were also trained by the late Charles Kenn, who was the last living lua master when he died at age 72.

"Lua is always aimed at benefitting the Hawaiian people," Eli said. "We are defenders of the ali'i even till today."

The defenders of the ali'i are also defenders of the secret of lua, which remained underground even during the Hawaiian renaissance of the 1970s, which saw the resurgence of other cultural traditions like hula and the birth of the sailing vessel Hōkūle'a. But little by little, lua has begun to reveal itself.

In the 1980s Kenn's students – Eli and his brother Dennis Eli, along with "Lua: Art of the Hawaiian Warrior" co-authors Richard Paglinawan, Jerry Walker, Moses Kalauokalani and Kristina Kikuchi-Palenapa, started offering lua workshops. The workshops were designed as leadership programs. About 1,000 men and women have participated, including members of the royal Kawānanakoa family; some participants have graduated as junior 'ōlohe.

'Ōlohe Dr. Mitchell Eli talks with a member of the production crew during breaks between filming. - Photo: Lisa Asato

Despite the coming TV exposure, secrets will always remain. "It will always be a secret art," Eli said. "Art of the chiefs. It will always reserve some things, even as an 'ōlohe, that we will never teach our students. That's traditional – we'll keep our favorite hold just in case the student turns against the master."

Mitchell said the time was ripe to bring lua to the forefront for both social and practical reasons – providing free advertising for the state during the ongoing tourism slump and exposing Hawaiian men around the world to the art that's grounded in mana and rooted in the philosophy of "never give up." Lua provides discipline, he said, from which the men and their families benefit.

Mitchell also praised the film crew, saying they were open to his ideas and were sensitive to the culture. "They had done their research before they came," he said. "They had read the book on lua and they were well-versed for the most part. ... We just had to fine-tune them in things they didn't know about."

And as for Schappert, a green beret trained in self-defense, he proved to be a fast learner in the Hawaiian martial art. "We were able to teach Terry how to catch and dodge spears within half an hour," Mitchell said. "He already had the mind muscle continuum to allow him to catch and dodge spears quickly. … He's not fearful. He's willing to take the whack. But once he started to get it – spear couldn't touch him. He could catch it up in the air, throw it down and move forward on the enemy. Absolutely astounding."

Filming a ha'a scene in February at Kualoa Ranch, a site that 'Ōlohe Dr. Mitchell Eli called 'very sacred for us, very spiritual.' - Photo: Lisa Asato

Because lua is not only a warrior art, teachers have to be able to "treat injured muscles or put bone back in place," Eli said. Lua is also spiritual and its derivations include hula and the healing arts of lā'au lapa'au and lomilomi.

That duality is something that Schappert picked up on. Besides the traditional weaponry that relied on things like shark's teeth instead of metal, the Hawaiian warriors were notable in their diverse training in war, healing, herbs, sailing canoes and navigating, Schappert, a native New Yorker, said by phone. He said that he experienced firsthand the Hawaiian warriors "duality of strength" when he and the lua practitioners touched foreheads, shared a breath and a gentle tap on the back. "It really is a meeting of strength and then a gentle kind of acknowledgement," Schappert said of the traditional exchange of breath, or hā. "It's two sides of the coin."

"Lua is not just a martial art," he added. It strives "to build a complete man, not just a fighter."