was developed for self-defense by these ingenious peoples. For example,
lacking metal to construct swords, the Pacific islanders nevertheless devel-
oped the tebutje.These “swords” were made from long clubs inlaid with
shark’s teeth. The teeth constituted excellent cutting edges against an op-
ponent. The fighting arts for these weapons have since become extinct, but
this leaves intriguing room to speculate on how they were used and how ef-
fective the tebutje was in combat.
The combat systems of Polynesia were centered on these and similar
weapons. They also included a great deal of hand-to-hand combat. What
few oral histories remain from these islands tell of warriors trained in strik-
ing with both the hands and feet and in wrestling, and possessing an im-
pressive knowledge of human anatomy. The struggles and warfare between
the islanders would have necessitated such a development in mar-
tial arts.
Perhaps the most well-documented martial arts from these islands are
from Hawaii. They were among the last to be settled by the European col-
onizers, and to a great extent, the Hawaiians were able to keep their inde-
pendence until 1893, longer than most other South Sea island nations. The
islands themselves were united only in the early 1800s by King Kame-
hameha I. Until this time, warfare between the Hawaiians was common,
which led to the development and practice of both armed and unarmed
combat. Unfortunately, once again because of the destruction of native
Hawaiian culture, even descriptions of these martial arts are scarce.
One of the best-known examples of Hawaiian martial arts is the un-
armed combat art of Lua,which is close to extinction today. The word
translates as “the art of bone-breaking.” It might be compared to the art of
koppoin traditional Japanese martial arts. Due to the lack of written his-
torical records among the Hawaiians, a preliterate people, there is no ac-
curate way of dating just how long this fighting system existed.
Lua was a hand-to-hand system of combat that emphasized the use of
a knowledge of anatomy to strike the weak points of the human body. Ex-
pert practitioners were expected to have the ability to injure or even kill an
opponent with such strikes. The techniques that were practiced included
the arts of dislocating the fingers and toes, striking to nerve cavities, and
hitting and kicking muscles in such a way as to inflict paralysis. Lua was
intended as a self-defense art; in its purest form it was not to be considered
a sport. Demonstrations of Lua to the general public were forbidden, as it
was an art for warriors only.
Among the arts encompassed by Lua were the specific art of bone-
breaking, also known as hakihaki,kicking (peku), wrestling (hakoko), and
combat with the bare hands (kui). Hawaiian warriors were expected to be-
come proficient in all aspects of the art. In addition to these martial skills,406 Pacific Islands