Lua practitioners were taught the art of massage (lomilomi) and a Hawai-
ian game of strategy known as konane.In this respect, it can be surmised
that the education of a Hawaiian warrior was similar in many ways to the
education of Japanese bushi(warriors) and European knights, who were
expected to master both the martial arts of self-defense and the civilian arts
of refinement.
Lua systems included a form of ritualized combat that is common in
other martial arts as well. Ritualized combat, known as kata in Japanese
systems and hyungin Korean systems, consists of forms of prearranged
movement that teach the practitioner how to punch, kick, throw, and move
effectively. These forms existed in European combat systems as well; the
Greeks used to practice a type of war dance to train their warriors for com-
bat. These forms are practiced individually or in groups, and the practi-
tioner uses them to develop, among other skills, timing, balance, and tech-
nique. The Hawaiian version of this was called the hula. Although this
word today conjures up a Hawaiian dance for tourists, evidence indicates
that the word also has the older meaning of “war dance.” Indeed, tourists
to Hawaii can see Lua movements demonstrated in hula dances during the
shows displayed for travelers.
The importance of the hula was critical for developing Lua skills.
Warriors were expected to practice the hula daily, not only as a form of ex-
ercise but also for developing individual and group martial abilities. There
existed both single hula and hula for multiple persons, where groups of
warriors would practice the same movements together. This helped to cre-
ate groups of warriors who could fight together, even if they did not always
use the same movements simultaneously.
The practice of Lua was not always confined to the battlefield. There
are some accounts that suggest that Lua practitioners would sometimes test
their skills on unwary travelers who attended a celebration unaware of the
danger that faced them. When the visitor was completely relaxed by the
surroundings, the Lua practitioners would strike.
Using their knowledge of human anatomy, the Lua practitioners
would dislocate joints and break the bones of the victim. This was done to
test the practitioner’s knowledge of his skills, apparently in the belief that
these arts had to be put to an actual test to demonstrate the practitioner’s
ability. Some victims were resuscitated and allowed to go, but others were
left to die after the Lua practitioner was through. On the Hawaiian islands,
as on many of the other Pacific islands, the ability to protect oneself was
held in high regard, and the need to perfect this ability was paramount,
sometimes even more important than the lives of strangers.
In addition to the unarmed combat systems listed above, Hawaiians
were taught weapons skills. Weapons that were available to the native
Pacific Islands 407