I look for sites related to a Martial art / Combat technique of old
Hawaiian origin. It is or was practiced at least on one of the
Hawaiian Island, the Island of Kauai. This technique also teaches how
to move swiftly and discreetly from one location to another without
being seen. The (very) approximate name of this martial art / combat
technique is HAKIPOHOWU.

Aloha!

I have thoroughly enjoyed researching your question. 

To begin with, let's delve into a little history the ancient Hawaiian
martial arts of Hawaiian Lua.

In the 1600's, seafaring Polynesian people were searching to find a
place away from the turmoil of their homelands, when they came across
eight islands in close proximity, the Hawaiian Islands.  The
Polynesians settled on these islands and began laying the groundwork
for the rules and regulations for safe and peaceful communities.

Each Hawaiian Island selected leaders and people to create the rules
and regulations.  They also established security groups to make sure
the rules were enforced.

Around 1750, a Martial Art known as Lua was developed and introduced
to the King, the Ali'is, and Honor Guards.   This Lua Martial Art was
only taught to these special people and their bloodlines.   The Lua
was forbidden to be taught to anyone else, and remained a secret
shared only amongst the special groups.

The Lua is the art of dislocation of joints. There were 12 types of
original Lua training, and each type specialized in a different part
of the human anatomy.

The secret of Lua was broken when in the 1920's, Professor Henry
Okazaki learned Lua from a Hawaiian man from Hilo.  He had the
permission of the Hawaiian Kumu (Lua instructor)

Now that you know a little background on the fascinating world of
Hawaiin Lua, let's talk about your original question concerning
"HAKIPOHOWU".

After many searches, emails, and phone calls, I was not able to find
anything about a technic called "HAKIPOHOWU".  I emailed a one of the
top authorities on Hawaiian Martial Arts and their histories, Olohe
Solomon Kaihewalu.  A Lua master is known as an "olohe".  Olohe
Solomon Kaihewalu, sent me an email with an explanation of what he
thinks that you describe.

Here is a copy of his email:

"Hello,

I am sorry I can not help you with the word you have written as
"HAKIPOHOWU", it could have been miss spelled or pronounce wrong? I
never seen or heard of this word.

This word at the end, "WU" might be wrong? the "HAKIPOHO" is a chant
or chanting (song)of some one who made mistakes.

The art of being there & seen and not being seen is our Koa (special
Lua Warrior) that use the night/darkness to work his or her Art of
Lua.

This Koa's (warrior's) learn how to walk on big pebble rocks at night,
he or she gets to a location quickly by stepping only on the big or
bigger pebble rocks, this "Koa" will stay low and will skip - hop from
one Pebble to another and this is at night. {This story is from my
Mom} she is from Nawiliwili, Kauai.

A Hui Hou Malama Pono, 

Olohe: Kolomona Kaihewalu"

Lua conditioning is similar to many martial arts.  Balance is
important, and there are many exercises and breathing techniques. Lua
practioners are especially agile.

I hope that this helps to shed light on the information you were
seeking.  I am listing several links to information that I hope you
find useful about this intriguing form of Martial Arts.

It has been a pleasure to provide assistance.


Links of interest:

Olohe Solomon Kaihewalu
http://www.olohe.com/instructor/instructor.html

Hawaiian Lua, by Bob Reish
from The Kiai Echo - Spring 1996
http://www.paulwaters.com/lua.htm

More about Professor Henry Okazaki 
The History of Danzan Ryu Jujitsu
Evolution-Revolution in the Martial Arts, l906-1951, By William M.
Fischer
http://members.aol.com/profcz/History.html



Search terms:

"ancient hawaiian martial arts"
"ancient martial arts"+hawaii
"hawaiian lua"
"hawaiian martial arts"+history
"ancient hawaii"+martial arts
"martial arts"+hawaii
"hawaiian lua"+history
"martial arts"+Kauai

Other search techniques:

Emails to Hawaiian Martial Arts Schools and Masters

---

Clarification of Answer by madsky101-ga on 05 Jul 2002 16:33 PDT

Greetings!

Thank you so much for the accolades!  I really enjoyed researching
this topic for you, and hope you found the information helpful.

Thanks again!

Congratulations! I love the passion you are putting in your work. 1000000 THANKS!

Although they don't mention the word you used,
these are on the arts of Hawaii some look promising:

http://www.kajukenbo.org/history/

http://www.hmasociety.com/

http://www.olohe.com/

http://martialarts.about.com/library/weekly/aa021400a.htm

http://martialarts.about.com/library/weekly/aa013100.htm

http://martialarts.about.com/cs/lua/  [Contains the above + more]

http://pub75.ezboard.com/fmartialartsworldwidefrm21.showMessage?topicID=3.topic


The search I used:

://www.google.com/search?q=Hawaiian+martial+art+

Any good?

-AI

That HMA Hawaiian Martial Arts society
appears to be just jujitsu on the island.
Nothing from wayback. Not relevant to the 
question. The Kajukenbo link might be
contemporary also.

-AI

Also, a couple of islander friends I have,
swear there is no martial art(s) indigenous
to Hawai'i. Oh, and that Martial Art called
Lau... they say Lau means bathroom. Hehe.

-AI

Lua means bathroom in pidgin, not Hawaiian.  As for it being a martial
art ; http://www.olohe.com is the national headquarters' website.

Unfortunately, much of that information provided by the different
sources are incorrect.

"In the 1600's, seafaring Polynesian people were searching to find a
place away from the turmoil of their homelands, when they came across
eight islands in close proximity, the Hawaiian Islands.  The
Polynesians settled on these islands and began laying the groundwork
for the rules and regulations for safe and peaceful communities."

Seafaring Polynesians actually began "searching for a place" a place
around a thousand or more so years.  While some people dispute exactly
when the first Polynesians came to Hawai'i, generally, it is accepted
to have been around 200 AD through 500AD.  It is also widely accepted
that these first Polynesians came from the Marquesas Islands.  Later,
Polynesians from Tahiti came to Hawai'i.

"Each Hawaiian Island selected leaders and people to create the rules
and regulations.  They also established security groups to make sure
the rules were enforced."

This is quite misleading.  In ancient Hawai'i, there were many
chiefdoms at war.  What exactly is meant by, "each Hawaiian island
selected leaders and people to create the rules and regulations"? 
Surely, the physical island itself did not choose such people.  The
typical model of government during this time was that of chiefdoms,
far from being a democracy.  The people on each island, contrary to
what is written above, did not select their leaders or other people to
create rules and regulations.  This type of democratic process did not
exist in Hawai'i until after the 1830's.

"Around 1750, a Martial Art known as Lua was developed and introduced
to the King, the Ali'is, and Honor Guards.   This Lua Martial Art was
only taught to these special people and their bloodlines.   The Lua
was forbidden to be taught to anyone else, and remained a secret
shared only amongst the special groups."

The above quoted statement basically says that lua was created around
1750.  If this is true, then that would mean that when Kamehameha the
Great was born, the fighting art of lua was only about 20-30 years
old.  Lua is considered to be the mother of Hula, which was created
more than a thousand years before 1750.  With lua being the mother of
hula, lua could not have been created around 1750.

"There were 12 types of original Lua training, and each type
specialized in a different part of the human anatomy."

In my own study of lua and research into its history I have only read
about these "12 types of lua training schools" from interviews with
Solomon Ka'ihewalu.  Nothing in the Bishop Museum or anything written
by John Papa 'I'i, a lua master during the reign of Kamehameha the
Great who lived after the King's death, that support the idea of 12
lua schools.  Instead, John Papa 'I'i writes that Kamehameha, after
consolidating political power, maintained only three lua schools.

Of all the lua information I have come across on the internet, the
best lua site I've found is <a
href="http://www.hanahou.com/wayofwarrior.htm">http://www.hanahou.com/wayofwarrior.htm</a>

"Lua means bathroom in pidgin, not Hawaiian.  As for it being a martial
art ; http://www.olohe.com is the national headquarters' website."

Actually, the word lua also means pit or a hole with a bottom.  Which,
in ancient times, is what Hawaiians used to dispose of their excrement
and urine.  In ancient times, Hawaiians feared that their urine and
excrement (among other bodily items/products) could be used by people
who practiced "sorcery."  To keep these things from being found, they
would often dig a pit/hole (lua) and then bury these items.  Because
of this definition of lua, it translates, from Hawaiian to English to
mean bathroom.
 

Derek Kauanoe
www.HawaiiansAbroad.com