Olohe Solomon Kaihewalu was born in 1935 in the Palama settlement of Honolulu, Hawaii. Solomon’s began training in Lua when he was on 3 years old. Solomon’s first instructors were his grandfather and father. Solomon holds the title of Olohe, the rank of Umi Kuma lua (red belt.) Olohe means the bottomless pit and the skill in Lua fighting.
Lua is the art of dislocation of joints that includes: Ku’iku’I (boxing) Mokomoki (dirty fighting/wrestling) Mea-kaua (weapons) Peku (kick defense and offense) and Hikua (throws.) Lua was first used by the King’s honor guards, and to teach it to anyone other than the guards and their bloodline was punishable by death.
Solomon moved to California and was the first to teach this secret art to outsiders. Until recently he was unable to return to his home island as his life was threatened for breaking the Kapu (forbidden) tradition.
In addition to teaching the secret and deadly art of the islands, Olohe Solomon is a master of weapons. In addition to teaching these unique weapons, Solomon is a master craftsman who makes all of the traditional Hawaiian weapons by hand. They include Swordfish dagger, Oar-Shark tooth weapon, Knuckle-duster, Wrap-around shark tooth weapon, and double edge dagger to name a few. When displayed in a case or on a wall they are beautiful works of art, however in the hands of a skilled practitioner in the art of Lua, they are deadly instruments of war.
