Mahalo Dad. Thank you for the knowledge and the gift of our family's Lua. Thank you for sharing with me our Ancient Hawaiian Art of Self Defense.

     I thank my dad who walked me through the forest. He pointed at the Lehua, the Koa, the Kawila, and the Uhiuhi trees. My dad said Kolomona, study and learn about these trees. They are good for the Hawaiian people.

     We can peel the skin off its bark and make cords to tie things together. We can build huts to live in and canoes to travel and fish. We can make tools to work with and produce weapons to hunt with and for use during war. We can build drums for communication and instruments to make music, use their wood for cooking and their green leaves give us air to breath.

     He said the roots of these trees are like our grandparents. The bark is like the skin on our bodies. The trunk represents our children that will grow big and strong. The branches are our grandchildren. The small tree stems are our great-grandchildren and the leaves show the quality of our family. My dad says Kolomona, this is Lua.

Mahalo Papa Kaihewalu