With a combination of beauty, brains and bravado, Michelle Manu has lithely stepped into the male-dominated arena of lua to showcase the ancient Hawaiian combat techniques to martial arts fans on the mainland.
Manu views it as a personal mission to grow a part of Hawaiian culture.
Lua on display at martial arts museum
The Martial Arts History Museum, a 3,000-square-foot repository of martial arts artifacts in Burbank, Calif., showcases weapons, costumes, artwork, musical instruments, masks and more. The museum, which was established in 1999, also hosts live events.
The exhibits are devoted to martial arts from around the world, including Japanese samurai and Thailands combat sport of muay Thai.
Pictures of pop culture self-defense heroes and characters adorn the walls, along with explanatory text: Bruce Lee in a Hong Kong movie and as Kato in The Green Hornet TV series; Tom Laughlin in 1971s Billy Jack; Toshiro Mifune, star of films such as The Seven Samurai and Yojimbo; Lucy Lawless in Xena: Warrior Princess; and the animated Kung Fu Panda.
The nonprofit museum also features a permanent exhibit of the Hawaiian martial art of lua.
It was designed by Solomon Kaihewalu, who is pictured in a photo wielding a lei-o-mano a shark tooth-studded paddle, used to slam, slice and trap foes. Kaihewalu made all of the lua weapons displayed on split bamboo plaited walls and in glass cases.
The weapons include a knuckle duster to be gripped in the hand, with shark teeth pointing outward, which Manu said was worn by older warriors to slit the throats of wounded soldiers lying on the battlefield. Theres also a strangling chord, a slingshot, a double-pointed eye dagger and spears.
On Oct. 8 the museum will host Michelle Manu Day to honor her efforts to promote lua.
>> Where: 2319 W. Magnolia Blvd., Burbank, Calif.
>> Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays
>> Admission: $10 for adults, $5 for children
>> Info: 818-478-1722, martialartsmuseum.com
— Star-Advertiser staff
“In the 1970s lua was declared a dead art, but it’s absolutely not lost,” said Manu, who is arguably the world’s leading female practitioner of lua.
The once-secret style of hand-to-hand fighting employs grappling and the wielding of staffs, shark-tooth clubs, daggers, slings and other deadly weapons to dislocate limbs, break bones and hit nerve points to cause severe pain and paralysis.
Last month, while wearing a scarlet sarong, leafy crown, bracelets and temporary tattoos on her face, Manu demonstrated lua movements and weaponry on a male opponent at DragonFest, an annual martial arts convention attended by 3,000 kung fu, jiujitsu and judo aficionados in Los Angeles. She often demonstrates her skills while traveling the country to conduct workshops in lua, hula, women’s self-defense and women’s empowerment.
Born on the mainland in the 1970s to a part-Hawaiian father and mother of Scandinavian descent, Manu lived on the Big Island until she was 1 and grew up in Southern California. (She declined to reveal her age.) Manu began dancing hula at age 3 and joined an Anaheim halau at 11. She became a professional dancer when she was 15 and went on to tour the Midwest for many years.
Manu ultimately spent seven years in Chicago, where she married, had a daughter and began studying law.
Although her martial arts background had its roots in American kenpo, which she studied when she was 9, Manu didn’t get into lua until 1997, when she returned to Southern California. She saw a yellow pages listing for “Kaihewalu Lua” in Anaheim and learned lua from Solomon Kaihewalu, a pure Hawaiian who grew up on Oahu.
Manu said she is the only authorized female instructor trained by Kaihewalu, now 80. (Kaihewalu could not be reached for comment.)
“Kaihewalu brought lua out to the public, playing a huge, instrumental role in martial arts history,” said Martial Arts History Museum founder and president Michael Matsuda. “Manu is keeping that tradition alive, spreading it throughout America. Lua has been very secretive, and she’s bringing more awareness to the art.”
Lua and hula have much in common, Manu said. Both were banned by the missionaries, forcing practitioners underground. “When you look at hula, it’s indisputable that there are martial applications there — just without the contact,” she said.
Kaihewalu, her master, says ancient Hawaiian women certainly knew lua because they would need to defend themselves when their men were away from the village, Manu said.
“When they’d sweep they were practicing longbow techniques,” she said. “When washing clothes in rivers they practiced strangulation techniques. Obviously with hula, passing that down.”
Being Kaihewalu’s only female student is a profound experience, Manu said.
“I don’t think he thought I’d stick with it,” she said. “He tried to get me to quit for eight years. Now I’ve earned respect and hold my own. I try to respect Hawaiian culture and his family and represent strong women through lua, the combat arts.”
Manu, who lives in Orange County, has led a busy life outside of lua: She’s been a mediator, a consultant and a specialist in risk management, taught courses in contract law and legal research, and served as an academic advisory board member at Freemont College. She said she is also pursuing doctorates in metaphysical science and in philosophy.
Lua may have opened doors for Manu, but she is storming through them on her own.
She is in “Kung Fu Femmes,” a webisode that was shot last month. She is producing and will host the documentary “Pieces of Aloha,” the Edgy Lee story of a bracelet made from the fuselage of a Japanese plane shot down during the attack on Pearl Harbor. And she is the model for an action figure in the Martial Arts History Museum named “Kekoa,” which translates to “courage.”
“It’s hard to be a woman and be taken seriously sometimes,” Manu said. “But when people see me move, they understand I mean business.”
