At the August 22 ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Martial Arts History Museum, black belt Michelle Manu, a practitioner and teacher of lua, the ancient Hawaiian martial art, “open[ed] something that, to my knowledge, has never existed before: a permanent museum exhibit devoted to warrior women… A declaration that the warrior woman belongs in the historical record. And maybe more importantly: that she always did,” Manu said in her speech inaugurating the cultural institution’s Warrior Women exposition.
Adorned in a Hawaiian feather cape, Manu went on to tell assembled martial arts acolytes and aficionados: “I don’t believe today is simply the opening of an exhibit. Today we gather fragments of history and say: ‘We see you.’ Not because women suddenly became warriors. Not because the 21st century invented powerful women. Not because history has finally granted women permission to stand beside men. But because we are becoming capable of seeing what was there all along … The other half of warrior history.”
The Warrior Women exhibition is mounted in an 8,000-square-foot space at Glendale, Los Angeles County. The Martial Arts History Museum claims to be the world’s only educational venue displaying and preserving the patrimony of global self-defense disciplines. It is a reliquary featuring related artifacts, ranging from samurai swords to a workout uniform worn by Elvis Presley, who studied karate in 1958 while a soldier based in Germany and became a 7th-degree black belt. Displays focus on the depiction of martial arts in anime, animation, movies and TV shows, including, naturally, a Bruce Lee section.
Following Manu’s inaugural address, her daughter, Malia, wearing a feather cape, cut the red ribbon held aloft by her sons, officially opening the Warrior Women exhibition. As Manu describes it, the display consists of “informational boards and an informative video” which “as curator, I helped put together the vision in the video, as well as all of the boards’ information.” Through photos and wall texts, female soldiers and defenders over the centuries are chronicled.
They include: Maui-born chiefess Manono, who died in the 1819 Battle of Kuamo‘o at Kona, and Mo‘o Alā, an all-women special forces regiment serving under O‘ahu’s Queen Kūkaniloko. Others showcased include France’s 15th-century patron saint Joan of Arc; the Philippines’ Gabriela Silang, who resisted Spanish colonizers in the 18th century; and the African warrior Viola Davis depicted in the 2022 film “The Woman King.” Manu says she hopes to “accumulate an armory within the exhibit” featuring traditional weapons.
The Museum’s various galleries highlight traditional martial arts from countries including Japan, China, Korea, Philippines, etc. Museum founder and president Michael Matsuda, a 10th degree black belt in monkey kung fu, called the Hawaiian exhibition “one of our most exciting sections in the entire museum. ʻŌlohe Solomon Kaihewalu, one of my dear, dear friends, donated all his weapons, made just for the museum… His expertise and uniform are here in the museum. Through one of his top students, kumu Michelle Manu, his legacy is carried on.”
Inside a glass display case, Kaihewalu’s woodwork includes: “Paddles; newa, a handheld club, some of them have nihomanō – tiger shark or great white teeth – within the actual club; pāhoa, a single edged dagger; and the maka pāhoa, a double-edged dagger,” relates Manu, the exhibit’s custodian.
Manu explained to Aloha State Daily, “Lua is the only Indigenous warrior art for the people of Hawai‘i… It looks a lot like ceremonial hula from ancient times, just made into contact. Hula is not contact; lua looks very, very similar, utilizing the same movements, only it is contact.”
Kaihewalu, Manu’s mentor, “hadn’t trained a woman since the early ’80s; 20 years had passed.” An athletic devotee, Manu surpassed expectations and may be today’s only publicly-known female Lua master. She earned a 10th degree black belt and the titles ‘Alihikaua (general) and “Knight Commander” of O’ahu’s chapter of the Royal Order of Kamehameha I, originally established in 1865 by King Kamehameha V to perpetuate Hawai‘i’s ancestral culture, customs, and traditions.
Manu has authored books about lua and as a kumu, teaches the age-old Hawaiian martial art, viewing it as a pathway to female self-empowerment, in arenas from domestic abuse to the battlefield. But she teaches all genders, and one of her pupils, Kia‘i Ikaika Kūkaniloko – originally from Mākaha, now living in Orange County – attended the Warrior Women opening. He described Manu as a “phenomenal teacher” because “kumu embodies the essence of Lua, she lives it with every breath of her.” Some attendees traveled all the way from Chicago for the exhibit’s unveiling, such as Crystle Diño, who teaches Filipino martial arts at the Windy City. Janel Barlongo, who has taught traditional Filipino self-defense techniques Kali and Silat at UCLA and beyond, also attended.
Manu, currently a Huntington Beach, California resident, traces her ancestry to her father’s homeland, the Big Island, where she’s returning September 3-6 to co-present the Koa Wāhine Retreat in Kailua-Kona at Kahalu‘u Ma Kai, which Manu calls “sacred land, where there’s a birthing stone and several temples.” Manu added the retreat is “a series of workshops; of course, Lua has to be involved, mostly geared towards women finding their inner warrior. We don’t just do lua or move in lua. We move in hula, we learn more about the warrior massage, and mostly we learn about the metaphysical aspect of how we can use our voice and mana, much as ancient women warrior did back in the day… I’m specifically focusing on our wāhine identity, in ancient times and modern times. How do we conduct ourselves? How do we move through the world? How do we deal with adversity? I’ll also be speaking about connection to the ʻāina. We’re actually going to be at an ancient heiau.”
For more information on that retreat, click here.
Ed Rampell and Luis Reyes co-authored the new book On Location in Hawai‘i.
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