Lua – a bone-breaking martial art that has been practiced in Hawaii since ancient times. In this text, I will try to bring this ancient art at least a little closer to modern readers.
The name lua literally means two blows. There is not much information about this skill, since the Hawaiian tradition is oral, not written. The knowledge was passed down from generation to generation. We do not know exactly what it looked like, we can only guess from later records and from similar skills from Japan and other Pacific Islands. It is assumed that it was a brutal art of Hawaiian warriors that was used for war and killing. From what we know, it was similar to Japanese martial arts such as Japanese jiu-jitsu. Fighting was done from a standing position and on the ground (grappling).
The Hawaiians used weapons such as spears, slings, and clubs, and these weapons could easily be lost or their effects reduced or neutralized by wrestling. This created the need for unarmed combat. The most elite warriors, such as the king's bodyguards, knew how to fight with their bare hands and were skilled in wrestling.Therefore, arts such as lua initially served as military skills for war, and later developed as a skill for achieving self-discipline, physical development, and self-defense. Also, battles in Hawaii were brutal with many deaths. Proof of this is when the best warriors from Oahu attacked Maui and only two out of 800 warriors from Oahu survived. In Hawaii, due to the climate, wrestling was practiced all year round and at any time of day or night. Also, due to the many grassy and sandy surfaces, wrestling could be practiced with less risk of injury. There were several skills that involved wrestling in Hawaii, some of which were practiced by children.
Hawaii has a tradition of holding festivals, and some of their festivals have included martial arts competitions. One such festival is Makahika. Makahika is a festival of the agricultural god Lon, which lasts from October 15 to January 15. At that time, there was only celebration, no work. At these festivals, they competed in combat. The competition took place in a ring marked by spears stuck into the ground, and the ring was called a kahua. At these competitions, they competed not only in lui but also in other skills, most often in mokomu, a type of boxing. Spectators bet on the outcome of the fight and invested everything - from property to women. Many of these skills have also been forgotten.
Important for the development of lua was Kamehameha I, the king who united the Hawaiian Islands in a series of wars between 1790 and 1810. For this reason, he was called the Napoleon of the Pacific. He is known to have founded three schools of lua. It is possible that there were more schools, but they were smaller. These schools were run by kahunas. The kahunas were important in Hawaii. They were a mix of priests, doctors, and sorcerers. The kahunas had their own specializations, and some of them specialized in lua. Lua required, in addition to skill in combat, knowledge of anatomy, especially the anatomy of the muscles and nerves that were crucial in incapacitating an opponent. The kahunas
regarded the stomach as the foundation of strength, the temple of good health, and the place of learning.
Kamehameha I enrolled 24 boys in the school, one of whom was the father of the future kings Kamehameha III and Kamehameha IV. In 1819, Kamehameha I returned to his home island and the schools he had founded ceased to operate. Later in the 19th century, King Kalahaua began to revive Hawaiian traditions and culture, including martial arts. Kalahaua was a fun-loving monarch, and was nicknamed the "Merry Monarch." While in Japan, he saw various martial arts that were performed in his honor. He saw similarities to luau in these arts and decided to bring it back to life in Hawaii. Hawaii became part of the United States in the 19th century and its prince Kuhia became a delegate to the Senate. Records of luau were then created and its history in Hawaii was learned, which was transferred from oral tradition to historical records.
Many Hawaiian martial arts resemble Japanese ones, and no one knows why. There are several theories, one is that shipwrecked people who knew these skills reached Hawaii and then taught the Hawaiians these skills. The other is that all these skills have the same root. Namely, the Polynesians originated in India, from where Buddhism spread to the Far East, and with Buddhism other disciplines spread, such as technology and martial arts. Therefore, it is thought that these arts have the same root. The Polynesians settled in the area where they still live today and developed their skills there, while the Japanese continued their own development that resembled the Polynesian. 
What led to the extinction of the lua? For many, the answer to this question is simple – missionaries. Missionaries arrived in Hawaii in 1820 and began to spread Christianity, which carried a message of peace. Christianity also brought with it other things such as gunpowder and technological advances. Gunpowder also contributed to the decline of the Hawaiian people. Due to the effectiveness of firearms, many stopped practicing boxing and wrestling in the traditional way and it slowly went into oblivion. Also, missionaries brought European culture, which largely suppressed traditional Hawaiian culture, and brought European fighting skills such as boxing. The fact is that the very demise of traditional culture, which began even before the arrival of missionaries, contributed to the disappearance of the people.
Although their tradition has fallen into oblivion, the fighting in Hawaii has not disappeared from the hearts of the Hawaiians, who are still some of the best fighters in Japanese martial arts today. They show that the spirit of the ancient Polynesians lives on through modern Hawaiians and modern skills, whether they are old Hawaiian, just modernized, or some foreign ones.