The term ‘Kahuna Bodywork’ was created by (Kahu) Abraham
Kawai’i.
THE KAHUNA PRINCIPLES
In Australia today styles of Hawaiian massage available
include Kahuna Bodywork, Kahuna massage and Lomi Lomi.
However, it is only the Kahuna Bodywork that incorporates
the Kahuna Principles. Developed by (Kahu) Abraham Kawai’i following
extensive travel and study of other cultures, these Kahuna
Exercises can only be truly understood via the physical
experience. All bodywork where there is Ka’alele au (flying or hula dance movements) around the massage table is
Kahuna Bodywork. Students practice Ka’alele au, which are precise
variables of martial art style ancient hula sequences, for
many hours and days before Kahuna Bodywork training
commences. Ka’alele au with its controlled and
focused movements in various speeds looks similar to Tai
Chi Chuan, and is an ancient spiritual dance/movement,
the art of non verbal communication with all things. Ka’alele au is designed to coax the Western psyche into the practical
understanding of the fluidity in motion, presence, focal
point application, leverage, and positioning, Ka’alele au classes are slowly becoming more available in Australia,
with benefits reaching beyond the therapeutic.
In Australia there are only
a handful of people who have been directly trained by Kahuna
over many years to have a higher understanding of the
application of Kahuna Principles in Bodywork.
HISTORY
Kahuna Bodywork is adapted from a style of bodywork that in
ancient times was reserved for Hawaiian Royalty. Performed
only by the Kahuna in ancient temples, Kahuna Bodywork was
performed as a ‘rite of passage’ and an initiation into
greater responsibilities. The arrival of Western people and missionaries however,
introduced laws in 1920 which forbid ancient native Hawaiian
practices, dances, chants, and language. This included the ancient
initiations in the temples, because only Christian churches
were acceptable. The Kahuna, a highly trained expert
in one or more fields, was also deemed to be a sorcerer. Until the United States federal government passed
the Native American Religious Freedoms Act in 1979, the
Hawaiian people were forbidden all their cultural practices. "'Section 1034: Sorcery -- Penalty, Any person who shall
attempt the cure of another by the practice of sorcery,
witchcraft, ananna (sic), hoopiopio, hoounauna, or
hoomanamana, or other superstitious or deceitful methods,
shall, upon conviction thereof, be fined in a sum not less
than one hundred dollars or be imprisoned not to exceed six
months at hard labor.' There is also another section of the law which classes the
kahuna with bunco men and defines him as one posing as a
kahuna, taking money under pretense of having magical power,
or admitting he is a kahuna. For this the fine went up to a
thousand dollars and a year in prison." -- Long, 1948
Kahuna Training, if it occurred at all, had to happen
secretly within the family. Kahu Abraham Kawai’i for
example, was trained in several Kahuna skills within his
culture, and eventually by retrieving knowledge from
ancestral memory and applying Kahuna Principles to modern
life, he was able to create Kahuna Bodywork.
So what does Kahuna Bodywork
mean to us?
Why would any Australian want to learn Kahuna Bodywork if it
is Hawaiian and bound to ancient Hawaiian understanding? In the accredited courses in Kahuna Sciences in Australia the
teaching is still much in the way the course developer has
experienced it in over 16 years of training in Hawaii. That means we are not learning
anything Hawaiian, but by applying Kahuna Principles we
discover our own ancestral connections and knowledge.
A qualified Kahuna Bodyworker has gone through months of
personal and physical development training, and has a high
level of anatomy and physiology knowledge with the added
ability to apply ancient Principles in understanding dis-function,
dis-ease, dis-alignment. A Kahuna Bodyworker always strives
for excellence in all aspects; learning or performing Kahuna
Bodywork becomes a way of life.
WHAT IS KAHUNA BODYWORK?
Kahuna Bodywork comes from
Hawaii, but by Principle does not teach something Hawaiian.
Instead it teaches people to access their own inherited
genetic wisdom. It shows students how to access pathways to
physically, mentally or spiritually unexplored areas within
the Self. The result of these explorations is multilevel and
can be subtle or foundationally life changing, for both the
giver and the receiver of the bodywork. Kahuna Bodywork is not a
form of massage. Rather, it works like a dynamic
re-patterning process on body, mind and spirit that gives
clients the opportunity to realign themselves and change old
non-contributing patterns within their bodies. Apart from
the possible therapeutic effect the major benefit of Kahuna
Bodywork lies in the client’s greater sensitivity and
understanding of his/her own body.
Kahuna Bodywork requires great sensitivity and an extensive
knowledge of physical human movement. All bodywork
techniques and moves are applied with Ki energy through the
bodyworker’s own body movement. Kahuna Bodywork is based on movement. The required motion,
positioning, leverage and posture in application of bodywork
is taught through an ancient precisely patterned movement,
called Ka’alele au. By constantly refining his/her
own Ka’alele au movements, the student learns to
design technique sequences appropriate for the individual
patient/client. The first aim for Kahuna Bodywork is to use stroking
techniques to relax and reassure the client. Once relaxation
is achieved, specific deeper work can be commenced. It is
important that a relaxed and pain-free state is maintained
throughout the entire session. (Pain free does of course not
mean ‘without sensation’.) Deeper work may involve specific Ka’alele au movement techniques, and deep point
pressure using leverage to release muscles, tendons, and
ligaments, and joint movement techniques. Stroke movements and specific patters are initiated through
the Ka’alele au movement, encouraging improved cell
communication, and synchronisation of the heart beat and
breath in the client almost immediately. To achieve this state of
communication, the bodyworker has to work entirely without
intent, which makes this work very different to other
modalities in its foundation.
TRAINING
Certificate III in Kahuna Sciences Bodywork concentrates on
Relaxation Bodywork. Ka’alele au training is the core of the bodywork training and self
development, and requires a minimum of 200 hours for
Certificate III. Students of Kahuna Sciences are highly trained in sensitivity
to the client, to ensure that the appropriate depth of work
is selected according to the situation. Certificate IV in Kahuna Sciences (Therapeutic) Bodywork
concentrates on the aspects of deeper work such as
stretching and movement sequences, point pressure, and
prescribing relaxation and stretching exercises to the
client. At this level a thorough knowledge of anatomy and
physiology, health psychology, and pathology, is expected.
Diploma level concentrates on Evolution Bodywork, which is
similar to above except that it teaches the bodyworker to
understand the ancient concept of movement- induced
acceleration of cell communication and advancing the
clients’ perception of Self.
THE KAHUNA
The first Hawaiians (Kanaka
Maoli) arrived after traveling in great double hulled ocean
going migration canoes called Wa'a Kaulua. Traveling some
2500 nautical miles from various parts of the south
pacific. They were guided by Kahuna Navigators who followed
ancient prophecy, chants and dream messages that told the
story of a mystic island in the middle of the sea.
The overseer of the structure of Hawaiian (Kanaka Maoli)
life was the ‘professional’‚ known as the ‘Kahuna’. The
Kahuna were the keepers of ancient knowledge, the keeper of
wisdom and understanding, the professors and the skilled
ones. (Kahuna translated literally means ‘Keeper of
Secret’). The Kahuna was the Navigator, Healer, Master
Builder, Architect, Teacher, Counsellor, the Keeper of
Things Sacred, Meteorologist (Weatherman), Geomancer, the
Keeper of Genealogy, Tactical Advisor, Strategist, Priest,
Astronomer, Astrologer, Scientist, Psychic, and Divinator.
In all levels of Hawaiian (Kanaka Maoli) life, the
counsel and services of the Kahuna were continuously sought
after. Children of any sex or class were selected for Kahuna
Training to learn and recognise the Principle in how
everything relates to everything in the Universe - when they
showed talent, discipline and knowledge of Self and nature.
This was basic training, and they were primarily groomed to
understand the Principle of genealogy and family, in all
life.
Today, the few Kahuna left living are the preservers of the
ancient Hawaiians’ (Kanaka Maoli) soul and heart, the
preservers of the culture, and the keepers of the Principle.
SUMMARY
The holding fast to Genealogy was the ancient’s way of
maintaining the divinity of genetic resource; power
generated by ancestors, wisdom, and knowledge achieved,
heights of love and compassion, and of spirituality. These
were great building blocks for an emotionally stable
individual, and an emotionally stable nation. Modern genealogical research, such as the Human Genome
Project and its findings, concur with the ancient principle
(living concept) of total inter-connectedness. Finding that
the human genome contains genetic sequences of all other
living organisms, we are standing at the top of the
evolutionary ladder. Therefore within ourselves through our
genetic heritage we can find and relate to everything that
has been, is now and forever will be. The Kahuna understanding is that, "our space of existence is
a magnitude that is our closest most loyal, most loving
friend that we have”. Integrating Kahuna principles is a way of life, and although
we cannot be Kahuna, we can still achieve the level of
knowledge and power of the Kahuna for ourselves and be
successful and bring out the best in our own genetic line.
Striving for reality and presence in the here and now, there
is no need to cry for our own lost culture. From Hawaiian
culture these ancient Kahuna exercises enable us to find our
own genetic knowledge and power. Exercises from the ancient
past, almost but not yet forgotten, enable us to revive our
lost cultures, adapted and made available to us by one of
the last real Kahuna.
