Ka Wai Ola - Office of Hawaiian Affairs, Volume 2, Number 11, 1 November 1985 — Four Moʻopuna of Hawaii Couple Dominate AAU Karate Tournament [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

Four Moʻopuna of Hawaii Couple Dominate AAU Karate Tournament

The four grandchildren of a Hawaii eouple have emerged as the most successful family of karate kids of Costa Mesa, Calif., and all of Orange County. Three girls and a boy ages 7 through 13 went to the National AAU Karate Championships Aug. 22-23 at the New Orleans Hilton and eame home with a bundle of medals, including three gold and a bronze. They competed against a field of 1,200 youngsters.

Kekaikaheelani, 13, Kaiana Kamalani O Kohala, 11, Lahaina Kaulamakaukaumana, 10, and Kahelena Kahoohanohano o maunaolu 01iver, 7, are the grandchildren of Honolulu residents John and Dahlia Kamalani. He is chairman of the Hawaiian Civic Political Action Committee (HACPAC) and active in the Hawaiian Civic Club movement. The karate kids and a five-year-old sister also active in the art are the children of Peter and Leiola Kamalani OHver. A sixth Otiver offspring is due in a few months. The AAU accomplishments of the four Oliver children: Kekai, 13 — gold medal in girl's kata (a special art form using sharp crescent-shaped Japanese sickle), third in kumate fighting and fifth in weapons. Kaiana, 1 1 — gold in boys' kata and fifth in kumate. Lahaina, 10 — bronze in girls' kata. Kahelena, 7 — gold in novice kata. The 01ivers credit Jacquelyn (Jacki) Long for developing their children into karate champions. She became instructor of the Japan Karate Federation in the Balearic Center in 1980 after earning her black belt in the main dojo at Santa Ana. She started with four students and now has 130 and still growing.

Long, a two-time National AAU ehampion, also excelled in New Orleans where she won three gold medals in the women's senior advanced division. Kekai is a third-year karate student who won bronze medals in last year's nationals at Pittsburgh, Pa. So quick has been her progress that she now helps Long teach the young and beginning students. She is a freshman at Estancia High School and also plays volleyball and soccer. Brother Kaiana has taken karate training for six years and also surfs, plays football, softball and basketball. He is a sixth grader at St. John the Baptist School. Lahaina has been in training for four years and also likes swimming, reading and professional modeling. She has already done commercial and ramp modeling. She is a fifth grader at St. John the Baptist.

Kahelena has been in the program one year and also likes modeling. All of the girls also do the hula. Five-year-old Minei has been in karate training for just a few months and is also in her first year of soccer. Like her sisters, she also models and knows the hula. The 01ivers want their children to stay with karate until they are 18. Peter 01iver is a landscaper like his father-in-law before him and coaches and referees youth soccer. Son Kaiana is a player on his team. Leiola Oliver moved to California from Waimanalo with her parents in 1963. She attended Orange County schools and graduated from Corona Del Mar High School where she was on the volleyball and swim teams. She met her husband while both were paddling for the Newport Outrigger Canoe

Club more than 15 years ago. Her parents moved back to Honolulu last year after slightly more than 20 years as Costa Mesa residents where Kamalani was a self-employed businessman.

The OHver karate elan from left to right are Kekai, 13, gold medal winner; Kaiana, 11, gold; Lahaina, 10, bronze; and Kahelena, 7, gold. They are the grandchildren of John and Dahlia Kamalani, former Waimanalo residents who lived in Costa Mesa for more than 20 years and returned last year to live in Honolulu