08-31-08 Fire Knife Dancing
This weekend was really neat. I had to work on Saturday but it was cool cuz I went in early and got out early. Sunday came around and Marco, my dad and I went to see the Fire Knife dancing of Samoa. Our friend Kap T'eo Tafiti is a world champion Fire knife dancer and he performs on the island of Oahu Hawaii at the Polynesian Cultural Center. I thought I'd call regarding the event on Sunday and asked if they knew a guy named Kap and if he was gonna be at the event, they said yes so I was really happy to see him cuz the last time I saw him was last December. So I called Kap and told him that we were going to the event and that we'll see him there. He sounded excited, we were all excited that he was gonna be there. The event was awesome....there was 3 different divisions competing, the Lil Warriors(ages 7-12) The Junior Warriors(ages 13-19) and the Senior Warrior( ages 20 and above) I was in awe when I saw 7 year old boys twirling fire knives, 2 for that matter and they were good and fast. The judges would dock 15 points if you dropped your fire knife and some did exactly that but they stil won at the end. Then there were the lil hula dancers the kids division with the age range of 5 years old to 10. The 5 yr old girl was soo cute dancing the hula. In the Samoan culture they start the kids of very small in learning, I think that's amazing. When we got there, we saw different vendors selling the polynesian items which I bought a few. I bought a necklace and a lava lava.( I like to wear them to work) We then saw Kap at his booth, he was selling his painting which I bought 2 and he gave me the 3rd one. Such a great guy. Marco, my dad and I were sooo very happy to see Kap and he as well. Being at the event and seeing Kap made me feel like I was in Hawaii again which was great because I really miss the island. With everything I learned on the island, I feel like I took on a different culture and learned their ways of life. Still learning though. lol.
The lil hula girl drummers. Too cute.
Yup that would be the 3 lil Warriors that were competing.
Amazing.
And that was what the lil warrior was doing for the competition.
The lil warrior, Max is his name. He got 3rd place.
Intermision with the Hula Dance.
Junior Warrioe lighting his knife.
The 3 divisions are now waiting for the judges final decision.
Kap and I. He such a great guy. A friend forever.