The Kū Project is on a mission to find people across the islands who embody our philosophy of building a Kū Body to Live a Kū Life, to ultimately, Be You; Be Kū.
We decided to start the ‘Ahahui Kū – a ‘ohana of like-minded individuals bound by strength and empowered by the ideal to Be Kū through building a Kū body and living Kū. A venture of professionals, creatives, cultural practitioners and athletes driven by the notion of making strength contagious through the integration of optimal performance and love of Hawaii.
With that being said, we’d like to introduce to you our first member of ‘Ahahui Kū – Kaliloa Lee Loy.
I’ve known Kaliloa for several years and have been following his journey. When I shared the idea of recruiting people to be an ambassador of TKP, he was the first to contact me and I was stoked to see his interest.
The best way for me to introduce him to our Ku Ohana is by letting him do it himself.
Welina mai kākou ʻo Kaliloa Kealoha Lee Loy koʻu inoa. No Hilo mai au ma ka moku o Keawe, ʻo ia hoʻi, ka mokupuni o Hawai`i nei. Ua hele au i ke kula Pūnana Leo i koʻu wā liʻiliʻi alaila, hele au i ke kula kiʻekiʻe o Kamehameha Hawaiʻi. Mahope o kēlā, hele au i ke kula nui o Mānoa a hoʻopuka au mai College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources me ka palapala Bachelor of Science in Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences i ka wa kupulau ma ka makahiki 2014.
Greeting my name is Kaliloa Kealoha Lee Loy. I am from Hilo, located on the Big Island of Hawaiʻi. In my younger days I attended Pūnana Leo, a Hawaiian immersion pre-school, then I went on to graduate from Kamehameha High School Hawaiʻi campus. After all of that I went on to
pursue a Bachelor of Science degree in Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences in the College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources and graduated from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa in Spring 2014.
Aloha wau i nā mea apau Hawaiʻi mau a mau. I love all things Hawaiian.
Some of my major convictions and commitments to life and living in Hawai`i are interpreted as “makawalu”, which literally translates to “eight eyes” but the kaona (deeper/hidden meaning) of this ancestral Hawaiian term is to have many perspectives to categorize and organize a topic:
1. Be you
2. Be sober
3. Be true
4. Be one
5. Be all
6. Be strong
7. Be aloha
8. Be Kū
I live a healthy lifestyle in what I choose to nourish my body with and am sure to include plenty of sunshine and aloha while bodyboarding, weight training, chasing waterfalls, daily oli and pule
(Hawaiian chant and prayer), and tending my kalo (taro) patch all the while culminating and embracing my active Kū lifestyle. What I failed to do in the past was practice a completely healthy life by ingesting in some not so healthy substances that influenced and ultimately derailed some of my lifetime goals. Currently I am back on track and committed to a sober and true Kū lifestyle with clear goals and intentions.
These intentions include but are not limited to:
1. Share my story to encourage others
2. Contribute to a more subsistent economy for Hawai`i
3. Mahiʻai Hawaiʻi ʻĀpaʻakuma a Maoli (Farm Native and Endemic
Hawaiian Plants)
4. Restore ahupuaʻa (land division usually extending from the
uplands to the sea) concept of living
To be Kū is to stand unwavering in one’s true self-power and self-will. My kūpuna (ancestors) knew this and that is why I am living here and now. With that sense of acknowledgement miracles can and will happen! I am proud and happy to be a part of the Kū Project!
Mahalo me ke aloha pumehana (thank you with warm love),
