The Meaning Of Ohana

Ohana means family in Hawaiian, but a lot of times, when you see it on a business, online, or even as a tattoo it seems like it’s a little overused and under practiced. I like to think that at The Pit, we are and Ohana, our students, fighters, and parents are all treated with the Ohana spirit.

Growing up in Hawaii, I heard that word a lot, and it resonated when I was around certain people. Warren Sasaki is one of those people. Warren was a classmate of mine, and he was very helpful in my training when I was in high school. I was fighting in kickboxing tournaments, The golden gloves, and pretty much any other martial arts tournaments that I could enter. Warren would come over when I was training for a fight, bring his hibachi, which is a small grill, and he would make me steak and vegetables. He would also come to my house before school to take me to do my road work at 5 AM. 

Warren has been a top-level chef in one of the most exclusive hotels in Hawaii for over 30 years. When we come to Hawaii for our black belt test, he makes sure that we eat well by barbecuing for our students. We went to Hawaii for our anniversary last week and Warren came to our hotel room and cooked us an extravagant gourmet meal; he spent many hours preparing this meal and then came up to our hotel room, warmed it up, and served us.  I can easily say it was the best meal my wife and I ever had; yes, she did agree with that. That is what you call Ohana. 

That type of friendship is rare; not many people are willing to go out of their way and spend so much of their time for someone else without expecting anything in return. I like to think we have that relationship with our Ohana at The Pit.

You may ask, why is this martial arts MMA guy talking about Ohana and friendship instead of left hooks… I think this goes hand-in-hand with the martial artist's code, called bushido. It talks about sacrifice, kindness, and giving. A lot like Warren did last week, spending his valuable time and energy with no thought of himself, only thinking of my wife and me. Aloha, Ohana, and bushido are words that I think are very ingrained in martial arts.

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