Here we are with the Holiday season upon us, and so many of us wonder what we really have to be thankful for. Well, we have a local Mixed Martial Arts fighter who wants everyone to know that we all
Here we are with the Holiday season upon us, and so many of us wonder what we really have to be thankful for. Well, we have a local Mixed Martial Arts fighter who wants everyone to know that we all have plenty to be thankful for.
Kawehi Lin-Kee wakes up every day, thankful to be alive and a free man. Kawehi asked me not to tell you much about his childhood, so I will just say he had a very rough upbringing. Heck, his adult life hasn’t been a bed of roses, since six years of those years were spent in prison. He does not blame anyone but himself for any mistakes he made in his life.
At the age of 29 now, Kawehi is out of lock up, a free man, a happy man, a thankful man and a humble man. On several occasions he has had to ride his bicycle well over 40 miles a day just to get to and from work, but is thankful to have a bike and a job. He has slept many nights on a beach just so he could be closer to his work and not have to start his ride to work so early. I asked Kawehi what brought him to Kaua‘i after he served his time in prison and he said, “After I got out of lock up, I started training at Team Penn (B.J. Penn’s school), and after some conversations with B. J. , we came to a mutual agreement that Kaua‘i would be a great place for me to be, to continue my training, stay clean, get back to work and just be the man that I know I can be”.
Kawehi started studying and training in Taekwondo, a Korean martial art and the national sport of South Korea. In Korean, Taekwondo is loosely translated as “The way of the hand and the foot. ”Kawehi also practices Aikido, which is often translated as “The Way of unifying (with) life energy” or as “the way of harmonious spirit. ” Aikido is performed by blending the motion of the attacker and redirecting the force of the attack, rather than opposing it head-on. This requires very little physical strength, and is completed with various throws or joint locks.
He thanks his sister for getting him started at the age of 13. She was training as a boxer at one of their local gyms and she would drag Kawehi along, and that was all it took to peak his interest. At 18 he entered a tough-man kickboxing competition where he won his first fight but lost his second. While he was incarcerated, he became friends with some other local boys who helped him continue his training.
Today Kawehi has a purple belt in both Taekwondo and in Aikido. He trains at Kaua‘i Pankration with Jason Lagmay as his head trainer. He currently has 5 wins and 0 losses in his MMA carrier.
When he is not working or training, he helps Jason train some of their young students. He likes to teach them not only the art of MMA but also how important a positive attitude is. He believes the lack of positive influence in his young life has actually helped him to understand how important it is to give our young kids positive feedback. He says this is not like the military where you have to break a civilian down just to build them back up as a soldier.
“Here at Kaua‘i Pankration we take what is already there, make a good strong foundation and continue to build, not only strength, agility, coordination but also attitude, knowledge and character. ”
Kawehi can’t wait to get back in the cage and compete again. He wants somebody to come out to the gym and stand toe to toe with him and push him to his limit so he can be ready to represent Kaua‘i with pride in his next fight. If there’s anyone out there around 185 pounds — give or take 20 — that’s looking to spar, Kawehi would like to meet you.
I asked Kawehi how he has been able to maintain such a positive attitude on life and he stated, “I have had and still have some really good mentors I look up to in my life such as my mom, my sister and my coach Jason Lagmay, and I don’t want to let them down. Man, I don’t want to let myself down. ”
Just as Kawehi looks up to his mentors, if he continues to strive to be the best he can be and maintain his positive attitude, he may soon find himself being looked up to.
He may not be an Airborne Solider, but he has the right attitude. So, as we used to say in the Army: Keep your powder and feet dry, train the way you fight, stay safe and keep your knees in the breeze. Airborne.