Blessed Event : Hawaiian Elder Performs Ancient Prayer Ritual for Surfers’ Safety

Lifeguards zipped around the morning surf on Jet Skis, but the juxtaposition of new and old didn’t faze David Nuuhiwa Sr., who on Tuesday blessed the start of the U.S. Open of Surfing as part of an ancient Hawaiian ceremony.

“This goes with us wherever we go,” said Nuuhiwa, as he unpacked shiny ti leaves and elie, Hawaiian rock salt from the island of Kauai.

“I mix the salt with ocean salt water and use it to bless the surfers, the staff, even the boats, so that everyone who enters the water comes back safely.”

At 71, Nuuhiwa, a native Hawaiian whose status in martial arts and Hawaiian culture has won him celebrity in California surfing circles, has conducted similar blessings for aquatic events and restaurant openings. Two years ago, he was invited by a Hawaiian Acura dealership owner in Costa Mesa to help expose executives to Polynesian culture.

At Huntington Beach on Tuesday, Nuuhiwa wore a white shirt and white pants, a symbol of purity, and a necklace of kukui nuts. Moving slowly, but with purpose, he took the salt and water mixture and wet the ti leaves with it as he sprinkled the special water up and down a 100-yard zone, just south of the Huntington Pier, where contestants will be competing.

At one point, he took off his shirt and walked into the brisk ocean water up to his knees, where he knelt, letting the tide swirl around him. He lifted both arms to the heavens, which he later said was part of an old warrior’s prayer, known as the lua.

Then he walked back to the group and blessed it by sprinkling water on it with ti leaves. He tossed the leaves in the ocean, then declared the ceremony over as he shook hands and embraced each person.

“To me, it was a moving ceremony,” said Thomas McClelland, 40, of Carlsbad, a beefy security guard known as “Mr. T.”

Nuuhiwa (pronounced New-wave-ah) brings an aloha spirit wherever he goes and is often called “Uncle Dave,” a warm salutation that is quickly followed by a handshake and embrace.

“I met Uncle Dave about four years ago,” said Don Meek, vice president of Prime Sports Event Group, the Los Angeles-based group formerly known as Prime Ticket, which owns the U.S. Open. “I was impressed with him. He really lives in two worlds because he is a well-known martial artist, plus he’s a Hawaiian who understands the aloha spirit.

“It’s good for us to have the Hawaiian culture represented here because that’s where surfing started,” Meek added.

In 1959, when Hawaii won statehood, Nuuhiwa was appointed ceremonial king on the Big Island, and has been its ex-officio ambassador of goodwill ever since. He and his wife, Lilli, moved to the Southland nearly three decades ago. They now live in Anaheim.

Their son, David Nuuhiwa Jr., 46, who grew up in Torrance, became a world-class surfer riding a long board in the 1960s and still competes in professional contests.

At the 6:45 a.m. ceremony Tuesday, Meek joined with 20 other U.S. Open officials, security guards, staff workers and surfers who encircled Nuuhiwa as he chanted in Hawaiian and offered prayers for a good contest and safety for its contestants.

Vetea David, a professional surfer from Tahiti, felt proud that contest officials held Nuuhiwa in high regard. ‘He’s Hawaiian, Polynesian like me,” said David, who made a point of saying hello and embracing Nuuhiwa before the ceremony.

In fact, after meeting Nuuhiwa, many people go away struck by his presence.

Tom Chaney, 32, of Huntington Beach, a U.S. Open contest official, referred to Nuuhiwa as a “spiritual man, martial artist and healer.”

“I separated my shoulder surfing in Puerto Escondido,” Chaney said, “and I came to him for help. He massaged the injury and showed me exercises that really helped.”

Roger Peterson, 46, a U.S. Open official, said he’s glad he witnessed the blessing, and described it as “spiritual” because it “succeeded in bringing the roots of the ocean” to Huntington Beach.

The contest runs through Sunday.