09/04/2020
DID YOU KNOW WHAT SHAKA SIGN MEAN ❓
The shaka sign, sometimes known as “hang loose” by outsiders, is a gesture of friendly intent often associated with Hawaii, and surf culture. The shaka sign was adopted from local Hawaiian culture and customs by visiting surfers in the 1960s, and its use has spread around the world. It is primarily used as a greeting gesture or one to express thanks from one individual to another. Native Hawaiians use the shaka to pass on the so-called “Aloha energy”, a gesture of friendship and understanding between the various ethnic groups located in Hawaii.
The symbol became popular in BJJ due to surfers who were also training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. According to this version, the sign was already a big part of the surfing culture in Brazil when Jiu-Jitsu emerged. At the time, a lot of the surfers found themselves training BJJ and brought their favorite gesture with them.
But not according to Renzo Gracie!
BJJEE interviewed Renzo on the first week of July 2019 at the Frota Academy in Zurich and he gave an interesting revelation about the true origin of the Shaka in BJJ:
“Many people think that the Shaka/Hang loose sign was used by Jiu-Jitsu fighters because it was imported by surfers that also trained Jiu-Jitsu but that simply isn’t true. Before the Shaka, BJJ fighters would just do a regular thumbs up. I was the one responsible for popularizing the shaka in Jiu-Jitsu. When I fought and knocked out Oleg Taktarov in a bare knuckle MMA fight in 1996, I broke my hand. Every time I posed for a picture after that, I wanted to do a thumbs up but since my hand was broken, the pinkie kept going out so it looked like a shaka (laughs). Next thing you know, alll the Jiu-Jitsu guys started doing the shaka (laughs)”
Well in different parts of the world it is known by different names like in California, the shaka sign may be referred to as “hang loose” or “hang ten” both associated with surfer culture. In China, this gesture means “6” and so on.
One Hawaiian old story says that the origins of the Shaka are down to just one man. The now mythical resident of Laie lost three fingers of his hand while working in a sugar mill. Incident left him with only the thumb and pinky on one of his hands. After the accident, he went to guard the sugar train, often waving it “clear” with his mutilated hand. Children along the island often saw him do it and adopted the sign.
Another story follows a similar narrative. But this time it was a surfer that lost his three middle fingers after an encounter with a shark. Other stories are even stranger. For example, there’s one with a fisherman who lost his fingers because he was fishing with dynamite.
As it usually happens with such things, there is no clear answer and we probably will never know how it really was. But at least now, with a clear conscience, we can also use this gesture the next time, because we already know what it means.
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