I am beyond grateful and proud of Falaniko Penesa Solomona who had represented his family from Puipaa, Apia, Samoa and the Poloma Toomalatai Fire Knife Team coming all the way from Hong Kong. Courtesy to the Polynesian Cultural Centre’s images and videos, this was his routine that I would like to share to everybody as I know how he had worked hard to achieve this.
It was such a sweet victory for Frankie’s family, most especially his mom, for he was awarded this on Mother’s day. Following his lead by 1 point taking the second place is last year’s champion, Mikaele Oloa and then lands on the 3rd place is Kepanipa’a Damaso.
Even during his holidays, Frankie, as Falaniko is well-known by his friends, had worked hard sustaining his stamina by running on the beach, doing the insanity work out and spinning the knives to perfect the risky, creative and strong routine he showed in the competition. All of the contenders had put their best and as a spectator, I thought it was a tough decision to make. At the end of the day, the skills alone are not enough but the warrior stance, the traditional touch and how you work the crowd all should be mixed with the talent. And that’s how the judging criteria becomes crucial. Check out www.polynesia.com for more about the prestigious event.
Related posts:
- THE DISTINCT ART OF THE SAMOAN TATTOO CALLED THE PE’A – this is the rite of passage into opening a way into becoming a chief as one of the traditions of Samoa. It is a tattoo covering a man’s lower back all the way below the knee. Read on to know what it actually means.
- NO WONDER THEY ARE THE 2017 HONG KONG RUGBY SEVENS CHAMPIONSHIPS – Check out how the Fijians train in this video.
- FALANIKO SOLOMONA AT THE 2017 WORLD FIRE KNIFE COMPETITION – a motivating video for my brother-in-law before he goes to the final night of the competition.
