Our series of upcoming posts will describe where we've been, what we've been up to and what is coming. We look forward to engaging with you in various ways and sharing the work we will continue to do.
IKUNA
]]>Thank you for sharing the love boys.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA.
]]>I left home for college a few weeks after high school. I believe my parents were happy about that move. I was just happy about having one of my best friends with me. After a partial year at school he decided to return home and a few months later I received word that he was caught up in a bad situation and murdered.
On another visit I ran into a high school teammate. He was an outstanding receiver with great hands.The boy could catch anything. But now, he didn't look like the same guy I remembered. He explained to me that he'd been locked up for a few years. He was remorseful and wished he could take back what happened. He updated me on the many who'd been in and out and the others who had already passed. We exchanged a quick embrace and I haven't seen him since. I hope he is well.
I was sitting in the courtroom the other day taking care of a traffic citation. Before my name is called I listen to the different cases that come before the judge; even cases heard from inmates around the state via web cam. From youth, young adults, grown men and women, and even heads of households who are locked up for weeks and some for several months. Surprisingly I recognize the last name of one of the inmates. I don't know the kid personally but I know his family and the resemblance doesn't lie.
I felt a sense of sadness as I sat there thinking about the lost hope and forgotten dreams. Many if not all come from families who love them and want nothing but the best for them. Then I am reminded that we all have the freedom to choose, but we are not free to choose the consequences of those choices.
We place blame and make excuses for our shortcomings and our failures because the world we live in says that we should. We judge the actions of others and hate on the success of those around us. Though difficult, if we want to change our situation - we need to change our behavior. This is true with any goals or aspirations we have in life. There are no shortcuts and It takes discipline and hard work. There is no way around it.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA
#overcomeachievevictory # oav #createyourownvictory #cyov
]]>A few months ago life took us for a bit of a ride. I have a heart full of gratitude along with a reaffirmed appreciation for the precious gift of life. I am thankful to the many of you who said prayers on our behalf and provided the needed support during that difficult time.Thank you.
It's easy to forget that there are more important things in life than what may seem important at the time. It only takes a quick reminder to put things back into perspective. They say when stuff gets crazy that the best and most beneficial thing to do is to take a step back - that's what we did.
We've reassessed and have better perspective. We have a greater sense of motivation and look forward to the direction we are moving. Along the way, we'll not forget those precious things we often times neglect and take for granted in pursuit of things that pretend to bring long term happiness.
We just released our new items and we hope you like them.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA.
]]>The days before Christmas always seem to be tied down with parties and last minute shopping. For the most part, it takes the attention away from its true meaning. Christmas has now passed but it is during the few days after that I can really reflect on the past year.
One of the things that helps me bring it all into perspective is a trip we took to the islands as a family over 20 years ago. I was a junior in high school and that trip still stands out because it was during the Christmas holidays. My parents would often speak about their lives growing up on the islands but it was tough to relate to because of the circumstances in which we lived.
I remember swimming in the clear blue ocean. The smell of the summer breeze. I remember how cool it was to eat fresh fish over a beach fire. I remember taking a shower in cold rain water and hurrying to get warm in the sun. I remember sitting in the outdoor kitchen while dinner cooked over hot coals. I remember running through my grandfather's farm land and admiring the crops that were ready to be harvested. I remember watching my uncle riding his horse without a saddle and thinking how cool he was. I remember going to an outdoor dance where the band played only guitars, ukuleles, and banjos. So many more things come to mind but one particular experience stands out.
On Christmas morning I remember asking my parents if we were doing presents. My dad gave me the look of death and I never spoke of presents again while we were there. I could smell the fresh bread and hot cocoa in the house. The anticipation of dipping that bread and butter into a hot cup of cocoa made my mouth water. I quickly realized that it was not for us but for the neighbors. It is tradition for neighbors to exchange this fresh breakfast treat with one another. As we visited neighbors that morning to deliver this humble meal - I got it. I finally got it!
No tree, no wrapped gifts. Just fresh bread and hot cocoa. It will always be one of the most important gifts my parents could have given me as a young man. I will never forget those experiences.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory - IKUNA
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With time and age, we tend to appreciate more and more of the little things that life has to offer. When I look back in time at the things that have occurred throughout my life and what I have, my heart is filled with gratitude and thanksgiving. I can’t say that life has been full of sunshine and cotton candy because there have been many times during my life when I’ve wondered if God was even listening. But in the words of Kanye West…“I’ve been talking to God for so long, that if you look at my life I guess he’s talking back.” I am confident that if we each took the time to look back on our lives, you will agree and come to the same conclusion as I; that we don’t live perfect lives but we live blessed lives.
IKUNA started out as a hope and a prayer that has kind of taken on a life of its own. I see its potential and the excitement drives me every day to do and to be better. We’ve participated in a few events and are fortunate to have met amazing people along the way – many of you through social media. We hope to have the opportunity to meet more of you. We have plans to take more of an active role in doing good things and we look forward to it. We hope that along the way we can also help inspire and motivate one another to tackle those tough challenges and achieve the goals we set for ourselves. It is possible.
I am looking forward to spending this Thanksgiving holiday with my family. In this crazy world we live in, I know many will not be able to spend time with their families due to various circumstances. Loved ones have passed, many have broken family relationships, and some have no family to share the holidays with. For clarification, I don’t use the word family in the traditional sense but echo the words from one of my favorite movies...'Not always the family that is our blood, but the family that can become our blood.' (what movie?) I hope you all have the opportunity to spend the upcoming holidays with the people you love and care about. More importantly, where those feelings are reciprocated.
We thank you for your support and look forward to the fun things we’ve got planned for the very near future. Stay tuned and of course - Happy Thanksgiving peoples.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA.
PS: Holiday specials coming – very soon, like very soon. Check us on FB, IG, and Twitter.
]]>Since my last post recapping the amazing RUN EMZ charity run - our world has been opened to a whole new group of people I would have never anticipated IKUNA being a part of. Suffice it to say that it's fun trying to keep up with a community of crazy cool individuals who strive to become mentally and physically better every day. One day I'll get there but for now I enjoy holding a BigMac in one hand scrolling through IG on the other watching you guys exercise, train, marathon, eat clean, and all that good stuff. Someday I will look to buy cool kicks for exercise instead of how it's going to look with my new hoodie or snapback...just maybe. You'd think I'd be a bit more convinced being so close to @racingdawn. One step at a time my friends, one step at a time.
As an update, we've been working on a few new items. You may have seen a couple on IG over the past week. We are updating our site and anticipate most new items will be up before the end of this weekend. Moving forward we will release items more frequently because it's just more fun to do so rather than waiting for the seasons to come around. We look forward to that because we like to experiment with different pieces, colors, and trends. Our workout pieces are almost done and we would like to giveaway a few for you crazy cool kids to try. You can tell us if we are on the right track. We look to steadily improve the selection and quality of the items we offer with each release.
Finally, we wanted to try something different this time around. By different I mean we wanted to introduce some of the new pieces through video and just a liiiiiittle bit of dancing. We love dancing around these parts so it was only a natural fit to do so. Plus, it counts as exercise right? :) Go to our home page and press play. We hope you like the video...and our new pieces too.
Overcome. Acheive. Victory. IKUNA
ps - subscribe to our youtube channel...more videos to come.
]]>After sifting through the many snapshots we had, I thought it would be fun to pick out the photos that reflected the most accurate timeline from the beginning to the end. Rather than a 15 second IG video, we compiled them into a video slideshow for your enjoyment. Hit that play button for 108.88 miles/22.24 hours in about 4 minutes...
Many of you have already expressed your feelings about this event and the impact it had on you - I believe those feelings are mutual between us all. I won't say too much more about it but that it is definitely one of those experiences that helps us realize that we are capable of doing things much much bigger than we believe we are capable of doing. It was both humbling and motivating. Thank you for allowing us to participate in an event that showed how we can truly use our talents to bless the lives of others. As of today, I believe we have raised over $20K for these efforts.
You may have seen #iamikuna through social media. You will begin to see more of it. The word IKUNA means VICTORY and the story behind #iamikuna is the ability to push ourselves to overcome and to achieve no matter what. It's that unexplainable power inside of us we can access that wills us to accomplish those difficult challenges we each face. We are IKUNA. Emily is a great example of IKUNA and what we represent and we are happy to have been there to participate every step of the way. Much love to all of you who we met and worked with throughout the event. See ya'll on the flipside.
So what's next for Emily? You'll just have to wait and see...#iamikuna
Learn more about Effect International and their efforts at www.effect.org
Learn more about Rally at rally.org about how they can help with your fundraising efforts.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA. Follow us on IG, FB, and Twitter
]]>Recently I have been reminded of those same experiences as we have teamed up with Emily (RUN EMZ) and Effect International to help with their efforts to provide a basic education to the approximately 98 million children who may not be able to receive one otherwise. Effect was founded in 2010 by Casey Allred and Bushra Zaman, with passion to make education accessible for all of India’s underprivileged children. Between college semesters, they travelled back and forth to India to open a school in rural Bihar, India. In 2011, Casey received the Utah Campus Compact award for his work, Effect was awarded the Bill E Robins; Organization of the Year, and Effect brought on a new key team member, Moline Dastrup. They are doing good things.
India faces many challenges and the ability to provide a basic education to the millions of children who need it is one of them. Chronic government schools, fueled by high teacher absence rates and corruption, are unable to serve them. Effective private schools cost too much and affordable private schools are highly fragmented and unable to scale beyond a few schools. This has left India’s most disadvantaged without any form of education. Without a fundamental change in India’s education system, millions of the most disadvantaged people will remain illiterate and unable to escape the poverty cycle.
We enjoy the luxuries of modern technology at our fingertips, fresh food down the hall, clean running water, and electricity. Our personal electronic devices spit out information faster than encyclopedias and even comes with a personal assistant that will talk to you and remember your name if you get lonely. We connect to anyone in the world at a moments notice and if we want, we can talk face to face like we used to see in those cool sci-fi movies back in the day. But even with all of these modern advances, we still have millions of children who may never get the chance to receive the most basic education. Sometimes we forget just how fortunate we are. Much like education, these same luxuries are no longer viewed as opportunity but expectation. Sadly enough, even in our blessed circumstances, many don't take advantage of the opportunities that are not so readily available to millions worldwide. We live in a world where many need help; even those in our immediate proximity. Today we are asking you to support this worthy cause and hopefully with the help of many hands and your kind hearts, we can do our part.
To raise awareness and more importantly the funds to help this cause, Emily (RUN EMZ) will run on a treadmill for 24 hours on September 12-13, 2013 in San Francisco covering approximately 100 miles or more to help with these efforts. These funds will be raised by a combined effort of corporate sponsors, donations by you, and the purchase of our limited edition RUN EMZ/IKUNA t-shirt. If you're not a t-shirt person and would like to donate instead, please do so here.
Learn more about Effect International and the good things they are doing. We are excited to be a part of this event and invite all of you who can make it to come out and support. We look forward to seeing you!
Please share, repost, and support. Together we can make a difference.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA
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I’ve always followed rugby news but to my surprise a familiar name appeared in the headlines recently. The name of Will Hopoate. A young rubgy league star with a bright future. A family that took me in, fed me, and loved me like one of their own. I’ll never forget them.
While entertaining lucrative offers from various rugby clubs for his services, Will decides that he would put his professional rugby career on hold to serve a 2 year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What?!? This is a young man who is already playing professionally for the club he cheered for as a kid! He represents his state in the country’s biggest state rivalry series and helps them bring the ring home! His career blooming and he decides to put it on hold? News stories break all over Australia about his decision. The kid doesn’t even think twice. What would you do?
Dressed in a suit and tie knocking on doors to spread a message he believes will bless the lives of others is how Will has spent the last two years. For him, he believes it will help “increase his mental endurance and spiritual strength and that will help the physical for a positive future.” Wow! In approximately 3 months Will is set to return home. He will also return to find a lucrative contract worth well over a million bucks for his services. With that comes the whirlwind of being a professional athlete; but he already knows about that.
We live in a world where we seek immediate gratification at every corner. Will sets a great example of sacrifice, unselfishness, faith, inspiration, hard work, patience, humility, and many other characteristics that we could hope for in ourselves and our children.Credit to your family for encouraging and supporting your decision to serve. Your upbringing and the examples of those you surround yourself with are reflected in who you are.
Sometimes we have to lose ourselves to find ourselves and this is exactly what Will has done. Congratulations on serving an honorable mission and good luck with your footy career. You deserve everything you’ve worked so hard for.
IKUNA will be watching.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA.
Check him out at http://mormon.org/me/6tdh
Desire can be defined as the longing for a person, object, or hoping for an outcome. I want to focus on hoping for an outcome. If you were hoping for a post on those other kinds of ‘desires’ you will have to look elsewhere :)
When the thought of IKUNA came up years ago, it was all based on hope. Thinking about the road already traveled and the road that is left to travel inspired my hope, increased my desire, and my motivation. We're making progress one step at a time. A few items of apparel and a message to help motivate others to becoming their best. We all have to start somewhere. We all have goals and we are driven to accomplish things that many may laugh at. Let them laugh. They laugh at first until the fruits of hard work appear. Then the laughs turn to scoffs. Let them hate. Haters gonna hate :)
Desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming. – Dallin H. Oaks
We have no problem with the desire and hope for a promising outcome, but few of us act. Most of us fall off at the desire part. If you are confused about what your true desires are and where you are heading, look at the quote above this way…Our actions are determined by our choices. Our choices are shaped by our priorities. Our priorities are dictated by our desires. Whether you want to believe it or not, take a look at your actions and there you will find your desires. You may agree or disagree.
If you are on your desired path to becoming and achieving, congratulations and keep it moving. If you are not on your desired path, take a look at your actions. If your actions don’t reflect your ‘true’ desires, make that change and get moving in the right direction.
You can do it.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA
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I watched the promo video for JayZ’s upcoming album release Magna Carta about a week or so ago. As you may have heard, Magna Carta was released to one million Samsung Galaxy smartphone owners for free on July 4th at 12:01. As a hip-hop fan I am lightweight jealous that I don’t have a Samsung Galaxy. That’s okay. I’ll just listen to the leaks online and wait to download it in a few short days to my “not so cool” iPhone.
Since the release of Reasonable Doubt in 1996, JayZ has been re-creating himself in every way possible. Street hustler turned rapper. Rapper turned business man. Business man turned professional sports team owner. Professional sports team owner turned sports agent who recently signed Kevin Durant as his client. Oh yeah, almost forgot. He also married one the greatest female pop artists of all time. From the streets to the top of the world. An amazing story you couldn’t make up if you tried.
Why do I share this with you? Because JayZ says something in the promo video I mentioned above that stood out to me...”we need to write the new rules.” A simple but powerful statement. What does it mean?
We do things a certain way because that’s the way we've been taught. Society, environment, family, tradition, and cultural influences train us to think and do a certain way. We follow without question; quietly steering within those bounds because we don't know better or we're afraid to challenge or change. We fear what people might think. We have ambition and motivation to progress. We have big dreams of success in our chosen fields but because of the mold we’ve been formed into, we prevent ourselves from ever achieving that dream no matter how hard we try. Yet the few who can overcome, step outside of their mold, and challenge the norm, are those who ultimately change their course. Some of them even change the world.
A short time ago, we couldn’t care less about social media. Now we live in a world where we have convinced ourselves that the value of our existence is validated by the number of likes and comments we receive through social media. We are supposed to believe that this is an accurate valuation of what our true worth really is? Why do we believe this nonsense? Because someone re-wrote the rules.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory - IKUNA.
]]>
As a follow-up to my last post, I mentioned that we would organize an opportunity to help encourage and motivate our young people. It was important for us to share a message of pursuing dreams and utilizing their talents to fulfill their goals. Our young people are very talented and it is important for them to realize that they can succeed despite the challenges they face in today's world.
When discussing how we might be able to do this, the ideas quickly became many and the positive energy made it very exciting. Unfortunately the resources it would take in order to be effective quickly began to add up and the realization of what we could do compared to what we wanted to do became two very different things. Returning back to reality, it was agreed that the only way for us to be effective was to begin on the street level. What I mean by that is we would need to begin small; a grass roots effort.
For our first go we decided that it would only be appropriate to begin in our home; Oakland, CA. As Oaklanders and Tongan, we tracked down a list of the Tongan students who were graduating from high school. The count totaled 25 students. It was a manageable number and with the time we had, we needed to pull something together very quickly. We would give each student a little swag bag that included a limited edition IKUNA tee, a personalized letter expressing our appreciation and recognition for their accomplishment, and a couple of other things. 'I AM IKUNA' would become the name for this effort. It has a nice ring to it. It just might stick.
Delivering the bags would be a logistical challenge. However, we were able to deliver the majority of them and share with each student our vision and the meaning behind our visit. For some we had the opportunity to visit in their homes with their parents. It was encouraging and inspiring to hear of the plans that each of them have. The love and appreciation that was shown by all was positive and confirmed what we thought all along...we could make an impact one person at a time.
Please take some time to read the names above. If you know them or see them around town, congratulate them on a job well done and encourage them. Go to our I AM IKUNA page and Facebook to see who they are and learn more about them. Our hopes and dreams need nourishment and confirmation. We look forward to expanding our efforts and meeting many more of you who are driven and motivated to do good.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA.
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We are excited to launch an IKUNA program that recognizes achievement. We feel an urgent responsibility to help guide and point our young people in the right direction. Through various annual events, we will help motivate and encourage our youth to pursue their dreams. Whatever our youth are passionate about, we will help build within them the confidence they need and give support wherever we can to help them realize their goals.
With that said, we will have our first opportunity to recognize students who have recently graduated from the high schools in Oakland, CA. This shouldn't come as a surprise as Oakland is where it all began for us. It only seemed appropriate to begin from home.
We look forward to sharing our vision with you and we ask that you join us with your support in preparing our youth for their futures.
Overcome > Achieve > Victory > IKUNA.
#iamikuna
]]>In my last post titled 'Education is King' I spoke about education and its importance to leading and fulfilling a successful life. Most of us will get our high school diplomas or its equivalent.That is the beginning. But what happens after that? Some go on to college, many don't. Does advanced education help our chances of succeeding? Of course. Is it required? That's debatable.
Malcolm Gladwell in his book Outliers says that 10,000 hours is the magic number to become an expert in a particular field. He didn't say a college degree would. 10,000 hours! Do the math. That is commitment. Is that what it takes? According to Gladwell it is.
There are successful entrepreneurs all around us who did not take the traditional route of education. But they did have some form of education. Whether you get a traditional education or achieve learning in another way, it is still the same. Increasing your brain power is education and it is good. If you're down on yourself because you don't have a traditional education, don't be. The world is a different place.
10,000 hours? Perfect your craft and you will be successful in whatever you do. Good luck to all of you who are pursuing careers in whatever passion you have. We live in a new world. Many careers today didn't even exist ten years ago. Follow your dreams and get started early. You'll be glad you did. Whatever it is, put in the time and the results will reflect it.
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else's life.
Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other
people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out
your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow
your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want
to become. Everything else is secondary.” - Steve Jobs
We each have our own path to take. One is not better than the other, just different.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. - IKUNA
Is it possible to live a life of no regrets? I don't think so. When I look back on my life there are many things that I wish I would've done and many that I wish I would've done differently. At the same time, I look at what I have today and I am grateful. Grateful for the path that brought me to where I am today. With that said, I am happy about where I am. Is it a perfect life? Not by any means. Are there challenges? Of course. The more important question to me? Is it a happy life? I can say YES without a doubt.
With school graduations happening across across the globe I remember being told by my high school counselor that I needed a certain grade in English to graduate. My first thought was "I am a dead man!" You see, my parents were big proponents of education. I wasn't hearing that though. I was all about being out and doing things that were not education related. Long story short, I did not put education first. I was accepted to a university outside of the state which was a good move for me because it took me away from an environment that may have swallowed me. I noticed very quickly how behind I really was in school. I was playing catch up while most were working on their desired career fields and talking about their futures. Soon the new fits and the new kicks didn't seem as important anymore. I'm lying. It was a good move for me though. New friends and a new perspective. I grew up quick...Oakland attitude and all.
Today there are so many challenges that our youth face that distract and deter from making education a priority. Living in a very 'white' community, pursuing higher education is just what you do. However in contrast, when I am visiting home, getting ready for the next function seems to be of greater importance and takes on a higher priority than education. We'd like to change that.
In the very near future, IKUNA will roll out a program that will help our youth stay focused and recognize their dedication to education. When I look back at the sacrifice of my parents to get to America, words really cannot describe the feelings I have. I am certain that many of you share those same feelings. Their challenge wasn't hard work or desire, it was the limited knowledge and information they had past getting their kids to the door of the school. There are so many intricacies to the education system regarding grade point average, test scores, admission requirements, scholarships, financial aid availability, etc.The list goes on! Add to that the study and homework habits that need to be embedded before one even gets to the 9th grade when it actually starts to count! Now add the extracurricular activities we think we need our kids to be involved in PLUS the pressures of today's environment.
For those of us who are first generation high school graduates, college graduates, graduate degree graduates, and doctorate graduates. It is now our responsibility to use what we know and make sure our youth are better than we are. If our youth are to succeed in this cutthroat environment and have them live the lives we always hope and dream for then EDUCATION must be a priority. Education is King.
Our parents did their jobs and took us as far as they could, now it's time for us to take our youth further.
Mark Twain once said, “Twenty years from now, you will be more disappointed by the things you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. ”
We add to this our motto: Overcome. Achieve. Victory. - IKUNA
Your happy smiling face,
Is such a joy to look at,
You make home a lovely place.
Happy Mothers Day Mom!
]]>
Before anything, I wanted to wish my son a happy birthday. He is a
handsome, humble, and very talented young man. He is my ride or die
whenever I need him. He is also quick to model because he likes to get
all the new gear. He is quickly figuring out that people actually get
paid to do what he willingly does for me at any given moment. He is the
life of our home and always keeps us on our toes. He is a NBA hopeful
and the treat master of our home. If you need treats he will either pull
some out of his secret stash or find some of what the others are hiding
in the house. Just remember that with enough hard work you can
accomplish anything you put your mind to. I am grateful for what you
bring to our family and love you for who you are. Happy Birthday son! We celebratin'
Now, back to our normally scheduled program...It might not be a big deal to you but this project turned business is something that has become quite personal. It was personal prior to the inception of the idea and will continue to be long after. In business, they say not to become emotionally attached; to be ready to move on to the next thing. How can that be when the idea for this business was based on something emotional? IKUNA is based on emotion. The passion, the drive, and the ability to overcome and achieve. The anxiety and fear of failure is emotional. The progress towards achieving a goal we've worked so hard on is emotional. Failure is emotional. Victory is emotional.
With our 2013 Spring/Summer release we are excited! We put a lot of effort into the items you see on our site www.ikunaapparel.com. We would wear every single one of those pieces. We added new tees, women's tees, sweatshirt, and a couple of hoodies.Even though the others don't specifically say women's tees on them they will look good on you :) We love them and we hope you do as well.
A question I often ask myself is, what is IKUNA really about? Is it about clothes? I say yes and no. Yes, because the word IKUNA and the logo reminds me of the emotion I mentioned above. Hopefully you feel the same way. No, because it is much bigger than clothes. To me it is a way of living. A basis to which one can always remember that there is something inside of us that can help up us reach what we think, have thought, and continue to think is unattainable. When we as individuals finally have the courage and confidence to believe that we are capable of so much more, we will be amazed at what we can accomplish. That's emotional.
IKUNA apparel is our springboard for the future; an opportunity to help each of us realize our potential. We look forward to that.
As a thank you for following us, please use one of the promo codes above when making a purchase. As always, thank you for your support and stay tuned for updates regarding what we are up to. Let us know how we're doing. Drop us a line, follow us on IG, or comment. We'd love to hear from you.
Much love -
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA.
Happy Birthday!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY,
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA
For sneak peaks of the new line follow us on IG, FB, Twitter, and Pinterest (struggling with Pinterest but I guess I'll get there eventually:). We will start posting there soon after our birthday celebration, maybe even during - items will be available on our site shortly after.
March madness is in full swing and by now most of our brackets are busted. If not, you are one of the lucky ones. For as long as I have been filling out brackets, this year seems more unpredictable than previous years. I like it that way because it’s always nice to see Goliath fall to David from time to time. Well, they may not all be Goliaths but they are well known programs. Let’s see…Pitt, Kansas St, Notre Dame, UCLA, Georgetown, UNLV and others all out after their first game in the tourney. Gonzaga is done too! Not to mention Kentucky who went into the NIT as the #1 seed and was ousted in their first game. Since when did the defending national champs play in the NIT the following year? I don’t know but that just doesn’t seem right.
Are other programs getting better? Did the talent pool get bigger? Or did the players who were overlooked by the national powerhouses decide that we will no longer get pushed around by Goliath anymore? If you’ve been paying attention Florida Golf Coast University is causing a media firestorm by beating Georgetown and San Diego State to get to the Sweet 16. A few facts about FGCU: - They are the first 15th seed to make it to the sweet 16 of the tournament - Classes were first held in 1997 making each player on the squad older than the school - The first basketball team from the school hit the court in 2002. Crazy! It is the Cinderella story of the year. It’s exciting to watch the underdogs sit these teams down one by one. I hope they keep winning. Will they win the championship this year? Possible but not probable. I hope they pull it off.
There is something to be said about how we view ourselves. Are you confident or hesitant? Do you make things happen or do you wait for things to happen? Do you innovate or procrastinate? Are you a trend setter or do you have your head down blindly following? Do you accept limitations or do you navigate through them?
Now is the time to blaze your own trails and follow your dreams. Forget the status quo and create a new reality that breaks down the perceived barriers that hold us back. It was best said by the coach of the Florida Golf Coast University basketball team after they introduced Georgetown to ‘Dunk City’ in their first game…”I told my players that when they step on the floor with Georgetown, you will realize shortly after the game begins that you are just as good as they are.”
They believed it, and now so do we.
Overcome. Achieve.
Victory. IKUNA
The years of our youth are when life is at its fullest; at least we think so at the time. We take risks, we are adventurous, and we feel invincible. This is a time when the choices we make will shape our future selves. I look back on my youth and think often about the choices I made. Could I have made better ones? Of course! I am sure we can all agree on that one.
Fast forward about 10 years into the future and I was preparing for marriage. Still like a youth, we took risks, we were adventurous, and we felt invincible. That lasted for almost two years until my wife told me she was pregnant with our first child. We were happy, excited, and then it hit me…this sh*t just got real! I don’t know how else to put it! That was the exact feeling I had!
On March 21, 1997 our son Jayden Soakai was born. What an awesome experience! So many thoughts rushed through my head. All of the insecurities of being a father rushed in and for the first time in my life, I felt scared and vulnerable. We’d been essentially free to do whatever and to go wherever up until that point.
Fast forward 16 years later…March 21, 2013. Happy Birthday son! You (and of course your siblings) are and always will be the best things that have happened to us. However, today is our excuse to celebrate you. You have taught us much in your young years. It seems as if the things we talk to you about and try to teach you have already been programmed into your DNA. You are a mature 16 year-old and we are blessed because our Heavenly Father chose us to raise you. Good and Great are in your nature. A better term would be a Christ-like nature. You take after your mother. You are a great example and we are proud to call you our son.
Every father has the same wish for their children; a better
life than our own. Life is full of great things and you deserve every one of
them. When life gets tough, fight through it and keep pushing. You are a talented young man with the potential to achieve
everything you desire. I like to believe that I have something to do with who you are and what you have become but I know it's not my credit to take; some things just come like
that...
Enjoy your day, you deserve it. Happy 16th Birthday!
Ofa lahi atu, Dad.
PS. I know you can date and drive now but those discussions will take place off-line :)
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA
I am going to move a little bit out of my comfort zone on this post. I am in no way a professional musician, music industry professional, or even a writer for a music or pop culture publication. This review is purely from my perspective as a fan of music. Growing up in Oakland, CA much of my exposure to music consisted of R&B and Hip-Hop. Hip-hop was on the rise and I grew up right in the middle of it. I believe Sugar Hill Gang's Rappers Delight was the first record spun on my turntable. During that era you were either a DJ, a B-boy, MC, or a D-boy. Those were the days.
My first love of music grew from singing acapella with my family in our living room during family gatherings, after dinner at the table, in the car on family outings, and even in the truck with dad on our way to work. My love for acapella music is still the same today as it was back then. My roots are rich with music. My love for the acoustic guitar came from listening to the men who surrounded the kava circle playing and singing with such passion and feeling.
Anyway, this post is supposed to be about Justin Timberlake's - The 20/20 album. We all know that Timberlake is far from that bubble gum pop singer of NSYNC. Even back in those days you could tell that his voice was something special. Justified, Future/Sex Love Sounds, movie appearances, SNL, various music collaborations, and now 20/20. It's been a long time coming and I'm glad it's finally here. Suit & Tie and Mirrors were about to get ejected it got played so much. My thoughts in general...it doesn't disappoint. And if you are not a fan of JT or this type of music then there is nothing left here for you to see...keep it moving :) One more thing...fiki, fiki, fiki (in Timbaland voice).
Pusher Love Girl - The all so common theme of comparing love to a drug. "Since you came around, I've been living a different life, I don't want to come down from love I got on high..." The orchestra type accompaniment...the strings though!
Suit & Tie - Apparently Kanye had some words to say about this one. Not sure why. On SNL JT changed his lyric from ..."so sick got a hit and picked up a habit" to "My hit's so sick got rappers acting dramatic..." I would expect more hits from JT and JZ. It works. Tour coming. Get your tickets.
Don't Hold The Wall - At this point let's just say that anything Timbaland touches turns to gold. A Middle Eastern feel. It's too slow for a club jam but maybe it's meant to be for another type of dance. Belly dancing? Pole dancing? Who knows? Guess we'll have to wait for the video.
Strawberry Bubblegum - The picture that comes to mind when I hear this song is that girl sitting at the bus stop poppin' that bubble gum each time she opens her mouth. Got a pickle from the corner store in one hand and if you opened her purse she would have a green apple blow pop and some now and laters. When you walk by it all turns to slow motion...she says 'hey' while poppin' that strawberry bubblegum. That's what I see. Something to ride to.
Tunnel Vision - Not much to say here...Timbaland once again. Catchy, hypnotic tune. Enjoy the music.
Spaceship Coupe - This one reminds me of Prince...got that Prince feel. That piano and falsetto. It's a love (making) song. Get yo thang on.
That Girl - Remember when you were told that you couldn't go out, date, or even marry that person. "So what you from the other side of the tracks, So what the world don't think we match, I'll put it down like my love's on wax..." This song is for you. That nice smooth vibe. Old school R&B feel. Even got some bounce to it.
Let The Groove In - Had to get that Spanish flavor in there somewhere. Not much there lyrically but a catchy party tune. Coming to a party and club near you.
Mirrors - My favorite song lyrically. The beat, the arrangement and the extension of the song just worked for me. Probably my favorite song all together.
Blue Ocean Floor - Honestly, I don't get this one. Maybe if you're high this will take you on a journey. Have fun. Who knows? Sorry.
Dress On - Exclusive for Target - Another Timbaland hit. What else can I say.
Body Count - Exclusive for Target - Timbaland at it again. This one will show up in the club.
This album takes me back to the days of the 12" vinyl. Extended songs that could really be two songs. The music, the instruments, and again the strings and the horns! It all works. You got some old school, new school, love songs, club hits, and one to zone out to if you want. If you haven't watched JT on the Jimmy Fallon show check it out - It's all much better live anyway. For now, it will be playing non-stop for the next few weeks until I get tired of it. The anticipation and the build up is over and we can all go back to our normal lives again. Well, maybe...I'd give it a few more weeks to soak up all of this good music.
If you haven't picked it up, check it out. You can get it on itunes or at Target - or burn it at your friend's house ;)
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA. This guy definitely has.
When I first saw the movie trailer I was immediately drawn to it. Why? Maybe it was the ocean…yeah probably. The movie Kon-Tiki is a true story about a scientist who sets out to prove that the Polynesian Islands were settled from South America rather than from Asia. There are many theories out there as to how these lands were settled and this theory is just as compelling.
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA
The reason I write about this particular topic is because we speak of the Poly Movement as if it started yesterday. Honestly, it might even bother me a little that many of us might think that. The fact is, the Polynesian Movement started many years ago. Our ancestors and parents began this movement. They knew in their hearts that there was more out there for their families and they were willing to sacrifice to provide better opportunities for them. Wherever it was we ended up…Australia, New Zealand, America, Canada, Europe, Asia…or maybe we never even left those tiny islands. Doesn’t matter where we are, the successes we enjoy today are proof of the sacrifices that were made. How we chose or how we choose to take advantage of those opportunities…well, that’s entirely up to us, up to you. It is now the future of your families that depend on your decisions and sacrifices…and Polynesian doesn’t have anything to do with that.
Truth is, if you think this movement just started, you are mistaken. We’ve been in the mix for many years and I can confidently say that we will continue to be in the mix for years to come. We are more in numbers outside of those tiny islands than we are in them. Let’s continue to carry those dreams forward.
I have much pride in our people and the accomplishments we’ve made thus far and continue to make. We have accomplished individuals in every aspect of today’s world. Education, Medicine, Entertainment, Arts, Athletics, Law, Religion, Business, Military, Government, etc. Thank you to the pioneers who were trailblazers and pathfinders for the rest of us in those respective fields when people said you couldn’t make it. For those of us who are still on that journey pursuing those dreams, thank you for representing us and bringing to light the pride that you have in our people, our culture, our heritage. We are all behind you 100%.
In conclusion, don’t get it twisted…I am all for the Poly Movement. It just didn’t start yesterday. It’s been a long journey to where we are today and we have much more to go. Much love to those of you who are pushing that message forward. The next time you hear Poly Movement think about this…this thing ain’t just started…we been here. If you didn’t know, you better axe somebody.
Ovecome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA
Spring/Summer 2013 release coming soon! Follow us on FB, instagram, and twitter @ikunaapparel
As we phase out the test line and prepare to release the new, here is the breakdown according to the orders that went out the door.
#6 Wayfinder (blue)
#5 IKUNA Red (red)
#4 Three Sails (black)
#3 Polynesian (brown)
#2 IKUNA Logo (white)
#1 OAK Tree (green)
Here is my personal ranking...
#5 IKUNA Red
#4 Polynesian
#3 Three Sails
#2 Wayfinder
#1 IKUNA Logo
I left the Oak Tree out on purpose because I knew ahead of time it would be popular. I couldn't have made enough of the Oak Tree to keep up with the demand. The few I had went very very quickly. I blame that on that Town folk mentality. The Town will represent and I imagine it will be the same when the new colors are released shortly. They are coming soon!
Long story short, I liked them all. I guess I can't help but like them all...IKUNA was an idea many years ago and is now a reality. You can say I'm a little bit proud.
Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. if you can dream it, you can make it so. (Emerson)
Overcome. Achieve. Victory. IKUNA.
Before launching the IKUNA line, we thought long and hard about the direction it would take. It would have been easy to throw designs together that were funny, got a good laugh, aesthetically beautiful but empty, etc. It was important for us to make sure that the feel and the message of the line reflected progression, history, culture, direction, and of course some urban style. We hope those things are encompassed in what we've delivered and what we will continue to deliver.
IKUNA means victory, the ability to overcome; to win and achieve. Our parents taught us to take advantage of opportunities that are available. The knowledge they came with from the islands were very advanced in some ways and very limited in others. Even though I am Tongan by blood, I was born and raised in the US. I am very proud of both cultures and feel blessed to be able to look from both sides of the glass and share both perspectives. I am amazed at how far we have come and where I am today but I know we can do better.
The story behind IKUNA began in Oakland. Polynesian roots mixed with that Urban Oakland flavor. I am a product of that mix, that culture, that heritage. Our expression of it comes out in the pieces we put out. Each piece has a story and we'll share those stories as we go along. We know our stories aren't unique to us. We all have them. Pretty soon, we will provide a platform for each of you to share your story.
Our next release date coming sometime during the Spring but before Summer 2013. New colors, new designs. Women's and most likely a few pieces for the youngsters.
Overcome.Acheive.Victory. IKUNA.