shakalohana ♥

my name is samuel juhn, also known as “mr. shakalohana” here is the story behind “shakalohana.” enjoy~

after having a near death experience after surfing the biggest wave of my life, i realized “life is very short.” i began to think of what was important in my life. God, family, best friends… i realized i came to this world naked & i will leave this world naked. there’s nothing that we can take in death, but only a Life of Love.

the word “shakalohana” was created in the summer of 2007, & with the help of venice local surfers, the word shakalohana began to spread. i began to give free surf lessons, & i named my surf lesson company “venice surf shakalohana.” i truly wanted to give back to the public so others can experience the joy of surfing & the celebration of life. as the years went by & with the much support by the local surf community, shakalohana became an official surf company brand.

the word “shakalohana” comes from three hawai’ian words: “shaka” meaning peace, “aloha” meaning love, & “ohana” meaning family. these three hawai’ian words combined creates the word “shakalohana:” peace, love, & family. the word “shakalohana” could also mean “The Love, The Joy, & The Life.” because i was influenced by the hawai’ians to the surf life, i never forgot the root of the surf life: hawai’i. This is my way of showing respect & love for the people & the island of hawai’i.

even though i was very influenced by the island  & the people of hawai’i, los angeles, southern california is the birthplace of the word “shakalohana.” it was an idea birthed from the diverse culture of the city of los angeles. it is a representation of the los angeles surf life style, from venice to malibu, to reflect the peace, the love, & the family, or the shakalohana, of los angeles surfers,  as a family. it is a representation of true los angeles locals, the way we show peace, love, & family amongst each other & to the world!  to say to the world “Yes! we are from the city of los angeles, we are proud, & we do care!” or “shakalohana from the city of angels!”

the shakalohana logo symbolizes the three waves creating one giant wave, how the each stream of wave is unique & it could also seem weak, but when they come as one wave, they can become powerful. three unique waves become one very powerful & influential force, a trinity. along with the word, shakalohana the logo used is from the “sam taeguk,” which is a traditional korean symbol, but instead of using the traditional red, blue, & yellow in “sam taeguk”, i used neon hot pink, neon blue, & neon yellow. i’m very influenced by the 80′s surf culture, & i wanted to represent the unique brightness of the shakalohana. i first used my version of the traditional korean “sam taeguk” because as a korean american, i wanted to not forget my korean heritage. but later i created the brand new logo for the shakalohana. i created the “shakalohana wave” to reflect the surf foundation.

the word shakalohana is mostly used as a greeting. for example, “shakalohana! how are you!?” or “shakalohana! goodnight!” or we use it to describe a condition of a person or a situation, here are some examples “he or she has so much shakalohana!” or vice versa. or “that’s so shakalohana!” or you could just use it to describe your joy & scream “shakalohana!” this may not seem natural for many, but the word “shakalohana” is used every single day of my, my family, my best friends, & my surfer friends lives.

don’t forget to “shine your shakalohana” every single moment of your life! because this moment will never ever come back ever again!

shakalohana & enjoy your beautiful shakalohana life ♥

samuel juhn mr. shakalohana ♥

John 15:13 “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”