Kawika Wayne Yoneda

Kawika Yoneda is the owner and head professor of Roma Jiu Jitsu Academy in Hilo, Hawai'i, which he founded in 2016 with Jamie Yoneda. He is a black belt under Guilherme and Rafael Mendes of the Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy in Costa Mesa, California. Yoneda has been involved in sports and martial arts since age six, starting with karate and Tae Kwon Do and later spending years in Muay Thai, boxing and kickboxing. He initially resisted jiu jitsu and stepped away from martial arts for almost two years before a friend convinced him to try a class in 2010. After earning his blue belt he began teaching adult classes and competed at the 2012 Pan American Championships. In January 2014 he and Jamie moved to California so he could train at the Art of Jiu Jitsu Academy under the Mendes brothers, then returned home to Hilo to open Roma.