From the very beginning the foundation of the MA-URI Institute grew out of the deep love that Hemi and Katja Fox have for the Knowledge of Huna and the Polynesian Healing Arts. Destiny was calling and in 1990 it was time to listen to that calling.

When Hemi Fox came to Scandinavia for the first time in 1990, he brought with him a profound understanding of the ancient teachings of HUNA and of the Polynesian healing arts. With his strong Maori background and spiritual connection with his ancestors, Hemi Fox was now ready to call forth that knowledge and to put into practice the healing arts that he had been given access to through genetic as well as spiritual channels.

Seeing himself first and foremost as a TEACHER and ENTREPRENEUR, a spiritual Navigator and Pathfinder, Hemi chose to put his main focus and all his creative drive into the development of his most important role within the Institute, namely as a dynamic TEACHER, MOTIVATOR and CHALLENGER.

Consequently, it became the special task of Katja Fox to be in charge of the creation of the Institute and together with Hemi Fox to develop it into a successful teaching ‘institution’, a body for MA-URI and a source of Knowledge to all future students and trainers. The following is an account of the visions Katja had concerning the Institute in the early days of the 1990s:



‘The creation of the Institute was put in my hands in 1991 and it probably took me 6 months or so to come to terms with the assignment. Memories of the past had to be sorted out and told not to determine the present or the Future! What I had to do now was to call in and explore a vision for MA-URI that would allow it to gradually develop according to its special nature and background. I was happy to discover that Destiny had guided me well in my training and made sure that I was prepared for all the practical tasks laid out before me – so it was mainly a question of just trusting, exploring the options and loose myself in the process.

Right from the start I saw the Institute as a ‘vessel’ or ‘receptacle’ for the Spirit of MA-URI. The Institute was to supply MA-URI with a ‘body’ and a voice to communicate the teachings of the Ancient Ones and the knowledge of the Ancestors. My initial approach was coming totally from the symbolic or mystical ‘3rd World’ of Reality. From this perspective I saw the Institute as a ‘body’ empowered and brought to life by the spirit of MA-URI. It was not to be tied down or limited in any way, but allowed to develop into a dynamic creation that would constantly change and challenge everyone’s beliefs and expectations. I liked that idea.

As soon as the Institute was formally inaugurated in 1992 and officially recognized as an alternative teaching institution, this creation began to let us know its special nature. It kept us on our toes, demanding ever better and more effective solutions and answers. New and better training programmes were created and constant tests revealed our levels of understanding, our short-comings as well as our abilities for change and growth. It kept us working hard and focused on the issues that needed attention and care.

In the beginning it was important for me to create an Institute that manifested itself primarily through the act of teaching the philosophies and healing arts, rather than associated with a specific building in a specific area of a specific country. Focus was on content and action, rather than on form or framework. It just did not feel right to tie MA-URI down to a physical building, so I objected for a long time to the idea of acquiring a workshop centre and thus establish the Institute within the confines of a building. I saw the whole essence and nature of MA-URI as so closely associated with the sea, so constantly changing, moving and unpredictable, that I had to look beyond the usual associations and definitions of an Institute and find an alternative solution.

Bingo!! Suddenly the book "Beyond the Floating Islands" by Eugenio Barba of the Odin Theatre in Holstebro here in Denmark, was dumped into my lap. Wow! Reading the first couple of chapters left me absolutely breathless and excited. Eugenio Barba presented us with the alternative I was looking for, namely to develop the Institute as a ‘floating island’ !! This was an absolutely fascinating idea. All the right elements came together in this beautiful concept of the floating island and it expanded the first obvious idea that came to mind of a Waka for MA-URI. We were ready and eager to now test out the ideas and concepts.

Priority was to be given to flexibility, mobility and change. Personal and professional growth was focused on to enhance expansion - in terms of deeper understanding and in terms of wider perspectives on human potential. So our focus was put into the development of the MA-URI Training Programme. As a consequence, we had no ambitions of creating a physical centre that would limit our mobility physically, mentally or spiritually and make other people dependant upon us and vice versa. ‘All power comes from within’ is a principle that leaves no room for dependencies, but plenty of energy for creative and dynamic realities.

What I wanted to see develop was an Institute that would keep us all - leaders, trainers and students - on our toes, constantly challenging our limitations, our beliefs and attitudes, throwing us all into a process of continual renewal and an ever expanding consciousness. It would be an Institute that would constantly demand higher standards, deeper understanding and nurture an all-embracing love and respect for the Creator and all of Creation – i.e. including Nature and Humanity and this awesome healing work of MA-URI!

What I wanted to see develop was an Institute that would commit itself to bringing into our modern reality the powerful Knowledge that had originally come from the Stars of MATARIKI, processed and put into beautiful and effective practices by generations of Polynesian ancestors. It was time to access and share this Knowledge; it was time to find the form and select the content appropriate for our modern realities; it was time to take it beyond cultural boundaries and share it globally. This is what I saw as the intent and commitment of the Institute.’



So where did this passionate commitment then take us? Existing primarily in the symbolic and spiritually focused realms of MA-URI, we now had to take the visions, the intent and focus into the practical realities of the physical world and then into the emotional realm of students’ realities.

With the inauguration of the Institute in 1992 came the ‘christening’ of the spiritual child that had been conceived some 12 months earlier. Out of the Maori word ‘mauri’ which means ‘life force/essence/flame’ burst a new name, the name of MA-URI! - and exciting revelations started to surface. As we were soon to discover, the spirit of the Ancestors had guided their descendant well in the choice of this special name. When Hemi started to look deeper into the layers of meaning held within the syllables of this name, we were amazed at the clues it offered to the whole mythology, nature and focus of the healing system and philosophy that was yet to be developed and expressed.

Between 1992 and up until 95 all our efforts went into the creation of a training programme and a sorting out of techniques that could be taught and put into effective practise by people outside of the Polynesian cultural context. Norway and Denmark had been introduced to the first basic massage techniques in 1990 and the first seeds had been planted in Sweden. In 1993 the first number of workshops were held in Poland, where an overwhelming interest flared up spontaneously. The fires are still burning, the love of MA-URI is deepening and the trainers are flying the flag for MA-URI all over Poland. Amazing development, truly amazing!

What was taught at the early stages of this period (1990-95) was basically a combination of the Hawaiian techniques and teaching systems that Hemi had observed the Kahuna Abraham Kawai’i demonstrate and the Maori healing techniques that he had been exposed to within his own family as through his great-grandmother and his mother. A lot of new aspects, different approaches and further techniques had to be accessed, though, spiritually - had to be processed mentally and emotionally and developed into different forms of application. Furthermore, appropriate teaching methods had to be chosen and developed in order to facilitate the learning process of students who were coming from cultures that had developed patterns of movement and ways of learning that were far removed from the Polynesian approach. Not only that, they also held totally different memory, value and belief systems and were coming with needs and ailments that reflected the life style of modern society. All of this had to be taken into consideration. So it was an intense time for sorting out which aspects and elements to include and teach, and which ones to hold back. It was an exiting time of exploring what would work; exciting to discover how and why certain techniques and principles worked and others did not. And most certainly, it was a rewarding time of gaining experience in LIVING the principles and of finding ourselves connecting stronger and more intensely every day with the Source that supplied us with all necessary Knowledge and guidance. A blessed time, a challenging time, a happy time!!

In 1995 there was an expressed need from students as well as trainers to have a common base, a physical ‘House of Learning’ and a spiritual focal point for individual or joint endeavours. Listening to the arguments and suggestions coming from both students and trainers, we realised that there was an emotional need for a physical connection with the Institute that had to be addressed. Furthermore, there was a need for the kind of stability that a Training Centre would provide. It was in the process of attending to these needs that we realised what the underlying message was: It is time now to let MA-URI move in and out of ALL the ‘worlds’, the physical, the mental and emotional as well as the spiritual and the Divine Realms. Only so would MA-URI be able to develop its full potential and true magic. This realisation led to the acquisition of the workshop buildings at Neder Randlev outside Odder in Denmark, the Centre for Polynesian Healing Arts.

The year 2000 saw the Institute take the first steps towards the development of a base for MA-URI in Aotearoa-New Zealand. It was time to establish connections and to put down roots – it was time to allow the Spirit to be nurtured by the ancestral land and to be cleansed by the Sea of Tangaroa. A block of land was purchased at Waiotira, North Island – four hectares containing native bush, tall trees and lush ferns plus all the wild life that thrives within this special setting. Nature was embraced and invited into the daily activities and focuses of MA-URI. A group of 24 students and trainers were there to bless this new beginning! Indeed, a wonderful moment.

The year 2002 saw the development of MA-URI Bodywork and the principles of MA-URI Huna reach a stage of remarkable beauty in its emphasis on simplicity, clarity and effectiveness. By now the Training Programme had been fine-tuned and tested out in groups of many different nationalities outside of Polynesia. Most of the students were coming from Scandinavia (inc. Iceland), from Poland and Hungary; slowly but surely a growing interest began to add students to these groups from Lithuania, Russia, Germany, France and England. Gifts of knowledge, moments of excitement and tears of joy were shared.

Once the Training Centre of Waiotira and the Waka MA-URI is built a whole new chapter in the life of MA-URI will begin to unfold and reveal new pathways, new knowledge and new roles for each one of us to take on. The sea is calling and the day will come when it is time for MA-URI to challenge and offer its gifts to the Maori and Polynesian Islanders of Aotearoa and of the Pacific.

Kia Kaha! – Kia Huna! – Kia MA-URI!