Hapuka's Mau Rakau Blog

Discussion in 'Other Styles' started by Hapuka, Aug 28, 2014.

  1. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    I forgot to ask, which of the Maori groups do you descend?
     
  2. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    As in iwi? I'm from Ngati Kahungunu Ki Wairoa and Kai Tahu. My hapu are Ngati Pahuwera and Ngati Irakehu.
     
  3. Mangosteen

    Mangosteen Hold strong not

    Oh man thats really cool.

    I don't know much about new zealand maori, i didnt realise you could identify your iwi and hapu so easily.

    other polynesian groups can only really trace ancestry and iwi don't exist anymore (e.g. only the ali'i/ariki can accurately trace ancestry in hawaii) so its interesting to see polynesian traditions being maintained.

    are you fluent in maori? i've been trying to learn polynesian purely out of curiosity (been practicing hawaiian)
     
  4. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    We are very lucky in New Zealand that most of us can trace back our whakapapa (geneology). There are some other Polynesian islands that have strongly maintained their cultural identity (stronger than in New Zealand) like Samoa. I'm currently learning Te Reo Maori (which is the language) but I'm far from fluent.
     
  5. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    A cool little video showcasing traditional Maori activities. For those want to visit New Zealand and want to get a taste of how Maori of old lived, I highly reccomend checking out the Tamaki Maori Village in Rotorua. This is the same group that did the Wero in the last video I posted. One of the tools used for teaching people how to use the patu was the poi, which is what the lady in the video is swinging around. These days the poi is mostly used for Kapa Haka. Other coordination games were also played as training exercises. Here's the link for the different games - http://www.r2r.org.nz/games-activities-maori-youth.html

    [ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D5PeeNohvow"]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=D5PeeNohvow[/ame]
     
  6. zombiekicker

    zombiekicker bagpuss

  7. zombiekicker

    zombiekicker bagpuss

    Scary people with sticks, they are,everywhere
     
  8. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    So its been a wee while since I last posted. At the moment I can't say that I am too happy with where the club is going. Considering that I started almost a year ago, the club started up with loads of enthusiasm, with over 20 students and our kaiako (teacher) turning up to each session and teaching. We even had a few influential people (leaders) of the area turn up. Now a year later its just a small handful of us left and our kaiako only turns up occasionally to teach. I have tried offering money, but he doesn't seem all that interested. Its a shame really because he's pretty much the only guy here in my neck of the woods who can actually teach anything. I would consider going to another club but I don't have any contacts and I can't find anyone within reasonable driving distance on the net. Its a bit depressing. Has anyone else been in this situation? :bang:
     
  9. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    So I caught up with my kaiako and it turns out that I was in the wrong to presume what I presumed. I had thought that he wasn't interested in teaching anymore but he explained to me that in his job he had been busy dealing with clients going through crisis. Which unfortunately in my area is common amongst Maori (the movie 'once were warriors' hits the subject on the head pretty well). And at the moment its all been full bore. He said he will start preparing me for my grading in October, which he said I already have surpassed the requirements for, much to my surprise.
     
  10. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    Unfortunately I don't have much in terms of good news. I have to admit that I am on the verge of leaving, our kaiako has poor communication skills. Last night I turned up less than 10 minutes late and he had already left without asking anyone if they were turning up. None of us knew that he was waiting, and he had told me in the past that if anything came up he would let me know. I don't like playing games, and I'm starting to get depressed. It breaks my heart because Mau Rakau is something that I've been wanting to do for years. But I can't do it like this. I'm going to give it one more week, if nothing improves then I'm gone. :(
     
  11. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    So, I have some good news. I managed to find a new kaiako (tutor), the bad news is that I will have travel about an hour each way to get there. So I've decided to go once a fortnight. I explained to her the situation that our club is in and that our current kaiako only turns up about once a month and that's pretty much it.

    I have decided to stay with my current group, but my focus is going to be on helping people out who want to grade under Tu Taua which the current kiako is ok with. Mau Rakau hasn't been taught in my area for 100 years, It would be tragic if it disappeared. The club at the moment is on life support and desperately needs structure and discipline. A year later the flakey people are gone and those that are dedicated are suffering from lack of direction. I'm no kaiako, far from it. I'm just a dedicated student that wants to help and share what I have learnt with others. I got to meet the kaiako's from the lower north island at a mock grading today which provided me with insight on how the organization works. I hope me and the others at the club can get things into shipshape.
     
  12. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    So since my last post allot has happened for the better. I've been training with my new kaiako every week, I've decided the drive is worth it. Hopefully though my family next year will be moving closer to where the group trains.

    I've been learning heaps of new techniques and sharpening up on the ones that I learnt from my old kaiakio. I'm hoping to grade early next year. My kaiako is also going to start teaching me a war haka with weapons too.

    Training has finished for the year and it went out with a bang, literally to my forehead during a sparring match against two opponents. Now I have a massive bruise on my forehead. I never realized how hard it was to spar against two people with weapons, its a bit of game changer when it comes to range and distance. Its also inspired me to finally buy a helmet.

    I'm also helping out with my old group too. I try to go at least once a week to share with them what I have learnt, as the last kaiako hasn't been around since my last post.
     
  13. uepohatu

    uepohatu New Member

    Kia ora Hapuka. I read your blog earlier this year, mainly because I was interested in finding a way to learn Te Reo, that I would be interested in. It inspired me to look around and see what was on offer up here in Whangarei.

    At first I could not find anything, but I chanced across some demonstrations at a Matariki festival. 6 months later I successfully graded for Poutahi and cannot wait to continue on this journey!

    The training up here is very intense, it was much harder than the grading. Literally digging holes in the dirt from jumping around on our toes learning waewae.

    Te Whare Tu Taua have a website, although it doesn't show up well in Google as it's not really optimised, it has great information: http://www.twttoa.com/

    Train hard and all the best for the holiday period.

    Kia kaha e hoa, ka kite ano taua i a taua.
     
    Last edited: Dec 22, 2015
  14. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    Kia Ora Uepohatu. Sorry for the late reply, but I'm really happy to hear that this blog has inspired you to partake in Mau Rakau, I'm looking to grade to Pou Tahi myself later this year with the Porirua ropu, maybe we will meet up with each other (and have a good ol whawhai). :)

    Ka Kite.
     
  15. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    So I've been hearing some really good news among those in my rapo (the wairarapa group) that our old kaiako (tutor) might be coming back soon. He's gone through allot in the last several months, and we look forward to seeing him again. The porirua rapo will be starting up again soon and I can't wait to start training with them again and learn new stuff.
     
  16. uepohatu

    uepohatu New Member

    No worries at all, holiday break and all :D Depending on where you're grading, we might meet up. We are hoping to grade in Auckland later this year, keen for that experience!

    We've been back training for the last three weeks, really enjoying the new mahi. I just got two new rakau, which weigh around 4kg each - so that's a bit of a learning curve.

     
  17. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    Nice little video of Antonio Te-Maioha (from the show Spartacus) demonstrating and explaining Mau Rakau techniques. Similar to other martial arts like Karate or Kung-fu, there are regional styles of Mau Rakau. Some techniques have different variations and some of the same techniques as found in other regions will have different names. For example in the style I do (which is the Ngati Kahungunu style) Paoa Upoko (downwards head strike using the butt of the taiaha) would be called Whakarehu Kanohi (face strike using the tongue of the taiaha). Paoa also refers to strikes while Karo refers to blocks. I will do a video sometime in the near future of the basics found Ngati Kahungunu style for comparison.

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sInQzfMOp_Y"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sInQzfMOp_Y[/ame]
     
    Last edited: Feb 25, 2016
  18. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    Although this thread is mainly about Mau Rakau, I feel that its also important to talk about other Polynesian martial arts as well. Soon I plan to study Whatoto (Maori wrestling) alongside with Judo and Mau Rakau. So I will be posting about traditional Maori wrestling and its contemporary practice, these days Whatoto is also taught alongside with BJJ.

    For anyone in New Zealand reading this, here are the list of clubs: http://grapplingwrestling.org.nz/clubs/ and http://secure.strongvon.com/southerntribes/

    Here's a photo of Maori wrestling taken up in northland in the 1950's.

    [​IMG]

    My main reason however for making this post is to place the Hawaiian martial art Kapu Kuialua (two strikes) in the spotlight.

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioe2iDcPuqY"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ioe2iDcPuqY[/ame]

    I thought I would also like to comment that in researching about Kapu Kuialua I came across some interesting forms of Kapu Kuialua that appeared to be hybridized with Japanese martial arts. Which kind of makes sense considering Hawaii's recent history with Japan. The results though are rather 'questionable' but interesting none the less (this is me being polite).

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhZ8rMBt1SY"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhZ8rMBt1SY[/ame]
     
  19. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    Awesome little video demonstrating how the patu was used in combat. Patu is fun but hard to spar with, its more dynamic than boxing in regards to angles used, and very different when It comes to block in for obvious reasons. But footwork and striking fundamentals are the same.

    [ame="http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HNT8F2TrUvU"]http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=HNT8F2TrUvU[/ame]
     
    Last edited: Mar 22, 2016
  20. Hapuka

    Hapuka Te Aho

    So mixed feelings today after going to training today. My old kaiako pretty much turned up out of the blue in the same fashion he disappeared. To put it bluntly I don't trust him to stick around. He wants the group to be independent, I want to go under Tu Taua (its not my group, but I invested a fair amount of time running the group while he was gone, I feel a bit invalidated). I spent a fair amount of time too looking out for other kaiako that the group could go to.

    Simply put I tried to run the show when I shouldn't of and now I'm at odds with the kaiako. So I feel that the best thing I can do Is to stick with Tu Taua but continue to offer my support to the group I started with.
     

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