On Friday the 13th of April, the last day of Term 1, over 50 ākonga studying te reo Māori at Te Puna Wai o Waipapa attended a full day workshop to learn mau rākau (Māori martial arts and weaponry).

We were very lucky to have Whaea Tina and Ahorangi Winitana as kaiako for the day; they are both of Tūwharetoa descent from Taupō and were incredibly knowledgeable and supportive of our ākonga.

At the start of the day we learnt the tikanga (protocol) around using a rākau (stick); in former times rākau were used as weapons, whereas in the modern day they are instead seen as rongoā (medicine) used to teach discipline and balance. Many of the mau rākau stances are based on the movements of birds; ākonga learnt a variety of stances as well as a series of strikes and blocks before performing all that had been learnt at the end of the day. Ākonga thoroughly enjoyed the day; for most of them it was their first experience with mau rākau and they all behaved excellently throughout the day. Ka tukua te mihi nui ki ngā kaiako whakamīharo, ki te pai hoki o te mahi a ngā ākonga.