This article was first published by RNZ
Traditional Māori martial art classes in Hawke’s Bay are seeing a surge in demand with numbers more than tripling in the past year, especially for wāhine.
Established by Mongrel Mob life member Johnny Nepe Apatu, about 150 Māori and Pakeha aged from 6 years old to over 60 are picking up the taiaha to learn mau rākau.
Inside Karamū High School’s gym on a cold Wednesday night, dozens of Nepe Apatu’s pupils come to greet the kaumātua with a hongi or a hug. The 70 year old local is the driving force behind mau rākau’s revitilisation, and is passionate about inspiring younger generations.
“It actually teaches you to be humble, it teaches you to be resistant. It teaches you to become a leader and it also teaches you to assist in helping people to grow and develop,” he said.
In the past year numbers have grown in the region, with three classes now being held in Napier and Hastings. The two-hour sessions are all taught in te reo, and are run by volunteers and parents. Nepe Apatu told RNZ he sees people from all walks of life join up, including rival gangs.
“We’ve got mobsters, we’ve got whanau from the opposite side.. but that’s out the door before they get in here.
“We’ve got people who have difficulty with expression, have difficulty around other people, have difficulty speaking,” he said.
Nepe Apatu’s mau rākau teacher was Pita Sharples, who was taught by war hero Colonel Arapeta Awatere. And now it is Awatere’s grandson, Te Otāne Huata, who is working alongside Nepe Apatu.
“We’re in this whare, not just so we can bang sticks together, but we are also here to connect to our ancestors, connect to the ancient knowledge systems that they had back in the day and bring us closer to who we are as maori , and our identity,” said Huata.
He said while mau rākau was not solely responsible for turning some people’s lives around, it did play a big part.
“I see that quite often, but I suppose when you get here you’ve already gone over the hump.
“This whare is very important as a place to support the transformation of rangatahi... although there is no need for transformation if you start here,” he said.
‘It gives me a lot of confidence’
One of Nepe Apatu’s newest pupils is 14 year old Peyton King, who describes mau rākau as a type of meditation where there is a safe space to express herself and release tension.
“Because I have a lot of siblings at my home and I get angry at them because I’m the oldest..I can’t put my stress out on them so when I come here I get rarked up.
“It’s not just about fighting, it’s about protecting yourselves and your family, it gives me a lot of confidence since (i’ve experienced) bullying from schools,” said King.
The mau rākau classes are proving popular among wahine, with a big increase in women picking up the taiaha in recent years.
“When I heard that they invited wahine I got so excited, I was like yess! That we feel included in something we actually want to do,” said King.
Her classmate Kara Huata began the course about six years ago.
“It’s the most challenging thing I’ve ever done. It’s really cool to see more wahine here and getting involved... it inspires me,” she said.
‘A lot of it is based around trauma’
Like other martial arts, mau rākau has eight different stages or levels to progress through. There are 15 types of ‘strikes’, and 15 ‘blocks’, where you are constantly moving your body and shifting the energy.
It is about much more than just physical exercise though, Nepe Apatu told RNZ it had been a valuable tool in steering many away from a life of crime.
“Mainly because the purpose is there is a focus, there is a sharpness, and there is lifting yourself up,” he said.
As a suicide awareness coordinator, he had also seen it literally save lives.
“There are all sorts of people we meet in this job, not just people who are suicidal, but people who might not even look like they are suicidal, but they are.
“It’s about identifying the different traits that steer towards harm. A lot of it is based around trauma, trauma they’ve grown up with and trauma they can’t release,” he explained.
A trauma he has experienced first hand, growing up in the 50s and 60s when he was punished for speaking te reo Māori.
“And I don’t mean just strapped, you’re getting bloody wallopped - they did everything possible to shut you up,” he said.
At the age of 14 Nepe Apatu joined his first gang. “I just went where my mates were, I went that way because I was sick of getting pushed about... I left home at 14 and took on the world.
“Well actually I left at 12 to live with my grandmother up in Otara, that was where I met the first gang - the Stormtroopers, my first cousin was a Stormtrooper in Otara,” said Nepe Apatu.
In 1975 Nepe Apatu pushed himself to learn more about te reo, and then 43 years ago he developed the first ever curriculum for mau rākau, which is now taught all over the world.
“It gives me great satisfaction.. it’s something that I embellish, and I can instil that in others,” he said.
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By Alexa Cook of RNZ
