Whuuu ngā mihi nui e hoa! Just wanted to tautoko that beautiful Kōrero! Back in the day, your geography and terrain would have influenced the size of the Taiaha. Some iwi preferred shorter weapons due to being located in dense Ngahere etc & some longer due to being in wide open places but depended on the situation really as they had weapons of all length & sizes on hand. Most people prefer the default between the 'chest to chin' height when customising their Taiaha these days as you can perform fancier Piunga Rakau with shorter Taiaha (if properly trained). Āhai are also a form of literacy, like sign language but with a stick so every movement not only have the Pūrākau of the Whakapapa etc but also represents a literal Kōrero that used to be universally understood compared to today. Most Big Taiaha in wero situations are usually used for large solid staunch Mahi which was a limited but straight to the point Kōrero. Mau Rakau is a form of Whaikōrero, so alot could be said or understood just from the Wero Matataki.
Fantastic insight and natural presentation. Thank your or sharing your wisdom and knowledge. Do you have a rule of thumb for sizing of the Taiaha compared to body height?
Kia ora e hoa! Thank you for your comment! Happy to share what I know. To answer your pātai/question, it depends on your personal preference for sizing. Some prefer to the middle of the chest, some to the bottom of the chin. Just have to experiment and see what best fits you. Hope that helps!! Ngā mihi nui. ☺️
3:06 I've seen many examples of toa snapping them on the ground doing O-Tane Matua, or even hitting other taiaha with longer taiaha. I've also dropped my taiaha trying to hold it too close to the upoko and didn't compensate for the length during Huetangaru. Embarrassing as. Learned to always try and use both hands, regardless of how some tikanga do it when I travel to other iwi/wananga. The good thing about a longer taiaha is how one can manipulate it to do more, say, non traditional movements or high risk movements such as neck or arm rolls.
Chur the bro just started watching ur videos and 🔥🔥thank u for ur content...just a question being left handed... can i do positions opposite being thats my comfortable way???? Feels foreign with foot movement!!!chur the bro!!!
Kia ora e hoa, mō taku hē for the late response to your pātai. Āe, absolutely. Do whichever feels most comfortable for you. I wish we could do left-hand stances/videos but would be too foreign for me and I'd look unco as 😆