Budō, mau rākau & kapa haka koryu 2018, 2019, 2021

Established in 2018 with kendō, iaidō and jodō travelling with taiaha practitioners to Japan (Wakayama, Okayama and Kyōto) for 2 weeks visiting dōjōs, participating in an iaidō grading and travelling to see points of historical and cultural interest. As part of this trip we also collaborated with our partners Māui Studios in their project with Asia New Zealand Foundation and took them around Kōya-san, to a local sake brewery, tea ceremony and typical homestay nabe party in Kishigawa.

The 2019 trip also included an iaidō grading and wānanga at Kada Kokusai Kōryū Centre together with a small Kapa haka contingent. There were 2 days of exchange including traditional Wakayama Yosakoi odori, kapa haka, iaido, tameshigiri, Tamia-ryū katchū kata and taiaha. Also there was a beautiful exchange of music with taonga pūoro and shakuhachi together with koto. This event was a mix of various cultural practices and was very successful.

This project will be run again in  2023 with a similar mix of traditional practices, and build on the previous events.

This is one of our main events and the group is introduced to Japanese reigi and other protocol and taught how to implement this appropriately. Simple but effective Japanese polite phrases and manners are also taught and given guidance on throughout the event.