Ka'a Kaua

Kii: Auckland War Museum

Photograph, possibly Maihi Te Rangikaheke

This story came from a hand-typed paper Olohe Lua, Richard Keumuikawaiola Paglinawan shared with me some 30 years ago. I can no longer find the typed pages, but I can recall the story from memory. Kaa kaua is one who is skilled in warfare and strategy.

The events are believed to have taken place sometime between the late 1870s and the early 1900s in Aotearoa (New Zealand), during the period of conflict between Māori and the invading British forces over disputes concerning land ownership and sovereignty following the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Tensions increased as European settlement expanded and demands for more land grew, while many of our Māori people were hesitant to sell their ancestral lands. The exact dates of this story are unknown to me.

There was a company of British soldiers and some officers sitting in a bar, drinking and conversing throughout the evening. Some of the officers were talking about a British soldier who was the premier rifle or sword champion in Britain. While the officers were engaged in their conversation about their champion, a Māori warrior in their platoon overheard them and remarked that the Māori taiaha could defeat the British champion if a skirmish were ever to take place between the two.

The officers were amazed and angered by this remark from the Māori soldier. They suggested a wager and a contest in that same bar in order to put the Māori soldier in his place. The officers told him to bring someone who could prove them wrong, insisting that no one was as skilled as their British champion in wielding a bayonet or sword. The Maori warrior said it would take him a few days to bring back another Maori, capable to engage in the contest.

The agreement was to return in one week to the same bar, where the contest would take place before a large gathering of British soldiers. The Māori soldier set out on foot the very next day to find someone who could demonstrate the skill of the Maori taiaha.

A week later, as the soldiers and officers gathered in the bar awaiting their challenger, the Māori soldier returned. Walking behind him was an elderly Māori man in his mid-eighties, dressed in traditional Māori kākahu (clothing). The officers and British soldiers laughed, believing the old man could not possibly be a worthy opponent for their champion.

The Māori soldier who had sought out his tupuna simply told them not to worry about the Maori tupuna, for he was highly adept in his skills. The contestants soon faced one another in the center of the crowded bar and prepared for their contest.

The skilled British champion demonstrated his handling of his weapon with practiced movements. The old Māori calmly took his stance and held his taiaha upright as he quietly studied his rival. He watched the champion's footwork and observed the pressure placed upon the champion's front foot.

As the British soldier lunged forward to attack, the Māori parried the thrust and feigned an attack toward the champion's legs. In an instant, the old Māori reversed his weapon and struck a sharp upward blow beneath the champion's jaw with the arero (tongue blade) of his taiaha, snapping the champion's head backward and sending him crashing onto the wooden floor.

The old Māori warrior stared at his fallen opponent. No excitement, words, or emotion came from the old tūpuna as he slowly turned and walked back out of the bar without a sound. The crowd stood in complete silence as the pakeha invaders were put in their place by traditional knowledge and skill, passed down through generations. How proud we Maoli across the Pacific are for these exceptional lessons that display our science of Ka'a Kaua to those pakeha that look with eyes closed.